Erich Kuhlbrodt

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Erich Walter Gotthard Kuhlbrodt (born August 22, 1891 in Lichtenberg , † December 21, 1972 in Hamburg ) was a German maritime meteorologist . He carried out basic research in the fields of maritime aerology , maritime weather observation and maritime climatology .

Erich Kuhlbrodt

life and work

Erich Kuhlbrodt attended the Realgymnasium Lichterfelde , then he studied from 1910 to 1914 at the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin . During his studies he became a member of the Association of German Students in Berlin . According to his own statements, Kuhlbrodt owes his passion for maritime aerology to the climatologist Wladimir Peter Köppen , who was convinced that the future belonged to the study of the free atmosphere in meteorology and in weather forecasting. Kuhlbrodt served as a lieutenant colonel in the infantry during the First World War. When the meteorologist and polar researcher Alfred Wegener was looking for reinforcements for the army weather service in 1917, Kuhlbrodt was able to leave the trenches of Verdun. In the last year of the war in Macedonia, Kuhlbrodt and Wegener jointly operated weather observations for the imperial air forces. In 1920 Kuhlbrodt received his doctorate from Gustav Hellmann at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin with a dissertation on the climatology and meteorology of Macedonia .

Kuhlbrodt followed Wegener, who succeeded Vladimir Köppen, to the Deutsche Seewarte in Hamburg. A thought began to germinate among the researchers Kuhlbrodt, Wegener and Köppen, which at the time seemed bold and fantastic. At a time when airplanes could only cover short distances, Kuhlbrodt and Wegener pointed out that what they believed to be the upcoming Atlantic air traffic would require precise knowledge of the altitude wind conditions as a basis for navigation over oceanic areas. In the tradition of the Seewarte, whose task it was to give deep-water sailors route advice for the ocean crossing by providing information about the average wind conditions, Kuhlbrodt began to carry out high-altitude wind measurements from merchant ships with pilot balloons. He succeeded in winning Hapag-Lloyd and other large shipping companies as partners. Together with Wegener, he developed the mirror theodolite for balloon tracking from moving ships. The mirror theodolite made it possible for the first time to set up a measuring network. This deepened a theory of atmospheric circulation between the equator and the pole. With this topic, Kuhlbrodt completed his habilitation in 1923 at the University of Hamburg , which appointed him associate professor in 1928 . There followed over 30 years of teaching activity, and over 50 scientific publications were created.

Kuhlbrodt spent the years 1925 to 1927 on board the first research ship Meteor , which repeatedly crossed the Atlantic between West Africa and the east coast of South America. On this German Atlantic Expedition of a total of 67,535 nautical miles, Kuhlbrodt carried out altitude wind measurements. This brought him to the height of his success. The system of planetary air currents according to Kuhlbrodt and Flohn , which represents tropical circulations and energy transport in the high atmosphere , soon found its way into German geography textbooks.

In 1929 Kuhlbrodt founded the Hamburg branch of the Meteorological Society. Until 1956, Kuhlbrodt was the head of the Hamburg Maritime Weather Office .

Kuhlbrodt's marriage to geologist Lucie Raehder resulted in five children, including Rüdiger Kuhlbrodt , Eckhard Kuhlbrodt and Dietrich Kuhlbrodt .

Awards

Fonts (selection)

  • About the polar front theory according to Bjerknes and the newer views of the atmospheric processes. In: The natural sciences . Vol. 10, H. 21 (March 1922), pp. 495-503, doi: 10.1007 / BF01568544 .
  • ed. with Albert Defant : German Atlantic expedition on the research and survey ship "Meteor", carried out under the direction of Professor Dr. A. Merz and Captain ZSF Spiess 1925–1927: Scientific results. 15. The aerological methods and the aerological observation material. De Gruyter, Berlin 1933.
  • Seasonal course of the North Atlantic core trade wind. In: German hydrographic journal . Vol. 3 (1950), H. 1/2, pp. 127-136, doi: 10.1007 / BF02274983 .

literature

  • Peter Thran: Commemorative speech at the funeral service for Professor Dr. Erich Kuhlbrodt on December 29, 1972 in the cemetery in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf
  • Rüdiger Kuhlbrodt in an interview with Jutta Wolfert, August 17, 2013

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Catalog card of the dissertation , dissertation catalog of the University Library Basel , accessed on September 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ Louis Lange (Ed.): Kyffhäuser Association of German Student Associations. Address book 1931. Berlin 1931, p. 126.
personal data
SURNAME Kuhlbrodt, Erich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kuhlbrodt, Erich Walter Gotthard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German maritime meteorologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Lichtenberg
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1972
Place of death Hamburg