| Bureau of Meteorology weather radars | |
| Image Size: | 400px |
| Country: | Australia |
| Manufacturer: | Various |
| Number: | 69 |
| Type: | C and S bands |
The majority of Australia's weather radars are operated by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), an executive agency of the Australian Government. The radar network is continually being upgraded with new technology such as doppler and dual polarisation to provide better now-casting. Doppler weather radars are able to detect the movement of precipitation, making it very useful in detecting damaging winds associated with precipitation,[1] and determining if a thunderstorm has a rotating updraft, a key indicator of the presence of the most dangerous type of thunderstorm, a supercell.[2] [3] [4]
The new dual polarisation radars give forecasters the ability to:
The transition to polarimetric (dual-polarised) radars began in 2017 with the upgrade of 4 Meteor 1500 radars located in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Sydney.[7] The network has further been enhanced through the installation of 8 new polarimetric Meteor 735 radars across WA, NSW & Victoria, and two polarimetric WRM200 radars[8] manufactured by Vaisala, one to replace the radar in Dampier, WA which had been destroyed by severe tropical cyclone Damien in 2020, and one to replace an ageing radar near Gove in the Northern Territory. Six new Meteor 1700s were also installed between 2021 and 2023, 5 located in Qld, and 1 in Perth, WA, all equipped with dual polarisation technology. All the radars with the model name 'Meteor' were manufactured by Selex ES, now Leonardo.
Specifications are available for the Meteor 735, Meteor 1700, and the Vaisala WRM200.
The BoM has plans[9] [10] [11] to:
The Australian Capital Territory is served by the Captains Flat radar, located in New South Wales.
| Brewarrina | 149 | Meteor 735 | 1 | 250 | C | ||||||
| Canberra (Captains Flat) | 1383 | DWSR74S14-13 | 2 | 250 | S | ||||||
| Grafton | 40 | WSR74S-14 | 2 | 500 | S | ||||||
| Hillston | 144 | Meteor 735 | 1 | 250 | C | ||||||
| Moree | 220 | WF100C-8 | 1.6 | 500 | C | ||||||
| Namoi (Blackjack Mountain) | 699 | DWSR8502S-14 | 2 | 250 | S | ||||||
| Newcastle | 84 | DWSR74S14-13 | 2 | 250 | S | ||||||
| Norfolk Island | ~120 | WF100C-8 | 1.6 | C | The data from this radar is not in the national radar archive and therefore its metadata is inaccessible. | ||||||
| Sydney (Terrey Hills) | 195 | Meteor 1500 | 1 | 250 | S | ||||||
| Wagga Wagga | 221 | WF100C-8 | 1.6 | 500 | C | ||||||
| Wollongong (Appin) | 449 | DWSR8502S-14 | 2 | 250 | S | ||||||
| Yeoval | 487 | Meteor 735 | 1 | 250 | C | The radar suffers moderate beam obstruction between approximately 70° and 130° due to an area of elevated terrain, meaning there is an underestimation of rain intensity in the lowest radar tilt between the same bearings. | |||||
| Kurnell | 64 | WSR81C-12 | 1 | 250 | C | The Kurnell radar is a backup radar and consequently live radar images are not available. Archived radar data is uploaded here |
| Alice Springs | 545 | WF100C-8 | 1.6 | 500 | C | ||||||
| Darwin (Berrimah) | 51 | Wurrung 2502C | 1 | 250 | C | ||||||
| Darwin Airport | 38 | Wurrung 2502C | 1.6 | 250 | C | ||||||
| Gove | 61 | WRM 200 | 1 | 250 | C | The WRM200 radar system replaced an aging WF100 radar in July 2023. | |||||
| Katherine (Tindal) | 131 | WSR81C-8 | 1.6 | 500 | C | ||||||
| Warruwi | 43 | Wurrung 2502C | 1 | 250 | C |
| Bowen | WF100C-8 | 1.6 | 500 | C | |||||||
| Brisbane Airport | MeteoPress C | 1.7 | 250 | C | [19] | Doppler and dual-polarized measurements aren't available on the BoM website. | |||||
| Brisbane (Mt Stapylton) | Meteor 1500 | 1 | 250 | S | |||||||
| Cairns | Wurrung 2502C | 1 | 250 | C | The signal processor was upgraded in August 2023. | ||||||
| Emerald | DWSR 8502 | 2 | S | ||||||||
| Gladstone | WSR-74 | 2 | S | ||||||||
| Greenvale | Meteor 1700 | 1 | 250 | S | |||||||
| Gympie (Mt Kanigan) | DWSR 8502 | 2 | S | ||||||||
| Longreach | WF 100C-8 | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Mackay | 42 | Meteor 1700 | 1 | 250 | S | A new radar became operation in December 2023.[20] | |||||
