Defining and developing a marine cadastre for Australia. Australia's ocean territories cover an area 1.5 times larger than the nation's land mass. Systems for the management and administration of land in a spatial context have been developed over many years but no such system exists for the nation's oceans. A marine cadastre aims at providing a comprehensive spatial data infrastructure and spatial analysis tools for the assessment, administration and management of rights, restrictions and respo ....Defining and developing a marine cadastre for Australia. Australia's ocean territories cover an area 1.5 times larger than the nation's land mass. Systems for the management and administration of land in a spatial context have been developed over many years but no such system exists for the nation's oceans. A marine cadastre aims at providing a comprehensive spatial data infrastructure and spatial analysis tools for the assessment, administration and management of rights, restrictions and responsibilities in the marine environment. The objective of this project is to investigate the issues and define the problems associated with the development of a marine cadastre, thereby providing the foundation for future research.Read moreRead less
Efffective Management of Water Resources in Semiarid Regions Using Remote Sensing. Due to the vast expense and difficulties to access many areas from the ground, there is currently no effective system for assessing and managing water resources over many large semi-arid regions of the world. Through the study of two complementary Basins - The Murray and Lake Chad Basins - we propose a new approach based on satellite imagery to provide regular and detailed information on the state of our water res ....Efffective Management of Water Resources in Semiarid Regions Using Remote Sensing. Due to the vast expense and difficulties to access many areas from the ground, there is currently no effective system for assessing and managing water resources over many large semi-arid regions of the world. Through the study of two complementary Basins - The Murray and Lake Chad Basins - we propose a new approach based on satellite imagery to provide regular and detailed information on the state of our water resources in these areas. These innovative techniques will yield new information on critical water issues: water availability, salinity, groundwater/surface water interactions, climate and land use change impact. This project provides the basis for sustainable water use in regional Australia.Read moreRead less
Satellite based monitoring system of lakes and wetlands water quality. Effectively managing water resources within Australia is critical for social and economic growth. The large-scale of Australian catchments means that many lakes are unmonitored due to time and costs required for on-ground programs. This research project directly addresses the lack of observations. Information on water quality from satellite, on-ground, and modeling investigations are integrated to develop an operational moni ....Satellite based monitoring system of lakes and wetlands water quality. Effectively managing water resources within Australia is critical for social and economic growth. The large-scale of Australian catchments means that many lakes are unmonitored due to time and costs required for on-ground programs. This research project directly addresses the lack of observations. Information on water quality from satellite, on-ground, and modeling investigations are integrated to develop an operational monitoring system for surface water quality. Results are used to model the sensitivity of the water quality to changes in climate and land use. The monitoring system can be used to protect catchment assets by risk assessment and provide insights into management scenarios.Read moreRead less
Ambient spatial intelligence: Spatial analysis and event detection in environmental geosensor networks. This project will design and test innovative new decentralised algorithms for responding to spatiotemporal queries in environmental monitoring networks. The research is essential for constructing larger, denser, and more reliable networks, helping to embed spatial intelligence within the environment itself (ambient spatial intelligence). The project builds on Australia's existing research exce ....Ambient spatial intelligence: Spatial analysis and event detection in environmental geosensor networks. This project will design and test innovative new decentralised algorithms for responding to spatiotemporal queries in environmental monitoring networks. The research is essential for constructing larger, denser, and more reliable networks, helping to embed spatial intelligence within the environment itself (ambient spatial intelligence). The project builds on Australia's existing research excellence in geographic information science. By making smarter use of spatial information, the project will further strengthen Australia's world-leading spatial information industry, and support sustainable and economic environmental management through important applications like conservation contracts and carbon sequestration monitoring.Read moreRead less
High-Accuracy Geopositioning from High-Resolution Satellite Imagery. The new technology of high-resolution satellite imaging (HRSI) is revolutionising geospatial information generation for digital mapping, GIS and remote sensing. This project will investigate the metric potential of HRSI and specifically high-accuracy 3D geopositioning. The research will address fundamental issues of imaging sensor orientation modelling, multi-image matching and terrain model extraction. New and refined algorith ....High-Accuracy Geopositioning from High-Resolution Satellite Imagery. The new technology of high-resolution satellite imaging (HRSI) is revolutionising geospatial information generation for digital mapping, GIS and remote sensing. This project will investigate the metric potential of HRSI and specifically high-accuracy 3D geopositioning. The research will address fundamental issues of imaging sensor orientation modelling, multi-image matching and terrain model extraction. New and refined algorithms and computational schemes will be formulated and implemented in software. These developments will then be evaluated through comprehensive experimental testing using Ikonos and Quickbird satellite imagery, with the expected project outcomes being new, experimentally validated computational models, which will advance geospatial information generation from HRSI.Read moreRead less
