Local climate changes caused by large bushfire burnt areas. This project aims to quantify the impact on local climate produced by large burnt areas after extreme bushfires. This project expects to generate new knowledge on these previously unexplored fire-scar induced changes to local climate. It will extend an innovative approach that combines satellite based earth observation with very high resolution regional climate modelling to quantify the impacts on land-atmosphere feedbacks and local cli ....Local climate changes caused by large bushfire burnt areas. This project aims to quantify the impact on local climate produced by large burnt areas after extreme bushfires. This project expects to generate new knowledge on these previously unexplored fire-scar induced changes to local climate. It will extend an innovative approach that combines satellite based earth observation with very high resolution regional climate modelling to quantify the impacts on land-atmosphere feedbacks and local climate. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced methods to quantify local climate changes after extreme fires and their effect on vegetation recovery. This should provide significant benefits to the planning for, and management of, vegetation recovery after extreme fires.Read moreRead less
Role of modulating water wave groups in enhancing air-water fluxes. This project aims to investigate the importance of the group structure and breaking of wind-generated waves of various scales in the air-water exchange of mass, momentum and energy. This project expects to generate new understanding in the area of air-water exchanges using an innovative approach based on direct numerical simulation of wind over unsteady water wave groups for a wide range of wind speed and wave steepness conditi ....Role of modulating water wave groups in enhancing air-water fluxes. This project aims to investigate the importance of the group structure and breaking of wind-generated waves of various scales in the air-water exchange of mass, momentum and energy. This project expects to generate new understanding in the area of air-water exchanges using an innovative approach based on direct numerical simulation of wind over unsteady water wave groups for a wide range of wind speed and wave steepness conditions.
Expected outcomes of this project include generating fundamental knowledge of the unresolved physics and new parameterisations for air-water exchange rates. This will deliver more accurate and more comprehensive forecast models for weather, inland and ocean waterways, and numerous industrial processes.Read moreRead less
Atmospheric Photothermal Oxidation as a New Reaction in the Atmosphere. Atmospheric models provide crucial advice on the current and future impacts of human activity on the atmosphere. This project hypothesizes the presence of a new class of chemical reactions that are unknown in atmospheric science and therefore missing from the best existing models. The reactions require both sunlight and air, and they behave differently to all other types of atmospheric reactions. This project aims to charact ....Atmospheric Photothermal Oxidation as a New Reaction in the Atmosphere. Atmospheric models provide crucial advice on the current and future impacts of human activity on the atmosphere. This project hypothesizes the presence of a new class of chemical reactions that are unknown in atmospheric science and therefore missing from the best existing models. The reactions require both sunlight and air, and they behave differently to all other types of atmospheric reactions. This project aims to characterise these reactions in the lab, understand them with theory, and quantify their global impact through modelling. Expected benefits include new understanding of atmospheric chemistry, more accurate model predictions, and—as a result—better strategies for managing the impacts of human activity on the environment.Read moreRead less
Reactivity and photochemistry of halide anions: atmospheric implications. Bromine and iodine are suspected to be responsible for most of the halogen-induced ozone loss in the stratosphere but are not currently included in atmospheric models due to a paucity of knowledge of the gas-phase chemistry and photochemistry of their anions and radicals. This project will develop and deploy advanced mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy techniques to enable precision measurements of the reactions and p ....Reactivity and photochemistry of halide anions: atmospheric implications. Bromine and iodine are suspected to be responsible for most of the halogen-induced ozone loss in the stratosphere but are not currently included in atmospheric models due to a paucity of knowledge of the gas-phase chemistry and photochemistry of their anions and radicals. This project will develop and deploy advanced mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy techniques to enable precision measurements of the reactions and photo-reactions of gas-phase iodide and bromide anions and their oxides. These state-of-the-art measurements of reaction kinetics and products will enable accurate chemical models that predict the impact of bromine and iodine chemistry on ozone levels and will inform future models for global climate.Read moreRead less
Cloud-climate interaction over the Great Barrier Reef and Southwest Pacific. This project aims to investigate cloud-climate interactions of the Southwest Pacific trade wind region from the regional scale to local forcing over the Great Barrier Reef. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the nature and variability of the trade wind clouds, including their impact on the surface radiative budget, ocean temperatures and coral bleaching events. Potential changes of these clouds due to glob ....Cloud-climate interaction over the Great Barrier Reef and Southwest Pacific. This project aims to investigate cloud-climate interactions of the Southwest Pacific trade wind region from the regional scale to local forcing over the Great Barrier Reef. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the nature and variability of the trade wind clouds, including their impact on the surface radiative budget, ocean temperatures and coral bleaching events. Potential changes of these clouds due to global warming and ensuing impacts on the environment will be studied. Expected outcomes include better modelling of the Great Barrier Reef environment and improved estimates of low-cloud feedback. This should provide significant benefits in developing warning systems for bleaching events, and regional land and water management. Read moreRead less
Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed ....Southern Ocean aerosols: sources, sinks and impact on cloud properties. This project aims to provide fundamental process-level understanding of atmospheric aerosol processes over the Southern Ocean, a region that has a profound influence on the Australian and global climate and where climate models perform poorly. Comprehensive observations during 3 Southern Ocean voyages and land-based measurements will enhance our knowledge of aerosols and cloud formation in that region and provide much-needed data for improving global climate models. Expected outcomes include more accurate seasonal and latitudinal representations of Southern Ocean aerosol populations, properties and sources. The main benefit includes improvements in weather forecasting and future climate projection for Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.Read moreRead less
Quantifying vertical and lateral ocean transport due to fronts and eddies. This project aims to quantify the intensity and location of ocean currents at unprecedented fine spatial scales by using data from a new generation of high-resolution satellites. These fine scales dominate the lateral and vertical transport of ocean-borne material, including heat, larvae and pollutants like oil and plastics, yet are poorly understood. New algorithms for processing satellite data will be developed and test ....Quantifying vertical and lateral ocean transport due to fronts and eddies. This project aims to quantify the intensity and location of ocean currents at unprecedented fine spatial scales by using data from a new generation of high-resolution satellites. These fine scales dominate the lateral and vertical transport of ocean-borne material, including heat, larvae and pollutants like oil and plastics, yet are poorly understood. New algorithms for processing satellite data will be developed and tested using in situ data in the significant North West Shelf region. Expected outcomes will be novel methods to identify ocean currents and a paradigm shift in quantification of fine-scale ocean dynamics. This will benefit operational oceanography in the areas of maritime safety, defence, fisheries and the offshore industry.Read moreRead less
Novel power system architecture and control for 'More Electric Aircraft'. This project aims to propose a new conceptual design of an internal aircraft electrical system and its control, which minimises the issues of traditional power systems and takes advantage of contemporary control and technology advances to minimise weight/volume and maximise reliability. The project will target a specific design, which includes consideration of novel power electronic topologies, to achieve these goals. The ....Novel power system architecture and control for 'More Electric Aircraft'. This project aims to propose a new conceptual design of an internal aircraft electrical system and its control, which minimises the issues of traditional power systems and takes advantage of contemporary control and technology advances to minimise weight/volume and maximise reliability. The project will target a specific design, which includes consideration of novel power electronic topologies, to achieve these goals. The results will be validated through simulation, experiments and field testing. It is anticipated that the ideas developed within this project will have a major impact on More Electric Aircraft technology, as well as on general interconnected energy resource systems, such as DC and AC microgrids.Read moreRead less
When every second counts: Multi-drone navigation in GPS-denied environments. The aim of this research is to develop a framework for multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), that balances information sharing, exploration, localization, mapping, and other planning objectives thus allowing a team of UAVs to navigate in complex environments in time critical situations. This project expects to generate new knowledge in UAV navigation using an innovative approach by combining Simultaneous Localizatio ....When every second counts: Multi-drone navigation in GPS-denied environments. The aim of this research is to develop a framework for multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), that balances information sharing, exploration, localization, mapping, and other planning objectives thus allowing a team of UAVs to navigate in complex environments in time critical situations. This project expects to generate new knowledge in UAV navigation using an innovative approach by combining Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms with Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDP) and Deep Reinforcement learning. This should provide significant benefits, such as more responsive search and rescue inside collapsed buildings or underground mines, as well as fast target detection and mapping under the tree canopy. Read moreRead less
The long-term impact of short-lived, fluorinated pollutants. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol has regulated the manufacture and use of compounds that deplete the ozone layer. Industry has innovated to produce new compounds that do not affect ozone levels, for use in refrigeration and other applications for modern society. We have discovered that the current generation of compounds called hydrofluoroolefins decompose in the atmosphere to produce the worst global warming gas known. We hypothesise th ....The long-term impact of short-lived, fluorinated pollutants. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol has regulated the manufacture and use of compounds that deplete the ozone layer. Industry has innovated to produce new compounds that do not affect ozone levels, for use in refrigeration and other applications for modern society. We have discovered that the current generation of compounds called hydrofluoroolefins decompose in the atmosphere to produce the worst global warming gas known. We hypothesise that other HFOs will also decay into global warming compounds. In this project we will determine the atmospheric consequences of modern refrigerants. Expected benefits include determination the best and worst compounds for environmental impact, and data to guide industry and legislators.Read moreRead less