The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-19
WHAT THE WEATHER
 BUREAU IS DOING
Willis L. Moore Tells of
 Work for the Past Year

the research observatory at Mount Weather, Virginia
 tigating the properties of the atmos- phere is intensely interesting, and Is accomplished by means of kites, cap tive bal oons, and free balloons In this work the weather bureau is CO., operating with other investigators, both in this country and on the con tinent of Europe, the whole being un- der the general supervision or an ln- ternationaI commission, of which Pro- lessor Hergeseu of Strasburg is pres ident During the year under discus sion Mount Weather made 229 sound ings by kites and sixty-nine by captive balloons. The average altitude attain ed by the kites was 9,609 feet, and by the captive balloons, 7,054 feet, above were attained in thirty-seven eases, while the greatest height attained is 1S.9 miles on September 1, 1910
 pr. Moore says that the use of small free balloons to carry meteorological instruments into the upper regions of the atmosphere dates from 1893, when Messrs. Hernite and Besancon in France sent up vanished paper pal looms carrying registering instruments which brought back a record of the meteorological conditions encountered in the ascension. To Assman of Ger many however, is due to substitution of small rubber balloons in these as- cents. The expansion of the confined gas at great attitudes burst the bal loon, the land of the instruments be ing effected by means of a light para chute with which the bal oon is GOV cred. Balloons have been recovered as far as 200 miles away from the place of ascent A label attached to the apparatus offers a reward of $2 for it's safe return to Mount Weather, and in eighty-one of the ninety-one ascents above mentioned the 1nstru- tion of the upper air has now been carried on at Mount Weather for the past five years and has led to a. num- Der of well defined ideas about the at level. The cirrus level in the United States is about 9.S miles above sea level
 The most important single result that has come from the observations is the discovery of a region in the at mosphere about seven miles above the earth's surface, where the faI m temperature with increasing altitude ceases On the contrary, there may be- Professor Moore says, a slight rise in temperature on entrance to thus region. This newly discovered region has been designated as the 'urper inversion Invers'on of temperatu are frequently found in the atmosphere next to the earth, but they are gen. orally small in amount and heet1ng In character. Ire upper inversion. how ever appears to be a worldwide phe- nomenon. It was discovered In no~th- ern Europe, and it's presence has since been 6Sta DI SneQ the OIllOd within the Artic circ'e, north of Eur ope, over tropical Africa and the In dian Ocean, and in Java Naturally the first thought in connection with the upper inversion is it's relation to terrestrial weather conditions. Thus far ideas on the subject are hay, put certain facts have been estaol shed- For instance, in tropica1 Africa, was found at an elevation of II miles, while at the same eevatfon in the United States the temperatures range between 67 and 76 degrees, nous wind velocity of ninety-five miles per hour was found at the base of the upper inversion, and a still higher velocity, 10S miles per hour, was encountered somewhat higher. Above this, however, the speed of he wind diminished to zero These bal loon ascensions have also brought out the fact that the whir'ing motion which is characteristic of storms does not extend very far upwards-about l seven miles. This gives a hint re- garding the action of the mountains in
 the West in diverting or in other ways modifying the action of storms The further fact has been brought out that the observations taken at the sur face of the earth do not point out in any way what is occurring at the up- per levels
 The report under review shows some | other notable researches in the field | Of science. The study of atmospheric | polarization is being carried on in con- nection with these investigations. A good beginning has been made in a | pyrhe Hometric survey of the region
 west of the Great Central Valley. This refers to the measurement of the in
 density of solar radiation, and is a re- | sponse to the demands of certain in VeStigators for accurate data of the | amount of heat received by ants
 from the sun and sky; as well as a | contribution to the general physics of 1 the atmosphere. Professor Moore be- lieves that accurate determination Of | the intensity of direct solar radiation, of the quantity of heat received diff
 fuseIy from the whole sky, and of the
 rate at which heat is lost at night,
 will not only be of value to climate O. 1 gistS generally, but will also be util- i ized by the weather torecaster. The l seismographs at Washington have ] been maintained in operation through
 out the year, but no work of seis-
 moogicaI character has been done at
 any of the other stations, notwith : standing the general cal from num-
 Der of sources that the weather bu-
 reau engage in this important work. | Wireless reports from vessels at sea,
 forecasts of a general character for a
 week in adnavce, and special fros'
 warnings for the benefit of shippers | and gro aers of perishable products, ] are yielding useful results.
 In connection with the international | weather chart, the report shows. that
 a chart tof the Northern Hem 'SChere is
 prepared each morning, based on re- l ports from a number of stations se- | lected to show, in a general way. the
 fluctuations of barometric pressure in
 the great centers of action. The most northerly stations from which reports
 are received are Nome, Tnana, anc , Eagle, in Alaska, at about latitude 65. l North, while the most southerly is
 Manila, in the Philippine Island, at
 approximately latitude fl degrees i North. Action has been taken look i ing to the establishment in the near 1 future of a station on the A1eutian
 Islands at Dutch Harbor. Reports 1 from this station will give valuable information concerning storms that
 pass from the eastern coast of Asia
 northea stward and finally reach the
 United States. At present, storms of i this type cross the Pacific Ocean of 1 attitude 5S, North, and strike the
 North American continent without
 warning or indication of their ap- ! proach With d station in opera ton i at Dutch Harbor, few. if any storms