All in Monitoring and Assessment

Empowering land managers with wireless soil monitoring

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:28:28 +0000

Effective management of soil water requires a knowledge of its status as well as an interpretation of how its status should affect management decisions. Lack of both of these has limited landholders’ ability to manage soil water in the past.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

2283

Host Organisation:

CSIRO Land and water

Researchers:

Dr Warren Bond

Subjects

Subjects:

Monitoring and Assessment

Landscape Management

Project Information

Summary:

Soil water sensors commercially available today measure soil capacitance in most Australian heavy clay subsoils the difficulty of reliably installing pronged instruments, while maintaining the necessary contact and instrument geometry means metal rings are likely to be better however available designs sampled small volumes of soil and gaps around the sensors made imprecise measurements. The new sensor developed here overcomes these problems and also avoids confounding problems of saline water that effects capacitance-based sensors although the temperature dependence challenge will remain. The new sensor will be linked to a new buried data transmitter for convenient farm deployment.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Advanced airborne technologies for mapping and monitoring native Australian vegetation

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:06:43 +0000

Airborne sensors can be used by natural resource managers and researchers to collect visible (vegetation cover) and invisible (such as canopy condition or water use) data.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

002246

Host Organisation:

Flinders University

Researchers:

Dr Jorg Hacker

Subjects

Subjects:

Data and Information

Monitoring and Assessment

Native Vegetation

Project Information

Summary:

This project proved that airborne sensors could gather useful information that is visible (vegetation cover) and not visible (such as canopy condition or water use) for natural resource managers and researchers. Dr Jorg Hacker (Flinders University’s Centre for Airborne Research) is combining lasers to measure heights and other technologies (digital video and multispectral scanners) under the wing of aircraft to gather data from large areas, faster and more accurately than many land managers thought possible.

The project was a proof of concept that airborne laser scanning and airborne hyperspectral imaging equipment could be combined and used to detect, map and monitor vegetation and water use. The combined technologies has added value to the natural resource management community in field trial collaborations such as:

(a) a 6,000km of benchmark river surveys in remote areas of the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Yorke Peninsula Q (Sept 2007) linked to Land & Water Australia’s project GRU-37 (“A remote sensing approach for mapping and classifying riparian gully erosion in Tropical Australia”)

(b) understanding water use in irrigated and natural landscapes around Narrandera NSW www.nafe.unimelb.edu.au

(c) micro-climate and land-vegetation-atmosphere interaction around the Rabbit-proof Fence in Western Australia (ARC/NSF-funded Dec 2006)

(d) surveying the Rubicon Catchment near Devonport January 2007, and

(e) the project has developed the capacity (and success) of the research team to attract other research investment so that there is now a ready capacity and examples of its application.

The new research capacity has been in demand and continues to attract research funding support.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Resources

External Links:

Airborne scanners put native vegetation on the map (Land & Water Australia, 26 May 2009)

Quantifying acid and trace metal fluxes in aquifers under anthropogenic influence

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:02:25 +0000

Anthropogenic impacts on groundwater sources such as over-pumping, artificial recharge and/or mining can facilitate hydrogeochemical changes in the aquifer that may lead to accumulation/mobilisation of acidity and/or trace metals. To assess the fate of these trace metals and the effectiveness of remediation measures, the interaction between physical, chemical and reactive processes that control the generation and attenuation of acidity and/or trace metals in the aquifer needs to be understood. Contaminant fluxes to potential receptors may be affected by complex flow patterns and reactions that result from the mixing of fresh- and denser saline waters (e.g.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Research Type:

PhD Student

LWA Project Code:

002362

Host Organisation:

Flinders University

Researchers:

Ilka wallis

Subjects

Subjects:

Monitoring and Assessment

Catchment Management

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Channel Evaporation Mitigation

superuser — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:52:42 +0000

The project will develop the application of monolayers to reduce evaporation from irrigation channels.

