Herbert Riehl (March 30, 1915 – June 1, 1997) was a German-born American meteorologist who is widely regarded as the father of

tropical meteorology A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

. He is well known for his work with

Joanne Simpson Joanne Simpson (formerly Joanne Malkus, born Joanne Gerould; March 23, 1923 – March 4, 2010) was the first woman in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, which she received in 1949 from the University of Chicago.Atlas D and Lemone ...

on the importance of

hot tower A hot tower is a tropical cumulonimbus cloud that reaches out of the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, and into the stratosphere. These formations are called "hot" because of the large amount of latent heat released as water vapor co ...

s, and their critical role in transport of energy out of the tropics via the

Hadley circulation The Hadley cell, named after George Hadley, is a global-scale tropical atmospheric circulation that features air rising near the equator, flowing poleward at a height of 10 to 15 kilometers above the earth's surface, descending in the subtropics, ...

. He was responsible for founding the

atmospheric science Atmospheric science is the study of the Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Climat ...

department at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

Awards

* American Meteorological Society's

Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loc ...

(1947) * American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics

Losey Award Losey is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Brian L. Losey, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy; Commander, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa * Frank H. Losey (1872–1931), musician, composer, and arranger of band and orchestra mus ...

(1962) * American Meteorological Society

Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal The Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal is the highest award for atmospheric science of the American Meteorological Society. It is presented to individual scientists, who receive a medal. Named in honor of meteorology and oceanography pioneer Carl- ...

(1979) Riehl wrote the first textbook on tropical meteorology.

References

* Tropical meteorology American meteorologists 1915 births 1997 deaths New York University alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago faculty Colorado State University faculty Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal recipients Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States {{climate-bio-stub