Meteorology (from the Greek μετέωρος, metéōros, atmospheric and celestial phenomena and -λογία, -logy) is the science of the structure and properties of the earth's atmosphere and the physical processes taking place in it. In many countries, meteorology is called atmospheric physics, which is more in line with its current meaning.

Main objects of research

• physical, chemical processes in the atmosphere
• atmospheric composition
• structure of the atmosphere
• thermal regime of the atmosphere
• moisture exchange in the atmosphere
• general atmospheric circulation
• electric fields
• optical and acoustic phenomena
• cyclones
• anticyclones
• wind
• fronts
• climate
• weather
• clouds

History of science

The first studies in the field of meteorology date back to ancient times (Aristotle). The development of meteorology accelerated from the first half of the 17th century, when the Italian scientists G. Galilei and E. Torricelli developed the first meteorological instruments, the barometer and thermometer.

In the 17-18 centuries. the first steps were taken in the study of the regularities of atmospheric processes. Of the works of this time, one should single out the meteorological studies of M. V. Lomonosov and B. Franklin, who paid special attention to the study of atmospheric electricity. In the same period, instruments for measuring wind speed, precipitation, air humidity, and other meteorological quantities were invented and improved. This made it possible to begin systematic observations of the state of the atmosphere with the help of instruments, first at individual points, and later (from the end of the 18th century) at a network of meteorological stations. A world network of meteorological stations conducting ground-based observations on the main part of the surface of the continents took shape in the middle of the 19th century.

Observations of the state of the atmosphere at various altitudes began in the mountains, and soon after the invention of the balloon (late 18th century) in the free atmosphere. From the end of the 19th century to observe meteorological values ​​at various heights, pilot balloons and balloons with self-recording instruments are widely used. In 1930, the Soviet scientist P. A. Molchanov invented the radiosonde, a device that transmits information about the state of the free atmosphere by radio. Subsequently, observations with the help of radiosondes became the main method for studying the atmosphere at a network of aerological stations. In the middle of the 20th century a world actinometric network has been formed, at the stations of which observations are made of solar radiation and its transformations on the earth's surface; methods were developed for observing the ozone content in the atmosphere, for the elements of atmospheric electricity, for chemical composition atmospheric air, etc. In parallel with the expansion of meteorological observations, climatology developed, based on the statistical generalization of observational materials. A. I. Voeikov, who studied a number of atmospheric phenomena: the general circulation of the atmosphere, moisture circulation, snow cover, and others, made a great contribution to the construction of the foundations of climatology.

In the 19th century empirical research has been developed atmospheric circulation in order to justify the methods of weather forecasts. The work of W. Ferrel in the USA and H. Helmholtz in Germany marked the beginning of research in the field of the dynamics of atmospheric motions, which were continued at the beginning of the 20th century. Norwegian scientist V. Bjerknes and his students. Further progress in dynamic meteorology was marked by the creation of the first method of numerical hydrodynamic weather forecasting, developed by the Soviet scientist I. A. Kibel, and the subsequent rapid development of this method.

In the middle of the 20th century The methods of dynamic meteorology have been greatly developed in the study of the general circulation of the atmosphere. With their help, American meteorologists J. Smagorinsky and S. Manabe built world maps of air temperature, precipitation, and other meteorological quantities. Similar studies are being carried out in many countries, they are closely related to International program research of global atmospheric processes (PGAP). Considerable attention in modern meteorology is given to the study of physical processes in the surface air layer. In the 20-30s. these studies were started by R. Geiger (Germany) and other scientists with the aim of studying the microclimate; later they led to the creation of a new branch of meteorology - the physics of the boundary layer of air. A large place is occupied by research on climate change, in particular the study of the increasingly noticeable influence of human activities on climate.

Meteorology in Russia reached a high level already in the 19th century. In 1849, the Main Physical (now Geophysical) Observatory, one of the world's first scientific meteorological institutions, was founded in St. Petersburg. G. I. Vild, who directed the observatory for many years in the second half of the 19th century, created in Russia an exemplary system of meteorological observations and a weather service. He was one of the founders of the International Meteorological Organization (1871) and chairman of the international commission for the 1st International Polar Year (1882-83). During the years of Soviet power, a number of new scientific meteorological institutions were created, including the Hydrometeorological Center of the USSR (formerly the Central Institute of Forecasts), the Central Aerological Observatory, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and others.

A. A. Fridman was the founder of the modern school of dynamic meteorology. In his studies, as well as in later works by N. E. Kochin, P. Ya. Kochina, E. N. Blinova, G. I. Marchuk, A. M. Obukhov, A. S. Monin, M. I. Yudina et al. studied the regularities of atmospheric movements of various scales, proposed the first models of climate theory, and developed a theory of atmospheric turbulence. K. Ya. Kondratiev's works were devoted to the regularities of radiation processes in the atmosphere.

