Airborne Gravity 2010 - Geoscience Australia

Airborne Gravity 2010
management issues (Figure 2). The work is also identifying significant limitations in current product
and processing standards. Significant gaps still remain in bathymetry, and our ability to integrate data
is still limited by the Australian Height Datum and general lack of awareness of issues such as timevariant
gravitationally-defined geoids. Current work on product specifications and standards is directed
towards improving the current and future utility of the data.
(a)
Figure 2. (a) Airborne LiDAR data over Narabeen, NSW, that is being used to model coastal
inundation. (b) Airborne LiDAR data near Menindee, NSW, on the Darling River that is being
used for water resource assessment.
The NEDF Portal
The NEDF Portal will be launched in late 2010. The Portal has been developed to provide easy web
access to a wide range of digital elevation data and derived products for government and public good
use. The Portal allows users to search, discover, view, license and take delivery of elevation and
related data products (Figure 3). The Portal not only provides a platform for improved data discovery
and access, but has driven significant improvements in the management and maintenance of elevation
and related data within Geoscience Australia and more broadly across government.
For users, it will provide access to million’s of dollars worth of elevation data. Streamlining the process
to obtain a licence to access different data sets will also be welcomed by users. There will be 3 tiers of
licences. A “Creative Commons Licence” will provide the general public with access to national DEM’s
(e.g., the SRTM 3” or 9” DEMs) and to any high resolution datasets with full distribution rights. An “Allof-Government
Licence” will provide access by government to data sets requiring a data licence
agreement (e.g., LiDAR data purchased from a commercial provider under a whole of government
licence). A “Third Party Licence” will also be offered where the Commonwealth may hold the data but
needs permission from a third party to release the data. Importantly this licensing model will allow
private companies to make their data discoverable and ensure that data does not get purchased more
than once by government.
The NEDF Portal is intended to be a one stop elevation shop. It represents the first ArcGIS server
application within Geoscience Australia (GA) delivering the functionality of GIS mapping tools in a web
environment. It will help to improve the management and maintenance of elevation and related data
within GA and across government. It will facilitate data sharing amongst states and other jurisdictions
whilst reducing the costs associated with duplication of data capture and purchasing. It also provides a
facility to monitor who is using or benefits from the data. The Portal will also provides a means for
undertaking on-going data audits to identifying gaps in elevation data around Australia and where
future acquisitions should occur. The results of an elevation data audit carried out in 2009 are shown
in Figure 4 (Tickle, 2010).
(b)
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