Environmental Fluids

The Earth biosphere is completely immersed in Environmental Fluids. Air and water are both considered fluids and therefore every living creature on the planet is affected by the behaviour and quality of these mediums. Our research involves fluid mechanics and engineering systems that are associated with the fluid environment. We are investigating wind effects on natural and manmade structures, processes in the coastal ocean that affect pollutant dispersal and beach erosion, utilisation of the ocean as a source for renewable energy and fresh water, and the role of the ocean in climate change. Amongst these activities, we are involved in development of various technologies for research and practical application in the real world environment.

Find out more about our research into different areas of environmental fluids
We have state of the art facilities to help study the fluid environment.
Meet the people in the environmental fluids group
We offer professional consulting services in the field of environmental fluids.

Our undergraduate program includes significant portions of researching and experiencing environmental fluid behaviour.

Research Highlight - Modelling of Severe Thunderstorm Winds

Every year in Australia convectively driven wind storms cause millions of dollars in structural damage to domestic housing and low-rise structures. The nature of these wind storms is very localised and can be very severe.

PhD student Matthew Mason is aiming to implement and refine existing atmospheric science thunderstorm outflow models so that the low level wind structure can be analysed. The main objective will be to produce vertical and horizontal gust profiles, and determine the influence of low level features such as topography, surface roughness and ambient wind conditions.