In the works of A. A. Kaminsky, E. S. Rubinshtein, B. P. Alisov, O. A. Drozdov, and other Soviet climatologists, the climate of our country was studied in detail and the atmospheric processes that determine climatic conditions were investigated. In the studies carried out at the Main Geophysical Observatory, the heat balance of the globe was studied and atlases were prepared containing world maps of the balance components. Works in the field of synoptic meteorology (V. A. Bugaev, S. P. Khromov, A. S. Zverev and others) contributed to a significant increase in the level of success of meteorological forecasts. In the studies of agrometeorologists (G. T. Selyaninov, F. F. Davitaia, and others), a justification was given for the optimal placement of agricultural crops. cultures in our country.

Significant results have been obtained in the Soviet Union in work on active influences on atmospheric processes. Experiments on the impact on clouds and precipitation, begun by V. N. Obolensky, were widely developed in post-war years. As a result of research conducted under the guidance of E.K. Fedorov, the first system was created that allows weakening hail damage over a large area.

Meteorology today

A characteristic feature of modern meteorology is the use of the latest achievements physics and technology. Thus, meteorological satellites are used to observe the state of the atmosphere, which make it possible to obtain information on many meteorological quantities for the entire globe. For ground-based observations of clouds and precipitation, radar methods are used. The automation of meteorological observations and the processing of their data is finding increasing application. In research in theoretical meteorology, computers are widely used, the use of which was of tremendous importance for the development and improvement of numerical methods for weather forecasts. The use of quantitative physical methods of research is expanding in such areas of meteorology as climatology, agrometeorology, and human biometeorology, where previously they were almost never used.

Meteorology is most closely connected with oceanology and land hydrology. These three sciences study different links of the same processes of heat exchange and moisture exchange developing in the geographic envelope of the Earth. The connection of meteorology with geology and geochemistry is based on the common tasks of these sciences in the study of the evolution of the atmosphere and changes in the Earth's climates in the geological past. Modern meteorology makes extensive use of the methods of theoretical mechanics, as well as the materials and methods of many other physical, chemical, and technical disciplines.

One of the main tasks of Meteorology is weather forecasting for various periods. Short-range forecasts are especially necessary for aviation operations; long-term - are of great importance for agriculture. Since meteorological factors have a significant impact on many aspects of economic activity, to ensure requests National economy materials on the climate regime are needed. The practical importance of active influences on atmospheric processes, including influences on cloudiness and precipitation, protection of plants from frost, etc., is rapidly growing.

Scientific and practical work in the field of meteorology is directed by the Hydrometeorological Service of the USSR, established in 1929.

The activities of the meteorological services of various countries are united by the World Meteorological Organization and other international meteorological organizations. International scientific conferences on various problems of meteorology are also held by the Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, which is part of the Geodetic and Geophysical Union. The largest meetings on meteorology in the Russian Federation were the All-Union Meteorological Congresses. Meteorological congresses have been held in Russia since 1900. The last congress was held in the USSR in 1971. The 6th All-Russian Meteorological Congress is intended to be the largest in the new Russian history event in the field of hydrometeorology and monitoring environment, and it took place on October 14-16, 2009 Russia, St. Petersburg.

Works carried out in the field of Meteorology are published in meteorological journals.

The most important historical dates:

• end of the 17th century (under Peter I) - constant observations of the weather began.
• 1715 - the first water measuring post in Russia, by order of Peter I on the Neva near the Peter and Paul Fortress.
• On April 10, 1722, by decree of Peter the Great, systematic observations of the weather began in St. Petersburg. The records were kept by Vice Admiral Cornelius Kruys. At first, the records were rather stingy on interesting information and looked something like this: “April, 22, Sunday. In the morning the wind is northwest; water is the same as mentioned above. Cloudy and chilly… in the afternoon a small northwest wind and rain in the afternoon. Quiet and red day until evening. Later observations took on a more scientific character.
• In 1724, the first meteorological station in Russia was formed, and from December 1725, observations were made at the Academy of Sciences using a barometer and a thermometer.
• 30s of the XVIII century. - a network of 20 meteorological stations was created (“Great Northern Expedition”).
• April 1, 1849 - the "Main Physical Observatory" (GFO) was established in St. Petersburg. (Now the "Main Geophysical Observatory" named after A. I. Voeikov (GGO)).
• 70s of the XIX century. - massive development of a network of hydrological observation points in major rivers and lakes.
• January 1, 1872 - The HFO began to create daily synoptic maps of Europe and Siberia and to issue a meteorological bulletin (the date is considered to be the birthday of the weather service in Russia).
• 1892 - The Meteorological Monthly began to appear.
• June 21, 1921 - V. I. Lenin signed a decree "On the organization of a meteorological service in the RSFSR."
• August 1929 - Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on the organization of a unified Hydrometeorological Service. The creator and leader is A.F. Vangengeim, chairman of the Hydrometeorological Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.
• January 1, 1930 - The "Central Weather Bureau" began operations.

