Synthesis of Activated Carbon Supported Zero Valent Iron Nanoparticles and Application to Contaminant Degradation in Benthic Sediments. Sediment contamination is a major problem in harbours and estuaries around Australia. For example, in Sydney Harbour, a total fishing ban has been implemented as a result of excessive levels of dioxins and benzofurans in fish tissues. There is also concern at the possibility of large scale contamination of Botany Bay as a result of historic industrial activity a ....Synthesis of Activated Carbon Supported Zero Valent Iron Nanoparticles and Application to Contaminant Degradation in Benthic Sediments. Sediment contamination is a major problem in harbours and estuaries around Australia. For example, in Sydney Harbour, a total fishing ban has been implemented as a result of excessive levels of dioxins and benzofurans in fish tissues. There is also concern at the possibility of large scale contamination of Botany Bay as a result of historic industrial activity around the Bay. While dredging and on-land treatment of sediments is being adopted at the most severely contaminated sites, the cost of this approach is exorbitant. For sites where removal of contaminated sediments cannot be justified, the approach proposed in this study of a technology that entraps contaminants and enhances their in situ biodegradation is potentially a way forward.Read moreRead less
Economic Analysis of an Environmental Challenge: Salinity, Uncertainty and Property. The applicability of standard property-rights solutions to complex environmental issues such as salinity is examined. Water and carbon trading, as well as issues relating to agricultural land management are addressed. In particular, the use of price instruments as a potentially more attractive mechanism than standard quantity instruments for achieving desirable outcomes is examined. The project will exploit and ....Economic Analysis of an Environmental Challenge: Salinity, Uncertainty and Property. The applicability of standard property-rights solutions to complex environmental issues such as salinity is examined. Water and carbon trading, as well as issues relating to agricultural land management are addressed. In particular, the use of price instruments as a potentially more attractive mechanism than standard quantity instruments for achieving desirable outcomes is examined. The project will exploit and extend recent theoretical developments in modelling under conditions of uncertainty, and the use of price and quantity instruments in regulatory contexts.Read moreRead less
Three-dimensional property ownership map base for smart urban land administration. Three-dimensional property ownership map base for smart urban land administration. This project aims to support smart urban land administration by upgrading a two-dimensional (2D) property ownership map base to a three-dimensional (3D) map base, using 3D digital data from regulatory subdivision processes. The map base coherently represents all land-based parcels, and provides valuable intelligence used to make lan ....Three-dimensional property ownership map base for smart urban land administration. Three-dimensional property ownership map base for smart urban land administration. This project aims to support smart urban land administration by upgrading a two-dimensional (2D) property ownership map base to a three-dimensional (3D) map base, using 3D digital data from regulatory subdivision processes. The map base coherently represents all land-based parcels, and provides valuable intelligence used to make land and property decisions. The 2D map base omits above and underground properties and infrastructure common in urban settings, forcing stakeholders to rely on fragmented data streams. The 3D map base will provide a connected, digital source of intelligence about urban property objects. This is expected to reduce social and economic risks and enable more intelligent city planning and management.Read moreRead less
Climate variability, water allocation and land use change impacts on surface-groundwater interactions and salinity discharge. This project contributes to the national research priority of an Environmentally Sustainable Australia and its three sub-priorities: Water-a critical resource; Overcoming salinity and acidity; and Responding to climate change and variability as well as to the National Water Initiative goal: connected surface and groundwater resources managed as a single resource. These em ....Climate variability, water allocation and land use change impacts on surface-groundwater interactions and salinity discharge. This project contributes to the national research priority of an Environmentally Sustainable Australia and its three sub-priorities: Water-a critical resource; Overcoming salinity and acidity; and Responding to climate change and variability as well as to the National Water Initiative goal: connected surface and groundwater resources managed as a single resource. These embody the clear imperative in Australia to improve the management and use of our stream and groundwater systems in the face of long-term climate variability and changing water use. Knowledge gained from this study of coupled surface-groundwater systems in nationally important catchments will be used to improve water allocation and use strategies and salinity mitigation. Read moreRead less
SCANEM : A Scanning and Inspection Method for Urban Pipeline Systems. Water and sewage utilities are crucial factors limiting economic growth and urban amenity. However many of these facilities are subject to corrosion, fracture and collapse and new strategies are now required to provide a sound basis for systematic remediation and replacement. Suitable strategies involving a structural audit and statistical analysis have been proposed by CSIRO and Tyco Water. However new geophysical inspection ....SCANEM : A Scanning and Inspection Method for Urban Pipeline Systems. Water and sewage utilities are crucial factors limiting economic growth and urban amenity. However many of these facilities are subject to corrosion, fracture and collapse and new strategies are now required to provide a sound basis for systematic remediation and replacement. Suitable strategies involving a structural audit and statistical analysis have been proposed by CSIRO and Tyco Water. However new geophysical inspection methods are now required to provide the key physical parameters relating to pipeline condition. Hopefully the EM inspection tool resulting from this project will provide the industrial partners with a unique capacity to satisfy a major global market.Read moreRead less
