airborne research australia annual report 2004airborneresearch.com.au/pdf/2004 ara annual...

AIRBORNE RESEARCH AUSTRALIA Annual Report 2004

http://www.AirborneResearch.org.au

Annual Report 2004 Airborne Research Australia - MNRF

The images on the front cover show: Top: Mosaic of aerial images of the ‘Hector’ thunderstorm over the Tiwi Islands (to the north of Darwin/Australia) taken from ARA’s ECO-Dimona aircraft during a joint project with the BBC’s Natural History Unit, UK and cinematographer Simon Carroll. Bottom: ARA’s fleet of research aircraft, the Grob G520T Egrett (rear), the Grob G109B (front) and two Diamond Aircraft ECO-Dimonas (left and right).

Airborne Research Australia PO Box 335

Salisbury South 5106

Ph: +61 8 8182 4000 Fax: +61 8 8285 6710

http://www.AirborneResearch.org.au

ARA’s Annual Report for 2004 was compiled by Dr. Paul Dare and Assoc. Prof. Jörg M Hacker

© 2005 Airborne Research Australia ABN 30 077 169 496

http://www.AirborneResearch.com.au 2


Table of Contents

1. Overview ............................................................................................. 4

2. Projects ............................................................................................... 6

2.1. Aerial time lapse aerial photography ..........................................................6 2.2. ACPFG mapping project ..............................................................................7 2.3. Studying mountain waves over the Flinders Ranges................................9 2.4. Summary of projects in 2004 .....................................................................11

3. Staff ................................................................................................... 13

3.1. Full and part-time staff ...............................................................................13 3.2. Casual Staff .................................................................................................13 3.3. Contractors .................................................................................................13 3.4. Senior Advisers and consultants ..............................................................13 3.5. Higher-Degree Students.............................................................................14 3.6. Visiting students.........................................................................................14

4. ARA Board ........................................................................................ 15

5. Submissions for Funding................................................................ 16

6. Usage of Aircraft .............................................................................. 18

7. Publications...................................................................................... 19

7.1. Papers in Refereed Journals .....................................................................19 7.2. Conference Papers .....................................................................................19 7.3. Theses .........................................................................................................20 7.4. Other Publications......................................................................................20

8. Financial Statement ......................................................................... 21

http://www.AirborneResearch.org.au 3


1. Overview

While 2003 was the year of “hibernation” for ARA (despite the many activities that happened in this year as described in the 2003 Annual Report), 2004 was the year of “re-structuring”, or perhaps better, “re-focussing”.

Following the plan laid out by the Chief Scientist in 2002 and 2003, ARA re-focussed its activities on research applications and collaborations rather than ventures of a pure commercial nature. This strategy included activities aiming at re-integrating ARA better into the University and especially ARA’s Remote Sensing Specialist, Dr. Paul Dare, was instrumental in strengthening these links with colleagues in Flinders University’s Faculty of Social Sciences.

A proposal was adopted by the Board of ARA to wind up the company Airborne Research Australia Pty. Ltd. and convert it to a self-funding research centre within the Faculty of Social Sciences at Flinders University. This process is still on-going and will hopefully be completed in 2005.

Another part of the re-focussing strategy was to use the proceeds from the sale of the ARA King Air to strengthen ARA’s capabilities in using small research aircraft (so-called SERA’s – Small Environmental Research Aircraft) for a wide range of applications. This strategy was already the background for the acquisition of a Diamond Aircraft HK36TTC ECO-Dimona in 2003 (through funding from the Joyce Schultz Bequest) and due to it’s instantaneous success in the Australian research community led to the decision to replace the ARA Grob G109B aircraft with a second ECO-Dimona, basically identical to the first one. The second ECO-Dimona arrived in 2004 and is now very close to being commissioned for research work as well.

In late 2004, when the results of the ARC grant applications were announced it was clear that this concept was successful with more than 700 flying hours allocated to the two ECO-Dimonas for ARC projects in 2005 and more in the following years.

