Ferris Webster Curriculum Vitae

Professor, physical oceanographer

College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment
University of Delaware
Lewes, DE 19958
Tel (302) 645-4266
Fax (302) 645-4007
E-mail: ferris@udel.edu

Education

B.Sc., Physics, University of Alberta, 1956
M.Sc., Physics, University of Alberta, 1957
Ph.D., Geophysics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1961

Professional Experience

Professor, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, 1983-present.
Director, Oceanography Program, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, 1983-94.
Senior Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 1982-83.
Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 1978-82.
Research Assistant, 1956-62; Research Associate, 1962-63; Assistant Scientist, 1963-65; Associate Scientist, 1965-70; Senior Scientist, 1970-78; Chairman, Department of Physical Oceanography, 1971-73; Associate Director for Research, 1973-78, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Research Assistant, 1957-59; Assistant Professor of Oceanography, 1966-68, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Visitor, National Institute of Oceanography, Wormley, England, 1969-70.

Home Address

P.O. Box 765
Lewes, DE 19958-0765
Tel. 302-645-2532

Teaching

MAST 602, Introduction to Physical Oceanography (yearly).
MAST 809, The ocean and climate variation.(alternate years).
MAST 200 Concepts in Oceanography (1995).
CEOE /AS 363/677, Frontiers in Oceanography, Honors course (1984).

Advisement at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:

1970 Ph.D. Dr. Henry Perkins. Inertial oscillations in the Mediterranean.

Advisement at the University of Delaware

1987 M.S. Yan Zhang. Interannual variations of sea-surface temperature in the South China Sea and the El Niño Southern Oscillation.
1988-90, Ph.D. Dr. Thomas Smith. The tropical Pacific Ocean's heat budget during a cold event, from a numerical model.
1990-93, M.S. Xian-Feng Zheng,. An investigation of year-to-year variation of sea-surface temperature in the North Atlantic from 1950 to 1989.
1991-94, M.S. Baochun Ge, Estimating vorticity balance within and under the thermocline using SOFAR float and hydrographic data.
1990-96, Ph.D. Dr. Xiuren Wang, Seasonal variations of sea-surface temperature in response to large-scale atmospheric anomalies in the North Atlantic.
1997 -2002 Ph.D. Magadalena Anguelova, Sea-salt aerosols: Their generation and role in the climate system.

University and College Service

Oceanography Program, CEOE, Director, 1983-94, 1998-
CEOE Academic Council & COMSEX, Member, 1983-94
CEOE Ship Advisory Council, Chair, 1982-86; Member, 1987-94
University Faculty Senate, 1984-86
CEOE Associate Dean Search Committee, Chair, 1985-86
Joint Center for Research in the Management of Oceanographic Data (JCRMOD), a University of Delaware - NOAA Joint Institute, Director, 1986-present
Faculty Advisory Committee, University President Search, Member, 1988-89
CEOE Associate Dean Search Committee, Member, 1996.

Public Service

(unless otherwise noted, as member)

National Research Council (NRC):

Panel on Oceanography, Committee on Polar Research, 1972-75.
US Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Program, 1973-75.
Ocean Science Committee, 1973-75.
Ocean Sciences Board, 1976-78; Chair, 1977-78.
Review of NOAA oceanic research and development, Chair, 1975-77.
Climate Research Board, 1977-78.
Geophysics Research Committee, 1982-86.
Ocean Climate Research Committee, 1983-85.
Climate Research Committee, 1983-86.
TOGA Advisory Panel, 1984-1986; Chair, 1984-85.
Geophysics Research Forum, 1985-86
Committee on Geophysical Data, Chair, 1985-1994.
Review of NASA's Earth Observing System in the context of the US Global Change Research Program, 1990
Review of the National Space Science Data Center, 1991-92
Global Change Data Forum, Chair, 1992, 1993.
Review of the National Climatic Data Center, 1993-94.
Review of the US Global Change Research Program and Mission to Planet Earth/Earth Observing System, 1995.
Review of NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers, 1997-98
Review of NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center, 2002-2003, Chair

Other Scientific Committees:

International Southern Ocean Studies Executive Committee, 1974-76.
Joint POLYMODE Executive Committee, 1974-81.
TOGA Steering Committee, Committee for Climatic Changes and the Ocean (CCCO), 1983-86.
WOCE (World Ocean Circulation Experiment) Science Steering Committee, 1984-88.
WOCE Data Management Working Group, Chair, 1984-1987. Member, 1988-93.
NASA Satellite Ocean Data Systems Scientific Working Group (SODSSWG) 1986-88.
SODSSWG Network Panel, Chair, 1987-88.
NASA Science Internet Science Steering Committee, 1987-92.
US-USSR Joint Working Group on Earth Sciences, US Coordinator, Oceans, 1988-93.
CLIVAR (Climate Variability and Predictability Program) Data Task Team, Chair, 1999-present

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC):

Group of Experts on Ocean Variability, Chair, 1969-71.
Group of Experts on oceanographic research as it relates to IGOSS, Chair, 1971-75.
IOC/WMO Group of experts on IGOSS, Subject Leader, 1975-78.
US Delegation to IOC, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1979.
US Representative to the IOC Executive Council, 1979-82.
Group of Experts on RNODCs and Climate Data Services, 1987-1996.

