Understanding extreme wind gusts and associated risks in NSW. Wind gusts are rare bursts of high wind, often associated with thunderstorm outflows. They can do significant structural damage, and their rarity and small scale make prediction and risk assessment difficult. This proposal seeks to better understand and predict wind gusts and their impacts to aid in planning. The project aims to use past observations, modelling, and basic theory to show what conditions lead to wind gusts and how like ....Understanding extreme wind gusts and associated risks in NSW. Wind gusts are rare bursts of high wind, often associated with thunderstorm outflows. They can do significant structural damage, and their rarity and small scale make prediction and risk assessment difficult. This proposal seeks to better understand and predict wind gusts and their impacts to aid in planning. The project aims to use past observations, modelling, and basic theory to show what conditions lead to wind gusts and how likely they are to exceed key thresholds. It targets important scientific and practical issues such as the joint occurrence of gusts and high rainfall, role of gusts in contributing to dust and other airborne pollutants, impacts of gusts on subsequent storm activity, and gusts in a warming climate.Read moreRead less
Will East Coast Lows change in frequency or intensity in the future? East Coast Lows, the largest storms on the south-east coast of Australia, produce both large benefits and losses for this highly populated region of the country. An urgent national priority exists to understand the driving mechanisms for these events and to quantify how the frequency and intensity of these systems will change due to climate change.
Precipitation in wintertime storms across southeast Australia, Tasmania and the Southern Ocean. The pristine conditions and strong wind-shear over the Southern Ocean affect the formation of precipitation in clouds over the region, which is vital to the water supply of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. This project will evaluate and improve the ability to simulate this precipitation, which will lead to better water resource management.
Transforming our research capacity in the analysis of climate extremes. Given their devastating impacts, there is now a critical urgency to understand what drives extreme climate events and make timely predictions of their future risk. The analysis of comprehensive extremes datasets, comprising global observations and output of multi-model simulations, will greatly improve our ability to answer fundamental questions about the nature and variability of extreme climatic events. This project also e ....Transforming our research capacity in the analysis of climate extremes. Given their devastating impacts, there is now a critical urgency to understand what drives extreme climate events and make timely predictions of their future risk. The analysis of comprehensive extremes datasets, comprising global observations and output of multi-model simulations, will greatly improve our ability to answer fundamental questions about the nature and variability of extreme climatic events. This project also ensures the government's continued commitment to managing the risks associated with extreme events as an urgent national priority. It represents a landmark opportunity for Australian leadership of an international collaboration between some of the world's leading climate scientists and climate data and modelling centres.Read moreRead less
Evaluating the weather in climate models - the relationship of dynamics and rainfall over Australia in current and future climates. Climate change will be experienced by society as a change in the day-to-day weather. This project will investigate the capabilities of modern climate models in simulating the weather with a particular focus on rainfall, and will provide guidance to the use of these models in projections of the future of Australia's climate.
Predicting pollutant dispersion within the CBD. The accidental or pre-meditated release of hazardous gases and aerosols within an urban environment are potentially threatening to human life and safety. Emergency responders require adequate information to quickly address these concerns yet the lack of detailed observations and the complex nature of the dispersion make this task difficult. This project will collect detailed observations of tracer dispersion within the Perth central business distri ....Predicting pollutant dispersion within the CBD. The accidental or pre-meditated release of hazardous gases and aerosols within an urban environment are potentially threatening to human life and safety. Emergency responders require adequate information to quickly address these concerns yet the lack of detailed observations and the complex nature of the dispersion make this task difficult. This project will collect detailed observations of tracer dispersion within the Perth central business district and combine these observations with multiscale modelling to redefine appropriate emergency response models as well as their limits. Such analysis will enhance mitigation strategies.Read moreRead less
Three-dimensional atmospheric acoustic tomography using unmanned aerial vehicles. This project will develop technology that uses the sound of a small robotic aircraft as it passes overhead to visualise a complex array of properties of the intervening atmosphere in three dimensions. This will allow measurements to be taken in otherwise inaccessible locations and improve the understanding of atmospheric dynamics and meteorological phenomena.
Precipitation Events over Tasmania and their Response to Weather Modification. The ongoing cloud-seeding work undertaken by Hydro Tasmania will be investigated through a combination of fieldwork and numerical simulations. New instrumentation and advanced numerical models will allow this research to provide a new understanding of the precipitation events over Tasmania and their response to cloud seeding. This research will also explore the interaction between the background aerosol/pollution leve ....Precipitation Events over Tasmania and their Response to Weather Modification. The ongoing cloud-seeding work undertaken by Hydro Tasmania will be investigated through a combination of fieldwork and numerical simulations. New instrumentation and advanced numerical models will allow this research to provide a new understanding of the precipitation events over Tasmania and their response to cloud seeding. This research will also explore the interaction between the background aerosol/pollution level and the precipitation. Given the relatively pure nature of the air over Tasmania, this research will be of international interest. This research will also be of direct interest to Hydro Tasmania as insight gained into the precipitation events will allow us to optimise their cloud-seeding operation.Read moreRead less
Radar Studies of Rainfall with Applications to Forecasting. Weather watch radars are used to predict severe weather events, with echo strengths depending on the number of rain drops in the beam. With suitable calibration the echo intensities can be used to predict rainfall rates. In 2005 the Bureau of Meteorology will establish a new weather radar near Adelaide. We will compare rainfall estimates made with the new radar with results from a VHF profiler that accurately measures rain drop distribu ....Radar Studies of Rainfall with Applications to Forecasting. Weather watch radars are used to predict severe weather events, with echo strengths depending on the number of rain drops in the beam. With suitable calibration the echo intensities can be used to predict rainfall rates. In 2005 the Bureau of Meteorology will establish a new weather radar near Adelaide. We will compare rainfall estimates made with the new radar with results from a VHF profiler that accurately measures rain drop distributions and rainfall. The aim is to test the weather radar estimates of rainfall rates and their uncertainties. Outcomes will have applications in flood forecasting and hydrology.Read moreRead less
QUANTIFICATION OF INTERACTIONS DURING THE DISPERSION OF CORONA IONS AND AIRBORNE PARTICLES NEAR POWER LINES. Currently there is no method for quantification of concentration and dispersion of charged aerosols near high voltage power lines (HVPLs). However, hypothesis have been presented, but not yet proven scientifically, that residents of houses close to combustion sources such as highways or industrial plants and HVPLs may be subjected to health risk due to inhalation of charged aerosols. The ....QUANTIFICATION OF INTERACTIONS DURING THE DISPERSION OF CORONA IONS AND AIRBORNE PARTICLES NEAR POWER LINES. Currently there is no method for quantification of concentration and dispersion of charged aerosols near high voltage power lines (HVPLs). However, hypothesis have been presented, but not yet proven scientifically, that residents of houses close to combustion sources such as highways or industrial plants and HVPLs may be subjected to health risk due to inhalation of charged aerosols. The outcome of this project will be a model for quantitative assessment of the processes occurring during the transport and dispersion of corona ions and combustion aerosol, which will be a tool for predictive risk assessment and informed management of public resources in relation to power line design and maintenance.Read moreRead less