When the idea to purchase a second ECO-Dimona was approved by the Board of ARA and the University, there was a requirement to put the Grob G109B aircraft on the market for sale to gain the required funds for the purchase. However, due to a fortunate coincidence, contact was established with Dr. Gerald Schneider, the leader of the emerging Aeronautical Research Group within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide. The idea was born to apply to the Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund for funding to establish a Centre for Aeronautical Research and Education (CARE) within ARA and to use the G109B aircraft as its core platform. This application was approved in December 2004 and $456,000 will be available over three years for this purpose. This is a very exciting development creating a capability nowhere else available in Australia. It should also be noted that this is the second large grant that the Airborne Atmospheric Research group (as it might be called in a generic sense) has received from the Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Fund.

Throughout the year, there were several research projects and collaborations. In February, Dr. Wolfgang Junkermann from the Research Centre Karlsruhe in Germany visited ARA for a few weeks bringing with him a comprehensive set of aerosol and air pollution instrumentation, as well as a new generation INS/GPS aircraft attitude and positioning system. Intercomparisons were flown by mounting his instruments together with ARA instruments in the newly set-up ECO-Dimona.

In August and September the first ECO-Dimona (VH-EOS) was deployed in its first major field experiment, a US-funded study of mountain waves over the Flinders Ranges. On 8 days, missions were flown at altitudes up to 7.5km over Mt. Remarkable and other mountains further North. The aircraft and the instrumentation performed flawlessly proving the feasibility and success of the new ARA strategy. Further measurements will be carried out in 2005 and beyond.

In November, a most exciting study was flown with the new ECO-Dimona in Darwin – to take aerial timelapse IMAX-quality images of the thunderstorm that occurs daily over the Tiwi Islands. The project was a collaborative study between the BBC’s Natural History Unit in the UK, the world-famous cinematographer Simon Carroll and ARA. The flying and the images were nothing short of spectacular and will form part of a new television series currently being put together by the BBC. In scientific terms, the images will give new insights into the development of thunderstorms never before seen in this way. Not only was the flying during the filming spectacular, but also, the ferry flights to and from Darwin showed the great spectrum of capabilities of the new ECO-Dimonas. Conditions ranging from 45°C during a refuelling stop at William Creek in the SA Outback to cruising at 22,000ft over duststorms in the Northern Territory (using a new breathing oxygen system) were easily handled by the aircraft.



Furthermore, the new capability to have real-time Internet connection in the aircraft was put to good use during the filming, as well as during the ferry flights.

Several meetings were attended by the Director/Chief Scientist throughout the year, amongst them two planning workshops held in Seattle/USA and Darwin/NT for the upcoming TWP-ICE field experiment (Tropical Western Pacific – International Cloud Experiment) in Jan/Feb 2006; a workshop in March in Osaka/Japan supporting attempts by a group from Osaka University in Japan to set up a permanent lightning research station in the Northern Territory; the annual AMOS Conference (Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society) in July in Brisbane; the inaugural meeting of EUFAR (the European Fleet for Airborne Research – the ARA Egrett is part of this fleet – see www.eufar.net) held in Toulouse/France in October.

Last but not least, it can be reported that after more than a year of negotiations, in December “Flinders University trading as Airborne Research Australia” was issued with a renewal of its CASA Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) with Capt. Alf Jonas as Chief Pilot and the ARA Development Engineer Rudi Gaissmaier as Head of Aircraft Maintenance (HAM). This will enable ARA to again carry out projects of a commercial nature, initially mainly using the ARA Grob G520T Egrett, but at a later stage also the new and old SERAs. Especially Alf Jonas’ and Rudi Gaissmaier’s input to this process were most important in gaining CASA approval.

