Canberra Laboratory - Public Seminar Series Abstracts 2008

Wednesday 16 January 2008 at 2.00pm
Biogeochemistry of acid sulfate soils; an investigation into the characteristics of the prokaryotic population
Mira Durr, PhD Student, CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: Acid sulfate soils are abundant in lowland coastal regions around the globe. Australia, in particular, is characterised by large deposits of acid sulfate soils (1.2 x 10⁶ ha) along much of the coastline. The release of low pH metal-laden leachate into the environment from acid sulfate soil sites is a source of severe environmental contamination and ecosystem degradation.

While the chemical and physical attributes of the acid sulfate soil system have received particular attention, the microbial component of these environments remains largely unexplored. The research presented in this talk outlines the results of an investigation into the prokaryotic populations throughout acid sulfate soil profiles.

Composition of the bacterial and archaeal populations was determined through shotgun cloning and sequence analysis, revealing high diversity of the archaeal component of these systems. Real time PCR protocols were developed for the detection and quantification of the genes rusticyanin and dsrB to quantify the iron oxidising (bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans) and sulfate reducing prokaryotic components of the population as well as determine their distribution down the soil profile. This research has revealed the diversity and functionality of prokaryotes within acid sulfate soils and will facilitate a greater understanding of the biogeochemical transformations occurring in these environments.

Wednesday 13 February 2008 at 3pm
Lower Murray Landscape Futures: An integrated analysis with special focus on dryland areas
with Brett Bryan, CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: There is an urgent need to reverse the declining environmental state of rural landscapes across southern Australia. Current approaches focus on natural resource management planning, policy, and decision making at the regional level. Regional plans and associated on-ground investment have the potential to have widespread and long-lasting environmental, economic, and social impacts. However, rarely are these impacts quantified and clearly understood. The inherent uncertainty in quantifying future impacts necessitates a scenario analysis and futures thinking approach. This presentation provides an overview of the development and application of such a methodology to the complex spatial problem of natural resource management planning in the Lower Murray region of southern Australia in the Lower Murray Landscape Futures project.

The Lower Murray Landscapes Futures project was conceived in recognition of the need for better informed planning and management in Australia’s agricultural regions. The project is an ambitious, tri-state, multi-organisation, and multi-region research collaboration within the lower Murray-Darling Basin, Australia with the following dual aims:

Aim 1 - Assessing the impact of existing natural resource management plans for the Lower Murray on selected environmental and socio-economic indicators, and;

Aim 2 - Assessing the impacts of these plans under alternative landscape future scenarios based on the outcomes of the analysis of the existing plans and input from stakeholders.

The Lower Murray Landscape Futures project has two major components - the River Murray corridor and the dryland agriculture components. The focus of the River Murray corridor component is on water quantity, quality, and use whilst the dryland component focusses on issues such as: agricultural production including food, fibre and bioenergy production; soil erosion; loss of terrestrial biodiversity; rising water tables and dryland salinisation; climate change and the reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The environmental, economic, and social impact of alternative landscape futures are assessed under six policy options and five scenarios and the trade-offs assessed.

The dryland component of the Lower Murray Landscape Futures project is a large scale investigation into integrated regional planning and landscape futures analysis. The project was designed to be inclusive and engender collaboration amongst researchers, participation by regional stakeholders, and communication to regional stakeholders and communities. The intention is to provide useful evidence-based natural resource management planning advice to regional agencies. This presentation covers the structure, process, and learnings from undertaking such an ambitious, integrated analysis of landscape futures with many collaborators and stakeholders.

Tuesday 19 February at 2.30pm
Mapping Invasive Plant Species and Canopy Water Content Using Imaging Spectroscopy
with Dr. Susan L. Ustin, University of California Davis.

Abstract: Satellite and airborne imaging spectrometers (also called hyperspectral imagers) have hundreds of contiguous narrow spectral bands that measure the land surface in great detail due to the information content in the full reflected solar spectrum. First, the greater discrimination ability allows detailed mapping of plant communities, even up to mapping at the species level and second, the full spectrum enables quantification and mapping of the abundance several key biochemical constituents, which are related to ecophysiological processes and biogeochemical cycling. I will present and discuss two examples using imaging spectroscopy, first mapping invasive aquatic species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, and second, quantifying the water content of the plant canopy, a key dynamic component during drought conditions and information needed for assessing the risk of wildfire.

About the speaker: Dr. Susan L. Ustin is a Professor in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources at the University of California Davis. She received a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of California Davis in 1983 in the area of plant physiological ecology and did her dissertation on physiological responses to salinity and drought stress in wetland plant species. She became interested in remote sensing research as a post-doctoral fellow when she had the opportunity to participate in the first stage of the development of imaging spectroscopy at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her research since this time has focused on developing and testing methods for retrieving ecological information from remote sensing data at spatial scales from microscopic to global and encompasses both theoretical and applied research. She has studied many ecological communities around the world and is the author of more than 200 scientific papers. In 2004 she edited the Manual of Remote Sensing, Vol. 4, Remote Sensing for Natural Resource Management and Environmental Monitoring. She currently serves as Director of the Center for Spatial Analysis and Remote Sensing (CSTARS).
 

