Dr. Byron Tapley has been selected as the 2001 Charles A. Whitten Medalist of the American Geophysical Union. This medal is awarded for outstanding achievement in research on the form and dynamics of the Earth and planets. The Whitten Medal is given no more than every other year.
Dr. Tapley's research focuses on the application of satellite remote-sensed observations and numerical computation approaches to contemporary problems in oceanography, geodesy and navigation. He also focuses on the application on nonlinear parameter estimation to determine crustal motion, the Earth’s rotation, and ocean and atmosphere circulations; as well as the interactions between these systems. Currently he is directing GRACE, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, a satellite mission jointly sponsored by NASA and the German space agency DLR. The five-year GRACE mission plans to use two satellites to measure gravity changes associated with mass and energy exchange between the oceans, atmosphere and solid earth while flying in a near polar orbit at an altitude of 300 miles above the Earth. The satellites will be launched in late November from a Russian launch site in Plesetsk, Russia.
Dr. Tapley has served on the College of Engineering faculty since 1960 and is currently director of the Center for Space Research and also director of the Texas Space Grant Consortium.
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