Representing low-frequency variability in hydro-climatic simulations for water resources planning and management in a changing climate. Simulating local hydro-climatology under likely climate change allows risk assessment of existing and future water infrastructure, along with the planning protocols needed to adapt to the changes ahead. This study aims to develop the tools needed to simulate local hydro-climatology, providing a basis for securing water for the generations to come.
A framework for model emulation and ensemble modelling. For improved water resource management there is a need for further development of appropriate hydrologic models. This project will undertake a collection of hydrologic modelling activities performed at multiple catchments in Australia. A modeling framework that is flexible, extendible and accounts for potential forecast uncertainties will be developed.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100027
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$600,000.00
Summary
Australian National Facility for Noble-Gas Radio-Isotope Measurements. Australian national facility for noble-gas radio-isotope measurements:
This facility is designed to provide researchers with the ability to accurately date water and ice cores using the natural radio-isotopes in the sample. Radiocarbon dating has been a revolutionary tool in providing answers to a range of questions in anthropology, archaeology and the earth sciences. However, radiocarbon dating has a strong limitation in th ....Australian National Facility for Noble-Gas Radio-Isotope Measurements. Australian national facility for noble-gas radio-isotope measurements:
This facility is designed to provide researchers with the ability to accurately date water and ice cores using the natural radio-isotopes in the sample. Radiocarbon dating has been a revolutionary tool in providing answers to a range of questions in anthropology, archaeology and the earth sciences. However, radiocarbon dating has a strong limitation in that it can only date periods from 1000–50 000 years: the use of radioactive noble-gas isotopes can extend this range out to 1 year to 1 million years. This capability in the new facility is expected to support new understanding of processes in artesian reservoirs, ocean currents and geology that may affect questions of water availability, climate and environmental change.Read moreRead less
Rocky coasts: a framework for risk assessment in order to reduce drowning. Reducing drowning on the rocky coast through modelling how waves impact and where people use the shore is the aim of this project. In collaboration with Surf Life Saving Australia, the latest laser surveying and modelling techniques will be combined with perception surveys to develop an innovative and new risk framework for coastal management.
The Antarctic ice sheet through the Last Glacial Cycle - numerical modelling constrained by field evidence. The response of the world's largest ice mass to climate change is important because melting leads to a rise in sea level. Our ability to predict changes in ice volume and sea level under a warming climate, will be enhanced by better understanding of past ice sheet responses to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Improved numerical models now exist that allow realistic simulations of Ant ....The Antarctic ice sheet through the Last Glacial Cycle - numerical modelling constrained by field evidence. The response of the world's largest ice mass to climate change is important because melting leads to a rise in sea level. Our ability to predict changes in ice volume and sea level under a warming climate, will be enhanced by better understanding of past ice sheet responses to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Improved numerical models now exist that allow realistic simulations of Antarctic ice. These models will be developed further and constrained against existing and new field evidence for the Last Glacial Cycle (last 125,000 years), the period for which we can best define past ice sheet behaviour.Read moreRead less
Geomorphological development of coral reefs, southern Great Barrier Reef: an integrated record of Holocene palaeoecology and palaeoclimate from cores. Very little is known about how the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has responded or may respond to predicted environmental change and/or degradation. The project will reconstruct the recent biological and physical history of reefs in the southern GBR in order to better understand how they may react to future environmental changes.
An Ensemble Modelling Framework for Prediction in Ungauged Catchments. An important issue facing the water sector is a rationale for modeling flows in catchments having no prior measurements. Current approaches for modeling flow in ungauged catchments assume a rigid specification which is adopted for all catchments, irrespective of differences in regions and soil types. We propose here a modeling philosophy that better characterises the variability in the flow generation mechanism, with differen ....An Ensemble Modelling Framework for Prediction in Ungauged Catchments. An important issue facing the water sector is a rationale for modeling flows in catchments having no prior measurements. Current approaches for modeling flow in ungauged catchments assume a rigid specification which is adopted for all catchments, irrespective of differences in regions and soil types. We propose here a modeling philosophy that better characterises the variability in the flow generation mechanism, with different mechanisms being represented through different models in a probabilistic sense. We expect our approach to address the limitations of current schemes, and provide a much improved basis for estimating flows for design and management applications.Read moreRead less
Stochastic rainfall generation for design flow estimation. Floods cause one third of all natural disasters worldwide, more than half the fatalities and one-third the economic loss. Accurate design flood estimation can help alleviate this impact. The estimation procedure currently used assumes that a given rainfall leads to a corresponding design flood, negating the influence variations in pre-existing soil moisture conditions may have. An alternative that overcomes the above limitation is to use ....Stochastic rainfall generation for design flow estimation. Floods cause one third of all natural disasters worldwide, more than half the fatalities and one-third the economic loss. Accurate design flood estimation can help alleviate this impact. The estimation procedure currently used assumes that a given rainfall leads to a corresponding design flood, negating the influence variations in pre-existing soil moisture conditions may have. An alternative that overcomes the above limitation is to use stochastically generated rainfall series to simulate flows from which the design flood can be estimated. This study aims to develop a generic framework for stochastic generation of rainfall for design flood estimation in Australia.Read moreRead less
Integrating Economic Valuation and Water Quality Modelling for Improving Management of Coastal Catchments. This project will apply and integrate water quality models and economic assessment techniques to assist policy makers and catchment managers balance competing development pressures and environmental concerns in coastal catchments. The research is fundamental to underpinning the sustainable management of coastal catchments which provide major economic, environmental and community benefits. T ....Integrating Economic Valuation and Water Quality Modelling for Improving Management of Coastal Catchments. This project will apply and integrate water quality models and economic assessment techniques to assist policy makers and catchment managers balance competing development pressures and environmental concerns in coastal catchments. The research is fundamental to underpinning the sustainable management of coastal catchments which provide major economic, environmental and community benefits. The project will provide robust tools to predict water quality impacts under a range of conditions and it will develop techniques for the economic valuation of market and non-market impacts. The project will demonstrate the integration of water quality and economic modelling and how it can influence policy and investment in conservation and remediation.Read moreRead less
TERRESIM: A simulation system for understanding and managing the interactions between runoff, vegetation, soils and climate in a changing environment. The landforms around us evolve in response to the processes of hydrology, erosion, climate and vegetation that develops on them. Likewise, the past behaviour of these processes (thus historical climatic fluctuations) in written in the deposited sediment. To study these interactions will be develop a state-of-the-art landform simulator (TerreSim). ....TERRESIM: A simulation system for understanding and managing the interactions between runoff, vegetation, soils and climate in a changing environment. The landforms around us evolve in response to the processes of hydrology, erosion, climate and vegetation that develops on them. Likewise, the past behaviour of these processes (thus historical climatic fluctuations) in written in the deposited sediment. To study these interactions will be develop a state-of-the-art landform simulator (TerreSim). We will use it to explore the evolution, development and sustainability of soils, vegetation, and hydrology (e.g. water supply) so as to better understand their response to climatic changes. We will also study rates of cliff retreat and debris flow in steep landscapes to better understand cliff stability.Read moreRead less