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Australian
Meteorological and Oceanographic Society |
1999 Seminar Abstracts
24
February 1999
The Wollongong Flash Flood - Monday August 17, 1998
Bruce Buckley
Bureau of Meteorology
Abstract:
Between 1800 to 2100 Eastern Standard Time on Monday August 17 1998, the City of Wollongong, Australia, was devastated by extensive flash flooding. This was produced by some of the heaviest two to three hour duration rainfall experienced in New South Wales' history. One woman was swept to her death in her vehicle, dozens were injured, 500 houses were severely damaged by the floodwaters and 4000 motorists were stranded on the F6 Freeway for several hours. Landslips and debris flows were experienced in several areas. Insurance payouts of approximately $45 million have been paid (Insurance Council of Australia, 1999) with uninsured and uninsurable property damage thought to be of equal or greater magnitude. The floods cut all road and rail links between Sydney and Wollongong for several hours and a State of Emergency was declared for the region. This paper describes the extent of the flash flood producing rainfall, which peaked at over 100mm/hour and the meteorological factors that produced them. The ability of a current operational numerical model to predict the severity of this event in real time is then presented.
About the speaker:
Bruce Buckley is currently the Supervising Meteorologist for the NSW Regional Forecasting Centre. The RFC has forecast and warning responsibilities for all of NSW, including the ACT and offshore islands. He has also spent a couple of years as Deputy Regional Director of the NSW Regional Office. His former experiences include periods of time in the Bureau's Head Office in Melbourne, as an operational forecaster and shift leader in the WA Regional Office and a four year period assisting the Saudi Arabian Meteorology and Environmental Administration with the development of their National Weather Services.
28 April 1999
Nutrients in NSW’s Dynamic Coastal Waters and their
Effect on Algal Populations
Randall Lee, Tim Pritchard and Penny Ajani
Environment Protection Authority,
New South Wales
Abstract:
A three-year, multi-disciplinary
study was conducted by the NSW EPA to assess the relative importance of natural
and anthropogenic nutrients on the development of phytoplankton blooms.
Sydney’s three deepwater outfalls represented the principal, continuous,
anthropogenic source of nutrients to NSW coastal waters. Effluent plumes
generally remained submerged and sewage derived nitrogen was mainly in the form
of ammonia. Episodic slope water intrusions were the principal source of
nitrogen in the form of nitrate to coastal waters especially during spring and
summer. An understanding of mechanisms of slope water intrusion emerged from
modelling exercises commissioned for this project and from direct observations.
Slope water intrusions operated over (alongshore) length scales of hundreds of
kilometres and over time scales of a few days to a few weeks. Phytoplankton
blooms appeared to occur in response to slope water intrusions irrespective of
proximity to other major nutrient sources. However, the high frequency of
occurrence of both the chain-forming diatom Thalassiosira spp. and the
‘red tide’ heterotrophic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans during the
study period was unprecedented in these waters. Despite this, general patterns
of spring phytoplankton bloom successions were otherwise consistent with
previous studies with no discernible difference in phytoplankton biomass or
species diversity. Effects of inter-annual climatic variance are also discussed
to put the studies into context with longer-term records from the CSIRO’s
monitoring station off Sydney.
About the speaker:
Mr. Randall Stuart Lee is a Senior Environmental Officer with the Marine Waters Unit in the Environmental Science Branch of the NSW Environment Protection Authority. He has been working with the Marine Waters Unit since 1990 on a range of environmental marine issues. Duties range from project leading long term studies that incorporate both internal and external research efforts, to short term in-house investigations of environmental impacts for EPA legal cases. Such studies include the 5 year Sydney deepwater outfalls environmental monitoring program, forcing new treatment options as a result of investigating hydrocarbon discharges off Yena Gap, and the present three year study entitled the Ocean Nutrient and Phytoplankton Project.
Mr. Lee obtained a B.Sc in Meteorology and Oceanography at Flinders University, S.A, in 1985, and an M.Sc in Oceanography at the University of Sydney, in 1991. A PhD is presently being undertaken with the University of Waikato, New Zealand, to investigate the influence of anthropogenic and oceanic nutrient fluxes on the eastern seaboards of Australia and New Zealand.
25 August 1999
Solar Photovoltaics:
From the Laboratory to the Rooftops of the World
Martin A. Green
Photovoltaics Special Research
Centre, University of New South Wales
Abstract:
Over the last 15 years, the UNSW Photovoltaics Centre has led the world in improving the performance of laboratory silicon solar cells and in transferring these improvements into commercial production. Notable achievements include holding the world record for cell efficiency since 1983 (presently 24%), supplying cells for winning solar cars such as the Honda Dream in the World Solar Challenge, and in having its technology established as the most successfully commercialized photovoltaic technology developed over the last 15 years, now dominating the European market, in particular.
This talk will discuss issues ranging from how a solar cell can be made to work better to the activities of the Centre's latest "spin-off", Pacific Solar Pty. Ltd., a joint venture between leading utility, Pacific Power, and Unisearch Ltd., UNSW's commercial arm. Pacific Solar's mission is to develop cheap thin-film solar cells seen "across the rooftops of the world". Worldwide developments in the "grid-connected" residential use of photovoltaics will be described including Australia's contribution via the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village.
About the speaker:
Martin Green was born in Brisbane, Australia and educated at the University of Queensland and then McMaster University, Canada. He is currently Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and Director of the Centre for Photovoltaic Devices and Systems. His group's contribution to photovoltaics is well known internationally and has been acknowledged by several awards including the IEEE William R. Cherry Award for "outstanding contributions to photovoltaics science and technology". Professor Green is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Martin Green is the author of three books on solar cells, several book chapters, numerous reports and conference papers, and over 150 papers in international refereed journals in the area of semiconductor properties, microelectronics and solar cells.