Australian River Assessment System: AUSRIVAS Physical Assessment Protocol

Melissa Parsons, Martin Thoms and Richard Norris
Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology
University of Canberra
Monitoring River Health Initiative Technical Report Number 22
Environment Australia, 2002
ISSN 1447-1280
ISBN 0 642 54888 9

Contents

• Download the report in PDF format
• Publication Details
• Acknowledgments

1. Introduction
   • 1.1 Background
   • 1.2 Development of the physical assessment protocol
   • 1.3 Description of the physical assessment protocol
2. Reference Site Selection Procedure
   • 2.1 Introduction
   • 2.2 Overview of the reference site selection procedure
   • 2.3 Identify broad regions on the basis of climate and geology (Step 1)
   • 2.4 Divide the rivers in each region into functional zones (Step 2)
   • 2.5 Examine the disturbances occurring in and around each functional zone (Step 3)
   • 2.6 Plot the location of AUSRIVAS biological monitoring sites (Step 4)
   • 2.7 Identify the least impaired areas in each region and zone (Step 5)
   • 2.8 Stratify reference sites equally across functional zone types (Step 6)
   • 2.9 Number of reference sites and frequency of sampling
   • 2.10 Collection of test sites to validate predictive models
3. Data Collection
   • 3.1 Sampling site dimensions
   • 3.2 Overview of the variables included in the protocol
   • 3.3 Control and response variables
   • 3.4 Field data collection
   • 3.5 Office data collection
4. Field Data Sheets
   • 4.1 Overview
   • 4.2 The field data sheets
5. Instructions For The Measurement of Each Variable
   • 5.1 Overview
     • Control variables
     • Response variables
     • Channel Cross-Sections
6. References
7. Appendices
   • Appendix 1 Data Standardisation and Recommendations for Training of Field Sampling Teams
   • Appendix 2 Field Sampling Equipment List
   • Appendix 3 Aquapak Order Form

Download the Report

This report is available as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view it.

• Download Part 1 - AUSRIVAS Physical Assessment Protocol (protocol-1.pdf - 2879 KB)
• Download Part 2 - AUSRIVAS Physical Assessment Protocol (protocol-1b.pdf - 3054 KB)