Roger Daley
Encyclopedia
Roger Willis Daley was a Canadian meteorologist known particularly for his work on data assimilation.
, England
on January 25, 1943, but moved with his parents to Canada at an early age. He studied at the University of British Columbia
as an undergraduate and completed PhD studies at McGill University
in 1971 where he was the student of Phil Merilees (Superintendent of NRL Marine Meteorology Division, 1997–2002). He died at his home in Carmel Valley
, California
on August 29, 2001.
After 2 years as a postdoc in Denmark
, Daley took a position at the numerical weather prediction research center in Montreal
where he was instrumental in the development of the first operational weather model (implemented in 1976) based on the spectral transform method for the globe. This method is now the standard in most operational centers around the world including the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorological and Oceanographic Center (FNMOC) in Monterey.
In 1977, Daley accepted a position at the National Center for Atmospheric Research
(NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado
, where he carried out research on non-linear normal mode initialization and other outstanding problems in the dynamics of large-scale atmospheric flow particularly as they related to global numerical weather prediction
. He also became much more interested in the science of data assimilation
. During this period, Daley was author or co-author on many publications in the refereed literature and was honored by receiving the NCAR outstanding publication award. Nevertheless, he did not neglect his interest in operational applications. He was involved in implementation of non-linear normal mode initialization for baroclinic models at the Canadian Meteorological Centre in Canada and at Meteo-France
in Paris; and he implemented an innovative error covariance formulation at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
in the United Kingdom.
From 1985 until 1995, Daley held a position of Senior Scientist with the Meteorological Service of Canada
in Toronto. His personal scientific work concentrated on the writing of a book entitled Atmospheric Data Assimilation, which was published in 1991. By the time he left Canada in 1995, he was firmly established as a world leader in data assimilation not only through his comprehensive book but also in terms of creative new developments in the theory and practice of data assimilation. Daley was largely responsible for elevating data assimilation to be a prestigious field of scientific enquiry.
Throughout his career, Daley was in demand as a consultant, as a scientific visitor and adjunct professor. He held visiting appointments at ECMWF; Meteo-France; Florida State University
and The Meteorological Institute of Stockholm University
. He was an adjunct professor at McGill University
, Colorado State University
and the Naval Postgraduate School
and a Scientist Emeritus with the Meteorological Service of Canada. He also lectured extensively throughout the world including a series of lectures in Beijing, China; as a principal lecturer at the 1990 Summer Colloquium at NCAR and at the University of Toulon in France. He served on many important international scientific committees, carrying out scientific reviews and serving as member of journal editorial boards of the AMS and the Swedish Geophysical Society. He was Chief Editor for the CMOS journal Atmosphere-Ocean from 1989-1992. Daley received many honors during his career. From the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) he received the Prize in Applied Meteorology in 1975 and the President's Prize in 1982. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1993 and a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 1997.
In 1995, Daley accepted a position as a UCAR Distinguished Scientific Visitor at the Marine Meteorology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, in Monterey, California, and moved his family to the Carmel Valley. Daley took on a project, in close partnership with Ed Barker, to design and construct a three-dimensional variational data assimilation system specifically meant to serve the needs of the US Navy. Over a period of 5 years, he and Ed have carefully built and tested this system. It is known as the NRL Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System, or NAVDAS, and went operational at FNMOC and at Navy regional METOC centers in 2003. NAVDAS is designed to meet data assimilation needs of both global models and regional nested models and holds great promise to provide a substantial increase in Navy model prediction accuracy.
In January 2001, the American Meteorological Society
recognized Daley's achievements by awarding him the prestigious Jules Charney Medal for a lifetime of outstanding scientific achievement.
NASA's
Goddard Institute also recognized Daley's achievements by naming their new SGI Origin 3800 supercomputer after him. This 512-processor computer went into service at Goddard's Data Assimilation Office in 2001 to create significantly improved models of how the Earth's climate works.
Career
Daley was born in PurleyPurley
- in England :*Purley, London**Purley Way, out-of-town retail area*Purley-on-Thames, in Berkshire- People :*David Purley , British race driver*Purley, several members of a fictional family in 1996's Secrets & Lies...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on January 25, 1943, but moved with his parents to Canada at an early age. He studied at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
as an undergraduate and completed PhD studies at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in 1971 where he was the student of Phil Merilees (Superintendent of NRL Marine Meteorology Division, 1997–2002). He died at his home in Carmel Valley
Carmel Valley
The Carmel Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Monterey County, California, east of Carmel-by-the-Sea. The AVA is home to a number of wineries and vineyards, as well as the town of Carmel Valley Village...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on August 29, 2001.
