This report describes the results of an extended national field spectroscopy campaign designed to validate the Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 Analysis Ready Data (ARD) surface reflectance (SR) products generated by Digital Earth Australia. Field spectral data from 55 overpass coincident field campaigns have been processed to match the ARD surface reflectances. The results suggest the Landsat 8 SR is validated to within 10%, the Sentinel 2A SR is validated to within 6.5% and Sentinel 2B is validated to within 6.8% . Overall combined Sentinel 2A and 2B are validated within 6.6% and the SR for all three ARD products are validated to within 7.7%.

<p>This package contains airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data from the "SkyTEM helicopter EM Howard East region" survey which was flown over Howard East region, Northern Territory during July - August 2017. The area is comprised of 2073.6 line kilometres in total. <p>The aim of the survey is to provide at a reconnaissance scale: <p>a) trends in regolith thickness and variability <p>b) variations in bedrock conductivity <p>c) conductivity of key bedrock (lithology related) conductive units under cover <p>d) the groundwater resource potential of the region <p>This report lists the SkyTEM system information and specifications relevant for this survey, and describes the processing carried out on the data. <p>Geoscience Australia commissioned the survey as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. The EFTF program is led by Geoscience Australia (GA), in collaboration with the Geological Surveys of the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, and is investigating the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources in northern Australia and South Australia. The EFTF is a four-year $100.5 million investment by the Australian Government in driving the next generation of resource discoveries in northern Australia, boosting economic development across this region (https://www.ga.gov.au/eftf).

This compilation data release is a selection of remotely sensed imagery used in the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) East Kimberley Groundwater Project. Datasets include: • Mosaic 5 m digital elevation model (DEM) with shaded relief • Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) percentiles • Tasselled Cap exceedance summaries • Normalised Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) • Normalised Difference Wetness Index (NDWI) The 5m spatial resolution digital elevation model with associated shaded relief image were derived from the East Kimberley 2017 LiDAR survey (Geoscience Australia, 2019b). The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) percentiles include 20th, 50th, and 80th for dry seasons (April to October) 1987 to 2018 and were derived from the Landsat 5,7 and 8 data stored in Digital Earth Australia (see Geoscience Australia, 2019a). Tasselled Cap Exceedance Summary include brightness, greenness and wetness as a composite image and were also derived from the Landsat data. These surface reflectance products can be used to highlight vegetation characteristics such as wetness and greenness, and land cover. The Normalised Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) and Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI) were derived from the Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. These datasets have been classified and visually enhanced to detect vegetation moisture stress or water-logging and show distribution of moisture. For example, positive NDWI values indicate waterlogged areas while waterbodies typically correspond with values greater than 0.2. Waterlogged areas also correspond to NDMI values of 0.2 to 0.4. Geoscience Australia, 2019a. Earth Observation Archive. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.4225/25/57D9DCA3910CD Geoscience Australia, 2019b. Kimberley East - LiDAR data. Geoscience Australia, Canberra. C7FDA017-80B2-4F98-8147-4D3E4DF595A2 https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/129985

To set out how Geoscience Australia will meet its vision for the Exploring for the Future program, we have summarised the ways our scientific activities, outputs and intended outcomes and impacts are linked, using the Impact Pathway diagram.

Plutonium (Pu) interactions in the environment are highly complex. Site-specific variables play an integral role in determining the chemical and physical form of Pu, and its migration, bioavailability, and immobility. This paper aims to identify the key variables that can be used to highlight regions of radioecological sensitivity and guide remediation strategies in Australia. Plutonium is present in the Australian environment as a result of global fallout and the British nuclear testing program of 1952 – 1958 in central and west Australia (Maralinga and Monte Bello islands). We report the first systematic measurements of 239+240Pu and 238Pu activity concentrations in distal (≥1,000 km from test sites) catchment outlet sediments from Queensland, Australia. The average 239+240Pu activity concentration was 0.29 mBq.g -1 (n = 73 samples) with a maximum of 4.88 mBq.g -1. 238Pu/239+240Pu isotope ratios identified a large range (0.02 – 0.29 (RSD: 74%)) which is congruent with the heterogeneous nuclear material used for the British nuclear testing programme at Maralinga and Montebello Islands. The use of a modified PCA relying on non-linear distance correlation (dCorr) provided broader insight into the impact of environmental variables on the transport and migration of Pu in this soil system. Primary key environmental indicators of Pu presence were determined to be actinide/lanthanide/heavier transition metals, elevation, electrical conductivity (EC), CaO, SiO2, SO3, landform, geomorphology, land use, and climate explaining 81.7% of the variance of the system. Overall this highlighted that trace level Pu accumulations are associated with the coarse, refractive components of Australian soils, and are more likely regulated by the climate of the region and overall soil type. <b>Citation:</b> Megan Cook, Patrice de Caritat, Ross Kleinschmidt, Joёl Brugger, Vanessa NL. Wong, Future migration: Key environmental indicators of Pu accumulation in terrestrial sediments of Queensland, Australia,<i> Journal of Environmental Radioactivity</i>, Volumes 223–224, 2020, 106398,ISSN 0265-931X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106398