International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU)

SCOR Working Group 21 on Continuous Velocity Measurements, 1970-74.
ICSU Panel on World Data Centers, US Rep., 1992-present, Chair, 1995-present.
CODATA Working Group on Data Access, Chair, 1994-1996.
ICSU/CODATA ad hoc Group on Data and Information, Chair, 1996-present.

Other Committee Service:

University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS):
Chair, 1983-86; Vice-Chair, 1976-78;
Member, Advisory Council, 1975-77.
Advisory Committee for Ocean Sciences, National Science Foundation, 1978-82.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Special Program Panel on Marine Sciences, 1979-84; Chair, 1983-84.
Comité national pour l'évaluation de recherche (CNER), France, Expert, 1990-94:
IFREMER (Institut français pour la recherche et l'exploitation de la mer)
INSU (Institut national des sciences de l'univers)
ORSTOM (Institut français pour la coopération en développement).
Committee on University Relations, NOAA, 1992-1994.
Science Advisory Panel on Climate Change Data and Detection,
NOAA Climate and Global Change Program, Chair, 1992-present.
Association of American Universities, Research Libraries Project, 1993-94..
Panel on NOAA's Data Management Programs, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Chair, 1994-present.
Global Climate Observing Systems Joint Data and Information Panel, 1994-2000.
GCOS Data Centre Implementation Meeting, Chair, 1995.
American Meteorological Society, Glossary Advisory Board, 1995-2000.
NOAA Council on Long-term Climate Monitoring, 2003-present.

Federal Committees:

US-France Cooperative Program in Oceanography, US Co-Chair, 1978-82.
US-China Program on Oceanographic & Fisheries Sciences,
US Co-Chair, 1978-82.
Interagency Task Force on Acid Precipitation, Co-Chair, 1981-82.
Subcommittee on Marine Research, Committee on Atmospheres and Oceans, Chair, 1980-82.
Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change,
Liaison member, 1990-94.

Learned Societies & Editorial Activities

Oceanography Section, American Geophysical Union,
Vice President, 1972-74, President, 1974-76.
Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics, Associate Editor, 1970-74.
MODE Hot-Line News, Editor, 1972-75.
POLYMODE News, Editor, 1976-80.
Oceanologica Acta, Board of Sponsors, 1977-1987.

Visiting Committees:

Visiting Committee, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, MIT, 1979-82.
Ministère des Universités, France, 1980-81.
Visiting Committee, Brookhaven National Lab, Dept. of Applied Science, 1983-87.
Visiting Committee, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, 1991-present.
Visiting Committee, Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Victoria, BC, Canada, 1993.
Environment Expert Panel, Networks of Centres of Excellence,
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, 1995.

Visiting Committees:

Visiting Committee, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, MIT, 1979-82.
Ministère des Universités, France, 1980-81.
Visiting Committee, Brookhaven National Lab, Dept. of Applied Science, 1983-87.
Visiting Committee, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, 1991-present.
Visiting Committee, Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Victoria, BC, Canada, 1993.
Environment Expert Panel, Networks of Centres of Excellence, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, 1995.

Corporation Memberships

Bermuda Biological Station, 1965-present.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (Member's Representative.) 1973-78.
Marine Biological Laboratory, 1974-86.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1975-78.

Research Interests

Principal currents interests are the data and information needs of global environmental research programs and the role of the ocean in
climate change. Other interests include oceanic variability; time-series analysis, time-variable ocean currents, and the processes of Gulf
Stream meanders.

