Making remote sensing data FAIR

ArCSIRO Energy personnel using an NCRIS enabled fibre optic sensor (via AuScope’s Subsurface Observatory) to measure the temperature in a MinEx CRC National Drilling Initiative drill hole in the East Tennant region of the Northern Territory in December 2020. Image: Dr Ludovic Ricard

This project enhanced accessibility of national-scale and space-enabled remote sensing data for researchers, adhering to FAIR principles.

Overview

Led by a collaboration between Geoscience Australia (GA), the Australian National University (ANU), and CSIRO, this project leveraged the 2020 Innovation Fund to scale up InSAR processing, build a processing chain for total water storage products from space gravity missions, and integrate these data into the AuScope portal. Over the course of two years, the project enhanced the portal’s interface, making geodetic data more accessible and user-friendly. This enabled scientists to address issues such as climate change, groundwater monitoring, and community safety.

“This collaborative project brought together GA, CSIRO and ANU to make geodetic data more accessible, discoverable, and usable for the research community”
- Dr Rebecca Farrington, Director of Research Data Systems

The Challenge

Geodetic data from GRACE and InSAR currently require expert knowledge to utilise effectively, limiting their accessibility and utility for broader applications in climate change, groundwater monitoring, and community safety.

Expected Outcomes

Key outcomes of the project include:

  • Development of regional-scale surface deformation monitoring using Sentinel-1 SAR data.

  • Creation of total water storage products from space gravity missions.

  • Integration of enhanced data and tools into the AuScope portal.

  • Provision of innovative monitoring tools for resource management industries.

  • Enhanced accessibility and usability of geodetic data for non-experts.

Who Will Benefit

Researchers, industry professionals, government agencies, and the broader community will benefit from improved access to geodetic data and analytical tools, facilitating better monitoring and management of natural resources and environmental conditions.

Access

  • Data and products from GRACE and InSAR are accessible through the AuScope portal.

  • This project contributed to the open-source software packages AuScope/portal-core and AuScope/AuScope-Portal-API.

  • This project contributed to the open-source software package PyRate, a Python tool for estimating the velocity and cumulative displacement time series of surface movements.

 
 

Project Name
Making remote sensing data FAIR

Project Lead
Nick Brown

Timeframe
2021 to 2021

Status
Complete

Funding
AuScope Pilots 2

Hosts
The Australian National University
Geoscience Australia
CSIRO

AuScope Programs

Acknowledging AuScope

This project was made possible by support from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) through AuScope. Acknowledging AuScope and NCRIS helps us demonstrate the value of shared research infrastructure, ensuring continued support and resources for the research community.

If you helped deliver this project or have benefited from its outputs, please credit AuScope so we can include your work in our impact reporting. For examples of acknowledgment, please visit our ‘How to Acknowledge AuScope’ page.

We’d love to see your work—please tag us on social media using:

@auscope | #AuScopeImpact | #NCRISimpact

G&GGuest UserPilot 2, Geophysics, FAIR, Geodetic Data, GRACE, InSAR, Complete