Walter Dieminger, (July 7, 1907 – September 29, 2000) was a German

space scientist The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to space science: Space science encompasses all of the scientific disciplines that involve space exploration and study natural phenomena and physical bodies In common usage ...

and director of Germany's

Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (abbreviation: MPS; german: Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung) is a research institute in astronomy and astrophysics located in Göttingen, Germany, where it relocated in February 2 ...

from 1955 to 1975. Dieminger's research was focused on the ionosphere.

Life and work

Dieminger studied physics between 1926 and 1935 at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

. After receiving his Ph.D. for work on

electromagnetic wave In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visib ...

s and the ionosphere with

Jonathan Zenneck Jonathan Adolf Wilhelm Zenneck (15 April 1871 – 8 April 1959) was a German physicist and electrical engineer who contributed to researches in radio circuit performance and to the scientific and educational contributions to the literature of t ...

, he worked at the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (German Experimental Institute for Aviation). With his focus on research of the ionosphere and electromagnetic waves at his new institute, called the Zentralstelle für Funkberatung (Central Counseling Office for Radio Communication). Applying a code invented by his cooperator

Karl Rawer Professor Rawer at his 104th birthday in 2017 Karl Maria Alois Rawer (19 April 1913 – 17 April 2018) was a German specialist in radio wave propagation and the ionosphere. He developed the analytical code to determine suitable frequency ranges f ...

he was able to make predictions on shortwave communication for the military and the police. The institute at Leobersdorf continued to monitor the ionosphere until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. A group of British physicists supervised the dissolution of the institute. The ionospheric physicist

William Roy Piggott William Roy Piggott (18 July 1914 – 20 May 2008) was a student of Sir Edward Appleton who transferred a large group of German specialists from Austria into the British Zone of Occupation in Germany in 1945. He edited the still valid official b ...

opposed the dissolution and managed to transfer most of its scientists and equipment to Lindau am Harz in the British sector of Germany. This research institute became later, after several name changes, the Max Planck Institute for Ionospheric Research in 1948. Dieminger became the director of the institute in 1951, which was renamed the

in 1958. He continued his research of the upper atmosphere and was able to participate in several international collaborations. For example, he established a station for ionospheric observations in

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and cooperated with the Finnish

EISCAT EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) operates three incoherent scatter radar systems in Northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. The facilities are used to study the interaction between the Sun and the Earth as revealed by dist ...

facility in

Sodankylä Sodankylä (; sme, Soađegilli ; smn, Suáđigil; sms, Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 ( E63) and along Highway 4 ( E75). The Kitinen River flows nea ...

. Dieminger was one of the most active scientists in the

International Union of Radio Science The International Union of Radio Science (abbreviated ''URSI'', after its French name, french: link=no, Union radio-scientifique internationale) is one of 26 international scientific unions affiliated to the International Council for Science ( ...

(URSI): Vice-President 1963-69, President 1969-72. He retired in 1975 but continued with his research. He died in 2000 in

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document ...

Honors

Dieminger was a member of several academic societies including the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founde ...

, Austrian Academy of Sciences,

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm (Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...

and the

Finnish Academy of Sciences The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Finnish ''Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia''; Latin ''Academia Scientiarum Fennica'') is a Finnish learned society. It was founded in 1908 and is thus the second oldest academy in Finland. The oldest is the Fi ...

. He was made an honorary citizen of Katlenbug-Lindau in 1975 and received the Federal Cross of Merit in 1975.

References

External links

* Complete list of publications {{DEFAULTSORT:Dieminger, Walter 1907 births 2000 deaths 20th-century German physicists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Max Planck Institute directors