The ARC Earth System Science Research Network. The ARC Earth System Science Network incorporates data collectors, modellers and impacts researchers to address the impacts of climate change and variability on Human, biological and physical systems. Our capacity to adapt to changes in water availability, agricultural productivity, the likelihood of species extinctions, and risks to human health will be enhanced through the Network's use of frontier technologies. The enhanced capacity to use data a ....The ARC Earth System Science Research Network. The ARC Earth System Science Network incorporates data collectors, modellers and impacts researchers to address the impacts of climate change and variability on Human, biological and physical systems. Our capacity to adapt to changes in water availability, agricultural productivity, the likelihood of species extinctions, and risks to human health will be enhanced through the Network's use of frontier technologies. The enhanced capacity to use data and model the Earth System will allow policymakers to make more informed decisions with regard to water, biodiversity, human health, industry and agriculture sustainability; thereby enhancing the national capacity to respond to climate change and variability and securing our common interest.Read moreRead less
Reengineering a dynamic vegetation model to explore the stability of Australian terrestrial carbon. Overseas models do not represent Australian biophysical processes well: our flora and fauna are unique and our soils are old and nutrient poor. In contrast, the National Carbon Accounting System (NCAS) is a world-class framework for estimating current carbon processes. By building NCAS expertise into an overseas model of soil and vegetation processes we can develop the capacity to increase our con ....Reengineering a dynamic vegetation model to explore the stability of Australian terrestrial carbon. Overseas models do not represent Australian biophysical processes well: our flora and fauna are unique and our soils are old and nutrient poor. In contrast, the National Carbon Accounting System (NCAS) is a world-class framework for estimating current carbon processes. By building NCAS expertise into an overseas model of soil and vegetation processes we can develop the capacity to increase our confidence in future projections of carbon and vegetation change. Our proposal, linking Universities, CSIRO and the Australian Greenhouse Office establishes a team that is internationally competitive. It will enhance local expertise and local model development to ensure national policy development is underpinned by world-class science.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354594
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
The Australian Climate System Network. The climate system integrates the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, biosphere, land-surface and the fluxes of energy, water and biogeochemical quantities between these elements. Changes in climate affect Australia dramatically: for example, the cost of the recent drought exceeded $10 billion. To enable internationally competitive climate system research, networking is required to enhance our national capability and our international connectivity. We will expl ....The Australian Climate System Network. The climate system integrates the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, biosphere, land-surface and the fluxes of energy, water and biogeochemical quantities between these elements. Changes in climate affect Australia dramatically: for example, the cost of the recent drought exceeded $10 billion. To enable internationally competitive climate system research, networking is required to enhance our national capability and our international connectivity. We will explore the establishment of a Climate System Network by facilitating communication between Universities, government agencies and CRCs. The Climate System Network will enable new climate-related questions relating to the sustainability of the Australian physical and Human environments to be explored.Read moreRead less
Quantum Mechanics and Planetary Atmospheres. The project will increase the visibility and status of Australian research, by the participation of researchers and students in a wide international collaboration, covering experiments, theory, and computation, which will solve a fundamental research problem that has previously defied understanding. The resulting nitrogen model will be relevant to the important fields of global and planetary atmospheric change, and will find immediate application in t ....Quantum Mechanics and Planetary Atmospheres. The project will increase the visibility and status of Australian research, by the participation of researchers and students in a wide international collaboration, covering experiments, theory, and computation, which will solve a fundamental research problem that has previously defied understanding. The resulting nitrogen model will be relevant to the important fields of global and planetary atmospheric change, and will find immediate application in the analysis of results from the NASA missions, Voyager, Cassini, and (later) New Horizons. In the experimental part of the project, an Australian-first extreme-ultraviolet laser facility will be developed which will provide research opportunities complementary to the Australian Synchrotron.Read moreRead less
Do terrestrial processes intensify Australian droughts ? Australia's agricultural productivity is strongly affected by climate, climate variability and climate change. Recent climate changes in Western Australia forced adaptation strategies costing $500 million while the anomalously intense 2002 Murray-Darling Basin drought significantly affected agriculture. Any further intensification of droughts would affect Australia's rural economy. This proposal will assess the role of terrestrial processe ....Do terrestrial processes intensify Australian droughts ? Australia's agricultural productivity is strongly affected by climate, climate variability and climate change. Recent climate changes in Western Australia forced adaptation strategies costing $500 million while the anomalously intense 2002 Murray-Darling Basin drought significantly affected agriculture. Any further intensification of droughts would affect Australia's rural economy. This proposal will assess the role of terrestrial processes, linked to increasing CO2, in causing the drought intensification and declines in rainfall. This will provide knowledge that will guide the development of future environmental management strategies.Read moreRead less
Isotopic fractionation in planetary atmospheres. Ongoing changes in the Earth's atmosphere, such as ozone depletion, demonstrate the need to understand atmospheric photochemical processes. Isotopic fractionation is one vehicle for obtaining
detailed insight into these processes. The proposed research will
increase our understanding of fundamental molecular processes and use these new results to improve our knowledge of isotopic fractionation in planetary atmospheres. The resulting models wil ....Isotopic fractionation in planetary atmospheres. Ongoing changes in the Earth's atmosphere, such as ozone depletion, demonstrate the need to understand atmospheric photochemical processes. Isotopic fractionation is one vehicle for obtaining
detailed insight into these processes. The proposed research will
increase our understanding of fundamental molecular processes and use these new results to improve our knowledge of isotopic fractionation in planetary atmospheres. The resulting models will lead to new insight into the Earth's ozone chemistry and the recent evolution of Titan's and Venus' atmospheres, including how much water may have been present on Venus in the recent past. The research program also enables Australian participation in three international spacecraft
missions.
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Interactions between sulfur, nitrogen, and iron cycles in the sustainable management and use of acid sulfate soils. Acid Sulfate Soils (ASS) can cause major land management and environmental problems. It has been proposed that the linkages between the Sulfur, Nitrogen, and Iron biogeochemical cycles deterrmine the environmental and crop production hazards associated with use of ASS. In order to develop best management practices for ASS, it is important to research those linkages and determine th ....Interactions between sulfur, nitrogen, and iron cycles in the sustainable management and use of acid sulfate soils. Acid Sulfate Soils (ASS) can cause major land management and environmental problems. It has been proposed that the linkages between the Sulfur, Nitrogen, and Iron biogeochemical cycles deterrmine the environmental and crop production hazards associated with use of ASS. In order to develop best management practices for ASS, it is important to research those linkages and determine their contribution to fluxes of materials exported from these soils. This project will carry out that research and will transfer results to industry partners to improve land management practices and identify appropriate landuses in ASS landcapes.Read moreRead less