50 Years
of Meteorological
Satellite Experiments
Hank Revercomb, Director
Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC)
2 November 2009
Monona Terrace Convention Center
Madison, Wisconsin
Juno on pad
Explorer VII
Bob Parent and Vern Suomi working on the sensor package
The Parent-Suomi Team
Co-founders of SSEC, inventors ATS spin-scan camera
Suomi and Parent Families
• Lois (Suomi) Young, Daughter
– Charles Young, Husband
– Elaine Young, Granddaughter
• Stephen Suomi, Son
• Eric Suomi, Son
• Judy Maki, Niece
• Winifred M. Parent, Wife
• Patricia Callaway, Daughter
– John Barnes, Grandson
– Kristina Storage, Granddaughter
– Michelle & Kimberly, Great
Granddaughters
• Barbara Parent, Daughter
• John Parent, Son
– Jonathan Parent, Grandson
• Celeste Klein
proclamation
Historic Wisconsin Connections
with Weather and Climate Research
• Verner Suomi: Father of
Satellite Meteorology
• Gaylord Nelson: Father of
Earth Day (Wisconsin
Governor on 13 October 1959)
• Increase Lapham: Father
of the U.S. Weather Service
“Wisconsin” Statue
Herb Kohl:
Senator’s Statement (excerpt)
on the 50th Anniversary
Tammy Baldwin:
Congresswoman’s
Statement on the 50th Anniversary
Although I am not able to be with you personally this evening,
I want to recognize and honor the 50th anniversary of the first
successful satellite meteorology experiment.
On October 13, 1959, Verner Suomi and colleague, Robert Parent, from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison measured the radiative energy balance of earth
via satellite. This groundbreaking experiment began a new age of satellite
meteorology, and represented the culmination of a vision to utilize rocket
technology to increase our understanding of earth and our climate. Suomi, the
"Father of Satellite Meteorology," began the University of Wisconsin-Madison's
historic legacy in the development of satellite meteorology. Over the past fifty
years, UW-Madison has continued to build upon this legacy through close
research collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Professors Suomi and Parent typify the Wisconsin Idea that the application of
university research should be used to better the global community as a whole. I
salute the efforts of past, present, and future satellite researchers and am deeply
grateful for their contributions to our community.
The Wisconsin Idea-A philosophy that Education should influence
and improve people’s lives beyond the
university classroom
• Satellite instrumentation is an example with
great societal benefit
• As usual, Vern made a remarkably simple
statement of the importance of Explorer VII:
“Meteorologists have up to now been limited
to viewing clouds from the bottom up rather
than from the outside of the atmosphere
down towards the earth.”
Verner E. Suomi (1915-1995)
Father of Satellite Meteorology
KISS:
Keep it
simple
Suomi
Keeping
a critical
eye on
earth & its
environment
Verner E. Suomi (1915-1995)
Father of Satellite Meteorology
KISS:
Keep it
simple
Suomi
“Verner Suomi was a giant of modern science.
His inventions were simple and elegant, and
their consequences are ubiquitous. Anyone
looking at a satellite image of the earth on
the evening weather is looking at the product
of a rare mind”
John D. Wiley, 1995
And it was very good
Oral History Participants
• Bob Fox (Moderator) (SSEC Executive Director 1980-2000;
Air Force connections)
• Tom Haig (SSEC Executive Director, 1970-1980;
Air Force connections)
• Don Johnson (Faculty/Scientific Colleague)
• Bill Smith (CIMSS Director/Scientific Colleague, Mentee)
• Larry Sromovsky (SSEC Scientist/Scientific Colleague)
• Chuck Stearns (Faculty Colleague, student at time of
Explorer VII launch; worked on instrumentation)
• Tom Vonder Haar (Scientific Colleague, PhD student)
Oral history will be available on the SSEC web site
and will be deposited in the UW Archives,
UCAR Archives, and SSEC Library
A huge thank you to Paul Menzel, Jean Phillips, and the 50th planning
committee who conceived of and made this event happen
The 50th anniversary planning committee
Tom Achtor
Leanne Avila
Joann Banks
Bill Bellon
Dan Bull
Linda Hedges
Mark Hobson
Rick Kohrs
Dave Martin
Margaret Mooney
Mark Mulligan
Will Robus
Maria Vasys
Gary Wade
Gary Davis:
NOAA’s Environmental Satellite Program:
Past, Present, and Future
• Director, Office of Systems Development, NOAA/NESDIS
• Responsible for program management, planning,
requirements and acquisition of the nation’s civil remote
sensing satellites and their associated ground systems
• OSD: >$1/2 B budget, 165 on-site personnel
• 2002 Presidential rank award for outstanding service
1994 Dept of Commerce Gold Medal (highest Dept honor)
1989 NOAA Administrator’s award, and many others
• Transplanted New Yorker, lives in Maryland with wife Mona
University of Maryland graduate
Franco Einaudi:
50 Years of Meteorological Satellite
Experiments – The NASA Perspective
• Director, Earth Sciences Division of the
