124 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. FEBRUARY, 1914
Wetter. Berlin. 31. Jahganq. Februar1914.
Lidermann, [Carl.] Die mittlere @lichen Temperaturachwank- ungen nach den Terminbeobachtungen an zehn Stationen des K6nigreiches Sachsen. p. 25-28.
Mtiller A. v. Klimavergleiche einiger meteorologisch intereaaan- ten drte yon Zentral-Europa. p. 38-32.
Wtz, J. Uber eine merkwurdlge Form von Hagelschlossen. p. 43-45. Der Februar in Ausspriichen der landlichen Bevolkerung. p. 4s.
Zn‘tecJm’t fur Balneobqie. .Berlin. 6. Jahrgang. 15. Febebnua 1914.
R . Aecademurda ncei. Atti. Roma. v . 23. 1914.
Tosi, 4.. Dis ositivo herziano per osservazioni meteorologiche e
i
previsioni c-8 temporali. p. SMS. (1s gen. Monti, v[igilio]. Sulla distribuzione mensi e della frequenza relativa della neve nelle Alpi settentrionali. p. 151-154. (1 febbr.)
3 e 1 Imapn, y t a v .] Uber Wetteraberghuben. p. 631-637.
. ’ ,‘,I
i
NOTES FRO= THE WEATHER BUREAU LIBRARY.
By C. FITZHUQH TALYAN, Junior Professor in Charge of Library.
RETROSPECTIVE.
In glancing back over the lustrum that has elapsed since these notes were interrupted, one is impressed by the facts that (1) there has a peared no great new trend of
birth of aerology, as a coherent branch o science, which made the openmg decade of the present century forever memorable in the hstory of meteorology; and that (2)
the develppment of aerology has engrossed a major share of attention.’ The year 1909 was marked by the matured Humphreys-Gold explanation of what a few years ago was generally called the “isothermal layer,” but IS now almost universally known as the “stratos here.” The inappro-
of a soundmg balloon sent up from Batavia in December of last year. At the bottom of the stratos here, 10.2
erature (1) of -90.9O C. (-131.6OF.1, while above t,liat fevel the temperature steadily rose to - 57.1 O C. (-70.8’
F.) at the rnkximum altitude reached by the balloon, viz,
16.2 miles. This strong gradient, is inconsistent with the idea of “isothermaJity.” A task still in progress is the determination of the rela- tions between conditions aloft and weatelier c.hanges at t,he earth’s surface. In 1912 Dr. W. N. Shaw, director of the British Meteorolo,@cal Office, introduced the idea of a
“substratosphere. This he defines as “a layer of a b
mosphere just under the strat,os here, at the height, of
a parently often marks the height at which the velocity o 1 the wind is a masimum, and may be regarded as tslie layer of origin of t-he changes of pressure which are the dominant features of our weather maps.” While the con-
cluding words of. the foregoing definition involve a de- batable hypothesis, t,lie notion of a bransition-layer be- tween troposphere and stratosphere seems conpenien t. Some charactemtics of tlie substratosphere are discussed by Dr. A. Schniauss, director of tslie Bavarian meterolog- ical service, in the current! number of Beitrage zur Physik der freien Atmos hare.
tb the r e a h of s eculation. In 1911 Dr. Alfred Wegener
atmosphere such as, in view of the atomic we1 lit of this
en revails, would entitle it to be regarded as a distinct ’shefi” of the atmosphere. At greater heights he suggests
P
activity in meteorologica P research, coni arable to the
priateness of the former name is il P ustrated by t,lie record
miles above the earth, was found the amazing r y low tem-
about 9 kilometers in the region o P the British Isles, which
(Bd. 6, Heft 3.)
