Peter Dodge (July 21, 1950 – March 3, 2023[1]) was an American meteorologist and noted expert on radar technology. The Florida resident participated in hundreds of hurricane hunting missions to improve understanding of hurricane formation.[2][3]
Peter Dodge | |
|---|---|
 Photo inside a Hurricane Hunter in 2005. | |
| Born | 21 July 1950  |
| Died | 3 March 2023 (aged 72) |
| Resting place | Gulf of Mexico |
| Education | master's degree |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | |
| Employer | |
| Awards | |
Early life and education
editDodge graduated from Michigan State University in 1972 with a B.S. in Mathematics. He volunteered with the Peace Corps, teaching math and science at a rural high school in Nepal.[4][5] He worked in a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cooperative program at the Prototype Regional Observing and Forecasting System in Boulder, Colorado, before receiving a master's degree from the University of Washington in Seattle.[3]
Career
editAs a researcher with the NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Dodge served as onboard radar scientist on 386 NOAA Hurricane Hunters missions aboard "Miss Piggy", a Lockheed P-3 Orion.[6] In addition, he developed flight modules and conducted research on the evolution of hurricanes' structures.[3] He focused on the behavior of rain cells during a hurricane.[5] Toward the end of his career, he lost his sight but continued to contribute to missions with the aid of a Braille keyboard.[3]
Recognition
editDuring his 44-year career in the United States federal government, he was awarded the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal, two NOAA Administrator's Awards, and the Army Corps of Engineers Patriotic Civilian Service Award.[2][3] As part of the Hurricane Research Division, he received a Department of Commerce Gold Medal and a Public Service Award at the Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference for service during the 1998 hurricane season.[1]
Death and legacy
editDodge died in 2023 after suffering a stroke.[5] The following year, a Hurricane Hunters mission buried him at sea about 300 miles (480 km) southwest of Florida. After reading "Peace, my heart" by Rabindranath Tagore, the crew released a dropsonde containing his cremated remains into the eye of Hurricane Milton, then a Category 5 hurricane.[5] The flight's vortex data message marks the moment as the end of his "387th" mission.[7]
Works
edit- Powell, Mark D.; Murillo, Shirley; Dodge, Peter; Uhlhorn, Eric; Gamache, John; Cardone, Vince; Cox, Andrew; Otero, Sonia; Carrasco, Nick; Annane, Bachir; St. Fleur, Russell (January 2010). "Reconstruction of Hurricane Katrina's wind fields for storm surge and wave hindcasting". Ocean Engineering. 37 (1): 26–36. doi:10.1016/J.OCEANENG.2009.08.014.
References
edit- ^ a b Blank, Nick (October 9, 2024). "Longtime radar scientist and researcher has ashes dropped into Hurricane Milton's eye". First Coast News. Jacksonville, Florida: Tegna Inc. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- ^ a b Christobek, Kate (October 9, 2024). "Hurricane Milton Is the Final Mission for a Meteorologist's Ashes". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Somasundaram, Praveena (October 9, 2024). "A hurricane hunter's final, fitting resting place: Milton's eye". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- ^ "AOML Mourns the Loss of Hurricane Scientist Peter Dodge" (PDF). AOML Keynotes. Miami: Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. January–March 2023. p. 8. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Thornton, Claire (October 9, 2024). "Peter Dodge's final flight: Hurricane scientist gets burial at sea into Milton's eye". USA Today. Tysons, Virginia. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- ^ Helmore, Edward (October 10, 2024). "Ashes of Florida hurricane hunter take final mission into Milton's eye". The Guardian. London. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
- ^ Edwards, Benj (October 9, 2024). "NOAA drops scientist's ashes into the eye of Category 5 Milton". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved October 10, 2024.