Friday 22 February at 11am
The Global Climate Negotiations -  Past and Future: Opportunities for Australia
with Prof. Graciela Chichilnisky, UNESCO Professor of Mathematics and Economics & Director, Columbia Consortium for Risk Management, Columbia University, New York
Venue: CSIRO Discovery Centre

Abstract:  At the recent Climate Conference in Bali, Australia assumed a critical role in resolving the global warming crisis by becoming the representative of the world’s industrial nations in the global climate negotiations. A top priority is to resolve the impasse between the industrial and developing nations on emission cuts – creating the basis for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. The presentation addresses two key elements for an Australian Initiative to broker an agreement between industrial and developing nations in resolving the historic global warming crisis.
As the architect of the Kyoto Protocol's carbon market, the author proposes now a market- based institution – a derivative market that satisfies the terms of the 1992 UN Climate Convention while bridging the position of industrial and developing nations in emissions limits, thus providing a foundation for a New Generation Kyoto Protocol.  Additionally, the author proposes a specific extension of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism to accelerate and deepen technology transfer and investment in developing nations and simultaneously create abundant clean energy sources for development while reducing the carbon concentration in the planet’s atmosphere to avert catastrophic global warming.

Friday 7 March at 10am
Lessons emerging from South Africa’s experience in water reform: The roles of science and community stakeholders
with Mark Dent, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Venue: CSIRO Discovery Centre

Abstract: One of the keys to learning is to be able to perceive generic elements of ones own situation in that of others. If one can do this, it gives one the advantage of learning valuable lessons at somebody else’s expense. Australia and South Africa have many lessons to learn and many to offer each other in implementing integrated water resources management (IWRM). The people of both countries are on a learning journey through largely uncharted territory and the challenges are often daunting.

One of the first lessons to become evident in both countries is that integrated water resources
management cannot be based on dis-integrated science. As a Bio-resources Engineer and management development professional, working in an academic and research capacity in South Africa since 1975, Mark says he has been privileged to experience and witness many changes. These include the advent of computer simulation modeling, the internet, GIS, the birth of a democratic South Africa and its subsequent struggles with itself, the growing world consciousness to global climate change, alarming environment degradation and also the recognition of the dangers in the growing gap over natural resource sharing between rich and poor. In South Africa these changes have stimulated world acclaimed policy and legislation in water and natural resources management and at the same time shown up severe deficiencies in South Africa’s ability to implement these policies. Against this backdrop significant dynamics have occurred in the realm of water related expertise that is so desperately needed in the socioscientific-learning required to cope with integrated water resources management.

Mark will speak on lessons emerging from South Africa’s efforts to implement IWRM policy and
legislation, with a focus on the roles of community stakeholders and scientific expertise

Mark is in Australia as a guest of the CSIRO and is presenting a six city seminar series. His visit is
primarily sponsored by the International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICE WaRM), the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures and the National Water Commission.

Wednesday 19 March at 11am
Combining a spatial model with geochemical tracers and river station data to construct a catchment sediment budget: the Lake Burragorgang catchment example
Paul Rustomji, CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: Information about diffuse pollutant sources in river catchments and the processes responsible for their generation is often obtained using geochemical tracing, in-stream monitoring, or process based modeling. In this presentation, an example of how these three types of data can be combined to produce a well constrained catchment sediment budget for the Lake Burragorang catchment in Australia will be presented. The physically based process model SedNet was modified using local catchment data to constrain predicted hillslope erosion rates in forested areas, the rate and texture of sediment supply from gully erosion, and the predicted floodplain deposition rates. The model’s capacity to match the geochemical tracer (both spatial source and erosion process) data and gauging station load data improved markedly. Hillslope erosion, primarily in the steeper, mainly forested areas near the reservoir, is identified by the model as the main source of sediment delivered to Lake Burragorang. The contribution from gully and river bank erosion is comparatively small, though gully erosion can be locally dominant. This result is consistent with the tracer data. Utilizing multiple independent data sets allows for a more rigorous evaluation of model performance and, it is argued, increases the likelihood that the model is correctly representing the main components of the catchment’s sediment budget. The identification of diffuse sediment sources in other catchments can clearly benefit from combining a range of observational data with a structured model evaluation process.

Tuesday 25 March at 2pm
Scenarios for the Great Barrier Reef Catchment: Learning from the future
Iris Bohnet - CSIRO Land and Water

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment is changing rapidly, driven by an increased demand for housing, industrial development, infrastructure needs and intensifying agriculture. Losses in terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity and increases in pollutants in waterways entering the GBR lagoon have been associated with these developments. Lack of understanding of the catchment to reef system as well as future uncertainties and risks pose major challenges to planners, natural resource managers and policy makers who are responsible for the sustainable development of the GBR catchment and lagoon.

 This paper addresses these challenges by using scenario planning to explore four plausible and complex futures for the GBR catchment and lagoon for 2050. Instead of forecasting future developments, the scenarios were based on a literature review of past and present trends in the GBR catchment and on different assumptions about key drivers of change identified by our project collaborators. These included researchers, industry representatives, natural resource managers, policy and decision makers from all tiers of government, and independent thinkers. Each of the four scenarios – No Limits to Growth, Saving the Reef, Booming Sea-change, and Revitalised Country Towns – depicted in a scenario storyline was developed around three clusters of key drivers of change. These were climate change, global economy and regional leadership, which were subsequently defined by two axes of uncertainty: timing, location and impact of climate change as well as direction of regional leadership.

The scenario storylines were designed to stimulate strategic discussion. In a subsequent workshop our collaborators analysed the plausibility of the scenarios and identified different applications of the scenarios. The paper concludes with some critical reflections on scenario planning and its usefulness in the GBR catchment and beyond.

