New South Wales Radar Site Information
Canberra/Captains Flat
Location: Captains Flat (lat 35.66 deg S, long 149.51 deg E)
Type: WSR 74 S Band
Availability (Typical): 24 hours per day
Interpretation Notes:
The Captains Flat radar has a very good view in all directions and is
the primary weather radar for the A.C.T., the Southern Tablelands and
the New South Wales south coast, with coverage extending across the Monaro
region through to the Victorian border. The radar dish is situated on
a 22.35m cylindrical tower atop Mt Cowangerong, at a height of 1,381.6
metres above sea level. An area of permanent false echoes is evident about
20km off the coast between Batemans Bay and Moruya (East to East South
East) and extending a further 80km out to sea. This anamolous propagation
is easily identified and displays as a mass of low intensity echoes, constantly
changing shape but with no apparent direction of movement. True rain echoes
normally have a consistent direction of movement from one scan to the
next.
Grafton
Location: NSW Agriculture Research Station, Grafton (lat 29.62 deg S, long 152.97 deg E)
Type: WSR 74 S Band
Availability (Typical):24 hours per day.
Interpretation Notes:
The Grafton radar has a very good view in all directions and is the primary
weather radar for the North East of NSW. It should provide useful weather
information as far west as Glen Innes, south to Kempsey and north to the
Gold Coast. There is a tendency to observe areas of false echoes within
approximately 100 kilometres of the radar over the sea. These are normally
easy to recognise because they are usually the lowest intensity level
and randomly scattered with erratic movement from one radar scan to the
next. True rain echoes normally have a consistent direction of movement
from one scan to the next. Due to its location, this radar is often unable
to detect light showers or drizzle beyond a range of 100 kilometres. Although
largely removed from the display, anyone to the south west of the radar
(50 kilometres or more from Grafton) may find an occasional false echo
generated by the mountains in this region.
There is a small blind spot within a few kilometres of the radar.
Moree
Location: Moree Airport (lat 29.50 deg S, long 149.85 deg E)
Type: WF 100 C Band
Availability (Typical): Midnight - 09.15; 10.30 - 15.15; 16.30 - 21.15; 22.30 - midnight.
Interpretation Notes:
The Moree radar has a good view in most directions to a distance of 100
km. Nearby buildings severely restrict the view in the directions 110
degrees to 127 degrees (approximately east-southeast). Beyond 100 km,
the view is limited for directions from the northwest through north to
the east-southeast. It should provide useful weather information as far
west as Walgett, south to Gunnedah, north to Goondiwindi and east to Delungra.
Being a "C Band" radar, if there are large thunderstorms around, the radar
will not be able to detect accurately the strength of other storms located
behind the closest storms. This will also lead to the underestimation
of the strength, at times, of very intense local storms. There is a tendency
to observe small areas of false echoes within approximately 50 kilometres
of the radar. These are normally easy to recognise because they are usually
the lowest intensity level, very small and randomly scattered. Heavy rain
over the radar itself will reduce the reliability of the radar in all
directions.
There is a small blind spot within a few kilometres of Moree Airport.
Newcastle
Location: Lemon Tree Passage (lat 32.730 deg S, long 152.027 deg E)
Type: WSR 74 S Band
Availability (Typical): 24 hours per day.
Interpretation Notes:
The Newcastle radar has a very good view in all directions and is the
primary weather radar for the populated areas around Newcastle and the
New South Wales central coast. It should provide useful weather information
as far north as Port Macquarie, west to Wollemi National Park and South
to Campbelltown. There is a tendency to observe areas of false echoes
within approximately 100 kilometres of the radar over the sea. These anomalous
propagations are easily identified and are displayed as a mass of low
intensity echoes, constantly changing shape with no apparent direction
of movement from one radar scan to the next. True rain echoes normally
have a consistent direction of movement. This radar is often unable to
detect light showers or drizzle beyond a range of 100 kilometres. Heavy
rain over the radar site will cause attenuation of all signals. Path attenuation
also occurs when the radar beam passes through an intense thunderstorm
cell; the returned signal from cells further along that path will be reduced.
Apart from these features, the radar performs well and gives a reasonably
accurate representation of rainfall intensity.
Norfolk Island
Location: Aerodrome, Norfolk Island. (latitude 29.033 S, longitude 167.933 E)
Type: WF 100 C Band
Availability (Typical): Midnight - 09.15; 10.30 - 15.15; 16.30 - 21.15; 22.30 - midnight.
