<div>GeoInsight was an 18-month pilot project developed in the latter part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Program (2016–2024). The aim of this pilot was to develop a new approach to communicating geological information to non-technical audiences, that is, non-geoscience professionals. The pilot was developed using a human-centred design approach in which user needs were forefront considerations. Interviews and testing found that users wanted a simple and fast, plain-language experience which provided basic information and provided pathways for further research. GeoInsight’s vision is to be an accessible experience that curates information and data from across the Geoscience Australia digital ecosystem, helping users make decisions and refine their research approach, quickly and confidently. </div><div><br></div><div>In the first iteration of GeoInsight, selected products for energy, minerals, water, and complementary information from Geoscience Australia’s Data Discovery Portal and Data and Publications Catalogue were examined to (1) gauge the relevance of the information they contain for non-geoscientists and, (2) determine how best to deliver this information for effective use by non-technical audiences. </div><div><br></div><div>This Record documents the technical details of the methods used for summarising groundwater information for GeoInsight, including groundwater reliance, depth, salinity, and uses. This Record will be updated, including a change log, when the scope of information or methods for generating the data change.</div>

<div>This data package contains the main hydrogeological datasets compiled, analysed, developed, and used for the Geoscience Australia project that investigated the Cenozoic geology, hydrogeology, and groundwater systems of the Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre Basin in central Australia. This work, which was published as Geoscience Australia Record 2024/05 (Evans et al. 2024), was delivered as part of the National Groundwater Systems project in the Exploring for the Future program.</div><div><br></div><div>The hydrogeological and groundwater data includes new aquifer and aquifer province attribution for many thousands of groundwater bores, large-scale compilations of existing water level, salinity, and hydrogeochemical data, and new mapping of regional watertable trends and depth to standing water across the basin. These data are represented within the Geoscience Australia Record as various maps and related diagrams.</div><div><br></div><div>Reference: Evans TJ, Bishop C, Symington NJ, Halas L, Hansen JWH, Norton CJ, Hannaford C and Lewis SJ (2024) Cenozoic geology, hydrogeology, and groundwater systems: Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre Basin, Record 2024/05, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, http://dx.doi.org/10.26186/147422.</div><div><br></div>

<div>Airborne electromagnetics (AEM) is a geophysical technique used for estimating the bulk conductivity profile of the upper 300 m (approximately) of the subsurface. The AEM data acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future program AusAEM Eastern Corridor survey (Ley-Cooper 2021) covers much of the central Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre Basin (KT–LEB). Data for these regional surveys were acquired using the TEMPEST AEM system at a nominal 20 km line spacing.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The prevalence and relative consistency of large sand-rich sediment zones across the Cooper Creek Palaeovalley (Evans et al. 2024) means that AEM data are potentially useful for inferring the distribution of groundwater salinity beneath the floodplain and surrounds. To visualise salinity from AEM data in a map, the thickness weighted average bulk conductivity was calculated for the 15 m depth interval beneath the watertable along the AEM survey lines. Symington et al. (2024) details the rationale and methods to produce the AEM bulk conductivity points. Symington et al. (2024) also included the code embedded in a jupyter notebook written to calculate bulk conductance points from AEM line data and undertake an uncertainty analysis to assess the likelihood of the conductance response to be related to groundwater (note that the link to the code is contained in the Symington et al. 2024 reference).</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>In conjunction with sparse groundwater salinity and water level data from existing bores, Symington&nbsp;et al. (2024) used the conductance data to provide insights to address the following questions:</div><div>1. What is the regional scale distribution of groundwater salinity within the shallow alluvial aquifer?</div><div>2. Where does the shallow aquifer host fresh water?</div><div>3. What areas are most likely to receive recharge from the flanks of the floodplain?</div><div>4. Is there evidence for the groundwater discharging into the river?</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Data from Symington et al. (2024) were used to infer salinity across the Cooper Creek floodplain and Strzelecki Desert, as well as to determine the location of potential fresh groundwater lenses beneath Cooper Creek floodplain in SA and Queensland. The groundwater bore and uncertainty analysis suggests good correlation exists between groundwater bore data and AEM conductance points, where groundwater occurs at shallow depths in areas including the Cooper Creek floodplain, Strzelecki Desert, and Coongie Lakes. Data analysis, interpretation and results are in Symington et al. (2024) and further discussed in Evans et al. (2024), Symington et al. (2023) and Symington et al. (2022).</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>References</div><div>Evans TJ, Bishop C, Symington NJ, Halas L, Hansen JWH, Norton CJ, Hannaford C and Lewis SJ (2024) Cenozoic geology, hydrogeology, and groundwater systems: Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre Basin, Record 2024/05, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, http://dx.doi.org/10.26186/147422.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Ley-Cooper AY (2021) Exploring for the Future AusAEM Eastern Resources Corridor 2021 Airborne Electromagnetic Survey TEMPEST® airborne electromagnetic data and GALEI inversion conductivity estimates [data set], Geoscience Australia, https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/api/records/145744, accessed 14 December 2023.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Symington N, Evans T, McPherson A, Buckerfield S, Rollet N, Ray A and Halas L (2024) Characterising surface water groundwater interaction using airborne electromagnetics: a case study from the Cooper Creek floodplain, Queensland, Australia, workflow release, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://dx.doi.org/10.26186/149176.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Symington N, Evans T, Rollet N, Halas L, Vizy J, Buckerfield S, Ray A, LeyCooper Y and Brodie R (2023) Using regional airborne electromagnetic conductivity data to characterise surface water groundwater interaction in the Cooper Creek floodplain in arid central eastern Australia, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/147716.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Symington N, Halas L, Evans T and Rollet N (2022) Mapping freshwater lenses in the Cooper Creek floodplain using airborne electromagnetics, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/147039.</div>