New ocean forecasting for Australia

Ocean forecasting information will soon be available to serve Australians in the same way atmospheric weather forecasting has delivered for on-land populations, following the recent announcement of a $15 million Australian Government initiative.

BlueLink will provide forecasts of what is happening at or near the ocean surface and in the upper two kilometres of the ocean. Dr Sharman Stone, Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and Heritage launched the joint initiative between the Australian Government's Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and the Royal Australian Navy which has been developed over four years and involved 35 scientists and engineers.

"BlueLink will provide forecasts of the ocean similar to the land-based weather forecasting Australians have enjoyed for the past 40 years," Dr Stone said. "Ocean charts, including shipping charts for ocean currents, eddy locations and ocean temperatures, will be similar to those generated for the weather.

"BlueLink will allow us to better monitor, predict, utilise and protect the vast marine environment surrounding Australia. Marine transport, Navy, fishing, oil and gas exploration activities will all be able to operate with more detailed information about their ocean environment, making them safer and more efficient.

"Predicting future ocean conditions, including specific regional knowledge of ocean currents, helps us to operate ships and fixed structures such as gas pipelines with greater surety. The same information is also critical for search and rescue operations as we can track damaged vessels and people lost at sea with greater accuracy."

There will also be significant benefit to the Navy with greatly enhanced support of onboard tactical response systems and potential cost savings for industries such as commercial shipping Dr Stone said.

"The fact that we are in the same position today with ocean prediction as scientists were 40 years ago with atmospheric weather forecasts is due to the relative difficulty and expense of collecting data on the ocean from both satellites and buoys," Dr Stone points out.

Nonetheless, he says that the first four to six day forecasts, and more specific one to two day regional forecasts, are expected to be available by the end of next year.

For further information, please visit Bluelink

Item provided courtesy of The CSIRO