melbourne school of engineering · basin management research overview the melbourne school of...

Melbourne School of Engineering 1

Melbourne School of Engineering

WatEr, EnvironMEnt and agriculturE PrograM

2 The University of Melbourne

Water security consistently rates as one of the biggest risks and strategic challenges confronting humanity. There is a growing imbalance between supply and demand caused by rapid population growth and industrialisation, over-extraction of water, chronic pollution and climate change. Deteriorating water security poses grave threats both to the global economy and regional security.

In recent times, Australia has kept pace with growing water demands through strategic investments in capability and institutions. Strong research institutions, including the University of Melbourne, have underpinned Australia’s advances in water technology and policy including transformations in salinity management, irrigation supply, flood design, basin planning and river restoration.

The Water, Environment and Agriculture Program continues this work with industry to drive innovation in water systems, through applied research and training. We work with farmers, river and catchment managers, and water utilities to develop practical solutions for their water challenges. A sustained, place-based and participatory program of innovation, linking researchers with farmers and natural resources managers is at the core of our proposition. Our interdisciplinary team of researchers is tackling complex problems in four research themes: Agricultural technology, river basins, environmental water and urban water infrastructure.

We look forward to learning from you about your industry needs and working together to deliver innovative solutions that result in transformative and practical outcomes for communities, industry and the environment.

Water, environment and agriculture Program

The earth’s natural environment and its food supply, cities and economies are all fundamentally dependent on water. Water innovation is vital to a sustainable future.

Professor michael Stewardson Program leaderWatEr, EnvironMEnt and agriculturE PrograM

Our research program includes the following themes:

Agriculture technology

River basins

Environmental water

Urban water infrastructure


Professor rob vertessy FtSe enterprise Professor Water resources

Professor Robert Vertessy FTSE is an Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne and an Honorary Professor in the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University. In 2016, he retired from being Director of Meteorology and CEO of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Prior to his 10-year tenure at the Bureau, Professor Vertessy led a distinguished 20-year research career in the hydrological sciences, specialising in catchment hydrology experimentation and modelling. Professor Vertessy is bringing his industry, strategy and start-up experience to the Water, Environment and Agriculture Program to make sure our innovative research is meeting industry and global standards.

the university of Melbourne is uniquely placed to provide holistic approaches to the three pillars of water productivity: water planning, infrastructure and operations (technology), and governance. We have a strong track record of collaborations in research and development, including new technologies to support the improved operation of water infrastructure, the gathering of water intelligence and subsequent decision-making.

The University of Melbourne and Rubicon’s successful 15-year partnership has seen major developments in irrigation water supply technology.


capabilities » Very-high-resolution mapping of plant vigour, water stress and diseases

» Satellite remote sensing of soil moisture and plant water use

» Crop and plant-specific multispectral and thermal infrared sensor development

» Model and observation integration for optimal real-time prediction of water and vegetation

» Seasonal forecasting of soil water and crop yield

» Smart irrigation system development guided by meteorological and soil water information from satellites

» Modelling, control and automation of water resources systems

» Sensor information processing for data-based decision making

impact » International leadership in satellite remote sensing of soil water and vegetation

» Leading collaborative operation of UAV-borne sensing via MUASIP for research and industry applications

» Pioneering ground soil water sensor networks used by international microwave remote sensing community

» Integration of ground monitoring networks and satellite remote sensing for optimal irrigation scheduling

» Development of UAV-borne thermal sensing to monitor plant water stress in horticultural fields

» Development of hyperspectral remote sensing algorithms to map agricultural plant diseases

» Development of remote sensing algorithm to detect illegal waste disposal, funded by Environment Protection Authority Victoria

» Research underpins Rubicon Water’s Total Channel Control package implemented in irrigation districts around Australia, USA and China. It forms an important part of the upgrade of the irrigation infrastructure in Victoria.

research overview

The University of Melbourne has a unique research skillset that combines high-resolution remote sensing of plant and water status, with control systems for water in agriculture and an understanding of the interplay between water, nutrients and soils.

