FrontierSI Recognised for Advancing Flood Resilience in Tasmania
FrontierSI, in collaboration with Geoscience Australia and Woolpert Asia-Pacific, has been recognised with the Community and Sustainable Environment Award at the 2025 Excellence in Surveying and Spatial Information (EISSI) Awards.
The award-winning project, “Elevating Resilience: Deriving First Floor Heights via Mobile Laser Scanning and Machine Learning in Launceston,” was commissioned by Geoscience Australia to help address a critical national challenge: the need for a scalable, repeatable and cost-effective method to estimate residential first floor heights.
“This project has been described as an industry ‘Game Changer’ and shows how the use of spatial data and emerging technology can be used to solve real-world challenges and impact,” said Annmarie Mabarrack, FrontierSI’s Environment Sector Lead “Through the application of advanced mapping technologies, machine learning, and collaborative
approaches, we’re helping communities better understand risk and prepare for the future.”
Turning Complex Data into Actionable Insights
The measurements of residential first-floor heights are critical for understanding flood exposure and impact, particularly in high-risk areas like Launceston.
Using mobile laser scanning (MLS) and street-level imagery sensors, Woolpert captured more than 300 kilometres of Launceston’s road network with centimetre precision.
FrontierSI’s team then used the data to build a machine learning model capable of automatically identifying and extracting first-floor height information from the captured datasets. The model was engineered for scalability, allowing it to be replicated in other flood-prone regions across Australia.
Data Science Driving Real-World Impact
This workflow, developed by FrontierSI’s spatial data scientists, now contributes directly to Geoscience Australia’s efforts to improve the accuracy of national flood exposure, impact and risk assessments.
This approach provides valuable insights to:
- Local councils, to identify flood-prone properties and prioritise mitigation.
- Insurers, to reassess risk profiles and support fairer premiums.
- Planners and engineers, to guide smarter development and infrastructure design.
- Emergency managers, to strengthen evacuation planning and community preparedness.
The project sets a benchmark for how high-quality spatial data and machine learning can be combined to create practical tools that support sustainable development, improve climate resilience and inform decision-making across Australia.
Collaboration for a Safer Future
Delivered with minimal environmental impact, data capture was conducted entirely from public roads, ensuring community safety while reducing on-site time.
FrontierSI’s Environment Lead, Annmarie Mabarrack, and Head of Delivery, Jessica Keysers, led a talented team of data scientists and developers, including Fang Yuan, Benjamin Tebbutt, Madeline Seehaber, Lavender Lui, Lachlan Hurst, Lachlan Ng and James Leversha, to create the model and workflow.
Their collective expertise in geospatial analytics, machine learning and solution development was key to transforming raw survey data into meaningful information for national-scale resilience planning.
“The Launceston project shows the power of collaboration,” said Jessica Keysers, FrontierSI’s Head of Delivery. “By combining field data, spatial science and machine learning, we’ve developed a method that can scale across Australia – helping communities and governments prepare for a changing climate.”
At FrontierSI, we are proud to lead projects that use spatial intelligence to deliver measurable environmental and social benefits. This recognition highlights our ongoing commitment to developing data-driven solutions that help Australia plan for a safer, more resilient future.
Contact
Looking to determine accurate first floor heights for your local area? Contact FrontierSI.
Related Projects
Generation of Accurate First Floor Heights for National Flood Resilience