Cause and effect: new mechanisms of particles formation in thunderstorms. This project aims to identify meaningful and specific indicators for predicting particle formation and alteration during thunderstorms. How thunderstorms develop is well-understood. However, identifying meaningful and specific indicators for predicting particle alteration during a thunderstorm is still not clear. This project will practically contribute to the evidence of the impact of air particulates, thereby having dire ....Cause and effect: new mechanisms of particles formation in thunderstorms. This project aims to identify meaningful and specific indicators for predicting particle formation and alteration during thunderstorms. How thunderstorms develop is well-understood. However, identifying meaningful and specific indicators for predicting particle alteration during a thunderstorm is still not clear. This project will practically contribute to the evidence of the impact of air particulates, thereby having direct implications for meteorological, and air pollution policy in Australia and worldwide. This project will allow researchers to understand the impact of these factors on the escalation of the causative effects, and to find a way to prevent unnecessary fatal outcomes.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
Resolving the role of dryland flooding in the global carbon cycle. Aquatic sources of carbon dioxide and methane are globally significant, but unknown for flooded drylands. The aim of this project is to use an innovative combination of well-integrated methodologies to determine if flooded drylands release large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. This project is significant because this release of carbon dioxide and methane has not previously been accounted for and may change the magnitude of ....Resolving the role of dryland flooding in the global carbon cycle. Aquatic sources of carbon dioxide and methane are globally significant, but unknown for flooded drylands. The aim of this project is to use an innovative combination of well-integrated methodologies to determine if flooded drylands release large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. This project is significant because this release of carbon dioxide and methane has not previously been accounted for and may change the magnitude of the global terrestrial carbon dioxide sink and account of some of the planet’s missing sources of methane. The outcomes of this project will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the global carbon cycle and earth climate system, and inform future management of these systems.
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Impact of redox condition on emerging contaminants fate. This project aims to improve our ability to predict the environmental drivers that control the fate of contaminants of emerging concern in the subsurface. Emerging contaminants are a concern due to their potential negative ecosystem and health outcomes. Prediction of their environmental fate will be of benefit as it will help ensure the safety of our drinking water sources and ensure that water sources are fit for purpose. With increasing ....Impact of redox condition on emerging contaminants fate. This project aims to improve our ability to predict the environmental drivers that control the fate of contaminants of emerging concern in the subsurface. Emerging contaminants are a concern due to their potential negative ecosystem and health outcomes. Prediction of their environmental fate will be of benefit as it will help ensure the safety of our drinking water sources and ensure that water sources are fit for purpose. With increasing pressure on our precious water resources prediction of the risks to this resource is essential. Expected outcomes are of significance as they will include a much improved ability to predict and control the ultimate fate of emerging contaminants in our water sources.Read moreRead less
Tracking flood waters over Australia using space gravity data. This project aims to assess the utility of near-real-time data from the currently operating space gravity satellite mission to quantify and track flood waters in Australia. Through analysis of the satellite data and fusion of observed signals with rainfall, river flows and conventional hydrological modelling, it expects to create new knowledge of soil moisture and movement of flood waters. Expected outcomes include a capability to im ....Tracking flood waters over Australia using space gravity data. This project aims to assess the utility of near-real-time data from the currently operating space gravity satellite mission to quantify and track flood waters in Australia. Through analysis of the satellite data and fusion of observed signals with rainfall, river flows and conventional hydrological modelling, it expects to create new knowledge of soil moisture and movement of flood waters. Expected outcomes include a capability to improve hydrological models by including the information of water signals obtained from the near-real-time observations. This should provide significant benefits such as more accurate land saturation maps and better predictions of runoff and flood risk.Read moreRead less