This provides a strong foundation for incorporating engineering technologies with the agronomic aspects of managing plant production in agriculture. As part of this, the University drives innovation in drone-based sensing via the Melbourne Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Platform (MUASIP).

Most existing ‘precision agriculture’ programs, especially those led by engineering disciplines, focus on isolated components such as hardware, data analysis and decision support, or on-farm management. Our strength comes from the highly cross-disciplinary team from across the university, and research and development targets and visions set in close consultation with agricultural end-user groups.

BooSting agricultural Production and reducing environmental FootPrint

theme leader associate Professor dongryeol ryu

agriculturE tEcHnologY

researchersProfessor Andrew Western: Soil water process, catchment hydrology

Dr Lola Suarez: Plant physiology, remote sensing, spectroscopy

Dr Ranjith R. Unnithan: Electronic sensors, CMOS image sensors

Dr Eileen Perry: Agricultural remote sensing (MSE, AgVictoria)

Dr Sigfredo Fuentes: Wine science, agricultural sensing (FVAS)

Dr Dorin Gupta: Crop stress and diseases, sustainable crop production (FVAS)

Dr Alexis Pang: Proximal sensing, in-farm agtech for efficiency (FVAS)

Professor Erik Weyer: Modelling and control of water resource systems, system identification and signal processing

Professor Michael Cantoni: Automation of water distribution networks, control and signal processing

remote sensing of water and vegetation, microwave remote sensing of soil moisture, hydrologic data assimilation, land surface processes modelling


australian research institutionsCSIRO

Monash University

University of Sydney

University of Tasmania

RMIT University

international research institutionsIndian Institute of Technology, Madras, India

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, China

National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Seoul National University, Korea

Sungkyunkwan University, Korea

Tsinghua University, China

Technical University of Vienna, Austria

Harvard University, USA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

University of Washington, USA

University of Houston, USA

australian government and industryAgriculture Victoria (Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources)

Australian Processing Tomato Research Council

North East Catchment Management Authority (NECMA), Victoria

Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Victoria

Geoscience Australia

Bureau of Meteorology

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria

Rubicon Water

Environment Protection Authority Victoria

XM2 Aerial Pty Ltd

Hort-Eye Pty Ltd

international government and industryUnited States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL), USA

Rural Research Institute, Korea

Rural Community Corporation, Korea

“I’ve certainly grown a better product, a cleaner product, a better product and we have been able to achieve that by fast watering and control watering. I’ve been irrigating close to 40 years, and to actually learn so much in one year made my other 39 years look pretty ordinary.”

russell PellFarmer and participant in irrigation supply modernisation

Partnerships and collaborations

A medium-size drone equipped with the hyperspectral sensing system taken by another toy drone


capabilities » Catchment hydrology and hydrologic processes

» Groundwater and surface-groundwater interaction

» Hydroclimatology and change

» Water availability and water demand forecasting

» Flood and drought risk assessment, monitoring and forecasting

» Catchment water quality

» Water resources systems analysis

» Land-atmosphere interaction

» The Vasey Laboratory with a wide range of field equipment

» Modelling, control and automation of water resources systems

» Sensor information processing for data-based decision making

impact » Characterisation of surface water and groundwater responses to climate during the Millennium Drought for managing climate risk, funded by the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

» Development of HydroSight, a powerful new approach to understanding long-term groundwater dynamics, adopted

by the Bureau of Meteorology and numerous state agencies

» Research and development that underpins short-term and seasonal ensemble water forecasting services in the Bureau of Meteorology

» International leadership in research and practice of ensemble hydrological forecasting through the HEPEX research community

» Development of a joint course with China’s leading university, Tsinghua University, on international river basin management

research overview

The Melbourne School of Engineering has research and consulting expertise in hydroclimatology, catchment hydrology, groundwater, irrigation, catchment water quality and analysis of water resource systems including agricultural and environmental water uses.

