A comparison of barometrical measurement, with the trigonometrical determinatiion of a height at Spitzbergen
The hill selected for this comparative measurement was the highest within convenient distance, of which the ascent was practicable, on the western part of the north coast of Spitzbergen. The summit was less than two miles from the observatory, in a direction nearly due south, the observatory being u...
| Published in: | Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
1833
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspl.1815.0239 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspl.1815.0239 |
| Summary: | The hill selected for this comparative measurement was the highest within convenient distance, of which the ascent was practicable, on the western part of the north coast of Spitzbergen. The summit was less than two miles from the observatory, in a direction nearly due south, the observatory being upon an island rather more than a mile from the main land. In consequence of the extreme inaccuracy of the chart of Fair Haven, published in Captain Phipps’s voyage, the author has annexed to this paper a sketch of the harbour and adjacent coast, to show the positions of the hill and observatory. The small bay formed by the shore of the main land, to the north-east end of the hill, being frozen over, afforded a perfectly level base, and corrections for inequality were thus rendered unnecessary. A polished copper cone was fixed upon a staff at the summit of the hill, the apex of which was proposed as the height to be measured: it stood 44 inches above the highest pinnacle of the summit. Captain Sabine then enters into the details of this trigonometrical measurement, from which the altitude of the cone is considered as equal to 1644 feet. The author next proceeds to detail the particulars of the barometrical measurement, and the precautions taken to insure accuracy in the instruments, and in their employment; and the height of the cone thus ascertained was 1640·07 feet. Captain Sabine concludes this paper with some remarks upon the incorrectness with which the heights of the hills on this coast are set down in Captain Phipps’s voyage. |
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