A short animation of an atmospheric simulation of methane emissions from a coal mine (produced using TAPM) compared to actual methane concentrations detected by the Atmospheric Monitoring Station, Arcturus in Central Queensland. It illustrates the effectiveness of both the detection and simulation techniques in the monitoring of atmospheric methane emissions. The animation shows a moving trace of both the simulated and actual recorded emissions data, along with windspeed and direction indicators. Some data provided by CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research.

Abstract for a Poster for the CO2CRC Symposium 2013: Atmospheric tomography is a CO2 quantification and localisation technique that uses an array of sampling points and a Bayesian inversion method to solve for the location and magnitude of a CO2 leak. Knowledge of a normalized three-dimensional dispersion plume is required in order to accurately model a leak using many meteorological parameters. A previous small scale (~20 m) study using a high precision Fourier Transform Infrared found that the emission rate was determined to within 3% of the actual release rate and the localisation within 1 m of the correct position. The technique was applied during the CO2CRC Otway Stage 2B residual saturation and dissolution test in August-October 2011. A network of eight independent CO2 sensors (Vaisala GMP343 CO2 probes) were positioned at distances ranging from 154 to 473 m from the well. A 3D sonic anemometer within the measurement area collected wind turbulence data. The results of the study indicate that, through careful data processing, measurements from the reasonably inexpensive (but lower accuracy and lower precision) CO2 sensor array can provide useful data for the application of atmospheric tomography. Results have found that the low precision of the sensors over time becomes a problem due to sensor drift. A reference measurement of CO2 helps to resolve this problem and improves the perturbation signal during data processing. Preliminary inversion modeling results will be shown to show the best estimation of locating a CO2 leakage source for the Otway Stage 2B residual saturation and dissolution test. CO2CRC Symposium 2013, Hobart

Geoscience Australia's National Earth Observation Group commissioned this study through the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information. The primary aim of this study was to determine the value of Earth observation from space activities to the Australian economy. The three main objectives of this study were to: 1. estimate the direct and indirect economic value of space based Earth Observation activities to the Australian community in 2008-09 year 2. determine the direct and indirect economic impact of an unplanned denial of all Earth Observation data to the Australian economy in 2008-09 year 3. identify contemplated large-scale government applications of Earth Observation data and estimate their direct and indirect economic value. In subsequent discussions it was agreed that the report would also provide an estimate of the size of the Earth observation from space industry, particularly the small-medium enterprise sector in the 2008-09 financial year. The scope of this report did not include the value of Earth observation from space services for national security or defence.

Earth Observations from Space describes a range of approaches that observe and measure Earth surface properties from space-based platforms. Earth Observations from Space data is used widely and to great advantage in Australia by numerous federal and state government agencies, research institutions, and the private sector, and have particular value in a large, sparsely populated country that needs to monitor a long coastline and a wide range of natural disasters. Australias involvement in international agreements that require recording, monitoring and reporting on environmental change also necessitates the use of Earth Observations from Space data.

Unlocking the Landsat Archive (ULA) project poster presentation outlining the background to the project, it's objectives and major components.

Having techniques available for the accurate quantification of potential CO2 surface leaks from geological storage sites is critical for regulators, public assurance and for underpinning carbon pricing mechanisms. Currently, there are few options available that enable accurate CO2 quantification of potential leaks at the soil-atmosphere interface. Integrated soil flux measurements can be used to quantify CO2 emission rates from the soil and atmospheric techniques such as eddy covariance or Lagrangian stochastic modelling have been used with some success to quantify CO2 emissions into the atmosphere from simulated surface leaks. The error for all of these techniques for determining the emission rate is not less than 10%. A new technique to quantify CO2 emissions was trialled at the CO2CRC Ginninderra controlled release site in Canberra. The technique, termed atmospheric tomography, used an array of sampling sites and a Bayesian inversion technique to simultaneously solve for the location and magnitude of a simulated CO2 leak. The technique requires knowledge of concentration enhancement downwind of the source and the normalized, three-dimensional distribution (shape) of concentration in the dispersion plume. Continuous measurements of turbulent wind and temperature statistics were used to model the dispersion plume.