Friday 28 March at 11am
Pore Water Transport and Microbial Activity in Intertidal Sand Flat Sediments
Markus Billerbeck - CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: Tidal and seasonal dynamics of porewater transport, benthic mineralization and benthic photosynthesis were studied at intertidal sand flats in the German Wadden Sea. During inundation, hydrodynamic forcing caused deeper oxygen penetration through flushing of the uppermost sediment layer, thereby leading to higher areal oxygen consumption than during exposure. The combined effects of advective flushing and higher light availability resulted in 4 to 11 times higher net photosynthesis in sandy sediment compared to muddy sediment, despite higher chlorophyll concentrations in the mud.

During exposure, a hydraulic gradient developing between the porewater- and the seawater level generated interstitial water flow and seepage of porewater near the low water line. Due to the drainage, porewater nutrient concentrations were up to 15 times higher at the low water line than at the upper flat. Nutrient fluxes associated with the seepage exceeded 5 to 8-fold those fluxes caused by the combined effects of advection, bioirrigation and diffusion. Two major pore water circulation patterns are active on intertidal sand flats: 1) a rapid “skin circulation” during inundation in the surface layer, characterized by short residence times of the porewater and immediate feedback to the ecosystem. 2) a slower “body circulation” through deeper sediment layers during exposure with long porewater residence times acting as a buffered nutrient source to the ecosystem.

Monday 7 April at 11am
Putting more photophysiology into bio-optical and bio-geochemical models
Assoc Prof Peter Ralph - University of Technology, Sydney

Abstract: Members of the Aquatic Photosynthesis Group at UTS have been working on developing an understanding of the drivers of primary production in a number of microalgal dominated ecosystems. The laboratory has extensive expertise in fluorometry and its application to photophysiology. After years of exploring the mechanistic processes which drive electron transport in coral symbionts, sea-ice algae and Southern Ocean phytoplankton, we are now trying to synthesise this knowledge into photosystem models and ultimately have these discrete models become modules within larger ecosystem models. The state of knowledge for coral and sea-ice photobiology will be described.

About the speaker: Peter Ralph is an Associate Professor at UTS and heads the Aquatic Photosynthesis Group (2 senior research fellows, 2 post-doc and 6 PhD students). He has over 12 years experience in the areas of photosynthetic physiology and ecology of marine plants and is widely regarded as a world expert in this field. His research team has made significant contributions to the physiology of marine plants, including corals, Antarctic sea-ice algae, seagrasses and macroalgae. Ralph has been addressing questions fundamental to advancing knowledge of marine photosynthetic organisms that survive at the edge of their environmental envelope. The group has recently become involved with linking photo-physiology of microalgae to mechanistic models of aquatic ecosystems, as well as developing a fluorescence-based proxy of primary production.

Wednesday 23 April at 11am
From tidal loads to model dynamics
Nicky Grigg - CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: Given the task of inferring nutrient and sediment loads from a tidally-influenced system (Mossman River, Queensland) colleagues and I applied nonlinear time series analysis techniques to infer complex stage-discharge relationships. Such characterisation of tidal dynamics offers the potential for hindcasting given past stage measurements. Starting with this applied example, I'll draw on more theoretical work to discuss the potential for such approaches to help us with some age-old modelling questions around predictability, model validation and the characterisation and communication of uncertainty.

Wednesday 14 May at 11 am
Irrigation Water Management in India- Some Ground Realities
Dr Rajendra Poddar - CLW Land and Water

Abstract: Irrigated agriculture has been fundamental to India’s economic development. It is the base for more than 50 per cent of total agricultural production. But, the sector is beset with many irrigation water management issues. Irrigation water use efficiency is very low and varies between 25% and 35% in most of the irrigation systems. Sustainability of water systems is threatened due to scarcity, deteriorating quality and over exploitation. Over exploitation of irrigation water sources may result into water scarcity in the near future in irrigation sector, as has happened in Australia, unless appropriate actions are taken. There is a growing concern for an impending water crisis in the country. In the past irrigation meant large-scale storage and transfer of water over long distances-an engineer dominated vision. But, now there is need for a major shift in irrigation strategy from the exclusive reliance on irrigation expansion through supply management to improving the performance of irrigation through demand management. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) is expected to improve irrigation system maintenance, cost recovery and ensuring efficiency, equity and sustainability. Many states have introduced necessary legal and institutional changes in this regard but the concept has not been operationalised effectively at the ground level due to a variety of constraints. Given that efficient and sustainable irrigation management is the common goal in water policies of both India and Australia, this study will present a comparative analysis of issues in sustainable irrigation management in two countries and identify areas of commonality and best practices. The study will also compare water governance and institutional arrangements in two countries and possibilities of sharing knowledge and leaning mutually for a sustainable irrigation management.   

Wednesday 21 May at 11 am
Myth Busters: Is northern Australia our vast water supply?
Cuan Petheram - CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: The catchments of northern Australia generate approximately 60% of Australia’s surface runoff, yet most rivers in the region remain undeveloped. This lack of water harvest in the North is largely because settlement and intensive land use since Europeans arrived in 1788 have been focused on the so-called ‘well-watered’ more familiar temperate climes of southern Australia.  This is not to say that the North has not received attention.  There is a long history of attempts to develop cultivated agriculture in the tropical north of Australia – most of which have been judged unsuccessful.  Failure to understand and appreciate the northern environment is often cited as a factor in the failure of agricultural developments.  In this presentation Dr Cuan Petheram, a hydrologist from CSIRO Land and Water Townsville and the latest member of the myth buster team, will look at one of these factors, water.  In doing so he will attempt to address the question, is the abundance of water in northern Australia a southern myth?  Key hydrological characteristics of the rivers of northern Australia and their implications for development will be discussed and the general distribution of Australia’s exploitable water resources will be examined within an irrigation framework.

