History of Geo- and Space Sciences最新文献

{"title":"The Regional Warning Center Darmstadt (from the 1960s until 1993)","authors":"T. Damboldt","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-9-49-2018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-9-49-2018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The work and achievements of the Regional Warning Center Darmstadt at the Research Institute of the Deutsche Bundespost in Darmstadt, Germany, are briefly reviewed. After privatisation of the Deutsche Bundespost (now Deutsche Telekom) in 1993, research in HF propagation and hence the RWC was disbanded.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"49-51"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2018-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47356087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A brief history of Regional Warning Center China (RWC-China)","authors":"Han He, Huaning Wang, Z. Du, Xin Huang, Yan Yan, Xinghua Dai, Juanhong Guo, Jialong Wang","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-9-41-2018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-9-41-2018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Solar-terrestrial prediction services in China began in 1969 at the\u0000Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). In\u00001990, BAO joined the International URSIgram and World Days Service (IUWDS)\u0000and started solar-terrestrial data and prediction interchanges with other\u0000members of IUWDS. The short-term solar activity prediction service with\u0000standard URSIgram codes began in January 1991 at BAO, and forecasts have been\u0000issued routinely every weekday from then on. The Regional Warning Center\u0000Beijing (RWC-Beijing) of IUWDS was officially approved in China in 1991 and\u0000was formally established in February 1992. In 1996, the IUWDS was changed to\u0000the current name, the International Space Environment Service (ISES). In\u00002000, the RWC-Beijing was renamed RWC-China according to ISES requirements.\u0000In 2001, the National Astronomical Observatories, CAS (NAOC) was established.\u0000All the solar-terrestrial data and prediction services of BAO were taken up\u0000by NAOC. The headquarters of RWC-China is located on the campus of NAOC.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"41-47"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2018-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43985620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book review: The Man behind Degree Celsius : A Pioneer in Investigatingthe Earth and its Changes","authors":"D. Chapman","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-9-39-2018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-9-39-2018","url":null,"abstract":"The Man behind “Degree Celsius”: A Pioneer in Investigating the Earth and its Changes by Martin Ekman is a gem of a little book. It effectively describes not only the scientific discoveries and contributions of Anders Celsius after whom the temperature scale is named, but also how science was conducted in Sweden 300 years ago, the oversized impact of the little university town of Uppsala and its university founded in 1477, and the critical importance of making careful geophysical observations in space and time in advancing knowledge about our Earth. The book starts, not in the year 1701 with the birth of Anders Celsius, but three generations earlier with another Celsius, Anders’ grandfather Magnus Celsius. By doing so, Ekman effectively traces the importance of a scientific family’s genealogy and successive inheritance within the Celsius family of academic positions as astronomers. Anders Celsius’ career started with interests in mathematics, but soon turned to astronomy, which at that time encompassed other fields of geophysics. As early as 1722, Celsius showed a predilection for making and chronicling geophysical observations and had begun to accumulate important time series of meteorological data including temperature and pressure. In 1730, at age 29, and after years of unpaid work as an assistant, Celsius was appointed professor of astronomy at the University of Uppsala. With his professorship came an opportunity for a tour abroad. Celsius’ tour involved Germany, Italy, France, and England, but was most influenced by his connection to the Paris Observatory, where science was relatively advanced. In Paris he also became involved with the controversy on the shape of the Earth between Newton (who argued for an oblate spheroid flattened at the poles) and Cassini (who argued for a prolate spheroid flattened at the Equator). The controversy was to be solved by making meridian arc measurements at separated latitudes, one at the Equator and the other at a northern site. Celsius suggested a northern Swedish site near the Gulf of Bothnia and was immediately made a member of the expedition. The book goes into considerable, but rewarding, detail on the expedition, including challenges of travelling and living in the north in the early 1700s, the meticulous triangulation measurements, and pendulum gravity measurements. This expedition, as we now know, confirmed that Newton was correct. Back at home in Uppsala, Celsius assumed his role of professor of astronomy and raised money to build the Uppsala Observatory, still standing today. He equipped the observatory with angle instruments, telescopes, thermometers, barometers, magnetic compasses, and in particular a pendulum clock made in London by “the best clock-maker in Europe”. A series of chapters of the book are devoted to broad geophysical studies Celsius conducted that we do not normally associate with his name: precise latitude and longitude mapping in particular for the Uppsala Observatory; measuring g","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"39-40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2018-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47028145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Preface: History of regional warning centers","authors":"Phil Wilkinson","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-9-37-2018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-9-37-2018","url":null,"abstract":"The influence of the Sun on the Earth is well known, but the extent to which the solar influence permeates the space environment from the solar surface out to the heliopause, beyond the orbit of Pluto, and in particular its effect on terrestrial technological systems, is less familiar. Prior to 1940 research identified some of the many ways solar disturbances could affect, for instance, high-frequency communications. During World War 2, this problem was of practical importance, and solutions, plus the lack of solutions, were highly classified. At the end of the war, sufficient skill had been developed that some countries found it worthwhile to continue to provide forecasts, tailored to their local needs, to mitigate the solar influence on high-frequency communications and to a lesser extent on magnetic observations. There was limited to no exchange of observations and forecasts between national agencies other than the URSIgram (e.g., Davis, 1935) for those who could receive the Morse code transmissions. The proposal that led to the development of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) needed solar forecasting services to carry out a more efficient scientific programme. This led to the development of the concept of a Regional Warning Centre (RWC) and Associate RWC (ARWC). To facilitate the exchange of data between agencies a set of agreed codes were endorsed and were refined throughout the IGY period and subsequently. The RWC and ARWC used local and exchanged data to make forecasts for the forthcoming day, and they were exchanged and the final forecast compiled from these at the US RWC, called the World Warning Agency (WWA), at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, USA. These and other activities formalized during the IGY are outlined in Shapley (1959). Following the IGY the RWCs were grouped together with a common purpose under the auspices of the International URSIgram and World Day Services (IUWDS) (Simon, 1981). The term “space weather” came into common usage somewhere between 1990 and 1995. It was the common term that recognized the pervasive impact of the Sun and the space environment on man’s activities. To align IUWDS better with the growing field of space weather, in 1996 it was renamed the International Space Environment Services (ISES), which more accurately described its functions. Poppe and Jordan (2006) provide a general summary of these early developments, focusing especially on the US developments. The people responsible for staffing the RWCs prior to and immediately after the IGY have now all retired, and many, possibly most, are dead. In fact, in many cases their successors have also retired. Each RWC will have evolved in a different way: some may have recorded their history already, and others will possibly find it hard to develop a clear vision of these early beginnings. In other cases, countries recognizing the importance of ISES have developed their RWCs more recently. Finally, recognizing the importance of space weather services, all th","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"37-37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2018-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47336417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Atmospheric electricity at Durham: the scientific contributions and legacy of J. A. (\"Skip\") Chalmers (1904-1967)","authors":"K. Aplin","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-9-25-2018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-9-25-2018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. John Alan Chalmers made major contributions to atmospheric electricity over\u0000almost 40 years spent at Durham University, UK. He is particularly remembered\u0000in the atmospheric science community for his accessible and insightful\u0000textbook, Atmospheric Electricity, and his work on corona currents,\u0000which are still regularly cited. He also supervised over 35 research\u0000students. This article discusses his background, scientific contributions,\u0000and significant legacy to modern atmospheric science within the context of a\u0000long and productive career spent at one of England's principal northern\u0000universities.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"25-35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2018-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45821560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The length of coastlines in Ptolemy's Geography and in ancient periploi","authors":"Dmitry A. Shcheglov","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-9-9-2018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-9-9-2018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The lengths of the coastlines in Ptolemy's Geography are compared with the corresponding values transmitted by other ancient sources, presumably based on some lost periploi (literally \"voyages around or circumnavigations\", a genre of ancient geographical literature describing coastal itineraries). The comparison reveals a remarkable agreement between them, suggesting that Ptolemy relied much more heavily on these or similar periploi than it used to be thought. Additionally, a possible impact of Ptolemy's erroneous estimate of the circumference of the Earth is investigated. It is argued that this error resulted in two interrelated distortions of the coastal outlines in Ptolemy's Geography. First, the north–south stretches of the coast that were tied to particular latitudes are shown compressed relative to the distances recorded in other sources in roughly the same proportion to which Ptolemy's circumference of the Earth is underestimated relative to the true value. Second, in several cases this compression is compensated by a proportional stretching of the adjacent east–west coastal segments. In particular, these findings suggest a simple explanation for the strange shape of the Caspian Sea in Ptolemy's Geography.