Meteorological and Related Data and Products are delivered by the Bureau's basic observation, telecommunications and data processing systems.

The observation system includes: 55 Bureau-staffed stations which undertake a comprehensive program of surface and upper air meteorological data collection; a network of more than 800 stations which take surface observations using either automatic weather stations or contract observers; some 6000 volunteer rainfall observing stations; approximately 100 volunteer ships taking marine weather observations; and a range of other specialised networks and facilities such as weather watch radar, lightning detection, solar and terrestrial radiation, satellite data reception and ozone and including marine observations from drifting buoys.

The telecommunications system comprises an integrated network of landline, satellite, radio, facsimile and computer facilities for data collection and product dissemination.

Data processing is undertaken at the National Meteorological and Oceanographic Operations Centre (NMOC) in Melbourne, the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre for tropical analysis in Darwin, and at seven Regional Forecasting Centres, one in each State and the Northern Territory.

Engineering, workshop and computing facilities constitute an integral part of the observation, data collection and processing systems. These facilities include the High Performance Computing and Communications Centre (HPCCC) in Melbourne.

• Planned Outcome 2003-04
• Outputs 2003-04
• Achieving the Outcome