Equipment and Facilities

We have a range of facilities and equipment available

The School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management is well resourced with a wide range of modern, well maintained field, lab and safety equipment.  Much of this equipment can be borrowed or used free of charge by our researchers, students and academics to support research and teaching efforts.  Training can be arranged for highly complex items.

• Equipment Borrowing Guide- Surveying and other equipment borrowing guide [PDF]

Field Studies

• Access to Australia’s most extensive marine science teaching and research  facilities, with field stations in the Great Barrier Reef (Heron Island), Low Isles and Moreton Bay (North Stradbroke Island).
• Access to boats and vehicles for field studies
• Field and Surveying Equipment including Total Stations, rafts, RTK-DGPS, Automatic Samplers and Loggers
• Dedicated field and safety staff
• Climate Station and Portable Weather Stations
• A comprehensive suite of scientific instrumentation enabling the collection of a wide range of in situ hydrological, atmospheric and climatological data including ground penetrating radar; ceilometers (for measuring cloud fields and atmospheric boundary layer structure); eddy covariance systems; acoustic sounders; micro-rain radar; automatic weather stations; kite and blimp sounding systems; radiosonde systems and a extensive range of ancillary meteorological sensors.
• Tape Measures, Quadrats and Survey equipment, GPS units (Garmin ETrex) including Differential correcting (DGPS) units, GPS loggers for tracking, Animal traps, Field Water Quality Meters, Ruggedised Laptops, Camping Equipment, Portable Fridges/Freezers, Video and Stills cameras including Zoom lenses, and a Customised 4WD vehicle  

Laboratory Work  

• Physical Geography Laboratories capable of Electron Microscopy and Isotope Analysis
• Image processing facility
• Marine Laboratory
• Studio space
• Balances, Ovens, Freezers and Fridges, Centrifuges, Ultrapure water, Particle Size Analysis, class sets of Transmission and  Stereo (Dissection) Microscopes plus higher end research quality units.

Software

• 24 hour access computer labs with specialised applications such as
• General statistical, demographic and climatological analysis software
• Extensive statistical data sets including census information and surveys covering Australia and other world regions.
• Atmospheric modelling software
• Leica Geosystems including ERDAS Imagine and Leica Photogrammetry Suite; ENVI/IDL; Definies Developer, eCognition and all ESRI ArcGIS products
• Google sketchup, QSR nVivo, SPSS - stats package and a wide range of other statistical packages

Safety Items

• Class sets of reflective vests and safety hats through to First Aid Kits, EPIRB / PLB's (Personal Locator Beacons) and Extended Range Mobiles and Satelite Phones.    

This is not a comprehensive list and the school is constantly investing in new or improved equipment to ensure that safety standards are kept high and research can remain at the forefront.  If there is a particular piece of equipment you have in mind then please discuss it with us. 

Many items are also owned by specific researchers or project teams, enabling  these teams to operate at the cutting edge of global research.  If you are interested in a particular piece of equipment, it may be worthwhile discussing its application and operation with the relevent people and seeing if there is an opportunity for borrowing, sharing or collaborating, or at least learning from their experience. 

Last updated: Aug 24, 2012

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