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"9-24"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2018-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45786024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The attraction of the pyramids: virtual realization of Hutton's suggestion to improve Maskelyne's 1774 Earth density estimate","authors":"J. Smallwood","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-9-1-2018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-9-1-2018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Charles Hutton suggested in 1821 that the pyramids of Egypt be used to site\u0000an experiment to measure the deflection of the vertical by a large mass. The\u0000suggestion arose as he had estimated the attraction of a Scottish mountain as\u0000part of Nevil Maskelyne's (1774) “Schiehallion Experiment”, a demonstration\u0000of Isaac Newton's law of gravitational attraction and the earliest reasonable\u0000quantitative estimate of Earth's mean density. I present a virtual\u0000realization of an experiment at the Giza pyramids to investigate how Hutton's\u0000concept might have emerged had it been undertaken as he suggested. The\u0000attraction of the Great Pyramid would have led to inward north–south\u0000deflections of the vertical totalling 1.8 arcsec (0.0005 ∘ ), and\u0000east–west deflections totalling 2.0 arcsec (0.0006 ∘ ), which\u0000although small, would have been within the contemporaneous detectable range,\u0000and potentially given, as Hutton wished, a more accurate Earth density\u0000measurement than he reported from the Schiehallion experiment.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"9 1","pages":"1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2018-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42437553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Friedrich Robert Helmert, founder of modern geodesy, on the occasion of the centenary of his death","authors":"J. Ihde, A. Reinhold","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-8-79-2017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-8-79-2017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Friedrich Robert Helmert died in Potsdam in 1917 at the age of 74 after serving for over 30 years as director of the Royal Prussian Geodetic Institute and of the Central Bureau of the Internationale Erdmessung, the forerunner of today's International Association of Geodesy. He dedicated his life and his scientific career to the field of geodesy. His teachings on theoretical and physical geodesy were incorporated into university curricula around the world and hence into international endeavours to measure planet Earth. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the impact he has had on the development of modern geodesy and on the related sciences.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"79-95"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2017-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46523407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A statistical approach to latitude measurements: Ptolemy's and Riccioli's geographical works as case studies","authors":"L. Santoro","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-8-69-2017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-8-69-2017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The aim of this work is to analyze latitude measurements typically used in historical geographical works through a statistical approach. We use two sets of different age as case studies: Ptolemy's Geography and Riccioli's work on geography. A statistical approach to historical latitude and longitude databases can reveal systematic errors in geographical georeferencing processes. On the other hand, once exploiting the right statistical analysis, this approach can also lead to new information about ancient city locations.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"69-77"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2017-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47666754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Steponas Kolupaila's contribution to hydrological science development","authors":"Gintaras Valiuškevičius","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-8-57-2017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-8-57-2017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Steponas Kolupaila (1892–1964) was an important figure in 20th century hydrology and one of the pioneers of scientific water gauging in Europe. His research on the reliability of hydrological data and measurement methods was particularly important and contributed to the development of empirical hydrological calculation methods. Kolupaila was one of the first who standardised water-gauging methods internationally. He created several original hydrological and hydraulic calculation methods (his discharge assessment method for winter period was particularly significant). His innate abilities and frequent travel made Kolupaila a universal specialist in various fields and an active public figure. He revealed his multilayered scientific and cultural experiences in his most famous book, Bibliography of Hydrometry. This book introduced the unique European hydrological-measurement and computation methods to the community of world hydrologists at that time and allowed the development and adaptation of these methods across the world.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"57-67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2017-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46511770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}