History of meteorological observations in Russia. Reference. Abstract: History of the development of meteorology as a science “History of the development of meteorology as a science”
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 editors of rian.ru based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
On February 3-4, 2018, there was heavy snowfall in Moscow. According to the Hydrometeorological Center, 45 mm of rain fell in the capital from Saturday to Monday night. In the area of the capital's main weather station at VDNKh, 14.5 mm of precipitation was recorded on February 3, which exceeded the previous daily record of 11.2 mm, observed in 1957.
On February 4, 25 mm of precipitation fell, the previous record was 18 mm (2013). The snow cover height reached 55 cm by February 5, which is 19 cm higher than normal. However, the record for that day, 56 cm (2013), was not broken.
As noted by the capital's authorities, 38 cm of snow fell in just two days; this amount of snow fell in Moscow for the first time in 100 years. Utilities worked around the clock. According to Moscow Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov, 1.66 million cubic meters of snow were removed from the city streets over the weekend. More than 4 thousand dump trucks, more than 19.5 thousand units of various snow removal equipment were used, and approximately 72 thousand workers worked during the day.
In total, more than 2 thousand trees fell in the city due to the accumulation of snow and icing. More than 100 cases of trees falling on cars have been recorded. The snowfall caused delays of about 200 flights at the capital's airports.
Heavy snowfalls are not a rare occurrence for Moscow. According to the Hydrometeorological Center, usually 134 mm of precipitation falls in the city during the three winter months: the norm for December is 56 mm, for January - 42 mm, for February - 36 mm.
The TASS-DOSSIER editors have prepared a report on cases of heavy snowfalls in Moscow.
On February 14, 1966, due to snowfall in the capital, urban transport was difficult. Then 35.5 mm of precipitation fell in the form of snow in one day. In the following days, the snowfall continued: in four days, from February 15 to 18, another 24.3 mm of precipitation fell. As a result, on February 18, 1966, snowdrifts reached 65 cm (in the last days of January, the snow cover was 56 cm).
From February 1 to February 4, 1994, 10.6 mm of precipitation fell in the form of snow in Moscow. In four days, snow cover in certain areas of the city reached a record level of 78 cm - this has not happened in winter over the previous hundred years.
On November 2, 1995, heavy snowfall caused the temporary closure of Moscow airports and severe drifts on the roads - a seven-centimeter layer of snow fell in an hour and a half. A total of 8.5 mm of precipitation fell that day.
On December 11, 1998, the city received 10.6 mm of precipitation in the form of snow. As a result of heavy snowfall, snowdrifts with a height of 19 to 23 cm appeared.
Heavy snowfalls on February 4 and 8, 2001, when 13.4 mm and 14.3 mm of precipitation fell respectively, led to the formation of a half-meter layer of snow.
From January 29 to January 31, 2004, 24.1 mm of precipitation fell in Moscow. Continuous three-day snowfall limited traffic on all major highways of the city.
On January 27-28, 2005, as a result of heavy snowfall, when 19.4 mm of precipitation fell in two days, the height of the snow cover in Moscow courtyards reached 40 cm. All airports operated according to the actual weather, some airliners went to alternate airfields.
During the snowfall of December 21-22, 2005, a total of 20 mm of precipitation fell. The increase in snow cover over two days was 25 cm, in some places its height reached 40 cm.
On February 21-22, 2010, snowfall brought 20.7 mm of precipitation. Taking into account the early snowfall, the height of the snowdrifts in the capital in some places reached 67 cm.
The winter season of 2012/2013 was anomalous in terms of the amount of snowfall, when the total increase in snow cover was 29 cm. Snowfalls did not subside even in the first spring month. On March 1, 2013, 9.8 mm of precipitation fell, and snowdrifts in Moscow grew from 36 cm to 52 cm.
