Published 19.02.2022 On February 19, 1855, a Synoptic map was compiled 167 years ago. It was invented by the outstanding French astronomer and mathematician Urbain Leverrier. He already owned one amazing discovery: nine years earlier, he had discovered the planet Neptune by mathematical calculations.
Since then, dozens of synoptic maps have been created daily – surface, altitude and prognostic. Now it is one of the most important tools in the work of forecasters. For weather analysis, the values of meteorological quantities and weather phenomena determined at a single moment in time on an extensive network of meteorological stations are applied to geographical maps with special conventional signs and numbers. Synoptic maps gave the name to the synoptic method of studying and forecasting the weather, based on the identification of physical patterns of the development of atmospheric processes using these maps. Therefore, synoptic maps still remain the main tool in the compilation of all types of weather forecasts. The most important advantage of the synoptic method is its visibility and efficiency. On one map, you can put information about the weather in the hemisphere or even on the whole globe, which allows you to make a weather forecast for any area of the globe, including for a very remote place from the place of making the forecast. The synoptic method is a powerful tool for studying atmospheric processes.