Synoptisch-meteorologische Forschung in der Gegenwart

Summary

Since the first world war the reliability of weather forecasts based on synoptic maps has been greatly enhanced, owing on the one hand to the extraordinarily increased number of wireless weather reports, on the other hand to new scientific insight into weather developments gained up to now. Of especial importance were the data from high levels of the free atmosphere obtained by radio sounding, by which the construction of weather maps with contours was made possible. Scientific research after the first world war was based on the polar front theory ofBjerknes and his followers and was greatly furthered in the course of time especially by the understanding of the great importance of the occurrences in the stratosphere for weather development.