Stereo 974

Stereo 974 (call sign: 3WRB) is an English language pop and Languages Other Than English (LOTE) station in western Melbourne, Australia. It broadcasts on 97.4 MHz. It commenced broadcasting in the mid-1980s.

History

The radio station commenced transmissions under the original callsign "3WRB", with an original coverage area including the present Melbourne West RA1, Werribee RA1 and Melton RA1 sub-metropolitan licence areas.

A split in management in the early 1990s saw the station temporarily change its on-air identity to "B-97", and feature mainly dance / top40 music. Intervention by the then Australian Broadcasting Authority set conditions for the continuation of the licence, including a restructure of management and programming.

Following on from there, the radio station was under the 3WRB banner once again. After many years of continued stability, the radio station publicly relaunched with a music / ethnic focus under the brand name "Stereo 974".

Programming

Daytime programmes from 08:00 to 18:00 (8 in the morning to 6 in the evening) Monday to Friday are English language pop. Breakfast, weeknights and weekends feature non-English programming, mainly in Vietnamese.

World Reference Base for Soil Resources

The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is the international standard taxonomic soil classification system endorsed by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). It was developed by an international collaboration coordinated by the International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) and sponsored by the IUSS and the FAO via its Land & Water Development division. It replaces the previous FAO soil classification.

The WRB borrows heavily from modern soil classification concepts, including USDA soil taxonomy, the legend for the FAO Soil Map of the World 1988, the Référentiel Pédologique and Russian concepts. The classification is based mainly on soil morphology as an expression of pedogenesis. A major difference with USDA soil taxonomy is that soil climate is not part of the system, except insofar as climate influences soil profile characteristics. As far as possible, diagnostic criteria match those of existing systems, so that correlation with national and previous international systems is as straightforward as possible.