The Nephoscope

Question: What is a nephoscope? Who invented it and when?

Answer: Nephoscopes are used for measuring the speed and direction of cloud motion, so the units of the measurement are those of speed and direction.

Movement of clouds are coded with respect to the compass direction toward which the phenomena is moving. This is usually coded as tens of degrees in any measurement system. For example, a southward moving cloud is moving to 180 degrees and thus coded as 18 in a numerical report. It might also be coded in a remarks or text report using the direction in compass points (8-point compass) such as: CB MOV S, meaning cumulonimbus moving south.

There are several types of nephoscope: the comb nephoscope developed by Besson; the mirror nephoscope developed by Finemann; and the grid nephoscope, a variation on the comb modified by the Norwegians.

There is also a Marvin nephoscope that was devised by Professor Marvin in 1896 for the U.S. Weather Bureau stations Moore (Descriptive Meteorology --1908) mentions that an unmaned Swedish meteorologist first used a mirrored nephoscope about 1888. Cleveland Abbe amost simultaneously and independently used the instrument, which is likely the Marvin model.

Among the various other forms of this instrument are the nephodoscope of Fornioni, the marine nephoscope of Finemann, the simple mirror with attachments used by Clayton, the cloud camera of Vettin, and the altazimuths of Mohn and Lettry.

Learn More From These Books Chosen by The Weather Doctor

• Williams, Jack: The Weather Book, 1997, Vintage Books, ISBN 0-679-77665-6.
• Dunlop, Storm: The Weather Identification Handbook: The Ultimate Guide for Weather Watchers,, 2003, The Lyons Press, ISBN 1585748579. (pb).

The Weather Doctor's Weather Almanac The Nephoscope
©2003, Keith C. Heidorn, PhD. All Rights Reserved.
Correspondence may be sent via email to: see@islandnet.com.

For More Weather Doctor articles, go to our Site Map.

I have recently added many of my lifetime collection of photographs and art works to an on-line shop where you can purchase notecards, posters, and greeting cards, etc. of my best images.

To Purchase Notecard, Greeting Cards and Posters featuring my images, visit The Weather Doctor's Nature Gallery

Now Available! Order Today!
NEW! Now Available in the US! And Now...The Weather by Keith C. Heidorn To Order in Canada: And Now...The Weather by Keith C. Heidorn	The BC Weather Book: From the Sunshine Coast to Storm Mountain by Keith C. Heidorn