The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together the state meteorological services that existed before then.[3] The states officially transferred their weather recording responsibilities to the Bureau of Meteorology on 1 January 1908.[4][5]
The Bureau of Meteorology was established on 1 January 1908 following the passage of the Meteorology Act 1906.[6] Prior to Federation in 1901, each colony had had its own meteorological service, with all but two colonies also having a subsection devoted to astronomy. In August 1905, federal home affairs minister Littleton Groom surveyed state governments for their willingness to cede control, finding South Australia and Victoria unwilling. However, at a ministerial conference in April 1906 the state governments agreed to transfer responsibility for meteorology and astronomy to the federal government. Groom rejected a takeover of astronomy due to its connection to universities, which relied on state legislation for their authority.[7]
Henry Ambrose Hunt was appointed as the first Commonwealth Meteorologist in November 1906. Initially the bureau had few staff and issued a single daily forecast for each state, transmitted by Morse code to country areas. Radio forecasts were introduced in 1924. The bureau received additional funding from the late 1930s, in the lead-up to World War II, and it was incorporated into the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1941 until after the conclusion of the war. It became an inaugural member of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1950. Televised weather forecasts were introduced in 1956.[8]
The 1906 act governing the bureau was repealed and replaced by the Meteorology Act 1955, which brought its functions in line with the expectations of the WMO and allowed for a significant reorganisation of its structure. At this time the bureau came under the Department of the Interior. In 1957, partly as a response to the 1955 Hunter Valley floods, the bureau added a hydrometeorological service.[9] In 1964, the federal government agreed to establish one of the three World Meteorological Centres in Melbourne, as part of the WMO's World Weather Watch scheme.[10]
In October 2022, the bureau asked media organizations to update their style guides so that they were no longer referred to as "BOM" or the "Weather Bureau".[11] The decision was reversed that week.[12]
The Bureau of Meteorology is the main provider of weather forecasts, warnings and observations to the Australian public. The bureau distributes weather images via radiofax[needs update] and is responsible for issuing flood alerts in Australia.
The bureau's head office is in Melbourne Docklands, which includes the bureau's Research Centre, the Bureau National Operations Centre, the National Climate Centre, the Victorian Regional Forecasting Centre as well as the Hydrology and Satellite sections.[13]
The regional offices are supported by the Bureau National Operations Centre (BNOC) which is also located at the head office in Melbourne Docklands.
The bureau maintains a network of field offices across the continent, on neighbouring islands and in Antarctica. There is also a network of some 500 paid co-operative observers and approximately 6,000 voluntary rainfall observers.
The Bureau of Meteorology has been accused of being influenced by oil and gas giants such as Santos, Chevron and Woodside to downplay the effects of climate change to please their leaders. Sentences in the Bureau's report on the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season were censored and/or modified to remove references to climate change and long-term warming trends.[16]
Directors
The following people have been directors of the Bureau of Meteorology:
In the head office a Cray XC40 supercomputer called "Australis" provides the operational computing capability for weather, climate, ocean and wave numerical prediction and simulation, while other Unix servers support the computer message switching system and real-time data base. The Australian Integrated Forecast System affords the main computing infrastructure in the regional offices. Numerical weather prediction is performed using the Unified Model software. The Bureau of Meteorology announced the Cray contract[20] in July 2015, commissioned the Cray XC40 supercomputer[21] on 30 June 2016 and decommissioned their Oracle HPC system in October 2016.
^"BOM celebrates 100 years". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 December 2007. from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
^. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2008.
^"A short history of the Bureau of Meteorology". Bureau of Meteorology. 24 August 2011. from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^Carment, David (1975). Australian liberal: a political biography of Sir Littleton Groom, 1867-1936(PDF) (PhD thesis). Australian National University. pp. 54–55. (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^"Meteorology in Australia". Year Book Australia, 1988. Australian Bureau of Statistics. from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^"The Meteorology Act 1955". Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre. 2001. from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^"World Meteorological Centre, Melbourne". Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre. 2001. from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^"Bureau of Meteorology asks to stop being called 'BOM'". ABC News. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
^"'The Bureau of Management': Former staff say cultural issues behind Bureau of Meteorology's 'nonsense' rebrand". ABC News. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
^"Bureau of Meteorology Head Office 700 Collins Street". Bureau of Meteorology. from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2008.
