• Energy Research

AbstractThere is increasing concern that widespread forest decline could occur in regions of the world where droughts are predicted to increase in frequency and severity as a result of climate change. The average annual leaf area index (LAI) is an indicator of canopy cover and the difference between the annual maximum and minimum LAI is an indicator of annual leaf turnover. In this study, we analyzed satellite‐derived estimates of monthly LAI across forested coastal catchments of southwest Western Australia over a 12 year period (2000–2011) that included the driest year on record for the last 60 years. We observed that over the 12 year study period, the spatial pattern of average annual satellite‐derived LAI values was linearly related to mean annual rainfall. However, interannual changes to LAI in response to changes in annual rainfall were far less than expected from the long‐term LAI‐rainfall trend. This buffered response was investigated using a physiological growth model and attributed to availability of deep soil moisture and/or groundwater storage. The maintenance of high LAIs may be linked to a long‐term decline in areal average underground water storage and diminished summer flows, with an emerging trend toward more ephemeral flow regimes.

Increasing sea surface temperature and extreme heat events pose the greatest threat to coral reefs globally, with trends exceeding previous norms. The resultant mass bleaching events, such as those evidenced on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017, and 2020 have substantial ecological costs in addition to economic and social costs. Advancing remote (nanosatellites, rapid revisit traditional satellites) and in-field (drones) technological capabilities, cloud data processing, and analysis, coupled with existing infrastructure and in-field monitoring programs, have the potential to provide cost-effective and timely information to managers allowing them to better understand changes on reefs and apply effective remediation. Within a risk management framework for monitoring coral bleaching, we present an overview of how remote sensing can be used throughout the whole risk management cycle and highlight the role technological advancement has in earth observations of coral reefs for bleaching events.

AbstractSnowmelt from the seasonal snowpack in the Australian Alps is a significant source of water for irrigated agriculture, electricity generation, and environmental flows in the Murray–Darling Basin. Previous studies have reported negative decadal to multidecadal trends in maximum snow depth, snow season duration, and snow‐covered area. Here, we characterise the energy balance of this marginal maritime snowpack for the first time. Turbulent fluxes measured using the eddy covariance and bulk aerodynamic methods are compared; discrepancies are attributed to the differing assumptions of the methods and characteristics of the measurement site. We examine the variability of the individual energy balance components and the drivers of snowmelt, and we find that incoming longwave radiation is the dominant control on snowmelt, providing more than 80% of the total energy to the snowpack over the season. During a midwinter rain‐on‐snow event, the advected rain heat flux provided 8% of the daily total, with the incoming longwave flux still accounting for almost 80%. The ground heat flux contributes a small proportion of the seasonal total but increases in patchy or intermittent snow cover. Comparing these results with those of studies in other maritime locations, we find that the turbulent fluxes are likely to make a proportionally higher contribution to the energy balance due to the short Australian snow season, underpinning the sensitivity of this environment to climate variability and change. These results extend the limited body of knowledge on highly marginal snowpacks and may be relevant to other regions with no direct measurements of the energy balance.

Coastal woodlands, notable for their floristic diversity and ecosystem service values, are increasingly under threat from a range of interacting biotic and abiotic stressors. Monitoring these complex ecosystems has traditionally been confined to field-scale vegetation surveys; however, remote sensing applications are increasingly becoming more viable. This study reports on the application of field-based monitoring and remote sensing/(Geographic Information System) GIS to interrogate trends in Banksia coastal woodland decline (Kings Park, Perth and Western Australia) and documents the patterns, and potential drivers, of tree mortality over the period 2012–2016. Application of geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) at a park scale was of limited benefit within the closed-canopy ecosystem, with manual digitisation methods feasible only at the smaller transect scale. Analysis of field-based identification of tree mortality, crown-specific spectral characteristics and park-scale change detection imagery identified climate-driven stressors as the likely primary driver of tree mortality in the woodland, with vegetation decline exacerbated by secondary factors, including water stress and low system resilience occasioned by the inability to access the water table and competition between tree species. The results from this paper provide a platform to inform monitoring efforts using airborne remote sensing within coastal woodlands.