Stormy Voyage of Christopher Columbus, The

Synopsis

The concept stems from an idea of John Morgan, first director of Eumetsat, who, having seen a reproduction of the ship’s journal of Christopher Columbus, recognised the possibility of depicting through Meteosat images, the weather conditions encountered by Columbus. The journal contained such a detailed account of weather conditions for the eastward voyage in 1493 that it was possibe for Eumetsat experts to match the occurrence of two recent Atlantic storms in 1983 and 1989 with those that almost brought Columbus to his peril in 1493. Once suitable storms had been matched, Meteosat images were selected from magnetic tape archives and computer processing was carried out on the images to produce coloured moving cloud sequences similar to those shown nightly on television weather forecasts. These were then incorporated into filmed sequences to create a historical perspective.

Language

English

Country

Germany

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS (PAL, SECAM). col. 9 min.

Year of production

1992

Availability

Free loan

Subjects

Physics

Keywords

meteorology; remote sensing by satellite

Production Company

Name

Oxford Scientific Films

Web

http://www.osf.uk.com External site opens in new window

Sponsor

Name

Darmstadt

Distributor

Name

Am Kavalleriesand 31

Phone

+49 6151 807 7

Fax

+49 6151 807 612

Address

D-64295 Darmstadt
Germany