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Table of Contents

History of Research in the Bureau of Meteorology

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: Germination and Growth

Chapter 2: Struggle, Competition and Emergence
The Struggle for Recognition
International Involvement
Local Cooperation
The Bureau Goes Solo
Conclusion
Retrospect

Appendix 1: Meteorology Act 1906

Appendix 2: Meteorology Act 1955

Appendix 3: Simpson Report

Appendix 4: Survey Questionnaire

Appendix 5: Bibliography

References

Index
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Research Within the Bureau (continued)

Not to be left behind, Reg Clarke, who had moved to the CSIRO Division of Meteorological Physics in 1957, applied the primitive equations of motion to produce a 14-day numerical forecast for the southern hemisphere using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's machine in Washington DC during a visit there in 1967 (Leslie and Dietachmayer [50]).

Whilst each of these groups was working on its own model, there was at the same time a great deal of cooperation between them. According to Priestley[65], this laid the groundwork for what was to become the Commonwealth Meteorological Research Centre (CMRC) as was demonstrated by the fact that CSIRO and Bureau staff had already been designated for the project. Certainly, further development work on both Maine's baroclinic model and Clarke's primitive equation (PE) model was undertaken within CMRC following its establishment in 1969.

The loss of the pure research staff from the Bureau's Research and Development Division to CMRC in 1969 promoted other changes within that Division. The Electronic Data Processing Section, successor to the group which had introduced the Hollerith system to the Bureau, moved to the new Automatic Data Processing Division. Another group working in the areas of Agrometeorology and Applied Meteorology transferred to the Services Division; the Instruments and Observations Branch, formerly responsible for the standardisation of radar and radiosonde practices, went to the new Facilities Division; and the International Antarctic Meteorological Research Centre (IAMRC) was disbanded. The remainder of the staff were broken into four branches or sections, each of which had responsibility for a particular program namely, synoptic research, physical research, special projects and the Bureau's central library (BOM [15]).

Teams were formed within these sections to work on various topics such as tropical cyclones, synoptic scale transfer processes, the use of radar in rainfall measurement and the level of evaporation from water storage areas (BOM [12]). Over the next few years, these teams tended to attach themselves to one of the other Bureau Branches which also had a particular interest in their topic.


Organisations in Australian Science at Work - International Antarctic Meteorological Research Centre

People in Bright Sparcs - Clarke, Reginald Henry; Maine, Ross; Priestley, Charles Henry Brian (Bill)

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Gardner, J. 1997 'Stormy Weather: A History of Research in the Bureau of Meteorology', Metarch Papers, No. 11 December 1997, Bureau of Meteorology

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