Wednesday 28 May 2008 at 11am
Barbara Robson - CSIRO Land and Water
How will the Ord River respond to changes in flows and loads?

Abstract: As water continues to be a limiting factor in the south, development of Australia's northern water resources continues. In the Kununurra region in north-west WA, current plans include increased hydroelectric power production, which will increase dry season flows to the lower Ord River, and increased irrigation, which will increase diversion of water from the river. Predicting how these changes will impact the river is a challenge, and understanding how the Ord River and its estuary currently function in terms of physical dynamics, biochemistry and ecology is the first step. This talk describes a study of the lower Ord River and Estuary and the resulting conceptual models of the system. Coupled hydrodynamic and biogeochemical numerical models have been implemented and applied to several likely future management scenarios, and the results will be discussed.

Wednesday 9 July at 11 am
Australia’s Water Management - Potential changes, new risks and opportunities
Dr. John Radcliffe - Commissioner, National Water Commission

Abstract: The Council of Australian Governments began the reform of Australia’s water management in 1994 by separating the rights to land from those to water so they became separately tradable. At the same time, water resource management was separated from the provision of water supply services. In a further development in 2004-6, all states and territories and the Australian Government signed the Intergovernmental Agreement on the National Water Initiative (NWI). This encompasses policies dealing with water entitlements, water markets and trading, water pricing, management of environmental water, water accounting, urban water, community partnerships and adjustment, and knowledge and skills. The National Water Commission was established to facilitate adoption of the NWI and assess progress with its implementation. Its programs include Raising National Water Standards, which has encompassed over 110 water science and policy projects and publications derived from them. CSIRO has been involved with a number of these. John Radcliffe, a former Deputy Chief Executive of CSIRO and now an Honorary Research Fellow at CSIRO Urrbrae, has been a Commissioner of the National Water Commission since its inception, and will outline the NWI’s content, what has been achieved to date and what opportunities there may be in the future.

Monday 21 July at 11am
Building effective partnerships for reviving water systems under stress
Professor Shahbaz Khan - Chief Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management, UNESCO Paris

Abstract: This seminar will provide examples from international initiatives such as the UNESCO's international hydrology program on how to develop partnerships for effective societal response to deal with systems under stress such as the Murray Darling Basin. A critical assessment of the recent research advances and how they are being delivered to the global community of scientists, policy makers and people on ground will be presented using successes and failures of the existing program. A critical issue for the sustainability of any effort is stakeholder trust on the quality of science and continued interest of the funding bodies.

Thursday 24 July at 3.30pm
CUAHSI Water Data Services
David R. Maidment, Director, Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas at Austin

Abstract: The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences, Inc (CUAHSI) has developed a services-oriented architecture for the publication and synthesis of water observations data, that is time series of precipitation, streamflow, water quality, groundwater levels, and climate data.   This architecture rests upon an Observations Data Model for storing the data, a language called WaterML for communicating these data through the internet in response to WaterOneFlow web service method requests, and a national water metadata catalog that presently indexes 340 million data collected at 1.75 million locations in the United States.   The services-oriented architecture also provides access to existing water data agency information by wrapping their existing web sites or web services in a corresponding way so that they also respond to WaterOneFlow web service requests.   The observations data model has been implemented at eleven universities to publish water observations data from many different water science projects.  This seminar will present an overview of the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System, version 1.1 and present some examples of tools that have been created to ingest and use data from CUAHSI Water Data Services.

Wednesday 30 July at 11am
River sediment load and concentration responses to changes in hydrology and catchment management in the Loess Plateau region of China
Paul Rustomji - CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: To reduce the sediment load of China's Yellow River, soil conservation measures have been progressively implemented across the Loess Plateau region since the 1950s. The effectiveness of these soil conservation measures (which were also coincident with reduced rainfall and streamflow) in controlling sediment movement remains to be ascertained. Here, the association between sediment movement, hydrological variability and the implementation of soil conservation measures is examined for the Coarse Sandy Hilly Catchments region of the Yellow River basin. The hypothesis that the soil conservation measures have reduced suspended sediment yields beyond that associated with rainfall reductions alone, principally by reducing sediment concentration, is examined. Annual sediment yield decreased significantly over time in all sub-catchments and the timing of the change (between 1971 and 1985) was consistent with the timing of change in streamflow. Annual mean sediment concentration in 7 of the 11 catchments exhibited a statistically significant decreasing trend over time, indicating that soil conservation practices reduced the mobilisation of sediment in most areas, typically accounting for ~75% of the observed reductions in annual sediment yield. Lesser reductions in area specific sediment yield at larger catchment areas after the soil conservation measures were emplaced suggests that larger rivers may be re-eroding stored sediment. As these sediment stores are likely to be relatively large given the high historic yields, relatively high area specific sediment yields may persist at larger catchment areas even with improvements to sediment management in smaller tributaries.

