CSIRO and BoM joint effort

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and the Australian Antarctic Division say they were given just one day's notice about a major CSIRO restructure that could impact joint projects.

The CSIRO last week flagged a shakeup that is expected to see 350 positions restructured as climate science divisions are pared back.

The CSIRO and BoM work together at the Cape Grim greenhouse gas research centre in Tasmania, along with producing reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

BoM chief executive Rob Vertessy told Senate estimates the Tasmanian facility was "one of the most significant in the world", but the CSIRO had given no assurances about its future at the site.

"The Cape Grim measurement facility in north-west Tasmania is a very significant joint monitoring capability where we're tracking changes in greenhouse gas concentrations," he said.

Dr Vertessy said the agencies did "a lot" of collaborative work.

"Certainly in our climate analysis, climate projection work, seasonal weather forecasting and the like, there's a lot of information that is exchanged between the two organisations," he said.

"I'm drawing attention to several areas where we're working together, where we are dependent on CSIRO collaboration, and there are many areas.

"And there's probably just a lot of ad hoc research collaboration that goes on as well."

The Australian Antarctic Division director Nick Gales said it worked extensively with the CSIRO on high priority climate change and oceanography research.

He told Senate estimates the division was "as yet unaware" how the CSIRO's restructure would affect those projects.

"Some of our major deliverables are tied to work that CSIRO are a key collaborator in," Dr Gales said.

"If CSIRO ceased working in those areas - and that's entirely hypothetical, we hope that that's a priority for them too - then we would obviously have to look at how those programs could be delivered."

CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall said the organisation would continue to support projects such as Cape Grim and the RV Investigator research vessel used in the Antarctic.

"The Cape Grim air pollution monitoring station, which is a source of much of our greenhouse gas information, will continue to be that source," Dr Marshall said.

"The RV Investigator, operated by CSIRO for scientists from Australia and around the world as a state of the art research facility, will continue to operate scientific voyages, gathering data every day at sea."

Dr Marshall said the CSIRO would also continue to contribute to the Argo robotic floats used to monitor ocean temperature and salinity.