Aviation
Growth Adds Responsibilities.-During
the First World War the need for special weather service in aid of
aviation was recognized. An item of $100.000 was included in the Army
Appropriation Act of 1918 (for transfer to the Weather Bureau) for
taking care of the urgent need for information of upper air conditions
for military flying in addition to such aerological information as
the Bureau had been able to provide theretofore with the meager funds
available for the purpose. Thereafter an item was provided in the
appropriation for the Weather Bureau for this purpose.
It was
not until 1926, however, that recognition was given to the need for
additional day-by-day service in aid of and protection for civilian
as well as military flying. During that year Congress enacted the
"Air Commerce Act of 1926" which was an act to encourage and regulate
the use of aircraft in commerce, and for other purposes. This Act
and the "Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938," which amended and amplified
it, placed greatly increased responsibilities upon the Weather Bureau
in carrying on the duties which are summarized in Section 803 thereof:
In
order to promote the safety and efficiency of aircraft to the highest
possible degree, the Chief of the Weather Bureau, under the direction
of the Secretary of Agriculture (Commerce), shall, in addition to
any other functions or duties pertaining to weather information for
other purposes,
(1)
make such observations, measurements, investigations, and studies
of atmospheric phenomena, and establish such meteorological offices
and stations, as are necessary or best suited for ascertaining, in
advance, information concerning probable weather conditions; (2) furnish
such reports, forecasts, warnings, and advices to the (Civil Aeronautics)
Authority, and to such air carriers and other persons engaged in civil
aeronautics as may be designated by the Authority, and to such other
persons as the Chief of the Weather Bureau may determine, and such
reports shall be made in such manner and with such frequency as will
best result in safety in air navigation; (3) cooperate with any person
employed by air carriers in meteorological service and (4) detail
annually not to exceed ten members of the Weather Bureau personnel
for training at Government expense, either at civilian institutions
or otherwise, in advanced methods of meteorological science: provided,
that no such member shall lose his individual status or seniority
rating in the Bureau merely by reason of absence due to such training.
(49 U.S.C. 603.)
Weather
Bureau transferred to Department of Commerce. -The
Weather Bureau was transferred from the Department of Agriculture,
where it had been a constituent bureau since July 1, 1891 (Act of
October 1, 1890, 26 Stat. 653) to the Department of Commerce on June
30, 1940, under authority of Reorganization Plan No. IV of the President
which was submitted to the Congress on April 11, 1940.
In his
message submitting Reorganization Plan No. IV, with reference to the
Weather Bureau, the President said:
The
importance of the Weather Bureau's functions to the Nation's commerce
has also led to the decision to transfer this Bureau to the Department
of Commerce. The development of the aviation industry has imposed
upon the Weather Bureau a major responsibility in the field of air
transportation. The transfer to the Department of Commerce, as provided
in this plan, will permit better coordination of Government activities
relating to aviation and to commerce generally, without in any way
lessening the Bureau's contribution to agriculture.
Section
8 of Reorganization Plan No. IV effecting the transfer of the Weather
Bureau, reads as follows:
Sec.
8. Transfer of Weather Bureau-The Weather Bureau in the Department
of Agriculture and its functions are transferred to the Department
of Commerce and shall be administered under the direction and supervision
of the Secretary of Commerce: Provided, that the Department of Agriculture
may continue to make snow surveys and to conduct research concerning:
(a) relationships between weather and crops, (b) long-range weather
forecasting, and (c) relationships between weather and soil erosion.
Physical
Organization.-The Weather Bureau operates the basic system
of meteorological observations for the United States, its territories
and contiguous ocean areas; collects and analyzes these observations
and prepares current weather maps and bulletins, forecasts, warnings
and climatological summaries for the benefit of air transport, agriculture,
business, commerce, industry, shipping and other material interests,
and for other branches of the Government, including the military and
naval services. Figure 1 is a master chart showing the physical organization
of the Bureau.
Basic
Functions Summarized.-Synoptic observations of weather
conditions especially required for forecasting are made four times
daily at about 420 airport and city offices. Other observations are
made at about 5,500 sub-stations for the benefit of airways, river
and flood, crop-weather, fruit-frost, and other miscellaneous services,
and at more than 6,000 selected locations by public-spirited citizens
who make daily observations without pay primarily for climatological
purposes. A large number of observations are also obtained by radio
from ships at sea, and on an exchange basis from foreign meteorological
services. These latter permit the bureau to compile daily a meteorological
map of the entire northern hemisphere in addition to the forecast
maps prepared at least four times a day. These observations, which
include all surface weather elements and upper air conditions so important
for aviation and forecasting, are obtained with radiosondes, radar
equipment and through the use of pilot balloons and airplanes in flight.
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