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School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences |
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Research Interests -Mountain streams, large river basins, sediment transport, sediment tracing, OSL dating.
Biography
I started my research career with the Centre for Catchment and In-Stream Research, Griffith University studying the environmental flow requirements of freshwater fish in large southeast Queensland Rivers and the ecology of threatened fish in small coastal and sand island streams (1994-2000). I moved to Canberra to do my PhD with Assoc. Prof Jacky Croke on the channel form and sediment transport processes of mountain streams/rivers. Using an objective statistical technique, I evaluated and further developed a reach-scale channel morphology classification for mountain streams. A general procedure was then developed within a GIS framework for evaluating the spatial distribution of channel reach types that will allow the important linkages across the network structure and longitudinal trends to be assessed. I instrumented and monitored several channel morphology types during flood flows to improve our understanding on coarse sediment transport processes. I also advanced the application of single grain OSL dating to channel bed sediments. This was achieved through testing the luminescence properties of recently transported quartz sediments and then adjusting the preheat temperatures and using the single grain the SAR protocol. Since 2003 I have also been working with Assoc. Prof Jacky Croke on the Neales River in central Australia and the Fitzroy River Basin. My latest research is looking at the radionuclide Berrylium-7 as a coarse and fine sediment tracer to evalute sediment transport distances during single flood events.
Qualifications
- 2006 PhD University of New South Wales, Australia
Title: The geomorphology of southeast Australian mountain streams. - 1994 Postgraduate Diploma of Land Management and Ecological Processes
Griffith University, Australia. - 1992 Bachelor of Science (Australian Environmental Studies)
Griffith University, Australia.
Research
• Developing a Decision Support System (DSS) for the management of road runoff for water quality protection - ARC Linkage (2008-2010) (Dr Ingrid Takken, Assoc. Prof. Jacky Croke, Dr P. Lane, Dr G. Sheridan, Dr A. Webb & Dr Chris Thompson)
This project builds on the results from previous research projects funded by the ARC (ARC Spirt 2001-2004) and individual contracts with ACT forests (2005) and TAMS (2007-2008). Through this research we developed the conceptual framework that forms the basis for the proposed Decision Support System. The linkage project is supported by six partner organisations that are all involved in catchment management and water quality protection.
The overall aim of the project is to develop an innovative and user-friendly decision support system for the management of road-derived runoff and contaminants for the protection of water quality in Australian catchments. The proposed DSS will allow testing of various management scenarios with respect to road position and layout, thereby providing a planning and management tool, and a method to educate the practitioners involved in environmental management in Australia.
Specific aims of the project are to:
• Assess road-to-stream sedimentological connectivity in a range of different environments and under various levels of disturbance by wildfire and salvage logging.
• Determine the significance of upslope contributions to road-to-stream connectivity in a range of environments and under various levels of disturbance.
• Model the integrated effect of various linear landscape features (road, tracks, fire breaks, windrows) on hydrologic and sedimentologic connectivity within a catchment.
• Implement and test the DSS within the jurisdiction of a wide range of partner organisations through a series of targeted workshops and education programs.
• Guide the advancement of current water quality regulatory frameworks through exposure to the underlying science and outcomes of this project.
This project will support one Postdoctoral Research Fellow and two PhD students (at UNSW@ADFA and University Melbourne).
• Road rehabilitation project phase 2 (for the Department of Territory and Municipal Services, Environment and Recreation Division ACT) (Assoc. Prof. Jacky Croke, Dr Ingrid Takken, Dr Chris Thompson)
This project investigates the effectiveness of stream crossing management in reducing the delivery of road derived runoff and sediment to streams. The project entails monitoring of runoff and sediment rates discharged through existing road drains, as well as field experiments to validate our current road-to-stream connectivity model. The project also investigates the effectiveness of different road decommissioning techniques to reduce sediment delivery to streams. The project currently supports a postdoctoral researcher (Dr Chris Thompson ).
Previous work in the Lower Cotter Catchment identified road-stream crossings as the major source of diffuse overland flow connection, hence sediment pathway into the river. The objective of the first component of the project is to test the effectiveness of the management of stream crossings in reducing diffuse overland flow through the installation of additional drains. This will entail the instrumentation and monitoring of runoff and erosion from a number of road segments and the installation of additional drains with continued monitoring and water pumping experiments to test their effectiveness in reducing runoff and connectivity with stream. These data will then be used to further improve the drain spacing model.