Looking back on the year 2004 and forward into 2005, ARA can be confident that it has done all it can to adapt to an ever changing research, funding, administrative and political environment. In fact, there is a strong indication that ARA will exceed $2M in income in 2005.


http://www.eufar.net/


2. Projects

2.1. Aerial time lapse aerial photography In November 2004, aerial timelapse photography of convection and thunderstorms was carried out during a collaborative research project between ARA – Airborne Research Australia/Flinders University, the BBC’s Natural History Unit and the world-renown cinematographer Simon Carroll. Two Canon EOS-D1s 12-MegaPixel cameras were flown on ARA’s ECO-Dimona aircraft (VH-EOS). One camera was mounted on the wingtip of the aircraft looking 90 degrees sideways, with the second camera mounted in an underwing pod looking sideways/forward at an angle of about 45°. The cameras were controlled from two computers in the cockpit of the aircraft. The images were also stored on these computers. The aircraft was equipped with a GPS-based positioning and attitude system (Trimble TANS Vector), giving the position and the attitude of the aircraft (latitude, longitude, altitude, pitch angle, roll angle and aircraft heading) at a data rate of 10 times per second. These data will be used to correct the images for aircraft movement. Seven flights were carried out with a total of 26 flying hours. For most of the time, the cameras were operated in a mode giving an image every six seconds. A total of 15,965 images were taken yielding 119GB of raw data. To assist in the flight strategy, high-speed Internet connection was available during the whole flight enabling the display of the Darwin weather radars in realtime in the aircraft’s cockpit.

Canon camera mounted in the wingtip pod



Single photograph of a thunderstorm

2.2. ACPFG mapping project In October 2004 a research project was jointly conducted with scientists from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG), the purpose of which was to investigate the relationship between plant temperature and key epochs in the plant growth cycle. The overall goal of the ACPFG work is to investigate possible new methods for increasing crop yield. In order to support the research of the ACPFG, ARA collected airborne data of a field site near Roseworthy, SA. Data were collected using the Canon EOS-1Ds digital camera, the ARA/AWI trispectral line scanner, and the FLIR ThermaCam S60 thermal imaging camera. These three instruments were flown simultaneously on the ARA Dimona aircraft, VH-EOS. As is usual with these instruments, the data from the Canon and the FLIR were stored on the Sony Viao notebook, whilst data from the trispectral scanner were stored on the scanner computer. In addition to the imaging sensors, position and attitude data were measured using the Novatel GPS, and the Honeywell INS respectively. These data were stored on the data logger computer. Although this project was supposed to have been completed in one day, a problem with the scanner computer on the first flight meant that the scanner data from the first day were lost. Therefore a second day’s flying had to be carried out in order to recapture the scanner data. Due to the precision of the position and attitude systems on the aircraft it was not possible to directly overlay the three different data sets in a GIS. Instead the results had to be visually compared by eye. The S60 imagery was interpreted using the ThermaCam Researcher software, whilst the Canon and scanner imagery (the latter processed to show NDVI) were interpreted using standard image visualisation software.



Oblique view of test site near Roseworthy, SA

Canon nadir image of test site



Typical ThermaCam image of test site

2.3. Studying mountain waves over the Flinders Ranges In August and September, measurements of mountain waves generated by the Southern Flinders Ranges in the Mount Remarkable area were carried out using one of the ARA ECO-Dimonas. The project was funded by a grant from the USAF’s Research Laboratory to study the wave pattern themselves, but also turbulence generated by the breaking of the waves in the lee of the mountains. Eight flights were carried out under various conditions, with a total of approximately 40 flying hours. The aircraft was fitted with the BAT-Probe and other atmospheric sensors, including an array of speial temperature sensors to gain very high-resolution temperature measurements in the breaking part of the waves, and also water vapour and CO2 analysers. The weather conditions encountered during the study were not ideal, but as the study was planned as a pilot experiment for subsequent larger studies (already funded for 2005 and 2006), it did reach its goal. One of the key aspects of such measurements is to determine the optimum times for the flights. For this, several agencies contributed valuable support by providing high-resolution forecasts of mountain waves. The two main collaborators for this were the UK Met Office (through Dr. Simon Vosper, their Principal Orography Research Scientist), and the international Mountain Wave Project in Germany and Switzerland (see http://www.mountain-wave-project.de/) through Dr. Rene Heise (from Berlin) and Dr. Wolf Herold in Switzerland. Processing of the data is currently in progress and a Final Report will become available in 2005.


http://www.mountain-wave-project.de/


View from the ECO-Dimona along a mountain wave

Mountain wave forecast supplied by the UK Met Office



2.4. Summary of projects in 2004 Work was conducted on the following projects in 2004.

Project Funding source Researchers Comments

Data integration, scale and classification of remotely sensed imagery

ARC Discovery Grant

Dare (ARA), Jones (RMIT), Syed (ARA), Molloy (DSTO)

Three year project looking at issues affecting multi-sensor data fusion with respect to image classification. Ongoing.

