Francis Beaufort scale, decoded as 32–38 mph, or a "moderate Gale". Beaufort, like other patrons of exploration, has had his name given to many geographical places. Among these: Beaufort created the Beaufort cipher. It is a substitution cipher similar to the Vigenère cipher. Francis Beaufort Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, KCB, FRS, FRGS, FRAS, MRIA (; 27 May 1774 – 17 December 1857) was an Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy. Beaufort was the creator of the Beaufort Scale for indicating wind force. Francis Beaufort was descended from French Protestant Huguenots, who fled the French Wars of Religion in the
Wind shear Wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal wind shear. Vertical wind shear is a change in wind speed or direction with change in altitude. Horizontal wind shear is a change in wind speed with change in lateral position for a given altitude. Wind shear is a microscale meteorological phenomenon occurring over a very small distance, but it can be associated with mesoscale or synoptic scale weather features such