^Tropical Cyclone Advices 11 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Bureau of Meteorology, 2009
^ ab"Tropical Cyclone Names". Bureau of Meteorology. from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
^"Undue Influence: oil and gas giants infiltrate Australia's Bureau of Meteorology". Michael West Media. 6 December 2020. from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
^"'Perilous': Bureau of Meteorology boss Rob Vertessy exits with climate warning". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 April 2016. from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
^"Dr Andrew Johnson appointed as Director of Meteorology". Bureau of Meteorology. 5 September 2016. from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
^"New Supercomputer to supercharge weather warnings and forecasts". Bureau of Meteorology. 21 July 2015. from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
^"New Bureau supercomputer successfully commissioned". Bureau of Meteorology. 19 November 2016. from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bureau of Meteorology.
Bureau of Meteorology main page
Federation and Meteorology: the history of meteorology in Australia
January 29, 2023
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The Bureau of Meteorology BOM or BoM is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act and brought together the state meteorological services that existed before then 3 The states officially transferred their weather recording responsibilities to the Bureau of Meteorology on 1 January 1908 4 5 Bureau of MeteorologyAgency overviewFormed1 January 1908 115 years ago 1908 01 01 JurisdictionGovernment of AustraliaHeadquartersMelbourneEmployees1 500 1 Annual budgetA 45 6 million 2020 21 2 Minister responsibleThe Hon Tanya Plibersek MP Minister for the Environment and WaterAgency executiveDr Andrew Johnson Director of MeteorologyParent agencyDepartment of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry Australia Websitewww bom gov au Contents 1 History 2 Services and structure 3 Directors 4 Technology 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditThe Bureau of Meteorology was established on 1 January 1908 following the passage of the Meteorology Act 1906 6 Prior to Federation in 1901 each colony had had its own meteorological service with all but two colonies also having a subsection devoted to astronomy In August 1905 federal home affairs minister Littleton Groom surveyed state governments for their willingness to cede control finding South Australia and Victoria unwilling However at a ministerial conference in April 1906 the state governments agreed to transfer responsibility for meteorology and astronomy to the federal government Groom rejected a takeover of astronomy due to its connection to universities which relied on state legislation for their authority 7 Henry Ambrose Hunt was appointed as the first Commonwealth Meteorologist in November 1906 Initially the bureau had few staff and issued a single daily forecast for each state transmitted by Morse code to country areas Radio forecasts were introduced in 1924 The bureau received additional funding from the late 1930s in the lead up to World War II and it was incorporated into the Royal Australian Air Force RAAF from 1941 until after the conclusion of the war It became an inaugural member of the World Meteorological Organization WMO in 1950 Televised weather forecasts were introduced in 1956 8 The 1906 act governing the bureau was repealed and replaced by the Meteorology Act 1955 which brought its functions in line with the expectations of the WMO and allowed for a significant reorganisation of its structure At this time the bureau came under the Department of the Interior In 1957 partly as a response to the 1955 Hunter Valley floods the bureau added a hydrometeorological service 9 In 1964 the federal government agreed to establish one of the three World Meteorological Centres in Melbourne as part of the WMO s World Weather Watch scheme 10 In October 2022 the bureau asked media organizations to update their style guides so that they were no longer referred to as BOM or the Weather Bureau 11 The decision was reversed that week 12 Services and structure EditFurther information List of Bureau of Meteorology weather radars Berrimah radar The Bureau of Meteorology is the main provider of weather forecasts warnings and observations to the Australian public The bureau distributes weather images via radiofax needs update and is responsible for issuing flood alerts in Australia The bureau s head office is in Melbourne Docklands which includes the bureau s Research Centre the Bureau National Operations Centre the National Climate Centre the Victorian Regional Forecasting Centre as well as the Hydrology and Satellite sections 13 Regional offices are located in each state and territory capital Each regional office includes a regional forecasting centre and a flood warning centre The Adelaide office incorporates the National Tidal Centre while the Darwin office the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre and Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre Analysis The Perth Darwin and Brisbane offices also housed Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres which were ultimately unified into one since the 2020 21 cyclone season Darwin Airport office The Australian Bureau of Meteorology issues Tropical Cyclone Advices 14 and developed the Standard Emergency Warning Signal used for warnings The bureau is responsible for tropical cyclone naming for storms in waters surrounding Australia Three lists of names used to be maintained one for each of the western northern and eastern Australian regions 15 However as of the start of the 2008 09 Tropical Cyclone Year these lists have been rolled into one main