GMV Image Registration

GMV, Madrid, Spain

Dare (ARA), Yamakawa (ARA), Syed (ARA)

Eight month project to develop algorithms for automatically registering panchromatic and near infrared imagery. Ongoing.

Forest mapping at Mt. Gambier

CSIRO Forestry and Forestry Products

Dare (ARA) and Culvenor (CSIRO)

Short project for mapping forests close to Mt. Gambier, and which utilised the trispectral scanner and the digital camera. Complete.

Precision farming at Roseworthy

University of Adelaide

Dare (ARA) and Lewis (University of Adelaide)

Short project for mapping agricultural sites close to Roseworthy, which utilised the trispectral scanner and the digital camera. Complete.

Crop temperature mapping

Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics

Dare (ARA) and Schnurbusch (ACPFG)

Short project for mapping agricultural sites close to Roseworthy, which utilised the FLIR camera and the digital camera. Complete.

PLMR ARC LIEF grant Walker (University of Melbourne), Grayson (University of Melbourne), Hacker (ARA), Kalma (University of Newcastle) and Heron (James Cook University)

ARC funded LIEF project for the acquisition and installation of the PLMR instrument. Ongoing.

Studying mountain waves over the Flinders Ranges

AFOSR and NOAA/ATD, USA

Hacker (ARA) and Coté (AFRL/USA)

Field campaign completed; data processing ongoing

Mountain Waves and Turbulence

AFOSR, USA Hacker (ARA) and Coté (AFRL/USA)

Ongoing

Aerial time-lapse photography of thunderstorms

BBC Natural History Unit, Bristol, UK

Hacker (ARA) and Carroll (independent)

Capture of time-lapse photography of thunderstorms in northern Australia. Complete.

Technical assistance to BAe

BAe Systems Gaissmaier (ARA) Technical assistance to BAe Systems. Complete.



contd…

Project Funding source Researchers Comments

Setting up two SERAs (ECO-Dimona VH-EOS and VH-OBS)

ARA and Joyce Schultz Bequest

ARA Ongoing



3. Staff

3.1. Full and part-time staff ARA Job Title Person Comments

Chief Scientist / Managing Director A/Prof Jörg M. Hacker

Senior Scientist Dr. Paul Dare

Research Scientist Wolfgang Lieff From December 2004

Development Engineer Mr Rudi Gaissmaier

Chief Pilot Capt. Gabriel Kalotay Until February 2004

Chief Pilot Capt. Alf Jonas From April 2004

3.2. Casual Staff Office Coordinator Ms Karen Raymond

Engineering assistant Mr Gary Hollands From Aug 2004

3.3. Contractors Engineering Test Pilot Capt. Alf Jonas Until April 2004

Software Development, Data Processing and Website

Dr Sigrid Thomae

Research Scientist Wolfgang Lieff From May 2004 until December 2004

Research Scientist Dr. Takeshi Yamakawa October to December 2004

Electronics Technician Mr Graham Wilkins

Research Scientist Dr. Caecila Ewenz From November 2004

3.4. Senior Advisers and consultants Prof Peter Schwerdtfeger Retired, formerly founding

Professor of Meteorology, Flinders University

Senior Adviser

Prof Neville Clark Retired, formerly Professor of Chemistry, Flinders University

Senior Adviser

Mr. Andy Kulessa DSTO Consultant



3.5. Higher-Degree Students Student Degree University Co-Supervisor at ARA

Wolfgang Lieff PhD Flinders/SOCPES Hacker

Peter Isaac PhD Flinders/SOCPES Hacker

Justin Peters PhD Monash/Mathematics Hacker

Cressida Savage PhD University of Melbourne Hacker

Sohel Syed PhD Flinders University, SOGPEM Dare

Nicola Molloy PhD Flinders University, SOGPEM Dare

3.6. Visiting students Student University Supervisor at ARA

Constanze Curdt University of Applied Sciences, Oldenburg Dare

Christoph Schlettig TU Dresden Gaissmaier

Alexander Wagner TU Dresden Hacker



4. ARA Board

Chairman

Mr Austin Taylor Partner Meertens, Chartered Accountants Level 10, GHD House 68 Grenfell Street ADELAIDE SA 5001

