Kangaroo Island

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GUEST OBSERVATION
On the night of January 9 2020, my wife and I secured our Kangaroo Island home and anxiously monitored the South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) website for bushfire advice.
After many horrific weeks of bushfires, the winds had again shifted, and the fire front began a slow, nightmarish march eastward into the island’s central farmlands. Official warnings advised that the entire island was potentially under threat.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=36%2C0%2C4788%2C2800&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316070/original/file-20200219-11000-18pw4af.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=36%2C0%2C4788%2C2800&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Landsat-8 false colour image of southwest Kangaroo Island, showing active bushfires on January 9, 2020. Landsat-8, Author provided
As my good neighbours and volunteer firefighters headed off to battle the flames elsewhere on the island, I desperately wanted to find a way to help. With no firefighting training, I felt I physically had little to offer. But I reasoned that my skills and training in remote sensing and spatial science could potentially turn satellite information into useful maps to track the fires, in more detail than those provided by the Country Fire Service and <a href="https://sentinel.ga.gov.au/#/" target="_blank">Geoscience Australia</a>.
While I was ultimately successful, it wasn’t quite as straightforward as I thought. And what I learned about access to good-quality and up-to-date satellite bushfire information surprised me.
Free satellite imagery is abundant; useful information is not
In principle, there are many good sources of free satellite imagery. But selecting, sourcing, understanding and processing a multilayered satellite image into an accurate burnt area map takes technical know-how that is beyond the reach of the people who need it the most.
We are fortunate to live in a time where satellite images are constantly uploaded to the web, often within hours of acquisition. There are many reputable sources for this information, including <a href="https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/" target="_blank">NASA Worldview</a>, <a href="https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/" target="_blank">USGS Earth Explorer</a>, <a href="https://landlook.usgs.gov/" target="_blank">USGS LandLook Viewer</a>, and the <a href="https://apps.sentinel-hub.com/eo-browser" target="_blank">Sentinel EO Browser</a>.
These websites are gateways to the world of “big satellite data”, and I quickly found myself on a steep learning curve to efficiently navigate them and find recent imagery.
Once downloaded, the next hurdle I faced was how to process a data-rich satellite image into a meaningful and accurate map of the bushfire area. I scoured the internet for “how to” blogs, academic articles, spatial algorithms, and processing codes; these too are the products of much intellectual investment by global scientists, openly and freely available.
As a spatial scientist, I naturally found all this fascinating. But as a resident of an island under assault from bushfires, I also found it frustratingly time-consuming. I crashed my computer testing algorithms. I maxed out my hard drive. I spent hours on possibilities that turned out to be dead ends.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316071/original/file-20200219-11017-129dntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
True colour satellite imagery is often the most accessible and easily understood, but it often lacks sufficient detail to clearly identify burnt areas. In this Sentinel-2 true colour image, approximately 210,000 hectares are burnt, but bushfire-impacted areas are barely visible without advanced image processing. Sentinel-2, Author provided
Maps help to fight fires and recover from them
In the end, I produced <a href="https://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/environment/2020/02/19/researchers-kangaroo-island-fire-maps/" target="_blank">burnt area maps</a> from Sentinel and Landsat satellite images captured during the fires. I learned that this kind of information can indeed help firefighting and ecological recovery efforts, both during and after bushfires.
Initially I gave the maps to a group of farming friends who had been fighting fires around their properties for weeks. They told me the maps helped save time in assessing which areas had already burned, allowing them to focus on defending unburnt areas, and to make decisions on where to move livestock and install firebreaks.
The positive feedback inspired me to customise my processing techniques, so I could provide updates more quickly when new satellite images became available.
I embedded appropriate safety disclaimers into the maps and released them on Twitter and <a href="http://www.spatialpoints.com/category/blog/ki_fires/" target="_blank">Spatial Points</a>, a blog site managed by my research group at the University of Adelaide.
Within hours, I received messages that the maps were being used for ecological recovery efforts. The maps successfully highlighted remaining patches of habitat where endangered and vulnerable species had found refuge. Several government agencies even contacted me for burnt area information, which I’m told was used to assess infrastructure damage and habitat loss.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316073/original/file-20200219-11023-gxgogg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Processed Sentinel-2 satellite image. Red areas suggest burnt vegetation. Variation in red hues are caused by dominant vegetation type and soils. Sentinel-2/W. Boone Law, Author provided
National knowledge gap
My experience shows there is a swag of free and regularly updated satellite imagery available, which when interpreted and presented appropriately can potentially be hugely helpful to firefighting and recovery efforts.
However, I am concerned that neither the general public nor decision-makers seem fully aware of the range of satellite information on offer. Nor is there a good understanding of the advanced technical skills needed to access and process imagery into useful map data.
This leads me to wonder whether I have stumbled upon a glaring knowledge gap in Australia’s bushfire preparedness.
How can we overcome this technological and information bottleneck? I don’t propose to have all the answers, but I do believe it would be sensible for governments, industry and research agencies to invest in the kind of capabilities that I developed while trying to protect my own local community.
As Australia faces a future of more frequent and extreme bushfires, there will doubtless be many people who would be glad of this kind of information when they need it most.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132087/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wallace-boone-law-944308" target="_blank">Wallace Boone Law</a>, PhD Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119" target="_blank">University of Adelaide</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-made-bushfire-maps-from-satellite-data-and-found-a-glaring-gap-in-australias-preparedness-132087" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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I made bushfire maps from satellite data, and found a glaring gap in Australia’s preparedness

