the australian geoscience data cube (digital earth
TRANSCRIPT
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
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
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
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