EGU Alexander von Humboldt Medal 2006

The Chilean scientist Patricio Aceituno has won the prestigious EGU Alexander von Humboldt Medal 2006 for his pioneering work in meteorology related to El Niño/Southern Oscillation and its impact on interannual and decadal rainfall variability in South America, and his achievements towards El Niño prediction.

The Alexander von Humboldt Medal is reserved for scientists from South America who have achieved exceptional international standing in geosciences and planetary and space sciences, defined in their widest senses.

Professor Aceituno is working at the Department of Geophysics, and is Director of the Graduate School, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas y Matematicas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile.

Resumé

Beginning with his PhD work he has devoted his main research efforts to the Meteorology of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). His pioneering papers On the Functioning of the Southern Oscillation in the South American Sector Part I: Surface Climate (Monthly Weather Review 116,505-524,1988) and Part II: Upper-Air Circulation (J.Climate 2,341-355,1989) made him known internationally as an expert in this field. He investigated the interannual and ENSO related variability of climate elements, in particular temperatures and precipitation, with emphasis on South America. By relating these to sea surface temperatures of the tropical Pacific, he significantly improved methods for El Niño prediction.
His most recent investigations were related to atmospheric circulation anomalies and climatic dynamics along the arid northerncoast of Chile. He thereby could show for the first time a clear manifestation of the decadal variability in the Southern Oscillation in temperature data series.

Medal Lecture

Patricio Aceituno will accept his medal and give his Medal lecture during the EGU General Assembly, to be held in Vienna, Austria from 2 – 7 April 2006. The lecture 'Climate impacts of El Niño phenomenon in South America: The 1877-1878 episode'. Monday, 3 April 2006, Lecture Room 13 (F1), 17:30 h.

More information: http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/awards/alexander_von_humboldt_overview.html