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Updated:
01 August 2008
News subscriptionsMinerals alertReceive monthly updates about product news, data releases and projects related to minerals and minerals exploration/mining industry.Minerals alert archive Subscribe Unsubscribe ACRES newsletterReceive emails about product news, data releases and project information related to the Australian Centre for Remote Sensing.Subscribe Unsubscribe AusGeo NewsAusGeo News is our quarterly online magazine published in March, June, September and December. Subscribe to this email list to be alerted when a new edition is published.Subscribe Unsubscribe All informationReceive all our subscription services.Subscribe Unsubscribe Emails are sent to each list no more than once a month. Geoscience Australia is bound by the Australian Government's Privacy Act, ensuring your email address will only be used for the purpose for which you provided. Please review our privacy policy for further information. Geoscience Australia NewsNews
Remote Sensing NewsThe latest in remote sensing and satellite imagery. AusGeo NewsOur quarterly online magazine full of articles, in-brief columns and the latest product releases. Geography in the NewsThis section contains satellite imagery of natural disasters and other significant events in Australia and surrounding regions (currently being updated). 17 July 2008
A clearer position on sea-level rise
As part of the Australian Government's South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project (SPSLCMP), Geoscience Australia has installed a Continuous Global Positioning System (CGPS) station in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
This station will join the associated network of CGPS to measure the vertical motion of the Earth's crust. This data, when combined with existing tide gauge data, will assist in the determination of absolute sea level rise. “This is the conclusion to the implementation of the CGPS network throughout the South Pacific Region,” said Gary Johnston, Project Leader for Geoscience Australia's National Geospatial Reference Systems. Sponsored by AusAID, with the Bureau of Meteorology as the lead agency, SPSLCMP began in 1991 in response to concerns expressed by Pacific Island countries over the potential impacts of human-induced global warming on climate and sea levels in the region. The project collects and analyses sea level and surface temperature data from a network of sensors in twelve Pacific island countries, including Solomon Islands. This information provides Pacific island countries with an accurate long term record of sea levels in the South Pacific and is used in a range of planning processes. Project data also contributes to the international scientific community's understanding of climate change. The unveiling of the CGPS took place at a special commissioning ceremony on Monday 30 June 2008, where Solomon Islands Minister for Environment and Conservation, the Hon. Gordon Darcy Lilo, and the Australian High Commissioner, Mr Peter Hooton, were the guests of honour. Speaking at the unveiling, the Australian High Commissioner thanked the Solomon Islands Government for its contribution to the project and said Australia looked forward to continued joint work on environmental issues over the coming years. The Australian Government will contribute $32 million by 2010 to the project, now in its 4th phase. 4 July 2008
Thorium resources revealed
Energy explorers in Australia have access to another valuable tool following the release of a report on Australia's thorium resources.
The report, which has been prepared as part of Geoscience Australia's Onshore Energy Security Program, is titled A Review of the Geochemical Processes Controlling the Distribution of Thorium in the Earth's Crust and Australia's Thorium Resources. The report's authors, Terrence Mernagh and Yanis Miezitis, say that Australia contains about 19% of the world's identified thorium resources with most in the monazite component of heavy mineral sand deposits. The two scientists say that resources in heavy mineral sand deposits could amount to about 364,000 tonnes with about 88,000 tonnes occurring in other types of deposits. More details are available at Geoscience Australia's Thorium project or obtain A Review of the Geochemical Processes Controlling the Distribution of Thorium in the Earth's Crust and Australia's Thorium Resources as a free download [PDF 908KB]
11 June 2008
Contract to provide improved data delivery serviceA contract signed recently by Geoscience Australia for the acquisition of a robotic Archive and Data Delivery system will result in significant efficiencies in the delivery of pre-competitive data to stimulate offshore petroleum exploration.
The system, which is being acquired as part of Geoscience Australia's Offshore Energy Security Program, will be supplied and supported by Tardis Services and IBM Australia. The new system, which will allow more efficient data handling and provide better access to data for Geoscience Australia's clients, will have capacity for two petabytes or 2,000 terabytes of data on tape cartridges with 1.5 petabytes as a tape oriented library and 0.5 petabytes as a hierarchical file system. The system will begin operating later this year and gradually supersede the current data storage which is on a variety of media and occupying several kilometres of shelf space. The Chief Executive Officer of Geoscience Australia, Dr Neil Williams, said that initially, the system will cater for the massive offshore petroleum data repository, but added that it has the potential to support data well beyond that repository to include additional information such as Geoscience Australia's satellite imagery archive. More details are available at IBM Australia media releases. |