Where do meteorologists work

• Organs Federal Service of Russia in hydrometeorology and environmental monitoring (departments of weather forecasting, climatology, agricultural meteorology).
• Prognostic divisions of civil and military aviation.
• Regional centers for collection, control and analysis of information on the state of the air environment.
• Network of meteorological, aerological and actinometric stations.
• Research institutions that study climate patterns and develop forecasts of climate change.

What do meteorologists do

A significant part of meteorologists is engaged in weather forecasting. They work in government and military organizations and private companies that provide forecasts for aviation, navigation, agriculture, construction, and also broadcast them on radio and television.

Other professionals monitor pollution levels, provide advice, teach or do research. In meteorological observations, weather forecasting and scientific research, electronic equipment is becoming increasingly important.

Professional practice consists in:

• research: participation in the development of physical and mathematical models of the general circulation of the atmosphere and climate, including the interaction of the atmosphere and the ocean, in their comparison with observations, analysis of sensitivity to various natural factors; the study of physical and chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere and during its interaction with the earth's surface and the biosphere; implementation of the geographical and physical analysis of atmospheric processes and phenomena, their classification, the establishment of empirical dependencies and patterns; study of the transfer, transformation and removal of industrial and other pollutants emitted into the atmosphere;
• operational and production: assessment of the impact of meteorological factors on the state of the environment and development of recommendations for their rational consideration for the purposes of nature protection; meteorological substantiation of the designed structures of airports, location of construction, etc.; participation in the environmental impact assessment of projects;
• design and production: organization and conduct of special meteorological observations; conducting operational weather forecasts of various lead times and collection necessary information; assessment of the impact of existing and expected meteorological conditions on agriculture, fisheries and production activities of all types of transport;
• pedagogical (subject to the development pedagogical program education): teaching meteorological disciplines in universities and secondary specialized educational institutions; educational and auxiliary work in universities.

A meteorologist who has mastered the basic educational program of higher vocational education can continue his education in graduate school in the specialties "Meteorology, climatology and agrometeorology", "Geoecology", and other related specialties, as well as in the magistracy in the direction of "Hydrometeorology".

The weather is constantly changing, its changes are subject to complex laws, not yet fully known by people. No matter how calm she is, at any moment you can expect surprises from her. A meteorologist, especially a weather forecaster, never has to deal with the same situation, with the same weather: the variety of meteorological conditions in nature is so great that no one has ever seen two identical weather maps. The analysis of any situation reflected by the weather map of any day is always a new task that has not been encountered before. You really can't get bored with the weather!

Another attractive feature of the work of a meteorologist deserves to be noted: he has colleagues almost anywhere in the world. One can note the amazing ease of communication between colleagues meteorologists who have never seen each other before, wherever they meet - in a taiga village in Eastern Siberia or on the passes of the Hissar Range in Central Asia, in the Western Caucasus nature reserve or in the villages of the Alazani Valley, in Georgia, in the Romanian port of Constanta, in Bulgarian cities in the Danube Valley, in Serbian and Hungarian villages, at American scientific stations in Antarctica, in tropical Australia in subtropical New Zealand, the Brazilian jungle, the Argentinean savannah, the Swiss Alps and the French Jura...

One cannot discount the awareness of the importance of the work of a meteorologist, the results of which are needed by all branches of the national economy. The constant interest of all sections of the country's population in meteorological information makes the work of meteorologists doubly interesting.

The profession of a meteorologist is one of the relatively rare, non-mass and to some extent romantic professions: meteorologists are indispensable participants in various expeditions, they spend the winter at polar stations, work in sparsely populated areas, on high mountain plateaus and passes, on board ocean ships, on airfields, they fly in planes and balloons, etc., etc. All this is true, indeed meteorologists are ubiquitous, they have to go to places where people of other professions cannot hope to go under any circumstances. But still, this is not the main distinguishing feature of the work of a meteorologist, which is not always as romantic as it might seem at first glance, and almost always requires punctuality, perseverance and perseverance in the performance of everyday, everyday duties. The main requirement for the work of a meteorologist of any qualification is objectivity. Objectivity in the performance of observations, a significant part of which are made visually and the results of which are documented by only one meteorological observer and can neither be verified nor corrected if inaccuracy or error is made. Objectivity in processing the results of observations, the accuracy of their recording in international code numbers, making them available to the whole world. The objectivity of the analysis of the entire amount of observational data, the minimization of subjectivity in their assessment - this is the key to the success of all types of providing consumers with meteorological information, including the success of weather forecasts compiled on the basis of this analysis ... The second feature of the work of a meteorologist is constant attention to the object observations, study and analysis, the inability to be distracted, at least for a while, to do something else. A meteorologist at work - hourly weather, he is on watch that cannot be left for a minute. He is obliged to monitor all changes in the weather, no matter how insignificant they may be, to record all these changes and to read. A meteorologist monitors the sky constantly, even when not at work. Wherever he is and whatever happens, he mentally evaluates everything that happens in the atmosphere before his eyes. However, there is no profession that is more international than that of a meteorologist. The very idea of ​​making weather observations, collecting, processing and disseminating meteorological information provides for international cooperation, without which it is not feasible. In fact: weather phenomena develop over the earth's surface, regardless of state borders; the exchange of meteorological information is necessary on a global scale, and it is possible only if there is a publicly available to all meteorological specialists international language what are numerical meteorological codes and standard symbols; the results of weather observations and all meteorological measurements should be comparable and comparable with each other, which requires a unified system of measures for the whole world, a unified methodology for making observations, standardizing instruments, observing the accuracy and timing of measurements of meteorological quantities. Meteorologists are people with special education. Among them are weather observers, weather radar operators, technicians, engineers and scientists. In the meteorological service, along with meteorologists, people from other specialties also work - radio engineers, signalmen, mechanics, telemeter operators, electronics engineers, programmers and computer operators, and many others. Without their help, it is impossible to imagine the work of meteorologists, who are guarding the weather today.

