Australian Bureau of Meteorology

The Bureau of Meteorology has a statutory responsibility for Australian meteorological activities in Antarctica.

It established a weather observing station at Australia’s Mawson base in 1954 and has compiled the longest continuous weather record on the Antarctic continent. The Bureau maintains weather offices and year round observation programs at the three Australian Antarctic stations as well as at Macquarie Island station, with the meteorological activities of all the offices coordinated by the Bureau’s Tasmania and Antarctica State Office which is located in Hobart.

The Bureau provides a range of specialised Antarctic forecasting services to the Australian Antarctic Program, including providing weather forecasts for all its air, sea and land-based operations. Some of these operations are performed by our meteorologists at Casey and Davis stations during summer. The Bureau can also provide comprehensive information on Antarctic climate data and weather forecasts and observations for the region.

The range of information includes:

• satellite imagery
• a catalogue of Antarctic climate data
• the latest observations from Australia’s Antarctic stations (updated hourly)
• mean sea level pressure and ocean wave height data.

In addition to its statutory and other government functions, the Bureau can provide specialist weather forecasting services to vessels at rates negotiated on a case-by-case basis.