Prizes in meteorology

Award named after former WMO President, Roman Kintanar

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Typhoon Committee has re-named the Typhoon Committee Disaster Preparedness Award as the Dr Roman L. Kintanar Award for Typhoon Related Disaster Mitigation in recognition of Dr Kintanar’s contributions in the field of meteorology.

		Dr Kintanar served as the Director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) from 1958 to 1994 and as President of WMO from 1979 until 1987. He was awarded the WMO International Meteorological Organization Prize in 1995. He died on 6 May 2007 at the age of 77. Dr Kintanar was interviewed in the WMO Bulletin 43 (4) (October 1994).

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NASA scientist wins top American Meteorological Society honour

US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) climate scientist James E. Hansen was chosen to receive the 2009 Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) at its annual meeting in Phonenix, Arizona. Long-time director of the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York, Hansen earned the highest honour of the AMS for “outstanding contributions to climate modelling, understanding climate change forcings and sensitivity, and for clear communication of climate science in the public arena”.

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Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological Organization: journal wins award

The monthly scientific and technical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO), Nivar, was selected among the first five from among 310 other such publications by the ninth National Festival for Honouring Top Researchers, Research Journals and Research Communities. Ali Mohammad Noorian, chief editor of Nivar, Director of IRIMO and WMO First Vice-President, received the award from the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Nivar is the Persian word for “atmosphere”.

Zayed Future Energy Prize

The first annual Zayed Future Energy Prize was awarded on 19 January 2009 to Dipal Chandra Barua, Founding Managing Director of Grameen Shakti for his efforts to bring renewable energy solutions to the rural population of Bangladesh. Martin Green was also recognized for his research in solar energy.

The Zayed Future Energy Prize was created in honour of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, late ruler of Abu Dhabi. It is awarded annually to up to three individuals, companies, organizations and/or NGOs that have made significant contributions in the global response to the future of energy, climate change and sustainable global energy resources.

The chairman of the jury was Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the WMO-UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Chinese climatologist wins French prize

Qin Dahe, Administrator of the China Meteorological Administration and Permanent Representative of China with WMO from 2003 to 2007, was awarded the Grenoble Medal by the deputy mayor of Grenoble on 19 January 2009. He is co-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr Qin received the award for promoting research cooperation between China and France. Cooperating with the Laboratory of Glaciology and Geophysics of the Environment at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, he led research teams on climate change to the South Pole and the Himalayas. Dr Qin was the first Chinese to cross the South Pole.

Qin Dahe was awarded WMO’s prestigious IMO Prize in 2008.