Xujiahui Observatory

Xujiahui Observatory

China China Observatory China, located in Shanghai, Xujiahui, was founded in 1872. It is a meteorological observatory with meteorological, astronomical and geomagnetic features. It was once regarded as the first meteorological station in the Far East and the first Centennial climatic station in Chinese mainland. It is a witness to the history of modern Chinese meteorological development, including the first typhoon warning issued in July 31, 1879. It has a high position in the history of international meteorology, as one of the three major measurement datum points in the world.

summary

Xujiahui Observatory is the center for reporting the meteorology of sailing ships. It also has the current affairs department for accurately reporting the time, the astronomy department for studying astronomical phenomena, and the physics department for observing and studying the changes of geomagnetic elements. Especially for its report on the meteorology of sailing ships, it is deeply appreciated by the navigators.

Early warnings of hurricanes were issued from signal stations and later by radio in the French concession.

Century climate station

The meteorological station that has been observing for more than 100 years is called "century climate station". The observation data of Xujiahui Observatory for 140 years have never been interrupted. The data of Xujiahui Observatory is applied to the reconstruction of global surface temperature series. For example, the data of Xujiahui Observatory is used in the global temperature series reconstructed by the University of East Anglia, which is quoted by the fourth IPCC climate change assessment report. As the only century climate station recommended by China, Xujiahui Observatory has obtained the certificate issued by Secretary General of WMO yarrow.

What is an observatory

observatory

According to their different tasks, the institutions observing astronomical, meteorological, geomagnetic and seismic phenomena have adopted the names of Observatory, meteorological, geomagnetic and seismological stations.

Ziggurat, also known as the mountain platform, is a tower building in ancient West Asia that worships mountains, celestial bodies and stars. The local residents worship celestial bodies, but the residents from the eastern mountainous areas bring the belief of worshiping mountains. They believe that mountains support heaven and earth, and there is a source of life in the mountains. The gods in the sky live in the mountains, and the mountains are the road between people and gods. They call the temple "the house of the mountain" and build it on a high platform. With the development of productive forces and the deeper understanding of the memorial of the centralized high-rise composition, the religious buildings called shanyuetai were finally formed. Later, the local people also adopted this kind of high-rise building for celestial worship, and its shape was also suitable for the religious concept of celestial worship.

Historical evolution

establish

After the Opium War, the French Catholic Church of Jesus proposed to set up an observatory in Nanjing or Shanghai, which was supported by the French longitude Bureau. In the 1860s, Jesuit missionaries carried out some meteorological observation activities in Shanghai. In 1865, the Jesuit missionary Henri Le LEC came to Shanghai with meteorological observation instruments. Together with two priests, Louis Helot and Charles de argy, he submitted the report on the establishment of scientific research institutions to Michel fessard, the Minister of the prison Council. It is considered that it is too early to establish scientific research institutions, but it is not opposed to participating in scientific research in the name of individuals. So Liu Deyao was appointed as the science professor of Dongjiadu monastery. He used his instruments to observe air pressure, temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind and other weather phenomena. At 5:00, 9:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 21:00 every day.

In January 1869, the Jesuits sent missionary Augustin columbel to Shanghai to realize the plan of building an observatory in Jiangnan parish. Later, Liu Deyao and Gao Longkai were sent to Nanjing to investigate the site selection of the observatory. However, they found that Nanjing did not have the conditions to set up an observatory. And when they arrived in Nanjing, it was just at the time of the religious plan. They had to leave Nanjing and return to Shanghai.

In August 1872, bishop languillat of Jiangnan parish and A. della Corte, President of Jiangnan missionary Church of Jesuits, held a meeting in Xujiahui and decided to set up "Jiangnan Scientific Committee". The committee is made up of four parts, including a "Jesuit" observatory. Gao Longkai was responsible for the preparation of the observatory. From December 1 of the same year, astronomical and meteorological observations were officially carried out at the observatory.

