AuScope Highlights

Transcription

1 AuScope Highlights building world class Earth and Geospatial infrastructure for Australia s future

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3 Overview 4 NCRIS Program AuScope Grid and Interoperability 6 National Virtual Core Library (NVCL) 7 Geospatial Framework and Earth Dynamics 8 Simulation, Analysis and Modelling (SAM) 9 Earth Composition and Evolution 10 Earth Imaging and Structure 11 EIF Program Earth Sounding Network 12 Geohistory Laboratory 14 Subsurface Observatory 16 Inversion Laboratory 18 Geophysical Education Observatory 20 Geospatial Observatory 22 Financials 24 Participants 26 Contacts 27 3

4 Overview Important milestones for both AGOS and NCRIS Program can be found throughout this report This past year, , has been a busy and successful one for AuScope with our two main programs NCRIS and EIF AGOS progressing very well. Establishment of the majority of the NCRIS AuScope Infrastructure Program supporting research related to the Structure & Evolution of the Australian Continent was completed in FY2012. Apart from the delayed construction of some parts of the regionally remote geospatial infrastructure, delivery of the remaining physical infrastructure has been completed allowing large parts of the data infrastructure to be built. All planned outcomes for the June 2011 to July 2013 Plan period have been achieved and the facilities and equipment at AuScope nodes have now transitioned to an operational phase. AuScope s other major program is the establishment of the Australian Geophysical Observing System funded by EIF. At the conclusion of Year 3 the implementation of the program is well on track and the outlook strong, as acquisition, creation and development of infrastructure is nearing completion and deployment is underway. 20 May 2013 saw the official commissioning of the AuScope AGOS GNSS calibration facility at Geoscience Australia Although most of AuScope s projects have moved into an operational phase as we await, but also try to influence future investments into our sector; we must remember that the true benefits of this investment will be realised in the longer term. Sustainability of our infrastructure is therefore a high priority for the AuScope community and funding support is provided through a number of initiatives. These include the NCRIS Sustainability funds from interest earned since commencement of the NCRIS program in 2007, additional funding ($4million) from the Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme to support existing NCRIS operations, and the announcement by the Commonwealth of significant interim funding of $8.98million for AuScope NCRIS 2013 to 4

5 ensure operations and maintenance of the NCRIS infrastructure through to June This latest announcement was very welcome indeed, and AuScope is working with partners to commence operational projects in all components by the end of calendar year It is also important to highlight the success of our major event this year, the AuScope Symposium, entitled, Building the Australian Earth Observatory. Following preparatory work in early 2013, the Symposium was held in Canberra on 30 July and drew together key figures from the research, government and industry sectors to examine the success of this major earth science infrastructure program and to debate future directions. The Symposium was attended by delegates from a wide range of partners and stakeholder groups. It provided an opportunity to pause, take stock and reflect on AuScope s achievements and brought together the key sectors involved in helping to deliver and support AuScope s objectives the Commonwealth and State government agencies, research organisations, and importantly, industry. It has been this powerful collaborative effort that has allowed us to work together to implement a world class infrastructure system for earth and geospatial science. As we look ahead we are confident that through managing our funds carefully, we are well positioned to support our membership in future. AuScope is financially stable and holds sufficient funds to support the sustainability projects and the AuScope governance and management entity from June 2013 June 2015, during which time we will be looking for opportunities to support new investments into science infrastructure. Bob Haydon AuScope CEO 5 World leading infrastructure across the AuScope System is in place to underpin new research initiatives AuScope s representatives held successful meetings with Parliamentarians at Science Meets Parliament 2012

6 NCRIS AuScope GRID The AuScope Grid project was completed on time and to budget. It has delivered several core products which include the AuScope Portal and the Spatial Information Services Stack. Wide recognition through the SISS workshop from end users both within and outside AuScope science disciplines Major national and international collaborations in establishing Grid interoperations Strong formal support (Government Geologists Information Committee) and uptake by Australian Geological Surveys 22 webservices (SISS deployments) and 6 Portals delivered through developments and services of the AuScope Grid infrastructure 6

