Geoscience Australia has today released two new bodies of work adding to its range of cartographic information used by decision makers, researchers, industry and the public.
The first is a collection of 28 digital maps that will give oceanographers, scientific researchers, resource exploration companies, tourism operators and the public a greater understanding of Australia’s maritime jurisdiction.
Developed in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the new maps detail the jurisdictional zones around the Australian mainland and those of Australia’s remote offshore territories, including the Australian Antarctic Territory, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island.
They cover relevant State and Territory coastal waters, Territorial Seas, the economic exclusions zone, Australian fishing zones and the extended continental shelf, which was confirmed in April 2008 by the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
The second body of work is an online gallery featuring overlaid or ‘swipe comparison’ satellite images, which depict urban growth and landscape changes over the past 30 years.
The gallery provides a snap-shot in time of 77 areas where the majority of Australians live and shows how Australian cities and towns are constantly evolving to suit the living requirements of an ever growing population and dynamism of the Australian landscape.
“Ongoing satellite image capture plays an important role in the assessment of land cover issues and assisting emergency management in times of natural disaster, as well as in other applications such as environmental monitoring and management,” Minister Ferguson said.
The new maps of Australia’s maritime jurisdiction can be downloaded from www.ga.gov.au.
The Australian Urban Expansion Satellite Image Gallery can be viewed at: www.ga.gov.au/earth-observation/basics/gallery/australian-urban-expansion.
