In 1963 he was promoted as a Programmer Class 8 to the original establishment for E.D.P. Two years later, Ross visited meteorological establishments in U.S.A., England and West Germany to see the latest methods for the application of electronic computers to the problems of meteorological analysis and prognosis. He continued original research into numerical methods of analysis and prognosis, and investigated methods for the production of meteorological charts directly from the commuters. In 1966 he received his MSc. for a thesis on numerical weather analysis.

The development of the meteorological models and the integration of the individual computer programs were completed and tested during early 1967 by a successful real-time experiment. Paper tape derived from the meteorological messages was fed into the computer, the messages were recognised and validated, the meteorological analysis was performed and the resultant charts were drawn by the on-line plotters. The whole process was validated by detailed comparison of the computer-drawn charts with those prepared manually by conventional methods. This successful experiment ensured the Bureau's computer was productive as soon as it had been formally accepted from the manufacturer.

Ross was attached to the Commonwealth Meteorology Research Centre (C.M.R.C.) following its inception in March 1969. Away from work, Ross finds his family takes up most of his spare time. He denies any weakness such as golf, fishing or compulsive carpentry, although the call of the old home State has twice led him to take his wife (another Western Australian) and five children on the long, long drive to Perth.

Bureau of Meteorology