Quantification of leakage into the atmosphere from geologically stored CO2 is achievable by means of atmospheric monitoring techniques if the position of the leak can be located and the perturbation above the background concentration is sufficiently large for discrimination. Geoscience Australia and the CO2CRC have recently constructed a site in northern Canberra for the controlled release of greenhouse gases. This facility enables the simulation of leak events and provides an opportunity to investigate techniques for the detection and quantification of emissions of CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) into the atmosphere under controlled conditions. The facility is modelled on the ZERT controlled release facility in Montana. The first phase of the installation is complete and has supported an above ground, point source, release experiment (e.g. simulating leakage from a compromised well). Phase 2 involves the installation of a shallow underground horizontal well for line source CO2 release experiments and this will be installed during the first half of 2011. A release experiment was conducted at the site to explore the application of a technique, termed atmospheric tomography, to simultaneously determine the location and emission rate of a leak when both are unknown. The technique was applied to the release of two gas species, N2O and CO2, with continuous sampling of atmospheric trace gas concentrations from 8 locations 20m distant from a central release point and measurement of atmospheric turbulence and dispersive conditions. The release rate was 1.10 ± 0.02 g min-1 for N2O and 58.5 ± 0.4 g min-1 for CO2 (equivalent to 30.7 ± 0.2 tonnes CO2 yr-1). Localisation using both release species occurred within 0.5 m (2% error) of the known location. Determination of emission rate was possible to within 7% for CO2 and 5% for N2O.

Descriptive posters

Joining Geoscience Australia's Graduate Program is an exciting opportunity to learn about the diverse earth science disciplines work for the nation's leading government geoscience research and information agency. Posters and Flyers.

To follow

New display for the foyer for Open Day 2015. Highlights 9 mineral specimens from Broken Hill and includes background on the Broken Hill mines.

Poster linked to Abstract in Geocat# 74763 West Australian Basins Symposium, 18-21 August 2013

To follow

Poster for abstract submitted to the 2013 DLR TerraSAR-X science team meeting to be held in Oberpfaffenhoffen in Germany, 10-12 June 2013. Abstract GeoCat # 75845

The Australian Government has invested $23 million in building the Australian Geophysical Observing System (AGOS). AGOS will enable highly accurate spatial and temporal estimation of large-scale surface deformation. The key geospatial components of AGOS include Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) instrumentation, high precision GPS monuments, corner reflectors and a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data repository. The corner reflector (CR) array that forms a key piece of AGOS infrastructure will enable the precise measurement of crustal deformation using Interferometric SAR (InSAR) techniques. The CR array will also provide a reliable means to perform independent and ongoing radiometric, geometric and impulse response measurements for the calibration of a number of satellite-borne SAR instruments. A combination of plate sizes and materials have been used in the design and construction of 18 different CR prototypes. Radar Cross Section (RCS) measurements for all CR prototypes will be undertaken at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) radar signature test facility to compare theoretical versus actual values for a range of azimuth and elevation combinations and characterise the design performance. The prototypes will be deployed at a site in Canberra for testing over a six-month period. Data captures over the test site will be planned, with satellite-borne X and C band SAR instruments to assess the response performance of the CR prototypes for calibration activities. The progress of CR prototyping including the details of design, construction, RCS measurements, deployment and field performance will be covered in this paper.

This mosaic comprises 165 scenes that were acquired between November 2000 and February 2001 from the RADARSAT satellite. This satellite carries a radar instrument that sends pulsed signals to Earth and processes the reflected pulses. The information received by the satellite is converted into a black and white image that shows the texture of the Earth"s surface in a different way to a normal "photograph". The poster is about 91cm x 80cm and is at 1:5,500,000 scale.