Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1906-07-06
SECRETS OF UPPER AIR.
Man Lives on the FLOOR Of sursins
Ocean.


Among the most fascinating and elu.
sive Of scientific studies is that Of the
movements Of terrestrial atmosphere.
Ever since men began to go down TO
the sea in ships the needs OF the navi-
gator must haye led him to note for his
own future guidance and for the ben
eft Of other adventurers the general d.
rection OF the wind at various seasons
in different seas. Gradually as the
world wldened the prevailing winds OF
the globe became accurately known,
and the common knowledge systema-
tized, so that now for probably every
part Of the ocean outside the polar cir
cles there are official and published rec
ords Of the winds that may be looked
for at any season Of the year.
The student Of physical geography
has noted how large a part the prevail
ing winds Of any region play in deter
mining the climatic characteristics Of
different countries Thus in the Brit
ish Isles by far the most frequent
winds are from southwesterly quar-
ter, and these, blowing from OF the
warm waters of the Atlantic, give to
our islands a temperate climate out Of
all proportion to their latitude. In re-
cent years, however, science has not
been content with studying only what
are, after all, movements merely in
the lower strata Of the great ocean Of
air on the floor of which we live and
move, but has sought to penetrate the
mysteries of the upper air and to find
out its secrets.
Both Rotch and De Bort have de-
voted considerable private resources
and talents of no mean order to me-
teorlogical research, and when, in the
summer Of 1905, these two scientists
united in a joint expedition for the ex-
ploration of the upper air currents in
the trade wind region of the North At
lantic the results Of their observations
were awaited with great interest. The
trade winds are the most important OF
what may be called the permanent"
winds Of the globe Thus in the North
Atlantic the northeast trades are in
summer found In full force about the
Canary Islands and serve until within
about twelve degrees Of the equator.
In winter the belt shifts rather further
south, but at all seasons wind from
the northeast is steady and strong from
at least twenty five degrees north lati-
tude for fully 1000 miles southward.
The expedition of Rotch and De Bort
appears to have differed in its methods
from that Of the Prince of Monaco in
the more general use of "ballons
sondes," which rose to great heights,
and by their lire Of drift indicated the
direction of the atmospheric current at
different attitudes Kites also were
used, but in the trade wind region no
great height can be reached by their
agency.
The northwesterly current was found
to be -rirlsesi;---.sn rifrss;- md more rapid than the
main northeasterly curTsnr.--ss..s.-a1 there
was always a quick rise of tempera-
ture as soon as the level o. the anti
trade was reached. This phenomenon
of temperature inversion" is one Of
the most interesting to be met with in
atmospheric exploration. To give a
single example: On one occasion, with I
a temperature of seventy degrees just
above the sea, the air at an elevation
of $500 feet was found to have a TEN
perature as high az elghty-six degrees
Fahrenheit.
For our knowledge of the upper cur.
rents outside the region explored by
ROtch and De Bort we are still chiefly
indebted to studies of the direction Of |
movement Of the cirrus clouds. For
example, the island Of Mauritius, in the
Southern Indian Ocean. lies right in
the track of the southeast trades. That /
island has long been the scene of great /
scientific activity, and there cbserva-
tlons Of the upper clouds show, as we
should expect, the existence of steady
upper current from the northwest. Our
terrestrial atmosphere is never at rest. /
and the problem Of the general atmos-
pherie circulation is a complex cne.
and one that has been the object Of /
much acute theoretical analysis. = The
Scotsman.