Recent datasets

This dataset shows the tiling grid and their IDs for Sentinel 2 satellite imagery. The tiling grid IDs are useful for selecting imagery of an area of interest. Sentinel 2 is an Earth observation satellite developed and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). Its imagery has 13 bands in the visible, near infrared and short wave infrared part of the spectrum. It has a spatial resolution of 10 m, 20 m and 60 m depending on the spectral band. Sentinel-2 has a 290 km field of view when capturing its imagery.

The project will develop a water quality indicator based on benthic irradiance (the amount of light penetrating to the seafloor). Using experiments and field data we will develop irradiance thresholds for measures of ecosystem health, and develop prototype guideline values. The project will develop a new remote sensing algorithm of benthic irradiance, validated against open-water irradiance data. The project will quantify benthic irradiance throughout the GBR, near-daily over 14 years, and assess region-specific drivers of trends including river discharges.

The sugar industry occupies 350,000ha in Reef catchments, applied 58,000t of nitrogen (N) fertilizer in 2014 and is a major contributor of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to Great Barrier Reef receiving waters. There are many potential mechanisms for reducing on-farm N- usage. However, the comprehensive review of N use in sugarcane (SRA/DoE 2014) identified widespread over-use of N fertilizer and recommended adopting production unit yield potential (PUYP) combined with enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) to reduce ’surplus N’ (where applied N>crop requirements).

This project supports Indigenous co-management and livelihoods by scoping and developing culturally-appropriate ecosystem services (ES) products focused on water quality. Local and regional Indigenous development agencies in CYP will collaborate with researchers with expertise in Indigenous water, co-benefits, ES, wetland ecology, and governance issues.

Traditional Owner rangers and local citizens of the Port Curtis Coral Coast (PCCC) TUMRA will be engaged in developing a Mangrove Management Plan (MMP) that provides a strategic basis for estuarine repair activity and maximizes water quality outcomes in the southern GBR. Development of this MMP will build capacity within the Gidarjil Development Corporation (GDC) and local community to undertake scientifically-rigorous, ecological monitoring and assessment.

This project will take a novel approach to improving monitoring of environmental and aesthetic conditions in real time by capitalising on information provided through micro-blogs from visitors to the Great Barrier Reef. The data mining will integrate human sensing data (e.g. twitter) with existing monitoring data (including the ‘eye on the reef’), meteorological data, tourism statistics, and others dispersed data sources and a cost-effective monitoring tool will be made available to stakeholders.

This project will evaluate the cost, effectiveness and biophysical processes of gully remediation options in the Burdekin Region. Sub-surface soil erosion is the major source of anthropogenic sediment delivered to the Great Barrier Reef and must be addressed to help meet Reef water quality targets. The Reef Trust Gully Erosion Control Programme is the first to focus on gully remediation.

Recent global experiences suggest that spatially identifying and prioritizing landscape ‘hotspots’ of pollutant generation for management intervention, and small catchment-scale water quality monitoring in collaboration with landholders linking water quality with specific management practices, are among the most promising strategies for reducing water quality pollution.

This project will explore alternative land use options to reduce nitrogen losses from marginal sugarcane land in priority wet tropics catchments. The Wet Tropics Water Quality Improvement Plan (WQIP) identified that complete adoption of sugarcane best management practices would be insufficient to achieve the nitrogen load reductions needed to meet the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Water Quality Guidelines.

Understanding cumulative impacts from multiple stressors will be critical for successful management of the GBR under the Reef2050 Plan. The project will produce experimental analyses of concentration-response relationships for selected species under broad, controlled envelopes of sediments, turbidity, nutrients, light, salinity and temperature. Based on new understanding of threshold exposure values, existing and new field data we will produce exposure maps for individual stressors and explore techniques to summarize those into cumulative exposure maps.

Runoff from the Fly River in Papua New Guinea influences water quality conditions in the Torres Strait (TS) region however the extent and frequency of this influence, and the potential ecological impacts, are not well understood. Further investigation is required to understand the prevalence and frequency of the extension of the Fly River plume into TS, and the characteristics of plume constituents, particularly metals.

Recent research has shown that only a portion of the fine sediment fraction delivered from rivers draining into the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon (GBRL) reaches coral reefs and seagrass meadows. The specific sources of this sediment, which affects the health of corals and seagrasses, are as yet unresolved. This project will, for the first time characterise and trace the origin(s) and fate of this environmentally detrimental sediment using samples collected in flood plumes and during resuspension events.

This project will minimise the risk of box jellyfish stings by empowering stakeholders with an early warning system. The project will first develop an openly-accessible database based on information from existing sting datasets, hospital records, and surf lifesaving and research data. The project will use this database to develop real-time forecasting models in major stinger hotspots on the GBR, based on environmental conditions and water quality. These forecasts will be tested with the project partners, SLSQ and AMPTO.

Successful Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (CoTS) management will, for the foreseeable future, depend on manual control at specific sites being effective and efficient. This project will develop an Integrated Pest Management approach to site management, based on a detailed understanding of CoTS ecology and management operations, to protect coral and maximise performance of control activities at economically and ecologically important reefs.

Having ready access to the best available information, scientific knowledge and data is vital for evidence based environmental management and for science that builds on the prior work of others. The eAtlas is a web based knowledge and data management system for environmental research data. Its systems ensure that data is discoverable, publicly accessible and preserved for the future. This project will allow the eAtlas team to work with NESP TWQ researchers to: Assist and support them with data management guidance and training.

Working in partnership with staff from the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment (DotE), and the Queensland Government’s Departments of Science Information Technology and Innovation (DSITI) and Environment Heritage and Protection (DEHP), this project will use data collected from land managers and elsewhere to critically evaluate the way water quality (WQ) improvement programmes are ‘marketed’.

This dataset consists of daily estimates of photic depth on the Great Barrier Reef from MODIS satellite imagery (from 2002 - 2015) using a quasi-analytical algorithm. This algorithm is based on a Type II linear regression of log-transformed satellite and in situ data (2002- 2012). This algorithm was developed as part of data delivery for several NERP projects and was implemented into the NASA SeaDAS tool for processing MODIS imagery. This algorithm and its data products are now routinely run by the Bureau of Meteorology as part of the eReefs Water Quality Dashboard.

This data set shows the occupancy and size of spectacled flying-fox camps across the distribution of the spectacled flying-fox in the Wet Tropics Region. Camp locations are also provided. Data was collected monthly and all camps in the region were monitored each month. This data was collected to provide information on the dynamics in abundance and distribution of the spectacled flying-fox. It is part of a long term monitoring program that has been running since 2004. For further information see the publicaton: Tait, J., Perotto-Baldivieso, H. L., McKeown, A., & Westcott, D. A. (2014).

This data set describes change in forest attributes over time in response to passive regrowth and biodiverse ecological restoration plantings across the southern Atherton uplands. These data were obtained from four sets of spatially replicated site-types: (1) a chronosequence of 29 passive regrowth sites (1-67 years) on previously forested land with a subsequent period of land use for agriculture (e.g.

There are 3 datasets: 1. Acoustic array - this dataset includes a description of the acoustic array deployed on reefs offshore from Townsville. The array was in place from August 2011 to December 2014. 2. Individuals tagged - this dataset includes a description of the individuals fitted with acoustic transmitters for tracking on an acoustic array deployed on reefs offshore from Townsville. 3. Detection - this dataset includes detections of individuals fitted with acoustic transmitters.