About Climate Data Online

Purpose of Climate Data Online

Our aim is to give you quick and ready access to recent and historical data as well as a range of popular climate products. Many of these products are generated dynamically at your request - this means that the most up-to-date information will be used to create your product.

We will update and add new products to these pages from time to time, so please check the Notice Board. Also, feel free to use the link on the Notice Board to drop us a line and let us know what you think of these products.

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Content

Climate Data Online provides a range of statistics, weather observations and other climate data for Australian locations. Some of the products - such as climate statistics - can only be accessed through these pages, while other data are accessible from different areas of the Bureau's web site.

Climate statistics are available for more than 1000 sites across the Australian continent, nearby islands and the Antarctic region. These are the sites where a minimum of ten years of maximum and minimum temperature data exist in the Australian Data Archive for Meteorology (ADAM). Statistics for some elements (e.g. evaporation) may not be available either because there are less than 10 years of observations, or the element may not have been observed at that site. Supporting information describing each of the statistics is included, and information is also provided about the individual sites to assist in choosing the most appropriate location.

The Daily Weather Observations product provides observations of weather elements for more than 700 locations. Observations are available for the current and previous twelve months, and include daily minimum and maximum temperature, rainfall, strongest wind gust, evaporation, and sunshine, together with values at 9 am and 3 pm of temperature, humidity, wind, cloud and pressure.

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Features of the initial release

The initial version of Climate Data Online provides an integrated, map-based interface to weather observations and statistics around Australia. The type of map can be selected according to your needs; plain for fastest download or topography to show the relationship between sites and the surrounding terrain. Climatological backgrounds will be progressively added, helping to show the relationship between sites and various climate elements (such as annual average rainfall). Capital city regions, which tend to have a higher density of sites, are provided at a larger scale.

Figure 1. Climate Data Online provides graphical comparison of monthly climate statistics

The range of statistics has been expanded from the previously available Climate Averages product, and are now calculated using data which are updated many times during the month. The dates on which extremes were observed are now also included. A new graph plotting tool provides an easy way to compare statistics and data for individual years, as well as allowing comparisons between two sites.

More information about each site is now provided, including a topographic map showing the site in relation to the surrounding terrain (nearby terrain can influence the climate). Background information about the different weather observations and the various statistics have been improved, and will continue to be expanded over time.

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Future development

Initial enhancements to the Climate Data Online product will include some changes suggested by users, and access to improved quality data. Plans for the future development of products include the incremental introduction of further statistics such as the typical weather expected at a site for each day of the year. Tools will be added to help examine hot and cold spells, and wet and dry spells, at a site. Also planned is an interactive tool which will assist in determining what climate data are available for any region within Australia, and for any time period since records began in the mid 1800s. Basic data sets may also be included as the system is developed.

It is anticipated that improvements to the way in which map navigation is implemented, including the addition of more background layers and the ability to zoom in and out of a region, will be made at some future date.

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