Sciences and Exploration Directorate, GSFC, NASA
• Diverse career, including
8 years professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
10 year CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder
2 years postdoctoral fellow, Physics Dept, U. of Toronto
• 2006 President of AMS
• Native of Turin, Italy, Ph.D. Cornell University
Jérôme Lafeuille:
50 Years of Innovation and Cooperation
in Satellite Meteorology
• 2005-present: World Meteorological Organization,
Geneva, Switzerland--Chief of the Space-based
Observing Division, Space Programme Office
• 1998-2005: Meteo-France--Director of the Satellite
Meteorology Centre in Lannion
• 1993-1998: EUMETSAT--Head of International Affairs and
served as Secretary of the Coordination Group for
Meteorological Satellites (CGMS)
• Graduate of Ecole Polytechnique in Paris
Terence (Terry) F. Kelly:
Introducing Satellite Data to the Public –
Back to the Future
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Chairman, CEO, and principal owner of Weather Central, Inc., and its sister
company, MyWeather, LLC
A leader in the development of innovative weather display & forecasting
equipment, software, and services for over 30 years and
holds several US & international patents
Received AMS Seal of Approval, and award for
Outstanding Service by a Broadcast Meteorologist
Founded ColorGraphics Systems, Inc and New Star
2003: Named “Entrepreneur of the Year” in Wisconsin by Ernst & Young
Terry is also a founding investor in Air America Radio, and is involved in many local
community projects including Chairman of the Aldo Leopold Nature Center,
President of Madison Fireworks Fund, Inc. which hosts Madison’s annual
Independence Day celebration “Rhythm & Booms”, and Board Member of the
Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Degree in Meteorology from University of Wisconsin-Madison and lives in Madison
with his wife Mary
John Lewis:
Suomi: Pragmatic Visionary
• National Severe Storms Laboratory Research Meteorologist,
Adjunct Professor, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV
• John couples theory of dynamic data assimilation with the
practical problem of numerical weather prediction
• Career path has included National Meteorological Center,
Fleet Numerical Weather Center, and the Space Science and
Engineering Center
• Degrees from U. of Chicago and U. of Oklahoma
• Avocations: baseball, art, and history of science.
John’s training in baseball is from the sandlot leagues in
Sacramento, CA, and through lengthy discussions with
colleagues in Madison, Wisconsin.
Fred House:
Suomi’s ERB Experiments on Explorer
VII and TIROS Satellites
• Professor of Atmospheric Science, Drexel University
• In 39th year of teaching students at Drexel
• June 1960: began 5 years of Graduate School at
University of Wisconsin-Madison
• BS degrees in math/physics at North Texas State
University, and in meteorology at Penn State under
the Air Force Weather Officer training program. He
was stationed in France for 3 years and forecast
weather in Europe supporting NATO forces
Keynote--Tom Vonder Haar:
Science Investigations:
The Legacy of Explorer VII
• Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science,
Emeritus Director, CIRA, Colorado State University
• Department head for 10 years (1974-1984), during which CSU became
recognized as one of the top Atmospheric Science graduate programs in
the US
• 1980: Founded Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
(CIRA) at CSU, a university research center in partnership with NOAA, the
National Park Service, and the Department of Defense
• Advisor for 30 Ph.D. and > 100 M.S. graduate students
• AMS Fellow and 1982 Charney Award recipient,
named University Distinguished Professor at CSU in 1995, and elected
Member of Academy of Engineering in 2003
• Ph.D. under Vern Suomi in 1967 published the first global, multi-seasonal
measurements of Earth’s Radiation Budget using data from four NASA
and US Air Force satellites carrying the “Suomi” and other radiation
instruments
Vern helped to
celebrate Sputnik
in 1987
Cosmonaut Training Center
& Space Museum tours
“Spacebo Sputnik”
GATE friend’s home
30th Anniversary of Sputnik, Moscow
Vern helped to
celebrate Sputnik
in 1987
Thank You Vern and Bob
Gracias, Danke, Merci,
спасибо!, Xie Xie, Arigato
…
30th Anniversary of Sputnik, Moscow
Sculpture by Mike Shah
I am very happy to share this
moment of joy and
satisfaction...the Suomi
Sculpture is ready for display. I
thank you for this opportunity
to honor Dr Suomi...with this
Bronze relief sculpture...that
will inspire many generations
ahead. I have always been
inspired by Dr Suomi's
dedication to Science, and feel
fortunate to have worked with
him as one of his engineers.
Sincerely, Mike Shah
(Sculptor, PhD Engineer)
The Suomi Science Museum
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
A vision we hope to make a reality soon
http://museum.ssec.wisc.edu
Anecdote to Share?
Open Mic at 8:30
Moderated by Paul Menzel