461 AUGUST, 1921. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW.
NOTES, ABSTRACTS, AND REVIEWS. s-s/. s /e . -5
INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATION OF THE UPPER AIR.
[Reprillted from LolldoPl Times; reprinled in Srienw, New Pork, kept. 23, 1921,1~ :(is].
International esplorat.ion of the up er air dates froni
ods of sounding the atnios here, even t,o a height, of 23
miles, were devised. By t f c USC of driftin free-balloons and recordilia inst.rument.s carried up %y kites and anchored bdfoons an unexpected str n tfi 1 cti.tinn of t,lie atmosphere has been disvovered. The t.emperat,ure fdls regularly up to a height nveragin sis or seven miles
the poles. * * * Little is known as to t,he cause of t.his clisposition, and less as to the influences it, niust hare on ot,her fnct.ors of
wind and weather. Useful knowledge can be gained only from data obtained by the same methods a t the same
times a t the largest possible number of st,ations. Inter- national cooperation is necessary. I t mas interrupt,ed by the war, although all the conibatant.s made extensive use of the meteorologica.1 methods for the ract.ical objects of artillery, nvint.ion, poison as, anc P sound- ranging. It has now been resumed. &e other day we
gave an account of t,he proceedings of the first! meet.ing since the war, held a t Bergen in t,he last, week of July, under the presidency of Prof. V. Bjerknes. The name of that, dist,in uished meteorologist. is :i.ssocint.ed wit.h a
whic.h we commented a year ago. !he theory briefly is that just as the poles are cap ed u-ith snow, so t,liey nre
round each tem erate zone this olar air meets the
of contact the warm rises over the cold s h a m . Cyclones and anticyclones are born of the contest. The rofessor
stations round the globe in the zone of struggle. Otoher met.eorologists are more disposed to assign the causes of our weather to the vaster regions of the upper air. An international meteorological cornmittsee. to meet in London in September, has been appointed by t.he Com- mission, and is to give special attention to the polar theory. The progress of its labors will be followed with deep interest. There are few human activit,ies which
would not gain by t.he advance of met>eorological science, and the future of aviation will be largely determined by it.
1896, when a conference took place at K etrograd. Meth-
from the ground, lower over t.he E 4 cpator, higher near
new theory o f the weather in t>em erate labitudes, on
capped by a great mass of co P d air. In n wavering line
warm air from t R e Equator abrupt Y y. Along the front
urges the formation of a closely-set chain of o !I serving
MEETINQ OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSIOI: FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF THE UPPER AIR AT BERGEN.
The Neteorolooqical Magahe, for September, 1921, con- tains a brief summary, prepared by Col. Gold. of the meeting of the International Commission for trhe Scientific
26, 1931. The meeting, held under the direction of the president of the Cornmission, Prof. V. Bjerknes, was
devoted more to the discussion of scientific prohlems and less to business details than was that previous meeting held in Vienna, in 1912. of the Scandinavian has been concluded occur in families of sliahtlg further south than an8 third of the family gen- fourth. On the
1nvestiga:tion of the Upper Air, held a t Bergen, I T u 1.. v 35-
average a new family begins every six and one-fourth
days.
A discussion of the tinies for international sounding balloon ascents was another im ortaiit phase of the con-
mally 24 ascent,s each year; that 12 of these should be daily ninile in two separate series of six days; that 6
should he 12 hourly made in three continuous days;. and that the reninining G shoulcl he arranged by the president of the C!omniission. I t was a reed that sounding-balloon
t.aldes, pressure tirid temperature being given. No deci- sion was reacheil regarding the publication of pilot-balloon dab&, and the iniltter wns left to the bureau of the Com- mission for decision. In conclusion, Col. Gold stiys: The meeting was scientificdl stimulating-how, indeed, could one be
o,bservat,ory (Haldde) where wiiicls of 130 nliles er hour (average for 10 minutes) have been recordel by an meniometer which had to he especially strengthened to prevent it being blown awny4--i. L. Ai.
ference, and t.lie clecision was & at there should be nor-
data should be published g a p B iically, with supplementary
otrlierwise t T ian stimulated by t.he director (Devik) of an
.g.!r/* 5 6 8 . .2(
MERCURIAL BAROMETER FOR AIRSHIPS.
lRegrkitel firm TRr .lf&;-tr.oro7ogicd M i i ~w i ~i i r , .40g., 1921, pp. 193-194.1
To meet. t,he ncerls of tlie large rigid airships a mercury aerial bn.ronieter 1i:i.s rerent,lv been designed by the Instru- ment Depa.rt,nient, Air ?dinistry, and constructed by Messrs. Negrett,i and Zambm. * * * The barometer is of t,he I<ew t.ype nncl is supported on gimbal hearings from a bracket attac.hec1 to the frame- work of the airship in such B way that the column may remain vert,ical wit,li tlie supporting bracket inclined at
20 to tlie vert,icsl in any clirect,ion. Two dashpots are rovided to damp out any swinging of the instrument. 4hese consist of cylinclers which are attached to the back of the mercury cistern and carry loosely fitting pistons suspended by hall joints from t.he support,ing bracket- the cylinders are filled with a mixture of glycerine and water. The mercury column is of large dixniet,er, 0.5 inch, to eliminate the necessity for any correction for capillarit while to avoid any inaccuracies due to t.he fact that dd pressure in the control car is very rarely static, the mer- cury cistern is not directly o en to the atmosphere, but
some 30 feet below tlie ship, mcl t,herefore clear of any disturbance due to the assago of the ship through the
fixed to the supporting bracket, nncl n rubber tube leads therefrom to a stopcock on the cistern, thus avoiding any restraint on the swinging of tlie barometer. The end of tlie barometer tube which clips into the
mercury in the cistern is nearly closed by a conical plug, the exact osition of which ma.y be stljusted by a screw. By use opthis device my oscillations of the mercury column may be dsniped out. or, tig+n, the column may be restrained in an one posit.ion ut will for a reading to be
made at leisure. &oreover, to facilitate transport of the instrument the column may be puniped down and the plug closed.
is connected to the static tu E e of a hanging head slung
air. The nipple to wliic R the static hend is connected is
1Thestatic pressure is the p:essurein the free atmo?pbere at tbesame!erel. If a tube with holes in its sides IS set !n such a #a that the alr can stream past it wlthout being obstructod, the pressare inside the tube equal to the stotlc pressure.