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Thomas A. Herring

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Thomas A. Herring (born 17 July 1955 in Cooroy, Queensland, Australia) is a geophysicist, known for developing and applying systems of space geodesy to high-precision geophysical measurements and geodynamic research.[1][2][3]

Education and career

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At the University of Queensland, Herring graduated in surveying with a bachelor's degree in 1976 and a master's degree in 1978. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he graduated in 1983 with a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences.[4] His Ph.D. thesis entitled The precision and accuracy of intercontinental distance determinations using radio interferometry was supervised by Irwin I. Shapiro.[5] Herring was from 1979 to 1983 a research assistant in MIT's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and from 1983 to 1989 a research associate at Harvard University. At MIT, he was from 1989 to 1997 an associate professor in the department of Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences and is since 1997 a professor of geophysics. In 1986 he was a visiting scientist in the Division of National Mapping of the Australian Department of Energy and Resources.[4]

Herring is one of the pioneers of using very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) for centimeter-precision measurements of intercontinental distances and several other geophysical applications.[2][6][7][8] Using VLBI, he and his colleagues published conclusive, high-precision evidence of tectonic plate motions.[2] As part of a four-member team, Herring used VLBI data to publish an empirical nutation model,[9][10] which was used by the International Earth Rotation Service for a considerable time.[2] In 2002, the Mathews-Herring-Buffett transfer function was introduced for determining the Free Core Nutation (FCN) resonance from VLBI observation of nutation, thus significantly improving the accuracy of determining important properties of the Earth's core.[2][11][12] Herring was among the pioneers who used the global positioning system (GPS) for better understanding of geodynamics, including highly accurate measurements of variations of the rate of Earth's rotation.[2][13] He has used GPS, VLBI, and InSar in his research on atmospheric water vapor.[14] In earthquake research,[15] he has been a member of teams that used GPS and VLBI data to determine velocity fields for crustal deformations in southern and central California.[16][17] In 2012 he was the principal investigator for a project on reservoir modeling.[18]

Herring and his colleagues at MIT have developed computer software that uses Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data[19] to analyze GNSS measurements, primarily for the purpose of studying deformations in the Earth's crust.[20] The software GAMIT/GLOBK (GNSS At MIT/Global Kalman filter) was developed at MIT. GAMIT accepts phase data and returns estimates of "three-dimensional relative positions of ground stations and satellite orbits, atmospheric zenith delays, and Earth orientation parameters." GLOBK accepts as input computed derivations from "GPS, VLBI, and SLR experiments" and, by means of a Kalman filter algorithm, gives output consisting of statistical estimates from various combinations of such derivations.[21][22][23] GAMIT/GLOBK requires a basic Unix- or Linux-based operating system, as well as several software prerequisites.[24]

Herring is the author or co-author of more than 80 scientific publications. He has served as a member of many scientific working groups, panels, and committees.[2] From 1994 to 1996 he served on the editorial board of the Journal of Geodynamics. He was an associate editor from 1989 to 1992 for the Journal of Geophysical Research, from 1994 to 1996 the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, and from 1999 to 2009 for the Journal of Geodesy.[4]

Herring received in 1991 the Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union (AGU), of which he is a Fellow.[4] In 1992 he gave the AGU's Francis Birch Lecture.[25] He received in 1995 the Bomford Prize of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG).[4][26] and in 2007 the Vening Meinesz Medal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).[2] He was elected a Fellow in 1999 of the IAG[4] and in 2013 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).[27]

