describe_location
Resolve any Australian location to its precise coordinates, timezone, elevation, and nearest BOM station. Use it to verify location before fetching weather data.
Instructions
Return metadata for an Australian location — name, lat/lng, timezone, elevation, and (for curated locations) the nearest BOM station ID.
Accepts a wide range of input shapes for compatibility — see the
location parameter description. The returned id is None for
non-curated lookups (geocoded place names, raw coordinates) and a
snake_case curated key when the input matched the curated set.
Examples: await describe_location("sydney") # → curated path await describe_location("Sydney") # → curated path (case-insensitive) await describe_location("NSW") # → state capital (Sydney) await describe_location("Margaret River") # → geocoded (Western Australia) await describe_location("-33.87,151.21") # → raw coordinates
When to use: - Before calling get_weather, to confirm coordinates and timezone - To cross-reference with BOM's own observation network (for curated) - To verify how the server resolved an ambiguous customer input
Returns: LocationDetail with id (or None), name, state, lat/lng, timezone, elevation, nearest BOM station ID (curated only), the Open-Meteo URL, and the CC-BY attribution.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| location | Yes | Any Australian location, in any of these shapes: (1) curated ID like 'sydney', 'gold_coast'; (2) place name in any case like 'Sydney', 'Gold Coast', 'Margaret River', 'Byron Bay'; (3) state code or name like 'NSW', 'VIC', 'Queensland' (returns the state capital); (4) raw coordinates like '-33.87,151.21'. Case-insensitive throughout. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | Yes | ||
| name | Yes | ||
| state | Yes | ||
| description | No | ||
| latitude | Yes | ||
| longitude | Yes | ||
| timezone | Yes | ||
| elevation_m | No | ||
| nearest_bom_station | No | ||
| open_meteo_url | Yes | ||
| attribution | Yes |