Geneva, 29 June 2005 -- During the 57th session (21 June - 1 July) of the Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Norbert Gerbier-Mumm International Award for 2005 was presented to Dr Gufran Beig of the IndianInstitute of Meteorology (Pune, India) who led the eighteen other scientists from around the world for their paper entitled "Review of Mesospheric Temperature Trends" published in 2003 in Volume 4 of the Reviews of Geophysics.

Dr Beig accepted the award as leader on behalf of his fellow researchers: P. Keckhut, R.P. Lowe, R.G. Roble, M.G. Mlynczak, J. Scheer, V.I. Fomichev, D. Offermann, W.J.R. French, M.G. Shepherd, A.I. Semenov, E.E. Remsberg, C.Y. She, F.J. Lübken, J. Bremer, B.R. Clemesha, J. Stegman, F. Sigernes, and S. Fadnavis.

The purpose of the Award is to encourage and reward annually an original scientific paper on the influence of meteorology in a particular field of the physical, natural or human sciences, or on the influence of one of these sciences on meteorology. In 1987 the Executive Council of the WMO approved the institution of the Norbert Gerbier - MUMM International Award in memory of the late Mr Norbert Gerbier, who served as President of the Commission for Agricultural Meteorology from 1979 to 1985. The Award aims at stimulating interest in research that contributes to WMO’s Programmes and activities. The Award consists of a diploma, a medal bearing a likeness of Mr Norbert Gerbier, and a cash prize. Three eminent scientists of international reputation assessed the papers submitted for the Award. The assessments are scrutinized by the WMO Executive Council Selection Committee for the Award, and based on their recommendations, the final selection is then made by the Council. This year’s award winning paper is an outcome of a comprehensive collective effort where the leading groups from around the world are involved in the study of the upper atmosphere. In recent years it has become increasingly clear that releases of trace gases from human activity have a potential for causing some changes in the upper atmosphere. However, our current knowledge of changes and trends in the temperature of the upper atmosphere, especially of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, is relatively limited compared to the Earth’s lower atmosphere, and there has been little effort made to analyze these results so far. In their study,

Dr Gufran Beig and his colleagues presented a comprehensive review of long-term trends in the temperature from 50 to 100 kilometers in the atmosphere on the basis of the available up-to-date understanding of measurements and model calculations. This review paper is based on the work of the Mesospheric Temperature Trend Assessment (MTTA) panel, of which Dr Gufran Beig is currently the chairman. An objective evaluation of the available data was attempted and important uncertainty factors were discussed. The majority of studies indicate negative trends in the lower and middle mesosphere with an amplitude of a 2 to 3 degrees Kelvin per decade. In the mesopause region- the region between mesosphere and thermosphere- the most reliable datasets show no significant trend but an uncertainty of at least 2 degrees Kelvin per decade which are close to recent model simulated results. These changes are attributed mainly to human induced anthropogenic greenhouse gases forcing from the ground. If sustained, the observed apparent changes in temperature, and the resulting hydrostatic contraction (atmospheric shrinking) could have future consequences for the ionosphere like radio and TV communications, atmospheric drag on space vehicles, and possibly effects on lower atmospheric climate and weather patterns.

e-mail: beig@tropmet.res.in; Fax: +91-20-25893825; Phone: +91-20-25893600