There were also heavy snowfalls in the winter of 2015/2016. The heaviest snowfall was recorded in early March. In 12 hours, from 21:00 on March 1 to 9:00 on March 2, 2016, up to 24 mm of precipitation fell in the northeast (VDNKh) and up to 26 mm in the city center (Balchug). As a result, the height of the snow cover increased by 20 cm and reached 50 cm. In the middle of the working week, Moscow was paralyzed due to giant snowdrifts. More than a hundred flights were delayed at the capital's airports.
As a result of heavy snowfall on the night of November 7, 2016, the height of the snow cover in the capital by the morning increased from 7-10 cm to 15-18 cm. Ice and snowfall complicated the situation on the roads; more than 500 accidents occurred during the day.
On the night of January 29, 2018, 15% of the monthly precipitation fell in the form of snow. Precipitation continued intermittently throughout the remaining days of January. The depth of snow cover more than doubled - from 16 cm (January 28) to 38 cm (January 31). The media reported delays at the capital's airports of more than 20 flights and the cancellation of 11. However, the press service of the Federal Air Transport Agency noted that there were no delays of more than two hours, and all airports were operating normally. In total, 27 mm of precipitation fell over January 29-31, and 66 mm for the whole of January (156% of the monthly norm).
History of weather observations in Moscow
1908 — Moscow under the snow 100 years ago
Regular weather observations in Moscow have been carried out since January 1, 1879. On this day, Anatoly Fadeev, professor of the Department of Agriculture at the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy (now the Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev), took the first readings from meteorological instruments. He also initiated the creation of a meteorological observatory at the Agricultural Academy (now the V. A. Mikhelson Meteorological Observatory), based on the measurements of which the actual weather and temperature records in Moscow were determined.
Since 1948, the main (reference) weather station in Moscow has been the station located on the territory of VDNKh.
It is her readings that are now taken into account when registering records of weather phenomena in the capital. The VDNH weather station was opened in the northeast of the capital on August 1, 1939. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War it closed and resumed work in 1948.
However, the VDNH weather station does not provide a complete picture. To compile forecasts, data from the state weather stations Balchug (since 1946; located in the city center, near the Kremlin), Tushino (since 1987; north-west), Mikhailovskoye in the Troitsky administrative district of the capital (south-west) located within Moscow are also used. In addition, weather observations in the capital are carried out by the weather stations of TSKhA, Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov (since 1954; located on the Sparrow Hills; official name - meteorological observatory of Moscow State University), airports Vnukovo (southwest), Domodedovo (south), Sheremetyevo (northeast), etc.
Russia. Moscow. A weather station employee at work. Photo by ITAR-TASS/Interpress/Ilya Shcherbakov
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 founded. 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, Noth - 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 maps of the weather that was 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 blindly believe folk signs, and some media 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. Just recently we were grumbling about the so-called “European winter”, when in many regions there was neither snow nor 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 has supplanted 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.
1. Even in ancient times, in China, India, and the Mediterranean countries, attempts were made at regular meteorological observations and there were rudimentary scientific ideas about atmospheric processes and climate. Observations of the most outstanding atmospheric phenomena were carried out and recorded in the Middle Ages.
Modern scientific meteorology, however, begins from the 17th century, when the foundations of physics were laid, of which meteorology was at first a part. At the same time, the first meteorological instruments were invented (by Galileo and his students) and the possibility of instrumental observations appeared.
They began in the second half of the 17th century and in the first half of the 18th century in a few points in Europe, as well as in sea voyages. At the same time, the first meteorological theories arose on their basis. By the middle of the 18th century, Lomonosov already considered meteorology an independent science with its own tasks and methods; he himself created the first theory of atmospheric electricity, developed meteorological instruments, and expressed a number of important considerations about climate and the possibility of scientific weather prediction.
In the second half of the 18th century, an international network of meteorological stations in Europe (over 30 stations) was organized on private initiative, which operated for 12 years. Her observations were published and stimulated further development of meteorological research.
