Three-dimensional atmospheric acoustic tomography using unmanned aerial vehicles. This project will develop technology that uses the sound of a small robotic aircraft as it passes overhead to visualise a complex array of properties of the intervening atmosphere in three dimensions. This will allow measurements to be taken in otherwise inaccessible locations and improve the understanding of atmospheric dynamics and meteorological phenomena.
Radar Studies of Rainfall with Applications to Forecasting. Weather watch radars are used to predict severe weather events, with echo strengths depending on the number of rain drops in the beam. With suitable calibration the echo intensities can be used to predict rainfall rates. In 2005 the Bureau of Meteorology will establish a new weather radar near Adelaide. We will compare rainfall estimates made with the new radar with results from a VHF profiler that accurately measures rain drop distribu ....Radar Studies of Rainfall with Applications to Forecasting. Weather watch radars are used to predict severe weather events, with echo strengths depending on the number of rain drops in the beam. With suitable calibration the echo intensities can be used to predict rainfall rates. In 2005 the Bureau of Meteorology will establish a new weather radar near Adelaide. We will compare rainfall estimates made with the new radar with results from a VHF profiler that accurately measures rain drop distributions and rainfall. The aim is to test the weather radar estimates of rainfall rates and their uncertainties. Outcomes will have applications in flood forecasting and hydrology.Read moreRead less
A low-cost water vapour profiler for the lower troposphere. Water vapour plays an important role in weather forecasting, as well as being the most important greenhouse gas. Its distribution is not known in sufficient detail for many aspects of predicting weather and climate change. With the Bureau of Meteorology we will develop a low-cost laser ranging system to measure the profile of water vapour in the lower atmosphere. A low-cost instrument can be placed at a sufficient number of locations ....A low-cost water vapour profiler for the lower troposphere. Water vapour plays an important role in weather forecasting, as well as being the most important greenhouse gas. Its distribution is not known in sufficient detail for many aspects of predicting weather and climate change. With the Bureau of Meteorology we will develop a low-cost laser ranging system to measure the profile of water vapour in the lower atmosphere. A low-cost instrument can be placed at a sufficient number of locations to significantly enhance weather forecasting and climate modelling. The instrument will be useful for detecting fog formation, measuring cloudbase heights and can be adapted for pollution detection and measurement.Read moreRead less
Airborne ultrafine particles in Australian cities. There is an acute deficiency of knowledge in Australia on urban airborne ultrafine particles, originating from transport and other anthropogenic sources, which pose significant health and environmental risks. The aim of this project is to address this deficiency by an extensive multi-city, cross-disciplinary study using state of the art instrumentation and data analytic techniques. The outcome will be an in depth, quantitative insight into the c ....Airborne ultrafine particles in Australian cities. There is an acute deficiency of knowledge in Australia on urban airborne ultrafine particles, originating from transport and other anthropogenic sources, which pose significant health and environmental risks. The aim of this project is to address this deficiency by an extensive multi-city, cross-disciplinary study using state of the art instrumentation and data analytic techniques. The outcome will be an in depth, quantitative insight into the characteristics of the particles, their sources and spatial and temporal variation across different urban areas and time scales. Further, the impacts of changing fuels, vehicle technologies, and climate on future trends of the particles will be elucidated.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms for Pyrite Oxidation Control in Acid Mine Drainage. The annual costs of acid rock drainage (ARD) management at operating sites in Australia are $120M p.a.; over 15 years, a total cost of $1.8 billion for the whole industry. There are limitations to the ability of existing systems to cope with high capacity ARD, to the long-term effectiveness of these systems and high potential costs/liability of remediation. The value of the project outcomes to industry and government will be in reduc ....Mechanisms for Pyrite Oxidation Control in Acid Mine Drainage. The annual costs of acid rock drainage (ARD) management at operating sites in Australia are $120M p.a.; over 15 years, a total cost of $1.8 billion for the whole industry. There are limitations to the ability of existing systems to cope with high capacity ARD, to the long-term effectiveness of these systems and high potential costs/liability of remediation. The value of the project outcomes to industry and government will be in reduction of ARD release, well-understood long-term outcomes, reduced cost of treatments and improved control. The scale of these savings is in the tens of $M p.a. but also in potential improvements in environment (acid and toxic metals in streams), health and social quality of life in mining areas and towns.Read moreRead less
