BEGINNING OF BIOMETEOROLOGY IN ABBAZIA/OPATIJA

Abstract

In addition to health facilities and many other organizations, there was also a functioning weather station in the health and seaside resort of Abbazia/Opatija, known as the Nice of the Austrian Riviera. Formal observation of weather in Abbazia/Opatija began in 1886 with the setting up of the weather station in Angiolina Park. During the period 1898-1915, the warden of this station and data collector was the local doctor, Dr Franz Tripold. On the basis of the collected data, he wrote the first study of Abbazia/Opatija’s climate and its effects on people. The study Das Klima in Abbazia was published in 1906 in Abbazia als Kurort on  the 60th birthday of Professor Julius Glax, head of the health resort in Abbazia/Opatija. The study highlighted the physiological effects of the maritime climate on people and examined the beneficial effects of the local climate on patients. The weather station in Opatija is still operating in Angiolina Park. Weather parameters to be gathered were determined by the First International Meteorological Congress in Vienna in 1873 and are still valid. The parameter of human well-being/bio-meteorological prognosis has been added. Today, the collected data are sent to the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service in Zagreb, from where they are returned to Opatija to be displayed on a screen in the town centre to help people to plan their daily activities and take appropriate measures to protect their health, which is especially important for patients.