Published: 17 May 2007
Met Office Goes Down Under
In a world where impacts of climate change and severe weather are of vital concern, Met Office Chief Executive, Mark Hutchinson and Dr Geoff Love, Director of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology have signed a partnership agreement combining the science expertise of both forecast centres, with the ultimate aim of improving weather forecasts and climate change predictions.
In a partnership, that also includes the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Met Office has licensed the use of its world-renowned Unified Model - the computer programme that is used in climate and weather prediction.
The Met Office model is the model of choice for the Australian Community Climate Earth-System Simulator (ACCESS), which is a joint collaboration between the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO.
It is expected that improved & better understood climate predictions from the Earth-System simulator will contribute to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report in 2012.
As the world faces climate change and its impacts, international collaborations are an essential strategy.
National issues, such as severe weather events, can only be truly understood within the global context of climate change.
Met Office Chief Executive Mark Hutchinson said:
"This exciting collaboration will undoubtedly improve the science of weather forecasting and climate prediction.
It is a reflection of both the scientific excellence of the Met Office model and our desire to collaborate internationally in its further development as the pre-eminent weather and climate modelling tool in the world."
Underpinning the license agreement is a joint science research plan that will lead to better regional climate change predictions and more accurate day-to-day weather forecasts, improving environmental advice to governments, industry, businesses and individuals.
The collaborative research programme will initially focus on these priorities:
· Assess & improve the model's southern hemisphere performance, particularly in the Tropical, Australian and Antarctic regions
· Improve regional climate modelling - essential to help governments understand climate change impacts
· Improve forecasting of Tropical Cyclones
· Improve the use of satellite data in the starting analyses that underpin the model forecast
Speaking at the 15th Congress of the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Dr Geoff Love said:
"This represents an exciting new chapter of Australia's participation in developing new and better weather forecasts and climate prediction models."
The Met Office Unified Model already drives weather forecasts on supercomputer platforms with partners South African Weather Service and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
Talks are underway between the Met Office and several other nations with regard to them entering similar collaborative agreements.
Further information
Met Office
The Met Office Unified Model is a coupled atmospheric and oceanic General Circulation Model used in both Numerical Weather Prediction (weather forecasting) and climate change research/prediction
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
The Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world
Australian Community Climate Earth-System Simulator (ACCESS) is a coupled climate & earth system simulator being jointly developed by Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO in cooperation with the Australian university community.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
15th Congress of the World Meteorological Organization
South African Weather Service
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
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