UTAH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 55 
NOTES ON VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF 
TEMPERATURE. 
By A. H. THIESSEN. 
In the older text books on meteorology we find the 
general statement that the temperature of the air decreases 
with the altitude. This statement was justified by ex- 
periment, observation, and deductions from theory. 
The observations were made on mountains, with kites, 
and manned balloons. Within the past few years with 
increased facilities, new observations have been secured, 
causing the meteorologist to modify his views and recon- 
struct his theory to some extent. 
In studying the distribution of temperature, it is not 
enough to carry on observations at any single place. The 
vertical distribution of temperature may be different over 
land than over the ocean, may vary with the latitude, with 
the season, and finally with the changing atmospheric con- 
dition at any one place. 
The forecaster in the Weather Bureau can not hope to 
improve the accuracy of his forecasts greatly unless his 
knowledge of the mechanism of the air is greatly increased. 
As far as observations on the surface of the earth are con- 
cerned, the data are very complete, so in the past few 
years attention by experimental meteorologists has been 
directed to the upper portions of the atmosphere. 
To obtain data from this region they have resorted 
to the use of free balloons. The balloons used have varied 
greatly in size. They are made of india rubber and filled 
with the lightest available gas-hydrogen. An instrument 
called a meteograph is attached to this balloon. This in- 
strument records either temperature and air pressure, or 
air temperature, pressure, wind velocity and humidity. 
They are tied to the balloon which when filled with gas 
is allowed freely to rise. As it rises higher and higher in 
the air, it continually comes into regions of less and less 
air pressure and the balloon in turn continually expands 
until a limit is reached when the rubber breaks and the in- 