Professor John Browett Executive Dean Faculty of Social Sciences Flinders University of South Australia GPO Box 2100 ADELAIDE SA 5001

A/Prof Jörg Hacker Chief Scientist/Managing Director Airborne Research Australia Flinders University of South Australia PO Box 335 SALISBURY SOUTH SA 5106

Dr Rob Lewis Executive Director SA Research & Development Institute GPO Box 397 ADELAIDE SA 5001

Mr David Twiss Investment Manager Playford Capital EDS Centre, 108 North Terrace ADELAIDE SA 5000

Company Secretary:

Mr Barry Colyer Manager, HR Systems Flinders University GPO Box 2100 ADELAIDE SA 5001



5. Submissions for Funding The following funding applications were submitted in 2004.

Investigator(s) Funding source Project Comments

Dare and Hanley ARC Discovery Integration of airborne and terrestrial imaging with laser scanning for detailed three dimensional scene reconstruction

Requested $362,141 - unsuccessful

Dare, Hacker, Walker, Jones, Kalma and Lewis

ARC LIEF Airborne laser scanning for advanced environmental monitoring

$167,777 from the ARC

$170,035 from partner contributions

Dare, Bannehr and Jones

DEST IAP IST Development of combined hyperspectral imaging and laser scanning technology for improved environmental monitoring


Dare and Hacker DEST IAP IST Network of Airborne Environmental Research Scientists (NAERS) Workshop


Dare and Hacker Emergency Management Australia

Development and implementation of a rapid response mapping system for disaster monitoring and mitigation


Dare CASS Foundation

Travel grant for attendance at conferences in Thailand

$3100

Dare Australian Academy of Science

High resolution airborne imaging for improved three dimensional urban scene analysis

Successful – funds allocated to cover costs of two week visit to Japan

Dare, Lewis and Bannehr

Land and Water Australia

Advanced airborne technologies for mapping and monitoring native Australian vegetation

$96,000 from LWA

$105,000 in-kind support from partners

Dare Flinders University Research Grants Scheme

Investigation of airborne stereo imaging for accurate three dimensional scene reconstruction


Dare Defence Unit, SA Government

Funding to attend the Australian International Airshow 2005

Requested $31874 - unsuccessful



contd…

Investigator(s) Funding source Project Comments

Pitman, Beringer,..., Hacker et al

ARC Network Grant

The ARC Earth System Science Network

Successful, $1.755M over 5 years

Taylor, Filar, Hacker, Zito et al

ARC Linkage Modelling vehicle emissions from tailpipe to airshed

Requested $439,000

decision pending

Hacker and Schneider Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund

The Establishment of a Centre for Aeronautical Research & Education within ARA

Successful, $456,000 over 3 years

Hacker and Coté AFOSR, USA Mountain waves and turbulence

Successful, $345,000 over 3 years

Hacker AOARD, USA/Japan

Modelling mountain waves Successful, $13,000

Lyons, Hacker, Junkermann

ARC Discovery Cumulus Clouds and Land Use Requested $222,000 -unsuccessful

Hacker at al NERC, UK The ACTIVE Field Experiment Successful $625,000

Hacker et al ARM, USA

Bureau of Meteorology

NASA

The TWP-ICE Field Experiment

Successful $550,000

Williams, Hacker ANSTO The IsoTRANS Experiment Successful $50,000 over 2 years

Hacker JAXA/Japan Tracking trials at Woomera Successful $37,000

Laubach, MacNaughton, Wilson, Hacker

Marsden Fund / NZ

The TEAL Field EXperiment Successful $57,200



6. Usage of Aircraft

G109B

VH-HNK

Dimona

VH-EOS

Egrett

VH-ARA

B200T(1)

VH-LAB

Total

All year 2001 11 - 99 301 491

All year 2002 178 - 138 269 705

All year 2003 121 - 21 180 352

All year 2004 11 151 5 - 167

(1: sold by ARA in 2004



7. Publications

7.1. Papers in Refereed Journals Isaac, P., J. McAneney, R. Leuning and J.M. Hacker, 2004 “Comparison of Aircraft and Ground Based Flux Measurements during OASIS95.” Boundary Layer Meteorology 110(1), 39-67.

