The Problem Of Weather Prediction, as Seen from the Standpoints of Mechanics and Physics

The job of observational meteorology is to produce knowledge of the condition of the atmosphere at a desired future time. This problem has not been solved for the scientific weather forecaster in even the most felicitous circumstances. Two gaps are especially noticeable. Firstly, the only weather stations reporting daily are on the land. On the sea, which constitutes four fifths of the earth’s surface and therefore exercises an overwhelming influence, no daily weather observations are made. In addition, the regular weather service observations are terrestrial in origin, and lack any information about the condition of the upper atmosphere.