- Verner E. Suomi
Verner E. Suomi (1915-1995) was the father of
satellite meteorology . He invented the Spin Scan Radiometer, which for many years was the instrument on theGOES weather satellites that generated the time sequences of cloud images seen on television weather shows.Together with Robert Parent, in 1965 Suomi founded the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. From this came the first satellite to provide
weather satellite imagery from ageostationary orbit was the Applications Technology Satellite (ATS-1 ), launched on6 December 1966 , that included a Spin Scan Radiometer.Suomi led the development of the
Man-computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS), starting in 1972, for displaying the images produced by his satellites such as SMS-1 in 1974 (see link below).Suomi was elected to the
National Academy of Engineering in 1966, awarded theNational Medal of Science in 1977, awarded the Franklin Medal in 1984, and received numerous other awards and honors.External links
* [http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/ The Space Science and Engineering Center]
* [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Giants/Suomi/ Russell Hall's memoir of Verner Suomi]
* [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1974-033A&ex=1 NASA ATS-1 (1966) page] -NSSDC ID: 1966-110A
* [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1974-033A&ex=1 NASA SMS-1 (1974) page] - NSSDC ID: 1974-033A-01 - explanation of Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer
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