Enhancing the Australian Gridded Climate Dataset rainfall analysis using satellite data.

Rainfall estimation over large areas is important for a thorough understanding of water availability, influencing societal decision-making, as well as being an input for scientific models. Traditionally, Australia utilizes a gauge-based analysis for rainfall estimation, but its performance can be severely limited over regions with low gauge density such as central parts of the continent. At the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the current operational monthly rainfall component of the Australian Gridded Climate Dataset (AGCD) makes use of statistical interpolation (SI), also known as optimal interpolation (OI) to form an analysis from a background field of station climatology.

Spatio-temporal distribution of vector borne diseases in Australia and Papua New Guinea vis-à-vis climatic factors.

Background & Objectives: Weather and climate are directly linked to human health including the distribution and occurrence of vector-borne diseases which are of significant concern for public health.

Methods: In this review, studies on spatiotemporal distribution of dengue, Barmah Forest Virus (BFV) and Ross River Virus (RRV) in Australia and malaria in Papua New Guinea (PNG) under the influence of climate change and/ or human society conducted in the past two decades were analysed and summarised. Environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and tides were the main contributors from climate.

Flood Hazard Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study from Australia's Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment.

Floods are among the costliest natural hazards, in Australia and globally. In this study, we used an indicator-based method to assess flood hazard risk in Australia's Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment (HNC). Australian flood risk assessments are typically spatially constrained through the common use of resource-intensive flood modelling.

Improving drought resilience in Northern Murray-Darling Basin farming communities: Is forecast-based financing suitable?

A trend towards drier conditions during the April to October 'cool' season across southern Australia has been observed in the past few decades. Frequent and prolonged droughts have a significant impact on the financial stability of affected farming communities. Forecast-based Financing (FbF) is a novel proactive aid approach that provides support measures to increase resilience during the window between drought early warnings, and the actual onset and intensification of drought.

Assessing agricultural drought management strategies in the Northern Murray-Darling Basin.

The Northern Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) is a key Australian agricultural region requiring efficient Agricultural Drought Management (ADM), focused on resilience. Although a need for resilience in local farming communities has long been recognised, previous studies assessing ADM in the Northern MDB did not consider two key elements of resilient management: proactivity (preparing for drought prior to a drought event) and suitability (localised drought management targeted at decision-makers). This study assessed the current ADM Strategy (ADMS) implemented within five selected Northern MDB Local Government Areas (LGAs) (Paroo Shire, Balonne Shire, Murweh Shire, Maranoa Region, and Goondiwindi Region), specifically investigating the extent of ADMS proactivity, effectiveness, and suitability.

WMO World Record Lightning Extremes: Longest Reported Flash Distance and Longest Reported Flash Duration.

A World Meteorological Organization weather and climate extremes committee has judged that the world's longest reported distance for a single lightning flash occurred with a horizontal distance of 321 km (199.5 mi) over Oklahoma in 2007, while the world's longest reported duration for a single lightning flash is an event that lasted continuously for 7.74 seconds over southern France in 2012.

Using improved climate forecasting in cash crop planning.

Developments in meteorology over the last couple of decades have enabled significant improvements to be made in the accuracy of seasonal forecasts. This paper focuses on developing a model for cash crop planning that utilises these forecasts. It does this by determining the rate of growth of each crop as a function of heat units accumulated.