Analysis Ready Data (ARD) are satellite data that have been pre-processed for immediate analysis with minimal user effort. The generation of Surface Reflectance (SR) from optical satellite data, involves a series of corrections to standardise the data and enable meaningful comparison of data from multiple sensors and across time. Surface reflectance data are foundational for time-series analyses and rapid generation of other information products. Field based validation of surface reflectance data is therefore critical to determine its fitness for purpose, and applicability for downstream product development. In this paper, an approach for continental scale validation of the surface reflectance data from Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellites, using field-based measurements that are near-synchronous to the satellite observations over multiple sites across Australia is presented. Good practice measurement protocols governing the acquisition of field data, including field instrument calibration, sampling strategy and approach for post-collection processing and management of field spectral data are outlined. This study has been a nationally coordinated, collaborative field data collection campaign across Australia. Permanent field sites, to support validation efforts within the broader Earth Observation (EO) community for continental scale products were also identified. The approach is expected to serve as a model for coordinated ongoing validation of ARD products at continental to global scales. Presented at the 2019 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)

The Geoscience Australia (GA) Inorganic Geochemistry database (GEOCHEM) contains chemical analyses and analytical metadata from rocks and regolith materials. The majority of analysed samples are from mapping and sampling programs in Australia by GA and its predecessor organisations (BMR, AGSO), along with a considerable collection from the Australian Antarctic Territory. A small number of analyses exist from Papua New Guinea and offshore sampling programs. The data set is currently used for internal GA consumption and is served off an application within the GA portal. As an enhancement, this data would be altered in terms of its structure adding more information out of such analyses. In addition, the data would me made compliant following GGIC standards. The data would be published within internal GA as well as to external third parties, through OGC web services viz. WMS and WFS.

DEA Surface Reflectance OA (Sentinel-2B MSI) is part of a suite of Digital Earth Australia's (DEA) Surface Reflectance datasets that represent the vast archive of images captured by the US Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat and European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-2 satellite programs, which have been validated, calibrated, and adjusted for Australian conditions — ready for easy analysis. <b>Background:</b> This is a sub-product of Geoscience Australia Sentinel-2B MSI Analysis Ready Data Collection 3 - DEA Surface Reflectance (Sentinel-2B MSI). See the parent product for more information. The contextual information related to a dataset is just as valuable as the data itself. This information, also known as data provenance or data lineage, includes details such as the data’s origins, derivations, methodology and processes. It allows the data to be replicated and increases the reliability of derivative applications. Data that is well-labelled and rich in spectral, spatial and temporal attribution can allow users to investigate patterns through space and time. Users are able to gain a deeper understanding of the data environment, which could potentially pave the way for future forecasting and early warning systems. The surface reflectance data produced by NBART requires accurate and reliable data provenance. Attribution labels, such as the location of cloud and cloud shadow pixels, can be used to mask out these particular features from the surface reflectance analysis, or used as training data for machine learning algorithms. Additionally, the capacity to automatically exclude or include pre-identified pixels could assist with emerging multi-temporal and machine learning analysis techniques. <b>What this product offers:</b> This product contains a range of pixel-level observation attributes (OA) derived from satellite observation, providing rich data provenance: - null pixels - clear pixels - cloud pixels - cloud shadow pixels - snow pixels - water pixels - spectrally contiguous pixels - terrain shaded pixels It also features the following pixel-level information pertaining to satellite, solar and sensing geometries: - solar zenith - solar azimuth - satellite view - incident angle - exiting angle - azimuthal incident - azimuthal exiting - relative azimuth - timedelta

Background This is a sub-product of Geoscience Australia Sentinel-2A MSI Analysis Ready Data Collection 3 - DEA Surface Reflectance 3 (Sentinel-2A). See the parent product for more information. The contextual information related to a dataset is just as valuable as the data itself. This information, also known as data provenance or data lineage, includes details such as the data’s origins, derivations, methodology and processes. It allows the data to be replicated and increases the reliability of derivative applications. Data that is well-labelled and rich in spectral, spatial and temporal attribution can allow users to investigate patterns through space and time. Users are able to gain a deeper understanding of the data environment, which could potentially pave the way for future forecasting and early warning systems. The surface reflectance data produced by NBART requires accurate and reliable data provenance. Attribution labels, such as the location of cloud and cloud shadow pixels, can be used to mask out these particular features from the surface reflectance analysis, or used as training data for machine learning algorithms. Additionally, the capacity to automatically exclude or include pre-identified pixels could assist with emerging multi-temporal and machine learning analysis techniques. What this product offers This product contains a range of pixel-level observation attributes (OA) derived from satellite observation, providing rich data provenance: - null pixels - clear pixels - cloud pixels - cloud shadow pixels - snow pixels - water pixels - spectrally contiguous pixels - terrain shaded pixels It also features the following pixel-level information pertaining to satellite, solar and sensing geometries: - solar zenith - solar azimuth - satellite view - incident angle - exiting angle - azimuthal incident - azimuthal exiting - relative azimuth - timedelta