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Rocky Point, a Kangaroo Island home, has been listed for sale for the first time in over a century.
Rocky Point has been in the hands of the wealthy pastoralist Dutton family since 1918.
They've hung on to the six bedroom home for five generations.
Over that time the home and its Mad Mile Track location, dissecting seven kilometres of white sandy beach, has inspired a number of renowned artists and authors to create some of their best works.
The likes of artists John Olsen, Arthur Boyd and Sir Russell Drysdale, as well as writers such as Patrick White, Alan Moorehead, David Malouf and Robert Hughes have written in the visitor book over the years.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2019/3/7/rocky%20point%202.jpg" alt="">
Rocky Point was even stayed in by Princess Diana's father, The Earl of Spencer.
Australian poet David Campbell wrote about Rocky Point.
"A house that Paul Cezanne would love, set on a limestone cliff above, on the white beaches and the sea, blue days in careless reverie go by. Like Greeks we fish for food”
Many locals refer Rocky Point as Government House due to the number of Vice Regal parties held at the property.
It was in the early 1900s when prominent South Australian Supreme Court Justice sir John Gordon visited the untouched stretch of coastline off Adelaide's south coast.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2019/3/7/rocky%20point%203.jpg" alt="">
He commissioned the limestone clifftop retreat which went on to become the first holiday home built on Kangaroo Island.
He saw Kangaroo Island's potential as a private and secluded getaway, a place to do nothing, or something.
The home with pavilion-style living features stone walls that keep the house cool in summer and warm in winter.
Rocky Point spans 365 metres of rare beach and clifftop frontage all the way down to the high tide mark.
Klemich Real Estate agents Oren Klemich and Penny Riggs are marketing Rocky Point with planning approval to extend the home.
This article first appeared in The Weekend Australian. 
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Historic Kangaroo Island beachfront holiday home Rocky Point listed

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The agricultural fund manager Growth Farms has bought the largest farming aggregation on Kangaroo Island from the billionaire media mogul Kerry Stokes.
Stokes and veteran cattleman Peter Murray sold their <a href="https://www.eldersrealestate.com.au/rural/sale/cygnet-park-farms-cassini-sa-5223-17956579/" target="_blank">Cygnet Park</a> Farms aggregation reportedly for about $25 million through Elders.
It was listed in late 2017.
The cattle, sheep and cropping aggregation on the 7,821 hectare Cygnet Park Farms, which Stokes and his long-time business partner had accumulated over the past decade, was being offered on a walk in, walk out basis in one line or in individual allotments
Murray is one of Australia's most experienced cattlemen.
With annual average rainfall ranging between 600-900mm, it was currently running approx 3,000 Angus cows, 2200 weaner calves and 300 yearlings/bulls.
NSW-based Growth Farms is headed by David Sackett who manages assets on behalf of a global network of high net worth individuals, family office and institutional clients.
It was established in 1999 by Angus Taylor and his brother Richard .
It has investments in sheep and cattle, cotton, sugarcane, winter crops with farms totalling more than 100,000 hectares.
 
 
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Growth Farms buys on Kangaroo Island from billionaire Kerry Stokes

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Del Mole Estate in Kangaroo Island, long used in South Australian tourism campaigns to promote the whole island, has been listed for sale for the first time in nearly five decades.
It was 1968 when the 2,400 hectare property was bought by the late renowned South Australian pastoralist Lloyd Wilkinson from the state's prominent Bonython family.
Set in the north west corner of Kangaroo Island, the estate spans 61 titles with 3.7 kilometres of untouched private coastline with sandy beaches and cliffs overlooking the ocean.
It is being marketed as a prime development opportunity for international corporate investors or high net worth individuals seeking to capitalise on the global tourism appeal of Kangaroo Island.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/10/09/De%20Mole%203.jpg" alt="">
Earlier this year, Kangaroo Island was ranked in the world's top three travel destinations by Lonely Planet.
Wilkinson family spokesperson Hamish Brown said the estate is a truly unique offering.
“We believe De Mole Estate is now the largest privately-owned coastal landholding on the market anywhere in Australia,” said Brown.
“And while the entire property spans almost 6,000 acres, it is still perfectly tucked away in a beautiful corner of Kangaroo Island, which really does make it a hideaway within a hideaway that our family has been privileged to enjoy for the past five decades.”
CBRE agent Phil Schell said the estate is a rare opportunity that will attract widespread interest from across Australia and internationally, particularly in light of the $18 million upgrade of Kingscote Airport and with Qantas to start direct flights to Kangaroo Island from Adelaide and Melbourne from December.
“For such a vast landholding, De Mole Estate remains nestled away in a stunning pocket of Kangaroo Island, which is now widely recognised as one of the most idyllic tourism destinations on the planet,” he said.
Del Mole Estate is expected to attract offers in excess of $10 million.
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Kangaroo Island's Del Mole Estate for sale

