Abbott Lawrence Rotch
Encyclopedia
Abbott Lawrence Rotch was an American
meteorologist
and founder of the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
, the longest continually operating observation site in the United States and an important site for world climatology
.
in 1884, Rotch had conceived and carried into execution his plans for erecting a meteorological observatory on the summit of the Great Blue Hill, ten miles (16 km) south of Boston in the Blue Hills Reservation
, a 6,000 acre (24 km²) public park managed by the Metropolitan District Commission of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
in Milton, Massachusetts
. Rotch chose the site because the elevation of 635 feet (193.5 m) was the highest point within ten miles (16 km) of the Atlantic Ocean
anywhere on the East Coast south of central Maine
. His purpose was to establish an institution free from official control where investigations might be independent of prescribed duties and requirements. Since Rotch was independently wealthy, he carried out his plan using his own funds. The observatory building was completed by the end of 1884 and the first regular observations were begun on February 1, 1885. Construction of the observatory was started by Rotch in 1884 using his own private funds.
s by means of triangulation
measurements. In 1894, Rotch became the first in the world to sound the atmosphere by lifting instruments on kite
s. Ultimately kites sounded the atmosphere
to an altitude of 5 kilometers and provided Rotch with information concerning fundamental upper air patterns of wind
, temperature
, and humidity
, as well as their relationship to surface weather patterns. In 1904, at the St. Louis World's Fair
, Rotch initiated the use of sounding balloons
in the U.S. These balloons carried recording instruments beyond even the highest clouds to a height of 17 kilometers. Rotch and Leon Teisserenc de Bort
, discoverer of the stratosphere
, made extensive upper-air kite measurements from ships in the tropical and sub-tropical North Atlantic. These permitted publication in 1911 of a chart of aerial routes, thus pointing the way to the feasibility of transatlantic air travel
aided by air patterns. Rotch became the first director of the observatory and maintained it at his own expense until his death in 1912, when he bequeathed it to Harvard University
with an endowment
of $50,000.
Under Rotch's leadership, the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
quickly became famous for its pioneering studies of the upper atmosphere. The study of cloud heights, directions and velocities that Rotch carried out at the Blue Hill Observatory made significant contributions to the knowledge of clouds in the early years of the 20th century. In addition, Rotch was one of the first to suggest the use of daily maps
at local Weather Bureau
stations to plot the direction of weather patterns.
Rotch was personally known to the leading meteorologists from Europe because he made it a point to attend all of the meetings of the International Meteorological Committee
, and on many occasions was the sole American representative. From 1888 to 1891 and from 1902 to 1906, Rotch served as the first professor of meteorology at Harvard
. He attended the Chicago Meteorological Congress of August 1893. During his career, Rotch authored 183 scientific papers and several books on the sciences of meteorology and aeronautics
. From 1884 to 1895, he served as the associate editor of the American Meteorological Journal. Rotch continued to work at the Blue Hill Observatory until his death on April 7, 1912 from a ruptured appendix
. Under the terms of his will, the observatory was given to Harvard with an endowment of $50,000 for operating costs. Harvard operated the observatory until 1971 when it disassociated itself from the site. The Rotch endowment was kept by Harvard.
, France
in 1889. He was awarded an honorary master's degree by Harvard in 1891. During his life, he ascended Mont Blanc
six times, reaching the summit three times. His book published in September 1909, The Conquest of Air, went through three printings in one year. He co-authored a book titled Charts of the Atmosphere for Aeronauts and Aviators 1st Edition in 1911. He published Sounding of the Ocean of Air, a popular work, in 1900, and also did experiments in wireless telegraphy.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
meteorologist
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
and founder of the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, also known as Great Blue Hill Weather Observatory, Blue Hill Weather Observatory, or simply the Blue Hill Observatory, in Milton, Massachusetts is the foremost structure associated with the history of weather observations in the United States...
, the longest continually operating observation site in the United States and an important site for world climatology
Climatology
Climatology is the study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time, and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences...
.
Early life
Abbott Lawrence Rotch was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 6, 1861. As a young man, Rotch became interested in the newly developing science of meteorology and determined to make this field his lifetime career. By the time he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1884, Rotch had conceived and carried into execution his plans for erecting a meteorological observatory on the summit of the Great Blue Hill, ten miles (16 km) south of Boston in the Blue Hills Reservation
Blue Hills Reservation
Blue Hills Reservation is a state park in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, it extends into Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Canton, Randolph, and Dedham south of Boston.-Description:...
