The use of airborne electromagnetics (AEM) for hydrogeological investigations often requires high resolution data. Optimisation of AEM data therefore requires careful consideration of AEM system suitability, calibration, validation and inversion methods. In the Broken Hill managed Aquifer Recharge (BHMAR) project, the helicopter-borne SkyTEM transient EM system was selected after forward modeling of system responses and assessment of test line data over potential targets. The survey involved acquisition of 31,834 line km of data over an area of 7,500 km2 of the River Darling Floodplain, and was acquired by two systems over a 9-week period.. Initial Fast Approximate Inversions (FAI) provided within 48 hours of acquisition were used to target 100 sonic and rotary mud holes for calibration and validation. A number of different (Laterally and Spatially Constrained) inversions of the AEM data were carried out, with refinements made as additional information on vertical and lateral constraints became available. Finally, a Wave Number Domain Approximate Inversion procedure with a 1D multi-layer model and constraints in 3D, was used to produce a 3D conductivity model. This inversion procedure only takes days to run, enabling the rapid trialing to select the most appropriate vertical and horizontal constraints. Comparison of borehole induction logs with adjacent AEM fiduciary points confirms high confidence levels in the final inversion. Using this approach has produced quantitative estimates of the 3D conductivity structure that provide a reliable platform for identifying new groundwater resources and a range of MAR options, and developing new geological and hydrogeological conceptual models. Integration of the AEM data with borehole lithology, textural, mineralogical, groundwater and pore fluid hydrochemical and borehole NMR data has enabled maps of hydrostratigraphy, hydraulic conductivity, groundwater salinity, salt store and neotectonics to be produced.

This data set comprises one of three archives of Geoscience Australia work in the project "A Consistent Approach to Groundwater Recharge Determination in Data Poor Areas". The project was carried out by CSIRO and Geoscience Australia and was funded by the National Water Commission Raising National Water Standards program. The data contained included Original data sourced for the project, Final data produced by the project, MXD's of maps created, and tools used within the project. The archives created for this project comprise: 1. Data archive. Data set stored in the GA CDS. Geocat Record number 79804 2. Adminstration and publication archive. Documents stored in TRIM Project P10/67 RECHARGE-DISCHARGE PROJECT 3. References archive. Endnote library located at \\nas\eg\water\References\Recharge_Discharge_Project.enl For more information about the creation of these archives, including the location of files, see TRIM D2014-102808 For more information about the project, see the following references: Leaney F, Crosbie R, O'Grady A, Jolly I, Gow L, Davies P, Wilford J and Kilgour P. 2011. Recharge and discharge estimation in data poor areas: Scientific reference guide. CSIRO: Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship. 61 pp (GA Record No. 2011/46 GACat # 71941) Jolly I, Gow L, Davies P, O'Grady A, Leaney F, Crosbie R, Wilford J and Kilgour P. 2011. Recharge and discharge estimation in data poor areas: User guide for the recharge and discharge estimation spreadsheets and MapConnect. CSIRO: Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship. 40 pp. (GA Record No. 2011/35 GeoCat # 71940) Pain, C.F., Gow, L.J, Wilford, J.R. and Kilgour, P. 2011. Mapping approaches to recharge and discharge estimation and associated input datasets. A report for CSIRO: Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship. (Professional Opinion No. 2011/01 GeoCat # 70392)

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web services offer a cost efficient technology that permits transfer of standardised data from distributed sources, removing the need for data to be regularly uploaded to a centralised database. When combined with community defined exchange standards, the OGC services offer a chance to access the latest data from the originating agency and return the data in a consistent format. Interchange and mark-up languages such as the Geography Markup Language (GML) provide standard structures for transferring geospatial information over the web. The IUGS Commission for the Management and Application of Geoscience Information (CGI) has an on-going collaborative project to develop a data model and exchange language based on GML for geological map and borehole data, the GeoScience Mark-up Language (GeoSciML). The Australian Government Geoscience Information Committee (GGIC) has used the GeoSciML model as a basis to cover mineral resources (EarthResourceML), and the Canadian Groundwater Information Network (GIN) has extended GeoSciML into the groundwater domain (GWML). The focus of these activities is to develop geoscience community schema that use globally accepted geospatial web service data exchange standards.