Yet higher “sp R eres” than tlie stratosphere still belong
suggested that t % e physical characteristics of a hydrogen
gas, may be presumed to overlie the stratum in w % icli nitro-
that the predominating constituent. of the atmosphere may be R hitherto unknown gas, lighter than hydrogen, and perhaps identical with the hypothetical “coronium” of the solar corona. This he calls “geocoronium,” and he sees in it, the o n of the most conspicuous line, hitherto unidentified, in T t e spectrum of the aurora. He computes that eocoroniuni constitutes 0.00058 per cent of the ab mosp a ere by volume at the earth’s surface, but 93 per cent at an altitude of 500 kilometers. Thus the four shells of the atmosphere according to We ener (2) are, in asceiid- ing order: Troposphere, s tratosp 5 ere, hydrogensphere, eocoroniumsphere. Dr. 0. Tetens (3), since the “auroral tne” is also found in the spectrum of the zodiacal light, prefers to call the hypothetical light gas of the u per atmos here “zodiacon.” These speculations have feen recor s ed here a t some length on account of their promi- nence in current literature, but it should be noted that the “auroral line,” althou h no lon er attributed to the heavy gas kr ton, is sti8 suscepti % le of various inter- pretations, a s is therefore an unsafe basis for hypoth- eses concerning tshe structure of the atmosphere. L. Vegard (4), who has redetermined the position of the line b observat,ions made at Boasekop, considers it an argon L e . Aerology has been annexed to the field of polar explora- tion with interesting results. Long series of up er-air were made by the recent ex editions o P Scott
soundinT and Filc ner 111 the Antarctic, and by 3 ost and Stolberg, at Godhavn, on the west coast of Greenland, in 1912-13.
The latter observers sent up 120 pilot balloons, for one of which they claim the hitherto unprecedented altitude of
39 kilometers (24.2 miles) above sea level.@) They were unable to find at any altitude evidence of a regular circumpolar whirl in the atmosphere. A timely summary of the immense body of international kite and balloon observations was prepared by Mr. E. Gold in 1912, and has recently been published as Geophysical Memoir No. 5 of the British Meteorological OBice. The application of aerology to the needs of the aeronaut has given birt,li to a new subbranch of science, “aero- nautical meteorology.” Its content is perhaps best rep- resented and delimited in a very practical little work bx Dr. Franz Linke, entitled “Aeronautische Meteorologie
(2 vols., Frankfurt a. M., 1911).
At the beginning of the year 1911 the world’s fist aeronautical weather bureau was organized in Germany. Observations of the air currents at vax~ous alhtudea axe made daily With pilot balloons at a score of stations scab
tered over that empire and telegraphed to the Linden- her Observatory, whence bulletins are issued to all parta
The measurement of solar radiation is still a capital problem, as it was five years ago. The most definite step in advance has been Abbot’s redetermination of the solar constant (1.922 standard calories per square centimeter per minute at mean solar distance, with fluctuations to the extent of about 10 per cent). Abbot (6) is now endertvor- ing to check these results b means of observations ob-
attention has recently been devoted to attempts tomeasure separately tohe kind or kinds of radiation having most influ- ence u on plant growth and other biological processes(7).
mechanics, a new personality has m e n , viz, Prof. V. Bjerknes, whose elaborate treatise on “D.ynamic Mete- orology and Hydrography” is in course of publication by the Carnegie Institution and who is also issuing a
of t f ie country for the guidance of aeronauts.
tahied at great altitudes wit i sounding balloons. Much
In t r t e field of dypamical meteorology, or atmospheric
FEBRUARY, I 9 14. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 125
series of memoirs from the Geophysical Institute of the University of Leipzig. Of Bjerknes’s large work, Mr. Gold, the British authority on meteorological physics,
says that-
it doee not contain new discoveries or throw much fresh light on indi- vidual atmospheric phenomena, but it presents what is fundamental in our knowledge of the physics of the atmos here in a new way and makes possible the application of methods whch have hitherto been disregarded because of the immense labor involved in dealing with even a single case.
