Award-winning map branches out

Australian horticulture growers are being urged to contribute to the creation of a high-tech mapping tool to improve biosecurity preparedness and natural disaster response efforts. The National Protected Cropping Map, delivered through Hort Innovation and led by the University of New England (UNE)’s Applied Agricultural Remote Sensing Centre (AARSC), will capture the location of commercial polytunnels, shadehouses, glasshouses and permanent nets in every state and territory of Australia. The new map builds on the awardwinning Australian Tree Crop Map (ATCM), which received international recognition in July, when its creators, AARSC researchers Craig Shephard and Joel McKechnie, were awarded first place for dashboard maps in the 2021 Esri User Conference’s Map Gallery Awards. The Esri User Conference is the world’s largest event dedicated to geographic information system (GIS) technology. “We’re showing the world that the research tools and applications we’re producing here in Australia are of the highest standard,” Mr Shephard said. “The map gallery is central to the Esri conference and it’s one of the most wideranging and comprehensive collections of GIS work in the worlds, it can indicate trends and influences shifts in technical and cartographic practice. “This really is a career highlight for Joel and I, having our work recognised at Esri is the pinnacle. It puts our research centre AARSC and UNE on map, so to speak.” Mr Shephard and Mr McKechnie started developing the ATCM Dashboard in 2020, as part of the Multi-scale Monitoring Tools for Managing Australian Tree Crops: Phase 2 research project. This research is driven by the support of Hort Innovation and six Australian industries: avocado, citrus, macadamia, mango, banana and olive. The ATCM Dashboard was developed in response to the industry’s needs to better understand the extent (area and location of production) of their commercial operations. The tool is freely available and interactively summarises the extent of avocado, citrus, macadamia and mango orchards, banana plantations and olive groves, and supports these industries to make informed and timely decisions around biosecurity and natural disaster responses. UNE project lead, Professor Andrew Robson, said that the ATCM is already being used by many tree crop industries, providing a useful foundation for the new Protected Cropping Area Map. “This map – built via the integration of industry data, image analytics, ground validation and citizen science – meets Australian mapping standards, is freely available and respects growers’ privacy by not including any personal grower or crop information,” he said. Hort Innovation Head of Research and Development, Byron De Kock, said no comprehensive national protected cropping map currently exists, and this new initiative will significantly help industries. “A concerning knowledge gap of most Australian agricultural industries is a lack of understanding of the distribution and area of individual crops,” he said. “Knowing where crops are located supports an improved response to biosecurity incursions including the establishment of exclusion zones and the coordination of on-ground surveillance, and for quantifying the area of crops affected following a natural disaster.” The new National Protected Cropping Map – which is being developed with the support of Protected Cropping Australia, Future Food Systems CRC and Greater Sydney and North Coast Local Land Services – will also help growers with production planning. Protected Cropping Australia Deputy Chair, Matthew Plunkett, said the industry body is excited about the national initiative. “Not having an accurate measure of production area can result in highly inaccurate pre-harvest yield forecasts, potentially causing poor forward selling estimates for both domestic and overseas markets,” Mr Plunkett said. “Identifying the location of specific farming systems also provides essential information around value, traceability, transport and market accessibility.” The protected cropping map will offer a user-friendly platform that is available online via desktop or mobile. The draft map is scheduled for completion in 2023, however users can go on the Protected Cropping Systems Survey site and see progress at any time. Whilst the development of the ATCM Dashboard provides participating industries with an immediate tool for better understanding industry extent (area and location of production) and improved preparedness to biosecurity threats and natural disasters, the full potential is yet to come. This essential base layer of data will ultimately support decision making processes related to traceability, resource management and yield forecasting as well as major national initiatives such as water security, soil health and carbon storage.

All applications developed by Craig Shephard and Joel McKechnie as part of Multiscale Monitoring Tools for Managing Australian Tree Crops: Phase 2can be viewed by scanning or clicking the QR code.

In the field: Applied Agricultural Remote Sensing Centre’s Joel McKechnie validating established macadamia crops for the ATCM Dashboard.