METEOROLOGY COURSE AT COTTBUS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A005600230005-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 14, 2007
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: January 11, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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:;()UNTR' East Gtermr?
SUB. EC1
PLACE.
ACQUIRED
DATE 01
INFO.
Metearolagy Course at Cottbus
DATE DISTR 11 January 1955
NO OF PAGES
NO, OF ENCLS.
a..ISTF.D BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO
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a)
".eather code (Soviet version)
5
The drawtng of weather, maps and temperature maps
e '.
'. i nd
Clouds
Temperature
Atmospheric
pressure
,3 }
eteoroloica,1 instrunent5
General meteoroloG.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION 25X1
{ . it!roc ub lOttbu c or a.nizec' a. course for t; l.1i tlt, I f'tC' rC!1c~i3t:
which, bean on ~ 14-a_% 1954 and wuG to be completed on 16 July 19`4-
he students were selected from personnel of the Technical Base.i.
The course itself wa: probably organized by the lieteoro7.ngical
D`.-vi: i.on of the Sig-ral Co:.,mun:ication:s ;)epari.inent: of the 'IDA.
C ort.ain Neube (fnu', cha.ef of this Div-'Jon, ':iad checked o the
jen.eral educaNicor< rf the pr;.spec':Iive ?ud.nnt, and frequently
inspected the course which was admin ist:;?at i vel,y assigned to the
1:=t '.technical. Base at, Cottbus. The cournne was attended by 1 NCO.
1 P?,", ar:d 6 L;.i and ova:: headed '^y Ser.ic:- Lieutenant Dr. iirad?
ran e(- n;eteorolo'c ist of the Gerrlar.. 4i..;- Force who had been previously
cs- ationed at Cottbus airfield. 13rade .:s no_,i chief rreteoroio_;jist t:.f
.he 1st Aeroo.lub at Cottbus. 1:n3trucrroru during the course ir:cl.Ud.:;?il
L euten.ant i,oeh.ier (fnu), chief of the area 'te* t,artcn at Ccitbu
airf'ieldi, Lieutenant Jame, htriuki (fnu), and. Jur,icr IL.~.eutenan
-Inter (fnu). It was learned that Dr. Brade made a general weather
foreca3l; for every week.
0;, ..,,-td,..~ythrough Fridays, nine clause., were :1eld each day, vrhi 1
five cla-;sect were given on Sunday.n. Subject-j given included:
The Sovxe?, weather code (about (.o uat;en with a su,j,le.,.enr.
oil Moe elneI.`4611U.i r:ci:-t :.'i.' C:.cii'N
CLASSIFICATION f: n1Y'F'Ti1"1TT4f,
STATE a NSxt DISTRIBUTION
SARI MY Z r A!.?
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 Approved For Release 2007/11/14: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005600230005-3
Approved For Release 2007/11/14: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005600230005-3
 Approved For Release 2007/11/14: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005600230005-3
b) .ki.s.na-Dienst (climatologic service), a German manual issued
prior to 1945
Die praktxsche :.etterkunde(practical. meter>rology)
by Dr. Brade.
The hoviet. weather code differs froz the United States c ;de :tna--much
as it', advanced the cipher r?oups having the 6th and 7th positions; in
the US code to the 2d and 3d ,ositions. For example:
US code
10112
1009')
87064
63456
07210
00663 3.2
443
Soviet Code :
10111
12443
06663
10090
57064
63458 07
213
The Soviet code Tives temperatures in centigrades.
VDA weather stations were located at tho followin;
:anenz airfield, chief : Lieutenant Kuban
JDA School at Kamenz,
chief Senior Lieutenant Suchwitz
VDA Hq in Co thus, chief : ;presumably Captain Neuber
Cottbus airfield, chief:. Lieutenant Koehler
Drewitz airf .eld, chief: unknown
Bautzen airfield, chief: unknown
The equip,aen', of all these weather stations had been furnished by
the Zeiss Firm 5 n Jena.
6. :L11 foreiLp weather forecasts were monitored by the V.DA weather
stations and evaluated in conjunct ion with their own observations.
All evaluation reports were transmitted to Pogoda (phonetic spelling)
at the Berlin-Schoenefeld airfield. 1'og oda probably is the code name
for the Soviet weather service in Germany. No information was given
by the 'IDA weather stat.iono to civil meteorological stations. The
VDA weather ;tat ions pre,_ -tired 6-hour weather forecasts for the da .ly
flight activity. It was learned that there was a shortage of trained
personnel at VDA weather station.. The students attending the
meteorological. course a.t Aeroclub Cottbus were to be promoted to
the rank of P00 on succe~-,sful corrolet:Ion.
7. Cottbus airfield vwa.~ occupied by:
TDA Hq
1st Aeroclut+ 6.ich c_nsisted of a is and ?d Abteilung (battalion)
1st Techt~s.ce l Base
V'DA guard battalic:?n quartered in the .:`tinker i aserne southeast:
of the airfield.
