the australian geoscience data cube (digital earth

The Australian Geoscience Data Cube (Digital Earth

Australia) :

A data analysis environment for satellite and other earth

observations

….

Dr. Adam Lewis,

Branch Head, National Marine and Earth Observations,

Geoscience Australia

Adam.Lewis@ga.gov.au

Outline

• Digital Earth Australia / Data Cube

• Water Observations from Space (WOfS)

• Water colour, water quality

• Surface water observations used for groundwater studies

• Quantifying water: Linking satellite observations to hydrographs to enable

better water models and forecasts

• Conclusion : remote measurements add powerful new capabilities to the

‘Water Tools’ that we have at our disposal.

Digital Earth Australia

Digital Earth Australia – Why?

“Earth Observations from space (EOS) are the single

most important and richest source of environmental

information for Australia.”

An Australian Strategic Plan for Earth Observations

from Space, 2009

Digital Earth Australia – Why?

The Australian Government is currently spending over

$2 billion on monitoring, protecting or improving the

health of our natural resources

Australia’s spatial industry is forecast to generate

15,000 new jobs and contribute over $8 billion per

annum to Australia’s economy by 2025

The Data Cube concept

Ensure that Australia’s Government and Industry

are able to effectively use Earth observation data

Ensure that Australia’s Government and Industry

are able to effectively use Earth observation data

DEA unlocks ‘big data from space’Big, new, data from satellites is being harnessed and will make major

contributions going forward

Big data is like transitioning from a still picture, to a movie

Water Observations from Space (WoFS)

Continental ScaleWater Observations from Space

Surface water patterns indicating structureWilcannia, NSW, Australia. Fault-controlled flow linked to groundwater systems

Surface water patterns indicating structureLake Blanche, Strzelecki Regional Reserve, SA

WOfS can be explored on-lineeos.ga.gov.au

Water mapping methods can be globalisedWOfS algorithm applied to

Lake Baringo National Park,

Kenya(Brian Killough, NASA / CEOS

Systems Engineering Office)

Water QualityMeasures of water quality can be applied

over mapped water bodies

Total Suspended Matter (TSM) can be

measured for a wide range of water bodies

over large areas.

TSM is a surrogate for other water quality

measures.

The potential: to dramatically improve water

quality monitoring and reporting.

Local ScaleWater Quality Monitoring: Lake Burley Griffin

Water QualityMeasures of water quality can be applied

over mapped water bodies

Total Suspended Matter (TSM) can be

measured for a wide range of water bodies

over large areas.

TSM is a surrogate for other water quality

measures.

The potential: to dramatically improve water

quality monitoring and reporting.

Ecosystem responses• Vegetation greenness is strongly linked to the availability of water and is

easily measured from satellites using the NDVI index.

• Greenness changes due to …

• Drought

• Surface-groundwater connections

• Modification of flow regimes

• Use of stored water

V

Greenness can be measured through time

Trend through the 25th percentile values within each ‘water year’

Slope (-ve) of the regression indicates drying over time

Wet-green vegetation measures are used to highlight

groundwater-surface water connections

30 years of data

3 million km2

Linking to Quantitative Water Data• The science exists to link remote

measurements to water quantity

(e.g., surface water storage)

• However, very coarse scale data,

and (possibly?) used in isolation

• With DEA we can apply these types

of methods:

• At much higher resolution

• Using dense time-series

• Linked with other water tools

• Routinely

Quantitative data on surface water coverage

Lake Pamamaroo, NSW

Images captured through the hydrographic history

Diamantina river.

Discharge values

measured since

1965.

Satellite images

captured since

~1987 sample the

discharge history.

More than just visualisation

Diamantina river.

Satellite images

are captured for

almost the full

range of the flow

duration curve

Water Classifier (Water Observations from Space)

0-3%

20-30%

0-10%

10-20%

More than just visualisation

Diamantina river.

Satellite images

are captured for

almost the full

range of the flow

duration curve

Areas of water

can be linked to

discharge rates

ConclusionsDEA is showing that remote measurements from Earth observing satellites are a rich

source of water information.

• The data are free, open, and improving, thanks to US and European policies which

focus on the value of the data

• ‘Data Cubes’, including the open-source Open Data Cube (ODC) are providing

technical tools to manage these very large (and growing daily) amounts of “Analysis

Ready Data”.

• Remote measurements can be linked to in-situ measurements, hydrographs and

models to improve quantitative estimates and models of water quantity

• Used as part of an integrated set of water tools, new and better approaches are

possible to assess water resources, design management strategies, measure the

effectiveness of policy, and communicate with stakeholders.

Ensure that Australia’s Government and Industry

are able to effectively use Earth observation data

Adam.Lewis@ga.gov.au

ga.gov.au/dea

eos.ga.gov.au (demonstrations of products)

opendatacube.org (open source community)

Additional material

Traditional remote sensing process

The problem replicates with each new satellite

Traditional remote sensing process

Beyond Australia – CEOS / NASA NASA are working with Geoscience Australia using version-1 of the Data Cube

Beyond Australia – CEOS / NASA Projects area focussing on Kenya and Colombia

Beyond Australia – CEOS / NASA The approach is to build tools to enable remote sensing experts to overcome

the practical technical barriers that they face

Beyond Australia – CEOS / NASA The tools include water detection, and vegetation change detection

Beyond Australia – CEOS / NASA NASA are seeking new collaborations and support through SERVIR and

amazon

Linked groundwater / surface water studies

Water quality- additional material

Satellites measure parts of the spectrum that

differentiate turbidity among water bodies (top

figure).

Empirical relationships with in-situ measured

Total Suspended Matter (TSM) are good

(lower figure).

Remote measures are ubiquitous, regular,

affordable, and available (from mid-1980s for

most places, based on the USGS’ Landsat

program).

Lymburner et al., Remote Sensing of Environment

(2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.04.011