Brief information from the history of meteorology. History of meteorological observations. II. History of the development of meteorology as a science
I. Introduction
Throughout human history, the development of science has been one of the elements of this history. Already from that distant and dark era for us, when the first rudiments of human knowledge were embodied in ancient myths and in the rituals of primitive religions, we can trace how, together with social formations, in close connection with them. Natural sciences also developed. They arose from the daily practice of farmers and shepherds, from the experience of artisans and sailors. The first bearers of science were priests, tribal leaders and healers. Only the ancient era saw people whose names were glorified precisely by the pursuit of science and the vastness of their knowledge - the names of great scientists.
History of the development of meteorology as a science.
II.I. Origins of science.
Scientists of the ancient world created the first scientific treatises that have reached us, summing up the knowledge accumulated by previous centuries. Aristotle, Euclid, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy left us such important and profound studies that the subsequent era was able to add quite a bit to them, until the Renaissance, during which the rapid rise of science began again. Such a stepwise rise, now slowing down, now accelerating, gradually led the natural sciences to their modern development, to their current position in society.
Even at the dawn of his existence, man tried to understand the surrounding natural phenomena, which were often incomprehensible and hostile to him. His miserable huts provided little protection from the weather, and his crops suffered from drought or too much rain. The priests of primitive religions taught him to deify the elements, with the onslaught of which man was powerless to fight. The first gods of all peoples were the gods of the sun and moon, thunder and lightning, winds and seas.
Osiris among the Egyptians, the sun god Oytosur among the Scythians, Poseidon among the Greeks, the thunderer Indra in India, the underground blacksmith Vulcan among the ancient Romans were the personification of the forces of nature, barely known by man. The ancient Slavs revered Perun, the creator of lightning. The actions and deeds of these gods, as the priests instilled in man, depended only on their capricious will, and it was very difficult for him to defend himself from the wrath of unfavorable deities.
In the epic and philosophical literature of antiquity, which brought to our time some ideas and concepts of long-past centuries, one often encounters information about the weather, various atmospheric phenomena, etc., characterizing their authors as attentive observers. Here are some examples from different countries and cultures.
Homer tells about the cycle of winds that overtook Odysseus near the land of the Phaeacians in the Odyssey:
“Across the sea, such a defenseless ship was carried everywhere
winds, then quickly Noth tossed Boreas, then the noisy
Eurus, playing with him, betrayed him to the tyranny of Zephyr...”
those. north and west winds followed east and south.
The Iliad tells about a rainbow, the lower part of which seems to be immersed in the sea:
“...the wind-footed Iris rushed with the news
at a distance equal between Imber steep and Samos,
jumped into the dark sea..."
In The Book of Path and Virtue (circa 6th century BC), previously attributed to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, we read: “A strong wind lasts all the morning, a strong rain does not last all day.”
The Indian heroic poem “Mahabharata” describes in vivid colors the invasion of the summer monsoon in India: “... and when Kadru so praised the great ruler riding on light yellow horses (Indra, the god of thunder and thunder), he then covered the entire sky with masses of blue clouds. And those clouds, sparkling with lightning, continuously and loudly rumbling, as if scolding each other, began to shed water in great abundance. And as a result of the fact that the wonderful clouds constantly poured out immeasurable masses of water and rumbled terribly, the sky seemed to open up. From the multitude of waves, from the flows of water, the vault of heaven, resounding with the peals of thunder, turned into dancing ether... And the earth all around was filled with water.”
A little further there it tells about the dust storms of India: “Garuda (the legendary king of birds) ... spread his wings and flew into the heavens. Mighty, he flew to the Nishads... Intending to destroy those Nishads, he then raised a huge cloud of dust that reached to the skies.”
The Koran in Sura XXX states: “... God sends the winds, and they drive the cloud: he expands it across the sky as much as he wants, blows it into clubs, and you see how rain pours from its bosom...”.
The first written monuments that have reached us date back to times when natural phenomena were interpreted as signs of divine will. The priests of ancient religions were sometimes the first scientists of distant antiquity. Thanks to them, religion firmly held the first glimpses of scientific thought under control. She made us believe that deity is an unlimited ruler not only over man, but also over his surrounding nature.
The idea that the world was governed by divine arbitrariness, excluding science in the true sense of the word, as well as any attempt to find and formulate any laws of nature. When Greek ancient science was still in its infancy, Pythagoras (b. 570 BC) already had to limit the power of the deity, saying that “God always acts according to the rules of geometry.”
In the field of meteorology, the first pattern that has been known, of course, since time immemorial, was the annual cycle of weather. The tales of the ancient Slavs more than once mentioned the constant struggle between good and evil, summer and winter, light and darkness, Belobog and Chernobog. This motif is often found in the legends of other peoples. “Works and Days” by Hesiod (8th century BC) tells how the whole life of a Greek landowner is connected with the movement of the sun and luminaries:
“Only in the east will the Atlantis-Pleiades begin to rise,
Hurry up to reap, and if they start to come in, get to work on sowing.”
