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The New Meteorological Observatory on the Brocken: Exploring the Fascinating Science and Culture of



The extreme weather conditions of the Brocken are of special meteorological interest. From 1836 the Brockenwirt, who also ran the guest house and restaurant, kept meteorological records. The first weather station on the Brocken was built in 1895. Technically poor and too small, it was partially demolished in 1912 and replaced with a large stone construction, the Hellman Observatory, that was not completed until the First World War. In 1917 the academic and nature lover George Grobe took over running the observation post, his daughter supporting him until his death in 1935.[19] Today's weather station started life in 1939. Measurements were interrupted at the end of the Second World War as a result of military bombardment, but began again in 1947. On 16 March 2010 the Brocken Weather Station became a climate reference station to provide uninterrupted, long-term climatic observations.[20]


Assmann contributed significantly to the exploration of the free (high altitude) atmosphere and to observational techniques in meteorology between 1880 and 1910. He conducted human scientific ascents with balloons for about ten years and became one of the discoverers of the stratosphere in 1902. His cloud observations on mountaintops led to the clarification of the nature of cloud droplets. He invented the aspirated psychrometer, a radiation-shielded instrument to measure simultaneously the temperature and humidity of air. Following his suggestion, sounding balloons continued to be made from rubber in the early 2000s. The summit of his career was the 1905 inauguration of the meteorological observatory at Lindenberg, southeast of Berlin, whose first director he became.




The new meteorological observatory on the Brocken,




Steinhagen, Hans. Der Wettermann. Neuenhagen: Findling Verlag, 2005. An extensive biography of Assmann, partly based on letters written by Assmann to Wladimir Köppen between 1882 and 1913. The book was written on the occasion of the centennial of the Lindenberg observatory.


The summit observatory had been in operation for several years by this stage, having opened in 1883. Hourly meteorological readings were made and recorded throughout the year by three permanent observers. During the summer months the Scottish Meteorological Society employed young physicists to relieve the full-time weathermen and Wilson secured a two-week stint in September 1894.


The extreme weather conditions of the Brocken are of special meteorological interest. From 1836 the Brockenwirt, who also ran the guest house and restaurant, kept meteorological records. The first weather station on the Brocken was built in 1895. Technically poor and too small, it was partially demolished in 1912 and replaced with a large stone construction, the Hellman Observatory, that was not completed until the First World War. In 1917 the academic and nature lover, George Grobe, took over the running of the observation post, his daughter supporting him until his death in 1935. Today's weather station started life in 1939. Measurements were interrupted at the end of the Second World War as a result of military bombardment, but began again in 1947. On 16 March 2010 the Brocken Weather Station became a climate reference station to provide uninterrupted, long-term climatic observations.


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