Cyclone
PLAN VIEW showing direction of air flow – FOUR BASIC DIRECTIONS
PLAN VIEW showing direction of air flow – FOUR BASIC DIRECTIONS
Work-in-progress, in collaboration with Steve Bunn
In 1919, Jacob Bjerknes published his three-dimensional wire model that described the process and structure of a cyclone. This was a huge breakthrough in helping to understand how weather and climate worked. A conventional drawing or diagram was not an adequate way to show this, as airflow moves in at least four dimensions. In order to visualise the phenomenon, Bjerknes constructed the model which, due to its immense meteorological significance, became a symbol of climate research and the basis for all weather maps. Only photographic evidence remains of this fragile construction.
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