Understanding the effect of climate change on runoff variability and water resource systems performance. This project aims to assess the impacts of climate changes on annual runoff variability. Understanding variability of annual runoff is important in managing water resources, in catchment and stream management, and to researchers in hydrology, stream ecology and fluvial geomorphology. Expected outcomes from this research are an estimate of impact on the variability of annual runoff from futu ....Understanding the effect of climate change on runoff variability and water resource systems performance. This project aims to assess the impacts of climate changes on annual runoff variability. Understanding variability of annual runoff is important in managing water resources, in catchment and stream management, and to researchers in hydrology, stream ecology and fluvial geomorphology. Expected outcomes from this research are an estimate of impact on the variability of annual runoff from future climate change, improvement in understanding the processes that operate on the variability of annual runoff, and an assessment of the performance of water resource systems under a changing climate.Read moreRead less
Sustainable farming in Australia: Market instruments for improved land management. Sustainable farming has become a national priority. As climate change and global economic pressures increase the problems facing rural areas, Australian governments have attempted to combine more sustainable land management with a competitive agricultural sector. Several policy instruments using market incentives have been proposed to manage the competing demands of farm viability and environmental sustainability. ....Sustainable farming in Australia: Market instruments for improved land management. Sustainable farming has become a national priority. As climate change and global economic pressures increase the problems facing rural areas, Australian governments have attempted to combine more sustainable land management with a competitive agricultural sector. Several policy instruments using market incentives have been proposed to manage the competing demands of farm viability and environmental sustainability. This project will examine the responses of beef, dairy and grain farmers to these initiatives and their potential for addressing pressing environmental issues. The research will make a vital contribution to the design of policies for the future of farming, resilient rural communities and an environmentally sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Fire Scar Impacts on Surface Heat and Moisture Fluxes in Australia's Tropical Savanna and Feedbacks to Local and Regional Climate. Fire burns as much as 250,000 km2 of northern Australia every year, mostly tropical savanna land. The atmospheric impacts of burning extend beyond the direct emissions of aerosol and trace gases to include the effects of land surface alteration on atmospheric circulation. Using observation and modelling, this study examines the modification of surface heat and mois ....Fire Scar Impacts on Surface Heat and Moisture Fluxes in Australia's Tropical Savanna and Feedbacks to Local and Regional Climate. Fire burns as much as 250,000 km2 of northern Australia every year, mostly tropical savanna land. The atmospheric impacts of burning extend beyond the direct emissions of aerosol and trace gases to include the effects of land surface alteration on atmospheric circulation. Using observation and modelling, this study examines the modification of surface heat and moisture fluxes to the atmosphere caused by fire scars, along with the impact of such changes on atmospheric motion and precipitation at a range of scales. This unique work is of fundamental scientific interest and significance for current and future management of this important national resource.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354668
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Australian City and Regional Network. The Network aims to sponsor, sustain and encourage multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research into problems in and of Australian cities and the reasons for their form and structure. It will develop a national collaborative research training program. The network will develop a communication path between academics, industry and government enabling the development of a more informed exploration of urban development policies. It will also lead to the ident ....Australian City and Regional Network. The Network aims to sponsor, sustain and encourage multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research into problems in and of Australian cities and the reasons for their form and structure. It will develop a national collaborative research training program. The network will develop a communication path between academics, industry and government enabling the development of a more informed exploration of urban development policies. It will also lead to the identification of new economic opportunities for the development of cities and regions.Read moreRead less
Quantifying near-surface diffuse discharge from the southwest Great Artesian Basin. Groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) supplies one of Australia's largest mining operations and many pastoral enterprises. The GAB is the only significant water resource through much of arid central Australia and supports unique environmental values in this region. This project will provide vital data on natural, near-surface leakage rates from the GAB that can be used to gain a greater understanding of ....Quantifying near-surface diffuse discharge from the southwest Great Artesian Basin. Groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) supplies one of Australia's largest mining operations and many pastoral enterprises. The GAB is the only significant water resource through much of arid central Australia and supports unique environmental values in this region. This project will provide vital data on natural, near-surface leakage rates from the GAB that can be used to gain a greater understanding of the amount of water available for sustainable extraction. This will assist in the improved management of the GAB resource and in doing so contribute to greater certainty for the mining and pastoral users of the GAB groundwater and provide greater protection for unique ecosystems associated with natural discharge springs.Read moreRead less