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

GMW5034

Host Organisation:

Goulburn-Murray Water

Researchers:

Mike Schulz

Subjects

Subjects:

Monitoring and Assessment

Irrigation

Keywords:

Conservation

Climate

Surface water

Evaluation

Evaporation

Project Information

Outcomes:

At the estimated cost of $200-800/ML/year, evaporation control using monolayers has an application in channel systems, particularly in years when allocations are low. Determination of the potential savings and commercial costs, will allow more effective assessment of this technology.

Based on a 30% reduction in evaporation loss and 50% adoption, the potential benefit within the jurisdiction of G-MW is;

	Potential Water Saving (GL/year)	Potential Value (at $2,000/ML water saved)
Storages	48.0	$ 96.0 Million
Channels	11.0	$ 22.0 Million
Farm Storages	0.5	$ 0.5 Million
Total	59.5	$ 118.5 Million

Given that G-MW constitutes about 20% of gravity irrigation systems nationally, the benefit to the water industry nationally is considered to be a factor of 5-10 greater that outlined above.

Another outcome is improved measurement of evaporation losses in channels and storages, which is an issue in current water savings projects. The project will therefore reduce the uncertainty associated with estimating evaporation losses.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Background

Project Background:

Water in open channels is subject to high evaporative losses. Some 66GL/annum of water is lost through evaporation from channels in Northern Victoria.

Research by University of Southern Queensland (USQ) has shown that applying small quantities of chemicals to form a surface film on water bodies is a cost-effective method of suppressing evaporation. Initial findings suggest that monolayers reduce evaporation by 35% at a cost between $200-800/ML/year, and that there is potential to further improve product performance to reach a target of $80/ML water saved. The potential water saving from the use of such monolayers on G-MW channels is approximately 11GL/year (assuming 30% evaporation suppression and application to 50% of channels).

Aims:

To develop rigorous methods to determine evaporation rates from channels
To determine the efficacy of monolayers when used on channels.
To develop application methods to apply evaporation suppressants to channels.
To better understand the control measures that should apply to minimise environmental impacts when using monolayers in irrigation channel systems.

Impact of Open Hydroponics (OH) Irrigation in the Citrus Industry

superuser — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:19:39 +0000

Open Hydroponics is a high-frequency (drip) irrigation combined with balanced fertiliser application system that adopts principles of soil-less hydroponics to field based production system (Martinez and Fernandez, 2004). This system is generally known as advanced fertigation system (AFS).

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

SRD9

Host Organisation:

South Australian Research and Development Institute

Researchers:

Dr Tapas Biswas

Subjects

Subjects:

Monitoring and Assessment

Landscape Management

Irrigation

Keywords:

Open hydroponics

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Background

Project Background:

Advanced fertigation, a new method of irrigation and fertilizer management, has not been critically evaluated for its sustainability in Australian landscape. Although several forms of AFS are currently used, they all share the principle of high-frequency fertigation by using low flow drip irrigation for the reduced root zone volume.

As with any emerging technology, there are several unresolved issues associated with AFS including risk of excessive deep drainage, build up of salt, nutrients and heavy metals in the rootzone, nutrient leaching, inadequate, oversupply or imbalance of nutrients, yield and fruit quality and offsite impacts.

Aims:

The main aim of this project is to gain a better understanding of the solute dynamics under AFS with the aim to assess the implications of this management system in the short and long term compared with conventional systems. Investigation includes water and key solute [NO3- and Cl-] fluxes within and beyond the wetted rootzone, water use efficiency and structural damage. It is planned that the economics of crop production under AFS will also be explored.

