Tuesday, 5 March 2002

MEDIA RELEASE - HEAD OFFICE

International conference discusses future of weather satellites

Co-chair Guy Rochard of the French weather service Meteo-France says the gathering is a highly significant and important international forum. "Much of the science discussed here is leading-edge, and the programs we are talking about run to billions of dollars. The recommendations we will make after this meeting will have a real impact on the future plans of coordinating bodies such as the World Meteorological Organization and scientific organisations such as NASA."

Dr Sharman Stone, Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and Heritage, who is responsible for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, said: "This is a significant conference for Australia to be hosting given our reliance on accurate satellite data to guide forecasting and warning services, across the continent.

"A new series of polar-orbiting satellites being launched by the United States over the next few years, will provide an unprecedented amount of data on a global scale. Locally, this data will help forecasting for extreme weather events such as the New South Wales bushfires and tropical cyclones in northern Australia," Dr Stone said.

Further information:
Simon Frost, Dr Stone's office, tel: 0419 495 468
Dr John Le Marshall, principal research scientist, Data Assimilation section, Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre, tel: 0408 344 473, e-mail: j.lemarshall@bom.gov.au