SCIENCE AIDS SEAMEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 241, 31 December 1927, Page 6

SCIENCE AIDS SEAMEN

BROADCASTS OF WEATHER REPORTS i DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICE CSpecial to THE SUE.) WELLINGTON. Friday. 'J’HE development of wireless in recent years has made possible the present advanced facilities all over the world for the provision of

meteorological information to mariners, according to the Director of the Meteorological Office, Dr. W. H. Kidson. In this highly organised service to navigators Great Britain leads, he says. “Marine meteorology has for many years been allocated to a separate division of the London Meteorological Office,” says Dr. Kidson. “The superintendent of the division is always a practical sailor, who sees to it that the mariner receives the meteorological information that he wants. “Ships are equipped by the Meteorological office with meteorological instruments and make observations at the same times. These observations are broadcast by each vessel tr the Meteorological Office and other ships, the times being arranged so that there is no interference. The officers on the vessel later pick up and chart the broadcast land reports and their own and those of other vessels, plot them on a prepared chart and then drawn the isobars as is done in a meteorological office. “The reports include the reading o! the barometer (whether rising or falling, etc), wind direction and force, temperature, weather and visibility. The visibility observations are especially valuable, since they enable a ship’s captain to tell whether he is likely to meet fog, and so forth. For all this work the Meteorological Office supplies compact' forms with instructions clearly printed on them. The Marine Division issues also a monthly periodical called the "Marine Observer.” This journal contains notices of any changes in the regulations governing the issue of reports, informative articles on meteorological and allied subjects and contributions from sea-going officers on interesting phenomena which have come under their observation. “One of the oldest activities of the marine division,” continues Dr. Kidson, “is the preparation of monthly charts of the various oceans showing the prevailing winds and currents, the localities in which ice is to be feared, the prevalence of fog, the tracks of storm:rules for avoiding the severest portion 5 of tropical cyclones, and much information of a general nature. This may b f called the climatology of the oceans. With the advent of wireless, however, it became possible to give the sailor information regarding the day-to-day changes of the weather, so that he did not have to rely 35 of old solely on his own observations and weather wisdom. “The first development was collect weather reports from ships so that the area covered by the dam weather chart would be extended an the accuracy of forecasts increaswNext the forecasts were broadcast tothe benefit of ships. The most rece : development is to provide materia, whereby the captain of a vessel ca_ have his own weather-chart t> re P a !w and so supplement the forecast of tn meteorologist ashore. With his weather chart before n he is able to understand the reaso - for the official forecast, to follow - telligently the subsequent change* his weather and to allow for the of his change of position as he steam along on the weather he will exp& ence. Questions of space if nothm else would prevent the meteorology from putting all this information m the forecast, even were his kn°wrens j complete and his ability to perfect. In fact, the mariner in i pean waters is now making the **7 , possible use of the official forecam-