We conduct world-leading research on catchment responses to climate and water use change, incorporating hydrological forecasting with lead times from hours to seasons, along with statistical and computational hydrology and uncertainty and risk analyses.

Our research provides valuable information and tools for the government, water management agencies and industries. Working with water policy and governance specialists, we support improved policy development, strategic planning, and tactical and operational decision-making, especially for dealing with water scarcity and the extreme events of drought and flooding.

rivEr BaSinS managing Water in a changing and variaBle climate

theme leader: Professor QJ Wang

researchersProfessor Andrew Western: Catchment hydrology and agricultural water useProfessor Rob Vertessy: Water security, water information, water policy reformAssociate Professor Rory Nathan: Flood and environmental hydrologyAssociate Professor Dongryeol Ryu: Remote sensing and land surface processesDr Meenakshi Arora: Urban hydrologyDr Murray Peel: Hydroclimate and changeDr Wenyan Wu: Hydroclimate and water resource optimisationDr Justin Costello: Catchment hydrology and groundwater-surface interactionsDr Avril Horne: Water policy and management Dr Tim Peterson: Geostatistics, hydrogeology, hydrological resilience

Dr Margarita Saft: Catchment hydrology and hydrologic changeDr Tony Zhao: Hydrological forecastingDr Danlu Guo: Hydroclimate, water quality and climate changeDr Keirnan Fowler: Catchment hydrology and modelling under changeProfessor Tom McMahon: Engineering and environmental hydrologyProfessor John Langford: River basin management and reliability of city supplyProfessor Hector Malano: Irrigation and water resourcesProfessor Erik Weyer: Modelling and control of water resource systems, system identification and signal processing Professor Michael Cantoni: Automation of water distribution networks, control and signal processing

Hydroclimate forecasting, stochastic hydrology, irrigation



University of New South Wales

University of Tasmania

James Cook University

international research institutionsChinese Academy of Sciences, China

Tsinghua University, China

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA

University of Saskatchewan, Canada

australian government and industryBureau of Meteorology


Rubicon Water

Melbourne Water

Murray-Darling Basin Authority

Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland

Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, South Australia

Environment Protection Authority, Victoria

City West Water

Yarra Valley Water

South East Water

Goulburn-Murray Water

Lower Murray Water

Southern Rural Water

Australian Water Partnership

“Understanding future water demand scenarios is critical to our business planning here in Lower Murray Water. We engaged the engineering professors in the Water, Environment and Agriculture Program at Melbourne School of Engineering to develop that understanding. We were most impressed by their expert investigation and modelling and their delivery of the project outputs in a highly professional manner.”

andrew Kremor, executive managerloWEr MurraY WatEr


Data collected and image created by Dr Tim Peterson


capabilities » Monitoring, evaluating and developing adaptive management strategies to optimise environmental water outcomes

» Developing ecohydraulics – the physical effects of water on ecological responses

» Modelling ecological responses to changing flow regimes

» Optimising decision-making in environmental water management

» Modelling physical habitats in flowing water environments

» Evaluating fluid dynamics of near-shore marine environments

» Using literature to improve evidence-based environmental management

» Developing hyporheic processes in flowing water environments

» Facilitating research through the Sexton Ecohydraulics Laboratory facilities

impact » Leadership of basin-scale hydrology and Goulburn River programs in the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office Long-Term Intervention Monitoring Project (2014-2019)

» Development of the seasonal environmental water decision system (SEWDS) for active management of environmental water entitlements

research leader dr angus Webbresearch overview

Australia leads the world in environmental water management; other nations are looking to Australian providers for insights into their own emerging flow programs.

The University of Melbourne is at the forefront of this work with research and industry projects across the spectrum of environmental water management issues.

The University has experience in the policy, practice and science of environmental water, as we work with the leading environmental water management agencies to provide tools for planning water delivery and to evaluate environmental outcomes. Our focus is on continual improvement of environmental water decisions by strengthening the quality of available information to support evidence-based decisions.

