For innovative radiative transfer and remote sensing accomplishments and for exceptional international leadership in promoting climate science.

Teruyuki Nakajima will receive the 2017 Yoram J. Kaufman Unselfish Cooperation in Research Award at the 2017 AGU Fall Meeting, to be held 11–15 December in New Orleans, Louisiana. The award recognizes “broad influence in atmospheric science through exceptional creativity, inspiration of younger scientists, mentoring, international collaborations, and unselfish cooperation in research.”  

“For his seminal theoretical and experimental contributions to the remote sensing of cloud and aerosol properties”

Teruyuki (or Terry) has been a pioneer in developing cloud and aerosol remote sensing at visible and near-infrared wavelengths that is used today in satellites of the United States, Japan, and Europe, as well as airborne systems in several countries. He has been a powerful source of inspiration for many in the radiative transfer and remote sensing field. He is one of the founding members of AERONET, a worldwide network of Sun/sky radiometers for measuring aerosol optical and microphysical properties that is now distributed throughout the world (in more than 750 locations). He established the ground-based SKYNET observational network to measure and study aerosol trends in the East Asia corridor. He also led and directed numerous East Asian field campaigns to provide requisite data for validating and tuning aerosol chemistry transport models, and for documenting regional trends in aerosol variability, air pollution, and air quality. His forward and inversion radiation codes are widely used in the satellite, ground network, and modeling communities.
Terry has mentored a number of students and collaborated with a breadth of scientists in Europe, the United States, and Asia. He has published journal articles with 291 different scientists, which highlights his unselfish collaboration in research. As of April 2017, he has a citation record of 13,011 citations, which shows his vast influence in atmospheric sciences, particularly, radiation and remote sensing. I am pleased to present the 2017 Yoram J. Kaufman Unselfish Cooperation in Research Award to Dr. Teruyuki Nakajima.

—Joyce E. Penner, President, Atmospheric Sciences Section, AGU

It is my great honor to receive the Yoram J. Kaufman award. I thank Prof. Masayuki Tanaka, my thesis advisor at Tohoku University, and Dr. Michael D. King, my host scientist when I visited NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 1987–1990. I would also like to extend my gratitude to all of the students, researchers, and supporting staff of my laboratory at the University of Tokyo and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as well as my collaborators across the world. I am moved by this opportunity to remember the warm smile and exciting atmosphere of Yoram when he talked about his new ideas on science to young scientists and foreign visitors. Reflecting on these things, I feel I am a lucky guy to get such wonderful scenery in my adventure on the river of science; sometimes slow and sometimes dramatic. The coupled atmosphere–ocean matrix method, symmetric matrix representation of the discrete ordinate theory, TMS/IMS truncation formulae for radiance calculation, STAR-radiation library, sky radiometer technology for AERONET and SKYNET, two/four channel aerosol remote sensing algorithms, cloud microphysics remote sensing algorithms, global aerosol–cloud parameter comparison for the aerosol direct/indirect effect study, MSTRN radiation code and SPRINTARS aerosol module for climate models, and field experiments are beautiful stones in the treasure box of my adventure with such wonderful young scientists and old friends. I owe you—thanks! Last, I express my appreciation to AGU for its generosity in giving me this award among numerous excellent scientists. —Teruyuki Nakajima, Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA, Tsukuba, Japan