Recommendation

The following response dated 16 April 2004 was received from the
Bureau of Meteorology:



The Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) Aviation Research
and Development program includes a project on wind shifts and wind
shear. The project objective is to improve the detection and
forecasting of wind shifts and the detection of wind shear in the
vicinity of airports. Activities under this project include
maintaining knowledge and expertise of international R&D
activities on wind shifts and wind shear, the development of an
experimental Low Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS) and the
development of Doppler radar based applications for detecting wind
shifts and wind shear. With regard to radar systems specifically,
experimental work is currently being undertaken in the Bureau of
Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) to detect gust fronts, using an
algorithm developed in the USA, the Machine Intelligent Gust Front
Algorithm (MIGFA)



The Bureau currently has Doppler radars at Sydney (Kurnell) and
Darwin and an experimental unit is about to be installed at
Brisbane (the NCAR CP2). Under a Government-funded initiative the
Bureau, over the course of the next five years, will be installing
Doppler radars at Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, Tamworth, Melbourne
and Yarrawonga. These radars are designed for general surveillance
and are useful for identifying the severe thunderstorms and giving
forecasters confidence in their conceptual models of the way the
atmosphere is behaving. However, they are not specifically set up
to identify windshear operationally. To do this would require the
development of sophisticated algorithms to further process the
radar data. In addition, arrangements to provide the warnings to
Air Traffic Control and pilots, including necessary processing and
display equipment, the development of appropriate procedures and
the provision of training also needs to be in place. The cost of
these kind of specialised radar systems is high. For example, in
the US the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) has been developed
specifically identify wind shear at aerodromes, but the cost is in
excess of A$20 million, and the radar are not so suitable for
general weather work.



The Bureau will continue research to derive the maximum operational
utility from existing and future Doppler radar systems, both for
severe weather applications and for aviation. There is no doubt
that Doppler systems will contribute significantly to aviation
safety.