Wednesday 20 August at 10 am
The National Geochemical Survey of Australia: Overview and progress
Patrice de Caritat - Principal Research Scientist, Geochemistry, Geoscience Australia

Abstract: Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with the geoscience agencies in all States and the Northern Territory, has recently launched the National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) project. It aims to deliver internally consistent, state-of-the-art geochemical data and information spanning the entire continent, based on a common sampling medium. This data set will provide fundamental, pre-competitive information on the concentration levels and spatial distributions of chemical elements in transported regolith. The survey is based on the collection of samples of overbank or floodplain sediments at the outlet of ~1400 catchments covering >90% of Australia. This gives an average sampling density of ~1 site/5500 km2. Materials will be collected from 2 depths (0-10 cm and ~60-70 cm) and separated into 2 size fractions (<2 mm and <75 um). Analysis of these materials, mostly by XRF and ICP-MS, will yield total and aqua regia-leached concentrations for ~60 elements. A primary focus of the project will be applications to regional exploration programs for mineral and energy resources. As a spin-off, the data generated may also be useful for environmental management applications. The NGSA project runs from 2007 to 2011 and will deliver a publicly available geochemical database and an online geochemical atlas on the web. At the moment, 68% of the sites have been sampled and sample preparation (drying, sieving, etc.) is in progress. The presentation will report on progress to date. Further information on the NGSA project can be found at http://www.ga.gov.au/ngsa.

Wednesday 27 August at 10am
The SEBAL tool for monitoring spatial evapotranspiration: experiences from tests and applications
Wim Bastiaanssen & Richard Soppe - WaterWatch, Wageningen, The Netherlands
at CSIRO Discovery Centre

Abstract: The actual evapotranspiration from heterogeneous land surface is relevant for various hydrological and water management applications. The Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) started development in 1988 in Egypt as a technology to spatially monitor evaporation from shallow groundwater table areas and evapotranspiration from irrigated crops. SEBAL is based on visible, near-infrared and thermal infrared satellite measurements. The model has been widely described in the international water research community. In its 20 years of existence, it has been tested in more than 20 countries world wide, with an emphasis on the (semi-) arid zones. A model evolution has taken place, which redressed SEBAL from a scientific tool into a promising instrument for field, regional and national scale water resources management.

SEBAL can be applied with a suite of thermal satellites, ranging from NOAA, MODIS, Landsat and ASTER. WaterWatch is applying these techniques in USA, South Africa and Europe. These applications range from water management evaluation studies, diagnositic studies, benchmarking studies and monitoring studies. Since most policy makers are as of yet unfamiliar with the use of spatially distributed water consumption values, WaterWatch aids in the interpretation of calculated data sets. The spatial resolution (i.e. the pixel size) varies between 10 to 1000 km. The temporal variation varies from 1 week to 1 month. Examples of these studies will be presented.

Various universities and research institutes have also compared the SEBAL estimation of the sensible and latent heat fluxes against measurements at a range of scales. A selection of these tests will be presented.

Wednesday 27 August at 11 am
Light propagation in estuarine and coastal aquatic environments: measurements and modelling
Nagur Cherukuru -CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: The penetration and availability of solar radiation underwater is of fundamental interest in aquatic systems. Light, together with nutrients, is a major parameter controlling processes such as photosynthesis, heat flux and biological production in the aquatic ecosystem. The temporal and spatial variability of under water light propagation is controlled by the diffuse attenuation coefficient. In turn, this diffuse attenuation coefficient is influenced by the inherent optical properties of the optically active substances in the aquatic system. This presentation will focus on inherent optical properties of particulate and dissolved substances, light propagation modelling and its influence on estuarine and coastal biogeochemical models.

Wednesday 3 September at 11am
Characterisation of Recent Climate in the Murray-Darling Basin
Nick Potter - CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: The continuing low rainfall over south-eastern Australia has had profound effects on the Murray-Darling Basin. Runoff has been extremely low in many parts of the Basin, and the operation of the Basin has been severely affected. But it is widely known that rainfall and runoff in Australia is highly variable. To what extent is the recent dry sequence comparable to previous dry sequences in the last 100 years or so?
Using the data resources of the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields project, I provide a statistical assessment of the variability of rainfall in the Murray-Darling Basin. I also present an estimation of the severity of the recent dry sequence in the context of the historical record, and discuss the potential reasons for changes in the rainfall-runoff relationship.

Wednesday 10 September at 11 am
Elevated CO2, vegetation and the hydrological cycle - The neglected second half of a story
Dr Stan Schymanski - Max Planck Institute, Jena, Germany
Dr Schymanski is in Australia to collaborate with Water for a Healthy Country WRON / WIRADA researchers on including land cover response in water assessment models.

Abstract: The continuous increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations has the potential to significantly influence hydrological cycles. Besides having an effect on global temperatures and climate, increased CO2 is now thought to lead to a global decrease in transpiration by reducing stomatal aperture in plants. The effect of CO2-induced stomatal closure is progressively being incorporated in global climate predictions and has even been attributed to be responsible for the observed increase in global continental runoff during the past century. However, stomatal closure might not be the only means by which vegetation responds to an increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. If, for example, stomatal closure is offset by an increase in vegetation cover in the long term, the effect of elevated CO2 on global transpiration could, in fact, be reversed. This talk will present an alternative approach to model the response of vegetation to elevated CO2, based on optimality.

In contrast to conventional models, the model used here not only allows for the adaptation of stomatal conductance, but also for adjustments in biochemical foliage properties, vegetation cover and rooting depth. Short-term responses to elevated CO2 are separated from long-term responses by distinguishing which vegetation properties can adapt in the long term from those capable of adaptation in the short term. The model is applied to a number of catchments in different climates and reveals that the simulated short-term effect of elevated CO2 is consistent with the observed increase in continental runoff. However, the model also reveals that the long-term effect of elevated CO2 on transpiration can be opposite to the short-term effect in certain catchments.  The ramifications for global climate predictions and the dangers in the extrapolation of short-term observations to long-term environmental change will be discussed.

