Developing a decision support system for the management of road runoff for water quality protection. Multiple stakeholders share a vested and often significant financial commitment to ensure water quality standards. These industries, in turn, are vital to the social and economic sustainability of many rural communities in Australia. Recent climatic trends of increasing drought episodes and related natural disasters such as bushfires are expected to increase the delivery of sediments and associat ....Developing a decision support system for the management of road runoff for water quality protection. Multiple stakeholders share a vested and often significant financial commitment to ensure water quality standards. These industries, in turn, are vital to the social and economic sustainability of many rural communities in Australia. Recent climatic trends of increasing drought episodes and related natural disasters such as bushfires are expected to increase the delivery of sediments and associated pollutants to streams. The proposed DSS will allow testing of various management scenarios with respect to road position and layout, thereby providing a planning and management tool, and a method to educate the practitioners involved in environmental management in Australia. Read moreRead less
The Australian Dust Transport System: characterisation and downwind impacts. Most Australians are aware that dust storms occur in dry inland areas and recently many experienced first hand, the dust storms that engulfed our cities. Few, however, are aware of the diverse impacts of desert dust downwind from source. Recent technological advances in remote sensing have made dust storms much easier to study, and Australian researchers will use these, and other innovative techniques, to reconstruct th ....The Australian Dust Transport System: characterisation and downwind impacts. Most Australians are aware that dust storms occur in dry inland areas and recently many experienced first hand, the dust storms that engulfed our cities. Few, however, are aware of the diverse impacts of desert dust downwind from source. Recent technological advances in remote sensing have made dust storms much easier to study, and Australian researchers will use these, and other innovative techniques, to reconstruct the major dust storms back to 1960. They will reconstruct the sources, dust loads and trajectories of these storms, and examine how dust affects urban air pollution. Their data will also be provided to an allied research team in New Zealand, who are examining how iron-rich Australia dust affects phytoplankton in the oceans.Read moreRead less
A Generalized Flood Frequency Framework for Prediction of the Effects of Multi-Scale Hydroclimatic Variability. The proposed project aims to investigate the effects of natural, multi-scale variability in climatic inputs, especially precipitation inputs -- intra-annual (seasonal), inter-annual and inter-decadal -- on the estimation of frequency of flooding. It will investigate the propagation of these natural variabilities through the catchment system, through simple models that can enable the e ....A Generalized Flood Frequency Framework for Prediction of the Effects of Multi-Scale Hydroclimatic Variability. The proposed project aims to investigate the effects of natural, multi-scale variability in climatic inputs, especially precipitation inputs -- intra-annual (seasonal), inter-annual and inter-decadal -- on the estimation of frequency of flooding. It will investigate the propagation of these natural variabilities through the catchment system, through simple models that can enable the estimation of probability distributions of soil moisture, runoff generation and flood peaks, and elucidate the underlying process controls. In this way, it will help develop a new framework for the incorporation of these multi-scale variabilities in flood estimation practice in Australia.Read moreRead less
A Stochastic Downscaling Framework for Catchment Scale Climate Change Impact Assessment. We propose a framework for climate change impact assessment at the catchment scale, that can both assess the change in catchment yield, as well as refine management policies to mitigate likely impacts. A key aim is to represent the full uncertainty in the simulated streamflow, thus enabling a risk-based comparison of current policies with those for climate change conditions. Given the importance of this rese ....A Stochastic Downscaling Framework for Catchment Scale Climate Change Impact Assessment. We propose a framework for climate change impact assessment at the catchment scale, that can both assess the change in catchment yield, as well as refine management policies to mitigate likely impacts. A key aim is to represent the full uncertainty in the simulated streamflow, thus enabling a risk-based comparison of current policies with those for climate change conditions. Given the importance of this research to the availability of water under a climate change scenario, this proposal has been listed under the ARC's Research Priority 1: 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia', with the specific priority goals being 'Water - A Critical Resource', and 'Responding to climate change and variability'.Read moreRead less