Isaac, P., R. Leuning J.M. Hacker, H.A. Cleugh, P.A. Coppin, O.T. Denmead and M.R. Raupach, 2004. “Estimation of Regional Evapo-Transpiration by Combining Aircraft and Ground Based Measurements.” Boundary Layer Meteorology 110(1), 69-98.

Leuning, R., M.R. Raupach, P.A. Coppin, H.A. Cleugh, P. Isaac, O.T. Denmead, F.X. Dunin, S. Zegelin and J.M. Hacker, 2004. “Spatial and Temporal Variations in Fluxes of Energy, Water Vapour and Carbon Dioxide During OASIS 1994 and 1995.” Boundary Layer Meteorology 110(1) 3-38.

Whiteway J. A., G. P. Klaassen, N. G. Bradshaw, J. M. Hacker, 2004. “Transition to Turbulence in Shear above the Tropopause.” Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L02118, doi:10.1029/2003GL018509.

Whiteway, J.A., T. Choularton, J. Harries, C. Cook, M. Gallagher, P. Connolly, R. Busen, K. Bower, M. Flynn, P. May, J.M. Hacker, 2004. “Anatomy of Cirrus Clouds: Results from the Emerald Airborne Campaigns.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 31 L24102, doi:10.1029/2004GL021201.

Dare, P. M. and Fraser, C. S., 2004. "Digital surface modelling from commercial high resolution satellite imagery." Geomatics Research Australasia, 74: 51-72.

Dare, P. M., 2004. "Investigation of alternative geometric models in the matching of high resolution satellite image stereopairs." International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 35 (III/2).

Fraser, C. S., Dare, P. M., and Yamakawa, T., 2004. "Digital surfacing modelling from SPOT 5 HRS imagery using the affine projective model." International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 35 (I/2).

Fuse, T., Fraser, C. S., and Dare, P. M., 2004. "Comparative analysis of area-based image matching techniques for high resolution satellite imagery." International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 35 (III/8).

7.2. Conference Papers Takahashi, N., D. Li, J. M. Hacker, T. Kojima, Y. Abe, K. Yamada, 2004. CO2 flux over arid ecosystem in Western Australia. Proceedings of the 10th APCChe Congress, 17-21 Oct 2004, Kitakyushu, Japan.

Peter, J.R., S.T. Siems, J.B. Jensen, J.L. Gras, Y. Ishizaka and J. M. Hacker, 2004. Prediction and observation of aerosol processing by a cumulus: Evidence for particle removal and nucleation in clouds. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation, Bologna, Italy, 18-23 July 2004.

Cote, O.W., D. Wroblewski, J. M. Hacker, R.J.Dobosy, J.R. Roadcap 2004. Turbulence Parameter Space, Scaling Laws, and Structure Parameter Models for Stably Stratified



Inhomogeneous Turbulent Shear Flows from Aircraft Measurements. Proceedings of the 16th Symposium on Boundary Layers and Turbulence, 9-13 Aug 2004, Portland, Maine, USA

Cote, O.W., D. Wroblewski, J. M. Hacker, R.J.Dobosy, J.R. Roadcap 2004. The Complexity of Clear Air Turbulence and its Measurement and Modeling for Aviation Safety, Turbulent Transport, and Propagation Studies. Proceedings of the AMS 11th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology October 2004 Hyannis MA, USA

Savage, C., A. French, A. Western, J. Walker, M. Abuzar, J. M. Hacker, J. Kalma, 2004. Testing Remotely Sensed Evapotranspiration Estimates Using Airborne and Ground Measurements. Proceedings of the Spring AGU Conference Montreal, Canada.

