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www.environment.gov.

au/ssd

Using LiDAR data to derive geomorphic parameters for landform design


John Lowry
Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist

Supervising Scientist - working to protect the environment from the impacts of uranium mining

Presentation outline

SSD background and role Landform design process Creation and collection of input data

Geomorphometry

Application of LiDAR Derivation of geomorphic parameters Results to date Concluding thoughts

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SSD background

Protects the Alligator Rivers Region from the effects of uranium mining Conducts environmental research and monitoring, environmental supervision, audit and inspection. Encourages best practice in wetland conservation and management.

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Production at Ranger scheduled to continue until 2020 Need to rehabilitate landform at cessation of mining

Landform design parameters developed ~2000 Relatively coarse (20m) DEM used to derive parameters Higher resolution data opportunity to revisit parameters Ensure landform design meets closure criteria

Environmental requirements for closure state that The company must rehabilitate the Ranger Project Area to establish an environment similar to the adjacent areas of Kakadu National Park such that, in the opinion of the Minister with the advice of the Supervising Scientist, the rehabilitated area could be incorporated into the Kakadu National Park.

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Landform design and modelling process

Erosion assessment

Landform design (ERA)

Criteria: Cap thickness Slope/Gradient change Vegetation/ecosystem Radiation Hydrology Catchment impact
Stream sediment load, water quality radiation

Landform stability
Gullies, incision, Contaminant exposure sediment loss

Predictive modelling Erosion Hydrology LEM (SSD)

Unacceptable impact No / acceptable impact


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Next approval phase

Landform design

Design parameters derived from geomorphometric analysis of analogue landforms


Geomorphic properties controlling water movement, erosion and sedimentation Underpin ecological function, soil development and ecological patterns

Environmental values of adjacent areas of Kakadu National park represented in the Georgetown analogue area.
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Table 1 Landform design parameters Parameter Slope Profile Curvature

Definition Gradient Slope profile curvature

Environmental significance Affects overland and subsurface flow velocity and runoff rate, geomorphology Affects flow acceleration, erosion/deposition rate, geomorphology Affects converging / diverging flow, soil water content, soil characteristics. Affects erosion rates and sediment yield.

Plan Curvature

Contour curvature

Slope Length (flow path length)

Maximum distance of water flow to a point in the catchment

Elevation
LS_Factor (erosion index)

Height relative to sea level

Affects climate, vegetation composition, distribution and abundance

Represents effect of slope length on Predicts areas of net erosion and net deposition erosion; ratio of soil loss from a areas given hillslope length and gradient to soil loss from a standard unit plot. Measure of erosive power that Affects erosion / sedimentation rate, nutrient predicts net erosion in convex areas supply, soil depth and texture, and net deposition in concave areas

Erosion Deposition Index (stream power index)

Aspect

The direction or orientation Position of a site in relation to climatic elements (compass bearing) in which a slope (winds, sunlight) received. Affects vegetation faces composition and distribution
Absolute difference in elevation within a [300m] radius of a defined point Range in elevation within a defined radius of a point

Relief

TWI (topographic wetness indices)

Describes the distribution and extent Identifies areas/ zones of water concentration in of zones of saturation for runoff the landscape. Will affect vegetation composition generation and distribution through plant available water, 7

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Poor landform design may cause a range of environmental problems


Erosion Landform instability Transportation of contaminated materials Changes to the composition and structure of vegetation communities

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Why DEMs

Geomorphometry = quantative analysis of a land surface Multiple geomorphometric parameters may be generated from a single DEM:
slope, curvature, topographic wetness index aspect slope length plan / profile curvature etc

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Available elevation data for Ranger...


1& 3 SRTM DEMs ALOS PRISM 5-metre DEM 5 & 10-metre DEM derived from Aerial Photography Topographic contours 0.5 3 metre contours Terrestrial laser scan data - 20 cm resolution LiDAR - 1 metre resolution Miscellaneous ad-hoc

20m floodplain

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LiDAR data acquired for Ranger project area 1 October 2010.


Data captured with horizontal resolution of 0.25m and vertical resolution of 0.15m 0.5 metres contours supplied 1m-resolution grid surface generated for the Georgetown analogue surface

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ArcGIS spatial analyst, Whitebox, SAGA and Landserf software used for geomorphometric analysis
Good correspondence between different models used LiDAR DEM common input

Comparison Profile curvature


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Results

Previous results derived from 20m DEM

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Pluses and minuses for LiDAR vs earlier DEM data


LIDAR Cost Useable format Metadata Resolution Areal extent Bare earth and surface components Point classification Known accuracy Appropriate resolution for erosion modelling and assessment 20m DEM

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Concluding thoughts...

Geomorphometric parameters have been derived from the LiDAR DEM of the analogue with increased confidence and accuracy. Enables a more accurate assessment of stability of landform designs.

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Questions?

Thank you : P Puig (ERA), C Humphrey, G Fox, M Saynor (SSD)


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