Remarks to the paper “The tropopause: discovery, definition and demarcation” by K. P. Hoinka (Meteorol. Z., N.F. 6, 281-303, 1997)

Abstract

Some additional remarks are given to Hoinka’s paper concerning especially the first stratospheric temperature profiles obtained from sounding balloons since 1894, but misinterpreted by the contemporary authorities for some years. Further, the role of Berson’s and Süring’s famous high balloon ascent (1901) is pointed out in context with the discovery of the stratosphere, and the position of this surprising discovery in the history of meteorology is outlined.

Keywords

• tropopause
• stratospheric temperature profiles