River Murray erosion monitoring plan: Part 2 –...
URL: https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/river-murray-erosion-monitoring-plan-part-2.pdf
Authors: Thom Gower, Geoff Vietz, Nicole Wheeler, Kira Woods, Christine Lauchlan Arrowsmith
Date of Publication: February 2025
- Currently, there is no consistent way to monitor erosion along the whole River Murray. The plan seeks to monitor more than 2,500 km of the main channel across states, making this one of the largest river monitoring plan approaches in Australia and, for its type, one that is unprecedented worldwide.
- Based on the evaluation findings from Part 1, the River Murray erosion monitoring plan provides the detailed specifications needed to implement these methods systematically along the River Murray.
- The plan combines fit-for-purpose data collection with efficient analysis methods, while also effectively communicating results to diverse audiences and including opportunities for complementary citizen science.
Key findings / recommendations
- The plan is based on a method using high-resolution lidar data to support monitoring of bank erosion over time. A machine learning tool approach is proposed to automate the extraction of bank features (top-of-bank and toe-of-bank positions) from the data set.
- The plan proposes 5-yearly data collection to detect meaningful changes in bank morphology. Initial input data will become the baseline dataset to allow for future comparisons.
- The results of monitoring are proposed to be made accessible through an ArcGIS Online-based dashboard, allowing users to analyse erosion trends at different spatial scales.
- The interactive dashboard would also incorporate complimentary data such as citizen science photo points, and enable communication of monitoring outcomes to a range of users.
- Indicative costs are provided for the initial setup, cyclic collection of Lidar data, and application of the methodology and analysis routine.
- The monitoring plan does not investigate causes of erosion but provides data that supports more detailed investigation if further investigations are warranted.
- Future iterations of the plan should integrate technological advancements in machine learning, remote sensing, and data processing. * The plan should be periodically reviewed to ensure effectiveness and refine methodologies.
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