Quantification of the environmental and control costs of weeds

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:06:13 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Defeating the Weed Menace R&D Program

Program Theme:

Quantifying the impacts of weeds on sustainability and the environment and the relative benefits and costs

Research Type:

Research Project

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

NTU25

Host Organisation:

Charles Darwin University

Researchers:

Samantha Setterfield

Subjects

Subjects:

Data and Information

Monitoring and Assessment

Weeds

Keywords:

Quantifying the impacts of weeds on sustainability and the environment and the relative benefits and costs of different control

Project Information

Summary:

The purpose of this project was to quantify

the environmental impacts and
the relative benefits and costs of control of two tropical invasive grasses.

The project reviewed the existing studies on the environmental impact of tropical invasive grasses in order to identify the main impacts that should be the focus of economic analysis of control methods.

The project contributed to this knowledge by completing research that demonstrated the impact of invasive grasses on the structure and function of tropical ecosystems, and the impact of management practices on ecosystem health and capacity for restoration. The project completed case studies demonstrating the effect and cost of exotic grass invasion on fire management practices, and the methods and costs of control approaches.

The project developed an approach to assessing the benefits of control of ‘conflict of interest’ weeds and the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative control measures. These approaches have already been used by the NT Government to guide decision making about tropical invasive grasses within their weed risk management framework.

The project will build on the existing strong national linkages established during the development of the NT WRM process, which was developed in consultation with WRM experts from South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, NSW and WA.

Outcomes:

The project was completed as a collaboration between Charles Darwin University and the Northern Territory Government. Development of the research questions and approach and collection of data were done in collaboration with the main end user – the NT Government. This provided a clear pathway for adoption, and ensured that the project was directly relevant to the management needs.

The outputs have already been incorporated into decision-making processes as demonstrated by the inclusion of the BCA of gamba grass, particularly the fire management costing, in the NT and Queensland Government’s nomination for declaration. The NT Bushfires Council has used the economic costs of gamba grass management to secure a substantial increase in operation budget. The NT Government has committed to further work on the framework for assessing alternative control measures to apply to other case study species.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Project Background:

Weed management agencies support the principle that prioritisation of, and investment in, weed management must be informed by a risk management approach (Australian Weeds Strategy 2007), and in Australia this prioritisation process should be guided by Australia’s "Post-border Weed Risk Management (WRM) Protocol" (Virtue et al. 2007).

However, while there is nationwide agreement that the elements within the WRM Protocol represent best practice, the availability of some of the decision support tools that underpin such a system have been identified as knowledge gaps or needing refinement following additional R&D. In particular there have been calls for WRA to expand to include tools that assess the range of environmental and economic costs, and to assess the costs, risks and likely success of weed control measures (Wainger and King 2001).

Aims:

The purpose of this project is to fill two key knowledge gaps in Australia’s Post-border WRM system. The project aimed to quantify:

The environmental impacts
The relative benefits and costs of control measures of two invasive grasses within a case study context.

The research proposal also did the following:

A review of existing material and a synthesis related to the environmental impact of weeds, in order to identify the main impacts that should form the focus of the economic analysis;
The development / adaptation of a framework for assessing the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative control measures;
The development / adaptation of a framework for assessing the benefits of control of ‘conflict of interest’ weeds.

Managing weeds under future scenarios for environmental flows in the Murray River

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:52:56 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Defeating the Weed Menace R&D Program

Program Theme:

Early Detection, Survey and Eradication of Potential Weed Species

Research Type:

Research Project

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

CEN6

Host Organisation:

CSIRO Entomology

Researchers:

Dr Matthew Colloff

Subjects

Subjects:

Monitoring and Assessment

Weeds

Environmental Flows

Keywords:

Weeds

weed

murray river

Project Information

Summary:

This project aims to determine site indicators that will clarify risk with respect to weed invasion, and how this risk is affected by patterns of flooding. This will assist in reducing the spread of weeds in riparian and floodplain environments and in restoring native vegetation in systems that are degraded.

Outcomes:

Management implications of results derived from small spatial scales indicate improving environmental water allocations is predicted to result in a reduction in exotic weeds, since fewer exotics occur in functional groups that require flooded conditions to germinate.

