- Norwegian scientist
whose theory of polar fronts formed the basis of all modern weather
forecasting and meteorological studies. He also developed hydrodynamic
models of the oceans and the atmosphere and showed how weather prediction
could be carried out on a statistical basis, dependent on the use
of mathematical models.
Bjerknes was professor at Stockholm, Sweden, and Leipzig, Germany,
before returning to Norway and founding the Bergen Geophysical Institute
1917.
During World War I, Bjerknes instituted a network of weather stations
throughout Norway; coordination of the findings from such stations
led him and his co-workers to the theory of polar fronts, based on
the discovery that the atmosphere is made up of discrete air masses
displaying dissimilar features.
He coined the word 'front' to denote the boundary between such air
masses.
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