Richard Assmann (Anglicized spelling of the German name Richard Aßmann) (13 April 1845 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

– 28 May 1918 in Gießen) was a German meteorologist and physician who was a native of

. He made numerous contributions in high altitude research of the Earth's atmosphere. He was a pioneer of scientific aeronautics and considered a co-founder of aerology.Magdeburger Biographischen Lexikon
(biography) In 1868 he received his medical doctorate in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, and from 1870 to 1879 was a general practitioner in Bad Freienwalde. In 1879 he returned to Magdeburg to practice medicine. In 1885 he earned a doctorate in secondary studies at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Halle, and subsequently became a scientific officer at the Royal Meteorological Institute at Berlin-Grünau. From 1905 to 1914 Assmann was director of the Prussian Royal Aeronautical Observatory at Lindenberg, and afterwards was an honorary professor at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von ...

. From 1887 to 1892, with airship designer Rudolf Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld (1861–1902), he developed a

psychrometer A hair tension dial hygrometer with a nonlinear scale. A hygrometer is an instrument used to measure the amount of water vapor in air, in soil, or in confined spaces. Humidity measurement instruments usually rely on measurements of some other q ...

for accurate measurement of atmospheric

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

and temperature. This was the first instrument that was able to provide reliable temperature readings with high altitude balloons, as it was capable of shielding its thermometric elements from

solar radiation Solar irradiance is the power per unit area ( surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre ...

. The technical implementation and production of this device took place in the factory of Rudolf Fuess (1838–1917). Psychrometer

From 1888 to 1899, he was a member of the ''Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt'', from which he organized scientific balloon ascents in order to study the atmosphere. From these studies, valuable insights in regards to atmospheric stratification of the

troposphere The troposphere is the first and lowest layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, and contains 75% of the total mass of the planetary atmosphere, 99% of the total mass of water vapour and aerosols, and is where most weather phenomena occur. Fro ...

were made. He is also credited for popularizing the field of meteorology, and played a significant role in several scientific newspapers and magazines during his career. From 1884 until his death, Assmann published the popular monthly magazine ''Das Wetter'' (The Weather). With

Léon Teisserenc de Bort Léon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort (5 November 1855 in Paris, France – 2 January 1913 in Cannes, France) was a French meteorologist and a pioneer in the field of aerology. Together with Richard Assmann (1845-1918), he is credited as co-discove ...

(1855–1913), he is credited as co-discoverer of the

stratosphere The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air h ...

, as both men announced their discovery during the same time period in 1902. In 1903, with meteorologist Arthur Berson (1859–1942), he was awarded the Buys Ballot Medal by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.

Selected writings

* '' Der Einfluß der Gebirge auf das Klima von Mitteldeutschland'', 1886 - The influence of mountains on the climate of central Germany. * ''Das Aspirations-Psychrometer. Ein Apparat zur Bestimmung der wahren Temperatur und Feuchtigkeit der Luft'', (editor), 1892 - The aspiration psychrometer. An apparatus for determining the true temperature and humidity of the air. * ''Wissenschaftliche Luftfahrten, ausgeführt vom Deutschen Verein zur Förderung der Luftfahrt in Berlin'', (three volumes, co-edited with Arthur Berson), 1899–1900 - Scientific air trips, run by the German Association for the Advancement of Aviation in Berlin. * ''Beiträge zur Erforschung der Atmosphäre mittels des Luftballons'', 1900 - Contributions to the study of the atmosphere by means of balloons. * ''Die modernen Methoden zur Erforschung der Atmosphäre mittels des Luftballons und Drachen'', 1901 - The modern methods to study the atmosphere by means of balloons and kites. * ''Über die Existenz eines wärmeren Luftstromes in der Höhe von 10 bis 15 km'', in: Sitzungsberichte der Königlich-Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (Sitzung der physikalisch-mathematischen Klasse vom 1. Mai 1902), Bd. 24, 1902, S. 1-10. - On the existence of a warm air current at heights from 10 to 15 km.

References

* This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Assmann, Richard German meteorologists German general practitioners 1845 births 1918 deaths Physicians from Magdeburg Recipients of the Buys Ballot Medal (Netherlands) Atmospheric sounding Scientists from Magdeburg