Reinhard Süring

Reinhard Süring (May 15, 1866 - December 29, 1950) was a German meteorologist who was a native of Hamburg. He died in Potsdam, East Germany on December 29, 1950.

He studied natural sciences and mathematics at Göttingen, Marburg and Berlin, and in 1890 earned his doctorate with a thesis titled "Temperaturabnahme in Gebirgsgegenden in ihrer Abhängigkeit von der Bewölkung". Later that year he was an assistant at the Prussian Meteorological Institute in Berlin, and in 1892 went to work at the "Meteorologisch-Magnetischen Observatoriums" (Magnetic Meterological Observatory) in Potsdam. In 1901 he was in charge of the Storm Department at the Prussian Meteorological Institute, and in 1909 was departmental head of the Meteorological Division of the Magnetic Meteorological Observatory. Following the retirement of geophysicist Adolf Schmidt (1860-1944), he became director of the observatory at Potsdam.

Between 1893 and 1921 Süring took part in numerous scientific high altitude balloon experiments. These experiments involved several influential scientists, including physiologists Hermann von Schrötter (1870-1928), Nathan Zuntz (1847-1920) and meteorologist Arthur Berson (1859-1942). On July 31, 1901, he and Berson reached an altitude of 10,800 meters in an open gondola balloon. Scientific data taken from this ascent was beneficial to research being performed by Richard Assmann (1845-1918) and Léon Teisserenc de Bort (1855-1913), and their subsequent discovery of the stratosphere in 1902. Also, with Schrötter and Berson he participated in tests involving the physiological effects of sub-atmospheric pressure, using a decompression chamber installed at the "Jüdisches Krankenhaus" (Jewish Hospital) in Berlin.

With Julius von Hann (1839-1921), he was author of the "Hann/Süring: Lehrbuch der Meteorologie", a textbook that was used for several generations by students of meteorology.

References

* [http://www.pik-potsdam.de/infodesk/long-term-meteorological-station/reinhard-suring-foundation/reinhard-suring Potsdam Institute for Climatic Impact Research]