Renewed attention has been directed to a ricultural meteorology, though tho limits and ainis of t%is subject are still rather va ue. At the instance of the Inter-
on Agncnltural Meteorolo y has been orgmized under the International Meteorokgical C’oniniittee. A s ecial
in France, and one which was foundecl some years agc~ in Russia has recently attracted general notice. In the United Stat.es t,he atbention of agricultfiral meteorolo ists has been given chiefl? to the improvement
of “orchard heating,?’ though there has also been much investi ation of weather-crop correlatims. Agriculture throug fi Gut the world suffers immense losses froin liail- storms (amounting, according to one estimate, to
$~OO,OOO,OOO a pear), ancl for cellburies some pract.ica1 means of mitigating this scourge has been eagerly sought. “Hail shooting” dates froni the niiddle ages. This rspe- dient wave place to the “hail rod,” or u.rngriire (imitated
century. f n 1896 “hail shooting” was revived, and it is
still practiced (with cannons, bombs, and rockets) on a
vast scale; and, finally, in 1911, a new form of pu.ragr#Ze, fantastically named the “electric Niagara,” came into widespread use in France. The last-named device is
nothing more than an overgrown hghtning rod, and its inefficacy in averting hailstorms not only follows from scientific considerations but also appears to have been amply demonstrated by the esperience of French hus- bandmen d u r i q the past two years. Hailstorm insur- ance (8) is growmg apace in Europe (where it dates from the eighteenth century), but is a rarity in the United States. In atmospheric electricity no such espansion in appa- ratus and methods has been witnessed durin the past
in consequence of the discoveries of Linss, Elster and Geitel, 0. T. R. Wilson, Gockel, and others. Observa- tions have been more fully standardized, but their inter- pretation continues to be a difficult problem. The dis- covery of ionization has, however, had far-reaching results; as, for example, in furnishing the basis for a
plausible theory of thunderstorm electricity (9). The mechanism of the lightnin flash has been the subject of
double-camera method of lightning photograp y was
first announced in 1910 (lo), and who has since sup- plemented this with a stereoscopic process. Atmospheric o tics remains a strikingly neglected
meteorologists, especially in English-speaking countries, continue to report their individual observations of halos, rainbows, and the like without reference to the esisting body of knowledge on these subjects and in language suggesting that Bravais, Mascart, Pernter, and the other specialists in this field have lived in vain. However, the
national Institute o $ Agriculture, in Rome, a commission
service of agricultural meteorology has been estab r ishetl
and the t K; eory of frost protect,ion, especially by means
from h e li htning rod), toward the en i of the eighteenth
lustrum as occurred about the beginning of t E e century
5
brilliant investigations by !i . Walter, of Hambur , whose
branch of know P edge. Physicists, astronomers, and
situation has recently improved. Besson’s compendious account of the known forms of halo (11) has furnished a much-needed nianual for observers of this particular group of photometeors. The remarkable halos seen in the eastern United States Noveniber 1-2, 1913, stimu- lated interest in halo observing in this country. Simp- son’s observations during (’apt. Scott’s last Antarctic espedition led to t,he interesting announcement that coronas are probably never due to ice, but always to water (or dust), thus suggesting a new means of ascer- taining the constitution of clouds (12).
In weather forecasting undoubtedly the salient feature of recent progress has been the enlargement of the field
of observation, through the establishment of new sta- tions and the addition of wireless reports from vessels. Wireless telegraphy has also brought certain remote land stations into the telegraphic u-eather-reporting rk’seau; e. g., Spitzbergen, far within tho Arctic circle, and the subantarctic station at Macquarie Island. During Dr. Doti las Mawson’s recent sojourn in Adelie Land tele-
the hntarct-ic continent itself-a notable milestone in the history of science-and a siniilar undertaking in the far north forms part of the rograni of trhe C‘rocker Land espedition, now installec P in Greenland. Printed daily synoptic charts have notably expanded in several
cases; e. g., the Russian chart now estends from Iceland
ti) eastern Siberia, and, since January 1, 1914, the United Htst.es Weather Bureau has ublished daily telegra hic
casters evince much confidence in the observation of pressure changes (the ‘ ‘ barometric tendency”) according to Ekholm’s method, and the indications of isallobaric charts (13).
Dynamic nieteorolo ’sts and aerologists have led a canipai n in behalf o fl new nieteorological units, espe- cially &maniic units of atniospheric pressure on the C. d. S. system (“bars,” etc.) and centigrade degrees of temperature reckoned froni absolute zero (14). These units are now fully and officially established in aerology, and are coniing into use on weather maps (e. g., the United States Weather Bureau’s synoptic chart of the Northern Hemisphere).
grap a ic weather reports were received in Australia from
weather chart,s that girdle t i e globe. European P ore-
FORTHCOMING METEOROLOGICAL MEETINGS.
