Dan Barfod la Cour: Pioneer of Geomagnetism and International Scientific Cooperation

Author(s)
Peter Stauning
Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark.

ISBN 978-93-88417-19-8 (Print)
ISBN 978-93-88417-45-7 (eBook)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mono/978-93-88417-19-8

The linkage between weather and climate on one hand and aurora, geomagnetism, and radio disturbances on the other is not obvious nowadays. However, for more than a century, the Danish Meteorological Institute has provided national weather services and has also been an internationally recognised Centre for research in auroras, geomagnetism and radio disturbances.

The first regular Danish auroral observations were made by the astronomer, Tycho Brahe, from the small island, Hven, in the strait between Denmark and Sweden. His observations of weather and auroras (“chasmata”) were noted in the “Meteorologische Journalen” during the years 1582-92. His notes were later published by Poul la Cour (father of Dan B. la Cour) in 1876.

The relations between auroras and geomagnetic variations were made realistic by H. C. Ørsted’s discovery of the magnetic effect on electric currents in 1820 and solidified in 1823 by the publication of his view on aurora theories. “The luminous arc in large auroras has precisely the same orientation as that of an electrical discharge with corresponding magnetic effects”.  Ørsted was also the founder of a permanent Meteorological Committee in 1827, which developed into the foundation of the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) in 1872.

In 1963, I was employed at the Ionosphere Laboratory headed by Professor J. Rybner at the Danish Technical University to be a lecturer in plasma physics and radio wave propagation, and also to work with geophysical observations from Greenland. The Ionosphere Laboratory (Ionlab) in 1968 was transferred to the Meteorological Institute.

At the Institute’s 100 years anniversary in 1972, in addition to divisions for weather services, climatology, aerology, nautical services, and operation of weather equipment and observatories in Denmark, Faroe Island and Greenland, and in addition to Ionlab, there were already two geophysical division (GEI and GEII) dealing with auroras and geomagnetism and building precision magnetic instruments, and furthermore an international division comprising the Copenhagen World Data Centre (WDC) for Geomagnetism.

Thus, beyond the meteorological services, the Danish Meteorological Institute had very diverse teams with profound knowledge and wide experiences in many aspects of geophysics, including auroras, geomagnetism, and radio wave propagation. This became the background for comprehensive geophysical activities, including numerous scientific publications and operation of geomagnetic observatories, one in Denmark, and 16 in Greenland, of which many were also equipped with instrumentation for auroral and radio wave observations. The skilled geophysical teams at DMI were also the basis for assuming a leading position in the development of the first Danish satellite, “Ørsted”, successfully launched in 1999.

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