Overview

The Remote Sensing Science and Strategy (RSS&S) project provides leadership on remote sensing science and applications within Geoscience Australia. The science team is responsible for developing multi-sensor surface reflectance products, time series data analysis tools and applications that utilise extensive archive of satellite data to address challenges of national importance. The project develops and maintains international science linkages that underpin Australia's public-good remote sensing activities, and provides strategic advice on Earth observation missions and their relevance to Australia. The multi-disciplinary science team currently focuses effort in the following areas:

Harmonised remote sensing archives and land cover information products

The science team is developing innovative, state-of-the-art methods for time series data analysis to extract information from the 30 year satellite data archive held at Geoscience Australia. The knowledge and the capability to exploit the archive will inform issues of national significance such as climate change and water.

Current activities:

• Surface reflectance products from Landsat time series data combined with data from Resourcesat-1 satellite to ensure continuity of land imaging data.
• Development of time series data processing tools and methods for fractional cover products.
• Object oriented methods for dynamic land cover mapping.

Community safety

The science team develops and disseminates information products to support disaster management applications. Geoscience Australia maintains the web based Sentinel bushfire monitoring which provides location of hotspots four times a day covering the entire continent. The science team has recently developed automated methods for flood extent mapping.

Current activities:

• Operational deployment of emergency protocols for timely access to satellite data.
• Updating Sentinel bushfire mapping system to include flood extent maps.

Emerging technologies

The science team keeps abreast of new technological and scientific developments in remote sensing through participation in collaborative research that is of strategic importance to Geoscience Australia and Australia. Evaluation of new and advanced sensors, development of techniques and their application to challenges of national significance. This ensures that Geoscience Australia is well positioned to exploit the opportunities when they emerge and provide high quality service to Australian Government partners.

Current activities:

• Scientific evaluation of new data from radar satellites in support of offshore oil seeps research.
• Analysis of hyperspectral data to support oil seeps research.
• Shallow-water bathymetry from high resolution satellite imagery to support tsunami inundation risk modelling.
• The science team provides strategic advice to enable Australian access to Earth observation data available from a number of international sources; this mitigates risks associated with long-term continuity and coverage of Earth observation data over Australia.
• Access to data from the Resourcesat-1 satellite to mitigate risks associated with Landsat data continuity over Australia.
• Participation in the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (aka Landsat 8).
• Sensor calibration and validation activities.
• Scientific support to Department of Climate Change in implementing the International Forest Carbon Initiative (IFCI).

Achievements to date

• Implemented a new algorithm to detect hotspots from AVHRR sensor onboard NOAA-17 and 18 satellites; this provides redundancy for MODIS derived hotspots data for Sentinel.
• Developed methodology for detection of oil and gas seeps in shallow and deep waters off the coast of Australia using Synthetic Aperture Radar data.
• Assessment of crop damage from Tropical Cyclone Larry using Radar data; the work was recognised at the corporate and national level.
• Monitoring of sediment plume from dredging operations at Hay Point Port using satellite data. This project demonstrated the capacity to deliver information services in near-real-time.
• Developed a national framework and operational guidelines to derive terrain surface roughness product to support risk impact analysis within Geoscience Australia. 
• Investigated satellite derived land surface temperature data to map spatial and temporal coherence of frost for grain and grape industries.
• Applied semi-automatic procedures for rapid extraction of flood information from the satellite data to aid emergency relief in Gippsland.
• Completed a pilot project for the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) that demonstrated the value of time-series remote sensing data to improve crop forecasting and drought assessment.
• Landsat Contingency Plan and its implementation.