Background: This is a sub-product of DEA Surface Reflectance (Sentinel-2A MSI) - Geoscience Australia Sentinel-2A MSI Analysis Ready Data Collection 3. See the parent product for more information. Reflectance data at top of atmosphere (TOA) collected by Sentinel-2A MSI sensors can be affected by atmospheric conditions, sun position, sensor view angle, surface slope and surface aspect. Surfaces with varying terrain can introduce inconsistencies to optical satellite images through irradiance and bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) effects. For example, slopes facing the sun appear brighter compared with those facing away from the sun. Likewise, many surfaces on Earth are anisotropic in nature, so the signal picked up by a satellite sensor may differ depending on the sensor’s position. These need to be reduced or removed to ensure the data is consistent and can be compared over time. What this product offers: This product takes Sentinel-2A MSI imagery captured over the Australian continent and corrects the inconsistencies across the land and coastal fringe. It achieves this using Nadir corrected Bi-directional reflectance distribution function Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR). In addition, this product applies terrain illumination correction to correct for varying terrain. The resolution is a 10/20/60 m grid based on the the ESA level 1C archive. Applications: - The development of derivative products to monitor land, inland waterways and coastal features, such as: - urban growth - coastal habitats - mining activities - agricultural activity (e.g. pastoral, irrigated cropping, rain-fed cropping) - water extent - The development of refined information products, such as: - areal units of detected surface water - areal units of deforestation - yield predictions of agricultural parcels - Compliance surveys - Emergency management

<b>BACKGROUND</b> <p> <p>The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Landsat satellite program has been capturing images of the Australian continent for more than 30 years. This data is highly useful for land and coastal mapping studies. <p>In particular, the light reflected from the Earth’s surface (surface reflectance) is important for monitoring environmental resources – such as agricultural production and mining activities – over time. <p>We need to make accurate comparisons of imagery acquired at different times, seasons and geographic locations. However, inconsistencies can arise due to variations in atmospheric conditions, sun position, sensor view angle, surface slope and surface aspect. These need to be reduced or removed to ensure the data is consistent and can be compared over time. <p>&nbsp</p> <b>WHAT THIS PRODUCT OFFERS</b> <p> <p>GA Landsat 5 TM Analysis Ready Data Collection 3 takes Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery captured over the Australian continent and corrects for inconsistencies across land and coastal fringes. The result is accurate and standardised surface reflectance data, which is instrumental in identifying and quantifying environmental change. <p> <p>The TM instrument is an advanced, multispectral scanning, Earth resources sensor which is designed to categorise the Earth's surface. It is particularly useful for agricultural applications and identification of land use. <p> <p>This product is a single, cohesive Analysis Ready Data (ARD) package, which allows you to analyse surface reflectance data as is, without the need to apply additional corrections. <p> <p>It contains three sub-products that provide corrections or attribution information: <p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1) GA Landsat 5 TM NBAR Collection 3 <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2) GA Landsat 5 TM NBART Collection 3 <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3) GA Landsat 5 TM OA Collection 3 <p> <p>The resolution is a 30 m grid based on the USGS Landsat Collection 1 archive.

<b>BACKGROUND</b> <p> <p>The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Landsat satellite program has been capturing images of the Australian continent for more than 30 years. This data is highly useful for land and coastal mapping studies. <p>In particular, the light reflected from the Earth’s surface (surface reflectance) is important for monitoring environmental resources – such as agricultural production and mining activities – over time. <p>We need to make accurate comparisons of imagery acquired at different times, seasons and geographic locations. However, inconsistencies can arise due to variations in atmospheric conditions, sun position, sensor view angle, surface slope and surface aspect. These need to be reduced or removed to ensure the data is consistent and can be compared over time. <p>&nbsp</p> <b>WHAT THIS PRODUCT OFFERS</b> <p> <p>GA Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS Analysis Ready Data Collection 3 takes Landsat 8 imagery captured over the Australian continent and corrects for inconsistencies across land and coastal fringes. The result is accurate and standardised surface reflectance data, which is instrumental in identifying and quantifying environmental change. <p> <p>The imagery is captured using the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infra-Red Scanner (TIRS) sensors aboard Landsat 8. <p> <p>This product is a single, cohesive Analysis Ready Data (ARD) package, which allows you to analyse surface reflectance data as is, without the need to apply additional corrections. <p> <p>It contains three sub-products that provide corrections or attribution information: <p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1) GA Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS NBAR Collection 3 <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2) GA Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS NBART Collection 3 <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3) GA Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS OA Collection 3 <p> <p>The resolution is a 30 m grid based on the USGS Landsat Collection 1 archive.