Fourteen Yak-11s
in addition to 1~
"bout 5 hangars were a-lilab:le at toe northern edge of the installation.
The taxiways in front of tie hangars were about S0 meters wide, while
the other taxiways and connecting lanes had a width of about 25 meters.
fwr? ' i
, +l' '
.~v . ILy:3T.~L
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 Approved For Release 2007/11/14: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005600230005-3
C Uii -WI iJbNT I I L,
be eac+ L. courre? t? I an'1; 3 j iV ; a,; out 2, 000 1-eters irn and. 7
,ei~?r:; The a4rcra1' FtU't1.oned at the fie-Id were housed in
':) C7 3n a.ta,:dci ar?ci -'ri aircY .ice t: i'evet.i:ents were ri l ':bser:'^,ied.
uo,T't9rs of the 1D.. '.ire and t'r_,e t: Te?171.r.ca>t 3ase were iri The
or7:hea ,rn p-r.t:ion cf the Ii-1d, while the bi le.,- of ,he 1
`,ernclul- were or, the nor .hea,>' e-rr: boundary c the in.stallati.on..
The fuel dump of !she .field wa .t t.[ie .?i.de of the spur t.'acl.
Ave underground f ael containers prote(Aed by a layer of concret.;
were seer,. Fuel arrived by rail in tank cars. Aircraft refuted
from fuel tr. ucl:
Ei.. -Li,_;hi.ins fac`a litie~ aval'11b1 l'at thEwf g'd Mint ?uded:` ,
a?j(ln bath e.dceo 9f,the runway
and about 50' meters dart;
b) boundary lights: red neon tubes fitted on steel masts
? . about 10 meters high; the li, hts bad been
set .up in.June 1954;
-.e) . obstacle lights: red lamps on the roof of the flight
control station and on toners,a4d ,
.# ,.. srookeptacks in Cottbus.
No artificial horizon was available.
9. There was no air activity at the field.between 3and 15 Lay 1954.
It appeared that the.aircraft stationed at the field were being
over?iauled during ;.leis peciod. i&in'enance work vras,observe4 in
the hangars. FI am mid-... ay tool :ate ;,say, local f l,i .ing and 4irjing
wa;; practiced by Yak ? lls . A circle about ~ i ve aeters in diameter
vas?&arked by white and in the,souvhern p,rioa of the fe:l.d.
'i'l:e . aireraf . involvQd :+rs,ithe ,airn}r>;, prig+:. ,ces climbed t9,an.
a!tztude of abo!I.K. 1_,500 maters in a i.ef bank and.a;)_roac:heu_ he
l araet circle a., a divin an; _J: e of about 45? para' lel to the
runway. The planes pulled out cf dive at an estimated altitude of
200 cieter. s
, , r
"air. l Yaci 1 nra,. a. cci night : rt _
lidht5 were made and some of the ylarir c took off again immediately
after touching ,.;round_ p to three plates -:sere seen aloft at the
same tine. The inse:aliation of weapons in Yak-11s parked in hangars
was also observed
Co7_-ment,. The information on the court e for assistant
meteorol_ ists appears to be ccrrec t:. Some of the instructors of
this course were known preevious:ly. The existence of the Soviet Air
Force i, eteorolog icat Station at Sc zoeriefeld was also known.
The data on Cottbus airfiela and the air activity observed there
are rather scanty.. They do however, appear credible,
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 Approved For Release 2007/11/14: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005600230005-3
CLASSIFICATION CONF IDENT IAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION REPORT CD NO.
COUNTRY East Germany
SUBJECT Meteorology Course at Cottbus
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF
INFn
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N 1M SMMIM Min. 5410* MR M"M1MS or "a vs. Mi11MMS in
MO 7111. M /MS ?. S. 0051. b MM11514. IN MAMMON M M"14
A0M)M Or/ MS 0111'10- h M $K*" K AM 94hrmoomm room
Is *MMMMIMMM * 1*5 TM MM7M eev"M or TM row H P"Wo SS.
DATE DISTR. 11 January 1955
NO. OF PAGES
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. Aeroclub Cottbus organized a course for assistant meteorologists
which began on 3 May 1954 and was to be completed on 16 July 1954.
The students were selected from personnel of the Technical Bases.
The course itself was probably organized by the Meteorological
Division of the Signal Communications Department of the VDA.
Captain Neuber (fnu), chief of this Division, had checked on the
general education of the prospective students and frequently
inspected the course which was administratively assigned to the
1st Technical Base at Cottbus. The course was attended by 1 NCO,
1 PFC, and 6 EM and was headed by Senior Lieutenant Dr. Brade,
an ex-meteorologist of the German Air Force who had been previously
stationed at Cottbus airfield. Brads is now chief meteorologist of
the lst Aeroclub at Cottbus. Instructors during the course included
Lieutenant Koehler (fnu), chief of the weather station at Cottbus
airfield, Lieutenant Jaroschinski (fnu), and Junior Lieutenant
Winter (fnu). It was learned that Dr. Brade made a general weather
forecast for every week.
