The farmer and mechanic., 1911-06-13


These Investigations are only a smslt
part OF the weather studies being
made by the weather bureau at Wash
ington. Some years ago an ohSerNa-
tory was erected on the top ~ the
Blue Ridge Mountains in NirS MA.
and here all sorts OF inVesligaunJl
into the why's and whens OF the wealth
er are being made and all kinds 81
ingenious and delicate instruments
have been devised for these studies
one OF these instruments consists cf
a woman's hair and pen which
writes with unfreezable ink The OF
is extracted from the hair and in this
way it becomes extremely sensitive
To all variations or moisture IL tn"
air Great care must BE- taken t.
prevent the accumulation OF foreign
matter on the hair. IL must be wash
ed once a week with clean water APP
piled with a camels-hair brush. Many
automatic recording instruments are
used by the weather bureau In its
meteorological Investigations One Of
these is a rain -guase. II consists or
a little bucket with two compart me- nts
IN ii. mounted on trunions in such A
way that one OF these Compartments
IS always under the receiver. When
a compartment becomes fuii IL tips
over and empties its contents into
tank. and in the act OF tipping brings
the Otner INTO ptSlUOu
TO be filled When the bucket tips II
forms a closed electric circuit with
recording pen attached and the mum
Der of bucketfuls discharged Is thus
automatically written down.
Another instrument used by the bu-
reau is the suns hine recorder ThIs
consists of q straight glass tube with
bulbs at each end These bulbs are
filed with dry air. the chambers be-
IN rat ~ NJ
mercury and alcohol. Platinum wires
are inserted in the middle section or
the tube. The lower bulb is blackcu-
ed with lampblack and is always turn
ed toward the south Ii is SO mount
ed that whenever the sun shines II
will start the recording pen To writ
ing. and as soon as the sun ceases to
shine the pen ceases to write. a chart
is placed upon a revolving roller oper-
ated by clOck-wOrk BY this means
the weather bureau is securing a writ
ten description of the amount OF sun
shine and shadow.
The barometers used BY the weather
bureau also make continuous writ
ten record OF the atmospheric press
ure throughout the entire year. The
bureau likewise possesses instruments
for accurately measuring and record
ing the velocity and direction OF the
wind II has self registering thermom
eterS which are sent up into the ar,
with other Instruments in free bal
looms or captive kites. With thes" 1t
has been a bic to learn some new and
surprising things about the weather.
Some of the kites frequently attain an
altitude of nearly three miles. al
though the average Is about two
miles.
The Investigations made with the
kites and balloons have discovered
conditions which have upset many &C
Cepted theories 1t used to be believ-
ed that the atmosphere grew cooler
with altitude but this rule has many
exceptions, a great layer of warm air
being frequently found floating upon
a layer Of cold air 1t also has been
found that the wind may be blowing
from the east at the ground from the
southeast a half mile above the ground
and from the south a mile up. cloud
mCvem entS indicate that the wind d.
recton changes to the right with in
creaSing altitude but kite and bal
loon observations SHOW that 1t ire
quently turns to the left. Changes in
temperature occur simultaneously at
the surface of the earth and one and
two miles above. thus contradictinS
the formerly accepted theory that
high temperatures started from IN"
| higher portions Of the atmosphere and
gradually work down to the surface or
| the earth All this Information Is or
much service to the weather bureau
in making its forecasts. Som etrneS
storm passes eastward without being
followed by expected clear weather.
because a second storm was develop
ing off the middle or h-Atlantic
coast.
This new development - not indi-
Gated by surface observation. but the
Mount Weather flights show the APP
proach Of the storm in the higher re-
gions of the atmosphere before 1t ar
riyes in the lower regions. 1t seems
that the majority of storm cond. lions
maybe forccasted by the self-register-
ing instruments in the weather bu-
reau kites and balloons at least TWEEN
ty-four hours before there IS any ap-
| preciable indications of these condi-
/ tions of the earth.