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This document describes the details of the rainfall and river height stations which are used for flood warning and forecasting operations in the Bureau's Flood Warning Centre located in Brisbane. The stations are owned and operated by various agencies including the Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, SunWater, SEQWater, NQ Water, Gladstone Area Water Board, Wide Bay Water and in Local Governments. The stations can be found on the Flood Warning Network maps by using the name of the basin in which the station is located to identify the appropriate map. Section 1. Floodwarn Rainfall Stations This index lists the rainfall stations which have been specially established for flood warning purposes. It contains stations which rely on manual observations and automatic stations. The manual stations report whenever 25 or 50 millimetres of rain has been recorded and thereafter at frequent intervals during heavy rain. They also report daily totals to 9am. Reports from these stations are lodged via a Remote Observer Terminal (ROT) connected to the telephone. Stations indicated by the letters TM or ALERT in the station name are automatic stations. TM stations are connected to the public telephone network and polled regularly by computer during periods of heavy rain. ALERT stations communicate by radio and report every one millimetre to the local base station and the Flood Warning Centre. Section 2. Daily Reporting Rainfall Stations This index lists manual stations which provide reports of the rainfall amount received in the 24 hours to 9am each day and are used in flood warning operations. Similarly to the manual stations above, these station report via ROTs. Synoptic (SYN) and Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) are also included as these provide daily rainfall reports, as well as additional reports. Stations can also be approximately located through its station number as the first 3 digits indicate the Rainfall District. For example, Station 044123 is number 123 in District 44 which is the Warrego Rainfall District. Section 3. Floodwarn River Height Stations This section contains an alphabetical index of all river height stations, manual and automatic. The manual stations report whenever the first report height is reached and therafter at frequent intervals whenever the river is above first report height. Reports from these stations are lodged via a Remote Observer Terminal (ROT) connected to the telephone. Stations indicated by the letters TM or ALERT in the station name are automatic stations. TM stations are connected to the public telephone network and polled regularly by computer during flood periods. ALERT stations communicate by radio and report every time the river level changes by 50 millimetre to the local base station and the Flood Warning Centre. Note that the first three digits of the AWRC number refer to the river basin number. Section 4. Flood Classifications This section contains an listing of all river height stations, in catchment order from upstream to downstream, and the levels at which Minor, Moderate and Major flooding commence. Where appropriate, the river heights are also referenced to the nearby road crossing (bridge, causeway etc), and the level at which cropping/grazing land and residential property (town/houses) commence to be affected. Flood level classifications are based on the following definitions: Minor Flooding: This causes inconvenience such as closing of minor roads and the submergence of low level bridges and makes the removal of pumps located adjacent to the river necessary. Moderate Flooding: This causes the inundation of low lying areas requiring the removal of stock and/or the evacuation of some houses. Main traffic bridges may be closed by flood waters. Major Flooding: This causes inundation of large areas, isolating towns and cities. Major disruptions occur to road and rail links. Evacuation of many houses and business premises may be required. In rural areas widespread flooding of farmland is likely. This section contains details of the road crossings, where applicable, at river height stations. It shows the crossing name and gauge height at which flood waters commence to cover the crossing. This section contains other details applicable to river height stations, such as the AMTD (adopted middle thread distance) which is the distance along the river upstream from its outlet; reduced level (RL) of the gauge zero (GZ) which is the level of the zero gauge on a datum (typically Australian Height Datum or AHD) and the catchment area in square kilometres above the river station. It also shows the level, on gauge height, at which minor, moderate and major flooding commences. This section provides a list of flood warning stations and their operating agency. Many stations are operated by a number of agencies in partnership. For example, a water resources gauging station owned and operated by the Department of Environment and Resource Management may also have automatic equipment operated by the Bureau of Meteorology and/or Local Government. The maps show the approximate location of the rainfall and river height stations in the flood warning network for each River Basin. |
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