Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plant ....Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plants and which plant species have the best adaptation and regeneration potential under extreme conditions such as heat, frost and drought. Benefits of the project include innovative land management and rehabilitation solutions, to safeguard Australia's alpine areas under changing environmental conditions.Read moreRead less
Towards operational monitoring of key climate parameters from synthetic aperture radar. Agricultural productivity is a major contributor to the Australian economy, but is experiencing significant stress in response to climate change. Moreover, soil moisture controls vegetation dynamics that contribute to carbon storage, atmospheric processes leading to severe weather, and runoff generation processes leading to floods and runoff yield from urban water storage catchments. Consequently, high reso ....Towards operational monitoring of key climate parameters from synthetic aperture radar. Agricultural productivity is a major contributor to the Australian economy, but is experiencing significant stress in response to climate change. Moreover, soil moisture controls vegetation dynamics that contribute to carbon storage, atmospheric processes leading to severe weather, and runoff generation processes leading to floods and runoff yield from urban water storage catchments. Consequently, high resolution time-series information on soil moisture and vegetation status from space represents a powerful tool for understanding climate change impacts on Australia. It is therefore imperative that products be developed specifically for the Australian environment to take full advantage of radar data from satellites.Read moreRead less