Sudden Death of Ross Maine

Ross was born in Western Australia, and after attending school at Christian Brothers College in Perth, joined the Bureau as a cadet meteorologist in 1951. After taking his Science degree and completing the Meteorologist course in 1954 he worked in the SA Regional Office as an operational forecaster. Colleagues recall that even in those early years of his career he was interested in numerical methods and in using computers for forecasting.

He came to Melbourne in 1960 to join the Research Branch where he pioneered the development of numerical methods for meteorological analysis and prediction in the Southern Hemisphere. In 1963 Ross was promoted to a senior position in the ADP Branch, and two years later he visited the USA, England and West Germany to study latest methods for the application of computers to meteorology. In 1966 he received his Master of Science degree for a thesis on numerical weather analysis. After a short period in the Commonwealth Meteorology Research Centre following its inception in 1969, Ross returned to the Computing Branch the following year as its head. During his 15 years as ADC Ross was responsible for many major projects—the development and extension of the application of computers to Bureau operations, the acquisition and installation of the new Facom computers in 1982, and the progressive introduction of automated operations in Regional Offices during the 1980s. He was also closely involved in the introduction of the Computerised Message Switching System.

Ross was predeceased by his first wife Daphne. He is survived by their five children and his second wife Shirley. The sincere sympathy of Ross's many friends in the Bureau is extended to his family.

Director's Tribute

Ross was the Bureau's Senior Assistant Director, the father Of Bureau computing, the original guiding hand in the introduction of operational weather prediction in Australia, and an irreplaceable source of insight and knowledge into virtually every aspect of the operations of the Bureau.

Though he had been unwell earlier in the year, with typical determination he had fought-back and seemed very much his old self during lively exchanges around the table of the Regional Directors' Conference the week before he died. It was a great shock therefore to us all that his death should come so suddenly when he still had so much to achieve and so much to give to the organisation he served with such distinction throughout his professional career.

The Bureau owes much to Rose Maine and only those who worked closely with him over the past 10–15 years as he strove relentlessly, first for the concept and then for the practical implementation of AROS, will understand the full extent of that debt. The Bureau has lost one of the most farsighted innovators it has ever had. We have all lost a loyal and dedicated colleague and a good friend. (See also page 23 'Rose Maine—an appreciation', by Bill Fiddian).

Bureau of Meteorology