Evening star., 1920-03-27
!H|GH-SPEED Winds
AT GREAT ALTITUDE
Maj. Schroeder's Experience
Confirms Scientific Discov-
cries, A. McAdie Believes.

In his spectacular flight. establish
ing a new aviation altitude record.
Maj. Rudolph w. Schroeder found
trade winds of 200 miles an hour We
locity far above the clouds. press dis
patches state. The Dayton. Ohio. test
pilot merely reported one ofSthe new
phenomena resulting from a study of
the geography of the air. stimulated
by aerial travel. according to a bull
letin of the National Geographic So
ciety.
while the chemistry and physics of
the atmosphere are understood. the
geography of the air is still practi-
cally unknown" says Alexander Nc
Adie in a communication to the So
ciety.
I'VE are aware that there are well
marked areas zones and levels in this
inverted bowl; and. though we may
not see them. there are mighty r.
erS, far surprising any OF the ~ crs
of earth in volume and speed. rr1ning
on for miles and miles, flowing YER
tically as well as horizontally Tnere
are vast calm areas and stagnant
pools; also choppy seas ana regions
of great turbulence.
Many Layers in AIR.
I'VE are learning today that there
are various layers in the air, which
must be explored and studied before
airships can travel in safety. In hying,
man will use only the lower strata,
the cloud of levels. Above all clouds
are far-stretching heights. which. too,
must be explored. not by plane and
dirigible but by the sounding balloon
of the aerographer.
"One might say offhand that there
could be no geography of the air; for
there are mao continents. oceans or
visible geographical features In TINS
inverted bowl which we call the sky.
Do we not look clear through the at
mosphere up into the heavens ana,
except for passing clouds. do we not
know that there is notnihs u oe
seen?
Comparatively Recent DfscOvery.
LOB spoke of the bottles OF heaven.
and St Augustine and others thoughe
there were windows in heaven, and as
these were opened or closed, 50 .ne
rain began and ended. But that was
long ago. Even as late as the mfddle
of the eighteenth century the cheml-
cal nature of air was not known.
IF the density of the atmosphere
remained constant it could all be com
pressed into a layer about five miles
thick. In that case the highest noun
tain peaks would stand out In space
piercing the so-called homogeneous
atmosphere. But the density de-
creases with elevation. and when the
aviator reaches an elevation OF 10000
meters he is in a medium which is
only about one-third as dense as az
the ground There are no ciouoS
above this level.
THE greatest discovery yet made in
exploring the air is that the atmos-
Ihere consists of two great layers.
the lower extending from sea level
up to 10000 meters. in which there IL
q steady fall of temperature with ele-
walton. This is called the troposphere.
Above this there Is no fall. and up to
20 600 meters a slight rise. The up
per layer is known as the strato-
sphere.
Possible to Reach "BOttom."
'1t is actually possible today for an
airplane to rise from the ground to
the bottom of the stratosphere, say
about six miles. in one hour II we
want to explore somewhat higher. say
twenty miles. we install light instru-
ments on a sounding balloon.
The intrepid aviator who tries to
force@his way at high speed against
an adverse wind meets only with in
wind favors. then the winged airman
spurnS the slow fellow creeping on
wheels below With accelerated speed
he passes over moor, mountain or sea;
and, if need be. vaults over the clouds.
IF the captain OF the winged ship
is not content with this speed. he has
only to climb to upper levels. where
the flow of the air increases to thirty
and even forty meters per second. and
in this stream he would move along
with a speed relative to the earth of
zoo miles an hour.
These are not extreme values. In
a stiff northwestern which the writer
experienced some years back. the
wind blew for seventy-two consec-
utive hours 7.565.000 meters. which is
nearly thirty meters per second. This
is equivalent to going 400 miles in
three days, or twice the distance from
\ a hrod 4o II
speed of the wind for any single hour
was 164.000 meters. 102 miles For a
period of about fifteen minutes the
rate was 120 miles an hour"