Review of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology

The key points of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering submission are as follows:

• The nature and functions of the Bureau of Meteorology should be reviewed and adjusted periodically to accommodate the expanding requirements of a modern society and to the uncertainties in the impacts of climate change and the natural environment.
• The Bureau should deliver public-good services in order to help protect life and property from natural hazards and to optimise the benefit to the national economy through the application of meteorological information. These services should be funded from public revenue.
• The maintenance and enhancement of the Bureau’s infrastructure to monitor and analyse all aspects of climate will be vital for the emerging impacts for climate change on communities and the natural environment.
• Australia’s location also means that we benefit greatly from the free international exchange of meteorological data under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization. To maintain our access to such data, it will be necessary for the Bureau to maintain an active role in the relevant international communities
• The Bureau’s capability should be sustained by ensuring that staff are trained appropriately, by maintaining a strong in-house research capability, and by maintaining effective links with the external scientific community, including the universities and CSIRO in Australia.

Summary

Owing to its geographical isolation and unique climate, Australia has always recognised the need to maintain self-reliance in meteorological services. This need is expected to grow in scale and scope over the 21st century owing to the expanding requirements of a modern society and to the uncertainties in the impacts of climate change on society and the natural environment. Thus the nature and functions of the Bureau of Meteorology should be reviewed and adjusted periodically to accommodate these evolving needs. These functions may evolve towards those of a national environment service.

The fundamental need for a National Meteorological Service is associated with the generation of public-good services, derived from the collection, analysis and interpretation of meteorological observations. The Bureau should deliver these services in order to help protect life and property from natural hazards and to optimise the benefit to the national economy through the application of meteorological information. As public goods, these services should be funded from public revenue. The quality, quantity and scope of these services should be competitive with products available from overseas sources.

The emerging impacts for climate change on communities and the natural environment will place additional pressure on the Bureau in the future to deliver appropriate climate services. The maintenance and enhancement of the Bureau’s infrastructure to monitor and analyse all aspects of climate will be vital. The interfaces between meteorology, climate impacts and social response strategies are blurred, and the Bureau will need to play an increasing role in supporting information exchange at these interfaces.

Australia’s location also means that we benefit greatly from the free international exchange of meteorological data under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization. This benefit is especially significant in the exchange of satellite data for monitoring the atmosphere, ocean and land surface. To maintain our access to such data, it will be necessary for the Bureau to maintain an active role in the relevant international communities.

The effectiveness of the Bureau depends upon its scientific capability. This capability should be sustained by ensuring that Bureau staff are trained appropriately, by maintaining a strong inhouse research capability, and by maintaining effective links with the external scientific community, including the universities and CSIRO in Australia.