Sections of meteorology

The main branch of Meteorology is atmospheric physics, which studies physical phenomena and processes in the atmosphere.

Chemical processes in the atmosphere are studied by atmospheric chemistry - a new, rapidly developing branch of meteorology.

The study of atmospheric processes by theoretical methods of hydroaeromechanics is a task of dynamic meteorology, one of the important problems of which is the development of numerical methods for weather forecasts.

Other sections of Meteorology are: the science of the weather and methods of its prediction - synoptic meteorology and the science of the Earth's climates - climatology, which has become an independent discipline. In these disciplines, both physical and geographical methods of research are used, but in recent times the physical directions in them became leading. The influence of atmospheric factors on biological processes is studied by biometeorology, including agricultural meteorology and human biometeorology.

Atmospheric physics includes: physics of the surface layer of air, which studies processes in the lower layers of the atmosphere; aerology, devoted to processes in the free atmosphere, where the influence of the earth's surface is less significant; physics upper layers atmosphere, considering the atmosphere at altitudes of hundreds of kilometers, where the density of atmospheric gases is very low. Aeronomy is the study of the physics and chemistry of the upper layers of the atmosphere. The physics of the atmosphere also includes actinometry, which studies solar radiation in the atmosphere and its transformations, atmospheric optics - the science of optical phenomena in the atmosphere, atmospheric electricity and atmospheric acoustics.

Specialty and profile "Meteorology" at ISU

Today, no one needs to be convinced that high-quality higher education- the key to a successful, secure future. It is necessary for every person in the modern world in order to succeed and realize themselves. Irkutsk State University(ISU) provides an opportunity to get a full-fledged higher education in the field of hydrometeorology that meets international norms and standards.

There are three main specialties in which meteorologists are trained: meteorological proper, climatological and agrometeorological. There are several specializations within the meteorological specialty: weather forecasting, aerology, marine meteorology, aviation meteorology, radio meteorology, meteorological instrumentation and weather prediction (solution of forecasting problems by numerical methods using a computer). Forecasters are engaged in compiling weather forecasts, aerologists - in the study of the state of the atmosphere at altitudes, marine meteorologists - in providing meteorological information for maritime transport, and aviation meteorologists - in air transport. Radio meteorologists are working on the use of various radio technical means for studying the atmosphere. AT last years there has been a trend towards the development of yet another specialization - satellite meteorology, which is dictated by the ever-increasing need for the use of information from meteorological satellites for the needs of the national economy.

During the training of meteorologists at the Department of Meteorology and Atmosphere Protection, both the most advanced technologies for analyzing meteorological information and time-tested methods are studied. The former include modeling of climatic processes, weather prediction using neural networks, the latter - the usual statistical analysis, but with the involvement of modern software and computer equipment.

At the initial stages, students receive basic information from statistics and acquire skills in working on personal computers. Further learning is based on deepening the data obtained and teaching other skills. So, for the statistical analysis of numerical series, which are the series of measurements of meteorological characteristics, the packages of StatSoft STATISTICA and Goldern SoftWare Grapher are used. The first one has the potential for the most complete analysis of numerical series using most of the known statistical approaches, and the second one presents these series in the form of a graph so that the trends in the behavior of one or another meteorological characteristic become clear.

In the senior years, students are taught the technologies that are being introduced into modern weather services. These include, first of all, geographic information systems (GIS). Based on data received twice a day from the World Data Centers in Moscow and Washington, students build and process meteorological maps. These maps show isotherms, isobars, and atmospheric fronts. Prognostic maps of various lead times are built and much more.

Promising areas are paleoclimatology (earth's ancient climates), biometeorology (the impact of climatic conditions on living organisms, Chizhevsky's solar activity cycles), medical climatology (life and economic activity people in different climatic zones of the Earth), weather forecast based on satellite meteorology, military meteorology (development of the so-called climate weapons), planetary meteorology (study of the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and their satellites), problems global warming and ozone holes on the Earth, computer modeling of meteorological and climatic processes.

Specialists need to know physics, mathematics and computer science well, therefore, at the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Protection, physics and mathematics are given no less attention than geography itself!

