Discussing and problem-solving the challenges of collating vast amounts of camera trap, ecoacoustic and drone data collected by tens of thousands of machines observing Australia’s environment was the purpose of an NCRIS-enabled workshop held in Brisbane.
TERN, Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), The University of Queensland (UQ), and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) co-hosted a workshop to look at the data deluge from machine-driven observations. Researchers, government, industry, NGOs, and research infrastructure experts met to co-design a new Planet Research Data Commons (PRDC) program to address these challenges.
The workshop followed the formation of the Machine Observation Data Processing Infrastructure by NCRIS-enabled ARDC. The new ARDC infrastructure aims to support the establishment of nationally shared infrastructure, services, and standards to enable the processing and reuse of automated observation and sensor data as part of Australia’s earth and environmental decision-making
Professor Hugh Possingham, TERN Advisory Board Chair, set the scene by describing these challenges from an international perspective: “Australia is a small player in the world of ecological monitoring. For example, Cornell University has one building that may have as many ornithologists as our whole continent. But we do have some superpowers: we have a continent with alpine, tropical rainforest and desert ecosystems, and if we cooperate, we can deliver far more quickly than any other country.”
Professor Possingham also said that to remain internationally competitive in environmental research, “we need to deploy national environmental monitoring at massive scales, with open data and unfettered cooperation. There can be no room for egos and empire building.”
Dr Beryl Morris, TERN Director, described TERN’s role as Australia’s national infrastructure for terrestrial and coastal ecosystem observations. Dr Morris said, “It is important to have a seamless, NCRIS-wide approach to providing synthesis capabilities for conservation modelling, prediction and management.”
Hamish Holewa, Director, Planet Research Data Commons, ARDC, presents at the workshop
The workshop was held over two days with presenters and participants from a broad range of research in Australian ecosystems. Other speakers included:
- Hamish Holewa, Director, Planet Research Data Commons at the ARDC national digital research infrastructure for earth and environmental sciences.
- Dr Matthew Luskin, Director of the Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs) and Senior Lecturer at UQ.
- Professor Paul Roe, Head of the School of Computer Science at QUT, and lead of the ARDC-supported project Open Ecoacoustics, a platform for continental-scale ecoacoustic monitoring and research.
- Dr Tim Brown, Lead for Digital Innovation at the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF), who leads the Australian Scalable Drone Cloud.
- Dr Danial Lerodiaconou, Deakin University and IMOS (Integrated Marine Observing System).
- Dr Ashley Leedman, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).
- Dr Tracy Rout, World Wildlife Fund – Australia.
- Dr Rebecca Spindler, Bush Heritage.
- Prof Lin Schwarzkopf, Distinguished Professor of Ecology, James Cook University.
- Zach Amir, PhD candidate, UQ.
Following these discussions, the ARDC has drafted an Australian National Shared Machine Observation Data Processing Infrastructure Roadmap. This Roadmap outlines opportunities to foster collaboration and establish a unified national research infrastructure to efficiently handle automated observation and sensor data on a national scale, streamlining data processing, and increasing both access and reuse. It also highlights the importance of cultivating partnerships and facilitating knowledge exchange among stakeholders.
