Colin WOODROFFE - Research Information

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GIS and the coast

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) offer sophisticated tools for the mapping, modelling, analysis, simulation and dissemination of spatial data. Applying this range of technologies and spatial techniques to the coastal zone is one of Colin Woodroffe’s research foci. Using the high-performance computing power and specialised software packages available through the Spatial Analysis Laboratories in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Colin and his research students and colleagues are exploring the advantages of applying these approaches to the coastal zone. There are a series of exciting new developments that enable the seamless analysis of terrain from coastal catchments through the intertidal zone to shallow water.

The University of Wollongong hosted a workshop on Coastal GIS in 2003, focused on an integrated approach to Australian coastal issues (Woodroffe and Furness, 2003), and in 2006, together with University of Sydney and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, the University of Wollongong will host the international CoastGIS 2006 conference.

Research in the School has focused particularly on reef systems, exploring the use of remote sensing technologies, such as the Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) to enable more detailed digital terrain models of shallow-water and inaccessible reefs to be mapped. Our research projects are also exploring the use of LiDAR (airborne laser surveys) to expand the potential to map vulnerability of shorelines to extreme events such as storms or sea-level rise. GIS offers the potential for more complex modelling of soil erosion in catchments, and the development of better models of sediment delivery and sedimentation in estuaries and coastal lagoons, a focus of a recent PhD study by Ava Simms. The integration of data sets allows for more detailed decision making in coastal catchments, as shown by Emma McIntyre, as part of her PhD in collaboration with Kiama Municipal Council. GIS analysis has also been a prominent component of recent PhD theses by Pamela Abuodha who studied the vulnerability of the Illawarra coast to sea-level rise, Stephen Barry who modelled sediment accretion on reef islands, Gareth Davies who modelled hydrodynamics in tidal creeks, Javier Leon who examined carbonate production in Torres Strait, and Golam Mahabub Sarwar who looked at the vulnerability of the coast of Bangladesh to sea-level rise.

References

Woodroffe, C.D. and Furness, R. (editors) (2003) Coastal GIS 2003: an integrated approach to Australian coastal issues. Wollongong Papers on Maritime Policy, no 14, proceedings of a workshop, University of Wollongong, Centre for Maritime Policy, 553pp.

Barry, S.J., Cowell, P.J. and Woodroffe, C.D. (2007) A morphodynamic model of reef-island development on atolls. Sedimentary Geology, 197, 47-63.

Simms, A.D., Woodroffe, C.D., Jones, B.G., Heijnis, H., Harrison, J. and Mann, R. (2008). Assessing Soil Remobilisation in Catchments using a Cs-sediment Hillslope Model. Australian Geographer, 39, 445-465.

Davies, G. and Woodroffe, C.D. (2010) Tidal estuary width convergence: theory and form in North Australian estuaries. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 35, 737-749.

Abuodha, P.A. and Woodroffe, C.D. (2010) Assessing vulnerability to sea-level rise using a coastal sensitivity index: a case study from southeast Australia. Journal of Coastal Conservation Planning and Management, 14, 189-205.

Leon, J and Woodroffe, C.D. (2011) Improving the synoptic mapping of coral reef geomorphology using object-based image analysis, International Journal of Geographical Information Science 25, 949-969.

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