“Leneon is a very bad month, difficult for cattle.
Be afraid of it and the severe frosts that
They cover with hard bark under the breath of the Boreas wind..."
“It’s already fifty days since the (summer) solstice,
And the end comes to the difficult, sultry summer,
This is the time to sail: you are not a ship
You won’t break, no people will be swallowed up by the depths of the sea...
The sea is then safe, and the air is transparent and clear...
But try to come back as soon as possible,
Don't wait for new wine and autumn winds
And the onset of winter and the breath of the terrible Note.
He violently stirs up the waves...”
The mention of the annual weather cycle played a special role in the creation of the first meteorological records of antiquity.
Already from the time of the astronomer Meton (about 433 BC), calendars with records of weather phenomena recorded in previous years were displayed in public places in Greek cities. These calendars were called parapegmas. Some of these parapegmas have come down to us, for example in the works of the famous Alexandrian astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (b. around 150 BC), the Roman landowner Columella and other writers of antiquity. In them we find mostly data on winds, precipitation, cold and some phenological phenomena. For example, in the Alexandrian parapegma the appearance of southern and western winds has been noted many times (which is not consistent with the fact that northern winds predominate there in our time). Strong winds (storms) were observed in Alexandria mainly in winter, as now. Records of rain (approximately 30 events per year) and thunderstorms occur in all months, which is obviously not typical for Alexandria with its cloudless, dry summers. Relatively frequent indications of fog in summer confirm once again that mainly outstanding, exceptional events were noted in parapegmas. In them one cannot see either a systematic weather diary or a climatological summary in the modern concept.
Chinese classical literature contains some phonological information that provides insight into the weather of past centuries. Thus, in the “Book of Customs” by Li Ki there is a whole chapter on the agricultural calendar, dating back to approximately the 3rd century BC. In the book of Chow Kung, apparently written shortly before our era, it is indicated that the peach blossomed then on 5/III according to our calendar (now, for example, in Shanghai, on average 25/III), the arrival of the house swallow was observed on 21/III ( now in Ning Po in mid-March), and her departure is 21/IX. Remembering that nowadays the swallow in Shanghai remains only until August, we see that these records indicate a warmer climatic period. In Chinese chronicles we also find quite a lot of information about frosts, snowfalls, floods and droughts. The latter were especially frequent in the 4th and 6th-7th centuries. AD The average date of the latest snowfall for every 10 years during the southern Sun Dynasty (1131 - 1260) was 1/IV - approximately 16 days later than, for example, in the decade 1905 - 1914. The first experiments in weather forecasting based on local characteristics began quite a long time ago. In the Chinese “Book of Songs” (Shijing), dating back to the Zhou period (1122 - 247 BC), there is a sign: “if a rainbow is visible in the west during sunrise, it means that it will soon rain” . We find quite a lot of similar signs in the Greek naturalist Theophrastus of Erez (380 - 287 BC), a student of Aristotle. Theophrastus wrote that “...we described the signs of rain, wind, stormy and clear weather as we managed to comprehend them. Some of them we observed ourselves, some we learned from other trustworthy people.” For example, a reliable sign of rain, according to Theophrastus, is the purple-golden color of the clouds before sunrise. The dark red color of the sky during the setting sun, the appearance of stripes of fog on the mountains, etc. have the same meaning. Many of the signs he gives are based on the behavior of birds, animals, etc.
In the classic country of regular seasons - India - the observation of large and long-lasting weather anomalies has long been used to predict it. We do not know exactly to what centuries the first attempts to predict the good or bad summer monsoon - the basis of prosperity or crop failure in India - date back, but they were apparently made a very long time ago.
We find numerous records about weather and climate in the book “History of Armenia” by Movses Khorenatsi (5th century AD). This historian tells the story of the legendary knight Gayk (obviously personifying Armenia), who “settled among the frosts.” He “did not want to soften the cold of his numb, proud disposition” and, having submitted to the Babylonian kings, live in their warm country. The legend about Semiramis, who conquered Armenia, says that she decided to build on the shores of the lake. Van "...a city and a palace in this country, where there is such a temperate climate...and spend the fourth part of the year - summer time - in Armenia."
In the historical episodes described by Khorenatsi, mention is made of air humidity and frequent fogs in Adjara, snowfalls, strong winds and blizzards of the Armenian Highlands, etc. At the end of the book, when listing the reasons for the decline of the country, the author attributes to them the unfavorable climate - “... winds that bring dry winds and diseases in the summer , clouds throwing lightning and hail, rains, untimely and merciless, harsh weather, generating frost ... ".
