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The Giles Weather Station was
established in 1956 by the Weapons Research Establishment (now known
as the Defence Science and Technology Organisation), a division of
the Department of Defence. The first weather observations were transmitted
from the station by radio on 2 August 1956.
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The purpose of the station was to provide weather
data for the UK atomic weapons tests at Emu Plains and Maralinga.
It was also used to support the rocket testing program based at Woomera,
being conveniently positioned at the edge of and about halfway down
the testing range. Giles Weather Station was transferred from the
Department of Defence to the Bureau of Meteorology in 1972.
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The station has a staff of four who run it on a
six-month tour. The staffing is arranged by the South Australian Regional
Office of the Bureau of Meteorology and the Observing staff come from
various Bureau offices throughout Australia. The station has satellite
and telephone communications facilities, and hydrogen gas is produced
on site for weather balloon flights.
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Situated about 750 kilometres west-southwest of
Alice Springs, just over the West Australian Border, on the edge of
the Gibson Desert, south of the Rawlinson Range. The area was occupied
by nomadic aborigines at the time the station was established, but
there were no other settlements in the area. The station was named
in honour of Ernest Giles, who explored the area in the 1870's. The
Warakurna Aboriginal Community has become established nearby with
their own power supplies, store, school and a Roadhouse on the Gunbarrel
Highway which provides accommodation and food for travellers. An all-weather
airstrip provides ready access for mail, passengers and the Flying
Doctor.
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Giles is the resting place of the Caterpillar grader
which was used to build the Gunbarrel Highway, and other roads in
the area. This grader was first used in the Emu Plains and Maralinga
areas from 1953 to 1955. It was then assigned to the Gunbarrel Road
Construction Party, led by surveyor Len Beadell from the Department
of Defence, commencing work in the area in 1955. This grader was used
to construct of 6,000 kilometres of road through the Great Victoria,
Gibson and Great Sandy deserts, starting with the road to Giles. As
each section of the road was graded five times, the total distance
worked was in excess of 30,000 kilometres. The Gunbarrel Highway was
the first east-west link across Central Australia. The grader ceased
its working life, at Giles, on 22 November 1963; and has been preserved
there since that time. Len Beadell was also known as an artist and
author, and has provided Giles with interesting murals on the walls
of the mess building - a common talking point for many visitors to
the station.
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Giles Weather Station is a modern fully equipped
station which carries out a full range of meteorological observations,
including upper atmosphere observations using balloon flights and
radar tracking. It is the only staffed weather station in an area
of about 2.5 million square kilometres. Its location near the core
of the subtropical jetstream makes the station vital for forecasting
over most of eastern and southeastern Australia, particularly for
rain. In summer it provides data on convective situations for the
assessment of severe storms etc. Its central continental location
makes it a key station for climate measurement and forecasting purposes
over much of Australia, and also for the "local" weather, be it for
places such as Uluru and Alice Springs, or for aircraft operations
to aboriginal communities. Giles provides useful meteorological data
in a remote region to the west and northwest of most major population
centres of Australia. This data is vital for global and local computer
models for forecasting, and is particularly useful for international
air flights.
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For many years the weather data collected at Giles
was transmitted by HF radio, which posed difficulties when radio reception
was poor. Since 1986, data has been transmitted much more reliably
via landline or satellite to Melbourne where it is included in the
national and international networks.
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