After 2 years as a postdoc in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Daley took a position at the numerical weather prediction research center in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
where he was instrumental in the development of the first operational weather model (implemented in 1976) based on the spectral transform method for the globe. This method is now the standard in most operational centers around the world including the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorological and Oceanographic Center (FNMOC) in Monterey.
In 1977, Daley accepted a position at the National Center for Atmospheric Research
National Center for Atmospheric Research
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has multiple facilities, including the I. M. Pei-designed Mesa Laboratory headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. NCAR is managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and sponsored by the National Science Foundation...
(NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, where he carried out research on non-linear normal mode initialization and other outstanding problems in the dynamics of large-scale atmospheric flow particularly as they related to global numerical weather prediction
Numerical weather prediction
Numerical weather prediction uses mathematical models of the atmosphere and oceans to predict the weather based on current weather conditions. Though first attempted in the 1920s, it was not until the advent of computer simulation in the 1950s that numerical weather predictions produced realistic...
. He also became much more interested in the science of data assimilation
Data assimilation
Applications of data assimilation arise in many fields of geosciences, perhaps most importantly in weather forecasting and hydrology. Data assimilation proceeds by analysis cycles...
. During this period, Daley was author or co-author on many publications in the refereed literature and was honored by receiving the NCAR outstanding publication award. Nevertheless, he did not neglect his interest in operational applications. He was involved in implementation of non-linear normal mode initialization for baroclinic models at the Canadian Meteorological Centre in Canada and at Meteo-France
Météo-France
Météo-France is the French national meteorological service.The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but many domestic operations have been decentralised to Toulouse...
in Paris; and he implemented an innovative error covariance formulation at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is an independent intergovernmental organisation supported by 19 European Member States and 15 Co-operating States...
in the United Kingdom.
From 1985 until 1995, Daley held a position of Senior Scientist with the Meteorological Service of Canada
Meteorological Service of Canada
The Meteorological Service of Canada , also known as "The Canadian Weather Service", is a division of Environment Canada, which primarily provides public meteorological information and weather forecasts and warnings of severe weather and other environmental hazards...
in Toronto. His personal scientific work concentrated on the writing of a book entitled Atmospheric Data Assimilation, which was published in 1991. By the time he left Canada in 1995, he was firmly established as a world leader in data assimilation not only through his comprehensive book but also in terms of creative new developments in the theory and practice of data assimilation. Daley was largely responsible for elevating data assimilation to be a prestigious field of scientific enquiry.
Throughout his career, Daley was in demand as a consultant, as a scientific visitor and adjunct professor. He held visiting appointments at ECMWF; Meteo-France; Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
and The Meteorological Institute of Stockholm University
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
. He was an adjunct professor at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, Colorado State University
Colorado State University
Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...
and the Naval Postgraduate School
Naval Postgraduate School
The Naval Postgraduate School is an accredited research university operated by the United States Navy. Located in Monterey, California, it grants master's degrees, Engineer's degrees and doctoral degrees...
and a Scientist Emeritus with the Meteorological Service of Canada. He also lectured extensively throughout the world including a series of lectures in Beijing, China; as a principal lecturer at the 1990 Summer Colloquium at NCAR and at the University of Toulon in France. He served on many important international scientific committees, carrying out scientific reviews and serving as member of journal editorial boards of the AMS and the Swedish Geophysical Society. He was Chief Editor for the CMOS journal Atmosphere-Ocean from 1989-1992. Daley received many honors during his career. From the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) he received the Prize in Applied Meteorology in 1975 and the President's Prize in 1982. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1993 and a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 1997.
In 1995, Daley accepted a position as a UCAR Distinguished Scientific Visitor at the Marine Meteorology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, in Monterey, California, and moved his family to the Carmel Valley. Daley took on a project, in close partnership with Ed Barker, to design and construct a three-dimensional variational data assimilation system specifically meant to serve the needs of the US Navy. Over a period of 5 years, he and Ed have carefully built and tested this system. It is known as the NRL Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System, or NAVDAS, and went operational at FNMOC and at Navy regional METOC centers in 2003. NAVDAS is designed to meet data assimilation needs of both global models and regional nested models and holds great promise to provide a substantial increase in Navy model prediction accuracy.
In January 2001, the American Meteorological Society
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
recognized Daley's achievements by awarding him the prestigious Jules Charney Medal for a lifetime of outstanding scientific achievement.
NASA's
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Goddard Institute also recognized Daley's achievements by naming their new SGI Origin 3800 supercomputer after him. This 512-processor computer went into service at Goddard's Data Assimilation Office in 2001 to create significantly improved models of how the Earth's climate works.