The initial observation work was carried out on the platform to the east of the clergyman's residence of Xujiahui Catholic Church. In February 1873, the construction of a five bay bungalow with two-story platform was started at 221 Puxi road. After completion in July, it will be used as a formal observation site.

development

In September 1873, father M. dechevrsns was sent to Shanghai to set up geomagnetic business in Xujiahui observatory. He arrived in Shanghai on November 29. In 1874, the observatory set up a geomagnetic department, using the instrument sent by father Perry, began to carry out simple geomagnetic observation. In the same year, nengs took over the management of the Observatory from Gao Longkai. In 1876, nennes became the first director of the observatory.

On July 31, 1879, Shanghai was hit by a strong typhoon, which caused huge losses. However, before that, nennes had analyzed and predicted the typhoon by analyzing the meteorological data of coastal lighthouse stations and surrounding stations. This is the first time to make a more accurate typhoon forecast, opening the prelude of China's weather forecast. Afterwards, at the request of the Council of the French Concession and the foreign shipping companies, a navigation service department was set up at the observatory, which was expanded into a two-story building with eight bays and three floors in the following year. In 1881, the president of Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter suggesting that the observatory should set up maritime alarm service, which was approved. The weather service started immediately. From January 1, 1882, the observatory used these data to publish weather forecasts in Chinese and Western newspapers.

On April 19, 1883, nennes wrote to the general manager of the Council of the French concession, hoping to set up a signal station to report the weather and the calibration time. After discussion at the meeting, the Council decided to invest in the establishment of a signal station on the Bund of France. The signal station is under the leadership of the municipal prime minister's office, and the business is managed by Xujiahui observatory. At the end of May 1884, the old Bund signal station was built. According to the meteorological information sent by the telegraph from Xujiahui Observatory, it hung meteorological signals for the ships, and announced the weather situation of the relevant important ports day by day in the bulletin board opposite the Jiang customs building.

The Observatory has been carrying out time service since 1884. At first, the cannon was fired at 12 noon every Monday and Friday. After the completion of the Bund signal station, the electric ball was suspended instead.

In 1895, the observatory drew China's first surface weather map of East Asia.

In 1897, father Aloysius fros, who was then the director of Xujiahui Observatory, wrote a letter to Mr. Hurd, the general tax department of the customs, hoping that all coastal port cities would adopt the meteorological code of Xujiahui observatory. This code was officially adopted on January 1, 1898.

By the end of the 19th century, the observatory had reached Siberia in the north, Manila in the south, Japan in the East and the Indian peninsula in the West. He also released meteorological information to the meteorological stations in China's coastal areas and maritime ships, which was the center for reporting the weather of maritime ships at that time. In addition, the Observatory has published a large number of research papers on tropical storms, monsoons and atmospheric pressure.

relocate

See: Sheshan Observatory

In order to meet its growing business needs, in 1900, the construction of the new building of the observatory was started at No. 166, jinpuxi Road, 100 meters west of the original site. On January 1 of the following year, the observatory moved to a new site for work. In 1901, in order to expand its astronomical business, the observatory built a dome observatory on the top of Sheshan mountain, east of the former Catholic Church of Notre Dame, and began to observe, calculate and study astronomical stars and the sun.

In 1902, the Ministry of public concession industry planned to open a direct tram route to Xujiahui. Due to the impact of trams on geomagnetic instruments, father Josephus de moidrey, who was then the director of the observatory, negotiated with the Ministry of industry and bureau for many times. Finally, in 1906, a consensus was reached that the Ministry of industry and bureau should pay 5000 taels of silver as compensation for the relocation of the geomagnetic observatory. Xintai is located in liujiabang, Jiangsu Province. It was built in 1908. After approval, wires were set up between the station and xutai to exchange data. Since 1904, the Observatory has carried out seismic survey. Since then, Xujiahui Observatory has successively built three subsidiary platforms with different functions, namely Bund, Sheshan and liujiabang, under the unified leadership of the general director of Xujiahui observatory.

In 1909, the observatory added night time service. Since May 18, 1914, the Observatory has collected weather reports from the radio station of the concession Council in gujiazhai village, and broadcast time signals and marine weather forecasts to seagoing vessels twice a day. Since March 1, 1920, broadcast forecasts of high-altitude airflow at 11:00 and 17:00 every day have been added to provide aviation services.

In the 1920s, xutai's scientific research reached its peak. In order to verify the theory of continental drift, the International Astronomical Union decided to carry out the research

Chinese PinYin : Xu Jia Hui Guan Xiang Tai