Gravity Changes, Soil Moisture and Data Assimilation. This project will assess the utility of space and ground based gravity measurements for monitoring changes in the hydrological cycle at regional scales. At present there are no methods available for monitoring changes in terrestrial water storage over the globe, despite their importance for assessing the effects of large-scale changes in land use and climate change. The launch of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites later ....Gravity Changes, Soil Moisture and Data Assimilation. This project will assess the utility of space and ground based gravity measurements for monitoring changes in the hydrological cycle at regional scales. At present there are no methods available for monitoring changes in terrestrial water storage over the globe, despite their importance for assessing the effects of large-scale changes in land use and climate change. The launch of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites later this year provides a 5-year window of opportunity to undertake ground-based research to test this innovative technique for monitoring terrestrial water storage from gravity measurements - something that has been shown to be possible theoretically, but has not been testable until now.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882509
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
High resolution airborne radar for environmental research: soil moisture, vegetation, salinity and terrain mapping. There is a rapidly increasing demand for a range of environmental data. For example, information on soil moisture status is required for efficient and sustainable water use. Moreover, irrigation practices and large scale clearing have led to serious land degradation through increased salinity from rising water tables. Combined soil moisture and salinity measurement will provide im ....High resolution airborne radar for environmental research: soil moisture, vegetation, salinity and terrain mapping. There is a rapidly increasing demand for a range of environmental data. For example, information on soil moisture status is required for efficient and sustainable water use. Moreover, irrigation practices and large scale clearing have led to serious land degradation through increased salinity from rising water tables. Combined soil moisture and salinity measurement will provide important insight to this complex issue. Further, understanding the complex and rich biodiversity of Australian flora and its adaptation to droughts and fire is essential to ensuring Australian ecosystem longevity. Knowledge of flora changes through time as a function of soil moisture content and salinity is key to gaining this understanding.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354817
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Groundwater and the Environment: Understanding the role of groundwater in the maintenance of sustainable ecosystems in Australia.
. 97% of freshwater on earth is groundwater. Despite this, it is undervalued, largely unexplored and poorly understood. In Australia, groundwater plays a critical role in our salinity problem and sustains our ecosystems. It will be a critical water supply in the future, especially in times of drought when surface water is scarce. Our nation's groundwater resources ....Groundwater and the Environment: Understanding the role of groundwater in the maintenance of sustainable ecosystems in Australia.
. 97% of freshwater on earth is groundwater. Despite this, it is undervalued, largely unexplored and poorly understood. In Australia, groundwater plays a critical role in our salinity problem and sustains our ecosystems. It will be a critical water supply in the future, especially in times of drought when surface water is scarce. Our nation's groundwater resources require the same unresounding commitment to preservation that we now see in the Murray-Darling basin. This network develops foundations for a desperately needed National Groundwater Centre to provide research to ensure win-win outcomes for this country's water resources and the users that rely on them.
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Connected Water in Semi Arid Environments. Water is undoubtedly our most valuable resource, and continued economic and social development is critically dependant on water resources. Ephemeral rivers in semi-arid areas that lie above the water table commonly recharge the underlying aquifers. In much of the Murray Basin of southeast Australia, river recharge has provided rare fresh groundwater that is both a potential source of water for irrigation and domestic supply and a buffer to saline region ....Connected Water in Semi Arid Environments. Water is undoubtedly our most valuable resource, and continued economic and social development is critically dependant on water resources. Ephemeral rivers in semi-arid areas that lie above the water table commonly recharge the underlying aquifers. In much of the Murray Basin of southeast Australia, river recharge has provided rare fresh groundwater that is both a potential source of water for irrigation and domestic supply and a buffer to saline regional groundwater entering the rivers as baseflow. This project will allow the risk to these groundwater lenses from landuse changes and river regulation to be quantified as well as constraining whether the water resources may be used sustainably. Read moreRead less
An integrated investigation of nutrient generation and delivery processes and pathways from paddock to small catchment scales. Improving water quality, primarily through reducing nutrient concentrations, remains a massive challenge for effective catchment management in Australia. Through a multidisciplinary approach including soil science, hydrology and aquatic chemistry, this project will develop an integrated catchment system understanding of water quality behaviour. This understanding will ....An integrated investigation of nutrient generation and delivery processes and pathways from paddock to small catchment scales. Improving water quality, primarily through reducing nutrient concentrations, remains a massive challenge for effective catchment management in Australia. Through a multidisciplinary approach including soil science, hydrology and aquatic chemistry, this project will develop an integrated catchment system understanding of water quality behaviour. This understanding will greatly improve the scientific underpinning of catchment water quality management and prediction, thus supporting improvements in the sustainability of Australia's water management. The work will focus on catchments with high intensity livestock grazing, which tend to be located in high rainfall areas near coasts where significant issues of water quality management exist.Read moreRead less