The Australian Government is investing in a world first analysis platform for satellite imagery and other Earth observations. From sustainably managing the environment to developing resources and optimising our agricultural potential, Australia must overcome a number of challenges to meet the needs of our growing population. Digital Earth Australia (DEA) will deliver a unique capability to process, interrogate, and present Earth observation satellite data in response to these issues. It will track changes across Australia in unprecedented detail, identifying soil and coastal erosion, crop growth, water quality, and changes to cities and regions. DEA will build on the globally recognised innovation, the Australian Geoscience Data Cube1; which was the winner of the 2016 Content Platform of the Year at the Geospatial World Leadership Awards and was developed as a partnership between GA, CSIRO and the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) supported National Computational Infrastructure (NCI).

Background: Australia has a highly dynamic coastline of over 30,000 km, with over 85% of its population living within 50 km of the coast. This coastline is subject to a wide range of pressures, including extreme weather and climate, sea level rise and human development. Understanding how the coastline responds to these pressures is crucial to managing this region, from social, environmental and economic perspectives. What this product offers: Digital Earth Australia Coastlines is a continental dataset that includes annual shorelines and rates of coastal change along the entire Australian coastline from 1988 to the present. The product combines satellite data from Geoscience Australia's Digital Earth Australia program with tidal modelling to map the typical location of the coastline at mean sea level for each year. The product enables trends of coastal erosion and growth to be examined annually at both a local and continental scale, and for patterns of coastal change to be mapped historically and updated regularly as data continues to be acquired. This allows current rates of coastal change to be compared with that observed in previous years or decades. The ability to map shoreline positions for each year provides valuable insights into whether changes to our coastline are the result of particular events or actions, or a process of more gradual change over time. This information can enable scientists, managers and policy makers to assess impacts from the range of drivers impacting our coastlines and potentially assist planning and forecasting for future scenarios. Applications - Monitoring and mapping rates of coastal erosion along the Australian coastline - Prioritise and evaluate the impacts of local and regional coastal management based on historical coastline change - Modelling how coastlines respond to drivers of change, including extreme weather events, sea level rise or human development - Supporting geomorphological studies of how and why coastlines have changed across time