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Seven Group executive chairman Kerry Stokes and cattleman Peter Murray are selling the largest farming portfolio on South Australia's Kangaroo Island, estimated to nearly $50 million. 
The cattle, sheep and cropping aggregation on the 7,821 hectare Cygnet Park Farms, which Stokes and his long-time business partner have accumulated over the past decade, comes to market at a time when prime farmland values are rising, especially properties with beef, lamb and wool production.
The listing is being handled by Elders Real Estate with The Australian Financial Review citing industry sources as saying the farming portfolio could be valued as high as $50 million.
The portfolio is being offered on a walk in, walk out basis in one line or in individual allotments, contingent upon the remainder of the portfolio being sold. 
Like billionaire Stokes, mining tycoon Gina Rinehart and retailers Brett Blundy and Gerry Harvey have all been investing in agricultural assets in recent years.
The offering includes a herd of about 3300 cattle and 15,700 sheep and is expected to attract interest from international corporate investors and local farming groups. 
The island is famous for its local produce, which is marketed under the "Kangaroo Island" brand and is in much demand in Asia.
First established in 2007 under Murray, the aggregation has been steadily expanded over the years. In June 2015, Woodlana Station, a 2,823 hectare landholding at Cassini on the island's central north coast was acquired for $4.7 million.
Previously, in 2010, the pair acquired Clifton Downs, a 550 hectare grazing property on Kangaroo Island. Other properties in the portfolio include Long Hill Station.
Murray, one of Australia's most experienced cattlemen, said he had decided to bring the portfolio to market in order to focus on other business interests as he transitions into retirement. He turns 81 next month.
"I am very proud of the quality portfolio of both real estate and livestock assets that we have built in one of the world's most pristine agricultural environments. I will retain a smaller portfolio of properties on the Island moving forward as I remain convinced it is one of the best livestock production regions in Australia and has enormous opportunities to deliver high margin, quality produce to the world."
For the 77-year-old Stokes, the Cygnet Park Farms listing comes as he and other media moguls look to re-position their empires ahead of the relaxation of media ownership rules.
Last month Stokes' Seven Group Holdings, which owns 41 per cent of Seven West Media, sold its WestTrac China heavy machinery dealership for $540 million with plans to reinvest the proceeds back into Australia.
 Elders Real Estate general manager Tom Russo said the opportunity to acquire a portfolio of this scale in the Kangaroo Island region was unprecedented.
"There is currently unprecedented demand for clean, traceable food products in the Asia-Pacific region and further abroad. Kangaroo Island is ideally positioned to respond to this demand given its unique agricultural setting, enhanced biosecurity, GM free status and unpolluted environment,” said Russo.
"Given their proximity, the Cygnet Park Farms properties can be operated separately or as a whole,” he added.
Stokes and Murray are also invested on the South Australian mainland. In 2007, they purchased the Balquhidder Station, a sprawling 3000-hectare cattle property at Parawa for more than $20 million in 2007.
In 2009, they bought neighbouring Mt Scrub, a 660-hectare grazing property, for about $5 million.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Media mogul Kerry Stokes lists Kangaroo Island farm portfolio

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A Chinese government-backed investment group has bought a 289 ha aquaculture and tourism property on Kangaroo Island off South Australia.
Andermel, home to Andermel Marron Farm, The Marron Café and Two Wheeler Creek Wines, was sold to Shandong Geo-mineral International Investment Co Ltd for more than $1.6 million through Colliers International's Jesse Manuel and Tim Altschwager. 
Manuel said the Heads of Agreement for the sale was signed during the South Australian Premier’s visit to China in May 2015 and has now settled after an extensive due diligence period.
“This property represented a unique business and lifestyle opportunity in one of South Australia’s most picturesque and popular tourist destinations, Kangaroo Island,” Manuel said. 
Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island and one of South Australia’s most popular tourist destinations, located 112 km south-west of Adelaide and around 15 km off the mainland.
Projects worth $171 million are planned or approved for Kangaroo Island over the next few years, including an $18 million joint investment by the state and federal governments to extend the island’s airport runway and allow direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne.
Established in 1997, Andermel Marron Farm is a marron production business which consists of six breeding ponds, nine nursery ponds and 52 grow ponds. The farm breeds and grows marron – native Australian freshwater crayfish – for domestic markets as well as through the onsite ‘Marron Café’ restaurant and farm gate sales.
Australian marron is native to the south west of Western Australia and is the largest commercially grown fresh water crayfish.
The property also includes an 8 ha vineyard planted to Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, producing fruit for Andermel’s own ‘Two Wheeler Creek’ label and a licenced cellar door.
Altschwager said Kangaroo Island was renowned for its pristine beaches, native wildlife, tourist attractions and fresh local produce.
 
 
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