Charles Priestley (meteorologist) facts for kids

Charles Henry Brian Priestley, known as Bill, was a famous British scientist. He studied weather, which is called meteorology. Bill spent most of his career working in Australia at a big science organization called CSIRO. He was born on July 8, 1915, and passed away on May 18, 1998.

Early Life and Education

Bill Priestley was born in Highgate, London, England, on July 8, 1915. He went to Cambridge University, a very famous school. He studied applied mathematics and economics there, getting top grades in both subjects in 1937 and 1938.

His Work as a Meteorologist

In 1939, Bill started working for the British weather office, called the Meteorological Office. He was asked to study how air mixes near the ground. This mixing is called "turbulent diffusion" and happens in the "atmospheric boundary layer," which is the air closest to Earth's surface.

During World War II, in 1943, he moved to a special team that studied the upper parts of the atmosphere. He even helped create the important weather forecast for D-Day. This was a huge military operation during the war.

Moving to Australia

After the war, Bill was chosen to lead a new research group in Australia. This group was part of CSIRO, and their job was to study the atmosphere. In 1946, he and his wife moved to Melbourne, Australia.

For about 30 years, Bill's team at CSIRO studied many things about the atmosphere. They looked at how air moves and mixes (atmospheric turbulence). They also studied how fluids like air behave on a spinning planet (geophysical fluid dynamics). Plus, they investigated the different gases and chemicals in the air (atmospheric chemistry).

International Roles and Retirement

Bill Priestley also worked with the World Meteorological Organization. This is a global group that helps countries share weather information. He was on their committee from 1964 to 1969 and was even the chairman in 1968.

He retired from his main role at CSIRO in 1972. After that, he led CSIRO's Environmental Physics Research Laboratories from 1973 to 1977. Later, he became a part-time professor of mathematics at Monash University. He fully retired in the late 1980s.

Awards and Honors

Bill Priestley received many awards for his important work in meteorology:

• 1937: Mayhew Prize from the University of Cambridge
• 1949: Buchan Prize from the Royal Meteorological Society
• 1953: D.Sc. degree from the University of Cambridge
• 1955: Elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
• 1956: David Syme Research Prize from Melbourne University
• 1966: Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (a very old and respected science group)
• 1967: Symons Gold Medal from the Royal Meteorological Society
• 1973: IMO Prize from the World Meteorological Organisation
• 1974: Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society
• 1976: Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture from the Australian Academy of Science
• 1976: Made an Officer of the Order of Australia (a high honor in Australia)