Interpretation Notes:
The Norfolk Island radar has good coverage in most directions but trees
to the north obstruct the radars view. Being a C Band radar, if there
are large thunderstorms around, the radar may not be able to detect accurately
the strength of other storms located behind the closest storms. This may
also lead to the underestimation of the strength, at times, of very intense
isolated storms. Heavy rain over the radar itself will reduce the reliability
of the radar in all directions. There may be a tendency to observe areas
of false echoes from the sea surface within approximately 50 kilometres
of the radar. There is a blind spot of 4km radius centred on Norfolk Island
Airport. Operational constraints may occasionally limit the availability
of data from this station.
Go
to the Norfolk Island radar
Sydney (Terrey Hills)
Location: lat 33.701 deg S, long 151.210 deg E
Type: Meteor 1500 S-band Doppler
Availability (Typical): 24 hours per day
Geographical Situation
The radar is located 18 km north of the Sydney CBD. The Terrey Hills site, on the Hornsby plateau at an elevation of 195 metres above sea level, gives the radar an excellent view in all directions. The rough topography of the Great Dividing Range slightly compromises the radar’s view to the west, but the coverage to the north, east and south is largely unobstructed. Based on detecting echoes at an altitude of 3,000 metres, the radar coverage extends as far north as Bulahdelah and Scone, west to Mudgee and Bathurst and south to Goulburn and Ulladulla.
Meteorological Aspects
The radar will readily detect thunderstorms and deep rain-bearing systems approaching from any direction, often at greater range than quoted above. The high sensitivity of the radar will assist in the detection of drizzle and light shower activity over Sydney, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains, but, as with other radars, the curvature of the Earth may hide these usually shallow weather systems at longer range. People in the Newcastle, Hunter Valley and lower Mid North coast are therefore encouraged to refer to the nearer Newcastle radar, those in the Illawarra the Sydney (Appin) radar and users on the Southern Tablelands the Canberra radar.
Non-meteorological Echoes
In most cases, processing of the radar signal removes permanent echoes caused by hills, buildings and other solid objects, but sometimes a few slip through. These usually show up as small, stationary or erratically moving specks, mostly over the higher ground of the Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands and Barrington Tops areas. On cold clear winter nights and mornings these echoes may become stronger or increase in number due to downward refraction of the radar beam.
Ships are regularly observed over the sea. These appear as specks or short arcs (oriented perpendicular to the direction of the radar). They can often be tracked moving towards or away from port over a series of images.
During strong winds and very rough seas, sea clutter may be visible off the coast out to a range of about 30 km. This sea clutter tends to remain in the same area and can therefore be distinguished from rain echoes, which generally move with the wind.
Go Sydney (Terrey Hills) radar
Sydney (Appin)
Location: Appin Road, Bulli (northwest of Wollongong)
(lat 34.26 deg S, long 150.87 deg E)
Type: WSR 74 S Band
Availability (Typical): 24 hours per day.
The Appin radar has a good view in all directions, though the Great Dividing Range and the Southern Highlands compromise coverage somewhat in the northwest, west and southwest sectors. Based on detecting echoes at an altitude of 3,000 metres altitude, the radar coverage extends as far north as Newcastle, northwest to near Bathurst, southwest to around Lake George (between Goulburn and Canberra) and south to about Ulladulla. Thunderstorms will often be detected at longer range. The radar is not good at detecting light showers or drizzle, except at close range. In strong winds and very rough seas, the Appin radar may show sea clutter off the coast out to a range of about 100 km. This sea clutter tends to remain in the same area and can therefore be distinguished from rain echoes, which generally move with the wind. The new Sydney (Terrey Hills) radar provides superior coverage of Sydney, the Central Coast and Central Tablelands regions.
Go to the Sydney (Appin) radar
Wagga Wagga
Location: Wagga Wagga Airport (lat 35.17 deg S, long 147.47 deg E)
Type: WF 100 C Band
Availability (Typical): Midnight - 03.15, 04.30 - 09.15; 10.30 - 15.15; 16.30 - 21.15; 22.30 - midnight.
Interpretation Notes:
The Wagga Wagga radar has a very good view in most directions but trees
to the north west block the view almost entirely between the north west
and north north west. A low range of hills in the southern sector limit
its useful range to about the Murray River. It should provide useful weather
information as far west as Colleambally, north to Grenfell and east to
Canberra. People in the ACT should realise that this area is near the
outer limit of the radar coverage so low level weather echoes will not
be detected and the radar will be unable to detect weather systems approaching
Canberra from the eastern sectors. Being a "C Band" radar, if there are
large thunderstorms around, the radar will not be able to detect accurately
the strength of other storms located behind the closest storms. This will
also lead to the underestimation of the strength, at times, of very intense
isolated storms. Heavy rain over the radar itself will reduce the reliability
of the radar in all directions. There is a tendency to observe small areas
of false echoes within approximately 50 kilometres of the radar. These
are normally easy to recognise because they are usually the lowest intensity
level, very small and randomly scattered.
There is a small blind spot within a few kilometres of Wagga Wagga Airport.