2. On Mondays through Fridays, nine classes were held each day, while
five classes were given on Sundays. Subjects given included:
a) Weather code (Soviet version)
b) The drawing of weather maps and temperature maps
c) "find
d) Clouds
e) Temperature
f) Atmospheric pressure
g) Meteorological instruments
h) General meteorology.
3. Textbooks used included:
2) The Soviet weather code (about 60 pages with a aupplment
on the ss sr er weat r *ode)
C!! 181110 CA'110N
0
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 Approved For Release 2007/11/14: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005600230005-3
b) nlima-Dienst (climatologic service), a ,lerman manual issued
prior to 1945
c) Die praktische "etterkunde (practical meteorology)
by Dr. Brade.
q. The Soviet weather code differs from the United States code inasmuch
as it advanced the cipher groups having the 6th and 7th positions in
tn;e US code to the 2d and 3d positions. For example:
US code 10112 10090 87064 63458 07210 08663 1
2443
Soviet Code : 10112 12443 08663 10090 87064 63458 0
7210
Tho Sovie*b code gives aempomtuDes its sen*igrades.
5. VDA weather stations were located at thL. feliatinagiinmtallations:
Kamenz airfield, chief : Lieutenant Kuban
VDA School at Kamenz,
chief Senior Lieutenant Buchwitz
VDA Hq in Cottbus,chief: presumably Captain Neuber
Cottbus airfield, chief: Lieutenant Koehler
Drewitz airfield, chief: unknown
Bautzen airfield, chief: unknown
The equipment of all these weather stations had been furnished by
the Zeiss Firm in Jena.
6. t-ll foreign weather forecasts were monitored by the VDA weather
stations and evaluated in conjunction with their own observations.
All evaluation reports were transmitted to Pogoda (phonetic spelling)
at the Berlin-Schoenefeld airfield. Pogoda probably is the code name
for the Soviet weather service in Germany. No information was given
by the VDA weather stations to civil meteorological stations. The
VDA weather stations prepared 6-hour weather forecasts for the daily
f1iht activity. It was learand that there was a shortage of trained
personnel at VDA weather stations. The students attending the
meteorological course at Aeroclub Cottbus were to be promoted to
the rank of NCO on successful completion.
7. Cottbus airfield was occupied by:
VDA Hq
1st Aeroclub w.,ich consisted of a 1st and 2d Abteilung (battalion)
1st Technical Base
ViA guard battalion quartered in the Funker Kaserne southeast
of the airfield.
Fourteen Yak-lls
in addition to 14
About 5 h garq w@rg available at the northern edge of the installation.
The taxiways in fTon# of the ]* sre were snout 80 motors wide, w *AU
the other taxiways and connecting lanes had a width of about 25 meters.
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The east-west concrete runway was about 2,000 meters long and 80
meters wide. The aircraft stationed at the field were housed in
two hangars. Hardstands and aircraft revetments were not observed.
The quarters of the VDA Hq and the lst Technical Base were in the
northeastern portion of the field, while the billets of the 1st
!~eroclub were on the northeastern boundary of the installation.
Tiie fuel dump of the field was at the side of the spur track.
Five underground fuel containers protected by a layer of concrets
were seen. Fuel arrived by rail in tank cars. Aircraft refud.ed
from fuel trucks.
8. Lighting facilities available at the field. included:
a) runway lights: red lamps along both edges of the runway
and about 50 meters apart;
b) boundary lights: red neon tubes fitted on steel masts
about 10 meters high; the lights had been
set up in June 1954;
c) obstacle lights: red lamps on the roof of the flight
control station and on towers and
smokestacks in Cottbus.
No artificial horizon was available.
There was no air activity at the field between 3 and 15 May 1954.
It appeared that the aircraft stationed at the field were being
overhauled during this period. Maintenance work was observed in
the hangars. From mid-May to late May, local fling and aiming
was practiced by Yak-lls. A circle about five meters in diameter
was marked by white sand in the southern portion tf the field.
The aircraft involved in the aiming practices climbed to an
altitude of about 1,500 meters in a left ban: and approached the
target circle at a diving angle of about 450 parallel to the
runway. The planes pulled out of dive at an estimated altitude of
200 meters.
On 20 June, Yak-18s arid Yak-lls practiced night flying. Local
flights were made and some of the planes took off again immediately
after touching ;;round. Up to three planes were seen aloft at the
same time. Die installation of weapons in Yak-lls parked in hangars
was also observed.
omment. The information on the course for assistant
meteorologists appears to be correct. Some of the instructors of
this course were known previously. The existence of the Soviet Air
Force Meteorological Station at Schoenefeld was also known.
The data on Cottbus airfiel.i and the air activity observed there
are rather scanty. They do, however, appear credible.
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