Radio Broadcast (May-Oct 1925)

Do Weather Conditions Influence Radio? A New Theory, Advanced by a Climatologist, Tending to Prove That Atmospheric ''Highs" and "Lows" and Other Weather Phenomena Affect Receiving Conditions By EUGENE VAN CLEEF Ohio State University IT IS certainly not uncommon to hear radio enthusiasts say, " I couldn't get much last night, too much static," or "Bad night last night, couldn't get a thing from the west and just a few eastern stations," or again, "Can't expect results to-night, too rainy." Correct as the reports may be as far as actual poor reception is concerned, the diagnoses are not always true. This is because the average person is unacquainted with the mechanics of the circulation of the atmosphere. He knows that the weather changes, but does not appreciate fully the direction of these changes and the part which atmospheric pressure plays in our daily weather. Weather, of course, is local at any given time. One could well say that weather travels, and the weather which a given city west of us has to-day, may be the kind of weather we shall have within the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours. This suggests that a certain brand of weather is not universal at a given time of day or night, but that there may be a radical difference in the state of the weather at the broadcasting station and that where the receiving instrument is located. The weather in the United States changes Talk — Minus Facts HT HOSE interested in radio have for years 1 tried to find out the factors which influence the radiation and reception of radio waves. There have been a number of theories adduced to explain the sometimes peculiar variation of the signals. Probably best known of such theories is the Heaviside layer theory, which, very briefly, assumes that the various ionized layers of the upper atmosphere refract, absorb, or aid the waves in their passage. Radio Broadcast does not assume responsibility for Mr. Van Cleef's conclusions that weather conditions definitely affect radio conditions, but we should like to observe that his findings seem to fit in very well with what actually is the case. It is quite possible that atmospheric conditions have a definite and yet unexplained relation to the variations in the Heaviside layer. It may be, too, that the findings of this experimenter can be put with the conclusions of other experimenters and relations between phenomena as yet unknown may be seen. At least, the author has done a genuinely good piece of work. Those who have similar access to national weather information should be very much interested in continuing and checking these conclusions. — The Editor because of the influence of shifting atmospheric pressure areas known technically as Cyclones and Anti-Cyclones. In the cyclone, the air in general blows spirally inward, upward, and in counter-clockwise fashion. In the anticyclone, the air blows spirally downward, outward, and in a clockwise direction. In neither pressure area is the movement violent. The diameters of the storms may be anywhere from 400 to 1 5 00 miles. These pressure areas are not always symmetrical in form and consequently their diameters may vary along a dozen different radii. These storms travel across the United States in a general easterly direction, entering the United States either from the southwest, west, or northwest and leaving by way of the Atlantic coast, but most often by the St. Lawrence river valley. In the autumn months, September to November, hurricanes and violent cyclones, may enter the United States from the southeast in the vicinity of Florida, penetrate at times as far as the Galveston coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and then following the customary paths across the eastern half of the country. The hurricane is the exception and not the rule.