The Indian astronomer Varaha-Mihira (5th century AD) in his book “The Great Collection” systematized the signs by which it was possible to predict the abundance of expected monsoon rains long ago, grouping these signs by Hindu lunar months. The harbingers of a good rainy season, according to Varaha-Mihira, were: in October - November (his division of the year into months did not coincide with ours) a red dawn in the morning and evening, a halo, not a very large amount of snow; in December - January, strong winds, great cold, dim sun and moon, dense clouds at sunrise and sunset; in January - February strong dry squalls, dense clouds with smooth bases, torn halo, copper-red sun; in February - March clouds accompanied by wind and snow; in March-April there is lightning, thunder, wind and rain.
Unfortunately, verification of these signs, which are so ancient, has not yet been done. Varaha-Mihira indicated that if all the favorable signs indicated above are observed, then the number of days with rain (translated into our calendar) in May will be 8, in June 6, in July 16, in August 24, in September 20, in October 3. Indian meteorologist Sen reports that the intense monsoon of 1917 gave, for example, a much smaller number of days with rain - 5, 6, 12, 13 and 5 days, respectively.
The science of antiquity achieved its greatest success, systematicity and clarity in ancient Greece, primarily in Athens. Thanks to its colonies, which spread from the 6th century. BC, along the Mediterranean and Black Seas, from Marseille to modern Feodosia and Sukhumi, the Greeks were able to get acquainted with the culture of the Western world of that time. They adopted a lot from their predecessors - the Egyptians and Phoenicians, but managed to create science in the modern sense of the word from relatively fragmentary elements. The Greeks paid great attention to the previously collected material, showed the ability to penetrate deeply into the essence of things and find in them the most important and simple things and the ability to abstract. Their natural sciences were closely connected with philosophy. At the same time, great philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato saw mathematics (and especially geometry) as the key to true general knowledge.
Meteorological observations of the ancient peoples and their successors the Greeks led them to the study of the physical laws of nature. Heat and cold, light and darkness, their regular change and mutual dependence were the first physical concepts of antiquity. For centuries, physics was not separated from meteorology.
The first book about atmospheric phenomena was written by one of the most prominent scientists of ancient Greece, Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) under the title “Meteorology”. It constituted, as Aristotle believed, an essential part of the general doctrine of nature. He wrote at the beginning of the book that “... it remains to consider that part that previous authors called meteorology.” From this it is clear that this science received its name long before Aristotle and that he probably used many previous observations, bringing them into a system.
The first book, “Meteorology,” treated phenomena that, according to the author, occur in the upper layers of the atmosphere (comets, falling stars, etc.), as well as hydrometeors. The upper layers, as Aristotle believed, were dry and hot, in contrast to the moist lower layers.
The second book was dedicated to the sea, again to winds, earthquakes, lightning and thunder. The third described storms and whirlwinds, as well as light phenomena in the atmosphere. The fourth book was devoted to the “Theory of the Four Elements.” The content of “Meteorology” shows that the Greeks of Aristotle’s time were familiar with many of the most important meteorological phenomena. They were so observant that they even had a clear understanding of the northern lights. Aristotle knew that hail forms more often in spring than in summer, and more often in autumn than in winter, that, for example, in Arabia and Ethiopia rain falls in summer and not in winter (as in Greece), that “lightning seems to precede thunder because vision ahead of hearing”, that the colors of the rainbow are always the same as in the outer, weaker rainbow, they are located in the reverse order, that dew is formed when there is a weak wind, etc.
The great scientist did not shy away from the experimental method. So, he tried to prove that air has weight. He found that an inflated bubble was heavier than an empty one; this seemed to give him the required proof (Archimedes' principle was unknown to him), but the fact that it is not an inflated bubble that sinks in water, but an inflated one floats, again drew Aristotle away from the truth and led him to the strange, in modern opinion, concept of absolute lightness air.
ARGESTESK AIKIAS
OLYMPIAS HELESPONTIAS
ZEPHYROS APELIOTES
Rice. 1. Greek wind rose.
Aristotle tried to understand the processes occurring in the atmosphere. For example, he wrote that “... the liquid surrounding the earth is evaporated by the rays of the sun and the heat that comes from above and rises... When the heat that raised it weakens,... the cooling vapor condenses and becomes water again.”
He believed that water freezes in the clouds "... because from this region three types of bodies formed by cooling fall out - rain, snow and hail." Likewise, he noted that hail is more common in hotter areas during the summer because “the heat there pushes clouds further from the ground.”
It can be said without hesitation that the first foundation stone of weather science was the old idea that weather was closely related to the direction of the wind. Aristotle wrote about this connection: “Aparktius, Thrascus and Argest (roughly north, north-northwest and west-northwest winds, Fig. 1), dispersing dense clouds, bring clear weather, at least when they are not too dense . Their effect is different if they are not as strong as they are cold, for they cause condensation (of the vapors) before they disperse other clouds. Argest and Eurus (east-southeast) are dry winds, the latter being dry only at the beginning and wet at the end. Mez (north-northeast) and Aparctia bring snow most of all, because they are the coldest. Aparctius brings hail, just as Thrascus and Argest, Noth (southern), Zephyr (west) and Eurus are hot. Kaykiy (east-northeast) covers the sky with powerful clouds, with Lipsa (west-southwest) the clouds are not so powerful...”