The early involvement of the traditional owners of the study area has had an additional positive impact on this project.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Project Background:

Many exotic weeds have colonized floodplain and riparian environments in Australia, including blackberry (Rubus spp.), willows (Salix spp.) bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides), cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana) and Lippia (Phyla canescens)). These weeds can have substantial negative impacts on the biodiversity values of riparian environments, and can spread away from the river banks to invade otherwise productive agricultural land. Flooding promotes growth and reproduction of many riparian plants, activates the sexual and asexual propagules of aquatic and semi-aquatic species and eliminates flood-intolerant species that colonize the floodplain during dry periods.

Riparian and floodplain environments have been subject to many stressors due to land use changes in the past, but it is known that more significant changes will occur in the next decade. State and federal governments are co-ordinating to increase the amount of water released in Australia’s largest river in the form of environmental flows. The primary goal of this program is to restore ecosystem health to the Murray river. At the same time must minimise negative consequences for productive land use. As such, a great challenge must be faced, how to release water in a manner that will maximise environmental benefits? For this study, the question is how is it possible to manage environmental flows in a manner that will not exacerbate weed invasion or trigger an increase in abundance of exotic species that are currently present as sleepers in the system?

Aims:

The aim of this project is to determin site indicators that clarify risk status with respect to weed invasion on Murray River Floodplains, and how this risk is affected by changes in flooding regimes and environmental flow allocations. Changes in frequency, duration, depth and spatial extent of flooding forms of disturbance that can have significant implications for wetland and aquatic habitats. The main objects of the project were to:

map weediness coded for local flooding regimes,
analyse local habitat and flooding regime relationships, and
to provide fact sheets indicating management options.

Key questions were identified that specifically address these criteria, including:

Are specific Living Murray Icon sites associated with a higher abundance of exotic species?
Can the spatial location of exotic species in Murray River Floodplains be predicted using hydrological parameters?
Does the distribution of exotic species over time relate to characteristics of the flooding regime?
Are exotic invaders chiefly dry-loving or wet-loving species and has this changed with time?
Can we identify particular site risk indicators which predict vulnerability to exotic plant invasion?

Location

State & NRM Region:

Murray

Root Zone Water, Salinity and Nutrient Management Under Precision Irrigation

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:01:39 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

SRD8

Host Organisation:

ACTION Salinity and Water

Researchers:

Dr Tapas Biswas

Subjects

Subjects:

Irrigation

Salinity

Soils

Monitoring and Assessment

Keywords:

Salinity Management

aquatic nutrients

Data and Information

Project Information

Summary:

The SRD8 project has an ongoing commitment to the development of salinity risk management strategies and tools designed to limit the damaging effects of salinity in the root zone, a fact that is most clearly represented by the establishment of 20 trial sites distributed through a range of growing conditions in SA, NSW and VIC.

Tapas Biswas, kneeling at centre, and SARDI researchers working with growers to achieve highly effecient water use and minimise root zone salinity. Photo: SARDI

Outcomes:

In order to develop a salinity and nutrient management strategy for irrigated Horticulture the SRD8 project has been collecting data from 20 field sites across NSW, VIC and SA growing irrigated citrus, grapevines and tree nuts on different soils (often more clayey) and a range of water salinity regimes.

Real time data is being collected on irrigation and its system management, climate, chemical application, soil moisture and solution chemistry as well as plant nutrition and yield. These data are forming a valuable repository to underpin seasonal trends in water use efficiency WUE, deep percolation (leaching fraction), salt leaching and its efficiency, nutrient movement within the root zone and plant’s response to salt.

Data are also used for the calibration of the popular field water use model IRES (Irrigation Recording and Evaluation System), Van Genuchten-Darcy model for deep drainage estimation and solute transport models e.g., LEACHM-TRANSPORT and Hydrus).