, a 6,000 acre (24 km²) public park managed by the Metropolitan District Commission of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in Milton, Massachusetts
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
. Rotch chose the site because the elevation of 635 feet (193.5 m) was the highest point within ten miles (16 km) of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
anywhere on the East Coast south of central Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. His purpose was to establish an institution free from official control where investigations might be independent of prescribed duties and requirements. Since Rotch was independently wealthy, he carried out his plan using his own funds. The observatory building was completed by the end of 1884 and the first regular observations were begun on February 1, 1885. Construction of the observatory was started by Rotch in 1884 using his own private funds.
Studies
In 1885 Rotch was able to obtain basic data on the heights and movements of various cloudCloud
A cloud is a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water and/or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body. They are also known as aerosols. Clouds in Earth's atmosphere are studied in the cloud physics branch of meteorology...
s by means of triangulation
Triangulation
In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by measuring angles to it from known points at either end of a fixed baseline, rather than measuring distances to the point directly...
measurements. In 1894, Rotch became the first in the world to sound the atmosphere by lifting instruments on kite
Kite
A kite is a tethered aircraft. The necessary lift that makes the kite wing fly is generated when air flows over and under the kite's wing, producing low pressure above the wing and high pressure below it. This deflection also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind...
s. Ultimately kites sounded the atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
to an altitude of 5 kilometers and provided Rotch with information concerning fundamental upper air patterns of wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
, temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
, and humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
, as well as their relationship to surface weather patterns. In 1904, at the St. Louis World's Fair
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
, Rotch initiated the use of sounding balloons
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
in the U.S. These balloons carried recording instruments beyond even the highest clouds to a height of 17 kilometers. Rotch and Leon Teisserenc de Bort
Léon Teisserenc de Bort
Léon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort was a French meteorologist who became famous for his discovery of the stratosphere...
, discoverer of the stratosphere
Stratosphere
The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler...
, made extensive upper-air kite measurements from ships in the tropical and sub-tropical North Atlantic. These permitted publication in 1911 of a chart of aerial routes, thus pointing the way to the feasibility of transatlantic air travel
Transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
aided by air patterns. Rotch became the first director of the observatory and maintained it at his own expense until his death in 1912, when he bequeathed it to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with an endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
of $50,000.
Under Rotch's leadership, the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, also known as Great Blue Hill Weather Observatory, Blue Hill Weather Observatory, or simply the Blue Hill Observatory, in Milton, Massachusetts is the foremost structure associated with the history of weather observations in the United States...
quickly became famous for its pioneering studies of the upper atmosphere. The study of cloud heights, directions and velocities that Rotch carried out at the Blue Hill Observatory made significant contributions to the knowledge of clouds in the early years of the 20th century. In addition, Rotch was one of the first to suggest the use of daily maps
Surface weather analysis
Surface weather analysis is a special type of weather map that provides a view of weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information from ground-based weather stations...
at local Weather Bureau
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
stations to plot the direction of weather patterns.
Rotch was personally known to the leading meteorologists from Europe because he made it a point to attend all of the meetings of the International Meteorological Committee
International Meteorological Organization
The International Meteorological Organization was the first organization formed with the purpose of exchanging weather information among the countries of the world. It was born from the realization that weather systems move across country boundaries and knowledge of pressure, temperature,...
, and on many occasions was the sole American representative. From 1888 to 1891 and from 1902 to 1906, Rotch served as the first professor of meteorology at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He attended the Chicago Meteorological Congress of August 1893. During his career, Rotch authored 183 scientific papers and several books on the sciences of meteorology and aeronautics
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
. From 1884 to 1895, he served as the associate editor of the American Meteorological Journal. Rotch continued to work at the Blue Hill Observatory until his death on April 7, 1912 from a ruptured appendix
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
. Under the terms of his will, the observatory was given to Harvard with an endowment of $50,000 for operating costs. Harvard operated the observatory until 1971 when it disassociated itself from the site. The Rotch endowment was kept by Harvard.
Other accomplishments
He ballooned above ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1889. He was awarded an honorary master's degree by Harvard in 1891. During his life, he ascended Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
six times, reaching the summit three times. His book published in September 1909, The Conquest of Air, went through three printings in one year. He co-authored a book titled Charts of the Atmosphere for Aeronauts and Aviators 1st Edition in 1911. He published Sounding of the Ocean of Air, a popular work, in 1900, and also did experiments in wireless telegraphy.
See also
- Blue Hill Meteorological ObservatoryBlue Hill Meteorological ObservatoryThe Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, also known as Great Blue Hill Weather Observatory, Blue Hill Weather Observatory, or simply the Blue Hill Observatory, in Milton, Massachusetts is the foremost structure associated with the history of weather observations in the United States...
- Great Blue HillGreat Blue HillGreat Blue Hill is a hill of 635 feet located within the Blue Hills Reservation in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, 10 miles southwest of Boston. It is the highest point in Norfolk County...
- MeteorologyMeteorologyMeteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...