On the Scientific Contributions and Insight of Professor Yale Mintz

Abstract

Professor Yale Mintz's contributions in combining theory, diagnostic analysis, and modeling in scientific studies across a broad range of interests over more than four decades are reviewed. His studies include diagnostic analysis of the general circulation and modeling of atmospheric circulation, planetary atmospheres, stratospheric ozone transport, ocean circulations, and hydrospheric and biospheric processes. The focus of the review is to examine some of the early interests of this illustrious individual during the formative year of his career in atmospheric science, to document Mintz's creative insight concerning the development of the Mintz-Arakawa General Circulation Model (GCM), and to summarize briefly his scientific contributions. Much of his scientific work involved collaborations with an unusually talented array of younger scientists. His descriptions of the field of mean motion, the zonally averaged state, and poleward angular momentum flux must be regarded as classic contributions to meteorology. The Mintz-Arakawa GCM was also a remarkable contribution to atmospheric science, both with respect to the development of early general circulation models and its range of applications to varied scientific challenges.