Completion of the Fowlers Gap GEIF Project

Posted 27 August 2013

The UNSW Fowler's Gap arid-zone research station is in western NSW.

Arid zone rainfall monitoring facilities at the UNSW Fowlers Gap Research Station in western NSW have been upgraded and now provide rainfall, video and groundwater data feeds via the internet.

Rainfall has been monitored at the 400km2 arid zone research station at Fowlers Gap since the early 1970s.

Each paddock at the research station has a representative total rain gauge that has been monitored after each rainfall event.

There are 18 rainfall gauges distributed at a density of approximately 1 every 20 km2 . Until now, a journey of 125km on a farm bike was undertaken each time it rained to collect measurements from the gauges that have been used to build the rainfall record for the site. To date, the total distance travelled to collect this data has been about 2.25 times the earth's circumference at the equator.

This record is a probably unique set of rainfall data for the semi-arid zone.

Now, the Fowlers Gap site is monitored using the Telstra 3G network. The 18 manual gauges have been replaced with with tipping-bucket gauges linked to a data transmission network that makes it possible to view the daily data from the farm office (no bike trips) or remotely via the web.

Video feed image from the Rock Bar stream-gauging station.Video feed image from the Rock Bar stream-gauging station.

Two stream-gauging stations and a network of 9 groundwater observation bores have also been installed and added to the network.

The gauging stations have a remote video link so that flood events can be monitored. When it does rain, the roads are frequently closed to vehicles.

The live data can be viewed at the Fowlers Gap data web site.

Links:

Latest news

Wildfire and Groundwater

Wildfire and Groundwater

14 October 2020

Professor Andy Baker features in American Water Resources Association ‘Water Resources Impact’, September 2020 edition. 

Read more…

CWI’s network of researchers is widening - Welcome Taylor Coyne!

CWI’s network of researchers is widening - Welcome Taylor Coyne!

10 October 2020

The Connected Waters Initiative (CWI) is pleased to welcome Taylor Coyne to its network as a postgraduate researcher. If you’re engaged in research at a postgraduate level, and you’re interested in joining the CWI network, get in touch! The CWI network includes multidisciplinary researchers across the Schools of Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Languages and Law.

Read more…

Grand Challenge to rethink our subterranean cities

Grand Challenge to rethink our subterranean cities

30 September 2020

The Grand Challenge on Rapid Urbanisation will establish Think Deep Australia, led by Dr Marilu Melo Zurita, to explore how we can use our urban underground spaces for community benefit.

Read more…

National Water Reform Inquiry Submission

National Water Reform Inquiry Submission

6 September 2020

On the 21 August 2020, CWI researchers made a submission to the National Water Reform Inquiry, identifying priority areas and making a number of recommendations as to how to achieve a sustainable groundwater future for Australia.

Read more…

Finding the hole in a Thailand bucket

Finding the hole in a Thailand bucket

3 September 2020

Results published from a research project between the Land Development Department (LDD) Thailand and UNSW has demonstrated how 2-dimensional mapping can be used to understand soil salinity adjacent to a earthen canal in north east Thailand (Khongnawang et al. 2020).

Read more…