| Marburg | 370 | Meteor 1700 | 1 | 250 | S | In November 2023, a new radar replaced an ageing WSR-74.[21] The radar suffers beam blockage on the tilts 0.6° and 0.83° to the W and SW of the radar, leading to an under-representation of reflectivity values between those bearings. | |||||
| Mornington Island | WF 100C-8 | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Mount Isa | DWSR 8502 | 2 | S | ||||||||
| Richmond | Meteor 1700 | 1 | 250 | S | [22] | ||||||
| Taroom | Meteor 1700 | 1 | 250 | S | [23] | ||||||
| Toowoomba | Meteor 1700 | 1 | 250 | S | Installed on the 18th of April 2024 | ||||||
| Townsville (Hervey Range) | DWSR 2502 | 1 | C | This radar will be replaced with a new Meteor 1700 radar in 2024. | |||||||
| Warrego | TVDR 2500 | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Weipa | Wurrung 2502C | 1 | C | ||||||||
| Willis Island | Wurrung 2502C | 1.6 | C |
| Adelaide (Buckland Park) | Meteor 1500 | 1 | 250 | S | |||||||
| Adelaide (Sellicks Hill) | WF 100C-8 | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Ceduna | Wurrung 2502C | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Mt Gambier | WF 100C-8 | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Woomera | WF 100C-8 | 1.6 | C |
| Hobart (Mt Koonya) | Wurrung 2502C | 1 | C | ||||||||
| Hobart Airport | WF 100C-6 | 2 | C | ||||||||
| N.W. Tasmania (West Takone) | Wurrung 2502C | 1 | C |
| Bairnsdale | Wurrung 2502C | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Melbourne | Meteor 1500 | 1 | S | ||||||||
| Melbourne (Broadmeadows) | Wurrung 2502C | 1.6 | C | ||||||||
| Mildura | Meteor 735 | 1 | C | ||||||||
| Rainbow | Meteor 735 | 1 | C | ||||||||
| Yarrawonga | WSR 81C | 1 | C |
| Albany | Meteor 735 | C | |||||
| Broome | Wurrung 2502C | C | |||||
| Carnavon | DWSR 2502 | C | |||||
| Dampier | WRM 200 | C | [32] | ||||
| Esperance | Meteor 735 | C | |||||
| Geraldton | Meteor 735 | C | |||||
| Giles | WF 100C-6 | C | |||||
| Halls Creek | Wurrung 2502C | C | |||||
| Kalgoorlie | Wurrung 2502C | C | |||||
| Learmonth | TVDR 2500 | C | |||||
| Newdegate | Wurrung 2500C | C | |||||
| Perth (Serpentine) | Meteor 1700 | S | |||||
| Perth Airport | Wurrung 2502C | C | |||||
| Port Hedland | TVDR 2500 | C | |||||
| South Doodlakine | Wurrung 2502C | C | |||||
| Watheroo | Wurrung 2502C | C | |||||
| Wyndham | WF 100C-8 | C | |||||
Note:
| CPOL | 50m | Inactive (6/12/1998 - 2/5/2017) | N/A | C | The data which CPOL has collected is used to study the microphysical and dynamic properties of thunderstorm convection in Darwin, Australia, enabling the improvement of atmospheric models' representations of the convection formed during the pre-monsoon buildup and active monsoon.[34] [35] | ||||
| CP2 | 185.5m | Inactive (1/11/2007 - 1/6/2015) | N/A | S & X | The CP2 Research radar was a 1970's era radar, which the BoM received as a gift from the NCAR in the United States. The BoM retrofitted it with modern parts which gave it the unique ability to collect data at two frequencies, S and X band. The upgrades also provided state of the art dual polarisation and doppler technologies. The CP in its title stands for cloud physics, and the radar has been used to research thunderstorms, drive improvements in rainfall measurements and hail detection and explore the potential for cloud seeding. [36] | ||||
| Ocean Pol | N/A (Mobile radar) | 22m | Active (22/3/2015-) | N/A | C | This research radar is installed on the RV Investigator, an ocean research vessel. The radar collects data on research voyages, including trips to Antarctic waters, Heard Island and circumnavigations of Australia. [37] | |||
| UQXPOL[38] | N/A (Mobile radar) | N/A | Active (14/10/2014-) | Furuno WR-2100 | X | This research radar is operated by the University of Queensland and has been involved with research to improve hail detection and hail size prediction algorithms,[39] and also with research into bushfires and pyroconvection as part of a $1 million google.org philanthropic venture.[40] [41] | |||
| Monash University x-band | N/A (Mobile radar) | N/A | Active | Meteor 60DX | X |