RIVERLAND agricultural producers are set to benefit from the installation of a new regional weather radar utilising “state-of-the-art” technology.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has begun construction on a new weather radar located in Mildura, aimed at providing weather pattern data to communities in both South Australia and Victoria.
BoM spokesperson Darryl Aylward said dual-polarisation technology used in the radar would improve weather pattern forecasts for Riverland growers and irrigators.
“It’s going to offer a big improvement to the service, which not only benefits the public directly but also our forecasters and other users of the radar data,” Mr Aylward said.
“It’s newer technology. The current Mildura radar is the second-oldest radar in the network.
“It’s a new state-of-the-art technology called dual-pol, which means we can look at particle size when predicting and tracking hailstorms.
“It’s a Doppler radar, so we can look at wind speed and wind direction, which is something you can’t do with the current radar.”
Mr Aylward said data from the radar could inform growers of oncoming extreme weather – such as hailstorms – and provide real-time rainfall updates.
“(Locals) were interested in two things (and) one was the hail tracking, because it doesn’t happen very often but when it does happen, it can cause quite a lot of damage,” he said.
“The other was the rainfall accumulations. This new radar will be publishing the rainfall data (online) as well and that will essentially tell you how much rain fell in the last five minutes, in the last hour, (or) since 9am.”
Mr Aylward said early stages of the project – including fencing and foundations – had recently been completed, with the radar hoped to be in operation by mid-2021.
“Construction is well underway and we’ve finished the access road,” he said.
“We’ve finished pouring concrete on the tower foundations and (last) week we poured the rest of the concrete.
“We’ve got the radar tower, which is a 22-metre steel tower, which is currently being fabricated in Adelaide… and that will be shipped across the border in about five weeks.
“In November we’re due to install the radar equipment (and) the actual formal launch of the radar will be in the first half of next year.”
Mr Aylward said the radar’s level of technology, which can also be upgraded during use, could last for “10 to 15 years”.
“We’ve engaged the company we contracted to supply our radars to do things like mid-life upgrades,” he said.
“So four or five years into the life of the radar we can do an upgrade to it with whatever technological advances happen.”
Mr Aylward said weather and rainfall information from the radar would be accessible online for Riverland farmers.
“There’s the public webpage which is the main portal (and) that gives you the radar images, the rainfall data and the wind data,” he said.