NOAA scientists are among the world’s “most influential” as far as scientific citations go, according to an international scientific database. Researchers cite, or refer to, published work of others in their field, and how often an author is cited provides a measure of the impact of the author’s work in that field. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

ISI Thompson Scientific’s “The World’s Most Influential Researchers” lists 10 NOAA scientists among the 248 most-cited authors in the world over the past two decades in the geosciences category. Seven of the scientists are from NOAA’s Aeronomy Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., two are from NOAA’s Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., and one is from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

“NOAA is fortunate to have some of the best scientists in the world and this shows that the scientific community agrees,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The presence of 10 NOAA researchers on such a list underscores the high impact of NOAA’s research and NOAA’s scientists.”

NOAA’s “Most Influential” are: David Fahey, Fred Fehsenfeld, Ken Kelly, David Parrish, Michael Proffitt, Susan Solomon and Adrian Tuck, all of the NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory; David Hofmann and Pieter Tans of the NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory; and Tom Karl of the NOAA National Climatic Data Center.

“We are immensely proud of the individuals and also pleased that there are so many on this list,” said Richard D. Rosen, assistant administrator of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. “When you consider that all research institutions worldwide were sampled, having this many achieve such prominence is quite impressive. This achievement also speaks to the high quality of NOAA management for providing the environment in which these scientists can flourish.”

The researchers on the list are considered by their peers to have performed significant, trend-setting research in a subject. Solomon, for example, achieved recognition for her work helping to explain the nature of the stratospheric ozone hole. Karl is considered one of the world’s experts on climate change.

ISI Thompson provides web-based information to more than seven million researchers, information specialists, and administrators in diverse fields. To obtain this web-based information, please visit: http://isihighlycited.com

The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research is dedicated to enhancing economic security and the nation’s welfare through research to better understand weather and climate-related events and to manage wisely our nation's coastal and marine resources.

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