Esperance weather station upgrade completes Doppler radar investment
Western Australia’s agricultural region now has almost complete Doppler radar coverage, making the weather service the best in the country.
The State Government has invested $28 million over the past four years to install three Doppler radars across the grainbelt and upgrade two coastal radars.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has worked closely with the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) on the project to improve the facilities, which provide real time rainfall and wind data essential for modern agribusiness operations and emergency services.
The Bureau’s recent upgrade of its Esperance radar to Doppler capability is the last piece in the puzzle, with coverage now spreading from Kalbarri in the north to Southern Cross in the east, through to Israelite Bay in the south east.
The State funded the installation of Doppler radars at Newdegate (2016), South Doodlakine (2017) and Watheroo (2017), as well as the upgrade of the Geraldton (2019) and Albany (2019) radars to Doppler capability.
Benefits
The Doppler radar investment is a boost to WA agribusinesses, providing more accurate and detailed real time weather data over a greater distance.
This enables landholders to make more informed, data-driven decisions based on more accurate, reliable data – especially as the size of farms increases, making it easier to monitor weather conditions across larger properties.
The information is provided online by both the DPIRD and the BoM weather services, providing real-time radar images of rainfall and intensity as it moves across the landscape.
When used in unison with DPIRD’s network of 181 automated weather stations and the BoM’s network of 91, landholders now have a superior weather service to make more informed, data-driven decisions.
This information will aid business management, like sowing decisions, applying fertiliser and chemicals, moving livestock and maintenance work.
Fine tuning such decisions will enable agribusinesses to optimise yields and profitability, reduce losses and costs and become more efficient.
The technology will also help aviation safety and emergency services to respond more effectively in the event of storms, bushfires and land and sea rescues.
Doppler radar explained
The coverage from each Doppler radar has also been extended from 120 to 150 kilometres for each unit, with the installation of new dual-polarimetry technology to provide high quality observations.
Doppler radar works by sending pulses of electromagnetic waves, which are reflected back to the radar by objects in their path, such as rainfall or dust.
Wind is measured by calibrating the change in the phase of each energy pulse, as it returns to the radar, which produces a similar effect to the change in frequency, hence the name Doppler radar.
The Bureau has developed sophisticated software to convert these signals into an estimate of rainfall intensity and wind speeds.
The new technology also allows for better detection of the type of precipitation, determining the size of hail stones much more accurately than was previously possible.
The new radars also work around the clock, no longer requiring two hours per day offline to track weather balloons.
On the ground
The department has received great feedback from agribusinesses and grower groups throughout the grainbelt, which are integrating Doppler radar information into every day on-farm operations.
The department’s online weather pages recently underwent another improvement, to make them easier to navigate.
In a complementary project, eight grower groups and five secondary education institutions are integrating digital devices, like remote weather station devices into their on-farm operations, as part of DPIRD’s Internet of Things DecisionAg grant program.
Visitors to the Wagin Woolorama and the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s Grains Research Updates were able to see how remote weather stations and rain gauges, along with a range of sensors were adding value to business management.
For more information contact Darren Gibbon, project manager, South Perth, +61 (0)8 9368 3406