EnvironMEntal WatEr oPtimiSing environmental outcomeS

theme leader dr angus Webb

researchersProfessor Michael Stewardson: Ecohydraulics, environmental hydrology and water resources

Dr Marco Ghisalberti: Fluid dynamics, ecohydraulics

Professor Andrew Western: Hydrology

Dr Avril Horne: Water policy, optimisation, water resource modelling

Dr Simranjit Kaur: Optimization

Dr Danlu Guo: Statistical modelling

Associate Professor Ian Rutherfurd: Fluvial geomorphology, water management (Geography)

Dr James Grove: Fluvial geomorphology, remote sensing (Geography)

Professor Barbara Downes: Stream ecology (Geography)

Associate Professor Vincent Pettigrove: Stream ecology, ecotoxicology (CAPIM)

Dr Kallie Townsend: Stream ecology, ecotoxicology (CAPIM)

Dr John Morrongiello: Fish ecology (Biosciences)

* CAPIM: Centre for Aquatic Pollution Identification and Management

Flow-ecology modelling, monitoring and evaluation, evidence based practice, network ecology



University of Canberra

University of Western Australia

Monash University

Charles Sturt University

Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre

Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research

international research institutionsCenter for Ecology and Hydrology, UK

Institut national de recherché en sciences et technologies pour l’environnement et l’agriculture (IRSTEA), France

Environment Protection Agency, USA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, USA

United States Geological Survey, USA

The Nature Conservancy, worldwide

australian government and industryCommonwealth Environmental Water Office

Victorian Environmental Water Holder


Melbourne Water

Murray-Darling Basin Authority

Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority

Goulburn-Murray Water

Lower Murray Water

Sydney Water


“Continuously improving the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental water delivery is a requirement of the Murray Darling Basin Plan. The Lower Goulburn River Long-Term Intervention Monitoring Project, led by the Water, Environment and Agriculture Program at the University of Melbourne, is providing not only the data and understanding, but also the effective science-management partnerships, necessary to adaptively improve water delivery in the Goulburn River year on year. We have been impressed with their level of professionalism, scientific expertise and commitment to improving outcomes from environmental water in the region.”

Paul marsh, director, aquatic Ecosystems & Science, coMMonWEaltH EnvironMEntal WatEr oFFicE

An estuary in WA with image created by the Geoscience Australia.


capabilities » Solid-liquid separation of particulate suspensions

» Chemical removal from contaminated water supplies

» Water and wastewater sludge handling

» Modelling centralised-decentralised systems and their interactions

» Demand forecasting, water-energy-greenhouse gas nexus

» Contaminant, transport and remediation

» Stream water quality modelling

» Microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis

» Forward osmosis, membrane distillation, electrodialysis, electrophoresis

» Impact of bacterial growth on water infrastructure.

impact » Co-leadership of CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country Flagship program to understand the impact of fouling upon water treatment processes and provide direction to plant operators to ensure maximum productivity

» Patenting a novel chlorine-resistant membrane, allowing desalination processes to operate without biological contamination

» Development of an electrodialysis process for the dairy industry to clean up acid whey streams

» Development of an advanced water treatment plant capable of producing

drinking quality water at the Australian Antarctic Division’s Davis Station

» Demonstrating that contaminated sites in Antarctica can be effectively and economically remediated in situ using a low cost bioremediation technology with low risk of adverse environmental impacts

» Optimisation of Melbourne Water’s sludge handling to dramatically reduce the costs of drying pans for sludge evaporation

» Optimised performance of hybrid centralised-decentralised water systems and understanding the water-energy nexus for Yarra Valley Water

» Design and commissioning of a low-cost drinking water treatment plant in the rural community of Rajasthan, India

research overview

Our unique combination of skills in separations science and engineering, integrated urban water infrastructure modelling and control, and water quality modelling, gives us comprehensive, world-leading capabilities in urban water and infrastructure management. In processing, we are able to combine fundamental knowledge of particles, membranes and biological digestion with unique rheological and solid-liquid separation characterisation and modelling tools to influence water purification and wastewater treatment systems.