7 NCRIS National Virtual Core Library (NVCL) End-users of AuScope s NVCL HyLogger applaud its capabilities and suggest it has changed the face of geological exploration and generated investment dollars. All 7 Geological Survey HyLogging instruments that received their thermal infrared upgrades to HyLogger-3 status are currently operational Over 400,000 metres of drill core have been scanned and initially interpreted in the last two years and are available for multiple public uses In October a review of the activities of the National Virtual Core Library project, which is hyperspectrally and mineralogical digitising thousands of the nation s publically available drill cores, determined that the seven State and Territory NVCL nodes were in some way servicing % users 4% Academia 37% State, federal and overseas research institutions 42% Industry Others 7

8 NCRIS Simulation, Analysis and Modelling (SAM) Simulation software final releases from 4 nodes are delivered Monash SAM developed software solutions for plate scale models Software projects in SAM have completed final contracted version releases under the AuScope Program and have moved to a maintenance phase. ANU SAM developed Pplates software that allows planet-to regional-scale tectonic reconstruction. Strong SAM grants/applications record and strong ARC cofunding in excess of $6million 8 GPlates software was developed, by University of Sydney s Earthbyte Group, to help geoscientists create models of the tectonic evolution of Australia easily and collaboratively with a built in flexibility to update them as new data becomes available. GPlates reflects a new generation of plate reconstruction software that incorporates familiar functionality of GIS software with the added dimension of geological time and the ability to visualize deep Earth structure. The Inversion Lab at ANU and UQ complements and enhances the utility of the SAM software. At UQ a software toolkit has been built to reconstruct three-dimensional maps of the subsurface of the Earth from geophysical data collected on or just below its surface. EarthByte develop a new opal exploration methodology for the Great Artesian Basin

9 NCRIS Geospatial Framework & Earth Dynamics - VLBI & GNSS The AuScope Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Array has been fully operational now for over a year and regularly participates in Earth observations within a global array of telescopes. All three telescopes, located near Hobart (Tas), Katherine (NT) and Yarragadee (WA) are remotely controlled from our Operations Centre at the University of Tasmania. The data collected from all three telescopes is correlated at Curtin University. The AuScope array is now able to determine positions on the Earth with sub-centimetre precision. The AuScope VLBI Array is using black holes to measure the Earth with sub-centimetre precision All 71 NCRIS sites and partner co-investment sites in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network are complete with State partners in final stages of completing additional sites that will contribute to the National Network of 99 sites. Geospatial GNSS Real Time data is currently widely used 99 Planned 9 GPS infrastructure deployment 86 Operational 13 Under construction

10 NCRIS Earth Composition and Evolution Key geochemistry & geochronology facilities continued to be supported under the NCRIS Composition and Evolution component operation 1 TerraneChron facility at Macquarie University 2 (JDL) Centre of Mass Spectrometry at UWA/Curtin 3 Melbourne University Thermochronology Facilities The Western Australian Argon Isotopes facility, part of Curtin University and the John de Laeter Centre, and supported by Auscope via NCRIS program, is being used to understand the causes of mass extinctions by investigating the ages of large volcanic eruptions and asteroid impacts. The key to discriminating between these two arguments is to link the timing of mass extinctions and impacts with geological events. By measuring the amount of argon accumulated in crystals of plagioclase and impact melt rocks over time due to the radioactive decay of potassium researchers can determine the age of these catastrophic events. In the case of the volcanic province, by analysing these crystals from different levels of the volcanic eruption researchers can estimate the duration and rate of volcanic activity. In the case of impact, the event is virtually instantaneous and hence, can be dated precisely, within the limit of the technique. 10

11 NCRIS Earth Imaging and Structure The much anticipated Australian Seismological Reference Model (AuSREM) was completed providing a seismological model of the Australian Continent from the surface to 300 km depth. It was designed to bring together existing information on the Australian continent of many types, and provide a synthesis in the form of a 3-D model that can form the basis for future refinement from more detailed studies. More accurate and consistent assessments of the lithosphere of Australia achieved through AuSREM can provide better estimates of Australia s hidden mineral wealth AuSREM is providing a new seismic model of the Australian region 11

12 EIF AGOS The Earth Sounding Network Two prototype units were sent to the Australian Antarctic division for deployment in Antarctica for monitoring glacier movement deployed in northern NSW/southern Queensland as part of the SQEAL1 array ANU short period recorders built and in operation in the field in New South Wales and Queensland Earth data recorders built and in heavy use both in Australia and New Zealand. In mid 2012, 10 Earth data recorders were used in the BASS passive seismic experiment, which comprises 25 broadband recorders deployed throughout southern Victoria, northern Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands. The goal of this experiment is to image the crust beneath Bass strait at high resolution, in order to better understand the tectonic relationship between Tasmania and the mainland, and help map the 3-D structure of the sedimentary basins which host valuable hydrocarbon resources in this region. 10 units were used in New Zealand for passive seismic experiments to image the region around the Mt. Ruapehu volcano