In particular, this project includes the application of the DEP15 measuring and modelling techniques to surface and subsurface irrigated vines and citrus including citrus grown with advanced fertigation (e.g., Open Hydroponics) which may have a higher risk of water escape and nutrient leaching from the active rootzone. This involves comparative assessment of water, salt and nutrient movement between conventional and advanced fertigation systems.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Background

Project Background:

Horticulture within the Murray Darling Basin other parts of Australia is facing one of its toughest tests of balancing improved water use efficiency and salt leaching since irrigation commenced in the late 1800’s. Growers need strategies to manage their crops under conditions of reduced water allocations together with the anticipated increase of irrigation salinity in future years.

Building on the Tri-State salinity project (DEP15), the SRD 8 project “Root Zone Water, Salinity and Nutrient Management under Precision Irrigation” aims to address these issues with particular reference to irrigated horticulture in the lower Murray regions.

Aims:

The main objective of this new SRD8 project is to develop a salinity management strategy by including additional field studies on citrus orchards and vineyards on different soils (often more clayey) and high salinity water regimes.

The Significance of Night Time Evaporation from Irrigation Farm Dams

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:57:41 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

UWA45

Host Organisation:

Centre for Water Research University of Western Australia

Researchers:

Matthew Hipsey

Subjects

Subjects:

Water (General)

Monitoring and Assessment

Keywords:

Evaporation

Project Information

Summary:

One area of uncertainty is the significance of night time evaporation. Similarly, the role of windsheltering on evaporation can be significant but is rarely accounted for in any quantitative assessment. There is therefore a need for improved estimates of evaporation so that water management and investment decisions can have a quantitative basis.

Outcomes:

The report shows that the contribution of evaporation during the night is considerable. Predictions from this study using 10 test (modelled) dams in 4 different climatic regions suggest that between 35-45% of the total annual loss of water through evaporation was during the night. i.e. in a climate where potential evaporation is approximately 1.5 m. year-1 the night time fraction equates to roughly 0.6 m.year-1. Where the seepage from dams is measured by assessing the drop in water levels overnight, commonly 10-15% is attributed to night time evaporation. This report shows that the report will be more in the range of 40 - 60 %. It also suggests that night time evaporation is not strongly affected by the dam’s shape.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Project Background:

Evaporation is a significant loss component from irrigation dams, and although numerous evaporation reduction methodologies exist, their adoption is hindered since they are deemed uneconomical. Any cost/benefit analyses that are done are generally based on poor evaporation estimates due to the complexities involved in evaporation prediction. One area of uncertainty is the significance of night time evaporation. Similarly, the role of windsheltering on evaporation can be significant but is rarely accounted for in any quantitative assessment.

There is therefore a need for improved estimates of evaporation so that water management and investment decisions can have a quantitative basis. Specifically, it has been the aim of this project to ascertain the importance of night time evaporation and to provide quantitative estimates of its significance across a range of climatic regions. An additional objective was to compare the current methodology with that presented herein.

Aims:

To ascertain the importance of night -time evaporation from farm dams across a range of climatic zones.
To quantify the day -time vs. night -time losses in the different climatic zones and for different seasons.
To examine and quantify the sensitivity of evaporation predictions to humidity, temperature and atmospheric stability, dam morphometry, wind, wind -sheltering and cloud cover.
To assess the robustness of the current evaporation prediction framework outlined in the scoping study, and provide an improved framework for engineers to estimate evaporation given routine meteorological and morphological information.

Delivering Sustainability through Risk Management

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:52:24 +0000

This project was designed to achieve an improved level of adoption of ecological risk assessment and risk management methods in the Australian irrigation industry and in regulatory agencies. Adoption of risk-based approaches is considered to be vital if the industry is to achieve its goal of long-term sustainability.