Friday 26 September at 11 am
Integrating Natural Resources and GeoHazards Management: Linking Sustainability and Resilience against Extreme Events
Assoc Prof Chris S Renschler - Dept of Geography, University of Buffalo, USA  

Abstract: Field studies, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems and process-based environmental models are increasingly used in combination for decision- and policy-making in natural resources or natural hazards management. The impact of extreme events on properties and processes of natural and managed ecosystems and its short- and long-term consequences have to be continuously assessed by a well coordinated interdisciplinary research and outreach activity. The communication between the various disciplines and stakeholders involved is therefore the most important key to a successful implementation of an integrated management plan. The design and successful implementation of the Geospatial Interface for the Water Erosion Prediction Project (GeoWEPP) at the watershed scale illustrates the challenges and solutions to build valid and useful assessment tools for cumulative watershed effects analysis. The development of GeoWEPP is result of a long-term research project the contributes to our fundamental understanding and ability to communicate how we (a) represent the spatiotemporal variability, extremes, and uncertainty of environmental properties and processes in the digital domain (in this case soil erosion), how we (b) transform their spatiotemporal representation across scales during data processing and modeling in the digital domain, and how we design and develop tools for (c) geo-spatial data management and (d) geo-spatial process modeling and implement them to effectively (e) support decision- and policy-making in natural resources and hazard management at various spatial and temporal scales of interest. GeoWEPP enables natural resources managers of agricultural, grassland, rangeland, forests, construction sites and mining sites to assess the spatial and temporal scheduling of management activities to achieve sustainable land management.

The design, development, implementation and validation of GeoWEPP is based on a formulation of an integrated data transformation and scaling theory allowing scientists of various disciplines to effectively collaborate, to design flexible process-based modeling approaches and to implement them as useful decision support tools. GeoWEPP is one part in the development of a Community Resilience Index (CRI) that quantifies the status, exposure and recovery of physical, economic, socio-cultural, and ecological capital in a community (Redlands, Moreton Bay and sand mining). The goal of this project is the development of a conceptual framework for measuring, assessing, and monitoring the resilience, a toolkit that integrates quantitative and qualitative methods using spatial and non-spatial data to identify scientifically defensible indicators for community resilience, and an implementation plan that enables local and regional stakeholders to continuously monitor and enhance their resilience against episodic and slow-onset extreme events.

About the speaker: Chris S. Renschler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo (UB) - The State University of New York (SUNY) in Buffalo, USA. He is a Research Scientist at three UB institutions: MCEER, the Center for GeoHazard Studies, and the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA). Dr. Renschler is a Geoecologist and Geographer by training and received his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Bonn in Germany. Prior to his current position, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory and the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He is currently a Visiting Fellow in the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.

Wednesday 15 October at 11 am
Modelling and business process frameworks for regional NRM incentive funding investment - products of the TOOLS2 project
Susan Cuddy (CSIRO Land and Water) & Dr Greg Summerell (Dept. of Environment and Climate Change, NSW) 

Abstract: The TOOLS2 project ran from 2005-2008 with the objective to develop and deliver tools to assist NSW Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) with catchment planning and environmental investment decision-making. It had two focii - building catchment-scale scenario analysis tools for setting targets for environmental outcomes and broad priorities for investment; and building a site-scale investment framework and appropriate models to evaluate landholder proposals to undertake environmental works. The TOOLS2 products are models and an integration framework called SCaRPA which embodies many of the models and the business investment process. 

This seminar demonstrates how the TOOLS products support catchment planning and investment, and concludes with a showcase of the SCaRPA product.
http://murrumbidgee.cma.nsw.gov.au/TOOLS2

About Dr Summerell: Dr Greg Summerell is the Manager of the Landscape modelling and Decision Support Section of the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC). Greg obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2004 and is also a "Research Scientist" for the NSW Premiers department. Greg has over 12 years experience in Environmental Natural Resources science development and is DECC key researcher and contact within the Future Farm Industries CRC. Over the past year Greg also managed the TOOLS2 project which is a multi agency and multi discipline project delivering a number of bio-physical attributes including aquatic habitat and biodiversity, terrestrial biodiversity, land and soil capability, dryland salinity and soil sequestration.

Wednesday 22 October at 11am
Estimating carbon and sulfur loss in drained acid sulfate soils
David Smiles - CSIRO Land and Water Post-Retirement Fellow

Abstract: Use of material coordinates in soil science is not widespread because explanation of the approach has been mathematical and practical scientists have found it difficult to understand.  In this seminar I show that, if one accepts the premise that chemical reaction and its products are ‘tied’ to the soil solid, then use of a space-like coordinate that tracks the parcels of solid in swelling soils is obligatory if we wish to estimate material loss correctly.  I use data from adjacent, initially similar, acid sulfate soils, one of which was drained some 35 years ago. Explicitly, I illustrate errors that arise when conventional, space-based estimations of carbon and sulfur loss are made without appeal to a material coordinate based on the distribution of the soil solid.  My focus is practical and I try to minimise mathematical discomfort.

Friday 24 October at 2pm
Improved prediciton of soil properties from airborne radiometric survey and high-resolution soil geochemical survey - examples from the UK
Dr Barry Rawlins- UK Geological Survey

Abstract: The British Geological Survey collects a vast amount of quantitative data relating to the soil to make detailed maps of soil geochemistry from sampling plus chemical analyses, or to understand geological structure from airborne survey.  These data can be used to estimate other key soil properties using the techniques developed in digital soil mapping (DSM).  In this talk I will present three examples using these data and DSM techniques applied with co-workers from Rothamsted Research. 1. Improved estimation of soil organic carbon at the landscape scale based on airborne radiometric survey data. 2. Using soil geochemistry to predict particle-size distribution and 3. Understanding controls on the spatial distribution of 137Cs across a landscape subject to fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Each example will include a discussion of the implications of the findings.