13 20 Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) built and ready for shipping from the UK. 50 Trillium Compact seismometers delivered and ready for deployment. 20 Earth data recorders were sent to the Prominent Hill mine region to record wideangle data as part of an experiment conducted by OZ Minerals AGOS Electric field loggers were used in an array during the geothermal hydrofracking tests at Habanero with Geodynamics the leading Australian geothermal exploration and development company. Geodynamics are currently undertaking open flow tests, and the University of Adelaide is monitoring the surface EM responses with both AuScope and AGOS loggers. This is the first significant field-study use of the AGOS electric field loggers. 100 Electric field loggers built at Adelaide University, applying data to geothermal research. 13

14 EIF AGOS Geohistory Laboratory Applications during this time have included studies of the extensional tectonics of: the Gulf of California Extensional Province in both Sonora and Baja California in Mexico; evolution of the transform margin of western Tasmania; the evolution of the Krishna-Godavari Basin in eastern India and its hinterland; and the tectonics of the Longmen Shan and eastern Tibetan Plateau in China. Work on the new AGOS-GEO Laser-ablation ICP-Mass Spectrometry laboratory in Melbourne continued with calibration and integration of the new facility with the Automated Fission Track Analysis facility for low-temperature thermochronology. Detailed studies have been undertaken on fundamental aspects of a number of age standard materials Longmen Shan & eastern Tibetan Plateau, China Krishna- Godavari Basin 14 All of these projects have involved international collaborations Western Tasmania Gulf of California Extensional Province

15 Inter-calibration experiments between the Melbourne and Curtin nodes commenced Joint activities between Curtin and Melbourne AGOS Geohistory nodes began in August 2012 at Thermochronology 2012 meeting in Guilin, China At Curtin laboratory node full integration testing of instruments was demonstrated, fulfilling the objective of producing a prototype in-situ helium dating instrument. In-situ ablation testing produced a world-first helium mapping transit across a zircon crystal at 40 micron intervals. At Curtin, the Resonetics Excimer Laser Ablation System and ICP- MS (Agilent 7700X series) integration was completed and was fully operational at end of July 2012.The first Curtin AGOS Geohistory data was presented at the International Geological Congress (IGC) in Brisbane in August

16 EIF AGOS Subsurface Observatory Completed logging projects The petrophysics lab at the University of Melbourne is fully operational and utilised at close to capacity logging core from Victoria and South Australia. The lab team worked on calibrating the Natural Gamma Collector on the Multi Scanner Core Logger to allow calculation of heat production values from core samples. This data will complement the thermal conductivity logging capability in the lab and will provide researchers with a capability to develop well constrained datasets for accurately modelling heat flow for a variety of applications. 16 Deep Exploration Technologies CRC s entire diamond core suite from their Adelaide Hills drill hole (providing density, magnetic susceptibility, P-wave velocity, electrical resistivity and natural gamma logs) was logged A project for DPIVictoria included a number of samples from a series of geothermal wells in central Victoria and on a suite of holes that had previously been logged using the AuScope Hylogger instrument

17 An extensive collection of AuScope field-based technologies is available for use including seismometers, wire line tools, sensors, and petrophysics instruments The AGOS Subsurface Observatory program deployed a fleet of both surface and borehole seismometers in the Gippsland Basin/Latrobe Valley region. This is a part of Victoria that has significant potential for a variety of new energy developments including geothermal, geological carbon storage and unconventional gas. It is also a region that has a relatively high level of natural background seismicity with a number of seismic events in the 3-4M range occurring over the last 10 years. Understanding this natural seismicity and the stress state within the crust is critical to any future energy developments in the region and will also have a significant impact on our understanding of the nature of stress within the wider context of the Australian Plate. New AGOS Access projects with University of WA, SADMITRE, University of Adelaide and SACGER are underway 17

