The Impact of the Telegraph

Todd, Ellery and Russell remained in charge of their respective observatories for another generation and were chiefly responsible for the system of co-operative meteorological observing established in the Australasian colonies during the final quarter of the nineteenth century. They did so in line with a further profound shift that overtook the science of meteorology at this time, one that is generally seen by meteorologists as constituting a watershed in the history of their subject.[30] The nature of the change can be seen by comparing the way Neumayer approached his task in the early 1860s to the approach adopted by Todd, Ellery and Russell a decade later.

Before coming to Melbourne, Neumayer worked at the Bogenhausen Observatory near Munich under one of the leading geo-physicists of the age, Johann von Lamont, and he carried to Australia an up-to-date knowledge of his subject.[31] His work in Australia therefore provides an insight not just into his own thinking, but into the science of meteorology more generally in his day. At the Flagstaff Observatory, he recorded the usual variables-shade temperature, wet-bulb thermometer, barometric pressure, wind strength and direction, and cloud cover-but at hourly intervals rather than the usual three or four times a day. From these observations he extracted daily and five-day means. The dew point was measured every three hours using a Reg-nault hygrometer, and the rain gauge checked twice daily. Neumayer also systematically recorded atmospheric electricity, soil temperature, evaporation rate, and maximum solar and minimum terrestrial radiation. He noted any special occurrences, along with the general state of the weather each day. From all this data, he sought to extract a 'completely reduced and calculated journal', of which, in his view, too few had been published. He devoted his attention in particular to 'the examination of the annual and diurnal variation in the various meteorological elements' and to investigating 'the change of these elements, as far as it depends upon the wind's direction'.[32]

Bureau of Meteorology