Aristotle tried to explain these properties of the winds; “...there are more winds coming from the northern countries than winds coming from the midday. Much more rain and snow comes from these latter, for they are under the sun and located under its path.”
The idea of the winds as rulers of the weather took artistic form in the so-called “Tower of the Winds,” built in Athens by Andronikos Cyrrrestos in the 2nd century. BC The sculptural frieze of the octagonal tower depicts the corresponding winds in the form of mythological figures with attributes characterizing the weather these winds bring. On the tower, an iron weather vane with a staff indicated which way the wind was blowing.
In the era that followed the age of Aristotle, the conquests of his pupil Alexander the Great opened up a whole new world for the Greeks in the east - to the borders of India and the banks of the Syr Darya, where Alexandria Far was built. In their campaigns, the Greeks became acquainted with the eastern seas (the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea) and their monsoons, which were first described by the commander Alexander. Alexander's successors founded in Egypt, in Alexandria, the second center of Hellenistic science, where a unique academy of that time was created - the Alexandrian "Museion" (museum). Modern geography and the making of geographical maps were born here. The head of the Museion, Eratosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 BC), was the first to determine the size of the globe, and so correctly that his measurements were clarified only at the end of the 18th century. Here Ctesibius (about 250 BC) and Heron of Alexandria (about 120 - 100 BC) first studied the elastic force of air and used it for many small mechanisms - air pumps, etc. They observed also thermal expansion of air and water vapor.
During this era, observations of winds in various places in the Mediterranean Sea basin did not stop. Pliny the Elder (23 -79 AD) mentioned twenty Greek scientists who collected wind observations.
Pliny to a certain extent borrowed descriptions of the properties of various winds from Aristotle (Fig. 2). however, he already clearly understood that these properties depend on latitude. “There are two winds,” he wrote, “which change their nature, reaching other countries. In Africa, Auster (south wind) brings warm weather. Aquilon - cloudy” (in Italy their properties are just the opposite).
FAVONIUS SUBSOLANIUS
AFRICUS VOLTURNUS
LIBONOTHUS PHOENIX
Fig.2 Roman wind rose.
Already in the first or second century AD, there was a huge decline in ancient science. The reasons for it were social order. The slave system, which concentrated all power over a huge empire in the hands of a small handful of aristocrats, followed the path of disintegration and growing impotence. The lack of rights of slaves, the poverty of the Roman proletariat, the poverty of the oppressed provinces, the decline of trade and production led to the decline of crafts. There was almost no incentive for the progress of science, and its development, one might say, stopped. This happened long before the Roman Empire itself perished under the attacks of the Goths and Vandals.
In the centuries that followed, the center of civilization and culture moved far to the east, to the Arab countries, India, Khorezm and Iran. The successes of mathematics were especially great. In India they were associated with the names of Varaha-Mihira, Aryabhata (5th century AD) and Bramagupta (7th century AD). Al-Khorezmi (9th century), al-Biruni (973 - 1048), Omar Khayyam (1048 - 1122), Tusi (1201 - 1274) became famous in the Muslim world. Much attention was also paid to chemistry and astronomy. The Arabs, on long voyages, penetrated east to the Sunda Islands, north to the Baltic Sea and the Middle Volga region, and south to Madagascar. Everywhere they collected geographical information about climates and winds.
Unfortunately, the contribution that the countries of the East made in the first millennium AD to the development of atmospheric science is still very little studied. We have only very fragmentary, unsystematized information about him. This is all the more regrettable because, undoubtedly, numerous facts from this field of science were already known and Eastern scientists made attempts to explain and systematize them.
The first information on meteorological weather data was preserved in documents in the order of the secret affairs of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In the 20s of the 18th century, constant instrumental observations began in Russia. By order of Tsar Peter I, Vice Admiral K. Kruys began making detailed records of the weather in 1722.
Participants in the Great Northern Expedition, led by Bering, opened stations for weather observations in 1733 in Kazan, in 1734 in Yekaterinburg, Tomsk, Yeniseisk, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, and Nerchinsk. Later, the network of weather stations in Russia constantly expanded and in the second half of the 20th century covered the entire country.
History of the creation of the first meteorological instruments.
The most common instruments, the thermometer and the barometer, were created several centuries ago. The first sample of a thermometer was made by G. Galileo in 1597. This year he made a thermoscope, which was a glass ball of water with a tube immersed in it. In a later period, the divisions were applied to the fission tube by his student Mr. Sagredo, the device became able to produce quantitative values.
Later, water thermometers, which had a number of significant disadvantages, were replaced by alcohol thermometers. Their first appearance was recorded in 1641 in France. In 1715, in the city of Danzig, D. Fahrenheit launched the production of mercury thermometers.
In 1643, Galileo's student E. Torricelli invented a barometer - a device with which it was possible to measure atmospheric pressure.