Publications, Ferris Webster

Garland, G. D., and T. F. Webster, 1960. Studies of natural electric and magnetic fields, Jour. Of Nat. Bur. Stds., 64, 4, 405-408.
Webster, Ferris, 1961. A description of Gulf Stream meanders off Onslow Bay, Deep-Sea Res., 8, 2, 130-143.
Webster, Ferris, 1961. The effect of meanders on the kinetic energy of the Gulf Stream, Tellus, 13, 3, 392-401.
Webster, Ferris, 1962. Departures from geostrophy in the Gulf Stream, Deep-Sea Res., 9, 2, 117-119.
Webster, Ferris, 1963. A preliminary analysis of some Richardson current meter records, Deep-Sea Res., 10, 4, 389-396.
Webster, Ferris, 1964. Some perils of measurement from moored ocean buoys, Trans., 1964 Buoy Tech. Symp., Marine Technology Society, Washington, D.C., 33-48.
Webster, Ferris, 1965. Measurements of eddy fluxes of momentum in the surface layer of the Gulf Stream, Tellus, 17, 2, 239-245.
Day, C. G., and F. Webster, 1965. Some current measurements in the Sargasso Sea, Deep-Sea Res., 12, 6, 805-814.
Webster, Ferris, 1967. A scheme for sampling deep-sea currents from moored buoys, Trans., 2nd Buoy Tech. Symp., Marine Technology Society, Washington, D.C., 419-431.
Webster, Ferris, 1968. Observations of inertial-period motions in the deep sea, Reviews of Geophys., 6, 4, 473-490.
Webster, Ferris, 1969. On the representativeness of direct deep-sea current measurements, in: Progress in Oceanography, M. Sears, ed., 5, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 3-15.
Webster, Ferris, 1969. Vertical profiles of horizontal ocean currents, Deep-Sea Res., 16, 1, 85-98.
Webster, Ferris, 1969. Turbulence spectra in the ocean, Deep-Sea Res., Suppl. to 16, 357-368.
Webster, Ferris, 1970. Lectures on ocean currents, in: Cahiers de méchanique mathématique, 26, Univ. of Liège, Belgium, 20-53.
Webster, Ferris, 1971. On the intensity of horizontal ocean currents, Deep-Sea Res., 18, 9, 885-893.
Webster, Ferris, 1971. Variability of ocean circulation, EOS, 52, 6, 225-227.
Fofonoff, N.P., and F. Webster, 1971. Current measurements in the western Atlantic, Trans. Roy. Soc. London, A270, 1206, 423-436.
Webster, Ferris, 1972. Estimates of the coherence of ocean currents over vertical distances, Deep-Sea Res., 19, 1, 35-44.
MODE Group, 1978. The Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment, Deep-Sea Res., 25, 10, 859-910.
Webster, Ferris, 1981. The U.S. experience in marine pollution problems, in: Actual problems of oceanography in Portugal, Junta Nacional de Investigaçao Cientifica e Tecnológia, Lisboa, pp. 129-135.
Webster, Ferris, 1983. Effective use of the sea: Oceanography, in: Proceedings, Oceans '83, Vol III, MTS/IEEE, New York, pp. 1124-1127.
Webster, Ferris, 1984. An ocean climate research strategy, National Academy Press, Washington DC, 66pp.
Webster, Ferris, and Michèle Fieux, 1984. TOGA Overview, in: Large-Scale Oceanographic Experiments and Satellites, C. Gautier & M. Fieux, Eds., Reidel, Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 17-26.
Webster, Ferris, 1984. Ocean Climate Research, Eos, 65, 32, 466-468.
Webster, Ferris, 1988. Technology and data management; U.S. science community views, in New developments in marine science and technology: economic, legal and political aspects of change, Proc., 22nd annual conference of the Law of the Sea Institute, Law of the Sea Institute, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, pp. 345-355.
Webster, Ferris, 1991. EOS, the Earth observing System: NASA's global change research mission, in: Space Policy Alternatives, Westview Special Studies in Science, Technology, and Public Policy, Boulder Colorado, pp. 183-198.
Committee on Geophysical Data, National Research Council, 1991. Solving the Global Change Puzzle; A U.S. Strategy for Managing Data and Information, National Academy Press, Washington, 52 pp. (F. Webster lead author).
Webster, Ferris, 1992. L'océan, facteur clé du changement global. in: La terre, patrimoine commun, Martine Barrère, ed., Éditions La Découverte/Association Descartes, Paris.
UCAR Data Management Panel, 1994. Responding to Exponentially Increasing Demand; Modernizing NOAA's Data and Information System, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, 22 pp. (F. Webster lead author).
Webster, Ferris, 2002. Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Physics. In: AIP Physics Desk Reference, Cohen, Lide, and Trigg, eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 349-375.
Theses

Webster, Ferris, 1957. An experimental investigation of telluric and magnetotelluric phenomena, M.Sc. Thesis, University of Alberta, School of Graduate Studies, 92 pp.
Webster, Ferris, 1961. A description and an analysis of meanders in the Gulf Stream, Ph.D. Thesis, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 142 pp.

Non-technical Publications

Webster, Ferris, 1984. Studying El Niño on a Global Scale, Oceanus, 27, 2, 58-62.
Webster, Ferris, 1986. Editorial: Redefining UNOLS Research Fleet Needs, Sea Technology, June 1986.
Webster, Ferris, 1988. A trip to Moscow, Oceanography, 1, 2, 46-47.
Webster, Ferris, 1992. The role of the World Data Centers in Handling Ocean Climate Data. in: Proceedings of the Ocean Climate Data Workshop, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.

September 8, 2003

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