Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will appl ....Hydrogeological drivers and fate of spring flow in a semi-arid setting. In arid and semi-arid climates, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems often rely on groundwater springs. Spring hydrology depends on complex relationships between underlying aquifers and surface conditions, leading to high uncertainties in understanding aquifer-spring-wetland hydrology, which is critical for spring ecosystem protection and to inform management of relevant groundwater-affecting activities. This project will apply novel hydrogeophysical and hydrochemical methods, and computer modelling, to investigate the source aquifer of, and fate of discharge from the Doongmabulla Springs Complex (DSC), located in an area of future development. Project results will inform spring vulnerability to development pressures and climate effects.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100852
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$455,766.00
Summary
Breathing streams: integrating aquatic emissions into carbon budgets. This project aims to determine the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by small streams across the Australian tropics, a potential hotspot for emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. The project expects to investigate the controls on gaseous emissions from stream to regional scales using a novel combination of gas tracer experiments, remote sensing techniques and machine learning algorithms. Expected outcomes include the devel ....Breathing streams: integrating aquatic emissions into carbon budgets. This project aims to determine the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by small streams across the Australian tropics, a potential hotspot for emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. The project expects to investigate the controls on gaseous emissions from stream to regional scales using a novel combination of gas tracer experiments, remote sensing techniques and machine learning algorithms. Expected outcomes include the development of a predictive model of gas exchange and the first estimate of gaseous emissions from the Australian tropics. This should provide significant benefits such as reducing uncertainties on the national carbon budget and avoiding misalignment of greenhouse gas abatement policies.Read moreRead less
Linking terrestrial–aquatic fluxes to rectify the Australian carbon balance. This project aims to rectify the Australian carbon balance by determining the amount of terrestrial carbon that is lost to streams and rivers across the country. Through a novel integration of high-resolution hydrochemical and gas measurements, remote sensing and machine learning algorithms, the project intends to generate new knowledge about the links between terrestrial carbon sequestration and aquatic carbon export. ....Linking terrestrial–aquatic fluxes to rectify the Australian carbon balance. This project aims to rectify the Australian carbon balance by determining the amount of terrestrial carbon that is lost to streams and rivers across the country. Through a novel integration of high-resolution hydrochemical and gas measurements, remote sensing and machine learning algorithms, the project intends to generate new knowledge about the links between terrestrial carbon sequestration and aquatic carbon export. Expected outcomes include a refined estimate of the net carbon sequestration potential across Australian biomes and seasons. This should provide significant benefits such as avoiding misalignment of greenhouse gas abatement policies and advancing carbon cycling models and predictions.Read moreRead less
Identifying critical thresholds to prioritise lake restoration. This project aims to conduct a global assessment of lake water quality and prioritise lakes for restoration. This project expects to generate new understanding of trends in lake condition based on application of geospatial frameworks and models for nutrient loads and in-lake trophic state. This information will help to quantify the magnitude of actions required to restore lakes at landscape scale. The intended outcome is a global at ....Identifying critical thresholds to prioritise lake restoration. This project aims to conduct a global assessment of lake water quality and prioritise lakes for restoration. This project expects to generate new understanding of trends in lake condition based on application of geospatial frameworks and models for nutrient loads and in-lake trophic state. This information will help to quantify the magnitude of actions required to restore lakes at landscape scale. The intended outcome is a global atlas linking catchment hydrology, nutrient loads and lake attributes. Expected outcomes of this project include improved methods to predict effects of land use and climate change on lakes across the globe, and recommendations to water resource managers on investing in the restoration of lakes across the landscape.Read moreRead less
Australia's variable rainfall - how dry or wet can it really get? Australia’s rainfall is extremely variable, which means existing weather records are too short to calculate the true risk posed by droughts and floods. This project aims to quantify how naturally variable the rainfall coming from the Indo-Pacific mid-latitudes is, allowing recent rainfall extremes and future projections to be assessed in a long-term context. This project expects to produce new estimates of atmospheric moisture bud ....Australia's variable rainfall - how dry or wet can it really get? Australia’s rainfall is extremely variable, which means existing weather records are too short to calculate the true risk posed by droughts and floods. This project aims to quantify how naturally variable the rainfall coming from the Indo-Pacific mid-latitudes is, allowing recent rainfall extremes and future projections to be assessed in a long-term context. This project expects to produce new estimates of atmospheric moisture budgets between Australia and Antarctica based on a novel, 1000-year length reconstruction of moisture-bearing southern Indian Ocean storms. This new information is critically needed by water managers so that they can properly calculate (and ultimately prepare for) the worst of Australia’s rainfall-related risks.Read moreRead less