The strength and direction of the wind were determined before the invention of the barometer using a simple device, which in design and principle of operation resembled a windmill.
The appearance of a set of instruments made it possible to keep regular records of pressure and temperature at measurement sites, but it had no practical significance due to the lack of a methodology for processing generalized data and developing a forecast for the subsequent period.
And only in our time, when more advanced meteorological instruments are used and special meteorological satellites operate in orbit, when data processing and forecasts are prepared using powerful computers, has it become possible to give more advanced and long-term meteorological forecasts.
Many have already noticed that hot summer weather forces people to look for cool places. High-quality turnkey construction of swimming pools is one of the possible and successful solutions to combat the summer heat. The main thing is that there are conditions for placing the pool.
I don’t know why, but when I hear the word meteorology, a picture appears before my eyes - a frog with an umbrella jumping through puddles, although meteorology is not only about rain and other precipitation, but also about good weather...I remember a time when weather reports were, to put it mildly, unreliable.
My grandmother often told me:
- Take an umbrella.
“But they said on the radio that it wouldn’t rain!”
“That’s exactly why you take it.”
And during my adolescence, my grandmother was often right; now meteorologists are rarely wrong.
World Meteorological Day was established on March 23. On this day in 1950, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was formed. But World Meteorology Day began to be celebrated annually only in 1961.
On this day, in many countries around the world, various events dedicated to it are held, lectures are given, and much more.
The word meteorology is made up of two Greek words - meteora– atmospheric phenomena from Greek. metéōros- raised up, heavenly and logos- word, teaching.
Ozhegov’s explanatory dictionary interprets the word meteorology as follows:
“The science of the physical state of the earth’s atmosphere and the processes occurring in it.”
When did people start watching? Logically, back in ancient times. But at first, everything unfavorable that happened in nature frightened the ancient people, and they associated natural phenomena with various gods, for example, Zeus, Jupiter, Perun, Dazhdbog and others. However, there were always not only those who were afraid, but also those who observed, analyzed, trying to find patterns in what was happening.
Already the ancient civilizations of China, India, Egypt, Greece, Rome tried to systematize their observations, the first scientific treatises on climate and instruments for observing the weather appeared.
This was all reflected in the literature of those times, for example, this is what we can read from Homer in his Odyssey:
“Across the sea, the winds carried the defenseless ship everywhere, then Noth quickly tossed it to Boreas, then the noisy Eurus, playing with it, betrayed it to the tyranny of Zephyr.”
The characters in this passage are: Boreas - the ancient Greek name for the north wind, Not - the south wind, the east wind Eurus and the west wind - Zephyr.
Judging by the way they replace each other, scientists came to the conclusion that the cyclone moved over the ship from west to east, as they most often move. The eastern wind after passing the center of the cyclone is replaced by a western one. In general, Homer told us that in ancient times storms were brought to the middle latitudes.
But scientists didn’t stop there; after delving into Homer’s descriptions of the pictures of nature, they were able to construct weather maps that were observed more than 3,000 years ago. Looking at the cyclones and anticyclones recorded on them, we can conclude that just as they controlled the air elements in ancient times, they control them today.
The weather was observed not only by ancient poets and sailors, but also by farmers, hunters and people of other professions. Gradually, their observations resulted in a whole set of folk superstitions.
Some of them, derived from long-term observations, most often turn out to be reliable. But a considerable part of the assumptions are unfounded.
Unfortunately, many people believe folk superstitions blindly, and some media also fuel interest in them.
But what happens in practice? The man read the omen, it did not come true, but he had long ago forgotten about it and, next time reading the same thing, he believes again, forgetting to check.
For example - “March 6: Timofey-spring - warm wind”, “March 14: Evdokia-Plyuschikha - thaw” and others. But do they coincide every year?
True, there are folk superstitions that assume that in different years, the weather on these dates can be different.
The most accurate signs are those associated with observing plants and animals. We just recently grumbled about the so-called “European winter,” when in many regions there was no snow or frost in December. But it turns out that there is nothing new under the sun...
At the beginning of the first millennium and many still uninhabited lands of the Old World across the Atlantic, it was quite warm. The greatest warming occurred in 800-900 AD, when the famous Vikings Erik the Red and Leif the Happy, setting off on a voyage from the territory of modern Norway, reached the shores of the island, which was called the Green Country - Greenland. That is, in those days, icy Greenland had a mild, warm climate. According to scientists, the heat remained until 1400-1450. In England, judging by written documents, grapes were grown at the same time.
But already from 1500 to 1850-1860 the climate in Europe was quite cold and rainy. Large accumulations of snow caused the growth of glaciers and their movement into valleys with a warm climate. Scientists called the 16th – 18th centuries the Little Ice Age.
Since the end of the 19th century, climate warming began; the warmest in Europe were the 30s and 40s of the last century.
The same probably cannot be said about Russia.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, and even later, Christmas and Epiphany frosts were pronounced.