national list of tropical cyclone names 15 The regional offices are supported by the Bureau National Operations Centre BNOC which is also located at the head office in Melbourne Docklands The bureau maintains a network of field offices across the continent on neighbouring islands and in Antarctica There is also a network of some 500 paid co operative observers and approximately 6 000 voluntary rainfall observers The Bureau of Meteorology has been accused of being influenced by oil and gas giants such as Santos Chevron and Woodside to downplay the effects of climate change to please their leaders Sentences in the Bureau s report on the 2019 20 Australian bushfire season were censored and or modified to remove references to climate change and long term warming trends 16 Directors EditThe following people have been directors of the Bureau of Meteorology Director TermHenry Ambrose Hunt 1908 31William S Watt 1931 40H Norman Warren 1940 50Edward W Timcke 1950 55Leonard J Dwyer 1955 62William J Gibbs 1962 78John Zillman 1978 2003Geoff Love 2003 08Neville Smith Acting Director 2008 09Greg Ayers 2009 12 17 Rob Vertessy 2012 16 18 Andrew Johnson 6 September 2016 present 19 Technology EditIn the head office a Cray XC40 supercomputer called Australis provides the operational computing capability for weather climate ocean and wave numerical prediction and simulation while other Unix servers support the computer message switching system and real time data base The Australian Integrated Forecast System affords the main computing infrastructure in the regional offices Numerical weather prediction is performed using the Unified Model software The Bureau of Meteorology announced the Cray contract 20 in July 2015 commissioned the Cray XC40 supercomputer 21 on 30 June 2016 and decommissioned their Oracle HPC system in October 2016 See also EditWorld Meteorological Organization co ordination body for weather climate and environment services International Cloud Experiment which collected data on tropical cyclones in January and February 2006 2022 23 Australian region cyclone season Water Data Transfer Format Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities CouncilReferences Edit About the Bureau bom gov au Archived from the original on 20 March 2021 Retrieved 29 September 2021 Budget Paper No 2 PDF budget gov au Archived PDF from the original on 20 September 2021 Retrieved 29 September 2021 Meteorology in the 20th Century Federation and Meteorology University of Melbourne Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre August 2001 p 1600 Archived from the original on 14 March 2019 Retrieved 28 March 2019 BOM celebrates 100 years ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation 31 December 2007 Archived from the original on 5 November 2012 Retrieved 1 January 2008 Collections in Perth 20 Meteorology National Archives of Australia Archived from the original on 12 February 2012 Retrieved 24 May 2008 A short history of the Bureau of Meteorology Bureau of Meteorology 24 August 2011 Archived from the original on 24 July 2021 Retrieved 24 July 2021 Carment David 1975 Australian liberal a political biography of Sir Littleton Groom 1867 1936 PDF PhD thesis Australian National University pp 54 55 Archived PDF from the original on 24 July 2021 Retrieved 24 July 2021 Meteorology in Australia Year Book Australia 1988 Australian Bureau of Statistics Archived from the original on 24 July 2021 Retrieved 24 July 2021 The Meteorology Act 1955 Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre 2001 Archived from the original on 24 July 2021 Retrieved 24 July 2021 World Meteorological Centre Melbourne Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre 2001 Archived from the original on 24 July 2021 Retrieved 24 July 2021 Bureau of Meteorology asks to stop being called BOM ABC News 18 October 2022 Retrieved 18 October 2022 The Bureau of Management Former staff say cultural issues behind Bureau of Meteorology s nonsense rebrand ABC News 20 October 2022 Retrieved 20 October 2022 Bureau of Meteorology Head Office 700 Collins Street Bureau of Meteorology Archived from the original on 11 April 2020 Retrieved 24 May 2008 Tropical Cyclone Advices Archived 11 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Bureau of Meteorology 2009 a b Tropical Cyclone Names Bureau of Meteorology Archived from the original on 11 April 2015 Retrieved 8 August 2008 Undue Influence oil and gas giants infiltrate Australia s Bureau of Meteorology Michael West Media 6 December 2020 Archived from the original on 20 October 2021 Retrieved 25 November 2021 Government thanks outgoing Bureau of Meteorology director Dr Greg Ayers Department of Sustainability Environment Water Population and Communities 20 February 2012 Archived from the original on 27 February 2012 Retrieved 23 February 2012 Perilous Bureau of Meteorology boss Rob Vertessy exits with climate warning The Sydney Morning Herald 30 April 2016 Archived from the original on 4 June 2016 Retrieved 30 May 2016 Dr Andrew Johnson appointed as Director of Meteorology Bureau of Meteorology 5 September 2016 Archived from the original on 23 September 2016 Retrieved 22 September 2016 New Supercomputer to supercharge weather warnings and forecasts Bureau of Meteorology 21 July 2015 Archived from the original on 2 September 2017 Retrieved 2 September 2017 New Bureau supercomputer successfully commissioned Bureau of Meteorology 19 November 2016 Archived from the original on 2 September 2017 Retrieved 2 September 2017 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bureau of Meteorology Bureau of Meteorology main page Federation and Meteorology the history of meteorology in Australia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bureau of Meteorology amp oldid 1130087335, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