The globe is surrounded on all sides by a shell of air called the atmosphere. Under the influence of the heat coming from the Sun, various physical processes are constantly taking place in the atmosphere: the temperature changes, the wind intensifies and subsides, clouds form and disappear, precipitation falls, thunderstorms often occur, etc. physical phenomena in the atmosphere is the subject of meteorology.

We can say that meteorology, in its broadest sense, is the study of weather and climate.

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a certain moment or period of time, characterized by a set of meteorological elements in one or another combination and quantitative value. Meteorological elements include air temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure, visibility, wind, cloudiness, precipitation, as well as fogs, snowstorms, thunderstorms, squalls, etc.

Closely related to the concept of weather is the concept of climate.

The climate of a given area is the long-term weather regime characteristic of it, due to the influx of solar heat, atmospheric circulation and the nature of the underlying surface.

The weather is unstable, often changing, but in a given locality its frequency is more or less definite, characteristic of the given locality. Therefore, the climate, as a weather regime, remains almost unchanged for a long time.

Over the past few decades, meteorology as a science that studies the various properties of the earth's atmosphere has received a very wide development. A number of related, but independent sciences emerged from it:

1. Synoptic meteorology, which studies the patterns of atmospheric circulation and the causes of weather changes in order to predict it.

2. Dynamic meteorology, which studies the physical processes in the atmosphere on the basis of physical and mathematical analysis.

3. Aerology, which studies the properties of the high layers of the atmosphere.

4. Climatology, studying the climates of the globe.

5. Actinometry studying solar, terrestrial and atmospheric radiation, as well as developing methods for its measurement.

The tasks of meteorology include:

ubiquitous and continuous meteorological observations;

generalization and study of observational materials in order to establish the causes of changes in meteorological elements and weather phenomena, the establishment of laws governing their development:

development of methods for predicting the weather and finding ways to control the weather, i.e., to subordinate it to the will of man.

Meteorology is basically physical science. Numerous and varied weather phenomena are highly complex and are the result of many interrelated physical processes. Air movement, changes in the thermal regime of the atmosphere, phase transformations of water in it, and other processes are caused by the influx of solar heat. The study of these processes is possible only on the basis of the laws of physics, thermodynamics, hydromechanics. The same can be said about electrical, optical and sound phenomena in the atmosphere, the study of which requires the indispensable use of reaching the relevant branches of physics.

At first, I thought that weather forecasts were only needed to know what to wear and whether to take an umbrella with you. But then I learned that the work of meteorologists is important in many areas of life, and later I even got a little acquainted with this discipline myself (we had our own meteorological service at the military unit). So, I will try to tell below about meteorology as interestingly as possible and with details.

Meteorology is a science

In fact, meteorology is a science that studies the atmosphere and climate. Simply put, meteorologists are engaged in weather forecasting. In general, people have been trying to do this for a long time, but this activity acquired a more or less scientific character only in the 19th century. It was then that forecasts appeared in the press, the first to be published by the English newspaper The Times.

With the development of science and technology, more and more perfect theories appeared. At the moment, meteorology is engaged in the study of such processes:

• processes in the atmosphere of a physical and chemical nature;
• atmosphere, its composition and structure;
• moisture exchange and thermal regime in the atmosphere.
• various atmospheric phenomena (winds, cyclones / anticyclones, etc.).

Meteorology is used both for purely scientific and everyday purposes, and in transport (this is especially important in aviation and maritime traffic). I guess I'm not the only one who had flight cancellations due to "non-flying weather".

Meteorology is also used by the military, and not only pilots and sailors. Gunners and snipers also have great respect for meteorologists, since the accuracy of the shot depends very much on the data on the atmosphere, wind, humidity, etc. I messed around a lot with weather reports in my time ... It was difficult, but they shot accurately, unlike those who neglected weather data.

Development of meteorology in Russia

For the first time, they began to study the weather back in the 17th century, but things did not go beyond simple fixation. Only from the second half of XVII century, the network of meteorological stations gradually began to expand, and in 1849 an observatory was created in St. Petersburg. At Soviet power the meteorological service was also not forgotten; the decree on it was signed by Lenin back in 1921.

Since its inception, humanity has been constantly exposed to favorable or unfavorable influences of the atmosphere. To date, despite the high level of development, the greater protection of people from natural disasters, such natural disasters like drought, floods, tornadoes cause loss of people's economic activities. All this necessitates the study of meteorological elements and weather forecasting. To do this, one must have knowledge about the use of research methods of meteorological elements at ground meteorological stations, aerological stations, with the help of aircraft, space rockets.

◙ Key points to know after studying this module.

1. know the definition of meteorology and climatology and the main branches of meteorology;

2. know the observation program at meteorological stations;

3. know and be able to use meteorological instruments;

4. know the methods of aerological observations;

5. Know the role of the meteorological service and the World Meteorological Organization.

Problem lecture 1 from module 1

“SUBJECT AND OBJECTIVES OF METEOROLOGY. METEOROLOGICAL METHODS

AND CLIMATOLOGY. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS»

DEFINITION OF METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY.

