Obituary
BAMOS
Mar 2019
Henry Phillpot (1974).
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
In 1951, he was assigned to provide Australian meteorological
support for the British Atomic Weapons Trials planned for the
Monte Bello Islands off northwest Australia. Following the
initial ‘Hurricane’ test at Monte Bello in 1952, where he served
under war-time Bureau colleague Harry Ashton, and ‘Totem‘
at Emu Field in October 1953, Henry was placed in charge of
meteorological support for all the subsequent major trials
(‘Mosaic’ at Monte Bello in May 1956, and ‘Buffalo’ and ‘Antler’
at Maralinga in September–October 1956 and 1957) reporting
directly to the Trials Director, Sir William (later Lord) Penney and
the Australian Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee. This
involved detailed observation, forecasting and advice on wind
profiles and other meteorological influences and especially on
the risk of any nuclear contamination drifting over settled areas.
It necessitated establishment of the Giles Observing Station to
assist with upper wind forecasting for Maralinga and assembly
of substantial teams of on-site Observers and Meteorologists
under Henry’s leadership for each test. He regarded the Atomic
Weapons Trials as the most personally and professionally
demanding assignment of his Bureau career. But he drew
satisfaction, in later life, from a letter of commendation he
received from Lord Penney on the excellence of the Australian
meteorological support and the dedication and professionalism
of his leadership of the Bureau teams for the trials.
In 1958, Henry was seconded to work with the then Department
of Civil Aviation, Qantas and Boeing on the introduction of
Boeing 707 jet aircraft onto Australian international air routes.
With the state of knowledge of upper winds in the Australasian
tropics, this presented significant interdisciplinary as well
as meteorological challenges in determining the range and
performance characteristics of the new jets in the Australian
region. Henry’s report published in 1959 was regarded by
Qantas as an important contribution to their successful launch
of the jet era.
It was also in the late 1950s that Henry first became deeply
entrained into what was to become his life-long passion for
Antarctic meteorology. He had earlier, in conjunction with
another overseas meeting, represented Australia at a planning
coordination meeting for the Antarctic component of the 1957–
58 International Geophysical Year (IGY). Following the closure
of the IGY Weather Central at ‘Little America’ on the Antarctic
Continent at the end of the IGY, the ICSU (International Council
of Scientific Unions) Special Committee on Antarctic Research
(SCAR), through the Australian Academy of Science, invited
Australia to take over Little America’s Antarctic analysis and
research role. This role was taken on through the establishment
of what was to become the International Antarctic Analysis
Centre (IAAC) in Melbourne. The Bureau of Meteorology agreed
to host and manage the new centre and Henry was appointed
to establish and lead it. In 1961, he flew to McMurdo, Byrd
and South Pole stations as a guest of the US Deep Freeze
Program and, in 1963, he visited South Africa for consultations
on Southern Ocean analysis techniques. Through a team of
international analysts from such countries as Argentina, France,
the Soviet Union and the US, supported also by the Bureau,
CSIRO and the Royal Australian Navy, Henry led the pioneering
IAAC operation from 1959 to 1965 (team pictured on previous
page).
Then, with its operational Antarctic and Southern Ocean
analysis functions taken over by what was to become World
Meteorological Centre Melbourne in 1966, the IAAC was
transitioned into the International Antarctic Meteorological
Research Centre (IAMRC) to concentrate on its research role.
Henry continued as its leader and, with a small team of US
(University of Wisconsin) and Australian scientists (including the
present author), led by example with a monumental 1968 study
of the synoptic climatology of Antarctica, which earned him his
Masters’ degree the following year. This was followed by other
important publications on explosive stratospheric warming,
the surface temperature inversion over Antarctica and coastal
station climatology. Henry became deeply involved in the
various international coordination mechanisms for Antarctic
science including both WMO and SCAR Working Groups and
the International Commission on Polar Meteorology (ICPM).
Under his leadership, the IAMRC soon became recognised as
an international centre of excellence in Antarctic meteorology.
In his IAMRC years, Henry especially enjoyed his official Bureau
of Meteorology position abbreviation as STAR (SuperinTendent
Antarctic Research).
In 1969, the first of a long series of re-groupings of Australian
meteorological research saw the IAMRC closed and Henry
appointed as Superintendent of a new Synoptic Research Branch
of the restructured Research and Development Division of the
Bureau of Meteorology with a charter to work on non-numerical
approaches to improved short- and long-range forecasting for
the Australian region. Peter Price and Bruce Neal were brought
in from the regions to work on the broad and regional scales
respectively but, almost immediately, Henry and his Branch
were charged with leading Australian participation in the GARP
(Global Atmospheric Research Programme) Basic Data Set
Project, the precursor to the 1979 Global Weather Experiment
(‘FGGE’). This project served as an important verification
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