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Federation and MeteorologyBureau of Meteorology
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Table of Contents

Memories of the Bureau, 1946 to 1962

Foreword

Terminology

Prologue

Preface

Chapter 1: The Warren Years, 1946 to 1950

Chapter 2: International Meteorology

Chapter 3: The Timcke Years, 1950 to 1955

Chapter 4: A Year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chapter 5: The Dwyer Years, 1955 to 1962
Leonard Joseph Dwyer—A Complex Character
Reorganising the Bureau
Public Weather Services
Forecasts for the General Public
Importance of Radio Stations
The Advent of Television
Automatic Telephone Forecast Service
Beacons
Wording and Verification of Forecasts
Warnings
Services for Aviation
Atomic Weapons Tests
Atomic Weapons Tests—Mosaic G1 and G2
Atomic Weapons Tests—Buffalo 1, 2, 3 and 4
Atomic Weapons Tests—Operations Antler, 2 and 3
Atomic Weapons Tests—Minor Trials
Instruments and Observations
Radiosondes
Radar/Radio Winds and Radar Weather Watch
Automatic Weather Stations
Sferics
Meteorological Satellites
Telecommunications
Tropical Cyclones
Bureau Conference on Tropical Cyclones
International Symposium on Tropical Cyclones, Brisbane
Hydrometeorology
Design of Water Storages, Etc
Flood Forecasting
Cloud Seeding
Reduction of Evaporation
Rain Seminar
Cloud Physics
Fire Weather
Research and Special Investigations
International Activities
The International Geophysical Year
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean
International Symposium on Antarctic Meteorology
International Antarctic Analysis Centre
ADP, EDP and Computers
Training
Publications
Management Conference
Services Conference
CSIRO and the Universities
Achievements of the Dwyer Years

Chapter 6: A Springboard for the Future

Appendix 1: References

Appendix 2: Reports, Papers, Manuscripts

Appendix 3: Milestones

Appendix 4: Acknowledgements

Appendix 5: Summary by H. N. Warren of the Operation of the Meteorological Section of Allied Air Headquarters, Brisbane, 1942–45

Endnotes

Index
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Design of Water Storages, Etc

When Gerry O'Mahony returned from his year at ANU late in 1959 Allan Rainbird and Neil Body were well established in the Hydrometeorological Section. In the material Allan provided he states "one of the Bureau's best successes in Hydromet was to attract Neil Body. Credibility with the engineering profession required the recruitment of some suitably qualified engineers. Bureau staff did not have all the training and expertise needed. Neil was an outstanding choice. As Bill Gibbs once remarked 'Neil Body is a better scientist than many of the (so called) scientists'. It was no surprise when Neil later moved to the CSIRO".

There had been considerable development in hydrometeorology during Gerry's absence. Len Dwyer's reorganisation had created the positions of Assistant Directors which John Lillywhite (Services) and I (Research) had filled. The Research Division covered a very broad field and although I had responsibility for Hydrometeorology it was just one of a number of internal and external activities in which I was engaged. A Cooperative Studies group was formed under Harry Ashton with Hydrometeorological Section as part of that group and Harry attended and participated in discussions with other State and Commonwealth agencies. Harry, with Neil Body and Colin Hounam, participated in meetings of the Institution of Engineers concerned with water resources and hydrology. Harry also attended a WMO/ECAFE meeting in Bangkok in July 1959.

Allan Rainbird recalls that there were many players on the hydrometeorological and hydrology fields at that time including the Commonwealth Department of Works, SMHEA, the State Electricity Commission (SEC) and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SRWSC) of Victoria, the Tasmanian Hydroelectricity Commission (HEC) and various State and regional water authorities. In New South Wales Jack Beale, an engineer who was a member of the NSW Parliament, had launched the Water Research Foundation (WRF) at a conference in the University of NSW where Crawford Munro was Professor of Engineering with a strong interest in hydrology and Jack Wiesner, formerly a member of the Bureau's Sydney Divisional Office, was also a member of the staff of the WRF.


People in Bright Sparcs - Ashton, Henry Tamblyn (Harry); Dwyer, Leonard Joseph; Lillywhite, John Wilson; O'Mahony, Gerard (Gerry)

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Gibbs, W. J. 1999 'A Very Special Family: Memories of the Bureau of Meteorology 1946 to 1962', Metarch Papers, No. 13 May 1999, Bureau of Meteorology

© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
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