South Australia Radar Site Information
Adelaide (Buckland Park)
Location: Buckland Park. (lat 34.617 deg S, long 138.469 deg E)
Type: Meteor 1500S (S Band).
Availability (Typical): 24 hours per day.
Interpretation Notes:
Geographical Situation
The radar is located on the coastal plain 35 km north-northwest of the
Adelaide city centre. The main topographic feature of the region is the
Mount Lofty Ranges, running roughly north to south from Burra to Cape
Jervis. Shallow rain showers or drizzle beyond the ranges, particularly
to the east and southeast, can be obscured from the radar's view. Otherwise,
coverage is only limited by the distance from the radar, and the curvature
of the earth.
Meteorological Aspects
Rain bearing weather systems usually approach Adelaide from the western
half of the skyline, predominantly from the southwest through to the north.
The Buckland Park radar is ideally situated to detect and track these
systems. While the Mount Lofty Ranges may obscure the radar's view of
shallow rain showers or drizzle on the eastern side of the Mount Lofty
Ranges, heavy rain and thunderstorms in this area can be easily detected.
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 show up as small, stationary patches of light rain,
mostly along the higher ground of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Under stable
atmospheric conditions, particularly when low level temperature inversions
are present, anomalous propagation may cause patches of echoes to appear
along the eastern coastline of Yorke Peninsula, southern Gulf St Vincent,
parts of Kangaroo Island and Fleurieu Peninsula.
When the seas in Gulf St Vincent are very rough, some sea clutter may
be visible in the sector to the west and southwest, out to about 30 km.
This sea clutter tends to remain in the same area and therefore can be
distinguished from rain echoes, which generally move with the wind.
On occasions, the moving blades of wind turbines at the wind farms near
Edithburgh on Yorke Peninsula and Cape Jervis on southern Fleurieu Peninsula
may also be detected as isolated, stationary echoes.
Adelaide (Sellicks Hill)
Location: Sellicks Hill, approximately 45 km south of Adelaide
Airport (lat 35.33 deg S, long 138.50 deg E)
Type: WF 100 (C Band, 5 centimetre wavelength).
Availability (Typical) : 24 hours per day.
Interpretation Notes: The Sellicks Hill radar is located on top
of an escarpment which is part of the southern extension of the Mt Lofty
Ranges. The escarpment is orientated from northeast to southwest. The
radar antenna elevation is approximately 350 metres above sea level.
The radar has excellent coverage in all directions up to a range of 250
km. In windy conditions, partial beam reflection from waves on Gulf St
Vincent (5 km to the west) results in a quasi permanent weak echo area
extending from approximately 315 degrees true to 240 degrees true. This
can be distinguished from real echoes which are smaller in size and usually
show steady mobility.
Heavy rain directly over the radar site can cause attenuation of all signals.
Path attenuation can also occur when the radar beam passes through intense
rainfall, with the returned signal from cells further along that path
reduced.
Ceduna
Location: Ceduna Airport (lat 32.13 deg S, long 133.70 deg E)
Type: WF 100 (C Band, 5 centimetre wavelength).
Availability (Typical): 21.45-0215; 0345-0815; 0945-1415; 1545-2015 (CST).
Interpretation Notes: The Ceduna radar is located at the Meteorological
Office which is 3 km east of the township of Ceduna. The surrounding terrain
is generally low lying and featureless. The waters of the Great Australian
Bight are about 5 km to the southwest of the radar. The radar antenna
elevation is 25 metres above sea level.
The radar has very good coverage in all directions up to a range of about
250 km. "False echoes" or Anomalous Propagation (AP) can occur on limited
occasions in summer where a sea breeze inversion becomes established over
the coastal waters. AP can be identified by its static appearance and
can normally be distinguished from "real" echoes which exhibit some movement.
Heavy rain directly over the radar site can cause attenuation of all signals.
Path attenuation can also occur when the radar beam passes through intense
rainfall, with the returned signal from cells further along that path
reduced.
Mt Gambier
Location: Mt Gambier Airport (lat 37.75 deg S, long 140.77 deg E)
Type: WF 100 C Band
Availability (Typical): 21.45-0815; 0945-1415; 1545-2015 (CST).
Interpretation Notes: The Mt Gambier radar is located at the Meteorological Office, 9 km north of the city of Mt Gambier. The elevation of the radar antenna is 84 metres above sea level. Extensive pine forests lie to the near north and west of the Meteorological Office. The radar has good coverage in most directions up to a range of about 200 km. It should provide useful weather information as far north as the eastern fringes of the Little Desert National Park, west to Cape Jaffa and east to Warrnambool. False echoes can occasionally be observed very close to the radar, especially in stable conditions. These anomalous propagations are easily identified and are displayed as a mass of low intensity echoes, constantly changing shape with no apparent direction in movement from one radar scan to the next. They can normally be distinguished from "real" echoes which are larger, exhibit more uniform movement and change character more steadily. Echoes within approximately five kilometres of the radar and overhead can be poorly resolved as the scanning elevation is too low. Apart from these features, the radar performs well and gives a reasonably accurate representation of rainfall intensity.
Woomera
Location: Woomera Airport (lat 31.16 deg S, long 136.80 deg E)
Type: WF 100 (C Band, 5 centimetre wavelength).
Availability (Typical): 24 hours per day.
Interpretation Notes: The Woomera radar is located at the Meteorological
Office which is 6 km north of the township of Woomera. The surrounding
terrain is generally flat and featureless. The Flinders Ranges rise about
130 km to the east, and the northern extremity of Spencer Gulf lies 170
km to the southeast. The radar antenna elevation is 170 metres above sea
level.
The radar has good coverage in all directions up to a range of about 250
km. "False echoes" or Anomalous Propagation (AP) can occur on limited
occasions overnight when a radiation inversion becomes established. AP
can be identified by its static appearance and can normally be distinguished
from "real" echoes which exhibit some movement.