Apia Observatory

Abstract

THE annual report for 1935 of the Apia Observatory, issued by the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, bears witness to useful systematic work in several sections of geophysical research carried out at the Apia Observatory. The observations are grouped under terrestrial magnetism, seismology, meteorology, and atmospheric electricity. The meteorological observations include pilot balloon ascents for upper air data and the preparation of daily synoptic charts of the weather in the region of the South Pacific islands. A time service is also maintained. A glance at the meteorological records shows that conditions from the observer's point of view must often be difficult. The mean monthly temperature at 9h. usually exceeds 80° F.; there is much rain in some months, and relative humidity is invariably high. On January 16, 1935, a fall of more than 13 inches of rain was recorded, the total for the month being about 41 inches. Apia Observatory was established in 1902 in connexion with the German South Polar Expedition. The magnetic section of the Observatory was constructed in 1912, the seismograph installed in 1913, while the atmospheric electricity apparatus was housed in 1922–1924 through grants from the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington. In 1921, the Observatory was formally taken over by the New Zealand Government, which has borne throughout the greater part of the cost of maintenance, although, substantial annual grants have been made by the Carnegie Institution of Washington and by the British Admiralty.