18 EIF AGOS Inversion Laboratory Terrawulf upgrade at ANU Large user areas have been transferred to the new data server providing significantly improved data bandwidth. All standard cluster software installed on TII is made available on TIII and specially requested packages are being installed as needed 18 All of the new Terrawulf III (TIII) compute servers are operating and users are routinely running production code on the cluster The cluster has been running at an average 70% capacity with peaks above 90%

19 Current applications of ilab inversion tools Airborne EM & remote sensing of sea floor bathymetry Seismic imaging in one to three dimensions over spatial scales of metres to1000s of kilometres Heat flow and borehole geophysics Tectonic plate finite rotation 1D Variable Inner Core rotation 2D 3D A major update was to create the fortran interface to the library. There are now fortran calls to all the forward model routines for 1D and 2D including the hierarchical and MPI versions. Progress has been made on launch of a new single site web portal for code download. The design phase is nearing completion and launch is expected in the next year. First release of the escript inversion toolkit for magnetic, gravity and joint inversion has been made available through escript release at UQ. This version can now be used from the NECTAR Virtual Geophysical Laboratory (VGL) portal. 19

20 EIF AGOS Geophysical Education Observatory AuSIS Network Promotions Workshops and seminars held at CONASTA62 - Australian Science Teachers Association Conference, July 2012 Australian Seismometers in Schools Network has focused on promoting the program and AuScope. This has been done through attending and presenting at workshops and conferences, including CONASTA and IGC. This promotion has proven successful with the receipt of 125 applications from Secondary schools spread over all states and territories. This provides us with a good base to select schools in appropriate locations with enthusiastic teachers schools across Australia submitted Expressions of Interest in hosting one of the 40 seismometers available at their school AuSIS presentation at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 3-7 December AuSIS: Progress 14 Installed 27 Planned

21 For their work in establishing AuSIS Drs Natalie Balfour and Michelle Salmon from the ANU were awarded the ANU s Public Policy and Outreach Award GPS in Schools antenna and receivers were purchased. Agreements have been developed and distributed to State and Territory Governments for the GPS in schools project. The aim is to install 16 sites in total. The sites are likely to use a roof-mounted monument as opposed to the rockmounted version used to date in AuScope. One of the teachers involved in the pilot, Geoff McNamara won the Eureka prize for Science Teaching Roof mounting is being used due to restricted space in schools and OH & S issues around access to the antenna by students GPS in Schools

22 EIF AGOS Geospatial Observatory Monday 20 May 2013 saw the official commissioning of the AuScope AGOS GNSS calibration facility at Geoscience Australia. The $1 million dollar investment into Australia s geospatial capability will significantly increase the accuracy, quality, and consistency of global position systems for the Australian public. It is one of only three in the world and the only one in the southern hemisphere. The system will provide valuable economic benefits through positioning applications for resource exploration and mining, transport systems, the construction industry and land survey activities as well as agricultural and environmental monitoring and management. Researchers will be able to determine changes in the surface of the Australian continent with sub-millimetre accuracy, providing significant benefit for Earth, geospatial and climate-change sciences. The system will also benefit the wider community through increased accuracy in areas such as hand-held devices and smart phones. 22 The Remote Sensing Web Portal project was completed. ERS1 and ERS2 SAR data from 1992 to 2000 is available for download via the AuScope Portal for the research community Prototype radar reflectors have been built and calibration by DSTO, Department of Defence, has commenced. They will subsequently be deployed to the Surat Basin, Queensland, to support the measurement of subsidence in Coal Seam Gas extraction areas.

23 Landgate recently used the Australian Geophysical Observing System (AGOS) pool of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) equipment on a survey campaign to gain a better understanding of the subsidence that has been occurring in the Perth metropolitan area. The subsidence has most likely been caused by increased groundwater extraction from the Yarragadee Aquifer for domestic and agricultural use. An estimate of vertical motion of around -5mm/yr has been detected by a long-term continuously operating GNSS at Gnangara, which is located in the Perth Basin. Preliminary estimates from InSAR agree with this rate, but also show spatial variability of the subsidence, as well as uplift in some regions seemingly associated with the hydro mechanical properties of clays. Installation continues for the The GNSS 4 AGOS GNSS CORS instrument pool is now operational and analysis of the first three AGOS surveys is ongoing The campaign survey was conducted over a 6 week period and involved more than 20 GNSS receivers running continuously for 20 days, as well as a further 8 roving GNSS receivers being set up on a daily basis. In total, 87 sites were surveyed covering an area of 14,000 square kilometres. The survey was a complete success with no equipment failures and a very well organised and managed campaign. The dataset (which will be processed and analysed by Curtin University) will be used as a comparison on previous measurements and as a bench mark for future monitoring surveys. 23