Hacker, J.M., N. Takahashi and K. Yamada, 2004. Airborne Measurements of Fluxes of CO2 and Water Vapour over sparse vegetation in a semi-arid region of Western Australia. Proceedings of AMOS Conference, July 2004, Brisbane, Australia.

Hacker, J.M. and S. Carroll, 2004. Professional time-lapse cinematography as a tool for thunderstorm and lightning research. Proceedings of AMOS Conference, July 2004, Brisbane, Australia.

Hacker, J.M., 2004. Intercomparison of Aircraft-Derived Wind and Turbulence Profiles with Measurements from Radiosondes and a VHF Wind Profiler. Proceedings of AMOS Conference, July 2004, Brisbane, Australia.

Hacker, J.M. and C. Ewenz, 2004. Flow over Complex Terrain as Measured by Aircraft. Proceedings of AMOS Conference, July 2004, Brisbane, Australia.

Hacker, J.M., 2004. SERA – Small Environmental Research Aircraft: The future of affordable airborne environmental research. Proceedings of AMOS Conference, July 2004, Brisbane, Australia.

Walker, J., R. Grayson, J. Kalma, J. Hacker and M. Heron, 2004. PLMR+ - Polarimetric L-Band Multibeam Radiometer(+ Thermal Imager & Other Instruments). Poster presented at the 5th SMOS Science Workshop held by the European Space Agency (ESA) in Rome/Italy, November 2004.

7.3. Theses

Isaac, Peter: Estimating Surface-Atmosphere Exchange at Regional Scales. Ph.D. Thesis submitted October 2004, Flinders University, 322pp.

7.4. Other Publications

Kulessa, A.S., J.A. Hermann, J. M. Hacker, 2004. First measurements of RF signal depletion produced by elevated subsidence duct structure: preliminary findings and discussion. DSTO Research Report.

Hacker, J.M., S. Carroll and R. Gaissmaier, 2004. Airborne Time-lapse photography of convection and thunderstorms Darwin, Australia, November 2004. ARA Technical Report 06-2004, 16pp.



8. Financial Statement Airborne Research Australia Pty Ltd Statement of Financial Performance for year ended 31 December 2004 Full Year Full Year Note Yr 2004 Yr 2003 $ $ Operating Income Project Income 20,804 469,092 Other 124,887 116,908 Proceeds from Sale of Assets 1,915,522 11,364 2,061,213 597,364 Grant Income Commonwealth Government Grants 35,000 0 35,000 0 Total operating income 2,096,213 597,364 Operating Expenses Salaries 335,865 390,199 Non-Salaries Building and Equipment maintenance 3,107 3,706 Aircraft Maintenance 29,579 118,441 Professional fees and costs 32,294 20,794 Depreciation 6 310,479 401,066 Transport and Vehicle maintenance 9,374 77,157 Equipment costs 9,016 965 Carrying Amount of Assets Sold 1,415,288 9,068 Other 164,560 248,788 Total operating expenses 2,309,561 1,270,184 Operating Result - surplus/(deficit) (213,348) (672,820) The above Statement of Financial Performance should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.




Airborne Research Australia Pty Ltd Statement of Financial Position as at 31 December 2004 Full Year Full Year Note Yr 2004 Yr 2003 $ $ Current Assets Receivables 18,897 1,747 Total Current Assets 18,897 1,747 Non-Current Assets Land and Buildings 2(a) 375,000 400,000 less: Accumulated Depreciation 0 (10,332) Aircraft - at cost 2(b) 570,064 347,442 Aircraft - at valuation 2(c) 1,620,000 3,670,000 less: Accumulated Depreciation (717,527) (1,122,083) Plant and Equipment 2(d) 449,992 558,181 less: Accumulated Depreciation (413,217) (533,532) Total Non-Current Assets 1,884,312 3,309,676 Total Assets 1,903,210 3,311,423 Current Liabilities Creditors 970 9,738 Accrued Liabilities 3 15,900 22,361 Overdraft (with Parent Entity) 4 76,621 1,269,258 Total Current Liabilities 93,492 1,301,357 Non-Current Liabilities Accrued Liabilities 3 60,000 47,000 Total Non-Current Liabilities 60,000 47,000 Total Liabilities 153,492 1,348,357 NET ASSETS 1,749,718 1,963,066 Equity Share Capital - Flinders University 793,136 793,136 Revaluation Reserve - Aircraft 698,019 698,019 Operating Result - surplus/(deficit) (213,348) (672,820)