And during my childhood, we often did not go to school because of severe frosts in December and January.
It is interesting that in ancient times meteorology was associated with meteorites - cosmic bodies falling to the earth. This happened thanks to Aristotle, who lived in the 4th century. BC e., who wrote a treatise on celestial phenomena - “Meteorology”.
At that time, it was believed that all celestial phenomena, since they occur in one celestial sphere, should be studied by one science. The ancient scientist included rain, hail, objects consisting of water or ice, comets, meteors, rainbows and auroras into meteorology. Aristotle did not include stars in meteorology, since in those days they were considered motionless and unchanging.
And although, as it later turned out, Aristotle’s ideas about some natural phenomena were incorrect, nevertheless, his “Meteorology” was the forerunner of the emergence of the science of the atmosphere and nature.
Any natural science consists of observation, experiment and theory. If you do not follow this trinity, you can come to erroneous conclusions.
We can say that ancient science moved forward, but in the Middle Ages science fell into decay. Knowledge replaced church dogma, the theories of astrologers and all kinds of magicians.
But still, even then there were scientists who did not give up. It is believed that modern scientific meteorology began its development in the 17th century, when the foundations of physics were laid.
The great scientist Galileo, together with his students, invented a thermometer in 1610, which made it possible for more scrupulous observations.
In the middle of the 17th century, the Academy of Experimentation in Tuscany organized the first, albeit small, network of instrumental observations carried out at several points in Europe. The program of all sea voyages included mandatory observation of nature.
Around this time, the Royal Society of London was founded to organize and encourage scientific research in the country. J. Jurin, a physicist, doctor and secretary of the society, addressed scientists from different countries with a request to conduct meteorological observations and send their results to London. The written request was accompanied by instructions on what to observe and with what instruments.
In the 17th century, E. Halley gave the first explanation of the monsoons, and E. Hadley published a treatise on the trade winds.
In Russia, systematic observations began in the middle of the 18th century in St. Petersburg.
The great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov considered meteorology an independent science, believing that its purpose was “prediction of the weather.”
A little later, Russia created its own network of stations in Siberia.
The Great Northern Expedition, which was planned by Peter I, covered the space from Yekaterinburg to Yakutsk with observations. Instructions for observers were compiled in 1732 by a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Daniil Bernoulli. In 1849, the Main Physical Observatory appeared in St. Petersburg.
It was in the second half of the 19th century that the foundations of dynamic meteorology were laid.
A great contribution to the science of studying atmospheric processes was made by Coriolis and Poisson in France, V. Ferrel in the USA, G. Helmholtz in Germany, G. Mohn and K. Guldberg in Norway.
But the development of meteorology was especially rapid in the 20th century. New approaches and new opportunities have emerged, and extensive experience in international cooperation has already been accumulated.
Unfortunately, the growth of industry has had an adverse effect on the atmosphere. And air pollution remains problem No. 1 in the 21st century. Throughout the world, the occurrence of natural disasters in the form of hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods has increased, which has led to the need for more careful consideration of the properties of atmospheric processes. I really hope that in the near future meteorologists will be able to predict the weather with great accuracy and over long periods of time.
Nowadays the Russian Hydrometeorological Service is responsible for weather forecasts in our country.
The main goal of its activities is to reduce the threat to human life and damage to the economy from weather conditions.
And in conclusion, I would like to remember A.S. Pushkin, who lived in an era when people could not yet rely on weather forecasts from weather forecasters, so he gave advice to observe for yourself and focus on the basic patterns occurring in nature:
“Try to observe various signs.And we will smile with relief, how good it is that we can hear the weather forecast from professionals.
Shepherd and farmer in his infancy,
Looking at the heavens, at the western shadow,
They already know how to predict both the wind and a clear day,
And the May rains, the joy of young fields,
And the early frost is dangerous for the grapes.”
(“Signs” (1821) A.S. Pushkin).
Let's congratulate them on the holiday and wish us all good weather.
The first instrumental meteorological observations in Russia began back in 1725. In 1834, Emperor Nicholas I issued a resolution on organizing a network of regular meteorological and magnetic observations in Russia. By this time, meteorological and magnetic observations had already been carried out in various parts of Russia. But for the first time, a technological system was created, with the help of which all meteorological and magnetic observations of the country were managed according to uniform methods and programs.
In 1849, the Main Physical Observatory was established - the main methodological and scientific center of the Hydrometeorological Service of Russia for many years (today - the Main Geophysical Observatory named after A.I. Voeikov).
In January 1872, the first “Daily Meteorological Bulletin” was published with messages received by telegraph from 26 Russian and two foreign tracking stations. The bulletin was prepared at the Main Physical Observatory in St. Petersburg, where weather forecasts began to be compiled in subsequent years.
The modern meteorological service of Russia considers its founding date to be June 21, 1921, when V.I. Lenin signed the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the organization of a unified meteorological service in the RSFSR."