Wednesday 29 October at 11am
The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) for Western US Rangelands: A National Project to Assess Impacts of US Conservation Programs
Dr Mark Nearing- Research Leader- USDA-ARS Southwest Watershed Research Centre
and McMaster Fellowhship recipient
Venue: Pye Laboratory Conference Room, Black Mountain

Abstract: The purpose of CEAP is to quantify the environmental benefits of conservation practices implemented under the 2002 US Farm Bill (a retrospective analysis).  Tracking these benefits over time will allow policy-makers and program managers to modify and implement existing programs to more effectively and efficiently to meet goals (a prospective analysis).  The assessment of conservation practices on croplands has been underway since 2002.  A project to assess grazinglands, including western rangelands and managed pasture across the whole of the US, began in 2007.  Western rangelands of the US present particular problems associated with large areas of land with comparatively sparse information related to soils, vegetation communities and documentation of management practices.  Rangeland CEAP consists of both a watershed and national assessment component.  The watershed assessment refers to local experimental, observational, or modeling efforts to assess specific regional variations in practices and their effectiveness.  The national assessment involves a national scale modeling effort to quantify conservation impacts on both the hillslope-scale and basin-scale levels.  New tools for assessment of rangeland runoff and erosion rates have been developed, are being linked to current rangeland monitoring protocols (NRI and rangeland health), and are being implemented to achieve CEAP project goals.

Friday 31 October at 11am
On the theory relating long-term change in actual and pan evaporation
Prof Jim Shuttleworth - Director, The NSF Science and Technology Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA), Tucson, Arizona, USA

Abstract: Theory relating changes in the area-average evaporation from a landscape with changes in the evaporation from pans or open water within the landscape is developed. Such changes can arise in two ways, by Type (a) processes related to large-scale changes in atmospheric circulation that modify surface evaporation rates in the same direction, and by Type (b) processes related to coupling between the surface and ABL at landscape scale that usually modify area-average evaporation and pan evaporation in different directions. The theoretical basis for interrelating evaporation rates in response to Type (a) changes in climate is derived. They have the same sign, and they have broadly similar magnitude except for area-average evaporation which responds to area-average surface resistance. The results of previous modeling studies that investigate surface-atmosphere coupling are parameterized and, as an alternative to assuming the Complementary Evaporation hypothesis, used to develop a theoretical description of Type (b) coupling via the vapor pressure deficit in the ABL. This theory shows that the interrelationship between appropriately normalized pan and area-average evaporation rates varies significantly with temperature and wind speed but on average changes are approximately equal and opposite. Long-term Australian pan evaporation data are then analyzed to demonstrate the simultaneous presence of Type (a) and (b) processes, and observations from three field sites in southern Arizona are analyzed to confirm the theory describing Type (b) coupling via vapor pressure deficit.

Friday 31 October at 2pm
Water transfers versus desalination: a case study in water management in Spain
Professor John Dracup- Professor of Graduate School, University of California Berkeley, USA
Venue: CSIRO Discovery Centre.

Abstract: In 2001 the Spanish government approved the Spanish National Hydrological Plan (SNHP) that included water transfers from the Ebro River south along the Mediterranean Coast to the regions of Valencia, Murcia and Almeria.  The project involved the transfer of 6% of the natural annual flow of the Ebro River, which amounts to about 9% of its current flow.  Exported water would be used for agricultural, urban, and industrial supply, as well as ecosystem restoration.  Agriculture was the main proposed water use.   The project was to be funded by the European Union (EU) at a cost of approximately 9 billion Euros.  The proposed project encountered wide  spread opposition and public protests in the source regions of the Ebro River, particularly in the regions of Catalonia, where Barcelona is located, and Aragon.

Early in 2002, the EU selected a team of U.S. academics and consultants to review the project of which I was a member.  The group studied the SNHP, conducted a site visit and held hearings in the Ebro region and the proposed terminus.  The EU review group had extensive experience with water transfers in other semi-arid regions, especially California and the southwest USA.

The main conclusions of the expert panel were that the Ebro River diversions were well founded in terms of hydrology (water available) and water resources (need for water). The diversion of the relatively small percentage of Ebro River’s annual flow will have small ecological consequences in the Lower Ebro River and Delta. 

However, in March 2004, the terrorist train bombings in Madrid resulted in a change in the national government of Spain and the new government cancelled the Ebro transfer project.  In its place they proposed a number of large desalination plants along the eastern coast of Spain, some of which are currently under constructions.

This presentation will take a retrospective view of these two water management schemes. The merits of each scheme will be described and contrasted, and the results to date will be summarized.

About the speaker: John Dracup is the Professor of the Graduate School at University of California Berkeley USA. John has a distinguished career in hydrology and water resources, both in the USA and overseas, particularly in the areas of hydroclimate and water resources management. John has been a frequent visitor to Australia and delivered the keynote in the Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium in Perth in 2000.

Wednesday 26 November at 11am
Regional investment for environmental outcomes using decision support frameworks - a comparison of SCaRPA (TOOLS2) and Landscape Logic approaches
Natasha Herron and Carmel Pollino - Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management (iCAM) and the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University

Abstract: In July 2008, the Federal Government launched their latest natural resource management initiative – Caring for Country – with the singular goal of “a business approach to investment, clearly articulated outcomes and priorities and improved accountability”. In this seminar, we look at the challenges and experiences of two large multi-stakeholder projects, established to assist regional NRM investment bodies deliver cost-effective environmental outcomes, using decision support tools:

• the now completed TOOLS2 project, which was undertaken in collaboration with NSW catchment management authorities, resulted in the Site and Catchment Resource Planning and Assessment (SCaRPA) DSS, which links catchment planning and on-ground investment processes within the same framework; and
• the more recent Landscape Logic project, which will also develop DSSs for NRM bodies in Victoria and Tasmania as part of its deliverables.

