Tim Palmer (physicist)

Tim Palmer

Palmer at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos 2013
Born Timothy Noel Palmer
(1952-12-31) 31 December 1952
Alma mater
Thesis Covariant conservation equations and their relation to the energy- momentum concept in general relativity (1977)
Doctoral advisor Dennis William Sciama[1]
Notable awards
Website
www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/contacts/people/palmer

Timothy Noel Palmer CBE FRS[2] (born 31 December 1952) is a mathematical physicist by training. He has spent most of his career working on the dynamics and predictability of weather and climate. Amongst various research achievements, he pioneered the development of probabilistic ensemble forecasting techniques for weather and climate prediction (at the Met Office and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). These techniques are now standard in operational weather and climate prediction around the world, and are central for reliable decision making for many commercial and humanitarian applications.

Education

Palmer received a 1st Class Joint Honours Degree in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Bristol[1] and a Doctor of Philosophy in General Relativity Theory from the University of Oxford.[3]

Research

As of 2016 Palmer's research is focussed on the development of stochastic parametrisations in weather and climate simulators,[2] and the application of inexact computing[4] techniques for developing ultra-high resolution climate models.[5] Palmer believes strongly that human and computing resources must be pooled internationally in order to develop reliable climate prediction systems. He remains active in the area of fundamental physics, promoting the synergistic "Cosmological Invariant Set Postulate" as a primitive geometric principle for physics of the large and small.

Career

After a chance meeting with geophysicist Raymond Hide, he became interested in climate and was employed by the Met Office – including a year at the University of Washington – becoming Principal Scientific Officer. In 1986 he joined the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts where he led the newly formed Predictability and Diagnostics Division. In 2010 Palmer became a Professor of Climate Physics at the University of Oxford,[6] being one of the "2010 Anniversary" Royal Society Research Professors, created to celebrate the Royal Society's 350th Anniversary. At Oxford, Palmer is additionally co-director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Modelling and Predicting Climate[7] and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford.[8]

Awards and honours

Palmer was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to science,[9][10] and in April 2015 was elected as an international member of the American Philosophical Society.[11] Other awards include:

Palmer was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2003.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Professor Tim Palmer, CBE, FRS". Honorary Graduates 2016. University of Bristol. 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Anon (2003). "Professor Tim Palmer CBE FRS". royalsociety.org. Lonndon: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
    “All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies at the Wayback Machine (archived September 25, 2015)
  3. Palmer, Timothy Noel (1977). Covariant Conservation Equations and their Relation to the Energy-Momentum Concept in General Relativity (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 500534804.
  4. Palem, K.V. (September 2005). "Energy Aware Computing through Probabilistic Switching: A Study of Limits". IEEE Transactions on Computers. 54 (9): 1123–1137. doi:10.1109/TC.2005.145.
  5. Duben, P. D.; Joven, J.; Lingamneni, A.; McNamara, H.; De Micheli, G.; Palem, K. V.; Palmer, T. N. (19 May 2014). "On the use of inexact, pruned hardware in atmospheric modelling". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 372 (2018): 20130276–20130276. doi:10.1098/rsta.2013.0276.
  6. "Tim Palmer". University of Oxford Department of Physics. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  7. "Professor Tim Palmer Co-Director, Programme on Modelling and Predicting Climate". Oxford Martin School. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  8. "Professor Tim Palmer". Jesus College, Oxford. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  9. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 61092. p. N10. 31 December 2014.
  10. 2015 New Year Honours List
  11. "Newly Elected - April 2015". American Philosophical Society. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
  12. "Winners of the Norbert Gerbier-MUMM International Award". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  13. "Double Success for Dr Tim Palmer". Royal Meteorological Society. 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  14. "2014 Dirac medal". Institute of Physics. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
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