We have strong capability in modelling and optimising centralised-decentralised water systems and their impact on energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) production, existing infrastructure and cost for various climate change and population scenarios. A comprehensive team of researchers is focused on contaminant transport and the fate of contaminants in rivers and subsurface water systems, as well as remediation of contaminated land and groundwater.

Our group also has broad expertise in the use of polymeric membranes for water treatment applications. We have small-scale testing platforms for all relevant membrane processes used in water and wastewater treatment. Our focus is on the experimental characterisation of membrane processes and the development of mathematical models to describe them.

urBan WatEr inFraStructurE eFFective, eFFicient inFraStructure

theme leader dr anthony Stickland

theme leader dr meenakshi arora

researchersProfessor Peter Scales: Solid-liquid separation of particulate suspensions, water and wastewater processing, direct potable recycle

Professor Sandra Kentish: Carbon capture and storage, membrane and alternative salt removal technology

Dr Kathryn Mumford: Separation processes and contaminated soil remediation

Professor Tim Fletcher: Surface hydrology, storm water management (Ecosystem and Forest Sciences)

Professor Vincent Pettigrove: Aquatic ecology and pollution management (BioSciences)

Professor Spas Kolev: membrane development, environmental monitoring and phytoremediation (Chemistry)

Professor Hector Malano: Systems Modelling, Sustainable Water Resources Management

Solid-liquid separation, suspension rheology

urban water cycle modelling, contaminant fate and transport


australian research institutionsCSIRO Water Research AustraliaUniversity of Western AustraliaMonash UniversityCharles Sturt UniversityUniversity of QueenslandRMIT UniversityVictoria UniversityMurray-Darling Freshwater Research CentreArthur Rylah InstituteAustralia-China Joint Research Centre on River Basin ManagementAustralia-China Joint Research Centre on Healthy Soils for Sustainable Food Production & Environmental Quality

international research institutionsInternational Water AssociationAuckland University, New ZealandChinese Academy of Sciences, ChinaIndian Institutes of Technology, IndiaMeiji University, JapanThe Australia-Indonesia Centre, IndonesiaTsinghua University, China Cambridge University, UKCranfield University, UKKarlsruhe Institute of Technology, GermanyTU Bergakademie Freiberg, GermanyInstitut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Canada

University of California, Irvine, USAUniversity of Texas at Austin, USA

australian government and industryCommonwealth Environmental Water OfficeVictorian Environmental Water HolderDepartment of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, VictoriaAustralian Antarctic DivisionMelbourne WaterYarra Valley WaterCity West WaterSouth-East WaterBarwon WaterWestern WaterGoulburn-Murray WaterLower Murray WaterSA Water Sydney WaterSeqwaterWater CorporationWater SecureAECOM EngineeringRio TintoVisyMBD Energy

international industryUnited Utilities, UKYorkshire Water, UKAqseptence Group, Italy


University of Melbourne staff working in the field in Australian base in Antarctica to improve drinking water quality and remediate contaminations sites.


the univerSity oF melBourne

The University of Melbourne is one of the largest and most productive research organisations in Australia. With research expenditure second only to CSIRO, the University of Melbourne carries out fundamental and applied research. It has the largest cohort of research students in Australia. Based in Parkville for more than 150 years, the university has attracted a concentration of research excellence.

BeSt reSearch univerSity in auStralia With:

» Most highly cited researchers (Hicis) – 17

» Most Phds completed – 739 in 2016

» largest research expenditure

» 4500 research publications a year

» Most competitive funding awarded – combined australian research council (arc) and national Health and Medical research council (nHMrc)

higheSt ranKing univerSity in auStralia

ranked number one in australia in prestigious competitive rankings:

» times Higher Education World university (33rd globally)

» academic rankings of World universities from Shanghai Jiao tong university (40th globally)

» QS World university rankings (42nd globally).

