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APPENDIX 8 - MAJOR EVENTS 2000-01

JULY

The SX-5 supercomputer, Florey, became fully operational.

Applications of Seasonal Climate Forecasting in Agricultural and Natural Ecosystems - the Australian Experience, a book co-authored by Dr Neville Nicholls of BMRC, was published by Kluwer Academic Publishers.

An autosonde was installed at Moree.

Forecasts were provided to organisers and the public along the route of the Olympic Torch Relay through Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria.

An automatic weather station (AWS) was commissioned at Mount Gellibrand (Vic).

AUGUST

The new Doppler radar at Kurnell (NSW) was officially commissioned by the Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for the Bureau, the Hon. Dr Sharman Stone MP.

The first prototype of the Australian Marine Forecasting System (AMFS) was released for evaluation by forecasting staff.

Production of hourly winds from satellite-observed cloud drift became fully operational.

TVNZ (Australia) was selected as the preferred tenderer for provision of the Bureau's new HF marine radio broadcast services from mid-2002.

The National Meteorological Library's databases, including the catalogue, became accessible to the general public via the Bureau's web site.

The Bureau hosted the first informal meeting of an international network of National GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) Coordinators in Melbourne.

The first Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) regional implementation workshop was held in Samoa.

A wind profiler was installed at Shanes Park, Sydney.

SEPTEMBER

The World Weather Research Programme two month Forecast Demonstration Project, involving international state-of-the-art nowcasting systems from the USA, Canada, the UK and the Bureau commenced in Sydney.

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Weather Support Service went into operation. The Bureau provided detailed information, forecast and advisory services to the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) for all venues in Sydney and for the interstate football matches.

The Director of Meteorology, Dr John Zillman, attended the twelfth session of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Regional Association for Asia, in Seoul (Korea) from 19 to 22 September, as President of WMO.

The first session of the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysical Agency/Bureau of Meteorology Technical Committee convened in Darwin.

An autosonde was installed at Kalgoorlie.

OCTOBER

The Weather Support Services were provided to the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Technical Conference on Meteorological and Environmental Instruments and Methods of Observation (TECO 2000) and the associated Meteorex 2000 (an exhibition of instruments by manufacturers) was held in Beijing (China) from 23 to 28 October.

The Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) Modelling Workshop, Twelfth in the annual series, was held in Melbourne from 16 to 20 October. The workshop was followed, from 23 to 27 October, by a session of the Working Group on Numerical Experimentation.

The Bureau's National Climate Centre (NCC) convened the Cli-Manage 2000 conference in Albury from 23 to 25 October. It was opened by the Parliamentary Secretary, the Hon. Dr Sharman Stone MP.

NOVEMBER

A new radar service, providing real-time access to imagery for 42 radars around Australia, was implemented on the Bureau's web site and there was a significant increase in useage of the web site.

Installation of a new autosonde at Woomera was completed on 24 November.

Two new DCP-type automatic weather stations (AWS) were installed at Heard Island, replacing existing AWSs that had been operating continuously at Spit Bay and Atlas Cove since March 1997.

The old Cray J90 and NEC SX-4 supercomputers were shut down.

The eleventh session of the WMO Commission for Hydrology was held in Abuja (Nigeria). The Bureau's Superintendent of Hydrology, Mr Bruce Stewart was elected vice-president of the Commission.

Delegations from the Cambodian Meteorological Service and the China Meteorological Administration made official visits to the Bureau.

A Forward Planning Conference was held in Melbourne on 23 and 24 November.

The reconvened thirteenth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) and the sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the FCCC were held in The Hague (Netherlands).

An autosonde was installed at Woomera.

DECEMBER

The NSW Coroner released his report into the 1998 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on 12 December.

The Bureau's involvement in the 2000 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race was initiated and the Mini-Guide to Marine Weather Services in NSW was launched on 22 December by the Parliamentary Secretary, the Hon. Dr Sharman Stone MP.

The Climatic Atlas of Australia - Rainfall was published. It includes mean monthly and annual rainfall maps (based on the WMO standard period 1961-1990) as well as photographs, times series graphs and explanatory text.

The twelfth session of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Commission for Basic Systems was held in Geneva (Switzerland). The Bureau's Deputy Director (Services), Dr Geoff Love, was elected president of the Commission.

The newly installed weather radar at Wyndham became operational.