Previous research in the catchment highlighted the need to reduce the current roading density. The risk assessment maps produced as part of the Phase I study demonstrate that some of the existing road network is located in topographically adverse locations. This is largely a legacy of historic road construction practices where it was often considered practical to locate roads closest to streams. These maps can now be used to guide the removal and/or relocation of certain road segments or roads to alternative locations where the risk of connectivity is considered low. The objective of the road decommissioning component of the project is to evaluate the effectiveness of four road decommissioning methods in terms of erosion control and stream dis-connectivity. Project outcomes will improve design of appropriate road recommissioning techniques in this environment.
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Road drainage field day 2, Lower Cotter Catchment. |
Collecting data during pumping experiment 2, Lower Cotter Catchment. |
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Setting discharge rate on rotameter for pumping experiment. |
Floodplain coring for radionuclide Cesium-137 in the Fitzroy River Basin. |
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Surveying with RTK-GPS in the Fitzroy River Basin. |
Mountain stream fieldwork on the Goodradigbee River. |
Publications
Book chapters
Thompson, C.J., Takken, I. & Croke, J. (in review) Hydrological and sedimentological connectivity of unsealed roads, in Sediment Dynamics in Changing Environments (Proceedings of a symposium held in Christchurch, New Zealand, December 2008), IAHS Publ. 325, 2008.
Croke, J.C., Purvis-Smith, D., Thompson, C.J. & Lymburner, L. (Accepted 2 July 2008) The effect of local scale valley constrictions on flood inundation and catchment-scale sediment delivery in the Fitzroy River Basin, Australia, in Sediment Dynamics in Changing Environments (Proceedings of a symposium held in Christchurch, New Zealand, December 2008), IAHS Publ. 325, 2008.
Journal papers
Thompson, C.J., Croke, J., Takken, I., 2008, A catchment-scale model of mountain stream channel morphologies in southeast Australia, Geomorphology, 95(3-4), 119-144.
Thompson C.J., Croke, J., 2008, Channel flow competence and sediment transport in upland streams in southeast Australia, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 33(3), 329-352.
Thompson, C.J., Rhodes, E. & Croke, J.C., 2007, The storage of bed material in mountain stream channels as assessed using Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating, Geomorphology, 83(3-4), 307-321.
Thompson, C.J. , Croke, J, Ogden , R. & Wallbrink, P.J., 2006, A morpho-statistical classification of mountain river reach types in southeastern Australia, Geomorphology, 81, 42-65.
Thompson, C.J., Arthington, A.H. & Kennard, M.J., 2000, Oxleyan pygmy perch Nannoperca oxleyana Whitley, 1940, Australian Society for Fish Biology Newsletter 30(1) 31-32.
Conference papers
Thompson, C.J., Croke, J., Ogden, R. & Wallbrink, P., 2004, Channel types in steep forestry catchments of SE Australia and potential responses to forest roads, Proceedings of the Forest Erosion Workshop March 2004, J. Croke, I. Takken & S. Mockler (eds), Cooperative Research Report for Catchment Hydrology, Report 04/10. Monash University, Victoria, ISBN 1920813152.
Reports
Thompson, C.J ., Wallbrink, P.J. & Crapper, P., 2002, Analysis of Water quality and water yield in response to harvesting on Doleritic soils in the Musselboro Creek catchment, Tasmania, CSIRO Technical Report 01/02.
Thompson, C.J., Wallbrink, P.J. & Crapper, P., 2002, Analysis of Water quality and water yield in response to harvesting in two catchments on highly erodible granite soils in north east Tasmania, CSIRO Technical Report 02/02.
Arthington, A.H., Thompson, C.J., Thompson, C.T. & Scott, B.W., 1997, Integrating environmental and irrigation water allocation under uncertainty, Vol. 2 CCISR's ecological methodology and research, LWRRDC UNE19 Report, August 1997.
Arthington, A.H., Thompson, C.J., Thompson, C.T. & Bluhdorn, D., 1997, Effects of flow regulation on fish recruitment in Barker-Barambah Creek, southeast Qld, Water Resources Management 1997 Regional Conference Proceedings, Australian Water & Wastewater Association, Qld.
Arthington, A.H., Thompson, C.J. & Esdaile, J., 1996, Distribution and Ecology, Recovery plan for the Oxleyan Pygmy Perch, Nannoperca oxleyana, A.H. Arthington (ed.), Centre for Catchment and In-Stream Research, February 1996, pp. 1-84.
Arthington, A.H. & Thompson, C.J., 1996, Effects of flow regulation on fish communities in Barker-Barambah Creek, South East Queensland. Queensland Hydrology Symposium, Brisbane, Nov 1996.
Thompson, C.J. & Arthington, A.H., 1995, Monitoring fish communities on the Darling Downs in relation to the 1995 Mouse Plague Control Program, Mouse Plague Report Strychnine Aerial Baiting Dalby-Goondiwindi, V. Eldershaw (ed.), 1995 DNR, Qld. pp. 196-211.