Responding to the threat of climate change: identifying effective strategies for the wheat industry of south-east Australia. This project will first evaluate the probable impacts of climatic change and variability on wheat production in southern Australia and will then assess the effectiveness of actual and potential adaptive management strategies designed to mitigate these impacts. The expected outcomes will include quantified impacts of future climate change and variability on wheat productio ....Responding to the threat of climate change: identifying effective strategies for the wheat industry of south-east Australia. This project will first evaluate the probable impacts of climatic change and variability on wheat production in southern Australia and will then assess the effectiveness of actual and potential adaptive management strategies designed to mitigate these impacts. The expected outcomes will include quantified impacts of future climate change and variability on wheat production in southern Australia, identification of regions at greater risk in the future and least likely to be viable in the longer run, and identification of effective adaptive management strategies designed to cope with these risks.Read moreRead less
Evaluation of reaction mechanisms and products in acid rock drainage treatments. There are more than 54 sites in Australia managing major ARD wastes (either >10% of the waste or >10M tonnes) with another 62 sites with less ARD. At operating sites, the annual costs are $60M p.a.; over 15 years, a total cost of $900M for the whole industry. The value of the project outcomes to industry (and government) in reduction of acid and toxic metal release and reduced cost of treatments is potentially in th ....Evaluation of reaction mechanisms and products in acid rock drainage treatments. There are more than 54 sites in Australia managing major ARD wastes (either >10% of the waste or >10M tonnes) with another 62 sites with less ARD. At operating sites, the annual costs are $60M p.a.; over 15 years, a total cost of $900M for the whole industry. The value of the project outcomes to industry (and government) in reduction of acid and toxic metal release and reduced cost of treatments is potentially in the tens of $M p.a.. Improvements in environmental and social quality of life in mining areas and towns will also result from improved treatment.Read moreRead less
Coherent LIDAR for Monitoring Air Pollution and Atmospheric Wind-fields. Industry, government and civil defence urgently require compact, field deployable sensors that can measure winds and monitor pollution in the atmospheric boundary layer. Without these sensors they are unable to measure and make informed decisions about windborne dispersion of industrial emissions, environmental pollutants, and chemical/biological toxins under operational conditions. The project will develop eye-safe cohere ....Coherent LIDAR for Monitoring Air Pollution and Atmospheric Wind-fields. Industry, government and civil defence urgently require compact, field deployable sensors that can measure winds and monitor pollution in the atmospheric boundary layer. Without these sensors they are unable to measure and make informed decisions about windborne dispersion of industrial emissions, environmental pollutants, and chemical/biological toxins under operational conditions. The project will develop eye-safe coherent lidar (light detection and ranging) systems that can measure wind velocities at ranges of up to 10 km with an accuracy of about 1 m/s, and can be deployed to field sites as required. The technology will be of major interest to the commercial sector.Read moreRead less
Short- and long-term mitigation strategies for acid and metalliferous drainage control from iron ore mine wastes. Acid and metalliferous drainage from mine wastes, caused by oxidation of sulfide minerals, particularly pyrite, are a critical environmental issue worldwide. Although options to retard sulfide oxidation exist, including encapsulation methods, chemical additives and inhibition of iron-oxidising bacteria, these suffer from long-term instability. The project aims to investigate mechanis ....Short- and long-term mitigation strategies for acid and metalliferous drainage control from iron ore mine wastes. Acid and metalliferous drainage from mine wastes, caused by oxidation of sulfide minerals, particularly pyrite, are a critical environmental issue worldwide. Although options to retard sulfide oxidation exist, including encapsulation methods, chemical additives and inhibition of iron-oxidising bacteria, these suffer from long-term instability. The project aims to investigate mechanistic approaches, using readily available mineralogical materials, to provide passivating conditions resulting in slowed oxidation rates. The project’s focus is on treatments for wastes from iron ore deposits which are of high economic significance to Australia. The outcome aims to be a treatment ‘pathway’ enabling practical waste rock treatment over the acid forming time-profile.Read moreRead less
Long-term acid rock and tailings drainage mitigation through source control. Effective long-term management of acid rock drainage (ARD) from sulfidic mine wastes in current, exhausted and legacy mine sites is of critical importance to communities and for sustainable mining. An optimised geochemical and microbial multi-barrier approach to long-term reduction of ARD to environmentally acceptable rates will be developed by this project.