On January 1, 1930, in Moscow, in accordance with the Government Decree on the creation of a unified meteorological service of the country, the USSR Central Weather Bureau was formed.
In 1936 it was reorganized into the Central Institute of Weather, in 1943 - into the Central Institute of Forecasts, which concentrated operational, research and methodological work in the field of hydrometeorological forecasts.
In 1964, in connection with the creation of the World Meteorological Center of the Main Directorate of Hydrometeorological Service, some departments were transferred from the Central Institute of Forecasts to this center. However, already at the end of 1965, the World Meteorological Center and the Central Institute of Forecasts were merged into one institution - the Hydrometeorological Research Center of the USSR, with the assignment of the functions of the World and Regional Meteorological Centers in the World Weather Watch system of the World Meteorological Organization.
In 1992, the Hydrometeorological Center of the USSR was renamed the Hydrometeorological Research Center of the Russian Federation (Hydrometeorological Center of Russia).
In 1994, the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia was given the status of the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation (SSC RF).
In January 2007, by decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, this status was retained.
Currently, the Research Hydrometeorological Center of the Russian Federation occupies a key position in the development of the main directions of hydrometeorological science. The Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, along with methodological and scientific research work, carries out extensive operational work, and also performs the functions of the World Meteorological Center and the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center of the World Weather Watch in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) system. In addition, the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia is a regional center for zonal weather forecasts within the framework of the World Area Forecast System. On a regional scale, the same work is carried out by regional hydrometeorological centers.
The scientific and operational-production activities of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia are not limited to weather forecasts. The Hydrometeorological Center actively works in the field of hydrology of land waters, oceanography and marine meteorology, agrometeorology and produces a wide range of various specialized products. Forecasting the yield of major crops, forecasting air quality in cities, long-term forecast of the level of the Caspian Sea and other inland water bodies for water resource management, forecast of river flow and associated floods and floods, etc. are also areas of scientific and practical activity of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia.
The Hydrometeorological Center of Russia conducts scientific research in close cooperation with foreign meteorological organizations within the framework of the World Weather Watch and other programs of the World Meteorological Organization (World Meteorological Research Programme, World Climate Research Programme, International Polar Year, etc.). Based on Agreements on bilateral scientific and technical cooperation - with the meteorological services of Great Britain, Germany, the USA, China, Mongolia, Poland, Finland, France, Yugoslavia, South Korea, Vietnam, India, as well as within the framework of the Interstate Council for Hydrometeorology of the CIS countries. 11 employees of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia are members of various WMO expert groups.
During the implementation of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 8, 2002 "On measures to ensure the fulfillment of the obligations of the Russian Federation on the international exchange of hydrometeorological observation data and the implementation of the functions of the World Meteorological Center (WMC) in Moscow" in the second half of 2008 in WMC-Moscow A new supercomputer manufactured by SGI was installed with a peak performance of about 27 teraflops (trillion operations per second). The supercomputer weighs 30 tons and consists of 3 thousand microprocessors.
The new equipment will allow the Roshydrometcenter to make forecasts for eight days (the old equipment made it possible to make forecasts for 5-6 days), and also increase the accuracy of weather forecasts for one day from 89 to 95%.
According to the director of the Main Computing Center of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, Vladimir Antsipovich, the uniqueness of this computer is in the performance it provides for constructing technological schemes in order to calculate the weather forecast at a certain technological time. The supercomputer will allow you to calculate the weather forecast for tomorrow within 5 minutes.
The material was prepared by the editorial staff of rian.ru based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Meteorological observations in Russia began, according to their first historian, K.S. Veselovsky
, - around the middle of the 18th century: for St. Petersburg, correct observations of air temperature have been available since 1743, of precipitation - since 1741, and of the freezing of the Neva - they go back to 1706.But such earliest observations were few in number and unevenly distributed throughout Russia, being confined either to large centers such as St. Petersburg, Moscow, or to several points in Finland and Siberia, finally, and they were carried out using different methods and very diverse instruments. However, M.V. Lomonosov
back in 1759 he proposed his project for a more correct organization of meteorological observations, but only in 1804 was a government decree promulgated on the production of meteorological observations in all educational institutions of Russia; however, the order was not carried out, and if observations began, they were neither processed nor printed.The establishment in Germany in 1828, on the initiative of Humboldt, of a union for the production of magnetic observations was the impetus that was destined to put the matter of meteorological observations on practical ground. In 1829, Humboldt visited St. Petersburg and managed to convince the Academy of Sciences to join this union and organize observations in Russia. One of the Academy members, Kupfer
, took over the implementation of this matter. Under his supervision and leadership, a magnetic laboratory was established in St. Petersburg at the Academy in 1830 (located first in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and then transferred to one of the premises of the Mining Building); then, at the suggestion of the Academy, he established similar observatories in Kazan, Nikolaev, Sitkha, Lekin, and, finally, in Yekaterinburg, Barnaul and Nerchinsk. In 1833, Kupfer submitted a project for the establishment of several more observatories, adapted for the production of not only magnetic, but also meteorological observations; he managed to achieve the implementation of this project and the establishment of magnetic meteorological observatories in Bogoslovsk, Zlatoust and Lugan, and transform the observatories in Yekaterinburg, Barnaul and Nerchinsk into permanent institutions. An observatory was established at the Mining Corps in St. Petersburg, which was not only supposed to conduct observations, but also supply all meteorological institutions in Russia with proven instruments.In 1849, the project and staff of the “Main Physical Observatory” were approved; Kupfer himself was appointed its first director. Under his management, the Main Physical Observatory firmly established the business of meteorological observations in Russia: the number of meteorological stations began to increase; completely monotonous observation methods were used; Publications appeared containing summaries of the observations made. The first such collection was "Annuaire magnetique et meteorologique", and then observations began to be published annually in the publication: "Code of observations made, etc."... Since 1865, this last edition was replaced by the "Chronicles of the Main Physical Observatory". Containing a huge amount of material, delivered by observations, in a finished, processed form. Kupfer's successors in managing the Main Physical Observatory and directing meteorological observations were Kemtz, then Wild and Rykachev. Wild’s activities were especially fruitful in the development of meteorological observations in Russia.
