Prof. Dr. Thomas Foken

Thomas Foken is retired Professor of Micrometeorology at the University of Bayreuth (Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research), Germany. He obtained his doctoral degree (Dr. rer. nat.) from Leipzig University in 1978 and the second doctoral degree (Dr. sc. nat.) from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 1990. The position of head of laboratories of Boundary Layer Research and Land Surface Processes of the Meteorological Service of the GDR and the German Meteorological Service (DWD) was held at the Observatories at Potsdam (1981-1994) and Lindenberg (1994-1997). Appointment as Professor of Micrometeorology at the University of Bayreuth came in 1997. He has taught courses on micrometeorology in Berlin, Potsdam and Bayreuth. Main research areas are related to the interaction between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, and the measurement and modelling of energy and matter fluxes with a strong focus on measurement devices. Organization of and participation in experiments at the international level has included work in Russia, USA, Tibet, and Antarctica. Writings include about 200 peer-reviewed journal papers in his field as well as textbooks, e.g. “Micrometeorology”(2nd edition 2017)  and “Springer Handbook of Atmospheric Measurements” (Editor, 2021), with significant advancements having been made in the application of the eddy-covariance method. Recognition of these scientific contributions has been made through various awards, including the Dionyz Stur Medal in Silver of the Slovak Academy of Science (1999), the Award for Outstanding Achievements in Biometeorology of the American Meteorological Society (2013), the Honor Badge (2013) and Honor Medaille (2022) of the Association of German Engineers (VDI), and the Honorary Membership of the Hungarian Meteorological Society (2014).