Oceanographic Services

Oceanographic Services is a relatively new program of activity in the Bureau, and one the Bureau is planning to significantly expand. The overall objective is to support the safety of life and property at sea, and for weather and climate prediction, defence and the proper management of marine resources and the environment related to Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Specific objectives include the provision of marine forecasts and related information in the public interest, for the purpose of navigation, shipping, recreation, marine environmental management, trade and commerce. Major new initiatives include the development of an ocean forecasting capability for Australia under the Joint Bureau/CSIRO/RAN BLUElink Project, which is due for completion in early 2007.

Outputs from the BLUElink project will significantly augment the range of oceanographic products and information presently available through this service, such as ocean waves and temperature observations or predictions, and tsunami related services.

A relatively new component of the Bureau's Oceanographic Services includes the provision of tidal and sea level related information. After the closure on 31 December 2003 of the former National Tidal Facility of Australia (NTFA), which was operated by Flinders University of South Australia, the Bureau established the
National Tidal Centre (NTC) on 1st January 2004.

The NTC is now the primary national source of tidal tables, tidal streams and tidal constituents. The NTC manages the national archive for sea levels and tides. It also maintains and operates sea level monitoring stations around Australia and the Southwest Pacific in order to determine the effects of Greenhouse induced climate change. Although predominantly designed for other purposes, the instruments contribute wherever possible to advance national alerts for tsunamis. These are provided under the Australian Tsunami Alert Service (ATAS), which is jointly operated by the Bureau, Geoscience Australia and Emergency Management Australia.