The Surface Hydrology Points (Regional) dataset provides a set of related features classes to be used as the basis of the production of consistent hydrological information. This dataset contains a geometric representation of major hydrographic point elements - both natural and artificial. This dataset is the best available data supplied by Jurisdictions and aggregated by Geoscience Australia it is intended for defining hydrological features.

This dataset maps the geomorphic habitat environments (facies) for 36 South Australian coastal waterways. The classification system contains 12 easily identifiable and representative environments: Barrier/back-barrier, Bedrock, Central Basin, Channel, Coral, Flood- and Ebb-tide Delta, Fluvial (bay-head) Delta, Intertidal Flats, Mangrove, Rocky Reef, Saltmarsh/Saltflat, Tidal Sand Banks (and Unassigned). These types represent habitats found across all coastal systems in Australia. Most of the 36 coastal waterways have a "Modified" environmental condition (as opposed to "Near Pristine"), according to the National Land and Water Resources Audit definition.

This dataset maps the geomorphic habitat environments (facies) for 88 Tasmanian coastal waterways. The classification system contains 11 easily identifiable and representative environments: Barrier/back-barrier, Bedrock, Central Basin, Channel, Coral, Flood- and Ebb-tide Delta, Fluvial (bay-head) Delta, Intertidal Flats, Rocky Reef, Saltmarsh/Saltflat, Tidal Sand Banks (and Unassigned). These types represent habitats found across all coastal systems in Australia. The majority of near pristine estuaries in Tasmania are located in the south and west of the State and on Cape Barren Island, according to the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.

This dataset maps the geomorphic habitat environments (facies) for 213 Queensland coastal waterways. This version of the dataset includes 73 newly mapped estuaries, classified as 'Near pristine'. The classification system contains 12 easily identifiable and representative environments: Barrier/back-barrier, Bedrock, Central Basin, Channel, Coral, Flood- and Ebb-tide Delta, Fluvial (bay-head) Delta, Intertidal Flats, Mangrove, Rocky Reef, Saltmarsh/Saltflat, Tidal Sand Banks (and Unassigned). These types represent habitats found across all coastal systems in Australia. Southern and central Great Barrier Reef lagoon coasts have a broad spectrum of river, tide and wave- dominated estuaries.

A detailed analysis of aquifer systems in the Broken Hill Managed Aquifer Recharge priority areas has clarified our understanding of key components of the aquifer systems. Of the priority areas examined in detail, the aquifers located in the Darling Floodplain are considered to have the greatest potential for developing Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) options and for hosting significant volumes of previously undefined fresh and brackish groundwaters with low levels of allocation, thereby assisting the larger strategic effort aimed at identifying significant water-saving measures for the Darling River system.

Subtitle: Behind the Scenes of Geofabric Version 3 Pilot & the Future of Geospatial Surface Water Information The Bureau of Meteorology's Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (Geofabric) was established in 2008 as the spatial information database to support water accounting and resource assessment mandated under the Water Act 2007. Foundation layers for Geofabric versions 1 and 2 were developed from 1:250K streamline data and the 9 second resolution national DEM. The uses of the Geofabric data have expanded to new disciplines and have resulted in increased demand for finer national resolution. Version 3 of the Geofabric is now under development in a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia, CSIRO, Australian National University (ANU) and the Bureau of Meteorology. The foundation inputs for Geofabric version 3 are based on the integrated national surface hydrology dataset which uses the best available scale data from the jurisdictions and the 1 second resolution SRTM DEM. This significant enhancement presents both challenges and opportunities. This presentation at the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) ACT Region conference on 16 August 2013 aims to show the work being undertaken in the pilot areas of the Namoi and Murrumbidgee River Regions.