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

UMO45

Host Organisation:

Monash University

Researchers:

Prof Barry T Hart

Subjects

Subjects:

Monitoring and Assessment

Landscape Management

Salinity

Soils

Water (General)

Catchment Management

Irrigation

Keywords:

Policy

Information Management

Project Information

Outcomes:

The National Program for Sustainable Irrigation established an Ecological Risk Assessment framework for assessing the ecological risks associated with Australian irrigation systems. This new decision support tool should assist the Australian irrigation industry in quantifying and prioritising the ecological risks from their activities, and also to better focus their management actions to minimize these risks.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Project Background:

The adoption of risk-based approaches is considered to be vital if the industry is to achieve its goal of long-term sustainability. This project is a logical extension of an earlier NPSI project (UMO40) that developed an Ecological Risk Assessment framework for the Australian irrigation industry (Hart et al., 2005).

Aims:

To extend the development and knowledge management of the Irrigation Ecological Risk Assessment project to allow the protocols to be adopted nationally
To trial in 4 irrigation regions and provide training courses to foster adoption.
To engage with planning authorities and regulators at regional, state and Commonwealth levels as an input into policy development and application.

Open Hydroponics: Risks and opportunities

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:19:17 +0000

An open hydroponic system (OHS) is a continuous method of supplying a crop’s water and nutrient needs in a very precise way. Unlike traditional soiless media hydroponic systems, in the open field hydroponic system the soil is used as the medium in which the plant grows and its primary function is to provide the support structure to anchor the plant and accommodate its root system.

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

DAN22

Host Organisation:

Department of Primary Industries and Resources New South Wales

Researchers:

Steven Falivene

Subjects

Subjects:

Monitoring and Assessment

Salinity

Soils

Irrigation

Keywords:

Productivity

Environmental risk

water supply

Project Information

Outcomes:

Stage 1:

An understanding of OHS principles and practices and the availability of relevant information for irrigators, policy makers and industry. This opportunity for understanding will lead to better defined OHS design techniques.

An understanding of the feasibility of the system for various locations in Australia and this will build upon other existing tools for crop/climate/soils selection.

An initial assessment of the barriers, environment, social (skills) and economic (capital costs) that will be required to be overcome for successful adoption.

Better understanding of the impacts of adoption on water service providers and environmental agencies that may change the design parameters for infrastructure refurbishment and environmental monitoring.

Stage 2:

An improvement in the sustainability of irrigation by:

better informed investment decisions by industries, producers and lending providers, and
improved understanding of the risks and benefits of broadscale adoption of the technology.

Facilitation of the adoption of more efficient and effective water use and nutrition practices if the technology is proved to be sustainable. Specific improvements will occur through:

the adoption of wide-spread objective management systems for drip irrigation (that includes fertigation),
matching irrigation to crop water use (quantity applied),
understanding the varying nutrient requirements of the plant,

Potential for increased economic viability through improved production (quality and quantity).

Understanding of the social implications that may result from wide-spread adoption of this technology. Also an understanding of the likely rate of adoption of the technology will be an outcome.

Potential for gains for the supply and support industries (eg. manufacturers, designers and consultants)

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Project Background:

This system is relatively new to Australia and there are a number of commercial citrus operations currently in place using the principles of OHS. Yandilla Park in South Australia is a large commercial operation currently using and marketing a technology imported from Spain(Martínez Open Hydroponics Technology). Other commercial orchards are using their own interpretations and variations of OHS. There is potential that OHS is suitable for a range of other crops (peaches, almonds, grapes, citrus, avocados and several vegetables) with suitable irrigation systems.

Aims:

Stage one of the project is a desktop study to:

Review the current knowledge and status of OHS including grey and published literature
Evaluate the impact of OHS on water supply infrastructure
Examine the potential impact of OHS on the environment

Stage two of the project will work with industry to:

Validate water use, nutrient leakage and salt accumulation of OHS
Determine the potential return on investment from OHS through examination of yield and quality dividends
Develop Best Management Practice guidelines for industry to optimise productivity and minimise environmental impact