Ask the weather friends: Who was Verner Suomi?
Q: Who was Verner Suomi?
A: Verner Suomi was born on December 6, 1915, and became a professor at UW-Madison. He is known as the “Father of Satellite Meteorology” due to his historical role in defining that field of study.
In the late 1950s, he and Robert Parent, a UW electrical engineering professor, developed an instrument to measure Earth’s thermal balance from a satellite. It was the first successful satellite mission to measure the Earth.
In 1963, he designed the Spin-Scan Cloud Camera, a milestone in satellite instrumentation that flew through the 1960s and provided high-quality images of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. These instruments laid the foundation for weather imaging for the world’s operational weather satellites. He proposed an instrument for measuring atmospheric temperature and water vapor distribution from a geostationary satellite; these were measurements that became available in the 1980s.
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Professor Suomi also led the development of the McIDAS computer software designed to analyze and interpret large data sets generated from satellite observations. First developed in the early 1970s and maintained for more than 40 years, this software remains the primary tool for analyzing satellite weather observations at forecast centers and universities around the world.
The country was not his only interest. Professor Suomi was a member of the Venus/Mercury 1973 Imaging Science Team, NASA’s Mariner/Jupiter/Saturn Imaging Science Team and the Pioneer Venus Science Steering Group.
Professor Suomi received many honors during his scientific career. NASA recently named a satellite after him — Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Satellite. Professor Finland’s scientific achievements defined the young field of satellite meteorology. His leadership in the development of satellite weather observations and analysis led to improvements in weather forecasting that benefited Wisconsin, the nation and the world—the Wisconsin Idea in action.
Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin, professors in the UW-Madison Department of Atmospheric and Marine Sciences, will be guests on WHA Radio (970 AM) at 11:45 a.m. on the last Monday of each month. Send them your questions at [email protected] or [email protected].