The development history of atmospheric science

Atmospheric science is an ancient discipline, and the knowledge about weather and climate originated from long-term productive labor and social life experience. As early as the fishing and hunting era and the agricultural era, people gradually accumulated knowledge about weather and climate change. China's twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two climaxes were discovered in Huainan Xun and Yi Shi Xun Jie in the 2nd century BC, which were summarized from production and life practice and used to guide farming activities.

/kloc-before the 0/7th century, people's understanding of the atmosphere and various phenomena in the atmosphere was intuitive and experienced. 17 ~ 18 century, due to the development of physics and chemistry, the successive inventions of measuring instruments such as temperature, air pressure, wind and humidity, and the successive discovery of elements such as nitrogen and oxygen, it created conditions for human beings to quantitatively understand the composition and movement of the atmosphere. As a result, atmospheric science research began to enter the stage of quantitative analysis from pure qualitative description. This is a leap in the development of atmospheric science.

During the period of 1820, under the condition that the meteorological elements such as pressure, temperature, humidity and wind were determined and the meteorological observation network was gradually established, brandes drew the first weather map in history, which pioneered the methods of modern weather analysis and weather forecast, and opened the way for the development of atmospheric science to theoretical research. This is another leap in the history of the development of atmospheric science.

The concept of Coriolis force in 1835 and the relationship between wind and air pressure put forward by C. H. D. Buys Ballot in 1857 have become the cornerstones of the earth's atmospheric dynamics and weather analysis. Around 1920, meteorologists Pierre Knies, solberg and bergeron put forward the theory of front, cyclone and air mass, which laid a theoretical foundation for weather analysis and prediction of weather changes after 1 ~ 2 days.

1783, Charles of France made a hydrogen balloon with instruments for detecting meteorological elements. In 1930s, radiosondes were widely used, which enabled us to understand the vertical structure of the atmosphere, and the real three-dimensional atmospheric science research began. According to the high-altitude weather map drawn by sounding data, the atmospheric long wave was found. 1939, meteorologist Rosby put forward long-wave dynamics, which led to the potential vortex theory. This not only extends the theoretical weather forecast period to 3 ~ 4 days, but also opens the way for later numerical weather forecast and numerical simulation of atmospheric circulation.

The experiment of "seeding clouds" by Langmuir, Schaefer and vonnegut in 1946 proved that seeding solid carbon dioxide or silver iodide in supercooled clouds can turn supercooled water droplets into ice crystals, increase the number of ice crystals in clouds and promote precipitation. Since then, it has entered the experimental stage of weather modification.

Before 1950s, although great progress was made in atmospheric science, due to the lack of data and calculation difficulties in sparsely populated areas such as oceans and deserts, it was always impossible to get rid of qualitative or semi-qualitative research. Since 1950s, atmospheric science has developed by leaps and bounds due to the adoption of various new technologies, especially electronic computers and meteorological satellites.

Because of the use of meteorological satellites, meteorological rockets, lasers, microwaves, infrared and other remote sensing detection methods, as well as various new technologies such as chemical trace analysis methods, the ability to observe the atmosphere has been enhanced and the observation space has been expanded. For example, five geosynchronous satellites and two polar-orbiting satellites over the equator can provide the global atmosphere at almost the same time, and there is no blank area in meteorological data.

The joint application of meteorological satellites, new weather radars, airplanes and other detection means provides conditions for carrying out comprehensive observation experiments at various scales, for early detection and tracking of typhoons and small-scale disastrous weather systems with a life history as short as several hours, and for improving the level of short-term and medium-term forecasting. Meteorological satellites detect the atmosphere outside the atmosphere, which not only expands the observation range, but also greatly enriches the observation content, such as the vast ocean surface temperature, the microstructure of clouds, the radiation balance of the atmosphere and so on. Meteorological satellite has become one of the pillars of the development of modern atmospheric science.

With the use of electronic computers, atmospheric science research has entered a new stage of quantitative and experimental research. Various atmospheric phenomena, from global atmospheric circulation to the formation of raindrops, can be expressed in mathematical form according to physical and chemical principles. However, only electronic computers can calculate and simulate the occurrence, development and disappearance of these phenomena.

In addition, with the development of science and technology, people often need to know the possible state of the atmosphere for weeks, months or even more than a year. This also depends on high-speed computers to acquire and process global data, and make weather and climate predictions in a global mode. Electronic computer is another pillar of the development of modern atmospheric science. It can be predicted that the next generation or even the next generation's largest electronic computer will be first used in atmospheric science.