Site News

25 May 2018 – To raise awareness about space weather and its effects, Space Weather Services, Bureau of Meteorology, is planning to present a free one-hour information seminar in Brisbane on 18 June 2018. Please note that this free seminar runs in conjunction with our HF Radio Propagation course (HFRPC) and will only go ahead if we receive enough registrants for the HFRPC. More
22 May 2018 – Due to their incompatibility with modern browsers and low customer demand the Solar Activity Rotation, Culgoora Type II and Learmonth Type II tools will be removed from the sws website in June 2018.
21 May 2018 – A one day course about HF Radio Propagation has been planned to be presented in Brisbane on 19 June 2018. The running of the course will be confirmed after completing registrations. More
08 May 2018 – Commencing Saturday 19th May 2018, 11PM AEST, and completing 9AM Sunday 20th May 2018, essential repair work will be carried out on the SWS building backup generator systems. During this time SWS will operate on its own emergency power systems. It is not expected that there will be a disruption to space weather products or services due to these works.
06 Mar 2018 – To support HF communications in the PNG region the Australian Bureau of Meteorology produces HAP charts for Aitape, Port Moresby and Rabaul. To view these charts click on more, select the location from the drop down list, and click display. More
15 Feb 2018 – Tonga real time HF communications support. Click on More. Select Tonga in drop down list and click display. More
23 Aug 2017 – Peak virtual height maps of the F2-layer (h’F2) have been removed from the website (they were at the bottom of http://www.sws.bom.gov.au/HF_Systems/1/4). Virtual height is determined from the time required for the radiowave to travel to the ionospheric layer, assuming that the wave is propagating at the speed of light. For instance, an ionogram shows a series of transmitted radiowave frequencies and the virtual height at the reflection point, if any, of these frequencies. Using modelling techniques, the frequency vs virtual height profile of the ionosphere can be converted to a frequency vs true height profile. It has therefore been decided that the virtual heights (h’F2) maps will be replaced by the true height maps of the F2-layer (hmF2) on the website. An update will be provided once this has been accomplished. More
26 Jun 2017 – An information sheet on the impacts of space weather on critical infrastructure from the Attorney-General's Department and the Bureau of Meteorology has been added to the website. More
22 Jun 2017 – Sydney HF Radio Propagation Course - 21 July More
06 Jun 2017 – A link to the INAG - Ionosonde Network Advisory Group Home page has been added to the SWS World Data Centre home page. A new issue of INAG Bulletin has been published. More
05 Jun 2017 – Some minor changes to this website may affect how the page header renders if the old stylesheet has been cached on your browser. Clearing the browser cache with CTRL F5 should fix the issue.
01 Jun 2017 – Our new webpages gather content that help determine current aurora viewing conditions. The improved Auroral Oval Tool displays locations of past sightings. Look for the Aurora page in the site menu.
15 May 2017 – Minor changes will be made on 24/05/17 to the following website pages to reflect the fact that the information to which they pertain is also available via the Space Weather API. www.sws.bom.gov.au/Geophysical/1/2, www.sws.bom.gov.au/Geophysical/2/1, www.sws.bom.gov.au/Geophysical/2/2, www.sws.bom.gov.au/Geophysical/2/4, www.sws.bom.gov.au/Products_and_Services/4/1.
15 May 2017 – Space Weather Services now offers a Space Weather API that provides current information regarding K index values, magnetic alerts, geophysical warnings and aurora notices. More
02 May 2017 – One day courses about HF Radio Propagation have been planned to be presented in Perth on 25 May and Canberra on 1 June 2017. The running of the courses will be confirmed after completing the registrations. More
02 May 2017 – To raise awareness about space weather and its effects, Space Weather Services, Bureau of Meteorology, is planning to present free one-hour information seminars in Perth on 26 May and in Canberra on 2 June 2017. More