Petascale archives of Earth observations from space (EOS) have the potential to characterise water resources at continental scales. For this data to be useful, it needs to be organised, converted from individual scenes as acquired by multiple sensors, converted into ‘analysis ready data’ and made available through high performance computing platforms. Moreover, converting this data into insights requires integration of non-EOS datasets that can provide biophysical and climatic context for EOS. Digital Earth Australia has demonstrated its ability to link EOS to rainfall and stream gauge data to provide insight into surface water dynamics during the hydrological extremes of flood and drought. This information is supporting the characterisation of groundwater resources across Australia’s north and could potentially be used to gain an understanding of the vulnerability of transport infrastructure to floods in remote, sparsely gauged regions of northern and central Australia.

<div>The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Landsat satellite program has been capturing images of the Australian continent for more than 30 years. This data is highly useful for land and coastal mapping studies.</div><div><br></div><div>In particular, the light reflected from the Earth’s surface (surface reflectance) is important for monitoring environmental resources – such as agricultural production and mining activities – over time.</div><div><br></div><div>We make accurate comparisons of imagery acquired at different times, seasons and geographic locations. However, inconsistencies can arise due to variations in atmospheric conditions, sun position, sensor view angle, surface slope and surface aspect. These are reduced or removed to ensure the data is consistent and can be compared over time.</div><div><br></div><div>The Geoscience Australia Landsat 9 OLI TIRS Analysis Ready Data Collection 3 contains three sub-products that provide corrections or attribution information:</div><div>- DEA Surface Reflectance NBAR* (Landsat 9)</div><div>- DEA Surface Reflectance NBART** (Landsat 9)</div><div>- DEA Surface Reflectance OA*** (Landsat 9)</div><div><br></div><div>Note: DEA produces NBAR as part of the Landsat ARD, this is available in the National Computing Infrastructure environment only and is not available in the DEA cloud environments.</div><div><br></div><div>The resolution is a 30 m grid based on the USGS Landsat Collection 2 archive, or 15 m for the panchromatic band. This data forms part of the DEA Collection 3 archive. </div><div><br></div><div>* Nadir corrected Bi-directional reflectance distribution function Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR)</div><div>** Nadir corrected Bi-directional reflectance distribution function Adjusted Reflectance with terrain illumination correction (NBART)</div><div>*** Observation Attributes (OA)</div>

Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is a four-year (2016-20) geoscience data and information acquisition program that aims to better understand on a regional scale the potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources concealed under cover in northern Australia and parts of South Australia. Hydrogeochemical surveys utilise groundwater as a passive sampling medium to reveal the chemistry of the underlying geology including hidden mineralisation. These surveys also potentially provide input into regional baseline groundwater datasets that can inform environmental monitoring and decision making. Geoscience Australia, as part of the Australian Government’s EFTF program, undertook an extensive groundwater sampling survey in collaboration with the Northern Territory Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Queensland. During the 2017, 2018 and 2019 dry season, 224 groundwater samples (including field duplicate samples) were collected from 203 pastoral and water supply bores in the Tennant Creek-Mt Isa EFTF focus area of the Northern Territory and Queensland. An additional 38 groundwater samples collected during the 2013 dry season in the Lake Woods region from 35 bores are included in this release as they originate from within the focus area. The area was targeted to evaluate its mineral potential with respect to iron oxide copper-gold, sediment-hosted lead-zinc-silver and Cu-Co, and/or lithium-boron-potash mineral systems, among others. The 2017-2019 surveys were conducted across 21 weeks of fieldwork and sampled groundwater for a comprehensive suite of hydrogeochemical parameters, including isotopes, analysed over subsequent months. The present data release includes information and atlas maps of: 1) sampling sites; 2) physicochemical parameters (EC, pH, Eh, DO and T) of groundwater measured in the field; 3) field measurements of total alkalinity (HCO3-), dissolved sulfide (S2-), and ferrous iron (Fe2+); 4) major cation and anion results; 5) trace element concentrations; 6) isotopic results of water (δ18O and δ2H), DIC (δ13C), dissolved sulfate (δ34S and δ18O), dissolved strontium (87Sr/86Sr), and dissolved lead (204Pb, 206Pb, 207Pb, and 208Pb) isotopes; 7) dissolved hydrocarbon VFAs, BTEX, and methane concentrations, as well as methane isotopes (δ13C and δ2H); and 8) atlas of hydrogeochemical maps representing the spatial distribution of these parameters. Pending analyses include: CFCs and SF6; tritium; Cu isotopes; and noble gas concentrations (Ar, Kr, Xe, Ne, and 4He) and 3He/4He ratio. This data release (current as of July 2021) is the second in a series of staged releases and interpretations from the Northern Australia Hydrogeochemical Survey. It augments and revises the first data release, which it therefore supersedes. Relevant data, information and images are available through the GA website (https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/133388) and GA’s EFTF portal (https://portal.ga.gov.au/).