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
A Period of Consolidation
Aviation Services
Services for the General Public
Rockets and Atomic Weapons
Instruments and Observations
Climate and Statistics
International Activities
Training
Publications
Research
Central Analysis and Development
CSIRO
The Universities
The Meteorology Act
Achievements of the Timcke Years
Chapter 4: A Year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Chapter 5: The Dwyer Years, 1955 to 1962
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
Search
Help
Contact us
Research (continued)
The paper on forecasting for jet aircraft (Gibbs, 1953) was an internal report circulated within the Bureau for the use of analysts and forecasters. It acknowledges the assistance received from R. H. Clarke, G. Trefry, A. Garriock, J. T. Gray, A. White and forecasters of the Mascot meteorological office. The opening paragraph, which reveals anticipation of the meteorological services required for jet airliners and a complete understanding of the meteorological techniques needed to provide these services, is worth quoting and reads "at one stage it was believed that with the advent of jet aircraft the dependence of the pilot on the meteorologist would be much less as flight would be 'above the weather'. However the responsibility of the meteorologist has increased as a result of the use of jet aircraft for military and civil activities. Because of the tremendous consumption of fuel by jet aircraft at low altitudes the aerodrome forecast is even more vital than in the case of piston-engined aircraft. Furthermore the performance of the jet engine is particularly dependent on temperature and an accurate forecast of this element is required. Of equal importance as the forecast of terminal weather and temperature is the forecast of upper wind, for although the jet aircraft flies more than twice as fast as the conventional airliner, the wind at the operating altitude of the former is usually about four times as strong as that of the latter".The report then discussed general features of the winds between 20 000 and 60 000 feet, the shortcomings of conventional constant-pressure upper air analysis, the preferred use of streamline-isotach analysis techniques and hints for forecasting upper winds and temperatures. It also contained analysis of selected meteorological situations by the use of charts and diagrams of cross-sections, thunderstorm temperature structure and winds and temperatures for the 500, 300, 200 and 100 mb levels. It can be seen that in the Research Section we were well prepared for the advent of jet aircraft on domestic and international routes.
The work done by our Research Section in responding to a request from the Chief Engineer of the PMG's Department is summarised in Meteorological Study No 1 (Gibbs, 1954). The Chief Engineer wished to know the feasibility of using a series of towers between Melbourne and Sydney for the transmission of telephone messages using microwave carriers. To mount this experiment the PMG made trial microwave transmissions at the same time as we measured vertical profiles of temperature and humidity with the object of calculating the gradient of refractive index from the ground to about 500 feet.
With PMG arranging transport and accommodation, a team of about six to eight Bureau meteorologists and technicians joined the PMG people. With equipment for measuring profiles of temperature and humidity we travelled to Euroa, just north of the dividing range in Victoria. We measured the vertical profiles at three points on the flat plain between Euroa and Dookie on a base line about 25 miles in length. The measurements were made in early morning darkness on 15 and 16 July 1950.
People in Bright Sparcs - Clarke, Reginald Henry; Timcke, Edward Waldemar; White, Arthur Charles
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© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
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