Geomorphic and vegetative controls of streambank stability and channel migration in streams of tropical Queensland. Streambank erosion and channel migration are natural processes, but major environmental and management problems can arise when they are accelerated by human activities. This project aims to establish how channel morphology and riparian vegetation characteristics influence streambank stability and channel dynamics for streams in tropical northeast Queensland. A predictive model of ....Geomorphic and vegetative controls of streambank stability and channel migration in streams of tropical Queensland. Streambank erosion and channel migration are natural processes, but major environmental and management problems can arise when they are accelerated by human activities. This project aims to establish how channel morphology and riparian vegetation characteristics influence streambank stability and channel dynamics for streams in tropical northeast Queensland. A predictive model of streambank and channel stability will be developed that will allow mobile and stable stream reaches to be identified. This model may be applied to optimise stream stabilisation and rehabilitation strategies, and to improve local riparian and downstream ecosystem quality.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
Stable water isotopic simulation and analysis to improve Earth System models and deliver better predictions of Australian water resource vulnerability. As Australia's challenges in environmental sustainability rival those anywhere on Earth, we must be clever in our diagnosis of susceptibility and insightful in proposed remedies. Climate change and variability have impacts on people and society that must be managed effectively whatever their causes. Of importance to Australia is the availabilit ....Stable water isotopic simulation and analysis to improve Earth System models and deliver better predictions of Australian water resource vulnerability. As Australia's challenges in environmental sustainability rival those anywhere on Earth, we must be clever in our diagnosis of susceptibility and insightful in proposed remedies. Climate change and variability have impacts on people and society that must be managed effectively whatever their causes. Of importance to Australia is the availability of water for drinking and agriculture. The new, interdisciplinary ARC network for Earth System Science provides models for novel and synergistic research such as naturally occurring water isotopes as a tool for improving predictive skill and confidence. We exploit these and leverage international programs to improve regional hydro-climate and water resource understanding in Australia.Read moreRead less
Closing the water cycle using land surface modelling, remote sensing and an Australian hydrological observatory. Australians live in the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Water supply and its variability have been constant problems throughout our history. This project will use space based satellites, sophisticated ground based instruments and advanced modelling tools to provide a 21st century characterisation of our nation's water resources.
Automated groundwater level mapping: a tool for catchment scale estimation of aquifer storage changes, fluxes and hydrogeological properties. Cutting-edge groundwater mapping tools will be developed by this project and made freely available. Water table maps will be derived for Victoria and used to quantify aquifer properties, recharge and the groundwater balance. Fundamental limitations to quantitative groundwater management will be overcome and the Bureau of Meteorology intend to adopt the fin ....Automated groundwater level mapping: a tool for catchment scale estimation of aquifer storage changes, fluxes and hydrogeological properties. Cutting-edge groundwater mapping tools will be developed by this project and made freely available. Water table maps will be derived for Victoria and used to quantify aquifer properties, recharge and the groundwater balance. Fundamental limitations to quantitative groundwater management will be overcome and the Bureau of Meteorology intend to adopt the findings.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100302
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$357,170.00
Summary
Predicting groundwater replenishment in arid catchments. Australia is the world's driest continent, and reliant on groundwater for survival and livelihood. A clear understanding of how our groundwater is replenished is therefore imperative. Groundwater recharge is difficult to quantify because it occurs as infiltration beneath streambeds in response to rain events. This project aims to combine field data from fibre optic temperature sensing, radio-isotopes, and remote sensing into streamflow and ....Predicting groundwater replenishment in arid catchments. Australia is the world's driest continent, and reliant on groundwater for survival and livelihood. A clear understanding of how our groundwater is replenished is therefore imperative. Groundwater recharge is difficult to quantify because it occurs as infiltration beneath streambeds in response to rain events. This project aims to combine field data from fibre optic temperature sensing, radio-isotopes, and remote sensing into streamflow and catchment scale models to characterise connections between infiltration and recharge in an Australian catchment. The project aims to produce easily applicable tools to predict aquifer replenishment after storm events and predictions of groundwater availability under future climate conditions.Read moreRead less