Väisälä, Yrjö

Yrjö Väisälä, (born September 6, 1891, Kontiolahti, Russia—died July 21, 1971, Rymättylä, Finland), Finnish meteorologist and astronomer noted for developing meteorological measuring methods and instruments.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1922, Väisälä joined the faculty of the Geodetic Institute of Turku University (1925) and worked as an astronomer and surveyor, completing a magnetic survey of the Earth and inventing the light-interference system for measuring long paths (on the order of 100 metres) for use as baselines in geodetic surveys (1927). Later in his career, Väisälä turned to meteorology and developed, among other things, a new method of radio direction finding (1951). In 1952 he helped found the Turku University Astronomical Observatory and was its director until his death. Väisälä received the Honorary Award of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1954.