The Meteorological Service of Catalonia awards two UB chairs
On March 23, Meteorology World Day, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) held its twentieth anniversary with a ceremony to award several institutions that have contributed to meteorological knowledge and research. Among the awardees are two teams of the University of Barcelona: the group of Atmospheric Physics led by the Emeritus Professor Jeroni Lorente and the team of Physical Geography led by Professor Javier Martín-Vide.
On March 23, Meteorology World Day, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) held its twentieth anniversary with a ceremony to award several institutions that have contributed to meteorological knowledge and research. Among the awardees are two teams of the University of Barcelona: the group of Atmospheric Physics led by the Emeritus Professor Jeroni Lorente and the team of Physical Geography led by Professor Javier Martín-Vide.
In particular, the group of Atmospheric Physics -former chair of Air Physics- received the award “for the meteorologistsʼ task, who worked on the Meteorological Service of Catalonia”. The chair of Physical Geography has been awarded for “its training task and work on research and their scientific rigor in the field of meteorology”.
Jeroni Lorente, professor of Atmospheric Physics, highlighted that the Meteorology Area of the Faculty of Physics “has been and still is a second home for lots of people who are now part of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia”. He also noted that this chair not only transfers knowledge but also brings “a passion for a science which, although many say it is not exact, is exactly the one to form the bases of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia”.
Since 1997, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia has worked with radio soundings in Barcelona in the Faculty of Physics of the UB, which has taken care of the system functioning. In 2013, a new system was set in order to work with twelve meteorological radio soundings automatically.
Javier Martín-Vide commented on his relation with the Meteorological Service of Catalonia since 1994, when his research group was creating the Climate Atlas of Catalonia. Since then, he has maintained a continuous and “mutually profitable” relation. He highlighted that a great amount of members of the SMC were students of his and that he presided the Advisory Council of the Service under the supervision of different directors. He also remembered that the SMC supported activities of his research group such as the master degree in Applied Climatology and the Media. Martín-Vide ended saying that “we have to try and keep this great meteorological family in Catalonia together, both in institutions and society”.
The Meteorological Service of Catalonia awarded six institutions to honor their contribution in the promotion of knowledge and research, observation, education, and dissemination of meteorology and strengthening communication ties between institutions.