The Development and Application of Marine Meteorology in China: A Case Study of Dinghai Meteorological Station, 1930s-1940s

Abstract

Throughout the history of modern meteorology in China, marine meteorology was considered to be an important aspect. This article focuses on the Dinghai Meteorological Station in Zhejiang in the middle-eastern coast of China and expounds on the process of China’s development of marine meteorological research in the 1930s and 1940s, emphasising its transformation from passive development to active promotion. In the earlier years of the Republic of China, the research regarding marine meteorology primarily examined cyclones. However, such activity was dominated by the foreign-built Zikawei Observatory in Shanghai and the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, which was under foreign influence. This issue was minimised following the recovery of the Qingdao Observatory which began conducting marine meteorological observations and represented the beginning of China's studies in this direction. With the emergence of native expertise in marine meteorology, China constructed the Dinghai Meteorological Station. Marine meteorology research at this station was not entirely government led; local fishing communities actively participated in this scientific infrastructural development, partially funding construction while demanding maritime warning services in return. With the completion of the Dinghai Meteorological Station, China not only observed marine meteorological information but also established a basic network for marine meteorology in the late 1940s. However, archival evidence reveals persistent challenges in station operations, including funding shortages, personnel limitations, and wartime social disruptions. Through multi-archival analysis, this study demonstrates how constrained resources shaped China's marine meteorological development trajectory so as to acquire marine knowledge.