Friedrich Hopfner

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Friedrich Hopfner (born October 28, 1881 in Trautenau , Bohemia ; † September 5, 1949 in Hintersteiner See , Tyrol - drowned) was an Austrian geophysicist , planetary researcher and university professor of geodesy .

After serving in meteorology as an officer in World War I, in 1921 he became chief astronomer at the Vienna Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying . From 1936 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1949 he was a professor at the Technical University of Vienna , where he most recently also held the office of rector .

biography

Doctoral certificate (70 × 51 cm) on handmade paper for Friedrich Hopfner from January 13, 1905 from Karl Ferdinands University

Friedrich Hopfner was born on October 28, 1881 in Trautenau in northern Bohemia , studied mathematics , physics , astronomy and cosmic physics in Prague and Munich from 1899 to 1904 and received his doctorate in 1905 at the Karl Ferdinand University in Prague. His dissertation was on "The mean and relative distribution of temperature on the earth's surface". He then worked as an assistant at the Prague observatory and at the meteorological institutes in Berlin , Innsbruck and Vienna . In 1908 he came to the k. k. Maritime Observatory Trieste (today Istituto Talassografico di Trieste ), in 1912 he was appointed to the degree measurement office in Vienna.

From 1916 the tall officer was head of the Isonzo Army's field weather service . When the new Austrian Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying was established in 1921 , Hopfner was appointed chief astronomer for the scientific surveying service . In 1936 he was appointed professor for higher geodesy and spherical astronomy at the Technical University in Vienna. There he took over the chair from Richard Schumann .

In 1938 he was forced into retirement by the National Socialists. After that he lived secluded with his family in Schönbühel on the Danube , where he devoted himself to his scientific work. A resulting in the fall of 1942 invitation to enter as a corresponding member of the of Hitler launched Academy of Sciences in Prague refused Hopfner. After the war ended in 1945 he was immediately returned to its withdrawn his Vienna professorship used and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics elected and physics.

Due to his friendly and elegant manner, he was highly respected by employees and colleagues at the university. For the academic year 1948/49 he was elected " Rector magnificus " of the TH Vienna, but drowned in the last month of his office due to an accident in the Hintersteiner See near Kufstein .

Services

According to his training, he was a full-fledged representative of astronomy, geodesy, geophysics and meteorology - not only in theoretical but also in practical terms - and published in all four subjects. He wrote three well-known textbooks (see below ).

Orbit determination of planetoids

Hopfner's scientific activity is extraordinarily diverse. At a young age he was more concerned with meteorological and astronomical problems. The first orbit determinations and ephemeris calculations for a number of asteroids are significant . They come from a long-term close collaboration with the planetary researcher Johann Palisa .

Mathematical foundations for an astronomical theory of climate fluctuations

In 1906 he began to deal with questions in the border area between astronomy and geophysics. The first work deals with the problem of heat radiation of the earth by the sun. Hopfner was mainly concerned with working out the fundamental difference between the daily and seasonal mean irradiation. In 1927 the subject was dealt with in more detail by him. He laid down the findings in his work "Mathematical foundations for an astronomical theory of climatic fluctuations". For this work he received the Seegen Prize in Bohemia .

Investigations on the tides

His many years of work at the Maritime Observatory in Trieste also led him to investigate nautical issues such as B. on the tides or the determination of harmonic constants of the level at the port of Trieste , which was the important reference to altitude for Central Europe meters above the Adriatic .

Higher geodesy and geophysics

When he joined the Gradmessungsbüro in Vienna and the Austrian Federal Surveying Office in 1921, he turned to the problems of higher geodesy and geophysics. The first geodetic work concerns calculations for the " Grossenhain - Kremsmünster - Pola meridional arch ", where he explains in detail the method of vertical deviation equations (published in 1922). Later he deals in detail with the important problem “ figure of the earth ” - e.g. B. with the questions of the reduction of observed gravity values ​​and isostasis (theory of the mass balance of the earth's crust). From the 1930s research on ellipsoids and equilibrium figures of the earth dominated, e. B. the ellipticity of the earth's equator , the flattening of the level spheroids and the three-axis Jacobi ellipsoids .

Research area Austria

Hopfner did pioneering work for the wireless determination of astronomical longitudes in Austria (first use of time signals ), as well as for the implementation of extensive modern gravity measurements . In cooperation with the Vienna Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics , the new geomagnetic image of Austria was created. This successful activity laid the foundation for the current international reputation of this institute.

Membership and Features

  • Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • President of the Austrian Commission for International Earth Surveying
  • Correspondent of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics
  • Corresponding member of the German Society for Science and the Arts in the Czechoslovak Republic
  • Member of the Vienna Mathematical Society

Honourings and prices

In recognition of his services, Austria's Geodetic Commission donated the " Friedrich Hopfner Medal " in 1977 , which is awarded every four years for outstanding achievements in the field of geodesy.

In 1971 the Hopfnerweg in Vienna- Simmering (11th district) was named after him.

Works and scientific contributions

Friedrich Hopfner wrote a total of 81 specialist publications . Below is a small selection (3 textbooks highlighted ):

  • 1905 "The Distribution of Solar Thermal Radiation on Earth", Monthly Weather Review 1906.
  • 1907 “Investigations into the irradiation of the earth by the sun, taking into account the absorption of heat rays by the atmospheric air according to Lambert's law. Communication I: Analytical Treatment of the Problem ”(pp. 167–234) in:“ About the Occurrence of Rare Earths on the Sun ”, Vienna, Verlag Hölder
  • 1913 “The tides in the port of Trieste”, Vienna, Verlag Hölder, in: Session reports of the Academy of Sciences, Math.-Nat. Class, department 2a; Vol. 122, No. 9, Vienna
  • 1922 "The meridian curve Grossenhain-Kremsmünster-Pola" (with R. Schumann), Astro-geodetic works Austria, new series vol.1
  • 1927 "Mathematical foundations for an astronomical theory of climate fluctuations"
  • 1927 “ The figure of the earth ”, Bundesverlag Vienna
  • 1931 “New ways to determine the figure of the earth” (results of Kosm.Physik Vol.1), Leipzig
  • 1931 "The tides of the seas" in the manual of experimental physics
  • 1933 “The tides of the solid earth” in Gutenberg's Handbuch der Geophysik
  • 1933 " Physical Geodesy " (Mathematics and its Applications, Vol. 14), Academic Printing, Leipzig
  • 1936 "Figure of the earth, density and pressure in the interior of the earth" in Gutenberg's Handbuch der Geophysik Vol. 1, p.139-308, Berlin
  • 1949 “ Basics of Higher Geodesy ” (textbook), Vienna, Springer-Verlag.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ (distinction.). In:  Neues Wiener Journal , August 21, 1936, p. 9 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nwj
personal data
SURNAME Hopfner, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian geodesist, geophysicist and planetary researcher
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Trautenau , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH September 5, 1949
Place of death Hintersteiner See , Tyrol