24 Financials NCRIS Term Project Funding $41.96M Commonwealth Investment $millions NVCL 2.99 Earth Imaging 7.68 Geospatial NCRIS Program Annual Summary Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year6 Year 7 Total Project FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY 2012 FY2013 Total $M $M $M $M $M $M $M Geospatial Earth Imaging NVCL Geochemistry Geochemistry 7.41 SAM 6.07 GRID Note: The AuScope project commenced in 2007 (Year 1) with start-up activities in preparation for infrastructure investment but no expenditure. SAM GRID Total

25 AGOS Program Annual Summary Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total Project FY2011 FY 2012 FY2013 Total $M $M $M $M Geospatial Observatory AGOS Term Project Funding $12.31M Commonwealth Investment $millions Earth Sounding Network Inversion Laboratory _Geospatial Observatory Inversion Laboratory Earth Sounding Network Geophysical Education Observatory Subsurface Observatory Geohistory Laboratory Total Geohistory Laboratory Subsurface Observatory Geophysical Education Observatory 25

26 Participants AuScope Members and Associate Members and Participants The Australian National University (ANU) Curtin University of Technology Macquarie University Monash University University of Adelaide The University of Melbourne University of Queensland University of Sydney University of Tasmania University of Western Australia Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Geoscience Australia (GA) Victorian Government (Geoscience Victoria) Queensland Government (Geological Survey of Queensland; Queensland Dept of Natural Resources and Water) Western Australian Government (Geological Survey of Western Australia; Landgate WA) New South Wales Government (Geological Survey of New South Wales; New South Wales Department of Lands) Tasmanian Government (Mineral Resources Tasmania; Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water & Environment) Northern Territory Government (Department of Planning, Infrastructure & Environment; Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries and Mines) South Australian Government (Primary Industries and Resources South Australia) AGOS Participants Australian National University The University of Adelaide The University of Queensland The University of Melbourne Curtin University Macquarie University Geoscience Australia In collaboration with SADIMITRE, DPI Victoria, DEEDI Qld, and Petratherm Ltd 26

27 Contacts AuScope Limited Chief Executive Officer Bob Haydon - rhaydon@unimelb.edu.au Business Manager Tanja Down - info@auscope.com Communications Manager Helen Keogh - Helen.Keogh@oz .com.au NCRIS Program AuScope Grid and Interoperability Rob Woodcock - Robert.Woodcock@csiro.au National Virtual Core Library (NVCL) Rob Woodcock - Robert.Woodcock@csiro.au Geospatial Framework and Earth Dynamics Gary Johnston - Gary.Johnston@ga.gov.au Simulation, Analysis and Modelling (SAM) Louis Moresi - Louis.Moresi@monash.edu.au Earth Composition and Evolution Brent McInnes - B.mcinnes@curtin.edu.au Earth Imaging and Structure Brian Kennett - ANU - Brian.Kennett@anu.edu.au EIF Program Earth Sounding Network Brian Kennett -Brian.Kennett@anu.edu.au Graham Heinson - graham.heinson@adelaide.edu.au Geohistory Laboratory Brent McInnes - B.mcinnes@curtin.edu.au Andrew Gleadow - gleadow@unimelb.edu.au Subsurface Observatory Mike Sandiford - mikes@unimelb.edu.au Tim Rawling - tim.rawling@unimelb.edu.au David Belton - dxbelton@unimelb.edu.au Inversion Laboratory Lutz Gross - l.gross@uq.edu.au Malcolm Sambridge - Malcolm.Sambridge@anu.edu.au Geophysical Education Observatory Malcolm Sambridge - Malcolm.Sambridge@anu.edu.au Natalie Balfour - natalie.balfour@anu.edu.au Geospatial Observatory Gary Johnston - Gary.Johnston@ga.gov.au John Dawson - John.Dawson@ga.gov.au 27

28 AuScope Limited School of Earth Sciences The University of Melbourne Victoria 3010 Tel Fax ABN NCRIS and EIF programs are initiatives of the Commonwealth Government