One of the primary requirements of managing our water resources sustainably is an understanding of the water balance. Key components of a water balance model are inputs of recharge and outputs or discharge. Rates of recharge and discharge change in response to climate, landscape morphology, geology, soil/regolith, native vegetation and landuse (including landuse history). The variable nature of these parameters results in a high degree of local variability when determining recharge and discharge fluxes both spatially and temporally. Water managers deal with this complexity in a variety of ways. Where detailed information on key parameters influencing recharge and discharge are available, comprehensive, fully distributed groundwater models are used. However, in most cases this information is not available (e.g. data poor areas) and typically a crude estimation of recharge (2-10% of average annual rainfall) is given. In these cases, discharge is often assumed to be zero. A collaborative project, funded by NWC and involving CSIRO Land and Water and Geoscience Australia, has developed a new national framework for estimating recharge and discharge in data poor areas. The approach consists of excel-based models that allow the user to populate key input fields (e.g. rainfall, soil and regolith texture, bedrock type, vegetation) to generate estimates of recharge and discharge. These excel models have been coupled with a complementary national-scale GIS dataset to assist the user in populating model input fields. In combination, the models and the GIS datasets allow the user to rapidly estimate recharge and/or discharge anywhere in Australia. The national-scale GIS datasets are available through a WEB-based interface. This presentation will focus on the development of the input datasets and will provide a brief demonstration of the WEB-based interface.

Under the Community Stream Sampling and Salinity Mapping Project, the Australian Government through the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of Environment and Heritage, acting through Bureau of Rural Sciences, funded an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey to provide information in relation to land use questions in selected areas along the River Murray Corridor (RMC). The proposed study areas and major land use issues were identified by the RMC Reference Group at its inception meeting on 26th July, 2006. This report has been prepared to facilitate recommendations on the Barr Creek - Gunbower study area. The work was developed in consultation with the RMC Technical Working Group (TWG) to provide a basis for the RMC Reference Group and other stake holders to understand the value and application of AEM data to the study area. This understanding, combined with the Reference Groups assessment of the final results and taking in account policy and land management issues, will enable the Reference Group to make recommendations to the Australian Government.

Legacy product - no abstract available

This report covers the period during which a joint BMR-BRGM team prepared and started the computer based simulation of the Great Artesian Basin. Geological and hydrologic data were first collected from Federal and State authorities and then processed either manually or automatically. Processed data were then used to prepare input and calibration documents, including geological documents (geometry of system) and hydrologic documents (potentiometry). The first run of the mathematical model was obtained for the initial steady-state, and results appeared very encouraging.

In this study, 3D mapping using airborne electromagnetics (AEM) was used to site a monitoring bore network in the Darling River floodplain corridor. Pressure loggers were installed in over 40 bores to monitor groundwater levels primarily in the shallow unconfined Coonambidgal Formation aquifer, deeper (semi)confined Calivil Formation and confined Renmark Group aquifers. In 2010-11, the network provided the opportunity to monitor the groundwater response to flooding of the Darling River and the replenishment of the Menindee Lakes storages, following a period of prolonged drought. In this event, the Darling River at Menindee (Weir 32) rose from 1.59m in October 2010 and peaked at 7.16m in March 2011. A synchronous rise in groundwater levels varying between 0.5-3.4m was observed in the shallow unconfined aquifer near the river. Shallow groundwater levels also declined following the flood peak. Near-river groundwater levels in the Calivil aquifer rose between 0.2-1.3m and also by 4.0 m at a site near Lake Menindee. The latter confirms lake leakage into the aquifer at this particular site, as previously inferred by the AEM data. There was also a pressure response of 0.1-0.9m evident in certain Renmark aquifer bores near the river. The monitoring confirms the importance of episodic flood events to the recharge of the alluvial aquifers, as supported by groundwater chemistry and stable isotope data. Although some of the confined aquifer response may relate to transient hydraulic loading associated with the flood, the inference is that in places there is a degree of hydraulic connectivity between the aquifers.

This Record describes the scope of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) Automatic Data Processing System and outlines Stage 1(Data Transcription), and describes Stage 2, the checking of coded data. The subject of this record is the permanent storage, updating, and retrieval for processing of the data passed through Stages 1 and 2. The system described was developed for application to drill stem test (DST; Formation Test) data by G.E. Seidel (BMR) and then extended to suit the general GAB data by G. Krebs (BRGM).

Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Capital Territory concerning the inquiry into long-term collection and disposal techniques for Canberra city waste. In Canberra, solid waste is disposed of in open dumps and sanitary landfill sites. A major environmental problem resulting from such practice is the pollution of groundwater by leachate, and the monitoring of groundwater pollution is an essential part of landfill management that must be continued long after a site is closed. The selection of landfill sites depends on the physical constraints of geology and hydrogeology, but planners do not always sufficiently consider the physical constraints in the selection of landfill sites. The success of a landfill site depends mainly on site selection,and must be supported by good site management techniques and groundwater-pollution monitoring procedures. In many communities, public authorities maintain good land-fill practice by setting high standards for landfill operators, and by controlling the site through regulations and the supervision of monitoring procedures.