Australian Weather Radars


Overview
The majority of Australia's weather radars are operated by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), an executive agency of the Australian Government. The radar network is continually being upgraded with new technology such as doppler and dual polarisation to provide better now-casting. Doppler radars are able to detect the movement of precipitation, making it very useful in detecting damaging winds associated with precipitation, and determining if a thunderstorm has a rotating updraft, a key indicator of the presence of the most dangerous type of thunderstorm, a supercell. The new dual polarisation radars give forecasters the ability to:
Detect debris in the atmosphere, leading to more accurate tornado warnings;
Distinguish between different precipitation types, leading to better estimations of hail size and severity;
Better identify areas of heavy rainfall, leading to more accurate flood warnings;
Discern between precipitation and non-meteorological echoes such as chaff, birds, and insects. The Dual Polarisation Transition 
The transition to polarimetric (dual-polarised) radars began in 2017 with the upgrade of 4 Meteor 1500 radars located in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Sydney. The network has further been enhanced through the installation of 8 new polarimetric Meteor 735 radars across WA, NSW & Victoria, and two polarimetric WRM200 radars manufactured by Vaisala, one to replace the radar in Dampier, WA which had been destroyed by severe tropical cyclone Damien in 2020, and one to replace an ageing radar near Gove in the Northern Territory. 4 new Meteor 1700's were also installed in 2021/22, 3 located in QLD, and 1 in Perth, WA, all equipped with dual polarisation technology. All the radars with the model name 'Meteor' were manufactured by Selex ES, now Leonardo. Specifications for the Meteor 735 can be found here, specifications for the Meteor 1700 can be found here, and specifications for the Vaisala WRM200 can be found here. Future radar network upgrades 
The BoM has plans to;
Build a new radar in Tennant Creek, NT. Build a new radar in the Toowomba region in SE QLD. Replace the Marburg radar of SE QLD with a new dual polarised, doppler S-band radar. (replacement is underway)
Replace the radar in Mackay QLD (replacement is underway)
Upgrade the Carnarvon radar in WA to add doppler capabilities 
Current plans can be found in these references

Notes
Model names were found in radar metadata and on the Bureau's website. The number following the hyphen in the radar model name is most likely the diameter of the parabolic dish in feet. As a direct quote from the referenced website, "The WSR81C radar was simply a WF100-5C system rearranged as a remote weather watch radar system. It used the same basic transmitter/receiver/servo/antenna with the linear receiver omitted, and a shepherd's hook horn feed in an 8 foot antenna." and "the Bureau assembled its own remote weather watch [WSR81] radars by using a Rapic Transmitter fitted to a WF100 Transmitter/receiver, servo and a 'MET' only antenna purchased from EEC. Radar beamwidths are not exact. Australian Capital Territory 
The Australian Capital Territory is served by the Captains Flat radar, located in New South Wales (see below). New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

Research Radars 
Note: 
The Bureau of Meteorology operated the CP2 and CPOL radars before they were decommissioned. The CSIRO currently operates the Ocean Pol radar aboard the RV Investigator but the BoM is still involved with research regarding it. The UQHAIL radar is operated by a team at the University of Queensland. References

See also

Related articles 
 NEXRAD
 Canadian weather radar network

External links 

Bureau of Meteorology
Weather radar networks