Verner Edward Suomi (December 6, 1915 – 30 July 1995
,

Space Science and Engineering Center The Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) is a research and development center with primary focus on Earth science research and technology to enhance understanding of the atmosphere of Earth, the other planets in the Solar System, and the ...

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

) was a Finnish-American educator, inventor, and scientist. He is considered the father of

satellite meteorology A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asynchronously), or geo ...

. He invented the Spin Scan Radiometer, which for many years was the instrument on the

GOES Goes () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents. History Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Kort ...

weather satellites that generated the time sequences of cloud images seen on television weather shows. The

Suomi NPP The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP), previously known as the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) and NPP-Bridge, is a weather satellite operated by the United States ...

polar orbiting satellite, launched in 2011, was named in his honor.

Early life

Suomi was born in

Eveleth Eveleth is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,718 at the 2010 census. U.S. Highway 53 and State Highway 37 (MN 37) are two of the main routes in Eveleth. Eveleth was the site of the conflict that resu ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Swedish-speaking Finns The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names; fi, suomenruotsalainen) can be used as an attribute., group=Note—see below; sv, finlandssvenskar; fi, suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic minority in Finl ...

John and Anna Suomi. His parents arrived in the United States in 1902 from the Åland Islands from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. (The family surname, ''Suomi'', is of

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

origin and means ''

'' in

.) He was the sixth of seven children; he outlived all but two sisters, Esther and Edith. He received his first degree from Winona Teachers College (now

Winona State University Winona State University (Winona) is a public university in Winona, Minnesota. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the first no ...

).Hall, Russell
Verner Suomi (1915–1995)
''On The Shoulders of Giants'', Earth Observatory, NASA.gov He taught high school science. Later, he attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, where he received his PhD in 1953.

Career

By 1948, Suomi was among the earliest faculty members of the Department of Meteorology at the

. Together with Robert Parent, in 1965, Suomi founded the

(SSEC) there. From this, came the first

weather satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asynchronously), or ...

to provide imagery from a geostationary orbit and was named the Applications Technology Satellite ( ATS-1), launched on 6 December 1966, that included a Spin Scan Radiometer. The subsequent

ATS-3 Applications Technology Satellite 3, or ATS-3, was a long-lived American experimental geostationary weather and communications satellite, operated by NASA from 1967 to 2001. It was at one time reputed to be the oldest satellite still in operatio ...

, launched in November 1967, using a spin scan camera, made what would be known as the first color images of the whole earth. Suomi led the development of McIDAS (Man-computer Interactive Data Access System) in 1972,Hall, Russell
Verner Suomi (1915–1995) (p.3)
''On The Shoulders of Giants'', Earth Observatory, NASA.gov displaying the images produced by his satellites such as

SMS-1 The Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS) program, was a program where NASA developed two weather satellites; which were placed into geosynchronous orbit. History SMS-1 was launched May 17, 1974 and SMS-2 was launched February 6, 1975. B ...

in 1974. A very popular professor, he formally retired from teaching in 1986.

Honors and awards

Suomi was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

in 1966, elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1976, awarded the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

and elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1977, awarded the

Franklin Medal The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the Am ...

in 1984, the Charles Franklin Brooks Award from the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...

in 1980; a lifetime achievement award from the

International Meteorological Organization The International Meteorological Organization (IMO; 1873–1951) was the first organization formed with the purpose of exchanging weather information among the countries of the world. It came into existence from the realization that weather systems ...

, and numerous other awards and honors including the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Intern ...

International Meteorological Organization Prize The International Meteorological Organization Prize is awarded annually by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for outstanding contributions in the field of meteorology and, since 1971, the field of operational hydrology. The prize, estab ...

(the IMO Prize) and the first Walter Ahlstrom Prize. On January 24, 2012,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

renamed a recently launched NPP Earth monitoring satellite after Dr. Suomi. On that occasion, John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said that "Verner Suomi's many scientific and engineering contributions were fundamental to our current ability to learn about Earth's weather and climate from space." The

houses the

VIIRS The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is a sensor designed and manufactured by the Raytheon Company on board the polar-orbiting Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP), NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 weather satellites. VI ...

instrument that provided the images which were combined to make the 2012

The Blue Marble ''The Blue Marble'' is an image of Earth taken on December 7, 1972, from a distance of around from the planet's surface. Taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon, it is one of the most reproduced images in history ...

photo.Memmott, Mark
"'Blue Marble 2012': NASA's 'Most Amazing' High Def Image Of Earth So Far"
''The Two-Way'',

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, 25 January 2012.

Personal life

Suomi died in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

at age 79. He was survived by his wife Paula and his children Eric,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, and Lois; two sisters, Edith and Esther; two granddaughters; and many nieces and nephews.

Notes

External links

Suomi Virtual Museum
(includes photo of Suomi)
The Space Science and Engineering CenterSuomi Website - The Father of Satellite Meteorology

NASA ATS-1 (1966) page
-

NSSDC The NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) serves as the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data. "Space science" includes astronomy and astrophysics, solar and space plasma physics, and planetary and lunar science. As ...