Cloud-climate interaction over the Great Barrier Reef and Southwest Pacific. This project aims to investigate cloud-climate interactions of the Southwest Pacific trade wind region from the regional scale to local forcing over the Great Barrier Reef. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the nature and variability of the trade wind clouds, including their impact on the surface radiative budget, ocean temperatures and coral bleaching events. Potential changes of these clouds due to glob ....Cloud-climate interaction over the Great Barrier Reef and Southwest Pacific. This project aims to investigate cloud-climate interactions of the Southwest Pacific trade wind region from the regional scale to local forcing over the Great Barrier Reef. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the nature and variability of the trade wind clouds, including their impact on the surface radiative budget, ocean temperatures and coral bleaching events. Potential changes of these clouds due to global warming and ensuing impacts on the environment will be studied. Expected outcomes include better modelling of the Great Barrier Reef environment and improved estimates of low-cloud feedback. This should provide significant benefits in developing warning systems for bleaching events, and regional land and water management. Read moreRead less
Local climate changes caused by large bushfire burnt areas. This project aims to quantify the impact on local climate produced by large burnt areas after extreme bushfires. This project expects to generate new knowledge on these previously unexplored fire-scar induced changes to local climate. It will extend an innovative approach that combines satellite based earth observation with very high resolution regional climate modelling to quantify the impacts on land-atmosphere feedbacks and local cli ....Local climate changes caused by large bushfire burnt areas. This project aims to quantify the impact on local climate produced by large burnt areas after extreme bushfires. This project expects to generate new knowledge on these previously unexplored fire-scar induced changes to local climate. It will extend an innovative approach that combines satellite based earth observation with very high resolution regional climate modelling to quantify the impacts on land-atmosphere feedbacks and local climate. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced methods to quantify local climate changes after extreme fires and their effect on vegetation recovery. This should provide significant benefits to the planning for, and management of, vegetation recovery after extreme fires.Read moreRead less
Mixed Mode Torsion-Shear-Bending Failure in SFRC Elements . In 2017 and 2018 the Australian Standards for the design of concrete bridges and structures were released; these are some of the first in the world, to include design procedures for steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) in a comprehensive way. While rules have been introduced for shear and bending of SFRC girders, the rules exclude the use fibres to carry torsional moments. This study investigates the torsion-bending-shear interaction ....Mixed Mode Torsion-Shear-Bending Failure in SFRC Elements . In 2017 and 2018 the Australian Standards for the design of concrete bridges and structures were released; these are some of the first in the world, to include design procedures for steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) in a comprehensive way. While rules have been introduced for shear and bending of SFRC girders, the rules exclude the use fibres to carry torsional moments. This study investigates the torsion-bending-shear interaction performance of SFRC members. The study will provide vital data needed for for adoption by engineers and Standards bodies.Read moreRead less
An in-built depolymerisation solution for polyethylene waste. This project aims to design enzymes that can be embedded into polyethylene, and later activated by the elevated temperatures of a compost heap, to depolymerise the plastic to small molecules. There are no good options available for the controlled decomposition of polyethylene waste at present, and instead researchers have focussed on solutions that rely on modifications to the underlying chemistry of the backbone and or collection to ....An in-built depolymerisation solution for polyethylene waste. This project aims to design enzymes that can be embedded into polyethylene, and later activated by the elevated temperatures of a compost heap, to depolymerise the plastic to small molecules. There are no good options available for the controlled decomposition of polyethylene waste at present, and instead researchers have focussed on solutions that rely on modifications to the underlying chemistry of the backbone and or collection to a central facility. Our approach would result in an in-built decomposition that does not require collection and recycling in a central facility. Since it is based on a depolymerisation mechanism it does not result in the production of harmful, partially disintegrated microplastics.Read moreRead less
The role of vegetated foreshores in stabilising Australia's shorelines. This project aims to improve Australia's capacity to predict shoreline position with sea level rise, identify the role of vegetation in foreshore stabilisation and determine thresholds for shoreline retreat by quantifying the links between biological, geomorphological and sedimentary processes and shoreline position. Sea level rise and potential increases in storminess are predicted to lead to severe impacts and there is an ....The role of vegetated foreshores in stabilising Australia's shorelines. This project aims to improve Australia's capacity to predict shoreline position with sea level rise, identify the role of vegetation in foreshore stabilisation and determine thresholds for shoreline retreat by quantifying the links between biological, geomorphological and sedimentary processes and shoreline position. Sea level rise and potential increases in storminess are predicted to lead to severe impacts and there is an immediate and critical need to understand and accurately predict the functioning, dynamics, and distribution of Australia's coastal zones. Expected outcomes of this interdisciplinary project include an integrated modelling framework crucial for planning and management of sea level rise responses in Australia.Read moreRead less