![]() ![]() There is a long history of tornado observations in Europe and of natural philosophers, starting with Aristotle, who attempted to explain their formation. To understand the importance of Wegener’s study, we need first to look at the history of tornado research in Europe. The purpose of this article is to tell the story of Wind- und Wasserhosen in Europa in the context of European research on tornadoes and thus bring greater exposure to the pioneering tornado research of Alfred Wegener. Unfortunately, because of the relative isolation of German scientists and the declining interest of both researchers and meteorologists in European tornadoes after the Second World War, Wegener’s book and articles on tornadoes were almost forgotten. Army Signal Service ( Galway 1985), Wegener and his collaborators were actively researching tornadoes across the Atlantic in Europe (e.g., Wegener 1928 Letzmann 1931 Letzmann and Koschmieder 1937). Weather Bureau and its predecessor the U.S. 1 Thus, during a period (1883–1937) in which the word “tornado” was banned for weather warnings by the U.S. One such careful student of the book was the Estonian-born meteorologist Johannes Letzmann (1885–1971), another pioneer researcher on tornadoes in Europe, whose career was inspired by Wegener’s book. Wegener’s book received relatively little attention at the time of its publication despite being, as a reviewer from the United States wrote in 1920, “a monograph very satisfactorily fills in a missing chapter of modern meteorological science” and that “merits careful study” ( Ward 1920, p. But his meticulous working style led to a dataset of 258 tornadoes between 14 and a climatology that is comparable to modern ones. Wegener wrote the book between January and August 1916 “in the field” during the First World War with limited access to publications and data. This book not only contains the first pan-European tornado climatology but is an exhaustive treatise on all aspects of tornadoes, from the weather associated with tornadoes, tornado rotation, and damage paths to the noise, smell, and electrical phenomena accompanying tornadoes. In 1917, Wegener published the seminal book Wind- und Wasserhosen in Europa ( Tornadoes and Waterspouts in Europe). Lesser known are his contributions to the study of tornadoes. He performed research in atmospheric physics and meteorology, including cloud microphysics (e.g., Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process Wegener 1910), thermodynamics ( Wegener 1911c), the vertical structure of the chemical composition of the atmosphere (e.g., Wegener 1925b), and atmospheric optics (e.g., a subhelic arc is named the Wegener arc Wegener 1925c). Wegener not only made major contributions to geology and geophysics but also to astronomy and geodesy ( Wegener 1905 he was an astronomer by training), glaciology ( Koch and Wegener 1911 he was a pioneer explorer of Greenland), paleoclimatology ( Köppen and Wegener 1924), and meteoritics ( Wegener 1925a). 1) is mainly remembered today for his contributions to continental drift from which the modern theory of plate tectonics-“one of the key scientific concepts of the past century” ( Greene 2015)-is derived ( Romano and Cifelli 2015). Specifically, his book showed the utility of reports from citizen scientists and inspired other researchers, namely, Johannes Letzmann, who continued to study European tornadoes after Wegener’s death.Īlfred Wegener not only proposed the theory of continental drift but was also a pioneer of modern tornado research in Europe.Īlfred Wegener (1880–1930 Fig. Wegener’s lasting scientific contributions to tornado research are presented in the context of European research on this topic. Using a relatively small dataset, Wegener was able to describe characteristics of tornadoes (e.g., direction of movement, speed, rotation, formation mechanism), as well as their frequency of occurrence and climatology, comparable with the results from modern tornado climatologies. The recent revival of tornado studies in Europe invites a reflection on Wegener’s book. Unfortunately, Wegener’s book was overlooked after the 1950s amid declining interest in tornadoes by European researchers and meteorologists. Published 100 years ago, book Wind- und Wasserhosen in Europa ( Tornadoes and Waterspouts in Europe) is an impressive synthesis of knowledge on tornadoes and is considered the first modern pan-European tornado climatology, with 258 reports from 1456 to 1913. Less well known are his contributions to research on tornadoes in Europe. Alfred Wegener (1880–1930) was a leading geophysicist, atmospheric scientist, and an Arctic explorer who is mainly remembered today for his contributions to the theory of continental drift.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |