RAAF Meteorological Service
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Weather Factor in Warfare
Chapter 2: Establishing and Developing the RAAF Directorate of Met. Services (D.Met.S)
Chapter 3: Recruiting and Training of Personnel
Chapter 4: Meteorology in Aviation
Chapter 5: The Met. Retreating
Chapter 6: The Met. Advancing
Chapter 7: The Met With the Army and the Navy
Chapter 8: Divisional Offices of the Bureau of Meteorology During the War
Chapter 9: Research and Instrumental Development
Research
Instrumental Development
Chapter 10: The End, Aftermath, and Beyond
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
References
Index
Search
Help
Contact us
Instrumental Development (continued)
Allan Cornish gleefully related how at the first field trial held near Albert Park in Melbourne, the cylinder used did not have a bursting disc. When Alan Martin and a technician charged and closed the cylinder nothing happened for some minutes. Then suddenly the pressure gauge flipped to the stop at 140 atmospheres and the external cylinder paint began melting. Both Martin and his assistant later claimed a record for the hundred yards dash. There was no explosion. I can recall generating hydrogen in a four-foot cylinder on the roof of the Melbourne office while instructing Meteorological Assistants. One day a trainee put too much charge into a cylinder and the safety disc blew. The result was a number of black faces, a few minor burns and much embarrassment, followed by much mirth.Radiosonde in Australia was developed from USA technology. During the 1930s, balloons had carried a device known as a meteorograph which made automatic records of temperature and humidity. The balloon during ascent was observed through a theodolite, and windspeed and direction were calculated from observations of azimuth and elevation. However, the records of temperature and humidity could not be examined until the meteorograph had been recovered, and they were not therefore an immediate aid for forecasting.
The radiosonde was first known as a radio meteorograph. The observations provided by radiosonde were called ra-obs, and were extensively used by the US forces during the war to help cope with the problems of land, sea and air combat.
A Japanese radiosonde transmitter was captured in the Madang-Alexishafen area in Papua in May 1944. Generally, the design, construction and workmanship of this instrument was good. It is interesting to note the comparative total weight of various radiosonde units as follows:
- Japanese type, 12 ounces;
- USA type, 48 ounces; and
- British type, 64 ounces
People in Bright Sparcs - Cornish, Allan William
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Bureau of Meteorology |  |
© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
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