EOL Senior Scientist Holger Vömel receives 2025 UCAR Outstanding Publication Award

Congratulations to Dr. Holger Vömel, Senior Scientist in NSF NCAR’s Earth Observing Laboratory, and colleagues Stephanie Evan (CNRS/Météo-France) and Matt Tully (Bureau of Meteorology, Australia), on receiving the 2025 UCAR Outstanding Publication Award for their Science paper “Water Vapor Injection into the Stratosphere by Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai”

This international study used global radiosonde data to quantify the unprecedented stratospheric water vapor injection from the January 2022 eruption, underscoring the value of long-term global observations. The work highlights NSF NCAR’s scientific agility, instrument expertise, and strong international collaboration.

The publication continues to shape research on stratospheric processes, global dynamics, and climate impacts, while also improving satellite calibration and earning significant media coverage and multidisciplinary citations.

The Outstanding Publication Award is UCAR’s longest-running and one of its most prestigious honors, first established in 1967 by NSF NCAR founder and UCAR’s first president, Dr. Walter Orr Roberts.

Citation: Vömel, H., S. Evan, and M. Tully (2022): Water vapor injection into the stratosphere by Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai, Science, 377, 1444–1447. doi:10.1126/science.abq2299