Bjerknes, Vilhelm Firman Koren (1862–1951)

Norwegian scientist whose theory of polar fronts formed the basis of all modern weather forecasting and meteorological studies. He also developed hydrodynamic models of the oceans and the atmosphere and showed how weather prediction could be carried out on a statistical basis, dependent on the use of mathematical models.

Bjerknes was professor at Stockholm, Sweden, and Leipzig, Germany, before returning to Norway and founding the Bergen Geophysical Institute 1917.

During World War I, Bjerknes instituted a network of weather stations throughout Norway; coordination of the findings from such stations led him and his co-workers to the theory of polar fronts, based on the discovery that the atmosphere is made up of discrete air masses displaying dissimilar features.

He coined the word ‘front’ to denote the boundary between such air masses.