The University of Melbourne is building a new, seven-hectare campus at Fishermans Bend as part of its almost $1 billion commitment to create a world-class engineering school for the 21st century.

The new campus – just five kilometres from the city and within the old General Motors Holden site – is set to open in the early 2020s and will be the centrepiece of Australia’s leading precinct for advanced manufacturing, design, engineering and technology excellence.

The new campus will allow the University to build large-scale research platform facilities that the Parkville campus cannot accommodate. This will include wind and water tunnels, smart grid technologies, autonomous vehicle testing and pre-fabricated housing manufacturing.

Initially, the new campus will enable 1,000 engineering and IT students and academics to collaborate with world-leading local and international companies across industrial sectors as diverse as transport, energy, food, mining, infrastructure and water.

neW FiSherman’S Bend engineering camPuS


The Melbourne School of Engineering (MSE) is undertaking a bold 10-year strategy to transform the future of engineering and IT at the University of Melbourne: ‘MSE 2025’.

The university is making major investments in MSE for new staff, infrastructure and facilities, including a second campus at Fisherman’s Bend, with new space for our facilities. Our staff and students will grow in number and diversity.

Our research is reshaping around new innovation platforms that include water, agricultural technology and the environment. Water plays a fundamental role in human health, food security, energy security, national security and economic growth. Our research is focused on highly innovative solutions, implemented with maximum impact, to create a sustainable water future for Australia, and worldwide.

Engagement is the key to our success. We are connecting our learning and research with industry, government and communities to increase the impact and relevance of engineering and IT.

The Water, Environment and Agriculture Program teams are multi-disciplinary, drawing on theory and expertise from non-engineering fields. This improves the functionality and rigour of our research and solutions.

Our research provides scientific excellence in world-class facilities and is supported by collaborations with international partners engaged in leading research. We welcome your interest and look forward to collaborations in the future.

redmond Barry distinguished Professor iven mareels FtSE FiEEE FiEaustdean

meSSage From the dean oF tHE MElBournE ScHool oF EnginEEring


auStralian SyStemS reSearch at itS BeSt: rESEarcH ExcEllEncE For rEal uSES

At the University of Melbourne, we use our research excellence to find solutions to your challenges. We listen to our research partners and understand your issues. We find the best minds and infrastructure to form a team that can develop and implement solutions. This team may be multidisciplinary and may include researchers from other universities with important skills. It’s about finding the right team to answer your immediate and long-term needs.

test and validate

Work with end-user Collaborate with multidisciplinary researchers Test and validate using our infrastructure

understand the technological challenge investigate possible solutions


hoW to engage uS

consulting and technology strategy » Research, systems engineering and technology development

» Survey and assess emerging technologies

» Sharing of research facilities

» Technology evaluation

» Societal, legal and technology implications of government policy

Professional training and student projects and placements

» Short courses delivered in partnership with industry

» Courses customised to your business needs

» International audiences needs are catered for

» Graduate student interns – working on your problems

» PhD student interns in your company

» Postdoctoral researcher placement in your organisation for 1-3 years

research projects » Contracted but collaborative – we work side-by-side with your engineers and scientists to develop solutions to your challenges

» We can provide either individuals but ideally teams of researchers to solve your multidisciplinary technology challenges


research for industry and governmentthe university of Melbourne aims to partner with industry and government to solve today’s challenges and develop new technologies for tomorrow.

For information on how to engage our researchers, form teams with us and other universities, and access high-quality students, please contact:Program leaderProfessor michael StewardsonP +61 3 8344 7750E [email protected]

visit our website:industry.eng.unimelb.edu.au/water

For information on courses for water industry professionals, please contact:Program coordinator claudine evansP+61 3 9035 6419E [email protected]

melbourne school of engineering · basin management research overview the melbourne school of...

Documents