Adjustment to Retained Accumulated Funds 5 0 (1,245)

Accumulated Funds 471,912 1,145,977 TOTAL EQUITY 1,749,718 1,963,066



Airborne Research Australia Pty Ltd Notes to and forming part of the Financial Statements 1. Basis of Accounting The financial statements are a special purpose financial report for the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Tourism (DIST), and have been prepared on a full accruals basis. The financial statements have been prepared on the basis of historical costs and do not take into account changing money values or, except where stated, current valuations of non-current assets. 2. Non Current Assets - Purchases, Disposals, and Revaluations (a) Land and Buildings 2004 2003 $ $ Balance 1st January 400,000 400,000 - revaluation write down -25,000 0 Balance 31 December 375,000 400,000 Buildings and Site Improvements were written down by $25,000 to $375,000 in 2004, based on an independent market valuation conducted by Norm Satchell, B.App. Sc (Val) AAPI of the Rushton Group. (b) Aircraft - at cost 2004 2003 $ $ Balance 1st January 347,442 0 + purchases 222,622 347,442 Balance 31 December 570,064 347,442 An Eco Dimona MPX aircraft costing $222,622 was purchased in 2004. (c) Aircraft - at valuation 2004 2003 $ $ Balance 1st January 3,670,000 3,670,000

- Sale of Aircraft -

2,050,000 0 Balance 31 December 1,620,000 3,670,000 A King Air B200T aircraft originally costing $2,050,000, was sold during the year for $1,850,000. The income has been taken up in the income line 'Proceeds from Sale of Assets'. (d) Plant and Equipment 2004 2003 $ $ Balance 1st January 558,181 586,250 + additions 81,811 0 - retirements -190,000 -28,069 Balance 31 December 449,992 558,181



Plant and Equipment was reduced by a net $108,189 to $449,992 in 2004, due to asset retirements of $190,000, and the transfer of an ARA controlled asset of $81,811 from the University. The assets retired were Cessna and Grob Data Logger equipment which had exceeded their useful lives, and the asset addition was a System Salinity Mapping Radiometer. 3. Accrued Liabilities 2004 2003 $ $ Current Annual Leave 8,900 19,361 Long Service Leave 7,000 3,000 Total Current 15,900 22,361 Non-Current Annual Leave 0 0 Long Service Leave 60,000 47,000 Total Non-Current 60,000 47,000 4. Financing Facilities ARA Pty Ltd has an interim overdraft limit of $180k with its parent entity Flinders University as at 31 December 2004. The terms and conditions of the overdraft arrangements will be finalised in 2005.

5. Adjustment to Retained Accumulated Funds

Being adjustment to accrued Annual Leave liability as at 1 January 2003 resulting from the adoption of the revised accounting standard AASB 1028 "Employee Benefits". Under the revised standard, there is a requirement to measure employee benefits using remuneration rates that an entity expects to pay when an obligation is settled. The Annual Leave liability as at 31 December 2004 has been calculated in accordance with the revised accounting standard. 6. Depreciation rates used are: Percentage

Item Per Annum Buildings and Plant 2.50% Aircraft 10.00% Equipment:- Motor Vehicles 20.00% General Equipment 16.67% Computer Hardware 33.33% Computer Software 20.00%



Airborne Research Australia Pty Ltd Certification of Financial Reports On the basis of the University's internal controls and internal audit checks of the financial recording and reporting of Airborne Research Australia Pty Ltd, I am satisfied that the Statement of Financial Performance and the Statement of Financial Position of ARA Pty Ltd for the year 2004 presents fairly the financial results of operations in accodance with Australian Accounting Standards and other University statutes. These financial statements are currently subject to the Auditor General's certification of the University's consolidated financial statements, which include ARA Pty Ltd as a controlled entity of the University. Arpad Harkai, CPA Financial Accountant Flinders University 5 April 2005

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