Under him, the instructions for guiding observers and for processing observations were reworked, new observational methods were investigated and introduced (for example, they were given a new method of installing thermometers for measuring air temperature, a weather vane with an indicator of wind strength was installed, barometers were improved, etc.); periodic inspection and audit of meteorological stations has been established; under him, finally, the meteorological network began to develop faster and faster.
The Meteorological Commission of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society also rendered considerable service in the development of meteorological observations in Russia. Having separated in 1870 for the purpose of more detailed development of various meteorological issues from the geographical society into a special commission, a small circle of people, which included the majority of St. Petersburg meteorologists, from the very beginning of the commission’s existence actively began to promote meteorological observations and organize stations to help Main Physical Observatory. The construction of denser networks for rain gauge observations and observations of thunderstorms, and the collection of observations of the opening and freezing of rivers were the first steps of the commission. With its transformation in 1883, it also organized observations of the height and density of snow cover, observations of the duration of sunshine, phenological observations, etc. However, the meteorological commission, limiting itself only to propaganda and making various observations, transmitted these observations as only they turned out to be firmly placed under the jurisdiction of the Main Physical Observatory, to which the general management of meteorological work thus belonged and belongs. The next stage in the development of meteorological observations in Russia was the emergence of local networks, the task of which was a more detailed study of some important meteorological phenomena that elude the observation of large, relatively far apart stations - phenomena observed over relatively small areas. The first impetus for the development of these networks was the organization of the “South-West Russia Network”, organized by professor of Novorossiysk University A.V. Klossovsky, who achieved the construction of a network of observation points of such density that it allowed him to trace in great detail the spread of thunderstorms, showers, snowstorms and drifts, etc. Following the example of the network of the South-West of Russia, networks were then organized: the Dnieper, south-western, central , eastern and, finally, even smaller, embracing spaces of less than one province: Perm, Buguruslan, etc. Since 1894, the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property, having undertaken the organization of agricultural meteorological observations, established a meteorological bureau under the Scientific Committee, placed under Office of the Meteorologist; The task of the bureau is to establish a network of the mentioned stations and to unite the activities of the few that already exist (Meteorological observations XIX, 175). Meteorological stations:
In 1850 there were 15
" 1885 " " 225 and 441 rainy pun.
" 1890 " " 432 " 603 " "
" 1895 " " 590 " 934 " "
Finally, let us note some points in Russia that have the longest observation series. Air temperature observations are available:
In St. Petersburg since 1743
"Abo" 1750"
"Moscow" 1770"
"Warsaw" 1779"
"Riga" 1795"
"Verre" 1800"
"Revele" 1807"
"Kyiv" 1812"
"Kazan" 1812"
"Arkhangelsk" 1813"
Precipitation observations:
In St. Petersburg since 1741
"Abo" 1749"
"Uleaborg "1776"
"Warsaw" 1803"
"Revele" 1812"
Observations on the opening and freezing of rivers:
In Riga since 1530
"Petersburg" 1706"
"Irkutsk" 1724"
"Warsaw" 1725"
"Arkhangelsk" 1734"
"Veliky Ustyug" 1749"
"Barnaul" 1751"
"Saratov" 1762"
For historical information about the development of meteorological observations in Russia, see Veselovsky, “On the Climate of Russia” (St. Petersburg, 1857); Klossovsky, “The latest advances in meteorology” (Odessa, 1882); Wild, “On the air temperature of the Russian Empire” (St. Petersburg, 1878, II); Voeikov
, "Meteorology in Russia" (St. Petersburg, 1874); Heinz, “Essays on the activities of the Main Physical Observatory” (“Monthly Bulletin of the Main Physical Observatory”, 1899, No. 3).