scholarly journals Unlocking weather observations from the Societas Meteorologica Palatina (1781–1792)

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 2361-2379
Author(s):  
Duncan Pappert ◽  
Yuri Brugnara ◽  
Sylvie Jourdain ◽  
Aleksandra Pospieszyńska ◽  
Rajmund Przybylak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Decadal Climate Variability ◽  
Weather Extremes ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
Weather Observations ◽  
Adverse Weather ◽  
Decadal Climate ◽  
The One

Abstract. In recent years, instrumental observations have become increasingly important in climate research, allowing past daily-to-decadal climate variability and weather extremes to be explored in greater detail. The 18th century saw the formation of several short-lived meteorological networks of which the one organised by the Societas Meteorologica Palatina is arguably the most well known. This network stood out as one of the few that efficiently managed to control its members, integrating, refining, and publishing measurements taken from numerous stations around Europe and beyond. Although much has been written about the network in both history, science, and individual prominent series used for climatological studies, the actual measurements have not yet been digitised and published in extenso. This paper represents an important step towards filling this perceived gap in research. Here, we provide an inventory listing the availability of observed variables for the 37 stations that belonged to the society's network and discuss their historical context. Most of these observations have been digitised, and a considerable fraction has been converted and formatted. In this paper, we focus on the temperature and pressure measurements, which have been corrected and homogenised. We then demonstrate their potential for climate research by analysing two cases of extreme weather. The recovered series will have wide applications and could contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind climatic variations and extremes as well as the societal reactions to adverse weather. Even the shorter series could be ingested into reanalyses and improve the quality of large-scale reconstructions.

scholarly journals Unlocking weather observations from the Societas Meteorologica Palatina (1781–1792)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Pappert ◽  
Yuri Brugnara ◽  
Sylvie Jourdain ◽  
Aleksandra Pospieszyńska ◽  
Rajmund Przybylak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Decadal Climate Variability ◽  
Weather Extremes ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
Weather Observations ◽  
Adverse Weather ◽  
Decadal Climate ◽  
The One

Abstract. Recent years have seen early instrumental observations play an increasingly important role in climate research, allowing past daily-to-decadal climate variability and weather extremes to be explored in greater detail. The 18th century saw the formation of several short-lived meteorological networks of which the one organised by the Societas Meteorologica Palatina is arguably the most well-known. This network stood out as one of those few that efficiently managed to control its members, integrating, refining and publishing measurements taken from numerous stations around Europe and beyond. Although much has been written about the network in both history, science, and individual prominent series used for climatological studies, the actual measurements have not yet been digitised and published in extenso. This paper represents an important step towards filling this perceived gap in research. Here we provide an inventory listing the availability of observed variables for the 37 stations that belonged to the Society's network and discuss their historical context. Most of these observations have been digitised and a considerable fraction has been converted and formatted. In this paper we focus on the temperature and pressure measurements, which have been corrected and homogenised. We then demonstrate their potential for climate research by analysing two cases of extreme weather. The recovered series will have wide applications and could contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind climatic variations and extremes, as well as the societal reactions to adverse weather. Even the shorter series could be ingested into reanalyses and improve the quality of large scale reconstructions.

Developing prototype decadal climate prediction services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Dunstone ◽  
Panos Athanasiadis ◽  
Louis-Philippe Caron ◽  
Francisco Doblas-Reyes ◽  
Barbara Frueh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Climate Prediction ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Decadal Climate Variability ◽  
Climate Services ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Decadal Climate ◽  
Decadal Climate Prediction

<p>Here we present an overview of results emerging from a project to develop prototype decadal climate prediction services, funded by the EU Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The field of interannual to decadal climate prediction has matured rapidly over the last ~15 years, becoming an established part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) process with multi-model decadal climate predictions made in CMIP5 and CMIP6 (DCPP MIP). It has further been highlighted by the recent creation of the WMO Lead Centre for Annual-to-Decadal Climate Prediction. Whilst these activities have led to rapid development in our understanding of decadal climate predictability and mechanisms driving global and regional annual to decadal climate variability, the creation of useful climate services on this timescale is still in its infancy.</p><p>This EU funded project was designed to start to address decadal climate services and brings together many of the key European institutions involved in decadal climate predictions from four different countries: Germany (DWD), Italy (CMCC), Spain (BSC) and the UK (Met Office). Each partner is working with a different sector: infrastructure, energy, agriculture and insurance where they have been developing a prototype decadal climate service in partnership with a user in that sector. Here we report on the progress made so far and highlight a number of key lessons learned along the way. These include the use of both large multi-model ensembles and more predictable large-scale circulation indicators in order to give skilful regional predictions of user relevant variables. We also describe the development of a common product format to present forecast information to users, this contains essential information about the current probabilistic forecast, retrospective forecast skill and reliability.</p>

About the Date of Modernization of Akkerman Fortress by François Kauffer

2021 ◽  
pp. 255-267
Author(s):  
Andrii Krasnozhon ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

