The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-08-22
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
Blu REAU
TREDERIc J. HAsKIN. Director.
wAahtnStal. y. C.
THE SUN AND THE WEATHER.

This fact has been established by
observations made at the station
which the Smithsonian institution
maintains for the purpose at Caiama,
Chile. DR.. G. G. Abbot the we'll know Il
astro- physicist, who has Just returned
from trip to Caiama and other
points in South America for the
Smithsonian. believes that most i'm
portant scientific and practical results
will follow from the work in the study
of solar radiation which is being done
at Calama.
AItho this observatory was only es-
-tablished in July. 1918, remarkable
servations by the weather department
of the Argentine. The head fore
caster of this department is an Amer
lean, H. H. Clayton, who formerly
was connected with the Blue Hill OBJ
ssrvatory in Massachusetts,, and was
a pioneer in the study OF the atmos-
phere by means of balloons and kites.
Mr.. Clayton has been getting tele-
graphic reports OF the observations
made at Calama, and has been using
them in forecasting the weather. Not
only has he succeeded in predicting
weather changes with an accura. ~
which has seldom been attained be-
fore. but he claims that these fiuctu-
atoms in solar radiation really control
the weather, and that in order to pre-
dict it with perfect accuracy we have
only to study the variations of sun
heat.
This conclusion, when it is officially
offered to the scientific world with
Mr.. Clayton's evidence in support of
it, promises to create something of
a furore. Every important nation in
the world maintains an elaborate
scientific organization, like our wealth
er bureau, for the sole purpose of
predicting changes in the weather.
The business of the. world waits upon
these weather predictions. Ships do
not sail when storm warnings are dis
played. Farmers depend upon the
weather bureau in harvesting their
crops, and in protecting them against
frost and flood. Railroads time their
shipments OF perishables in accord
ance with what the weather is pre-
dicted to be. And millions of persons
who are planning to spend the day
outdoors, look at the weather fore
cast the first thing in the morning.
As everyone has noticed. weather
forecasts are frequently in error.
About 20 per cent of the time a rain
pected. or a frost appears where the
forecasters said IT would be warm.
In making their forecasts. the
meteorologists use every scrap OF evil
dence available They study the winds
and the clouds and the amount of
moisture In the air.
Mr.. Clayton believes that the varla-
ton of the amount of heat which the
sun gives off is the master key to the
situation. Study solar radiation. he
says. and you can predict the weather
with an accuracy which is impossible
by present methods.
Doctor Abbot examined ali of Mr..
Clayton's records and read a paper,
which the latter has prepared, setting
forth his discovery and his proofs.
Doctor Abbot admits that he was at
first skeptical about Mr.. Clayton's
claim, but says that he is now con-
WINGED there may be a great deal
to It,"
II Mr. Clayton's method is all that
he claims. its importance can scarcely
be exaggerated. for perfect fore
knowledge Of the weather would enor-
mously increase mans control over
nature.
At all events a true and thoro
knowledge of solar variation is the
first step. The Smithsonian is per
fecting at its Calama station the means
for making these studies of solar ra-
dlation upon which Clayton's method
is based. During his stay there Doc
tor Abbot introduced a method which
reduces the time necessary for making
the daily observation from about fif-
| teen hours to about three hours. The
instrument used for this purpose is
known as a pyranometer.
The problem of measuring the suns
heat is difficult one. 1t has engaged
scientists for a long time. OF course.
face of the earth depends upon the
heat of the sun. So far, there Is no
/ reliable evidence that the suns heat
has diminished within historic times.
but the Calan1a observations show
that is does vary, somewhat unac-
amounts to several per cent within a
| few days.
| It is easy enough to measure the
amount of heat which reaches the
| surface OF the earth from the sun. But
when the sunbeams reach the surface
! Of the earth they have passed thru
the atmosphere, and this is never a
perfect medium. 1t Is filled with vary
ing amounts of dust. moisture. clouds
and other things which impede or re-
tract the sunbeams.
Heretofore II has been necessary to
pass the sunbeam thru a prism,
! breaking the beam up into its compo-
nent waves of light, to measure each
wave length separately, and to esti-
mate which ones had been partly alb
sorbed in the atmosphere. and to what
extent. This process required sew
/ eTHt nOuTS, ana the results were OIleH
| spoiled by clouds springing up mean
| while.
When there IL much cloudiness or
dirt or other obstruction in the air,
| the sky Is bright, because of the
large amount Of light which has been
DETECTED from the main beam. On
( the other hand. when the atmosphere
Is clear. the sky is a much darker
blue. as anyone may observe. The
brightness of the sky. therefore. at a
given distance from the sun is an in
dex to the amount Of impurities in the
| atmosphere which tend to obstruci
light. Doctor Abbot's pyranometer is
a mechanism for measuring this de-
| gree Of brightness of the sky. and
| thus determining at one operation just
! what percentage of the suns heat Is
reaching the earth. The amount OF
the heat reaching the earth is Their
measured with a pyrheliometer. and
this reading being corrected by the