University of New South Wales - BEES Home

ACADEMIC CAREER

Oct 2004 - present: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW
Mar - Aug 2004: Postdoctoral research, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
2000-2004: PhD, UNSW
1996-1999: BSc Geography (Honours), UNSW

Research foci~

Research Fellow: CRC for Spatial Information (CRC-SI) Project 4.4 - Imaging spectrometry for characterising, mapping, monitoring and managing environmental stress (2005/08)

Project team: UNSW BEES and involvement from various NSW Government Agencies (DECC, DPI)

This project aims to develop robust methods of mapping soils and vegetation using hyperspectral imagery. Our team is developing methodologies and software that will allow for the routine mapping and monitoring of natural resources, and provide a practical way to inform land management decisions in a timely manner.

Key mapping themes include spectrometry based methods for assessing soil type and composition, spectral indicators of salinity, mapping the extent of native vegetation and invasive weeds, and fire fuel load assessment.

Our key deliverables include a hyperspectral methodology manual and programming scripts for semi-automated image processing. It is anticipated that the manual will increase awareness of hyperspectral technology and applications, and guide non-users and experts alike in hyperspectral data processing and analysis.

Mapping and interpreting inundation patterns in the MacquarieMarshes and Gwydir wetlands using radar and other RS technology (2006/08)

Project team: UNSW BEES and Horizon Geoscience Consulting (HGC), NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC).

Stage 1 (completed Aug, 2006) involved a review of the available remote sensing technology to map wetland distribution and extent, floodplain topography and elevation, inundation area and water distribution and wetland composition and status.

Stage 2 (completed Nov, 2007) investigated the use of L-band radar to interpret inundation patterns in the Macquarie Marshes and Gwydir wetlands. Archive JERS-1 and more recent ALOS PALSAR data were used to map surface water and below-canopy inundation, and explore the temporal vegetation response to inundation.

Stage 3 (commenced Feb 2008) will further investigate the application of ALOS PALSAR data to map inundation extent in the Macquarie Marshes. TerraSAR-X and Radarsat data will also investigated for their ability to detect open water and discriminate flooded grassland and other wetland communities.

Project Leader: CRC-SI 4.12 â€“ Developing guidelines on both spatial standards from, and the merging of, digital terrain data for Emergency Risk Management (ERM) planning (2008/09)

Project team: UNSW BEES and SSIS, NSW Department of Lands (DoL), NSW State Emergency Services (SES), NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC).

This project aims to develop a set of recommendations or guidelines for data collection, the imaging and interpretation process, the integration of digital terrain data, and its application to flood risk assessment and ERM planning.

Key components of the guidelines will include:

Definitive guidelines for the GIS component of flood studies, focusing on the applied use of digital terrain data and its integration.
A manual that describes operational procedures â€œFrom Sensor to Sceneâ€, including guidelines for data collection, ground survey, mapping scales and cost/benefit analysis, data processing and interpretation, quality assessment, and map production.
A CD-ROM that demonstrates a GIS approach to undertaking flood studies. The Illawarra region on the NSW south coast will provide a case study in pre-processing LiDAR and InSAR data, DEM generation and fusion, generation of topographic data and flood outputs, quality assessment and update/maintenance.

The project is funded through the Commonwealthâ€™s Natural Disaster Mitigation Program (NDMP), 2008.

Project Leader: CRC-SI 4.5 - Digital topographic modelling in coastal environments (2005/07)

Project team: UNSW BEES and SSIS, NSW Department of Lands (DoL), WollongongCityCouncil (WCC).

This project investigated methods of Digital Terrain and Elevation Model (DTM/DEM) generation in Wollongong Local Government Area (LGA), using Airborne Laser Scanner (ALS) data and Radar Interferometry (InSAR).

Fine resolution (1 m) DEMs were generated using ALS data for 3 catchment areas in Wollongong LGA. Raster based and Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) methods of DTM/DEM generation, as well as different software, were tested. Quality assessment was undertaken to investigate the height accuracy over different surfaces, ranging from vegetated to bare ground and urban structures. Topographic datasets derived from the DEMs included slope and aspect maps and 3D perspective views. Methods of land cover classification and feature extraction (e.g., buildings and trees) were also investigated.

Moderate resolution (18 â€“ 90 m) DEMs were also generated over the SE coast using InSAR techniques and available JERS-1, ERS-1/2 and SRTM data. Height accuracy in vegetated terrain averaged ~11.7 m, and ~8.5 m in urban areas. The DEMs provide regional scale elevation data, and the radar imagery itself is useful for floodplain and land use mapping over extensive areas.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for investigating the terrain morphology, land cover and elevation in Australian Antarctic Territory(2008-)

Project team: UNSW BEES and SSIS

This project will investigate methods of DEM generation, coastline detection and terrain classification using SAR data acquired at various times over Macquarie, Heard and McDonald Islands in the sub-Antarctic region.

This project is a pilot study to demonstrate the utility of InSAR for DEM generation and landform characterisation in sub-Antarctic islands, and will hopefully be incorporated within a research program with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) at a later stage.

Optical and Radar Remote Sensing for Mangrove Characterisation (2000/04)
My Doctoral research focused primarily on the development and application of remote sensing techniques for assessment of mangrove forest structure, floristics (species/community composition), and biomass, and monitoring the response to environmental change.

Key outcomes of the research included:

Production of fine (<1 m) spatial resolution orthomosaics from stereo aerial photography; representing a unique spatial baseline of the extent of mangroves within Kakadu NP (KNP), Northern Australia, for 1991.
Application of a technique for the digital extraction of canopy height data from stereo aerial photography (Lucas et al., 2002), to all mangroves mapped within KNP and development of procedures for the retrieval of stem density from photography.
Discrimination and mapping of the extent and species composition of significant areas of mangrove in KNP using hyperspectral Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) data.
Highlighting of significant changes in mangrove extent and community structure through time-series comparison (1950-2002) of the derived datasets, including both the landward and seaward advance of mangroves, expansion of the tidal creek network, saltwater intrusion into freshwater wetlands, and internal changes in structure and species composition. Such change was considered to result partly from rising sea levels induced by global climate change.
Integration of the derived spatial datasets and NASA JPL Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) data for retrieval of total above ground and component (leaf, branch, trunk and root) biomass of mangroves.
Parameterisation of the forest scattering model of Karam et al. (1995)* in conjunction with researchers in French Guiana, for assessment of the interaction of microwaves of varying frequency and polarization with the forest volume.

(*Karam, M.A., Amar, F., Fung, A.K., Mougin, E., Lopes, A., Le Vine, D.M. and Beaudoin, A. 1995. A microwave polarimetric scattering model for forest canopies based on vector radiative transfer theories. Remote Sensing of Environment, 53: 16-30).

(2008-) Ongoing collaboration with Dr Richard Lucas at the University of Wales, and other international partners, will see the establishment of a global network of mangrove â€˜super sitesâ€™ in tropical/sub-tropical regions for detailed inventory and monitoring using ground and satellite data.

Mangrove dynamics, West Alligator River, KNP, observed using time-series aerial photography (1991) and CASI (2002).

CONTACT DETAILS

Room 641
Tel: +61 2 9385 1622.
Fax: +61 2 9385 1558
Email: a.mitchellunsw.edu.au