Gérard Mégie

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Gerard Jean-Jacques Mégie (born June 1, 1946 in Paris ; † June 5, 2004 ibid) was a French physicist in the field of atmospheric research and chairman of the research organization Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).

Career

Mégie studied from 1965 at the École polytechnique . From 1968 to 1974 he worked for the state space agency CNES . In 1974 he joined the CNRS. In 1976 he received his doctorate in natural sciences (Docteur ès Sciences) . In the following years he continued his career in the CNRS. In 1988 he became a professor at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) in Paris . From 1996 to 2000 he was Director of the Aeronomic Service (Service d'aéronomie), jointly operated by the CNRS, UPMC and the University of Versailles , of which he had previously been Deputy Director since 1984.

Mégie was the founder and from 1991 to 2000 director of the inter- institutional Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute (named after the 18th century scholar of the same name ). In 2000 he became chairman of the CNRS, an office which he held until his death.

Services

Mégie's research area was the physics and chemistry of the earth's atmosphere using both experimental and theoretical methods. He first investigated the origin of metallic species in the upper atmosphere. He then devoted himself to research into anthropogenic changes in the ozone layer in the stratosphere .

The focus of Mégie's work was on the one hand the development of new measurement methods for atmospheric parameters by means of laser remote measurement, for example lidar methods, on the other hand the modeling of natural fluctuations in the ozone content in the atmosphere and its changes as a result of human activity.

He contributed to the development and commissioning of numerous ground, air and satellite-based measurement systems and coordinated several measurement campaigns on ozone concentrations in the Arctic and Antarctic .

Most recently, he devoted his research to the chemical equilibrium processes in the troposphere under the influence of air pollution by photooxidants as well as the more general connections between changes in the chemistry of the earth's atmosphere and the problems of climate change . He was also involved in interdisciplinary projects on the economic and social consequences of environmental problems.

honors and awards

During his lifetime

In 1987 Gérard Mégie was awarded the CNRS silver medal. In 1992 he received the Grand Prize (Congress award) of the International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Associations , and in 2001 the Grand Prize of the Atomic Energy Commission of the French Academy of Sciences . The European Geosciences Union awarded the Alfred Wegener Medal in 2004 and made him an honorary member.

In 1998, Mégie was made a member of the Institut Universitaire de France . He was also a member of the French Academy of Sciences and other French and international learned societies .

Mégie was a knight (Chevalier) of the Ordre national du Mérite and the Legion of Honor .

Posthumously

The Academy of Sciences has been awarding a prize named after him since 2005, the Prix ​​Gérard Mégie . It is endowed with 15,000 euros and is awarded every two to three years for outstanding work in the field of research into the atmosphere, the oceans, the cryosphere or their interactions. Prize winners can be an individual scientist or a research group from France or abroad.

In February 2008 a memorial plaque was erected in his honor in Adélieland, Antarctica . To mark the occasion, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands issued a stamp dedicated to him.

Publications

In the course of his career, Mégie published around 240 scientific articles, including over 100 in international peer-reviewed journals, as well as several books, one of which (Ozon) was also translated into German.

Professional article (selection)

  • G. Megie, JE Blamont: Laser sounding of atmospheric sodium interpretation in terms of global atmospheric parameters . In: Planetary and Space Science . tape 25 , no. December 12 , 1977, ISSN  0032-0633 , pp. 1093-1109 , doi : 10.1016 / 0032-0633 (77) 90085-X .
  • G. Megie, F. Bos, JE Blamont, ML Chanin: Simultaneous nighttime Lidar measurements of atmospheric sodium and potassium . In: Planetary and Space Science . tape 26 , no. January 1 , 1978, ISSN  0032-0633 , pp. 27-35 , doi : 10.1016 / 0032-0633 (78) 90034-X .
  • A. Papayannis, G. Ancellet, J. Pelon, G. Mégie: Multiwavelength lidar for ozone measurements in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere . In: Applied Optics . tape 29 , no. 4 , 1990, ISSN  0003-6935 , pp. 467-476 , doi : 10.1364 / AO.29.000467 .
  • DM Winker, J. Pelon, JA Coakley, SA Ackerman, RJ Charlson, PR Colarco, P. Flamant, Q. Fu, RM Hoff, C. Kittaka, TL Kubar, H. Le Treut, MP McCormick, G. Mégie, L Poole, K. Powell, C. Trepte, MA Vaughan, BA Wielicki: The CALIPSO Mission: A Global 3D View of Aerosols and Clouds . In: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society . tape 91 , no. 9 , September 2010, ISSN  0003-0007 , p. 1211-1229 , doi : 10.1175 / 2010BAMS3009.1 .

Books

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on Gerard Jean-Jacques Megie in Fichier des personnes décédées , accessed on May 15, 2020.
  2. ↑ a b c d Gérard Mégie (1st June 1946 - 5th June 2004) - Un parcours exemplaire, trop tôt interrompu. CNRS , conseil d'administration, archived from the original on April 27, 2019 ; accessed on May 15, 2020 (French, obituary).
  3. ↑ Awards & Honors. International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Associations, accessed February 27, 2015 .
  4. ^ Gérard Mégie: Alfred Wegener Medal & Honorary Membership 2004. European Geosciences Union , accessed on February 27, 2015 (English).
  5. ^ Prix ​​Gérard Mégie. Académie des sciences , accessed on March 19, 2016 (French).
  6. ↑ Homage to Gérard Mégie. French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor , archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 14, 2020 (French).
  7. ↑ Postage: Gerard Megie (0.54) - 2008. In: catawiki.de. Retrieved March 14, 2020 .
  8. ↑ TF020.08 - Gérard Mégie. In: WADP Numbering System (WNS). Universal Postal Union , Association mondiale pour le développement de la philatélie , accessed on March 14, 2020 (English, French, with a link to a high-resolution image of the stamp (JPEG) ).
  9. ^ Web of Science Search. In: Web of Science . Thomson Reuters , accessed on February 27, 2015 (when searching for an author “G. Megie” finds 111 publications and has an h-index of 34).
personal data
SURNAME Mégie, Gérard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mégie, Gerard Jean-Jacques (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French physicist and chairman of the CNRS
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH June 5, 2004
Place of death Paris