Free Online Panel: The Future of Groundwater Monitoring

Groundwater monitoring data is essential for prediction of groundwater resource condition and for early warning of anthropogenic impacts on groundwater availability for consumptive use and ecosystem support. There are more than 30,000 regularly monitored bores in Australia – many of which have been monitored for many decades. However, the threats to groundwater resources have changed over this period, as has the nature of hydrogeology itself. It is time to ask whether our current monitoring (that focusses mostly on water level and salinity measurements on observation bores) is sufficient for today’s needs. In this seminar we discuss this question.

Three speakers will examine groundwater monitoring approaches from different perspectives: groundwater quantity, groundwater chemistry, and opportunities provided by spaceborne remote sensing.

Chaired by Peter Cook, Professor of Hydrogeology at Flinders University and Director of the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT)

Panel includes:

Dr Gabriel Rau, Lecturer in Hydrogeology, University of Newcastle

Dr Pascal Castellazzi, Research Scientist in Hydrogeology/Remote Sensing, CSIRO

Mr John Rayner, Research Scientist, CSIRO

Introducing the Panel:

Dr Gabriel Rau, Lecturer in Hydrology, University of Newcastle
Gabriel is an Environmental Engineer with a PhD in the Geosciences. His passion is evidence based research of hydro(geo)logic processes, especially understanding and quantifying water flow at the boundary between the earth's surface and subsurface. His research aims to improve fundamental process understanding and to develop methods for the quantification of water flow through hydro(geo)logic systems. His collaborative research has developed new knowledge that is published in highly ranked international science/engineering journals.

Dr Pascal Castellazzi, Research Scientist in Hydrogeology/Remote Sensing, CSIRO
Research Scientist in Hydrogeology/Remote Sensing, CSIRO
Pascal is a Research Scientist at CSIRO, specialised in Hydrogeodesy, a new research field using satellite-based geodetic observations to understand changes in water availability, distribution, and movement. He develops operational tools to evaluate the sustainability of water resources and prevent water related hazards. He also develops techniques based on radar remote sensing to monitor building stability, soil erosion, and for flood and bushfire mapping and prevention applications.

Mr John Rayner, Research Scientist, CSIRO
John has worked at CSIRO for over 2 decades and in the area of contaminated site assessment and remediation for more than 30 years with a focus on understanding the way contaminants partition between soil, surface water, groundwater, infrastructure and air. This provides the underlying basis of assessing environmental and community risk from contamination and the best approach to remediation. The contaminants have included petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, nutrients, munitions, and halogenated organics including PFAS. The environments have included the polar regions (Antarctic, sub-Antarctic, Canada), tropical regions and most others in between.