One of the most famous periods in the construction history of the Akkerman Fortress is associated with the name of the French engineer in the Turkish service — François Kauffer. As a result of his activities, the medieval stronghold significantly changed its appearance in the last decade of the 18th century, adapting to the tasks of conducting a modern siege war with the help of heavy powder artillery. The dating of these large-scale works in Ackerman remained under question. Some new documentary sources with their detailed information made such dating possible. Kauffer fixed his presence in the fortress with an autograph on the wall of the citadel tower. Apparently, the modernization took place here in the spring and summer of 1796. Equally, the end of the works was marked by the tughra of the ruling Sultan Selim III, installed on the facade of the main gate. The date on Selim III’s tarih and the one in Kauffer’s autograph is 1796.

scholarly journals 18th-Century Daily Measurements and Weather Observations in the Se-Carpathian Basin: A Preliminary Analysis of the Timişoara Series (1780-1803)

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ildikó Csernus-Molnár ◽  
Andrea Kiss ◽  
Edit Pócsik
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Carpathian Basin ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Extremes ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Weather Observations ◽  
Measurement Series ◽  
Observation Series ◽  
Weather Observation

Abstract Covering a period of 23 years, the Timişoara (in historical Banat region; today SW-Romania) series is the earliest known long-term 18th-century daily measurement (temperature, pressure) and weather observation series (precipitation, sky coverage, meteorological extremes), preserved in the south-eastern lowlands of the Carpathian Basin. Based on data derived from the original weather diary of the royal pharmacist Karl Joseph Klapka, in this paper the early instrumental measurement and daily observation series is presented referring to the temperature, pressure, precipitation conditions, cloudiness, wind, types of precipitation and extreme weather events that occurred in Timişoara in the period of 1780 -1803. The two daily temperature measurement series show very high (over r=0.95) correlations, while pressure series are also in good agreement with other known late 18th-century measurement series of the same period in the Carpathian Basin (Buda, Miskolc and Kežmarok). The Timişoara-series also contains important information concerning such weather extremes as the severe winter of 1784 or the unusual number of summer fog events in 1783 (presumably related to the Icelandic Lakagígar eruption), which are also reported in the present paper.

scholarly journals Thermodynamic Coupled Modes in the Tropical Atmosphere–Ocean: An Analytical Solution

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1667-1677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faming Wang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Latent Heat Flux ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Decadal Climate Variability ◽  
Coupled Modes ◽  
Meridional Winds ◽  
Wes Feedback ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Decadal Climate

Abstract The present study provides a consistent and unified solution for the two types of thermodynamical coupled modes in the atmosphere–ocean climate system: the tropical meridional mode and the subtropical dipole mode. The solution is derived analytically from a linear model that couples a simple atmosphere to a slab ocean via the wind–evaporation–SST (WES) feedback. For a mean zonal wind, the results show that the wind (hence latent heat flux) anomaly and the SST anomaly differ in phase such that the tropical mode propagates downwind and the subtropical modes propagate upwind, with both modes being damped by the SST-driven component of latent heat flux. Despite the existence of positive WES feedback, the large-scale subtropical modes are always stable, while the tropical mode can become unstable only when the air–sea coupling is strong and the mean wind is easterly. Furthermore, the mean meridional winds break the equatorial symmetry and enable the coupled modes to intensify in the Southern (Northern) Hemisphere for a southerly (northerly) component. For realistic parameter values, these thermodynamical coupled modes have periods and damping time scales in years; hence, they may play important roles in the tropical interannual-to-decadal climate variability.

36. Practicing medicine and music II: Ophthalmology and music

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
L. P. Hwi ◽  
J. W. Ting
Keyword(s):  
Chamber Music ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Johann Sebastian Bach ◽  
Active Member ◽  
Active Researcher ◽  
Silver Medal ◽  
Medical Career ◽  
The One ◽  
The University ◽  
Over 40 Years

Cecil Cameron Ewing (1925-2006) was a lecturer and head of ophthalmology at the University of Saskatchewan. Throughout his Canadian career, he was an active researcher who published several articles on retinoschisis and was the editor of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. For his contributions to Canadian ophthalmology, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society awarded Ewing a silver medal. Throughout his celebrated medical career, Ewing maintained his passion for music. His love for music led him to be an active member in choir, orchestra, opera and chamber music in which he sang and played the piano, violin and viola. He was also the director of the American Liszt Society and a member for over 40 years. The connection between music and ophthalmology exists as early as the 18th Century. John Taylor (1703-1772) was an English surgeon who specialized in eye diseases. On the one hand, Taylor was a scientist who contributed to ophthalmology by publishing books on ocular physiology and diseases, and by advancing theories of strabismus. On the other hand, Taylor was a charlatan who traveled throughout Europe and blinded many patients with his surgeries. Taylor’s connection to music was through his surgeries on two of the most famous Baroque composers: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and George Frederick Handel (1685-1759). Bach had a painful eye disorder and after two surgeries by Taylor, Bach was blind. Handel had poor or absent vision prior to Taylor’s surgery, and his vision did not improve after surgery. The connection between ophthalmology and music spans over three centuries from the surgeries of Taylor to the musical passion of Ewing. Ewing E. Cecil Cameron Ewing. BMJ 2006; 332(7552):1278. Jackson DM. Bach, Handel, and the Chevalier Taylor. Med Hist 1968; 12(4):385-93. Zegers RH. The Eyes of Johann Sebastian Bach. Arch Ophthalmol 2005; 123(10):1427-30.