Selected publications

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References

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  1. ^ "Thomas Herring, Professor of Geophysics". MIT EAPS Directory, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Vening Meinesz Medal / 2007 / Thomas Herring". European Geosciences Union.
  3. ^ Herring, T.A. (1999). "Geodetic applications of GPS". Proceedings of the IEEE. 87: 92–110. doi:10.1109/5.736344.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Curriculum Vitae: Thomas A. Herring". mit.edu.
  5. ^ Herring, T. (Thomas) (1983). The precision and accuracy of intercontinental distance determinations using radio interferometry. MIT Libraries (Thesis). hdl:1721.1/15543.
  6. ^ Shapiro, I. I.; Counselman, C. C.; Herring, T. A. (1979-08-10). "Analysis of Laser Ranging and VLBI Observations for Geodetic Purposes, Accession Number: ADA077294, Defense Technical Information Center".
  7. ^ Herring, T. A. (1986). "Precision of vertical position estimates from Very Long Baseline Interferometry". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 91 (B9): 9177–9182. Bibcode:1986JGR....91.9177H. doi:10.1029/JB091iB09p09177.
  8. ^ Herring, Thomas A. (1995). "VLBI data, acquisition, environmental effects". Reviews of Geophysics. 33 (S1): 345–348. Bibcode:1995RvGeo..33S.345H. doi:10.1029/95RG00349. hdl:2060/19960011396.
  9. ^ Mathews, P. M.; Buffett, B. A.; Herring, T. A.; Shapiro, I. I. (1991). "Forced nutations of the Earth: Influence of inner core dynamics: 1. Theory". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 96 (B5): 8219–8242. Bibcode:1991JGR....96.8219M. doi:10.1029/90JB01955.
  10. ^ Mathews, P. M.; Buffett, B. A.; Herring, T. A.; Shapiro, I. I. (1991). "Forced nutations of the Earth: Influence of inner core dynamics: 2. Numerical results and comparisons". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 96 (B5): 8243–8257. Bibcode:1991JGR....96.8243M. doi:10.1029/90JB01956.
  11. ^ Rosat, Séverine; Bizouard, Christian; Nurul Huda, Ibnu; Lambert, Sébastien B.; Ziegler, Yann (2020). "Contribution of a joint Bayesian inversion of VLBI and gravimetric data to the estimation of the free inner core nutation and free core nutation resonance parameters". Geophysical Journal International. 222 (2): 845–860. doi:10.1093/gji/ggaa181.
  12. ^ Mathews, P. M.; Herring, T. A.; Buffett, B. A. (2002). "Modeling of nutation and precession: New nutation series for nonrigid Earth and insights into the Earth's interior". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 107 (B4): 2068. Bibcode:2002JGRB..107.2068M. doi:10.1029/2001JB000390.
  13. ^ Herring, Thomas A. (1991). "The Rotation of the Earth". Reviews of Geophysics. 29: 172–175. doi:10.1002/rog.1991.29.s1.172.
  14. ^ "Herring, Thomas | MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences".
  15. ^ "Thomas A. Herring | Southern California Earthquake Center".
  16. ^ Feigl, Kurt L.; Agnew, Duncan C.; Bock, Yehuda; Dong, Danan; Donnellan, Andrea; Hager, Bradford H.; Herring, Thomas A.; Jackson, David D.; Jordan, Thomas H.; King, Robert W.; Larsen, Shawn; Larson, Kristine M.; Murray, Mark H.; Shen, Zhengkang; Webb, Frank H. (1993). "Space geodetic measurement of crustal deformation in central and southern California, 1984–1992". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 98 (B12): 21677–21712. Bibcode:1993JGR....9821677F. doi:10.1029/93JB02405.
  17. ^ Shen, Z.-K.; King, R. W.; Agnew, D. C.; Wang, M.; Herring, T. A.; Dong, D.; Fang, P. (2011). "A unified analysis of crustal motion in Southern California, 1970-2004: The SCEC crustal motion map". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 116 (B11). Bibcode:2011JGRB..11611402S. doi:10.1029/2011JB008549. hdl:1721.1/85589.
  18. ^ "Prof. Thomas A. Herring". MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP).
  19. ^ "User Profile: Dr. Thomas A. Herring | Earthdata". 22 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Professor of Geophysics Thomas A. Herring on how he studies Earth's surface". News, MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT. January 8, 2021.
  21. ^ Herring, T. A.; King, R. W.; McClusky, S. C. (2008). "Introduction to GAMIT/GLOBK". Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  22. ^ "GAMIT/GLOBK homepage". Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  23. ^ Herring, Thomas A.; Davis, James L.; Shapiro, Irwin I. (1990). "Geodesy by radio interferometry: The application of Kalman Filtering to the analysis of very long baseline interferometry data". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 95 (B8): 12561–12581. Bibcode:1990JGR....9512561H. doi:10.1029/JB095iB08p12561.
  24. ^ Floyd, M. A.; Herring, T. A.; King, R. W.; McClusky, S. C. (2022). "GAMIT/GLOBK Quick Start Guide" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  25. ^ "Thomas Herring". American Geophysical Union (AGU).
  26. ^ Herring, T. A. (1996). "Bomford Prize acceptance". Journal of Geodesy. 70 (12): 878–879. Bibcode:1996JGeod..70..878H. doi:10.1007/BF00873763. S2CID 121407330.
  27. ^ "Historic Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). (Search on name=Herring & institution=Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)