The Bureau of Meteorology, like all the world's Meteorological Services, operates a network of its own stations to gather surface and upper air observations. More than 440 paid and volunteer part-time observers also make daily surface observations essential to the national picture. Their information is formatted in an international code and transmitted nationally, often globally. Complementary, if less detailed, surface data come from the Bureau's expanding system of more than 100 automatic weather stations, ship reports, and from drifting buoys in the surrounding oceans.
Some aircraft transmit upper air data.
Weather satellite data are a vital part of the analysis process. Australian meteorologists focus on hourly images from the Japanese Geostationary Meteorological Satellite operating in geostationary orbit 36,500 kilometres over the equator. Computer enhancement adds colour for easier interpretation. The animated sequences often shown on television are a particularly powerful analysis tool. The Bureau's National Meteorological Centre in Melbourne also draws on similarly enhanced images from US and European geostationary satellites, as well as high-resolution images and atmospheric temperature profiles from polar orbiting US satellites.