The development history of synoptic science

The study of synoptic science has a history of more than 100 years. Its development is related to the innovation of means and technology, as well as the development of science and technology. It has gone through four stages: before the 1920s, Mainly using the ground, etc., to analyze various air pressure systems and their weather distribution. This is the first stage. After the 1920s, due to the successful development of radiosondes, high-altitude meteorological data were obtained, and the research was expanded from the ground to three-dimensional space. This is the second stage. During this stage, Norwegian meteorologists proposed the polar front theory, and Swedish meteorologists proposed the theory. The polar front theory summarizes the typical polar front model (including the life history of a cyclone from birth, development to death), and points out that within a mobile cyclone in the temperate zone, there is an interface formed by cold air from the polar regions and warm air from the tropics. This interface is called the polar front (see). The air mass theory holds that weather changes in mid-latitudes are the result of interactions from different origins. When a certain place is controlled by a certain type of air mass, a certain type of typical weather often occurs. In places where the two air masses meet, the weather changes are often very drastic. After the 1930s, synoptic science entered its third stage. Its hallmark is the presentation and application of theory. In 1939, Swedish meteorologists proposed the long wave (planetary wave) theory by analyzing a large number of high-altitude weather maps, and found that polar front cyclones develop at specific positions of long waves. The movement and development of cyclones are related to long waves. There is a close connection. During this stage, synoptic science began to be combined with dynamic meteorology. In addition to the extensive application of Rossby's long-wave formula, British meteorologist R.C. Sutcliffe and Norwegian meteorologist S. Pattersson simplified the vorticity equation (see ), the conditions for judging the occurrence and development of surface weather systems are respectively proposed. In addition, Finnish meteorologists have done a lot of research on the characteristics of large-scale weather systems in the westerly belt, and American meteorologist C.W. Newton has done a lot of research on severe convective storms. American meteorologist H. Leal has made contributions to tropical weather analysis, tropical atmospheric circulation and research (see). After the 1960s, meteorology entered the fourth stage. Due to the use of high-speed electronic computers, synoptic and dynamical meteorology are more closely integrated. This is specifically reflected in the numerical simulation test (see) and diagnostic analysis (see) of the weather system. As a result, we have a better understanding of the physical mechanism of the occurrence and development of the weather system. At the same time, as meteorological satellites provide a large amount of meteorological data in sparsely populated areas (such as oceans, poles, plateaus and desert areas), tropical meteorology has developed rapidly, and many new atmospheric motion phenomena are constantly being discovered. Furthermore, due to the continuous improvement of detection methods, the research on severe convective weather has become more in-depth.

Chinese meteorologists first classified China's weather types in 1925; Shen Xiaohuang studied cyclones in the Jianghuai River Basin of China in 1931; Li Xianzhi studied the cyclones in the southern hemisphere and northwest from 1934 to 1936. Lu studied the relationship between the Pacific Ocean and initially proposed the interaction of atmospheric circulation between the two hemispheres; Lu wrote China's first "Weather Forecasting" in 1943, and analyzed the cold wave in China in the 1930s and 1940s. and typhoons; later, research on heavy rainstorms, cold waves, plateau meteorology and typhoons in Chinese history, research on the interaction of high-altitude cut-off low pressure (see), China's precipitation weather systems and mid- and low-latitude circulation, and on and tropical circulation, as well as Zhu Binghai's research on air masses, fronts, etc., all contributed to the development of synopticology.