More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the ....More bang for your carbon buck: carbon, biodiversity and water balance consequences of whole-catchment carbon farming. Farming carbon via tree plantings on pasture land is becoming increasingly common to address the effects of climate change. This activity is likely to produce dramatic changes in Australia's rural landscapes, but we have little knowledge of likely effects on crucial ecosystem services and attributes such as stream water yields and biodiversity. This project will investigate the relationship between tree cover, carbon uptake, water yield and biodiversity. The outcomes will allow government agencies, landowners and carbon farming groups to better evaluate the effects of different landscape planning options and contribute to effective long-term planning for multiple goals.Read moreRead less
Groundwater flow age distributions: Understanding open pit mine hydrology. This project aims to improve the estimation of the age of groundwater. Understanding groundwater age is critical for sustainable management and environmental tracers are increasingly used for this purpose. However, groundwater samples are inevitably mixtures of water of different ages. Since for most tracers the relationship between tracer concentration and age is not linear, different tracers can produce different mean a ....Groundwater flow age distributions: Understanding open pit mine hydrology. This project aims to improve the estimation of the age of groundwater. Understanding groundwater age is critical for sustainable management and environmental tracers are increasingly used for this purpose. However, groundwater samples are inevitably mixtures of water of different ages. Since for most tracers the relationship between tracer concentration and age is not linear, different tracers can produce different mean ages for the sample. This project aims to determine whether it is possible to determine moments of the groundwater age distributions from measurements made with different environmental tracers. The project also aims to examine whether the degree of heterogeneity within the aquifer can be determined from the disparity between ages obtained with different tracers. This project aims to tackle the largest problem with using groundwater chemistry to estimate water age – that mixing processes in the subsurface are never known. Solving this problem will allow much more accurate estimates of groundwater velocity and aquifer recharge rates. The groundwater industry contributes an estimated $6.8 billion per annum to the Australian economy, and this project will contribute to the sustainable management of the groundwater resource.Read moreRead less
Governance and economic incentives for reducing the contribution of tropical deforestation to climate change. The project will contribute toward global efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, thus mitigating the potential economic and environmental impacts of future climate change on Australia. Australia's neighbours will benefit from the project by putting them in a better position to gain financial transfers for foregone benefits of deforestation, and by insights on better systems o ....Governance and economic incentives for reducing the contribution of tropical deforestation to climate change. The project will contribute toward global efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, thus mitigating the potential economic and environmental impacts of future climate change on Australia. Australia's neighbours will benefit from the project by putting them in a better position to gain financial transfers for foregone benefits of deforestation, and by insights on better systems of governance. The positive effects enjoyed by neighbouring countries are likely to translate into improved relations with Australia. At the level of international negotiations, the research will support Australia's ambitions for a meaningful post-Kyoto climate change agreement.Read moreRead less
Groundwater dynamics and surface water interactions in the Lower Murrumbidgee Catchment, New South Wales. Water is Australia's most limiting resource. This research will contribute to the sustainable management of groundwater resources in the regional and rural areas of the Lower Murrumbidgee catchment, an important agricultural and horticultural region of Australia. Strategies for sustainable use of water resources will be improved by understanding the impacts of irrigation on groundwater quali ....Groundwater dynamics and surface water interactions in the Lower Murrumbidgee Catchment, New South Wales. Water is Australia's most limiting resource. This research will contribute to the sustainable management of groundwater resources in the regional and rural areas of the Lower Murrumbidgee catchment, an important agricultural and horticultural region of Australia. Strategies for sustainable use of water resources will be improved by understanding the impacts of irrigation on groundwater quality and aquifer extractions. The project will train new scientists in current and new groundwater techniques and improve strategic linkages between the Industry and University sectors through support of student research and a Linkage Fellowship for the key industry partner participant.Read moreRead less
Land and property information in 3D. Australia’s population growth results in multiple uses and stacked villages in 3-dimensional (3D) arrays of buildings and facilities in cities. This project will facilitate use of 3D technologies to support the land market, streamline legal requirements, decrease delays and reduce costs for designing, planning, building and managing modern cities.