Improving water use efficiency of grapevine production in the Great Western region using effluent water and soil amelioration practices. Irrigation of vineyards with municipal wastewater is a desirable option for the viticulturists of the Great Western region of Victoria, but only if vineyard soil structure is not adversely affected. This project will (1) study the impact of dissolved chemicals in the waste water on the structure of the local sandy soils; (2) model the data to enhance understand ....Improving water use efficiency of grapevine production in the Great Western region using effluent water and soil amelioration practices. Irrigation of vineyards with municipal wastewater is a desirable option for the viticulturists of the Great Western region of Victoria, but only if vineyard soil structure is not adversely affected. This project will (1) study the impact of dissolved chemicals in the waste water on the structure of the local sandy soils; (2) model the data to enhance understanding of the key chemical and physical mechanisms controlling grey water impact in heterogeneous environments. The resulting predictive tools will have direct application in the Great Western region's vineyards, and for irrigation of grey water in vineyards across Ausralia.Read moreRead less
Optimal management of corrosion and odour problems in sewer systems. Pollutants in wastewater undergo complex changes in sewers, leading to the production and release of odorous and corrosive compounds. Despite major efforts and expenditure by water utilities to mitigate these problems, odorous emissions from sewers are still commonly occurring in urban areas. Furthermore, the value of public assets is significantly diminished due to sewer corrosion, costing hundreds of millions of dollars a yea ....Optimal management of corrosion and odour problems in sewer systems. Pollutants in wastewater undergo complex changes in sewers, leading to the production and release of odorous and corrosive compounds. Despite major efforts and expenditure by water utilities to mitigate these problems, odorous emissions from sewers are still commonly occurring in urban areas. Furthermore, the value of public assets is significantly diminished due to sewer corrosion, costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in Australia alone. This project is a major joint effort by the Australian water industry and world-leading scientists to generate advanced knowledge and develop effective technologies for optimal odour and corrosion management in sewers, delivering large social, environmental and economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Understanding and mitigating nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment plants. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most serious challenges that mankind is facing. Substantial reduction in emissions must be achieved, with responsibility to be shared by all industrial sectors. Wastewater systems contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through not only energy consumptions but also direct emissions of fugitive greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. This project aim ....Understanding and mitigating nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment plants. Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most serious challenges that mankind is facing. Substantial reduction in emissions must be achieved, with responsibility to be shared by all industrial sectors. Wastewater systems contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through not only energy consumptions but also direct emissions of fugitive greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. This project aims to provide knowledge and technology support to the Australian wastewater industry to minimize the emission of nitrous oxide during biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. This is critically important for this industry to achieve greenhouse gas neutral wastewater management.Read moreRead less
Amelioration strategies to reduce environmental deterioration and agricultural production losses in water repellent regions. Millions of hectares of potentially productive agricultural land in Australia are affected by water-repellency. Water repellency causes non-uniform infiltration of water in soils and promotes surface erosion. Consequently, water repellent soils cannot be satisfactorily used for agricultural production, resulting in production losses of millions of dollars annually. This in ....Amelioration strategies to reduce environmental deterioration and agricultural production losses in water repellent regions. Millions of hectares of potentially productive agricultural land in Australia are affected by water-repellency. Water repellency causes non-uniform infiltration of water in soils and promotes surface erosion. Consequently, water repellent soils cannot be satisfactorily used for agricultural production, resulting in production losses of millions of dollars annually. This investigation is part of a genuine international effort that will develop new procedures to ameliorate water-repellent soils. New and improved mathematical models and decision support tools will also be developed to improve water-repellent land management, reduce environmental risk and minimise agriculture production loss.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
PREDICTING THE CLOGGING OF STORM WATER INFILTRATION SYSTEMS. Infiltration systems are widely used in sustainable management of stormwater in both urban and rural areas. They are also an integral part of large stormwater-harvesting facilities. However, they tend to fail due to clogging (infiltration medium gets filled by silt from runoff), and this phenomenon is far from being understood. The aim of this project is to develop a new prediction method of clogging of stormwater infiltration systems. ....PREDICTING THE CLOGGING OF STORM WATER INFILTRATION SYSTEMS. Infiltration systems are widely used in sustainable management of stormwater in both urban and rural areas. They are also an integral part of large stormwater-harvesting facilities. However, they tend to fail due to clogging (infiltration medium gets filled by silt from runoff), and this phenomenon is far from being understood. The aim of this project is to develop a new prediction method of clogging of stormwater infiltration systems. Extensive 1D and 2D laboratory experimental programmes will be carried out. Models of unit processes that occur in infiltration systems will be defined/developed and built into a physically based model of an infiltration system. This model could be used for reliable design of stormwater drainage and harvesting systems, bringing major benefits to the people of drier and more populated areas of Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101153