2. At the beginning of the 19th century, the first state networks of stations emerged and the foundations were laid in Germany through the works of A. Humboldt and G.V. Dove climatology. Around 1820, G. W. Brandes in Germany compiled the first synoptic maps, and after the invention of the telegraph, from the fifties, on the initiative of the famous astronomer W. Le Verrier in France and Admiral R. Fitzroy in England, the synoptic method of studying atmospheric processes quickly became common use. On its basis arose weather service and a new branch of meteorological science -synoptic meteorology.
The organization of the first meteorological institutes, including the Main Physical (now Geophysical) Observatory in St. Petersburg (1849), also dates back to the middle of the 19th century. Its director from 1868 to 1895, G.I. Wild, has the historical merit of organizing an exemplary meteorological network in Russia and a number of major studies of the country’s climatic conditions. His assistant and later director of the observatory, M. A. Rykachev, was the organizer of the weather service in Russia (in the early seventies).
In the second half of the 19th century the foundations were laiddynamic meteorology,i.e., the application of the principles of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics to the study of atmospheric processes. A great contribution to this branch of meteorology was made at that time by V. Ferrel in the USA, G. Helmholtz and a number of other scientists in Germany. At the same time, research climate in close connection with the general geographical situation was greatly advanced by the works of the great Russian geographer and climatologist A.I. Voeikov, as well as J. Hanna in Austria, V. Kep-
foam in Germany, etc. By the end of the century, the study ofradiation and electrical processes in the atmosphere.
3. The development of meteorology in the 20th century proceeded at an ever increasing pace. In what follows, in a very brief description of this development, the names of only those most outstanding scientists whose activities and lives have already ended will be named.
Success dynamic meteorologywere associated in our century primarily with the works of V. Bjerknes and his students in Norway, M. Margules in Austria, V. Napier-Shaw in England, A. A. Friedman in the USSR, K-G. Rossby in Sweden and USA and its many students.Synoptic meteorologyalso quickly stepped forward, especially thanks to the works of G. Fikker in Austria, B. P. Multanovsky in the USSR, V. Bjerknes and his followers in many countries of the world, including the USSR (A. I. Asknaziy, etc.) . At present, there is a clearly expressed tendency towards mutual convergence of dynamic and synoptic meteorology. A new problem has been raisednumerical (hydrodynamic) weather forecast.
Great strides have been made since the beginning of the 20th century in the field aerological research. In many countries, outstanding organizers and researchers emerged in this new direction, in particular A. Teiserand de Bor in France and R. Assmann in Germany, who discovered the existence of the stratosphere. Later, the name of the inventor of the first radiosonde (1930) - P. A. Molchanov.
Based on advances in all of these areas of meteorology, actual knowledge and theoretical understanding ofgeneral atmospheric circulation- the mechanism of the great air cycle on Earth.
Great was the 20th century and progress in actinometry - the study of radiation in the atmosphere. Of the many names of outstanding scientists who worked in this field, we note here the energetic figures of actinometry in Russia and the USSR - O. D. Khvolson, V. A. Mikhelson, S. I. Savinov and N. N. Kalitin, as well as A. Ong -ström in Sweden, S. Langley and G. Abbot in the USA and F. Link in Germany.
Much progress has now been madephysics of clouds and precipitation.The problem of artificial cloud deposition and fog dispersion has already been practically solved. In the USSR, the initiator of work in this direction was V.N. Obolensky.
Outstanding successes have been achieved inionosphere researchand even higher outer layers of the atmosphere. Particularly rapid progress in this regard is associated with the use of rockets and satellites.
New, in-depth approaches toclimatologicalresearch was planned in our century in Norway, the USSR, the USA, Germany and other countries(dynamic, or synoptic, climatology, studying Earth's heat balance).The climates of various regions of the Earth have been studied in detail, the study of the climate of the Arctic and Antarctic has made great progress, and the doctrine of microclimate is being developed. In the USSR, A. A. Kaminsky and L. S. Berg especially distinguished themselves with their climatological works.
