Obituary: BARRY SMITH
 

Barry Smith died at his home on 20 February aged 73, after a long and distinguished career at the Met Office for which he was awarded the OBE. He was born in Cheshire in 1932, and was a founder member and first Teasurer of EURASAP.

Barry’s interest in meteorology was kindled during his days at Cheadle Hulme Grammar School, making observations with his own meteorological station in his back garden. At Manchester University he was awarded a first class degree in Mathematics, and a PhD under Sir James Lighthill, before joining the Meteorological Office in 1956. Initially he was a Junior Research Fellow attached to Porton Down, and worked with Dr Frank Pasquill on turbulence and diffusion. The development of this close collaboration in laying the foundations for mathematical modelling of pollutant dispersion, and analysis of simple but effective early experiments on plumes, led to joint authorship of the 3rd edition of the seminal text Atmospheric Diffusion; and the start of his prodigious output of publications and papers (totalling 17 pages in the list of his references from the Met Office library).

Despite the attempts of the Met Office to tempt Barry into other areas such as Forecasting using the then state-of-the art Mercury and KDF9 computers, he stuck to his interests in the atmospheric boundary layer with his usual limpet like determination. Eventually he became head of the Boundary Layer Branch. (Met O 14) where he is well remembered by colleagues such as Sir John Mason FRS. Barry’s priorities were always science and helping people, sometimes interrupted by ideas and activities for the children in his beloved pack of scout-cubs: but administrative tasks tended to rank lower down the pile, sometimes to the frustration of senior management!

Barry’s mathematical insight often led to a sequence of immaculate hand-written pages containing formidable equations and complex analytical solutions. But he could also derive practical tools with simple guidelines for application to real problems. These frequently took the form of his favourite “nomograms” – such as his well-known scheme for deriving the characteristic spreading of a pollutant plume at any time and place in different weather conditions- deployed, for example, for use in nuclear accident assessment. His interests covered both near-field dispersion and long-range transport of pollutants, including his work on acid rain at a time when the UK was being identified as a major contributor to such problems. As an international expert his impartial advice and scientific integrity were very highly respected, and he was awarded the Fitzroy Prize of the Meteorological Society.

Barry also undertook analysis of the spread of radioactivity to the UK from the Chernobyl accident in 1986, leading to his development with Roy Maryon of the NAME model as an operational model for any future similar eventuality. This state-of-the-art model linked to numerical weather forecasting capabilities has enabled the study of many other topics from oil fires in the Gulf War to photochemical pollution, and will doubtless still be used for many other applications in the future too.

Barry was also a wonderful teacher, and continued after his retirement as an Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, and Visiting Professor at Imperial College London. Lots of young scientists meeting Barry for the first time, and conscious of his eminent reputation, were immediately put at ease by his customary gentle manner and generosity as he patiently explained complex processes so clearly. In a single afternoon on boundary layer meteorology he inspired me to become an atmospheric scientist for my future career! Many others have expressed similarly how much they owe to his guidance.

Barry’s wider interests included his tireless work as Cub Scout Leader with 2nd Bracknell Scout Group and as District leader in South East Berkshire. There are legendary stories of adventures in a colourful old bus in the early days, and the unwary could easily find them-selves drawn into badger watching, tying complicated knots, or a hundred and one other ideas that Barry, as Akela, devised to provide excitement for his cubs.

Barry loved being outdoors, and long walks in the wide range of country he knew so well revealed his keen knowledge and appreciation of nature- though sometimes they also needed considerable stamina to keep up! Despite the return of cancer Barry was still optimistic, and hoping to undertake future walks, if a little shorter, a few weeks before he died.

The wide-spread respect and deep affection for Barry were reflected in the tightly packed church and tributes at Warfield, his local church, for the service of thanksgiving on 9th March - at which a psalm was read that Barry himself had written. He was a wise, intelligent, kind and gentle person, who will be sorely missed by both past colleagues and his local community.

 

18 March 2005.

Prof. Dr. Helen ApSimon
Department of Environmental Science and Technology
Imperial College London
London SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom
          

 

[To Previous Topic]    [To Contents]    [To Next Topic]