Curtin University of Technology has welcomed a new $8 million space technology partnership aimed at monitoring climate change. The program, which has received Federal Government funding through the Australian Space Research Program (ASRP), involves ARC Federation Fellow, Professor Peter Teunissen, who heads Curtin’s WA Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Research Laboratory.
Within this program, Professor Teunissen’s team will be working on developing new methods and algorithms for the next generation GNSSs.
“The new space technology program in which we will be involved is a vital step towards improving our understanding of climate change in Australia and will play a critical role in the way we cope with changes to our environment,” he said.
The three-year project will develop new technologies including:
- Technology for tracking the location of satellites and space junk in relation to each other, which can be a threat to expensive equipment in the Earth’s orbit;
- Precise GNSS satellite positioning and navigation systems; and
- Atmospheric modelling and climate monitoring.
Other partners involved in the project include RMIT University, the University of New South Wales, the Bureau of Meteorology, Electro Optic Systems Space System, GPSat Systems Australia Pty Ltd, National Space Organisation Taiwan and NOAA’s World Data Centre for Metrology.
Curtin is an Australian leader in spatial information, through the WA School of Mines’ Department of Spatial Sciences, and the establishment of the GNSS Research Laboratory, led by Professor Peter Teunissen.
