{"id":1972,"date":"2024-12-31T18:25:36","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T17:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/?page_id=1972"},"modified":"2026-03-20T23:51:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:51:47","slug":"exhibition-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/exhibition-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Exhibition &#8211; Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>The Beginnings of Atmospheric Electricity Measurements at the Geophysical Observatory in \u015awider<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"563\" height=\"459\" src=\"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kalinowska-AGP-1955_diurnal1930-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2188 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kalinowska-AGP-1955_diurnal1930-1.png 563w, https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kalinowska-AGP-1955_diurnal1930-1-300x245.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 563px) 100vw, 563px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Diurnal variation of atmospheric potential gradient measured in Swider in 1930, based on survived records &#8211; results published by Kalinowska-Widomska in <em>Acta Geophysica Polonica<\/em> in 1955.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What was measured?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Observatory\u2019s main achievement during the 1929-1939 period was the continuous recording of the atmospheric potential gradient. These measurements captured:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>daily changes in the atmospheric potential gradient or ground-level electric field<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>seasonal patterns,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the influence of weather conditions,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>long\u2011term averages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the war destroyed the full analysis prepared for publication, some early records survived and were published in later works. Analysis of diurnal variation of Swider PG reavealed double maximum in UT time in the summer and one maximum in the winter. It is considered a common feature of PG variation at land stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Broader scientific context<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time, atmospheric electricity was seen as a key to understanding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the global electric circuit,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>air ionization,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>links between weather and electrical properties of the atmosphere,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>local environmental effects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u015awider joined other magnetic observatories worldwide &#8211; such as Kakioka in Japan or Lerwick in the UK &#8211; in contributing to this growing field of Earth sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though much of the original data was lost, the effort:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>demonstrated Poland\u2019s participation in global atmospheric electricity programs,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>influenced future generations of researchers,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>laid groundwork for post\u2011war atmospheric electricity studies that revived in 1948, forming the basis for the well\u2011known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.igf.edu.pl\/en\/science\/observatories\/swider\/\">\u015awider observatory<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/dataset\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"2026\">\u015awider PG series<\/a> used today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the war destroyed the carefully prepared summary results, \u015awider\u2019s pioneering work helped shape atmospheric electricity research for decades. After the war, the station resumed observations, and extended their scope &#8211; as it has been planned before already &#8211; continuing the heritage of the 1930s team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The atmospheric electricity work of 1929-1939 stands as a tribute to scientific perseverance through difficult times. \u015awider remains one of the notable European observatories where atmospheric electricity has been measured across generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:33px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100 is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/exhibition-people\/\">&lt; People<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100 is-style-outline is-style-outline--2\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/exhibition\/\">Back to Exhibition &#8211; Main page<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><sub>Last updated 20 March 2026<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Beginnings of Atmospheric Electricity Measurements at the Geophysical Observatory in \u015awider Diurnal variation of atmospheric potential gradient measured in Swider in 1930, based on survived records &#8211; results published by Kalinowska-Widomska in Acta Geophysica Polonica in 1955. What was measured? The Observatory\u2019s main achievement during the 1929-1939 period was the continuous recording of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1972","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1972"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497,"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1972\/revisions\/2497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/polgec.igf.edu.pl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}