A world-first satellite positioning technology developed in Australia could add more than $6 billion to the Australian economy over the next 30 years, and independent economic benefits analysis has found.
Geocsience Australia has tested a new positioning technology called Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS), in a trial that involved 27 projects in ten industries, including mining and farming.
The development of SBAS technology is currently supported by government's across many parts of the world, including the US, Europe, India and Japan, to provide more accurate and reliable positioning without the need for mobile phone or internet coverage.
Implemented for the Australiasian region by the Australia and New Zealand Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, which now transitioned into the not-for-profit FrontierSI, the system is set to greatly improve the accuracy of current global navigation satellite systems. The US Global Positioning System (GPS), for example, could be improved from an accuracy of 5-10 metres down to 10 centimetres across Australia and its maritime zones.
Especially for operators in isolate areas this is expected to bring major benefits, as now shown by an economic benefit analysis prepared by Ernst & Young. Thus the system could potentially save farmers $820 million in feed and fertiliser over the next 30 years as it allows them to better utilise their pastures.
SBAS technology may also improve the accuracy of on-animal sensing systems, which are used to track animal movements, according to Dr Jaime Manning, who is an agriculture lecturer at CQUniversity where the trial was launched in 2017.
It means that beef cattle producers in the region will in future be able to detect issues such as “which parts of a paddock may be over-grazed, or if an animal is not moving normally and may be sick or lame”.
The technology will also support emerging technologies such as virtual fencing in more intensively-grazed pastures, and through improved animal tracking help with the early detection of predators, with potential savings in sellable sheep estimated at $80 million over 30 years.
But it's not just farmers who will benefit, the study revealed. For miners, for example, the use of the system could potentially bring down costs by $577 million over 30 years through a greater efficiency of mining haul trucks.
Both the Australian and New Zealand Government's have supported the development of the SBAS technology, including with $160.9 million set aside in the 2018-19 Australian budget to secure a fully operational system for the Australasian region, and a further $12 million for the trial.