Dear Ms Smith,

Freedom of Information (FOI) Request 30/007: maximum temperature
observations at Corowa Airport since 19 April 2020

 1. I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (‘the Act’).
We received your request by email on 26 July 2020. The Act provides a
30-day statutory timeframe for dealing with this request. The current
due date for a decision in this matter is 25 August 2020.
 2. Upon our initial assessment of your request, it appears that there may
be very few documents, if any, within the scope of your request.
Rather than progressing your enquiry through the formal FOI request,
the Bureau can directly provide you with information about maximum
temperature observations at Corowa Airport since 19 April 2020, in
exchange for the withdrawal of your formal FOI request. Please note
that agreeing to this proposal would not prevent you from making any
further request under FOI in future, for example if the information we
provide does not meet your needs.
 3. If you prefer to proceed with your formal request, the Bureau seeks
your agreement to remove:

 a. The names and direct contact details of non-senior officers of
the Bureau (below the General Manager level) and any third
parties, where that information is contained in documents within
scope of your request. The position titles will generally be
released.
 b. Duplicate copies of documents, including email threads that
contain duplicated material.

This will enable the Bureau to continue processing your request promptly.

 4. Please respond to this email by close of business on Tuesday, 4 August
2020 to advise:

 a. whether you agree to the Bureau providing you with a direct
response to your enquiry, in exchange for withdrawal of your
formal FOI request, as set out at paragraph 2 above; or
 b. if you would prefer to proceed with your formal FOI request,
whether you agree to the removal of names, direct contact details
and duplicate material.

Finally, the Bureau aims to provide accessible documents. If you need this
document in a different format, or if you have any questions about this
matter in general, please contact [1][BOM request email]

Yours sincerely,

FOI Officer

[2][BOM request email]

Freedom of Information

Office of the General Counsel, Enterprise Services

Bureau of Meteorology

show quoted sections

Dear Ms Smith,

Thank you for your email of 2 August 2020.

On 26 July 2020, you requested:

… any documentation, including emails or electronically held records with
regard to the daily observations collected at the Corowa Airport. In
particular, any documentation, and/or correspondence with regard to issues
with the collection and/or display of maxima temperatures since 19 April
2020.

As agreed, the Bureau is providing you with the following information, in
exchange for the withdrawal of your formal Freedom of Information (FOI)
request:

The Corowa Airport weather station is a manual weather station, and
maximum temperature observations are taken using a specialised mercury
thermometer. The thermometer has broken, which is why no maximum
temperature observations have been recorded from that location since 18
April 2020.

Each manual station will have a mercury maximum thermometer, an
alcohol-in-water minimum thermometer, a standard mercury thermometer (dry
bulb current temperature) and a wet bulb thermometer. When the observer
performs the once-a-day reading (at 9:00AM) they record the four
temperatures and then "reset" the maximum and minimum thermometers. On
this occasion, the reset led to the unfortunate breakage of the maximum
thermometer.

Due to the impacts of COVID-19, and the particular packaging and handling
requirements for transporting mercury thermometers safely, there has been
some delay in replacing the thermometer. The Bureau can advise that a new
thermometer is currently being organised to replace the broken one and
hopes to resume maximum temperature observations from the Corowa Airport
weather station in due course.

We now consider your formal FOI request made on 9 July 2020 to be
withdrawn. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on
the details provided.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Officer

[1][BOM request email]

Freedom of Information

Office of the General Counsel, Enterprise Services

Bureau of Meteorology

References

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1. mailto:[BOM request email]