Honours/Masters research project opportunity: Monitoring spatiotemporal variation in artesian wetlands using ground cameras and satellite imagery
Introduction
Bush Heritage Australia’s Edgbaston Reserve (9,300 ha), protects a series of Great Artesian Basin springs that are home to a range of rare and endemic fish, macroinvertebrates and plants. The wetted area associated with the springs fluctuates in extent, due to seasonal and daily variations in temperature and rainfall. The stable ‘pool’ area of the wetland near the spring vent and the variable shallow ‘tail’ area provide different habitats for flora and fauna. Determining the extent of these different habitats requires fine scale understanding of the spatiotemporal variation in wetland extent.
This project will use ground based digital repeat photography and high resolution satellite imagery to measure the expansion and contraction of the wetted area of a spring at fine temporal frequency.
EXAMPLES OF DAILY VARIATION IN WETTED EXTENT – APRIL 2019
Data:
Ground cameras
Three ground cameras were established in late 2018 at spring E509. The cameras face the vent, body and tail of the spring wetland, with calibration poles allowing cross referencing between the different camera images. Hourly images have been captured between 04:00 and 19:00, including pre-dawn infrared images, from October 2018 to October 2019.
Satellite imagery
A variety of satellite imagery and aerial photography is available to complement the ground cameras:
Planet (3m) and Skysat (0.7m) captured during the study period (JRSRP research agreement)
Archived sub-meter aerial photography and Earth-i imagery (Queensland Government)
Archived medium resolution satellite imagery and associated fractional cover products (Landsat and Sentinel-2)
Project outline:
Organise and pre-process photographic and satellite imagery
Investigate suitable methods to classify water/wetted soil in:
Ground based RGB images
High resolution RGBIR satellite images
Measure variation in water/wetted extent over the year, and during the day at the target spring.
Compare ground based results with satellite derived results. Relate changes to temperature and rainfall.
(Potential) Apply method to other springs using satellite imagery to determine area of stable and variable habitat through the year.
Contact:
Professor Stuart Phinn – s.phinn@uq.edu.au
