Dr Chris Waring
Staff Profile
Role at ANSTO
Chris Waring is a Principal Research Scientist at the Institute for Environmental Research, within Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). He leads the development of a new geophysical scanner for soil composition. Chris seeks to join the dots between advances in science & high technology and high impact environmental issues such as climate change (soil C sequestration) and food security (precision agriculture). Innovation is incomplete without application.
Chris has a background in environmental science & technology development. Prior to work on the soil scanner, a new method of continuous measurement of hydraulic conductivity from a borehole was invented and patented. He is also using stable isotope techniques to reveal links between modern weather / climate and cave deposits or speleothems as palaeo-climate archives.
Innovations & Patents
Soil Scanner
Measurement of soil composition to 50cms depth in-situ by FNAA 100x faster & 100x cheaper than standard soil sampling and analysis.
Proof-of-concept instrument built by Wielopolski BNL
A higher performance (100x) instrument under development is described by
Waring C.L., Falahat S., Wielopolski L., 2013 Surface scanning instrument development for measurement of bulk soil elemental composition by neutron activation .
High resolution single borehole hydraulic conductivity measurement
Measurement of hydraulic conductivity as a continuous variable rather than 1 average value per borehole.
IAH award
Waring C.L., Stepanyants Y.A., Hankin S.I., Airey P.L., Peterson M.A. 2009 Measurement of Hydraulic Conductivity, Porosity and Lithology by Neutron Activation Borehole Logging at High Spatial Resolution Increments, p 374-386, Proceedings IAH NSW, Groundwater in the Sydney Basin Symposium, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 4-5 Aug. 2009, W.A.Milne-Home (Ed) ISBN 978 0 646 51709 4
Patent applied.
Waring C.L., Stepanyants Y., Airey P. Measurement of hydraulic conductivity using a radioactive or activatable tracer, US Patent Appl. No. 12/295256, National phase PCT/AU2007/000405
IRMS++
IRMS++ is a new instrument development for doubly or multiply charged isotope ratio mass-spectrometry. IRMS++ has technical advantage over conventional IRMS through higher ionisation efficiency allowing smaller sizes, direct molecular injection of gas (eg. H2O, CO2) without chemical preparation, and overcoming isobaric interferences allowing measurement of 17O in water.
Patent applied.
Hotchkis M.A.C., Waring C.L. Assigned to ANSTO Pub date 7/5/2009 PCT/AU2006/001284, US-2009-0114809-A1 An isotope mass spectrometer and methods for determining isotope ratios
Publications
Hodge E., McDonald J., Fischer M., Redwood D., Hua Q., Levchenko V., Drysdale R., Waring C.L., Fink D., 2011 Using the 14C bomb pulse to date young speleothems, RADIOCARBON, Vol 53, Nr 2, 2011, p 345–345
Waring C.L., Falahat S., Watt G. 2011 What can you measure with neutron activation analysis? Proceedings 2nd Global Workshop Proximal Soil Sensing, Eds. V.I. Adamchuk, R.A. Viscarra-Rossel, p120-123, May 15-18 Montreal, Canada.
Falahat S., K¨oble T., Schumann O., Waring C., Watt G., 2012 Development of a surface scanning soil analysis instrument, Applied Radiation and Isotopes 70 (2012) p. 1107–1109
Waring C.L., Falahat S., Wielopolski L., 2013 Surface scanning instrument development for measurement of bulk soil elemental composition by neutron activation submitted
Waring C.L., Whelan B., 2013 A cost comparison of soil C measurement methods, Proceedings 3rd Global Workshop Proximal Soil Sensing, Eds. R. Gebbers, E. Luck, J. Ruhlmann, p81 - 86, May 26-29, Potsdam, Germany.
Waring C.L., Stockman U., Malone B., Whelan B., McBratney A., 2013 Is ‘Percent Undisturbed Landscape Carbon’ a useful indicator of soil condition? Book chapter for IUSS Soil C book.