JANUARY

The eighth session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I adopted the Working Group I component of the IPCC's Third Assessment Report in Shanghai (China).

An International Workshop on the Dynamics and Forecasting of Tropical Weather Systems was held in Darwin from 22 to 26 January. It was attended by about 40 international forecasters and researchers and Bureau staff.

The Wind Waves Weather boating weather booklet for Tasmania was published.

The China Meteorological Administration announced that the Feng Yung-2B geostationary satellite had become fully operational.

The third meeting of the Asia-Pacific Satellite Data Exchange and Utilisation (APSDEU) group as held in Melbourne. Several international scientists attended.

The Director of Meteorology, Dr John Zillman, as President of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), chaired the forty-fifth session of the WMO Bureau and the first session of the WMO Executive Council Consultative Meetings on High-Level Policy on Satellite Matters, in Geneva (Switzerland).

FEBRUARY

The second NEC SX-5 supercomputer, named Russell after Australia's first native-born Government Astronomer and Meteorologist, was formally accepted.

A Budget and Program Workshop was held in Melbourne on 19 and 20 February.

The fifth meeting of the International Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) Steering Team was held in Noumea. BMRC hosts the International Project Office for GODAE.

The eighth Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) National Conference was held at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

In conjunction with the Australian Greenhouse Office, the Bureau organised a half-day Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Science Forum for industry, government and the media, in Melbourne.

The sixth session of Working Group II of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in Geneva, adopted the Working Group II component of the IPCC Third Assessment Report 'Climate Change 2001, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability'.

Construction of a new meteorological office and installation of equipment at Weipa was completed.

MARCH

The Global Telecommunications System link between Papua New Guinea and Melbourne was replaced by an Internet link.

On 23 and 27 March, five Olympic AWSs (Cannae Point, Middle and South Heads, and Clark and Shark Islands) were decommissioned and removed. This was to fulfil an agreement with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service that allowed the AWSs temporarily on its land for the Olympics.

World Meteorological Day was celebrated on 23 March with the theme `Volunteers for weather, climate and water'. The Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for the Bureau, the Hon. Dr Sharman Stone MP, delivered the 2001 World Meteorological Day Address in Melbourne on 22 March.

The twenty-second session of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)/International Council for Science (ICSU)/Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Joint Scientific Committee for the World Climate Research Programme, was held in Boulder (USA).

The sixth session of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) held in Accra (Ghana) finalised the Working Group III component of the IPCC's Third Assessment Report.

APRIL

Legion Interactive was selected as the Bureau's new 1900 and 1300 telephone weather services provider.

The Director of Meteorology, Dr John Zillman, attended the thirteenth session of the WMO Regional Association for North and Central America in Maracay (Venezuela) in his capacity as President of WMO.

The BMRC hosted the Third Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research workshop on 'Climate Extremes'. Representatives of 17 countries participated.

The seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was held in Nairobi (Kenya).

The Director of Meteorology, Dr John Zillman, addressed the Third Technical Conference on Management of Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) South-West Pacific Region held in Manila (Philipines).

MAY

The Bureau's Budget and Program Workshop, to finalise Bureau plans and resource allocations for the 2001-02 financial year, was held in Melbourne on 17 and 18 May.

The eighth session of the International Civil Aviation Organization's World Area Forecast System Study Group was held in Bracknell (UK).

An automatic weather station (AWS) was installed and commissioned at Point Perpendicular (NSW).

The first Worldwide Recurring ASAP (Automated Shipboard Aerological Programme) Project (WRAP) vessel arrived in Melbourne on its inaugural WRAP voyage on 6 May. This new project enables the vessel to provide two upper-atmosphere radiosonde soundings per day while en route between Europe - Cape of Good Hope - Australia - New Zealand - Cape Horn - Brazil - Europe.

JUNE

The Director of Meteorology, Dr John Zillman, as President of the WMO, attended and chaired the fifty-third session of the WMO Executive Council in Geneva (Switzerland).

The inaugural session of the IOC/WMO Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) was held in Akureyri (Iceland).

The sixth Formal Meeting between the Russian Federation Hydrometeorological Service and the Bureau, under the memorandum of understanding, was convened in Geneva (Switzerland) on 12 June.

The Bureau provided meteorological services to Tandem Thrust 2001, a large scale military exercise in the Shoalwater Bay training area involving Australian, US and Canadian defence forces.

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