Jacob Bjerknes

Jacob Aall Bonnevie Bjerknes (born November 2, 1897 in Stockholm , † July 7, 1975 in Los Angeles ) was a Norwegian - American meteorologist . His father was Vilhelm Bjerknes and his maternal grandfather was Jacob Aall Bonnevie .

Bjerknes was a member of the Bergen School , a group of meteorologists led by his father who described the development, intensification and eventual disintegration of weather fronts (abrupt boundaries between different air masses). This concept has become known as the Norwegian cyclone model (see also polar front theory ). He described El Niño and the Southern Oscillation , a complex coupled circulation system of atmosphere and ocean in the Pacific. He realized that El Niño and the Southern Oscillation were related phenomena.

Bjerknes was one of the meteorologists who supported Roald Amundsen's expedition when he made the first crossing of the Arctic in the airship Norge in 1926. In 1947 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences , 1960 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

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personal data
SURNAME	Bjerknes, Jacob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bjerknes, Jacob Aall Bonnevie (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Norwegian-American meteorologist
DATE OF BIRTH	November 2, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stockholm
DATE OF DEATH	7th July 1975
Place of death	los Angeles