A collaborative field trial of the Quester-Tangent View Series 5 single beam acoustic benthic mapping system was recently conducted in Wallis Lake by Geoscience Australia and Quester Tangent Corporation. The survey involved acquisition of the acoustic backscatter data from the northern channels and basins of Wallis Lake. Quester-Tangent software (IMPACT v3) was used to classify acoustic echograms that returned from the lake bottom into statistically different acoustic classes, using principal components analysis. Six acoustically different substrate types were identified in the Wallis Lake survey area. Ground-truthing was undertaken to identify the sedimentological and biological features of the lake floor that influenced the shape of the return echograms. For each sample, measurements were made of grain size, wet bulk density, total organic carbon, CaCO3 content, and mass of coarse fraction (mainly shell) material. Statistical cluster analysis and multi-dimensional scaling were utilised to identify any physical similarities between groups of ground-truthing sites. The analysis revealed four distinct and mappable substrate types in the study area. The degree of association between acoustic classes and measured sediment parameters was also quantified. Cluster and MDS analysis revealed that, based on the parameters measured, the six acoustic classes were not uniquely linked to the sediment groups, suggesting that factors other than the sediment parameters alone are influencing the acoustic signal. The spatial interpretation of the Wallis Lake Quester-Tangent data represents the first quantification of non-seagrass habitats in the deeper areas of the lake, and provides a useful indicatior of benthic habitat diversity and abundance. For future studies, a more quantitative measure of faunal burrow size and density, and also other sedimentary bedforms, is recommended.

In April 2005, Geoscience Australia (GA) conducted a field survey of the waterbodies of the Torbay catchment drainage system. The Torbay Catchment Group and the Western Australian Department of Environment commissioned this study in order to address critical knowledge gaps in their understanding of the major components of the nutrient budget. In particular, the role of benthic nutrient fluxes, their magnitude, and total benthic nutrient supply to the water column for phytoplankton growth. The waterbodies studied were Torbay inlet, Lake Powell, Marbellup Brook and Lake Manarup. The key findings of this study were: 1. the sediments are a major source of nutrients to the water column of all waterbodies; and 2. denitrification, nitrogen fixation and benthic photosynthesis are critical processes influencing overall water quality.

In early autumn 2006 (14th March to 4th April), Geoscience Australia conducted a field survey to investigate the major processes controlling water quality in Wellstead Estuary, Gordon Inlet and Beaufort Inlet. This project aimed to address critical knowledge gaps in understanding the impact of sediment-water interactions on water quality in each estuary, in particular, to identify the major controls on nutrient abundance and availability. The impacts of sediment-water interactions on overall water quality took into account: 1. shallowness of the estuaries and long water residence time; 2. productivity of microbenthic algae; and 3. the type of aquatic plant growth. Recommendations for the future management of these estuaries included: 1. Reducing nitrogen loads from the catchments of Wellstead Estuary and Gordon Inlet, and reducing the phosphorus loads from the catchment of Beaufort inlet; 2. Monitoring the abundance of macroalgae in Wellstead Estuary, the abundance of macrophytes in Gordon Inlet and the water column Chl-a concentrations in Beaufort Inlet.

Geoscience Australia (GA) was invited by Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) in 2010 to participate in an evaluation of the Intermap IFSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture RADAR) data that was acquired as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Information Infrastructure Project Stage 1 (MDBIIP1) in 2009. This evaluation will feed into the business case for Stage 2 of the project. As part of the evaluation GA undertook the following: 1. A comparison of the IFSAR Digital Surface Model (DSM) and Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with a recent LiDAR acquisition, covering approximately 9000Km2 of the Lower Darling Region. It focused on assessment of the data over various land cover and terrain types and identified opportunities and issues with integrating IFSAR with LiDAR. 2. A comparison of the IFSAR Vegetation Canopy Surface (DSM minus DTM) with the Lower Darling LiDAR Canopy Elevation Model (CEM). 3. A comparison between currently mapped man-made and natural water bodies over the Murray-Darling Basin with the IFSAR derived products (water mask). 4. Application of the National Catchment Boundaries (NCBs) methodology to the IFSAR data and comparison with the delineated watersheds from PBS&J (Intermap's sub-contractor). This report outlines the findings of this evaluation based on the 4 items above MDBA requested.