Fridtjof Nansen Medal 2006

The South African scientist Johann R.E. Lutjeharms has won the prestigious EGU Fridtjof Nansen Medal for his imaginative descriptions and analyses of the Greater Algulhas System.

The Fridtjof Nansen Medal has been established by the Division on Ocean Sciences in recognition of the scientific achievements of Fridtjof Nansen. It will be awarded for distinguished research in Oceanography.

Johann Lutjeharms is a Professor of Ocean Climatology at the University of Cape Town.

Resumé

Over the past decades Johann R.E. Lutjeharms has been the spider in the web of the scientific description of the oceans around South Africa, coined by himself the 'Greater Agulhas system'. His many contributions include the description of the regional oceanography of the Agulhas Current system, the southwest Indian Ocean gyre and its recirculation subgyre, the Agulhas Current Retroflection system and the shedding of rings from that retroflection. The Agulhas retroflection is a 'choke point' in the global ocean thermohaline ('conveyor-belt') circulation, connecting the warm and salty Indian Ocean with the southeast Atlantic.
Johann was one of the first to investigate this system in a systematic and comprehensive way, using all the techniques available to characterize the mean and highly variable state of the retroflection system. He was one of the pioneers to use satellite remote sensing techniques in combination with in situ observations to describe such a complicated and variable western boundary current system.
In conclusion: Johann R.E. Lutjeharms is a very productive and original scientist, known and much cited for his seminal descriptions and analyses of the greater Agulhas System, inspiring many other ocean- and climate scientists, and collaborating with many of them.

Medlal Lecture

Professor Lutjeharms 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 ‘The Agulhas Current system; a beloved, lifelong mistress’ starts Monday April 3 , at 11:15h in Lecture Room D.

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