Australian CliMate is a suite of climate analysis tools for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. The App allows you to interrogate climate records (over the last 60 yrs) to ask a number of questions relating to rainfall, temperature, radiation, as well as derived variables such as heat sums, soil water and soil nitrate.
It is designed for decision makers who use past climate statistics, forecasts and knowledge of system status (e.g. soil water, heat sum) to better manage their business. CliMate has a number of analyses structured around the following questions:
(1) How often? What is the chance of a rainfall event based on x amount of rainfall over y days? How often is a heat sum achieved in a set period of time? What is the probability of temperature being above or below a critical level? E.g. for germination or flowering
(2) How hot-cold? When planning for an optimum temperature regime, when are heat and cold stresses lowest? e.g. crop flowering
(3) Seasons progress? When adjusting inputs during a crop or pasture season, how does the current season compare with previous conditions in terms of rainfall, temperature, heat sum or radiation?
(4) How wet? N? How much water and nitrate have I stored over the fallow? This may help me adjust inputs to better match yield expectations.
(5) How likely? Based on current ENSO conditions, what is the probability that rainfall or temperature is greater than or less than key thresholds (e.g. terciles, median) and how reliable have these forecasts been in the past?
(6) Hows El Nino? What is the current ENSO status based on key atmospheric and oceanic indicators? What is the Australian Bureau of Meteorologys interpretation of this?
(7) Hows the Past? Presents graphical views of monthly and annual rainfall, temperature and radiation to explore historic patterns.
CliMate was developed for the Managing Climate Variability Program (MCVP), a partnership between five Rural Research and Development Corporations. The program builds on more than a decade of climate research by its predecessor, the Climate Variability in Agriculture Program, established under the National Drought Policy in 1992 and extended under the Advancing Australian Agriculture initiative in 1998.
The MCVP aims to help farmers and natural resource managers manage the risks and exploit the opportunities afforded by Australias variable and changing climate by:
. - improving forecasting accuracy, lead-time and ease of use
. - providing tools and services for managing climate risk
. - getting more farmers managing their climate risk
MVCP Partners
.Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
.Grains Research & Development Corporation
.Meat & Livestock Australia
.Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
.Sugar Research and Development Corporation
CliMate was developed for the MCVP by RPS Australia East Pty Ltd and program written by DHM Environmental Software Engineering Pty Ltd