The Integration of Built and Natural Environmental Datasets in National Spatial Data Infrastructure Initiatives. Delivering sustainable development nationally assumes knowledge about the natural and built environment. This requires access to data about these two environments which is facilitated by establishing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The problem in Australia is that the states are the custodians of large to medium built and natural datasets while the Federal Government is ....The Integration of Built and Natural Environmental Datasets in National Spatial Data Infrastructure Initiatives. Delivering sustainable development nationally assumes knowledge about the natural and built environment. This requires access to data about these two environments which is facilitated by establishing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The problem in Australia is that the states are the custodians of large to medium built and natural datasets while the Federal Government is the custodian of small scale natural datasets. While Australia has seen some success, the integration of these datasets is hampered by jurisdictional, institutional, administrative and legal issues. This research will investigate the differences in these forms of data and the justification and policy framework to integrate them in a NSDI.Read moreRead less
Digital Colour Sensing in Vision Metrology. This project will develop the necessary new image processing algorithms, computational models and signalisation strategies to facilitate a significantly higher precision measurement capability for vision metrology (VM) systems incorporating colour digital cameras. VM systems for 3D industrial and engineering measurement currently employ panchromatic digital cameras, because the colour filter arrays used in colour cameras adversely affect image mensurat ....Digital Colour Sensing in Vision Metrology. This project will develop the necessary new image processing algorithms, computational models and signalisation strategies to facilitate a significantly higher precision measurement capability for vision metrology (VM) systems incorporating colour digital cameras. VM systems for 3D industrial and engineering measurement currently employ panchromatic digital cameras, because the colour filter arrays used in colour cameras adversely affect image mensuration accuracy. Yet, off-the-shelf colour cameras are ubiquitous and have advantages of ready availability and cheaper cost. This research will overcome the limitations of colour sensors and enable both a broader range of 3D measurement applications and an enhanced commercial potential for VM.Read moreRead less
Fusion of Laser Ranging Data and Imagery for Generation of 3D Virtual Models. The creation of image texture-mapped, three-dimensional (3D) digital models of object scenes is becoming increasingly more important in virtual reality generation. Visually realistic computer models find application in reverse engineering and industrial metrology and design, but their utility is often limited by shortcomings in accuracy and completeness. This project aims, through a fusion of laser scanner data and dig ....Fusion of Laser Ranging Data and Imagery for Generation of 3D Virtual Models. The creation of image texture-mapped, three-dimensional (3D) digital models of object scenes is becoming increasingly more important in virtual reality generation. Visually realistic computer models find application in reverse engineering and industrial metrology and design, but their utility is often limited by shortcomings in accuracy and completeness. This project aims, through a fusion of laser scanner data and digital photogrammetric imagery, to develop improved mathematical models and computational systems to facilitate advances in automated 3D object reconstruction for high-definition, metrically accurate photo-realistic digital models. The principal outcome from the project will be enhanced 3D computer modelling for engineering applications.
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CEWAY: Cognitively ergonomic wayfinding directions for location-based services. This project develops qualitative models of wayfinding directions based on landmarks (e.g., 'to the hospital') and common spatial predicates (e.g. 'near to'). These models provide a basis for selecting salient features in different contexts and combining these features with vague spatial predicates. Such wayfinding directions require less cognitive workload and lead to higher success rates in wayfinding than current ....CEWAY: Cognitively ergonomic wayfinding directions for location-based services. This project develops qualitative models of wayfinding directions based on landmarks (e.g., 'to the hospital') and common spatial predicates (e.g. 'near to'). These models provide a basis for selecting salient features in different contexts and combining these features with vague spatial predicates. Such wayfinding directions require less cognitive workload and lead to higher success rates in wayfinding than current approaches. The project develops an integrated formal model of context-dependent salience and navigation under uncertainty. A demonstrator will be implemented based on the industry partners' software platform and data. Human subject tests using the demonstrator software will be used to verify the efficacy of our approach.Read moreRead less
Automatic fusion of geoinformation: The intelligent geo-mediator architecture (iGMA). The efficient integration of geographic information from different sources (termed geoinformation fusion) is recognized internationally as a major problem for projects that rely on geographic information. Conventional geoinformation fusion procedures require manual assistance from human experts. This project will lead to increased speed, reliability, and economy for this task, by automating the process of geoin ....Automatic fusion of geoinformation: The intelligent geo-mediator architecture (iGMA). The efficient integration of geographic information from different sources (termed geoinformation fusion) is recognized internationally as a major problem for projects that rely on geographic information. Conventional geoinformation fusion procedures require manual assistance from human experts. This project will lead to increased speed, reliability, and economy for this task, by automating the process of geoinformation fusion. Many different application domains will benefit from these improvements to geoinformation fusion procedures, including emergency response systems (for example, helping to combine different data about the structural characteristics of buildings as part of a housing damage assessment following an earthquake).Read moreRead less