MAIN SECTIONS OF METEOROLOGY

The air envelope that surrounds the earth bullet is called the atmosphere. A variety of physical, chemical, biological processes continuously occur in the atmosphere, which change the state of both the lower and higher layers of the atmosphere.

meteorology called the science of the atmosphere - the air shell of the Earth. It belongs to the geophysical sciences, since it, on the basis of the laws of physics, studies certain categories of physical processes inherent in the globe.

Climatology- This is the science of climate, that is, the totality of atmospheric conditions inherent in a particular area, depending on its geographical situation.

The climate is, therefore, one of the physical and geographical characteristics of the area. It affects the economic activity of people: the specialization of agriculture, the geographical location of industry, air, water and land transport. So, climatology is, in fact, a geographical science.

The main tasks of climatology are the study of the patterns of climate formation; study of the factors that lead to climate change; study of the interaction of climate with natural factors, agriculture and human production activities.

Climatology is closely related to meteorology. Understanding the laws of climate is possible on the basis of those general laws to which atmospheric processes are subject. Therefore, when analyzing the causes of the emergence of different types of climate and their distribution over the globe, climatology proceeds from the concepts and laws of meteorology.

One of the main tasks of meteorologists is to explain the essence of the processes that occur in the atmosphere. Therefore, meteorology can develop successfully only in connection with other sciences.

First of all, meteorology is associated with geography, hydrology, oceanology, physics, mathematics, and chemistry. The question of atmospheric movements, phase transformations in the atmosphere, the temperature and thermal regime of the atmosphere are studied on the basis of the laws of hydromechanics and thermodynamics. Optical, electrical, acoustic phenomena are studied on the basis of the laws of physics. Methods are widely used in meteorology mathematical modeling.

The main sections of meteorology:

synoptic meteorology - the science of weather and methods of its forecasting.

Atmospheric physics - a science that studies thermodynamic processes in the atmosphere, its composition and structure, the processes of formation of clouds, fogs, precipitation; studies radiation, optical, electrical and acoustic phenomena in the atmosphere.

Dynamic meteorology - is based on theoretical research methods and widely uses the apparatus of mathematical modeling in the study of the processes of atmospheric turbulence, the transfer of radiant energy in the atmosphere, etc.

There are a number of other branches of meteorology that developed somewhat later:

agrometeorology – studies the influence of meteorological conditions on the objects and processes of agricultural production;

biometeorology - studies the influence of atmospheric conditions on humans and other living organisms;

nuclear meteorology - studies the natural and artificial radioactivity of the atmosphere, the spread of radioactive impurities in it, the effect of nuclear and thermonuclear explosions on the atmosphere;

radio meteorology - studies the influence of meteorological conditions on the propagation of radio waves in the atmosphere, and also investigates atmospheric processes using radar.

The main task of meteorology – study of atmospheric phenomena by accumulating data on changes in space and time. The ultimate goal of meteorology is to find opportunities and concrete ways to control atmospheric phenomena and change them in the direction we want.

The intermediate tasks that meteorology solves are as follows:

obtaining accurate data that characterize atmospheric processes and phenomena;

explanation of atmospheric processes and phenomena, that is, the establishment of laws governing their development;

the use of the found regularities for the development of methods for forecasting atmospheric processes;

the application of the found regularities in the development of atmospheric processes for the active struggle against dangerous and harmful meteorological phenomena, for a more complete use of the forces of nature in the practical activity of man.

To solve the first problem in meteorology, the method of observations is widely used. Throughout the globe there are meteorological observatories, stations and posts at which observations are made of the state of the atmosphere throughout its thickness. There are also aircraft, helicopter, satellite observations. Recently, the experimental method has been increasingly used, which consists in the fact that, both in natural and in laboratory conditions, certain atmospheric phenomena are specially created or artificially recreated, which makes it possible to study the patterns of their development. To solve the last three problems, a theoretical method based on the use of the laws of physics, thermodynamics, hydromechanics, and mathematical modeling methods is widely used. To solve the fourth problem, artificial scattering of fogs and clouds is successfully practiced.

Meteorological observations are divided into direct and indirect.

Direct instruments include direct instrumental and visual observations of meteorological characteristics, for example, air temperature, cloud amount.

Indirect observations include such observations, on the basis of which information is obtained about other, not directly observed characteristics. For example, when observing the movement of clouds, information is obtained about the wind at heights; according to the results of observations of the aurora, the gas composition of the high layers of the atmosphere is determined, etc.

Dictionary of Efremova

Meteorology

well.
scientific discipline, which studies the earth's atmosphere and the processes occurring in it.

Dictionary Ushakov

Naval Dictionary

Meteorology

a science that studies the composition and structure of the atmosphere, as well as the phenomena occurring in it (thermal regimes, air movement, acoustic and electrical). Military meteorology studies the influence of meteorological conditions on the actions of troops (Navy), on the use of weapons and military equipment.

