Alexander Buchan (meteorologist)

Alexander Buchan (* April 11, 1829 in Kinnesswood, † May 13 1907 in Edinburgh ) was a climatologist and meteorologist.

He is considered the father of meteorology. By 1860, there was hardly understood the principle of the isobars. It was by then customary to quote the observation of air pressure as the difference from the mean. Buchan realized that it was much more useful for all stations to calculate the air pressure at sea level and then " connect points", so to draw isobars, and so laid the foundation of today's weather maps, what to detect the position of the high and low pressure areas are.

Work

In the fall and early winter of 1863, Buchan constructed a series of 18 cards, with which he was able to follow the development and movement of weather systems in Europe. Buchan trying to predict future weather developments as the first. These were published in his Handy Book of Meteorology in 1868. A little later he published his major work: The Mean Pressure of the Atmosphere and the Prevailing Winds over the Globe for the Months and for the Year.