- Harald Sverdrup
Infobox Scientist
name = Harald Sverdup
birth_date =November 15 ,1888
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death_date =August 21 ,1957
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nationality = Norwegian
ethnicity =
field = oceanographer meteorologist
work_institutions =Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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author_abbrev_bot =|author_abbrev_zoo =
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religion = |footnotes = |Harald Ulrik Sverdrup (
November 15 ,1888 –August 21 ,1957 ) was a Norwegian oceanographer and meteorologist who made a number of important theoretical discoveries in these fields. Having first worked in Bergen andLeipzig he was involved in the North Polar expedition ofRoald Amundsen between 1917 and 1925, before taking the chair in meteorology at Bergen, where his primary interest slowly became oceanography.He was made director of California's
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1936, initially for 3 years but the intervention ofWorld War II meant he held the post until 1948. During 33 expeditions with the research vessel "E. W. Scripps" in the years 1938-1941 he produced a detailed oceanographic dataset off the coast of California. He also developed the theory of ocean circulation known asSverdrup balance , the first truly accurate description of the phenomenon. After leaving SIO, he returned home to become director of theNorwegian Polar Institute and continued to contribute to oceanography, ocean biology and polar research.His many publications include the "magnum opus" The Oceans: Their Physics, Chemistry and General Biology by Harald Sverdrup,
Martin W. Johnson and Richard H. Fleming (1942, new edition 1970).He was a member of the American and Norwegian Academies of Science and the Swedish
Order of the North Star . Thesverdrup , a unit of volume flux, bears his name.External links
* [http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/biomems/hsverdrup.html National Academy of Sciences biography]
* [http://scripps.ucsd.edu/ Scripps Institution of Oceanography]
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