Ionospheric Prediction Service
IPS · IPS Radio and Space Services · Australian Ionospheric Prediction Service
1947 – 2007
Sydney-based Commonwealth service that forecast ionospheric conditions for high-frequency radio users and later monitored and forecast space weather, operating a network of ionosondes and other sensors across Australasia and Antarctica.
How it came into existence
Formed in 1947 to continue, as a standing government service, the wartime ionospheric prediction work of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's Radio Research Board (run through the Australian Radio Propagation Committee) when the board returned to research. It was initially attached to the Commonwealth Observatory at Mount Stromlo in the Department of the Interior.
- Ionospheric prediction service (Radio Research Board)
Changes during its life
- 26 November 2001Moved from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources to the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, where it was an operational unit trading as IPS Radio and Space Services.
How it ended
Became part of the Bureau of Meteorology in 2007 (exact date not confirmed); its work continued there as IPS Radio and Space Services, later Space Weather Services, which became the Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre in 2022.
- Ionospheric and radio-propagation forecasting
- Space weather services
Main functions
- Ionospheric and HF radio-propagation predictions
- Advice on radio frequencies for defence and civil users
- Solar and geomagnetic monitoring
- Space weather forecasts and alerts
- Operation of the IPSNET ionosonde and sensor network
- Antarctic space weather data
Where it sits
Last in the portfolio of Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources.
Lineage
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Sources
Government records and websites
Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.