Algorithms for change detection based on finite sample system identification theory. Detection of abrupt changes has many important applications. One particular application that will be investigated is leak detection in irrigation channels. As agriculture accounts for about 80% of Australia's water usage, the timely detection of leaks means that corrective actions can be taken early which will lead to large water savings and significant environmental benefits. The developed methods can be design ....Algorithms for change detection based on finite sample system identification theory. Detection of abrupt changes has many important applications. One particular application that will be investigated is leak detection in irrigation channels. As agriculture accounts for about 80% of Australia's water usage, the timely detection of leaks means that corrective actions can be taken early which will lead to large water savings and significant environmental benefits. The developed methods can be designed with any false alarm rate. This is important since frequent false alarms lead to wasted resources and operators will stop using the system. The technology once developed can be transferred to many other application areas such as urban water supplies, pipelines for oil and gas, and the process and manufacturing industries.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
Model quality evaluation from finite data sets. Models of dynamical systems are used in many areas of science and engineering. There will always be uncertainties associated with a model, and in this project we will develop a tool for assessing this uncertainty. Having a good description of the uncertainty will depending on the application, lead to better designs, more efficient operations, better decision making etc. One particular application area of this research is to quantify the uncertainti ....Model quality evaluation from finite data sets. Models of dynamical systems are used in many areas of science and engineering. There will always be uncertainties associated with a model, and in this project we will develop a tool for assessing this uncertainty. Having a good description of the uncertainty will depending on the application, lead to better designs, more efficient operations, better decision making etc. One particular application area of this research is to quantify the uncertainties in models of irrigation channels. This will allow us to design better systems for regulation of water levels and flows, leading to large water savings and significant environmental benefits.
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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
Image Based Visual Servo Control of Dynamic Under-Actuated Systems. The project builds on earlier work on visual servo control of under-actuated rigid body dynamics to develop and implement sophisticated and robust image based visual servo control for a wide class of under-actuated and fully actuated dynamic systems. The scope of the project extends far beyond basic testing of preliminary results to address key technical issues facing visual servo control algorithms at this time. The project i ....Image Based Visual Servo Control of Dynamic Under-Actuated Systems. The project builds on earlier work on visual servo control of under-actuated rigid body dynamics to develop and implement sophisticated and robust image based visual servo control for a wide class of under-actuated and fully actuated dynamic systems. The scope of the project extends far beyond basic testing of preliminary results to address key technical issues facing visual servo control algorithms at this time. The project is strongly motivated by the host of emerging applications for visual servo control of unmanned aerial vehicles. The experimental program within the project is based on control of a four rotor VTOL `hoverbot'.Read moreRead less
DESIGNING LAND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT MODERN LAND MARKETS. Economies require successful land markets to generate wealth. Our land administration systems are expensive but essential infrastructure for land markets. However, since they were designed 150 years ago, the market has invented complex commodities: time shares, unit and property trusts, financial instruments, mortgage backed certificates, insurance products, options, corporate development instruments, vertical villages, and ....DESIGNING LAND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT MODERN LAND MARKETS. Economies require successful land markets to generate wealth. Our land administration systems are expensive but essential infrastructure for land markets. However, since they were designed 150 years ago, the market has invented complex commodities: time shares, unit and property trusts, financial instruments, mortgage backed certificates, insurance products, options, corporate development instruments, vertical villages, and more. The project will explain how modern land markets evolved and how land administration systems can be adapted to provide more efficient land trading and better support for trading in new complex commodities. Read moreRead less
Data integration, scale and classification of remotely sensed imagery. This project will investigate and resolve the specific problems associated with processing, interpreting and classifying high-resolution satellite imagery. Previous work has shown that current algorithms developed for lower resolution remote sensing data are not appropriate for processing higher resolution data. New algorithms will be developed for geometrically and radiometrically processing high-resolution satellite data ....Data integration, scale and classification of remotely sensed imagery. This project will investigate and resolve the specific problems associated with processing, interpreting and classifying high-resolution satellite imagery. Previous work has shown that current algorithms developed for lower resolution remote sensing data are not appropriate for processing higher resolution data. New algorithms will be developed for geometrically and radiometrically processing high-resolution satellite data so that it can be interpreted in conjunction with other similar data, or existing lower resolution data. Consequently, the potential uses of high resolution satellite imagery will be greatly increased, allowing many more users to access the advantages of this unique source of data.Read moreRead less
Control and safety monitoring systems for large scale irrigation networks. The water losses in irrigation channels in Australia are large, but they can be substantially reduced by employing advanced control and monitoring systems, leading to significant environmental benefits. Due to the large size of the irrigation networks, design of control and monitoring systems represents technical challenges for which there are currently no good methodologies. In this project we will develop design methodo ....Control and safety monitoring systems for large scale irrigation networks. The water losses in irrigation channels in Australia are large, but they can be substantially reduced by employing advanced control and monitoring systems, leading to significant environmental benefits. Due to the large size of the irrigation networks, design of control and monitoring systems represents technical challenges for which there are currently no good methodologies. In this project we will develop design methodologies, and in particular we will focus on issues relating to the communication constraints arising since data are transmitted over a radio network and the trade off between robustness and performance in centralised and decentralised designs.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