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Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories' Inquiry Into the Adequacy of Austra

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Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories' Inquiry Into the Adequacy of Austra Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories' Inquiry into the Adequacy of Australia's Infrastructure Assets and Capability in Antarctica 1. About the Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology operates under the authority of the Meteorology Act 1955 and the Water Act 2007, which provide the legal basis for its activities. The Bureau is continually assessed in accordance with the national need for climatic records, water information, scientific understanding of Australian weather and climate and effective service provision to the Australian community. The Bureau must also fulfil Australia's international obligations under the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and related international meteorological treaties and agreements. 2. The Bureau's Mandate in Antarctica The Bureau's mandate in Antarctica is to: 1. monitor the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) climate; and 2. provide weather services to: a. Australians operating in the AAT, Heard, McDonald and Macquarie Islands; b. mariners in METAREA 10, which extends to the Antarctic coast (Figure 1); c. aviators across the Melbourne Flight Information Region (FIR), which extends to the South Pole; and d. Search and Rescue support across the Australian Search and Rescue Region, which extends to the South Pole. Commercial and collaborative work opportunities can see the Bureau extend its operations beyond its mandated boundaries. To deliver on its Antarctic responsibilities, the Bureau operates a diverse range of meteorological assets at the Australian Antarctic stations and over the Southern Ocean. Our Antarctic activities also leverage heavily from the Bureau's mainland Australian infrastructure and operations as well as the international weather, ocean and space programs. Our Antarctic activities can be broken into: 1. observations and climate monitoring; 2. weather and climate computer modelling; 3. research and development; and 4. weather and climate prediction Services. 1 Figure 1: The Bureau's high latitude areas of responsibility 3. The Bureau's Antarctic Observations and Climate Monitoring Program The Bureau undertakes a comprehensive suite of ocean, atmosphere and space weather observations from Casey, Davis, Mawson and Macquarie Island stations. Many of our observation programs are carried out in-partnership with and in-support of other Australian and international agencies. At the stations, these programs include: air sampling for air quality monitoring: o CO2 gas sampling for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); o NO2 zenith sampling for New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA); o O2 sampling for the Scripps Institute - New Jersey USA; and o Radon 222 detection for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). surface based observations of temperature, humidity, pressure, cloud and wind for climate monitoring and in support of air-land-and-sea transport operations; twice per day weather balloon (radiosonde) flights at each station (except Mawson which is once per day) for weather model assimilation and climate monitoring; 2 weekly stratospheric ozonesonde flights from Davis and Macquarie Island in partnership with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and the Chinese Meteorological Administration (CMA); direct reception of polar orbiting weather satellite data from the Casey and Davis x-band earth stations to support air-land-and-sea transport operations; ionospheric measurements as part of the Australian space weather sensor network; GPS network receivers for satellite navigation; and maintenance of the AAD's remote automatic weather station aviation network. Over the Southern Ocean, our observations include: regular deployments of drifting buoys measuring temperature and pressure for weather model assimilation; and management of the WMO Voluntary Observing Ship scheme for METAREA X (Figure 1). The Bureau’s observations collected in Antarctica contribute to critically important basic networks of the WMO’s Global Observing System, including the Antarctic Basic Synoptic Network (ABSN) and the Antarctic Basic Climatological Network (ABCN). The Bureau's observing stations in the Antarctic and on Macquarie Island are part of the WMO co-sponsored Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Surface Network (GSN) and GCOS Upper Air Network (GUAN). The monitoring program includes special measurements, such as stratospheric ozone at Macquarie Island and on the Antarctic continent, in addition to the conventional meteorological measurements. Bureau facilities in Melbourne manage the quality and archival of the observational data and where required ensure its timely dissemination into the WMO Global Telecommunication System for international weather model assimilation. The value of Bureau equipment at the four stations is approximately $3.5 million. The annual cost of deploying 11 overwintering staff at the four stations is approximately $1.4 million. 4. The Bureau's Antarctic Weather and Climate services The Bureau provides dedicated weather services to support the safety and efficiency of the high-risk aviation, marine and overland activities undertaken by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the AAD in Antarctica. Over the busier summer months, these dedicated services are delivered by five "embedded" forecasters at Casey and Davis stations, as well as from mobile platforms like the RV Aurora Australis whenever prolonged helicopter operations are undertaken. The Bureau's Antarctic services are managed year round by two dedicated staff located in Hobart. It is noteworthy that our Antarctic services strongly leverage from both Bureau and AAD wider organisational IT, research and corporate facilities. As part of a skill sharing and operation strengthening exercise, the ADF have provided a forecaster into the Bureau embedded program for the last six summers. Other national Bureau services that extend into the Antarctic include: tsunami warnings for the stations, run from the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC); 3 tidal prediction from the National Tidal Centre; volcanic Ash warnings to aviation; climate services; and aircraft icing and turbulence warnings from the Bureau's National Operations Centre (BNOC). 5. Global seasonal and sub-seasonal numerical weather prediction The Bureau operates global weather and seasonal prediction models, termed the Australian Community Climate and Earth Simulator, or ACCESS-G and ACCESS-S. The information they provide underpins the weather and climate services we deliver to Antarctic decision makers. These models are on a constant improvement path and major upgrades are expected in both the global and seasonal prediction systems in 2018. In addition, a major upgrade of our global ocean forecast model is being undertaken and will better represent the ocean and sea ice state around the Antarctic. This is due for operations in 2019. The observations undertaken by the Bureau and its partners in the Antarctic and over the Southern Ocean are routinely assimilated in ACCESS-G and ACCESS-S. The assimilation of Antarctic observations have measurable impact in improving the skill of seasonal and sub- seasonal weather modelling not only in Antarctica but also across the Australian mainland and beyond. 6. The Bureau's Antarctic Research activities The Bureau's research and development effort is strongly focused on translating science into improved services. Our Science to Services team is currently undertaking model skill evaluation studies of sea ice forecasts in ACCESS-S as well as validating high latitude output from ACCESS-G with some experiments in Antarctic specific model physics. The Bureau is also involved in a number of internationally collaborative high latitude investigations and proposals, such as the: Antarctic Clouds and Radiation Experiment (ACRE) at Davis station; Macquarie Island Cloud and Radiation Experiment (MICRE); Southern Ocean Cloud, Radiation Aerosol Transport Experimental Study (SOCRATES) between Hobart and the sea ice edge; and Measurements of Aerosols, Radiation and Clouds over the Southern Oceans (MARCUS) being undertaken from the RV Aurora Australis this summer. 4 .
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