Australian Water Information Dictionary

Alphabetical list of items

A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   Y   Z   other  

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La Niña

The extensive cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. In Australia (particularly eastern Australia), La Niña events are associated with an increased probability of wetter conditions. See the Climate Glossary webpage on La Niña for more information.

Related:

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lacustrine

Relating to a lake. Lacustrine sediments, for example, are those that are deposited in lakes.

Source: R F Isbell, 1996, The Australian Soil Classification, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

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land surface

A physical feature that is the solid ground of the Earth.

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LandsatTM5

Landsat Thematic Mapper 5 – a medium resolution satellite image sensor obtained twice monthly over Australia. Data can be obtained from United States Geological Survey.

Source: Engel, J., and Weinstein, O., (1983). The Thematic Mapper – an overview, IEEE Transactions On Geoscience and Remote Sensing, GE-21:258-265

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landscape water

All water in the natural environment that is not surface water or groundwater. Includes water in the unsaturated zone of the soil, on the flood plain or in water bodies that are disconnected from the rivers, such as natural lakes, ponds or wetlands.

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landscape water increases

Inflows to the region's landscape water.

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landscape water yield

A combination of surface runoff and groundwater recharge.

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legal obligation

An obligation that derives from: (a) a contract, (b) legislation, or (c) other operation of law.

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licence extraction

The volume of water extracted from regulated groundwater assets pursuant to the rules of the groundwater allocation licence.

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line item

A piece of water information having a generic name and definition. In a given region, it consists of a volumetric value, expressed in megalitres (ML), and notes providing supporting information. The supporting information may include what the value represents, how it was quantified and how it compares to the previous year. In the National Water Account, line items may be reported in the water accounting statements and in the region notes.

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line item note

A note that is specific to a line item that appears in the water accounting statements or the region notes of the National Water Account.

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Lines of Evidence

GDE Atlas terminology identifying the number of rules that could be applied to a polygon given the GIS data available for the analysis. The ‘Lines of Evidence’ result shows how much data the GDE potential result was based on, and therefore is a pragmatic indicator of the reliability of the GDE potential result. This is an attribute for each derived GDE polygon.

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lithology log

A table with drillers' or geologists' description of rock or sediment types along a borehole.

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local flooding

Describes situations where intense rainfall is expected to cause high run-off volumes in small catchments or localised areas with minimal impact on main streams.

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losing stream

A stream from which water is lost to the surrounding and underlying substrate via infiltration through the streambed and banks.

Source: Richardson, S., et al., (2011). Australian groundwater-dependent ecosystem toolbox part 1: assessment framework, Waterlines report, National Water Commission, Canberra

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