On Se Itember S-12 a conference is to be held at
aspects of the phjwxd sciences in their application .to the study of weather.” The special occasion of such a meeting is that the British Association holds its sessions this year in Australia, and will be attended by coniparHr tivelv few persons froni the mother country. The scope of the pa ers to be read at the Edinburgh conference will, it is R oped, include the physical and observational aspects of meteorology, c.limatology, medico-dimatology
o ceanogrrtphy , linxnology , ,atmospheric electricity , terres- trial magletism, and seismology. Sir John Murray, the eminent oceanographer and marine biologist, who died the niiddle of March, was to have presided over the meet- ing, while the honorary secretary of the or anizing coniniittee is Mr. F. J. W. Whi le, Meteorologica 7 Office, South Icensington, London. !?\e membership fee is 10
shillings. During the same nionth (September, 1914) an international meteorological congress is to be held at Venice, under the auspices of the Italian Meteorolo ical Society. It will include five sections, viz, climatokgy,
Edinburg h for the purpose of discussing “the various
126 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. F’EBRUARY, 1914
agricultural meteorology, serology, marine meteorology, and pure meteorology. The subscription to the congress is 10 lire, and a lications are to be addressed to the gen- eral secretary, E v . Emilio Hoenning O’Carroll, directcir of the Patriarchal Observatory, Venice. It should be noted that this congress will not be one of the official assemblies of meteorolo ists pertaining to what is known as the “Internationaf Meteorological Organimtion.” These official assemblies are now held triennially, and are
either meetings of the International Meteorological (’mi-
mittee (e. ., the one held in Rome last year) or Inter-
national fieteorolugical C‘onferences (comprising t,he directors of all official weather services). No meeting of
this series has been designated a “congress” since that held in Rome in 1879. The coming iiieetin in Venice
held in Chicago, in 1893, and in Paris, in 1900.
will, however, be analogous to the unofficia f congresses
UPPER-AIR RESEARCH IN INDIA.
The Government of India has sanctioned a schenio of upper-air observation, to extend over 10 years, and to
cost about $100,000. The headquarters are to be a t
Agra, where an ohservator is building, and where it is
the greatest heights attainable. There will also he four
or five .auxiliary stations, a t which instruments will be
sent up to moderate altitudes (2 or 3 miles), especially tu obtain information of value to the forecasters. Mr. J. II.
Field will be in charge of this work.
proposed to send up soun ir ing-balloons twice a week t,o
REFERENCEB AND NOTES.
(1) The “record” low temperature heretofore measured anywhere in the atmosphere is - 91.9’ C. (-133.4’ F.), observed above Batavia Nov. 5, 1913. In this case the clockwork uf the meteorograph failed to work; hence the altitude at which the minimum temperature prevailed is uncertain.
(2) Wgener’s fullest presentation ;f these views will be found in his ”!l‘hermodynamik der Atmos hike, (3) Arb. 6. Preuaa. Aeron. 8bs. Lindenierg, 7, 1911. p. 236. (4) Phys. Zeit., 14, 1913, p. 677 ffg. (6) A. de Quermin, “Quer durchs Grijnlandeis. ” Erlilnchen, 1914, p. 175. The previous “record” for nny aeronautical device was 35,060 meters (21.S miles) attained by a sounding ball~,on sent up from Pavia, Itulv, Dee. 7, 1912. The American “record is 32,643 meters, at Avdon, C’al., Jul 30, 1913.
(6) Journ. W i d . Acad. Sci., 4,1914, . 109.
(7) The literature is voluminous anfnot yet summarized. See, aa exmi lee, the record of C. Dorno’s suggestive observations in his “Stulie ilber Licht und Luft des Hoch ebirges” (Braunschweig, 19111, or the abstract of H. A. Spoehr’s researcRes in Yearbook Carnepe Inst.,
(8 ) In Germany alone insurance of this class amounted to $825,000,000
in 1911.
(0) G. C. Simpson, in Proc. Roy. SOC. Lond., .4, 82, 190, p. 169-172, and Mem. Indian %let. Dept., 20 1910, p. 141-332. (10) Jahrb. Hamb. Wiss. Anstahen, 27, 1909, 5. Beiheft, Hamburg, 1910. (11) L. Besson. “Lea diff6rentes formes de halos et leur Observation ”
Lei zig, 1911.
1913, p. S3-84.
BulL’Soc. Astr. France, March-May. 1911; also published separately.
(12) Q. J. Ro .Met. Soc., 38,1913, p. 291 ffg. (13) See a d u m 6 of this subject in W. N. Shttw’s “Forecaatiiig WAther, ” London, 1911, p. 337 fig.
bffice for 1913, p. ix ffg.
I
(14) The moet comprehensive presentation of this subject is that iven in the “Observer’s Handbook” of the British Meteorological