Alfred Wegener: Difference between revisions

Royal Prussian Aeronautical Observatory conducted research on aerology, the investigation of the three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere by sending up (to altitudes of several kilometers) meteorological recording instruments via "captive balloons" and kites, tethered to the ground by steel cables. Aerologists also sent aloft to much greater altitudes "free balloons", designed to parachute back to earth with their instrument packages. Finally, the scientists went aloft themselves in manned balloons capable of carrying several investigators and a large and varied array of sensing and recording devices. The observatory studied several aspects of the atmosphere in the first few kilometers above the surface : atmospheric layering, winds, temperature, humidity, vertical atmospheric motions, cosmic radiation, polarization of light, atmospheric electricity, atmospheric particulates, cloud types, and photographic documentation of atmospheric phenomena of all kinds. The funding available for this new scientific station were a result of direct royal patronage. Kaiser Wilhelm II aspired to be a patron of science and technology, on the pattern of his friend Prince Albert of Monaco, a long patron of oceanography, meteorology, and marine biology.

 

 

They calibrated the tiny anemometers in the instrument packages sent aloft using a variable speed wind generator. They also regularly checked barometers and barograph in a vacuum chamber and recorded each instrument's standard errors. There were corrections for the corrections. Some measurement devices could not help heating up in still air and strong sunlight, so it had to be corrected yet again, before, during and after each flight.