Ozhegov's dictionary

METEOROL O GIA, and, well. The science of the physical state of the earth's atmosphere and the processes occurring in it. Synoptic m. (study of atmospheric processes in connection with weather forecasting).

| adj. meteorological, oh, oh.

encyclopedic Dictionary

Meteorology

(from the Greek meteora - atmospheric phenomena and ... logic), the science of the earth's atmosphere and the processes occurring in it. The main branch of meteorology is atmospheric physics. Meteorology studies the composition and structure of the atmosphere; heat circulation and thermal regime in the atmosphere and on the earth's surface; moisture circulation and phase transformations of water in the atmosphere, the movement of air masses; electrical, optical and acoustic phenomena in the atmosphere. Meteorology includes actinometry, dynamic and synoptic meteorology, atmospheric optics, atmospheric electricity, aerology, and other applied meteorological disciplines.

Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Meteorology

A science that studies phenomena occurring in the earth's atmosphere, such as: pressure, temperature, air humidity, cloudiness, precipitation, rain, snow, etc. Unlike the closest science to it - physics, experimental science - M. science observant. The phenomena occurring in the earth's atmosphere are extremely complex and are mutually dependent on one another, and generalizations are possible only if extensive, possibly accurate material obtained by observations is available (see Meteorological Observations). Since the air is thermally transparent, i.e., it passes a significant amount of heat, only slightly warming up from the sun's rays, a significant amount of solar heat reaches the surface of the land and waters of the globe. Since, moreover, both land and water have a much greater heat capacity than air (with the same volume, the first is more than 1500 times, the second is more than 3000 times), it is clear what effect the temperature of the surface of the land and waters of the globe has on the temperature of the lower layer of air, and the lower layers of the air are the most studied. Therefore, the study of the upper layers of land and water, especially their temperature, is included in the area of ​​M. As material accumulated and its scientific development, M. began to be divided into parts or departments. Until relatively recently, M. decisively dominated method of averages (see Meteorological observations), at present it is of particular importance for climatology (see Climates), that is, parts of meteorology, but even here more and more attention is paid to the differences and fluctuations of meteorological elements, depicting them not only figures, but also more clearly, on graphic tables and maps. The smaller the fluctuations, the more constant the climate and the more important the average values ​​become. If the fluctuations are very large and frequent, then the average values ​​characterize climates much less than where the fluctuations are smaller. Modern M. draws great attention and on the extreme values ​​of various meteorological elements, the study of them is important both for pure science and in application to practice, for example, for agriculture. All meteorological phenomena directly or indirectly depend on the influence of solar heat and light on the Earth; In view of this, two periods are of particular importance: daily, depending on the rotation of the Earth around its axis, and annual, depending on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. The lower the latitude, the more relative value daily period, especially temperature (but also other phenomena), and the less value annual. At the equator, the length of the day is the same throughout the year, i.e. 12 hours 7 minutes, and the angle of incidence of the sun's rays at noon changes only within the boundaries from 66 ° 32 "to 90 °, therefore, at the equator, for a whole year around noon, a lot is obtained heat from the sun, and during long night a lot and is lost by radiation, hence the conditions are favorable for a large daily amplitude the temperature of the soil surface and the lower layer of air, i.e., a large difference between the daily temperature of the lowest and highest. On the contrary, the temperature of the day at different times of the year should differ very little. At the poles, the diurnal period completely disappears, the sun rises on the day of the vernal equinox and then remains above the horizon until the day of the autumnal equinox, and for more than 2 months its rays constantly fall at an angle of more than 20 °, and for about half a year the sun is not visible at all. Obviously, these conditions should contribute to a very large annual temperature amplitude at the poles , which differs sharply from the small amplitude observed in the tropics. The daily and annual periods of meteorological phenomena are indisputable periods, but next to them, meteorologists have been looking and are looking for other periods, some shorter than the annual, some longer. Of the first, special attention was drawn to the 26-day period of the Sun's revolution around its axis, which, according to other meteorologists, corresponds to the same period of thunderstorm frequency. Of the longer periods, especially many calculations have been made to clarify the question whether more or less sunspots affect the earth's atmosphere. Their period is approximately 11 years, i.e., periods of an especially large and especially small number of spots are repeated after such an interval. In recent years, much has been written about a 35-year period during which supposedly cold and wet years alternate with warm and dry ones, but such a period does not coincide with any known phenomena on the Sun. Studies of this kind have yielded results that are far from consistent with each other, and therefore the influence on our atmosphere of any periods other than daily and annual can be considered doubtful.