This Sydney Basin dataset contains descriptive attribute information for the areas bounded by the relevant spatial groundwater feature in the associated Hydrogeology Index map. Descriptive topics are grouped into the following themes: Location and administration; Demographics; Physical geography; Surface water; Geology; Hydrogeology; Groundwater; Groundwater management and use; Environment; Land use and industry types; and Scientific stimulus. The Sydney Basin, part of the Sydney–Gunnedah–Bowen basin system, consists of rocks dating from the Late Carboniferous to Middle Triassic periods. The basin's formation began with extensional rifting during the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian, leading to the creation of north-oriented half-grabens along Australia's eastern coast. A period of thermal relaxation in the mid Permian caused subsidence in the Bowen–Gunnedah–Sydney basin system, followed by thrusting of the New England Orogen from the Late Permian through the Triassic, forming a foreland basin. Deposition in the basin occurred in shallow marine, alluvial, and deltaic environments, resulting in a stratigraphic succession with syn-depositional folds and faults, mostly trending north to north-east. The Lapstone Monocline and Kurrajong Fault separate the Blue Mountains in the west from the Cumberland Plain in the central part of the basin. The Sydney Basin contains widespread coal deposits classified into geographic coalfield areas, including the Southern, Central, Western, Newcastle, and Hunter coalfields. These coalfields are primarily hosted within late Permian strata consisting of interbedded sandstone, coal, siltstone, and claystone units. The coal-bearing formations are grouped based on sub-basins, namely the Illawarra, Tomago, Newcastle, and Wittingham coal measures, underlain by volcanic and marine sedimentary rocks. Deposition within the basin ceased during the Triassic, and post-depositional igneous intrusions (commonly of Jurassic age) formed sills and laccoliths in various parts of the basin. The maximum burial depths for the basin's strata occurred during the early Cretaceous, reaching around 2,000 to 3,000 metres. Subsequent tectonic activity associated with the Tasman Rift extension in the Late Cretaceous and compressional events associated with the convergence between Australia and Indonesia in the Neogene led to uplift and erosion across the basin. These processes have allowed modern depositional environments to create small overlying sedimentary basins within major river valleys and estuaries, along the coast and offshore, and in several topographic depressions such as the Penrith, Fairfield and Botany basins in the area of the Cumberland Plain.

Millions of data points have been acquired or compiled through both phases of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program at Geoscience Australia (GA). This data that graces the EFTF Portal and appears in many publications has another home within specialist databases designed and built to house the specific data that GA collects. One such database is HYDROCHEM, which was implemented as part of the Enhanced Data Delivery (EDD) and National Groundwater Systems (NGS) projects. HYDROCHEM hosts 190,097 rows of groundwater, surface water and rainfall water chemistry analyses. This data was either previously hosted in the GNDWATER database, or compiled from legacy data stores. The redevelopment of GNDWATER to HYDROCHEM saw the de-duplication and updating of sample and site-specific metadata into other GA databases, such as SAMPLES, BOREHOLES and FIELDSITES. The redevelopment also added additional constraints to the database, including minimum metadata requirements, constrained look-up tables for units of measure, laboratory, method, filter sizes, standards and uncertainty types. Other features include minimum and maximum values for particular analytes and delivery of the data in standardised GA-preferred units of measure.

Geoscience Australia and its predecessors have analysed the hydrochemistry of water sampled from bores, surface features, rainwater and core samples (pore water). Samples have been collected during drilling or monitoring projects, including Exploring for the Future (EFTF). The hydrochemistry database includes physical-chemical parameters (EC, pH, redox potential, dissolved oxygen), major and minor ions, trace elements, isotopes and nutrients. The resource is accessible via the Geoscience Australia Portal <a href="https://portal.ga.gov.au/">(https://portal.ga.gov.au/)</a>

This animation shows how Surface Magnetic Resonance (SMR) Surveys are conducted. It is part of a series of Field Activity Technique Engagement Animations. The target audience are the communities that are impacted by GA's data acquisition activities. There is no sound or voice over. The 2D animation includes a simplified view of what SMR equipment looks like, what the equipment measures and how scientists use the data.

This flythrough highlights shallow and mesophotic seabed environments of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, located within the Lord Howe Marine Park. These reefs are unique because they are the southern-most platform reefs in the world and host a diverse range of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate marine species. High-resolution multibeam bathymetry data and seafloor imagery used in this flythrough was acquired by the Marine Biodiversity Hub, during the period 31 January to 6 February 2020 on board the Australian Maritime College vessel, TV Bluefin. Participating agencies included Geoscience Australia, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (University of Tasmania), the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (University of Sydney) through their involvement with the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), NSW Department of Primary Industries and Parks Australia. The specific aim of the survey was to fill knowledge gaps on the distribution, extent and structure of seabed habitats and associated sessile and mobile fauna in the lagoon and mesophotic shelves of Elizabeth (Recreational Use Zone) and Middleton (National Park Zone) Reefs, using a suite of national standard survey tools and best practice sampling procedures. Data acquisition for the project included seabed mapping using multibeam sonar (Kongsberg EM 2040C HD, 300 kHz), seabed imagery acquisition by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV Sirius and AUV Nimbus), sediment samples, and imagery of demersal fish communities by stereo-baited remote underwater videos (stereo-BRUVs). This work was undertaken by the Marine Biodiversity Hub, a collaborative partnership supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP), and Parks Australia. AUV data was sourced from Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) – IMOS is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent. This multimedia product is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.