I9IS.] IN AIR CIRCULATION OF THE GLOBE. 213 



Barkow also carried out kite and balloon ascents, of which a 

 proportionately slight per cent, only failed to show strong inversions 

 of the lower atmosphere, these inversions being proportionately 

 both strong and frequent during the winter season. The entire 

 lower layer of 2,000 meters height was shown to have an average 

 higher temperature than the lowermost layer, the temperature rise 

 from the bottom being often as much as 10° C, and in one instance 

 19.5° C. In the spring season an alternation of inversions (Blatter- 

 struktur) was observed. 



De Quervain' s Studies in Southwest Greenland. — No less de- 

 cisive in showing the absence of polar whirls are conclusions to be 

 drawn from observations on the borders of the inland-ice of Green- 

 land. At a number of stations on the west and southwest coasts 

 ranging between latitudes 64° and 69°, de Quervain and Stolberg in 

 1909 conducted ascents of pilot balloons during the spring and early 

 summer, carrying their observations to extreme heights often in 

 excess of 10,000 meters (6^ miles), ^'^ and in one instance of 16,000 

 meters. In 191 2 Drs. Jost and Stolberg supplemented these ob- 

 servations by a second series carried out through the winter season, 

 with results concerning which only a preliminary statement is as 

 yet available.^" 



As has already been explained, the prevailing surface currents at 

 these stations are controlled by the Greenland anticyclones and blow 

 from the southeasterly quadrant, though with considerable modi- 

 fication by local conditions below the level of 1,000 meters. On 

 the basis of his balloon observations, de Quervain has declared that 

 " at least in greater elevations a polar whirl which is in any degree 

 unified and connects the different low pressure regions of the cir- 

 cumpolar latitudes, can, for the time of our observations in Green- 

 land and Iceland, not be thought of." This conclusion was later 

 extended to the remaining portion of the year, as clearly stated in 

 the preliminary announcement of the results of the later series of 

 observations. 



^^ A. de Quervain, " Gleichzeltige Pilotaufstiege in Westgronland und 

 Island, Veranstaltet durch die schweizerisch-deutschen Gronland-expedition 

 und das danische meteorologische Institut," Beitr. s. Physik d. fr. Atmos- 

 phdre, Vol. 5, 1913, pp. 132-158. 



•^^ A. de Quervain, " Quer durchs Gronlandeis, Die schweizerische Gron- 

 land-Expedition 1912-13," Munich, 1914, pp. 196, pis. 15, figs. 37 and map. 



