Meteorological maps: how are they made and how to read them. A brief history of the synoptic meteorology during last three centuries

Meteorology is an interdisciplinary science, which uses the laws of physics, mathematics and chemistry to simplify the understanding of the process occurring in the Earth's atmosphere. One of the most widespread and used ways of representing meteorological products is definitely that of maps. Millions of people consult the different types of existing weather maps on a daily basis. Most of users do not know how the maps are created nor the exact meaning of the symbols represented in it. The purpose of this paper is to try to answer all these questions. In order to better understand the topic, we will start from the description of the history of meteorology during last 300 years, up to the description of the modern methods of production of the maps, by means of computer and specific software.