CPO-Supported Researcher Receives the 2013 Prince Albert I Medal

Professor Arnold Gordon, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, received the 2013 Prince Albert I Medal in Sweden on Wednesday, July 24 “for his outstanding contribution in observational oceanography and in particular for his work in defining the physical processes in the Southern Ocean and Indonesian Throughflow.” Gordon then presented the Albert I Memorial lecture entitled, “Large scale impact of the Indonesian Throughflow.” Dr. Gordon’s work in both the Indonesian Throughflow and the Weddell Sea is supported by NOAA’s Climate Observation Division.

In an article on the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans website, Arnold L. Gordon is described as an individual who “epitomizes the golden age of physical oceanography as a fundamentally observational science.”

“Almost alone, he drove the observational program in the Southern Ocean (SO) in succession to the explorers of the early 20th Century. The recent emergence of the SO as a critical component of the climate system is testimony to Arnold’s foresight extending back nearly 50 years. The Eltanin observations, in particular, will be his monument. We owe most of our knowledge of the important oceanography of the Indonesian Archipelago to Arnold’s tenacity in overcoming scientific, logistical, and political obstacles. He pioneered studies of Agulhas eddies, in which his early use of satellite altimetry excited wider interest in this new technology.”

Read the full story online.