Robert Donald Cess (March 3, 1933 – March 22, 2022) was a professor of atmospheric sciences at Stony Brook University. He was born in Portland, Oregon.[1] Cess earned his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University and his master's degree from Purdue University in Indiana in 1956.[2] He received a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1959.[2] He is a recognized leader in the fields of climate change and atmospheric radiation transfer.[2] His research interests involve modeling of climate feedbacks that can either amplify or diminish global climate change, and interpreting surface and satellite remote sensing data.[3]

He has been a part of studies which have found problems with the ability of model the transmission of shortwave radiation through a cloud-free atmosphere, and designed an experiment to test the accuracy of the models. They reported that they found agreement between the models and the observations of clear-sky shortwave radiation at the surface for the period studied, 1985 to 1988.[4] Cess was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and worked with the National Science Foundation on understanding greenhouse warming and its associated policy implications.[5] He died on March 22, 2022, at his home in Connecticut.[6]

Awards edit

Cess has won numerous awards, including NASA's highest scientific honor—the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1989.[2] In 2006, he received the Jule G. Charney Award, which is awarded to scientists in recognition of significant research in the atmospheric or hydrologic sciences, from the American Meteorological Society "for his outstanding contributions to our understanding of the science of atmospheric radiation and climate change and the role of clouds in climate models."[7]

Selected publications edit

  • Cess, R. D. & P. M. Udelhofen (2003). "Climate change during 1985-1999: Cloud interactions determined from satellite measurements". Geophysical Research Letters. 30 (1): 1019. Bibcode:2003GeoRL..30.1019C. doi:10.1029/2002GL016128. S2CID 129757095.
  • Cess, R. D.; M. Zhang; B. A. Wielicki; D. F. Young; X-L. Zhou; Y. Nikitenko (2001). "The Influence of the 1998 El Niño upon Cloud-Radiative Forcing over the Pacific Warm Pool". J. Climate. 14 (9): 2129–2137. Bibcode:2001JCli...14.2129C. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014<2129:TIOTEN>2.0.CO;2.
  • Cess, R. D., T. Qian and M. Sun (2000). "Consistency tests applied to the measurement of total, direct and diffuse shortwave radiation at the surface". J. Geophys. Res. 105 (D20): 24881–24887. Bibcode:2000JGR...10524881C. doi:10.1029/2000JD900402.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Cess, R. D.; et al. (1999). "Absorption of solar radiation by the cloudy atmosphere: Further interpretations of collocated aircraft measurements". J. Geophys. Res. 104 (D2): 2059–2066. Bibcode:1999JGR...104.2059C. doi:10.1029/1998JD200058. S2CID 19031313.
  • Cess, R. D.; Zhang, M. H.; Potter, G. L.; Alekseev, V.; Barker, H. W.; Bony, S.; Colman, R. A.; Dazlich, D. A.; et al. (1997). "Comparison of the seasonal change in cloud-radiative forcing from atmospheric general circulation models and satellite observations". J. Geophys. Res. 102 (D14): 16593–16603. Bibcode:1997JGR...10216593C. doi:10.1029/97JD00927. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0014-9F60-1.
  • Cess, R. D.; et al. (1995). "Absorption of Solar Radiation by Clouds: Observations Versus Models". Science. 267 (5197): 496–499. Bibcode:1995Sci...267..496C. doi:10.1126/science.267.5197.496. PMID 17788783. S2CID 25821914.
  • Zhang, M. H.; J. J. Hack; J. T. Kiehl; R. D. Cess (1994). "Diagnostic Study of Climate Feedback Processes in Atmospheric General Circulation Models". J. Geophys. Res. 99 (D3): 5525–5537. Bibcode:1994JGR....99.5525Z. doi:10.1029/93JD03523.

References edit

  1. ^ Who's who in the East. 1977. ISBN 9780837906164.
  2. ^ a b c d Oregon State University (1998). "1998 Engineering Hall of Fame". Oregon Stater Awards. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  3. ^ Robert D. Cess (16 March 2004). "Robert D. Cess". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  4. ^ Carol Smith (12 April 2000). "On a Clear Day (DAAC Study)". Earth Observatory. NASA. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  5. ^ Stony Brook University (6 February 2006). "Stony Brook University Professor Robert Cess Honored By American Meteorological Society". Faculty/Student Awards. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  6. ^ SoMAS Professor Robert Cess, Founding Atmospheric Sciences Faculty, Dies at 89
  7. ^ American Meteorological Society (2006). "Awards, Fellows, and Honorary Members 2006" (PDF). Retrieved 14 March 2009.