Abstract
THE making of weather forecasts is based on the construction of synoptic charts, which are prepared by plotting observations made simultaneously at places covering a wide area. Such a chart may include the whole of Europe, the North Atlantic Ocean and North America. Before the War, the observations made in each country and by ships at sea were broadcast from central stations at internationally agreed times, thus enabling the meteorological services of each nation to collect reports covering the whole area. With the outbreak of war all enemy countries, and some neutrals, suppressed their reports, while the wireless silence imposed on ships prevented the reception of reports from the sea areas. Deprived of vital information in this way, the meteorologist was at the same time called upon to make forecasts in greater detail and with greater precision than before. It was mainly in an attempt to solve this problem that many of the devices described below originated.
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JOHNSON, N. RECENT ADVANCES IN METEOROLOGICAL METHODS*. Nature 157, 247–250 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157247a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157247a0