NSSL's Dusan Zrnic receives Presidential Rank Award
Dusan Zrnic, NSSL senior scientist, recently received the "Presidential Rank Award" for outstanding long-term accomplishments in radar research. The prestigious Presidential Rank Award is given to a select group of senior federal executives who have provided exceptional service to the American people over an extended period of time.
Dusan's work with meteorological Doppler radar signal processing theory and practice became benchmarks for conceptual designs of the national networks of Doppler weather radars. His work has contributed substantially to the recognition of radar signatures of hazardous weather phenomena such as tornadoes, mesocyclones, and fronts--which in turn help forecasters save property and lives through improved warnings. Dusan also contributed to early understanding of tornado wind speeds, and more recently to the study of measurements of precipitation with polarimetric radars which offer promise for greatly improved forecasts of precipitation type and amount. He was awarded a patent for devising a novel method to obtain polarimetric information more rapidly and in a way that is compatible with the existing NEXRAD requirements. The method is currently being implemented on the NOAA research and development radar for evaluation.
Dusan's influence goes beyond the laboratory. Besides
mentoring many students to become effective independent investigators, he
used his radar expertise to create advanced graduate and research courses in
the area of Doppler and polarimetric weather radar. He also co-authored a book
with Dick Doviak, Doppler Radar and Weather Observations, published in 1984,
that is acknowledged worldwide as the standard reference in its field. The
second revised edition, published in 1993, contains a one-of-a-kind section
dealing with the polarimetric technique Dusan pioneered. "Zrnic's theoretical and practical contributions are truly
landmarks in Doppler and polarimetric radar meteorology," said Jeff Kimpel,
NSSL director.
