A Stochastic Spatial Rainfall Model for Engineering Risk Assessment. Current Australian hydrologic design practice is moving towards use of continuous simulation to more accurately evaluate the performance of the water-related infrastructure for managing floods and droughts. A major impediment is the inability to simulate the temporal and spatial variability of rainfall. This project aims to develop a stochastic rainfall model that will simulate long records of representative six-minute duration ....A Stochastic Spatial Rainfall Model for Engineering Risk Assessment. Current Australian hydrologic design practice is moving towards use of continuous simulation to more accurately evaluate the performance of the water-related infrastructure for managing floods and droughts. A major impediment is the inability to simulate the temporal and spatial variability of rainfall. This project aims to develop a stochastic rainfall model that will simulate long records of representative six-minute duration rainfall throughout the target region. The proposal introduces a three-level hierarchical model of space-time rainfall building on experience of a point rainfall model developed in previous ARC research. Practical issues dealing with data quality and validation will also be addressed.Read moreRead less
A stochastic space-time model of rainfall fields in large heterogeneous regions. The extreme temporal and spatial variability of Australia's rainfall affects the quantity and quality of its water resources, the productivity of its agricultural systems, and its aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Given the impact of extreme events such as droughts and floods and given the massive investment in water-related infrastructure, evaluation of such risks is an issue of national economic, social and envi ....A stochastic space-time model of rainfall fields in large heterogeneous regions. The extreme temporal and spatial variability of Australia's rainfall affects the quantity and quality of its water resources, the productivity of its agricultural systems, and its aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Given the impact of extreme events such as droughts and floods and given the massive investment in water-related infrastructure, evaluation of such risks is an issue of national economic, social and environmental significance. Stochastic space-time rainfall models enable rainfall and climatic variability to be quantified, simulated over arbitrarily long periods, and risks assessed. This research will provide software and the development of rainfall modelling frameworks for large river basins such as the Murray-Darling.Read moreRead less
Mathematical models for water management systems. The Australian community is currently talking about schemes to return water to the Murray-Darling river system to combat increased salinity and dramatically reduced river flow. Many believe that vastly improved water management policies are essential to maintain agricultural well-being in Australia. Salinity and water quality depend directly on flow rates and are also important in smaller catchments. In this study we will use statistical rainf ....Mathematical models for water management systems. The Australian community is currently talking about schemes to return water to the Murray-Darling river system to combat increased salinity and dramatically reduced river flow. Many believe that vastly improved water management policies are essential to maintain agricultural well-being in Australia. Salinity and water quality depend directly on flow rates and are also important in smaller catchments. In this study we will use statistical rainfall models and stochastic dynamic programming to find practical water management policies that minimise the risk to water supply. We will develop an interactive simulation and management tool using a modern computer graphics package.Read moreRead less
A graphical simulation package for optimal management and risk assessment in urban stormwater harvesting systems. We will develop a Scalar Vector Graphics (SVG) simulation tool for optimal management and risk assessment in urban stormwater harvesting and utilisation schemes. The generic model will be applied to existing and proposed schemes within the City of Salisbury (CoS) and will include a capture dam, one or more storage dams and an aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) facility. The discret ....A graphical simulation package for optimal management and risk assessment in urban stormwater harvesting systems. We will develop a Scalar Vector Graphics (SVG) simulation tool for optimal management and risk assessment in urban stormwater harvesting and utilisation schemes. The generic model will be applied to existing and proposed schemes within the City of Salisbury (CoS) and will include a capture dam, one or more storage dams and an aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) facility. The discrete state vector will be the content of each storage unit and the daily transition will be driven by a new stochastic rainfall model (SRM). The objective will be to find a practical management policy that minimises Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR).Read moreRead less
Risk assessment for environmental health in Adelaide based on weather, air pollution and population health outcomes. This is the first systematic assessment of the effect of climate variation and air pollution on population health in an Australian temperate region. It is one of the ARC's research priorities (PG 7: Responding to climate change and variability). The results will provide a more complete picture of association among air pollution, climate variability and population health in Austral ....Risk assessment for environmental health in Adelaide based on weather, air pollution and population health outcomes. This is the first systematic assessment of the effect of climate variation and air pollution on population health in an Australian temperate region. It is one of the ARC's research priorities (PG 7: Responding to climate change and variability). The results will provide a more complete picture of association among air pollution, climate variability and population health in Australia. They will also provide important information to policy-makers and communities for their relevant actions, including changes in resource management systems and the operation of these systems, a range of socioeconomic actions, infrastructure establishment, disaster prevention and emergency events response regulation, and health education and promotion campaigns.Read moreRead less
A new flood design methodology for a variable and changing climate. The extreme temporal and spatial variability of Australia's rainfall affects the quantity and quality of water resources, the productivity of agricultural systems, and aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Given the impact of extreme events such as floods and the massive investment in water-related infrastructure, evaluation of these risks is an issue of national economic and environmental significance. Monte Carlo simulation tech ....A new flood design methodology for a variable and changing climate. The extreme temporal and spatial variability of Australia's rainfall affects the quantity and quality of water resources, the productivity of agricultural systems, and aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Given the impact of extreme events such as floods and the massive investment in water-related infrastructure, evaluation of these risks is an issue of national economic and environmental significance. Monte Carlo simulation techniques will quantify the risks associated with current and future climate change, and the combined risks that come from multiple sources, such as from coastal tides and storm runoff. This research will provide a new spatial framework for calculating risk as well as tools to evaluate flood risk.Read moreRead less
The history of North Stradbroke Island's wetlands: defining natural climate variability in south-east Queensland and improving ecosystem management. South-east Queensland has among the fastest growing populations in Australia. It has also experienced severe drought lasting more than a decade. These combined pressures have led to the expenditure of more than $9 Billion on water resource development. However, it is not known whether the current drought is part of a natural cycle (or, importantly, ....The history of North Stradbroke Island's wetlands: defining natural climate variability in south-east Queensland and improving ecosystem management. South-east Queensland has among the fastest growing populations in Australia. It has also experienced severe drought lasting more than a decade. These combined pressures have led to the expenditure of more than $9 Billion on water resource development. However, it is not known whether the current drought is part of a natural cycle (or, importantly, if it represents the worst extremes in such a cycle). We will determine whether this is the case and, in doing so, contribute to national and international debates about the role of human-induced vs natural climate change.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989624
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$200,000.00
Summary
A high performance stable-isotope microanalytical facility for environmental Earth science and climate change research. Australia is exceptionally well positioned to play a lead role in the international effort to predict climate change, human impacts on the environment, and great submarine earthquakes and tsunamis. The new-generation stable-isotope microanalytical facility will give Australia unprecedented technical and modelling capacities and maximise the impact of high-profile research in th ....A high performance stable-isotope microanalytical facility for environmental Earth science and climate change research. Australia is exceptionally well positioned to play a lead role in the international effort to predict climate change, human impacts on the environment, and great submarine earthquakes and tsunamis. The new-generation stable-isotope microanalytical facility will give Australia unprecedented technical and modelling capacities and maximise the impact of high-profile research in the earth sciences. Every Australasian nation will benefit from new knowledge that is essential to address civilisation's most serious environmental threats. The new facilities will foster outstanding opportunities for collaboration, post-graduate education, and research training with outcomes that will engage the public in the excitement of scientific discovery.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100141
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality c ....High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality changes, pollution histories, recent geomorphological change, land-use change, introduction of invasive species and the occurrence of bushfires. A better understanding of the occurrence and timing of these major environmental issues is of national and regional importance.Read moreRead less