Contains a medium scale vector representation of the topography of Australia. The data include the following themes: Hydrography - drainage networks including watercourses, lakes, wetlands, bores and offshore features; Infrastructure - constructed features to support road, rail and air transportation as well as built-up areas, localities and homesteads. Utilities, pipelines, fences and powerlines are also included; Relief - features depicting the terrain of the earth including 50 metre contours, spot heights, sand dunes, craters and cliffs; Vegetation - depicting forested areas, orchards, mangroves, pine plantations and rainforests; and Reserved Areas - areas reserved for special purposes including nature conservation reserves, aboriginal reserves, prohibited areas and water supply reserves.

Four data formats are available for download, three vector (e00, mif, shp) and one raster (ecw).

Contains a medium scale vector representation of the topography of Australia. The data include the following themes: Hydrography - drainage networks including watercourses, lakes, wetlands, bores and offshore features; Infrastructure - constructed features to support road, rail and air transportation as well as built-up areas, localities and homesteads. Utilities, pipelines, fences and powerlines are also included; Relief - features depicting the terrain of the earth including 50 metre contours, spot heights, sand dunes, craters and cliffs; Vegetation - depicting forested areas, orchards, mangroves, pine plantations and rainforests; and Reserved Areas - areas reserved for special purposes including nature conservation reserves, aboriginal reserves, prohibited areas and water supply reserves.

Fresh groundwater resources are a highly valuable commodity, particularly in semi-arid to arid landscapes where annual precipitation is low and surface water is scarce. Water security, often achieved through the development of groundwater resources, is a high priority for rural communities within these water-limited landscapes. However this is often at the expense of the environment when alterations to the groundwater system, often in conjunction with drought conditions, can detrimentally impact floodplain and riparian vegetation structure and function. Remote-sensing methods can be used to detect such changes in vegetation. In this study, a multi-temporal Landsat Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) approach was used to detect changes in riparian and floodplain vegetation in the Lower-Darling floodplain, NSW, Australia. When integrated with surface and subsurface data, these changes provided insight into how surface water availability and subsurface geological and hydrogeological characteristics influenced vegetation distribution and behaviour at multiple scales. It was found that while the availability of water resources was the primary driver of changes in vegetation canopy dynamics, this availability was strongly influenced by both tectonic and hydrogeological processes. These findings were of particular importance when considering the suitability of groundwater development options and they have implications for future groundwater assessment studies.

Four data formats are available for download, three vector (e00, mif, shp) and one raster (ecw).

National vegetation cover derived from: - Values 1, 7, and 8 from the 2007 forests dataset (BRS) - Values 2 and 3 from the NVIS 3.1 dataset (ERIN) - Values 1-6 and 9-11 from the catchment scale land use dataset (as at April 2009, BRS) - Any remaining no data areas filled from the Integrated Vegetation 2008 dataset (BRS) The datasets were resampled to 100 metre grids and projected to Albers equal area if required. The integrated vegetation grid was derived using a conditional statement weighing each input grid in the order listed above. Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra are custodians of the dataset.

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.

The Sustainable Management of Coastal Groundwater Resources Project was co-funded by the Raising National Water Standards Program, which supports the implementation of the National Water Initiative Program. The project was led by GHD Hassall, in consultation with Kempsey Shire Council, Geoscience Australia, NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, and Ecoseal Developments Pty. Ltd. The project aimed to improve the management of groundwater in coastal dune aquifers, undertaking a case study of the Hat Head National Park region on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Due to increasing pressures on groundwater resources from expanding urbanisation and tourism in this region, the sustainable management of the existing groundwater resources is of vital importance. There are many potential risks associated with extraction of groundwater resources including acidification of soils, seawater intrusion and increased salinity levels, and detrimental impacts on groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs). This final report documents all of the work undertaken by Geoscience Australia relating to Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems, or more specifically groundwater dependent terrestrial vegetation. Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are naturally occurring ecosystems that require access to groundwater to meet all or some of their water requirements so as to maintain their communities of plants and animals, ecological processes and ecosystems services. Often the natural water regime of GDEs will comprise one or more of groundwater, surface water and soil moisture.

Background Land cover is the observed physical cover on the Earth's surface including trees, shrubs, grasses, soils, exposed rocks, water bodies, plantations, crops and built structures. A consistent, Australia-wide land cover product helps understanding of how the different parts of the environment change and inter-relate. Earth observation data recorded over a period of time firstly allows the observation of the state of land cover at a specific time and secondly the way that land cover changes by comparison between times. What this product offers DEA Land Cover provides annual land cover classifications for Australia using the Food and Agriculture Organisation Land Cover Classification System taxonomy Version 2 (Di Gregorio and Jansen, 1998; 2005). DEA Land Cover divides the landscape into six base land cover types, which are then further detailed in sub-classes. The structure of base and sub-classes is as follows: - Cultivated Terrestrial Vegetation - percentage of cover - life form (herbaceous only) - Natural Terrestrial Vegetation - percentage of cover - life form (herbaceous only) - Natural Aquatic Vegetation - percentage of cover - life form (herbaceous only) - water seasonality - Artificial Surfaces - Natural Bare - percentage of bare - Aquatic - water persistence - intertidal area

Atlas of Regolith Materials of Queensland. Companion to the 1:2,500,00 Queensland Regolith-Landform Map and GIS. Both broad and detailed regolith mapping and characterisation of materials was used to build an understanding of the regolith and its associated landforms. This state-wide overview contributes significantly to understanding the regolith and landform processes and regolith materials of Australian arid and coastal environments. This Queensland study extends seamlessly from the Northern Territory Regolith Landform Map and provides a broad-scale framework fro guiding geochemical prospecting for a wide range of minerals and materials.