Evening star., 1915-03-06
ANTARCTIC METEoROLOGY.
The Results of the Last Ten Years
Observations.
From the Scientific American.

From the Scientific American.
The meteorology Of the antarctic was
altogether enignatical a little over a
decade ago. Today the observations of
the numerous recent expeditions are
beginning to make clear its principal
features. though much work in this
line remains to be done The most COM
prehensive summary of the subject is
that published by Prof W. Meinardus
In the January number of the Geo.
graphische Zeitschrift Series of meteor
illogical observations have now been
made at three fixed stations in West
Antarctica tthe Swedish station at
Snow Hill, 1902-03; French station at
Port Charcoa, 19o4-05; French station
on Petermann Island, 1909), and at five
in East Antarctfca (Southern Cross sta
tion at Cape Adare, 1S99-19OO: Gauss
station. Kaiser Wilhelm Land, 1902-03;
English stations at MacMurdo sound,
1902-04. 10000, and 1911-13: Norwe-
gian station Framheim, 1928; Aus
tralian station in Adele Land, 1912-14.
All of these lie on the coast, the most
southerly being. Framheim. which was
over 500 miles from the pole.
From the interior we have only the
made by sledging parties. To a third
class belong the observations made on
vessels drifting slowly in the ice, as in
the Belgia. Scotia and Deutschland ex-
petitions. Lastly. some Of the latest
antarctic expeditions have secured nu-
with the aid of kites and balloons. The
most remarkable series of such OBJ
servations was that made by Lieut..
Filchner's meteorologist. DIR. Barlow
who carried out no less than 255 flights
on 209 days during the ice-drift of the
expedition in Weddell sea. On one oc-
casion pilot balloon was sent to an
estimated altitude of 56,430 feet, or
about 1917 miles. Much knowledge of
the upper air currents has also been
obtained from observations of clouds.
The antarctic has surprisingly cold
summers. Roughly speaking, the warm
est month in the year has a mean tenn
perature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit (the
freezing poinD or below everywhere
inside the antarctic circle, in spite of
the continuous sunshine of that season ;
while In the neighborhood of the pole
at the same season the temperature
may fall to about so degrees below zero
Fahrenheit; an intensity of cold that
can hardly be explained merely by the
altitude Of the antarctic plateau, great
as this is. The winter temperatures
(April to September) are remarkably
lowest temperature as in the arctic. At
Framheim was recorded the lowest av-
erage yearly temperature heretofore
found anywhere in the world. namely,
1874 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
Prof Meinardus advances novel and
interesting theory of the atmospheric
circulation in the antarctic. Between
latitude so and 20 a trough of low
barometric pressure runs around the
globe: south of this the pressure rises.
forming the polar anticyclone. The
strong easterly winds of the antarctic
coast he believes to be fed by air
brought from lower ATTITUDES by the
cyclonic circulation This explains why
they are not dry winds, as they would
be If they came from the interior of
the continent and belonged to the anti
cyclonic circulation. Lastly. the polar
anticyclon is a shallow one. and in
the interior does not even extend as
high as the land itself Above it lies
a polar cyclone, which draws in air
from the north. This air comes from
vast oceanic region, and it's moisture
feeds the great continental glacier un-
der which Antarctica lies buried. MAX
ing good the loss due to evaporation
and to the flow of glacier ice into the
sea.