Walking with dinosaurs in the Kimberley: mapping the Cretaceous landscapes of the Dampier Peninsula

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ARC Discovery Project (2013-2016 ... and on-going)

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The coastline of the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia, preserves what is arguably one the largest and most significant stretches of dinosaur track-sites in the world. Despite recent National Heritage listing, the majority of these tracksites are largely undocumented, such that their full scientific significance is poorly understood. The aim of this project is to digitally map the dinosaur tracksites of the Dampier Peninsula, 
utilising high-resolution aerial photography with both manned and unmanned aircraft, airborne and hand-held LiDAR imaging, and digital photogrammetry. The results will allow us to construct high-resolution, 3D digital outcrop models of the tracksites, and bring the 130 million-year-old landscapes back to life.

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ARA has been using various topographic LiDARs and a variety of RGB-cameras and videos to map the whole coastline between Broome and Cape Leveque in Western Australia.

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Participants in the ARC grant are: Steven Salisbury, University of Queensland; Jorg Hacker, ARA & Flinders University; Robert Zlot, CSIRO;  Michael Bosse, CSIRO; George Poropat, CSIRO.