First grammar books in the Habsburg Monarchy: individual initiative and regulatory interference by the state (1760s–1770s)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (2 (11)) ◽  
pp. 137-157
Author(s):  
Olga V. Khavanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
German Language ◽  
Habsburg Monarchy ◽  
Private Initiative ◽  
The One

The second half of the eighteenth century in the lands under the sceptre of the House of Austria was a period of development of a language policy addressing the ethno-linguistic diversity of the monarchy’s subjects. On the one hand, the sphere of use of the German language was becoming wider, embracing more and more segments of administration, education, and culture. On the other hand, the authorities were perfectly aware of the fact that communication in the languages and vernaculars of the nationalities living in the Austrian Monarchy was one of the principal instruments of spreading decrees and announcements from the central and local authorities to the less-educated strata of the population. Consequently, a large-scale reform of primary education was launched, aimed at making the whole population literate, regardless of social status, nationality (mother tongue), or confession. In parallel with the centrally coordinated state policy of education and language-use, subjects-both language experts and amateur polyglots-joined the process of writing grammar books, which were intended to ease communication between the different nationalities of the Habsburg lands. This article considers some examples of such editions with primary attention given to the correlation between private initiative and governmental policies, mechanisms of verifying the textbooks to be published, their content, and their potential readers. This paper demonstrates that for grammar-book authors, it was very important to be integrated into the patronage networks at the court and in administrative bodies and stresses that the Vienna court controlled the process of selection and financing of grammar books to be published depending on their quality and ability to satisfy the aims and goals of state policy.

The Green New Deal

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Hockett
Keyword(s):  
New Deal ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Good News ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
The One ◽  
In Virtue Of

This white paper lays out the guiding vision behind the Green New Deal Resolution proposed to the U.S. Congress by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bill Markey in February of 2019. It explains the senses in which the Green New Deal is 'green' on the one hand, and a new 'New Deal' on the other hand. It also 'makes the case' for a shamelessly ambitious, not a low-ball or slow-walked, Green New Deal agenda. At the core of the paper's argument lies the observation that only a true national mobilization on the scale of those associated with the original New Deal and the Second World War will be up to the task of comprehensively revitalizing the nation's economy, justly growing our middle class, and expeditiously achieving carbon-neutrality within the twelve-year time-frame that climate science tells us we have before reaching an environmental 'tipping point.' But this is actually good news, the paper argues. For, paradoxically, an ambitious Green New Deal also will be the most 'affordable' Green New Deal, in virtue of the enormous productivity, widespread prosperity, and attendant public revenue benefits that large-scale public investment will bring. In effect, the Green New Deal will amount to that very transformative stimulus which the nation has awaited since the crash of 2008 and its debt-deflationary sequel.

Flight Path Planning of Robot for Environmental Measurement Considering Accuracy Assurance

Impact ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (10) ◽  
pp. 90-92
Author(s):  
Kae Doki ◽  
Yuki Funabora ◽  
Shinji Doki
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Highway Bridge ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
Small Uav ◽  
Inspection Process ◽  
Aerial View ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Infrastructure Inspection ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
Small Team

Every day we are seeing an increasing number of robots being employed in our day-to-day lives. They are working in factories, cleaning our houses and may soon be chauffeuring us around in vehicles. The affordability of drones too has come down and now it is conceivable for most anyone to own a sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). While fun to fly, these devices also represent powerful new tools for several industries. Anytime an aerial view is needed for a planning, surveillance or surveying, for example, a UAV can be deployed. Further still, equipping these vehicles with an array of sensors, for climate research or mapping, increases their capability even more. This gives companies, governments or researchers a cheap and safe way to collect vast amounts of data and complete tasks in remote or dangerous areas that were once impossible to reach. One area UAVs are proving to be particularly useful is infrastructure inspection. In countries all over the world large scale infrastructure projects like dams and bridges are ageing and in need of upkeep. Identifying which ones and exactly where they are in need of patching is a huge undertaking. Not only can this work be dangerous, requiring trained inspectors to climb these megaprojects, it is incredibly time consuming and costly. Enter the UAVs. With a fleet of specially equipped UAVs and a small team piloting them and interpreting the data they bring back the speed and safety of this work increases exponentially. The promise of UAVs to overturn the infrastructure inspection process is enticing, but there remain several obstacles to overcome. One is achieving the fine level of control and positioning required to navigate the robots around 3D structures for inspection. One can imagine that piloting a small UAV underneath a huge highway bridge without missing a single small crack is quite difficult, especially when the operators are safely on the ground hundreds of meters away. To do this knowing exactly where the vehicle is in space becomes a critical variable. The job can be made even easier if a flight plan based on set waypoints can be pre-programmed and followed autonomously by the UAV. It is exactly this problem that Dr Kae Doki from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Aichi Institute of Technology, and collaborators are focused on solving.

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