The CRCSI does contract research and consulting for third parties, usually through its core participants and 43pl companies.

Examples include:

• Urban Digital Elevation Modelling Project with Department of Climate Change     (Project 9.06)
  Sea level rise and increased storm surge are a major risk to Australia’s settlements and infrastructure. Highly accurate three dimensional models of these coastal areas will give us a better understanding of the impacts of future sea level rise and storm surges. These “digital elevation models” (DEMs) allow the necessary computer modelling to assess inundation risks to our population and built infrastructure, and identify ways in which the risks can be reduced.
  
  CRCSI is developing a DEM of selected high priority urban areas under a $2 million contract for the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change. Initial work will focus on Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and the NSW Central Coast.
  
  The high resolution Digital Elevation Model builds on the Federal Government’s current mid-resolution digital elevation model investment which identifies areas of likely exposure to climate change risks. Airborne laser scanning and high resolution digital airborne imagery, together with advanced analysis techniques, will help identify which infrastructure and areas of high population density are most at risk. The project will be implemented in collaboration with other key national organisations such as the Australia and New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC), Geosciences Australia, CSIRO as well as relevant state government agencies and commercial terrestrial mapping and monitoring companies.
  
• Project 2.05 - Shallow Water LADS Analysis
  Victoria DSE. Concerns over climate change and global warming are driving increased interest in the inter-tidal zone and adjacent areas. In Australia, the inter-tidal zone is mostly unmapped. Topographic maps typically stop at the high tide mark and hydrographic charts stop at the low tide mark. The project analysed data acquired by the laser-based airborne shallow-water bathymetry system, LADS to assess its potential and suitability for mapping near-shore water depth along the Victorian coastline
  
• Project 1.07 - The GDP contribution of high resolution positioning services in automation
  The single most significant constraint to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product in the next fifty years is considered to be work force capacity or, more precisely, work force shortage. One countering influence is automation, most commonly in industrial processes. This project will determine, and quantify, the potential for positioning services to contribute to Australia’s GDP through enabling automation of a range of occupations and activities
  
• Project 4.12 - Guidelines on Digital Terrain Data for Emergency Response Management Planning
  The aim of the project is to develop standardised guidelines for the GIS component of flood studies. Digital flood intelligence is available in many forms and is increasingly being sourced from remotely sensed data. To ensure the accurate capture, visualisation and interpretation of these data, robust and repeatable methods that can be applied State-wide are required. It is envisaged that the guidelines will become a standard component of future flood studies undertaken by the relevant Local and State Management Authorities.
  
• Measurement of vertical movements to provide geo-referenced ground surface settlement information using radar imagery
  Clients include mining companies in Australia and Ghana, and Australian State and Federal land and agricultural agencies.
  
• Measurement of horizontal movements over areas adjacent to longwall mining activity using satellite based radar interferometry
  For a mining company client.
  
• Positioning policy framework for Victoria
  Determining position using mobile devices is now a simple process, and is increasingly being used in government and the wider community. This project developed a policy framework to allow individual business sectors to have confidence that their measurements were fit for purpose, that their spatial data are reliable, and that use of positioning information in legal and commercial environments can be supported. Partners: the Department of Sustainability & Environment, Victoria, Geomatic Technologies.
  
• Shallow Water LADS Analysis
  Concerns over climate change and global warming are driving increased interest in the inter-tidal zone and adjacent areas. In Australia, the inter-tidal zone is mostly unmapped. Topographic maps typically stop at the high tide mark and hydrographic charts stop at the low tide mark. However the inter-tidal is an area of significant environmental interest. In some places it is also a significant area of land. The project analysed data acquired by the laser-based airborne shallowwater bathymetry system, LADS to assess its potential and suitability for mapping near-shore water depth along the Victorian coastline. Partners: Department of Sustainability & Environment, Victoria & University of Melbourne
  
• Scoping a national system for reporting land-use change
  It is increasingly recognized that local and regional approaches to landscape monitoring are of limited use. The lack of a standardized approach to monitoring of land-use change also has a number of negative effects for land managers. Without a sense of the areal and temporal extent of landuse change, as well as knowledge of its specific nature, it is difficult to formulate effective policies to address the change, to estimate the eventual impacts of an ongoing change, and to identify the most appropriate responses to maintain a healthy environment, prosperous local and regional economies, and viable human population centres. This project scoped a national system for reporting landuse change. Client: Land & Water Australia.
  
• Development of a metadata entry tool
  Access to up-to-date metadata is an important aspect in delivering high quality spatial information services to vast models/standards are complex and very difficult to handle. The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) is undertaking a Metadata Repository Project which aims to migrate existing spatial information metadata from its current system to a new metadata system based on the ANZLIC Metadata Profile. This project will provide recommendations on which of the existing metadata entry tools to adapt and then report on the adaptation of the selected entry tool to meet the partners immediate short-term needs. Partners: Department of Sustainability & Environment, Victoria & University of Melbourne.
  
• Airborne laser scanner and radar interferometry for digital topographic modelling in coastal environments of NSW
  Fine resolution elevation data is essential for improved topographic survey and such diverse applications as flood risk assessment, town planning and disaster mitigation. Data collection needs to be constantly reviewed and updated as more accurate elevation data becomes available, and as topography may have changed in response to, for example, mitigation works and urban development. ALS and InSAR platforms provide a nonintrusive form of survey in inaccessible environments, from which fine resolution DEMs of relatively high accuracy can be generated. Furthermore, the benefits of satellite technology in repeat monitoring and updating of topographic information are paramount. This project aimed to refine methods of height estimation over diverse terrain using a combination of Airborne Laser Scanner (ALS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data for flood risk management. Partners: University of New South Wales, AAMHatch, Wollongong City Council and the NSW
  
• Various land related studies
  An independent review of woody vegetation extent mapping using imagery for selected sites in NSW is underway. Client: State Government Agency Fuel Loads Assessment. A variety of products, including vegetation indices, canopy identification and biomass assessment and fuel load indices were produced for the assessment of fuel loads. A number of data capture methods were assessed and correlated. The project was undertaken to gain an understanding of the existing and planned coverage of terrain elevation data for the Australian coastal zone that is potentially fit-for-purpose in coastal vulnerability assessment.