Challenges discussed include: the translation of science into usable forms for NRM decision-making; getting and maintaining CMA buy-in over the life of the project; dealing with lack of data and knowledge in model provision; adoption, ongoing use and support of these systems beyond the projects’ lives; and evaluating these systems in terms of enabling more efficient environmental outcomes.
We conclude that DSSs, such as these, can certainly contribute to achieving the Caring for Country aim, but the challenges are considerable.

Wednesday 3 December at 11 am
Knowledge discovery from data mining of the ASRIS database: soil organic C
Elisabeth Bui- CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: Data mining and knowledge discovery from databases (DM&KDD) has its roots in AI/machine learning. DM can be used for making predictions and/or for uncovering patterns/KD. In the NLWRA ASRIS project, a large point database of soil properties was created and rule induction/DM was used to predict the spatial distribution of soil properties across Australia. Maps were then assessed against expert knowledge using visualization of model rules and of patterns of usage of predictor variables.
In this talk, ASRIS data and models for soil organic C, total N and P will be presented and discussed and C:N:P relationships investigated for the major vegetation groups of the NVIS, another NLWRA project that mapped vegetation. This underscores the multiple utility of these datasets that were produced mainly as baselines for environmental monitoring.

Thursday 4 December at 11 am
The development of a new Global Digital Elevation Model, ACE2
Professor Philippa Berry - Faculty of Computing and Engineering, De Montfort University, United Kingdom

Abstract: The Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission has provided a unique near-global database of heights at 3” resolution, significantly increasing the height information over much of the Earth’s land surface.  However, validation of these data is difficult, and has primarily been performed in the form of regionally based comparisons with Digital Elevation Models not available in the public domain.  These comparisons have shown both areas of good agreement, and substantial regional differences. To move forward, a global independent assessment is required.
Multi-mission satellite radar altimetry provides this capability.  By retracking the complex echoes returned from the Earth’s land surfaces, over 100 million height measurements have been derived from the ERS1/2, EnviSat, Jason-1 and TOPEX altimeter echoes.  A global comparison with the SRTM heights revealed a very variable level of agreement between the two datasets.  After detailed analysis, it was determined that the altimeter derived heights could be used to assess, correct and, where necessary, replace the SRTM heights to create a new and more accurate GDEM, ACE2.  Among the generic changes in this ESA funded development is the removal of rain forest canopy, and the replacement of SRTM inland water heights with more accurate altimeter derived values.

Over 2 billion SRTM height pixels have been changed to date, and auxiliary matrices containing information about the data source, the estimated vertical accuracy and the confidence level associated with these accuracy estimates are being built.

ACE2 is scheduled for first release in December 2008, and will be made freely available to the global research community.

Wednesday 10 December at 11 am
Making Sense of the new social contract for science
Dr Dirk Roux - Monash South Africa (and formerly CSIRO South Africa) and Dr Richard Stirzaker - CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: 'Academic science is undergoing a cultural revolution. It is giving way to ‘post-academic’ science, which may be so different sociologically and philosophically that it will produce a different type of knowledge' (John Ziman).

Over the last 30 years, the contract between science and society and the ground rules for publicly-funded research have shifted. This shift has been described as a move from Mode 1 to Mode 2 knowledge production, where Mode 1 is academic, investigator initiated and discipline based, while Mode 2 is context driven, problem focussed and interdisciplinary.  Most NRM scientists would see the shift to Mode 2 research as a positive step, in the face numerous environmental problems.

The shift from Mode 1 to Mode 2 has seen the rise of new management structures, from a form of collegial self-governance to an organisational system of more centralised control. The latter introduced a fixation on short term accountability (science as a business), the notion of ‘efficient’ science (science as a machine) and a focus on producing outputs over learning (science as a quick fix).

While the rules of the research game have changed, the deeply embedded life interests of many practising researchers have not. These researchers feel at odds with the new rulers, forever fighting to clear their desks from “disturbances” so that they can get on with their perceived “real purpose”. This can lead to confusion and even disillusionment over the role of a scientist within the new social contract.  In this talk two mid-career scientists try to make sense of their journey thus far.

Thursday 11 December at 11 am
Ecohydrology in a changing climate—examining trends in water availability, energy availability, and vegetation cover across Australia over the past quarter century
Randall Donohue - CSIRO Land and Water

Abstract: Climate change is expected to have far reaching consequences on land surface processes.  Of particular interest are the potential effects on water availability and vegetation productivity and the inter-relations between these.  In the face of great uncertainty surrounding our ability to predict these effects into the future, a retrospective analysis of recent changes in climate and ecohydrological processes can be informative.

Using remotely sensed information as well as historical climate data, we have analysed trends in wind speed, radiation, potential evaporation, and precipitation across Australia over the period 1981-2006.  Results suggest that, on average, Australia has become less windy, receives less total radiation, experiences less evaporative demand, yet gets more precipitation now than it did several decades ago. 

This talk will explore some of the implications of these changes on the ecohydrology of Australia including an analysis of changes in total vegetation cover, as well as that of annual and perennial vegetation cover.  Some time will be spent exploring the potential role CO2 may have had in these observed changes.