Practical Exercises in Elementary MeteorologyWard, Robert DeCourcy
Science
Practical Exercises in Elementary Meteorology
Ward, Robert DeCourcy
Meteorology
By means of an electrical attachment the anemometer may be arranged so as
to record continuously on a cylinder rotating by clock-work, a pen making
a mark on the paper for every mile traveled by the wind. The anemometer
should be exposed on top of a building where there is as little
obstruction as possible by tall chimneys, higher buildings, and the like.
The =nephoscope= (Greek: _cloud observer_) is an instrument used in
determining the directions of movement of clouds. These directions, if
determined by ordinary eye observation of the clouds as they drift across
the sky, are apt to be quite inaccurate. The best method of observing
directions of cloud movement is to note the path of the reflection of the
cloud in a horizontal mirror, the observer looking at this reflection
through an eyepiece which remains fixed during the operation. Such a
horizontal mirror, adapted to measure the direction of motion of clouds,
is known as a _nephoscope_. A form of nephoscope devised by Mr. H. H.
Clayton, of Blue Hill Observatory, Hyde Park, Mass., is shown in Fig. 17.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.]
This instrument consists of a circular mirror, 13 inches in diameter,
sunk in a narrow circular wooden frame, on top of which is fastened a
brass circle, S.W.N.E., divided to 5° of arc. Inside of this fixed circle
is a movable brass one, to which is attached a brass arc, _BD_, rising
above the mirror and bearing a movable eyepiece, _C_. This arc forms the
quadrant of a circle whose center is the center of the mirror, and is
divided to 5° of arc. Its top is held vertically over the center of the
mirror by two rods fastened to the movable circle. The center of the
mirror _A_ is marked by cross lines on the reflecting surface, the glass
of which is thin. In order to determine the motion of a cloud, the movable
circle and tripod are revolved until the arc _BD_ is in the vertical plane
formed by the cloud, the center of the mirror, and the eye. The eyepiece
_C_ is then shifted until some point of the cloud image, as seen through
the eyepiece, is projected on the intersection of the cross lines on the
glass. The cloud image soon changes its position, and while the eye is
still held at the eyepiece, a small index is placed on the part of the
cloud image which previously appeared on the center of the mirror. If now
a ruler be placed on the index and the center of the mirror and extended
backward, its intersection with the divided scale will give the direction
from which the cloud came to the nearest degree, if all the measurements
have been accurately made. The height of the cloud above the horizon is
found by reading the position of the eyepiece on the divided quadrant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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