In development agricultural meteorology and climatologyThe works of P.I. Brounov, and later - of a number of Soviet meteorologists, played a major role at the beginning of the 20th century. Other industries are also developing intensivelyapplied climatology,especially bioclimatology and industrial climatology.
Currently, the volume of meteorological research and publications is growing rapidly; International scientific cooperation in the field of meteorology is also developing rapidly.
The role of Soviet science in this work is great and is growing all the time. In scientific institutes and higher educational institutions of our country, a lot of major research is carried out in all areas of meteorology and climatology; The volume of Soviet meteorological literature is very large (currently no less than 35% of all world meteorological literature), and Russian has become the second (after English) world language of meteorology.
Meteorology is the science that studies the physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere that determine weather phenomena. An important part of the job is making current weather forecasts, but meteorologists also provide early warning of severe weather events and monitor them for their occurrence. Meteorologists receive information from various sources. Land and sea weather stations measure temperature, pressure, wind speed, precipitation, study cloud cover and monitor detected changes. Satellites cloud formations. To this is added data from sea buoys.
The ancient Greeks were the first to study weather. The word meteorology comes from the title of the book Meteorology, written in the 4th century BC. e. Greek philosopher Aristotle. Meteoros means very high, and logos means a word, a teaching.
In his book, Aristotle explained the formation of clouds, hail, wind, rain and storms, based largely on the teachings of the Egyptian and Babylonian sages. Aristotle's student and friend Theophrastus, known for his research in botany, also wrote two small works on the weather: “On the Signs of the Weather” and “On the Winds.”
He described signs related to weather and winds that were used by people to predict the weather.
Later, other Greek and Roman authors added to this list. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not have special tools to study weather and atmospheric phenomena. The first such instrument, a thermometer (the so-called air thermoscope), was invented in 1593 by the Italian naturalist Galideo Galilei.
In subsequent years, the study of the atmosphere developed much faster. Robert Boyle, Eddie Marriott, Jacques Alexandre César Charles and others discovered a close relationship between air temperature, its pressure and volume.
In 1753, English meteorologist George Hadley published a fairly accurate description of the paths of air circulation around the world. However, the main breakthrough in the field of meteorology came with the advent of the meteorology in 1844. The new form of communication made it possible!, to collect up-to-date meteorological data from distant places, so that weather forecasts could be prepared much more accurately and quickly.
Tower of the Winds. The Tower of the Winds was built in Athens in the 1st century BC. e. It is oriented to the cardinal points. At the top of each of its eight faces there are allegorical images of the main winds, one of them is visible in the illustration. A weather vane was installed in the center of the tower, which showed the direction of the wind. 
Balloon. This balloon, launched in Antarctica, will rise to a height of 20-30 km and then burst. Instruments suspended under the ball will transmit data to a ground-based weather station. Around the world, about 500 stations launch such radiosondes every day.
Radio and weather forecast. Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal in 1901. Radio communications allowed meteorologists to exchange data in real time, greatly improving weather forecasting.
Weather. Satellite images allow scientists to observe the formation and development of the entire climate system. On April 2, 1978, the Nimbus 5 satellite photographed a cyclone as it raged across the Bering Sea (image shown at left). A cloud layer covers Kamchatka. A false color effect has been added to the image on the right: the red color indicates a high concentration of water droplets.
Meteorological satellite. On April 1, 1960, the first meteorological satellite TIROS-1 (Television InfraRed Observation Satellite) was successfully launched. In this image, scientists prepare TIROS-1 for launch. Later, other satellites were launched, known as NOAA-class satellites. They are launched into polar orbits, which allow them to pass over the entire surface of the Earth in 24 hours. They transmit images taken in visible and infrared light.
Predicting electrical storms. Lightning is a spark that occurs between positive and negative electrical charges separated by turbulence within storm clouds. Meteorologists, fire officials, and electromagnetism experts determine the likely degree of electrical activity and predict the duration and severity of the storm using special lightning detectors and weather radar.