In the last 30 years, M. is less and less content with averages and empirical research in general, and is increasingly trying to penetrate into the essence of phenomena, applying to them the laws of physics (especially the theory of heat) and mechanics. Thus, the whole modern theory of temperature changes in ascending and descending air movements is based on the application of the laws of thermodynamics, and it turned out that, despite the extreme complexity of the phenomena, in some cases results are obtained that are very similar to theoretical ones. Particularly great in this matter are the merits of Hann (Hann, see). The whole modern theory of air movement is based on the application of the teachings of mechanics, and meteorologists had to independently develop the laws of mechanics as applied to the conditions of the globe. Ferrel did the most in this area (see). In the same way, a lot has been done in recent years in questions of the radiation emission of the sun, earth and air, especially in the first one, and if the most important work was done by physicists and astrophysicists (we will especially mention Langle, see), then these scientists were familiar with modern requirements of M., very clearly expressed by many meteorologists, and the latter, in addition, tried to quickly take advantage of the results achieved, while developing simple ways observations available to a large circle of people, so now actinometry is becoming more and more a necessary part of M. It was mentioned above that meteorology has so far studied mainly the lower layers of the air because the phenomena here are more easily accessible for study and, moreover, are of great importance for practical life. But meteorologists have long sought to explore layers of air distant from the mass of the earth's surface. On high, distant mountains, the air touches a very small part of the earth's surface, and, moreover, it is usually in such a rapid movement that the goal is to some extent achieved by the device of mountain meteorological observatories. They exist in several countries of Europe and America (France is ahead of other countries in this matter) and undoubtedly have rendered and will continue to render great services to M. Soon after the invention of balloons, scientists set themselves the goal of using them to explore layers of air that are very remote from the earth's surface and very rarefied , and already in early XIX century Gay-Lussac undertook flights for scientific purposes. But for a long time, the shortcomings of aeronautics and the insufficient sensitivity of meteorological instruments hindered the success of the case, and only from 1893, almost simultaneously in France and Germany, balloons were launched to a great height (up to 18,000 m) without people, with self-writing instruments. In Russia, this business has also made great progress, and now in France, Germany and Russia, simultaneous flights are being undertaken, which are very important in this business. For a long time, after mathematics became a science, when correct observations and generalizations began, the connection between science and practice was extremely weak for a long time, or even did not exist at all. In the last 35 years, this has changed significantly, and synoptic or practical M. has received great development. It aims not only to study weather phenomena, but also to foresee or predict the weather (see). The case began with simpler phenomena, that is, predictions storms, for the purposes of navigation, in which significant progress has already been made. At present, M. is striving for the same in the interests of agriculture, but this task is undoubtedly more difficult, both in terms of the nature of the phenomena, the prediction of which is especially desirable, that is, precipitation (see), and in the scattered farms, it is difficult to warn them of the likely onset one weather or another. However, the tasks of agricultural meteorology are far from being limited to forecasting the weather in the interests of agriculture; a detailed climatological study of all meteorological elements important for agriculture is in the foreground. Agricultural mechanization is just emerging and has gained particular importance in two vast agricultural states, Russia and the United States. Above it was pointed out the differences in the methods of the two sciences, as close to each other as physics and M. By the predominance of observation, M. approaches astronomy. Nevertheless, the difference is very great, not only in the object of study, but also in something else. All the observations necessary for astronomy can be made at several tens of points expediently located on the globe; these observations require only people with great knowledge and who have fully mastered the rather complex technique of the case. Meteorology is another matter. A few dozen observatories located in the most expedient way around the globe, with the best observers and instruments, will still be far from being sufficient for studying very many meteorological phenomena. The latter are so complex, so variable in space and time, that they certainly require a very large number of observation points. Since it would be unthinkable to supply tens and hundreds of thousands of stations with complex and expensive instruments, and even less possible to find such a number of observers who are at the height of science and technology, then M. has to be content with less perfect observations, and resort to the assistance of a wide range of people, those who have not received special education, but are interested in the phenomena of climate and weather, and develop for them the most simple and cheap instruments and methods of observation. In many cases, even observations are made without instruments. Therefore, no science so needs talented popular books and articles as M.

At present, there is no complete course in meteorology corresponding to the current state of science; the only two full course Kämtz, "Lehrbuch d. M." (1833) and Schmid, "Lehrbuch der M." (1860) are already considerably outdated in many parts. Of the less complete manuals covering all parts of science, we point to von Bebber, "Lehrbuch der M."; Lachinov, "Fundamentals of M.". Much shorter and more popular is the well-known course Mohn, "Grundz ü ge der M."; here the main attention is paid to weather phenomena, there is a Russian translation from the 1st German edition: "M., or the Science of the Weather." Absolutely standalone book about the weather: Abercromby, "Weather" (there is German translation); systematic guide to the study of the weather: von Bebber, "Handbuch der aus ü benden Witterungskunde". Pomortsev's book, "Synoptic M.", by its nature is in the middle of the above. According to dynamic M.: Sprung, "Lehrbuch der M.". For climatology: Hann, "Handbuch der Klimatologie"; Voeikov, "Climates of the globe". According to agricultural M.: Houdaille, "Meteorologie agricole"; according to forest M.: Hornberger, "Grundriss der M.". Quite popular, very short courses "Houzeau et Lancaster Meteorologie"; Scott, "Elementary M.". Collections of observations and periodicals - see Meteorological publications.