BAMOS Vol 32 No.1 March 2019 | Page 11

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 11