Geoscience Australia and the CO2CRC have constructed a greenhouse gas controlled release facility at an experimental agricultural station maintained by CSIRO Plant Industry at Ginninderra, Canberra. The facility is designed to simulate surface emissions of CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) from the soil into the atmosphere. CO2 is injected into the soil is via a 120m long slotted HDPE pipe installed horizontally 2m underground. This is fitted with a straddle packer system to partition the well into six CO2 injection chambers with each chamber connected to its own CO2 injection line. CO2 was injected into 5 of the chambers during the first sub-surface release experiment (March - May 2012) and the total daily injection rate was 100 kg/d. A krypton tracer was injected into one of the 5 chambers at a rate of 10 mL/min. Monitoring methods trialled at the site include eddy covariance, atmospheric tomography using a wireless networked array of solar powered CO2 stations, soil flux, soil gas, frequency-domain electromagnetics (FDEM), soil community DNA analysis, and krypton tracer studies (soil gas and air). A summary of the findings will be presented. Paper presented at the 2012 CO2CRC Research Symposium, Sunshine Beach, 27-29 November 2012.

Nadir BRDF Adjusted Reflectance correction standardizes Landsat data to enable image intercomparison. The method accounts for within-scene sun, view and sensor geometry variations by using coupled physics-based atmospheric and BRDF models. The BRDF shape functions derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data with the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission version 5 (MODTRAN) radiative transfer model.

Geoscience Australia and the CO2CRC have constructed a greenhouse gas controlled release facility at an experimental agricultural station maintained by CSIRO Plant Industry at Ginninderra, Canberra. The facility is designed to simulate surface emissions of CO2 from the soil into the atmosphere and is modelled on the ZERT controlled release facility in Montana. Injection of CO2 into the soil is via a 120 m long slotted HDPE pipe installed horizontally 2 m underground. An eddy covariance (EC) system was installed at Ginninderra during the first sub-surface release (March - June 2012). The EC system, which generated 15 minute averages using a 10 Hz sampling frequency, measured net radiation (as a function of upwelling and downwelling, solar and longwave radiation); wind speed and direction in 3 dimensions; CO2 and H2O concentration; and temperature and pressure. The EC system was installed to provide baseline atmospheric measurements and assess methods for quantifying CO2 leakages. The daily CO2 release rate was 100 kg/d. Here we report on the application of the CO2 emissions quantification method developed by Pan et al. (2010) for detecting and quantifying CO2 leakages using EC techniques. The approach seeks to isolate the CO2 leakage signal from the natural variation inherent in flux data, using a time-window splitting scheme, median filtering and scaling techniques. Results from application of the EC method at the Ginninderra site will be presented and modifications to the method and its limitations discussed. Pan, L.; Lewicki, J.L.; Oldenburg C.M.; and Fischer M.L., (2010). Time-window based filtering method for near-surface detection of leakage from geological carbon sequestration sites, Environmental Earth Sciences, 60, pp 359-369. Proceedings of the 2013 International Carbon Dioxide Conference - Beijing China

In July 2010, Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research jointly commissioned a new atmospheric composition monitoring station, named Arcturus, in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia. The facility is designed as a proto-type remotely operated `baseline monitoring station' that could be deployed in areas that are likely targets for commercial scale geological storage of carbon dioxide. A key question, given the ecosystem and anthropogenic sources of CO2 in the region, and the absence of a 'clean-wind' sector baseline, is how large would a CO2 leak have to be from a geological storage site before it can be detected above the background CO2 signal? To address this, CO2 leak simulation modelling was performed for 1-year period using the coupled prognostic meteorological and air pollution model TAPM at various locations, emission rates and distances (1-10 km) from the station.