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
Mapping resources, demands and constraints to critical metal supplies. This project aims to assess the mineral resources of five metals needed for renewable energy transitions and map the potential impacts of their mining. It uses novel geochemical proxy models to build highly detailed resource databases and demonstrates a world-first use of cloud-computing power to assess worldwide satellite data of mine areas. Expected outcomes include in-depth knowledge of geological endowments and global-sca ....Mapping resources, demands and constraints to critical metal supplies. This project aims to assess the mineral resources of five metals needed for renewable energy transitions and map the potential impacts of their mining. It uses novel geochemical proxy models to build highly detailed resource databases and demonstrates a world-first use of cloud-computing power to assess worldwide satellite data of mine areas. Expected outcomes include in-depth knowledge of geological endowments and global-scale patterns of mining emerging to meet changing metal demands, plus the discovery of geological and socio-environmental constraints to future supplies. This will enhance government and industry capacities for de-risking metal supply chains, and facilitate more sophisticated land use planning of mining regions.Read moreRead less
Active-passive microwave soil moisture remote sensing: Towards sustainable land and water management from space. Soil moisture is a highly critical resource for the Australian agricultural economy which is stressed by climate change. Daily monitoring of paddock scale soil moisture from space represents a powerful tool to inform land management, allowing accurate crop yield and pasture growth predictions. At the continental scale, soil moisture information will result in better weather, climate a ....Active-passive microwave soil moisture remote sensing: Towards sustainable land and water management from space. Soil moisture is a highly critical resource for the Australian agricultural economy which is stressed by climate change. Daily monitoring of paddock scale soil moisture from space represents a powerful tool to inform land management, allowing accurate crop yield and pasture growth predictions. At the continental scale, soil moisture information will result in better weather, climate and extreme flood prediction skill and the ability to assess the effects of future climate change on Australia. It is therefore imperative that active-passive soil moisture retrieval algorithms be developed specifically for the Australian environment in order to take full advantage of the SMAP remote sensing mission when it is launched in 2012.Read moreRead less
High resolution mapping of surface and root zone soil moisture. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of surface and root zone soil moisture content at high spatial resolution is critical to achieving more efficient water utilisation practices in agriculture. Australia's main river basins are under mounting pressure to satisfy a wide range of competing economic, social and environmental needs for water, particularly in terms of environmental flows and efficient irrigation. A better u ....High resolution mapping of surface and root zone soil moisture. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of surface and root zone soil moisture content at high spatial resolution is critical to achieving more efficient water utilisation practices in agriculture. Australia's main river basins are under mounting pressure to satisfy a wide range of competing economic, social and environmental needs for water, particularly in terms of environmental flows and efficient irrigation. A better understanding of the soil moisture distribution at sub-farm scales will allow farmers to better utilise both the moisture in their soil and their limited allocation for irrigation. This will help alleviate soil moisture related problems in some of the nation's key catchments, such as the Murray Darling Basin.Read moreRead less
A new paradigm for improved water resource management using innovative water modelling techniques. The threat of climate change and Australia's arid environment makes accurate water resource planning essential for sustainable water management. This is particularly relevant in rural Australian catchments with competing needs for scarce water resources, including irrigation to sustain farming communities, maintaining adequate flows for river health, and seasonal flooding for fragile eco-systems. A ....A new paradigm for improved water resource management using innovative water modelling techniques. The threat of climate change and Australia's arid environment makes accurate water resource planning essential for sustainable water management. This is particularly relevant in rural Australian catchments with competing needs for scarce water resources, including irrigation to sustain farming communities, maintaining adequate flows for river health, and seasonal flooding for fragile eco-systems. Accurately predicting key water balance components across catchments is crucial for improved water resource planning. Continuously constraining model predictions with time series of spatial data can identify weaknesses in model physics for correction and make model scenario testing more reliable so better water management decisions can be made.Read moreRead less