ESPERANCE is set to become part of a world-class initiative to gather information about the earth’s surface next month.
Currently under construction on Wireless Hill is one of the 26 continuously operating reference stations (CORS) that will be built across Western Australia over the next four years, with a total of 90 stations being constructed across Australia.
Minister for Land Information, Michelle Roberts, said the State Government, through Landgate, will contribute more than $2 million to the CORS project over five years, with the Federal Government contributing $1million.
The stations are being built by Landgate under the Federal government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.
The CORS are used in conjunction with global positioning system (GPS) technology to monitor seismic and tectonic motion.
“Put simply, the concrete pillars stationed throughout WA are fitted with satellite receivers which can indicate land movement to the nearest millimetre,” Mrs Roberts said.
“Amazingly, every year Australia moves about seven centimetres in a North-East direction.
“Information can also be used by Landgate and the wider community for surveying, mapping, navigation and for engineering and agricultural machine guidance.”
The network will also provide infrastructure that supports research into sea level monitoring related to climate change, atmospheric modelling for improved weather forecasting, and improved GPS services and accuracy.
Geodetic Data Manager for Landgate, Linda Morgan, said the Esperance site is halfway through the construction phase, and will be completed in mid-May.
“The pillars are built in two stages – the first stage is complete, with the pillar secured by reinforcing rods drilled into the rock so that the pillar provides a very stable base.
“The pillars also need to be constructed so that they are precisely vertical to ensure we record accurate measurements. In the second stage we install a stainless steel pillar plate that holds the antenna in place.
“The Esperance site is very good because it has surface rock.
“As we are trying to detect and measure millimetre movements in the earth’s surface we need to build the sites on bedrock where possible.”
Ms Morgan said it is essential that the proposed network configuration include a site at the key port of Esperance, where an important national tide gauge is located.
“The CORS Project forms part of a $45 million project that will see the largest injection of funds into Australian geodesy ever and will represent the single most important achievement in the Southern Hemisphere in terms of the earth’s surface information.
Should Australia be successful in its current bid for the revolutionary telescope project, Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the CORS data could also be used, according to Mrs Roberts.
“CORS data would be used to monitor storm activity in the upper atmosphere,” she said.
Stations are also currently under construction in Kalgoorlie and Burakin, and a site has been selected in Broome – where another tide gauge is located.
Sites have also been selected at Albany and Kellerberrin and these will be constructed over the next few months.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter