Continuity of Earth Observation Data for Australia: Research ... - csiro

2.1.2 Approach
Figure 2-1 Scope of Survey
Only projects defined within the inner two concentric circles below are included in this survey.
The very wide range and dispersed nature of the EO R&D sector in Australia led to a two-stage survey
process, conducted between July and September 2011:
Part 1 – Preliminary Survey
The first stage of the survey identified the majority of potential survey participants from relevant Federal
and State organisations, including CSIRO, academia, CRCs, defence and land management agencies, who
were asked to complete Worksheets 1 and 2a of the survey spreadsheet (see Table 2-1 and Appendix C).
The questions therein were directed to the managerial staff responsible for overseeing multiple EO-related
R&D capabilities and projects.
Projects vary substantially in size and significance across the survey sample—from a one-person research
activity involving a single EOS data type, through to the R&D undertaken by the Centre for Australian
Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR) in support of the nation’s numerical weather prediction (NWP)
capabilities, which involves dozens of different EOS data types and multiple researchers as well as weather
applications including high impact events and applications such as rainfall estimation, fog detection, severe
weather forecast development, volcanic ash etc.
An e-mail based survey was used to collate information in Part 1 of the process. A total of 217 EO-related
R&D projects were identified, of which 187 projects from 31 organisations were considered for inclusion in
Part 2.
14 Continuity of Earth Observation Data for Australia: R&D • January 2012