This dataset consists of hyperspectral particulate absorption, particulate attenuation, and the first order (calculated) scatter coefficient from a Wetlabs Absorption and Attenuation Sensor (ACS). Data was collected from October 8th to November 1st 2023 aboard the RV Investigator (IN2023_V06). This voyage focused on sampling mesoscale eddies and across frontal features in a strong ecologically significant west boundary current, the East Australian Current (EAC). Throughout the cruise, the sensors continuously measured surface waters through the ships underway system, measuring 87 wavelengths (from 400-735 nm, with ~3 nm spacing) at a rate of 25 times per second. The data was later binned to 30 second intervals and aligned with the ships underway system (data for this can be found here: https://www.marine.csiro.au/data/trawler/survey_details.cfm?survey=IN2023_V06). Further information on the methodology for data acquisition and cleaning of the ACS data can be found in Mears et al., 2026.

Zooplankton are important component of the Southern Ocean ecosystem yet so little is known about the distribution of most species and how this has changes through time. The project used existing data collect from the Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder Program (https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/cpr/index.cfm). CPR data from 2000 to 2016 was extracted from the database and paired with environmental data (SST, SST anomaly, IOD, SAM, mixed layer depth). Hierarchical Models of Species Communities (HMSC) was used to model the zooplankton community to make inferences and predictions on the distribution of species and how they have changed through time.