{ "culture": "en-US", "name": "", "guid": "", "catalogPath": "", "snippet": "Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) average groundwater conductance data for Cooper Creek floodplain and surrounds was calculated for the 15 m depth interval beneath the watertable along the AEM survey lines to infer and visualise the distribution of groundwater salinity.", "description": "

Airborne electromagnetics (AEM) is a geophysical technique used for estimating the bulk conductivity profile of the upper 300 m (approximately) of the subsurface. The AEM data acquired as part of the Exploring for the Future Program\u2019s AusAEM Eastern Corridor survey (Ley-Cooper 2021) covers much of the central Kati Thanda \u2013 Lake Eyre Basin. Data for these regional surveys were acquired using the TEMPEST AEM system at a nominal 20 km line spacing.<\/SPAN><\/P>

The prevalence and relative consistency of large sand-rich sediment zones across the Cooper Creek Palaeovalley (Evans et al. 2024) means that AEM data are potentially useful for inferring the distribution of groundwater salinity beneath the floodplain and surrounds. To visualise salinity from AEM in a map, the thickness weighted average bulk conductivity was calculated for the 15 m depth interval beneath the watertable along the AEM survey lines. <\/SPAN><\/P>

Symington et al. (2024) details the rationale and methods to produce the AEM bulk conductivity points. Symington et al. (2024) also include the code embedded in a Jupyter notebook that was written to calculate bulk conductance points from AEM line data and undertake an uncertainty analysis to assess the likelihood of the conductance response to be related to groundwater. <\/SPAN><\/P>

In conjunction with sparse groundwater bore salinity and water level data from existing bores, Symington et al. (2024) used the conductance data to provide insights to address the following questions:<\/SPAN><\/P>

-What is the regional scale distribution of groundwater salinity within the shallow alluvial aquifer?<\/SPAN><\/P>

-Where does the shallow aquifer host fresh water?<\/SPAN><\/P>

-What areas are most likely to receive recharge from the flanks of the floodplain?<\/SPAN><\/P>

-Is there evidence for the groundwater discharging into the river?<\/SPAN><\/P>

Data from Symington et al. (2024) were used to infer salinity across the Cooper Creek floodplain. The groundwater bore and uncertainty analysis suggests good correlation exists between groundwater bore data and AEM conductance points, where groundwater occurs at shallow depths, in areas including, Cooper Creek Floodplain. Data analysis, interpretation and results are in Symington et al. (2024) and are further discussed in Evans et al. (2024), Symington et al. (2023) and Symington et al. (2022).<\/SPAN><\/P><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/DIV>", "summary": "Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) average groundwater conductance data for Cooper Creek floodplain and surrounds was calculated for the 15 m depth interval beneath the watertable along the AEM survey lines to infer and visualise the distribution of groundwater salinity.", "title": "Cooper Creek region AEM", "tags": [ "EFTF \u2013 Exploring for the Future", "National Groundwater Systems", "groundwater", "airborne electromagnetics", "AusAEM" ], "type": "", "typeKeywords": [], "thumbnail": "", "url": "", "minScale": 50000, "maxScale": 5000, "spatialReference": "", "accessInformation": "© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2026. This product is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode", "licenseInfo": "

© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2026. This product is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode<\/SPAN><\/P><\/DIV>" }