Jon F. Claerbout (born February 14, 1938) is an American

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

and

seismologist Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

. He is the

Cecil Green Cecil Green (né Judge Cecil Holt; September 30, 1919 – July 29, 1951) was an American racecar driver from Dallas, Texas. Racing career Green won 34 midget races between 1948 and 1950 in Oklahoma and Missouri, and several more in Texas. He won ...

Professor Emeritus of Geophysics at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. Since the later half of the 20th century, he has been a leading researcher and pioneered the use of computers in processing and filtering

seismic exploration Reflection seismology (or seismic reflection) is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earth's subsurface from reflected seismic waves. The method requires a controlled seismi ...

data, eventually developing the field of

time series In mathematics, a time series is a series of data points indexed (or listed or graphed) in time order. Most commonly, a time series is a sequence taken at successive equally spaced points in time. Thus it is a sequence of discrete-time data. E ...

analysis and

seismic interferometry Interferometry examines the general interference phenomena between pairs of signals in order to gain useful information about the subsurface. Seismic interferometry (SI) utilizes the crosscorrelation of signal pairs to reconstruct the impulse respo ...

, modelling the

propagation Propagation can refer to: *Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials *Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda *Reproduction, and other forms ...

seismic wave A seismic wave is a wave of acoustic energy that travels through the Earth. It can result from an earthquake, volcanic eruption, magma movement, a large landslide, and a large man-made explosion that produces low-frequency acoustic energy. ...

Career

Claerbout obtained a BS in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relat ...

in 1960, a MS in geophysics in 1963 and a PhD in geophysics in 1967, all from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

. His BS thesis was titled ''A rubidium vapor

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, on ...

''. He worked with Stephen M. Simpson Jr. for his MS thesis, titled ''Digital filters and applications to seismic detection and discrimination''. The publication of this work made many geophysicists, including those in the oil and gas industry, well aware of Claerbout's potential. However, Claerbout found the sparse availability and low quality of earthquake seismic data frustrating and decided to study atmospheric gravity waves during his PhD. His advisor was Theodore R. Madden and the title of his thesis was ''Electromagnetic Effects of Atmospheric Gravity Waves''. Claerbout is the founder of the Stanford Exploration Project (SEP), the first geophysical research consortium funded by the oil and gas industry. Claerbout has been a doctoral advisor to many of influential geophysicists who joined SEP such as Oz Yilmaz and Biondo Biondi. The term and concept of exploding reflectors in reflection seismology is often attributed to Jon Claerbout. However, Claerbout claims that the term was coined b
John Sherwood
a geophysicist from Chevron who introduced him to exploration geophysics. John Sherwood has said that he only used the term to refer to Claerbout's innovative method of seismic migration. He was one of the first scientists to emphasize that computational methods threaten the

reproducibility Reproducibility, also known as replicability and repeatability, is a major principle underpinning the scientific method. For the findings of a study to be reproducible means that results obtained by an experiment or an observational study or in ...

of research unless open access is provided to both the data and the software underlying a publication. Claerbout's books have been among the most read and cited in geophysical research, especially ''Fundamentals of Geophysical Data Processing'' and ''Imaging the Earth's Interior'', which have been translated into Chinese and Russian among other languages. He has since made all his books available for free download from his website.

Awards and honors

In 1988, Claerbout was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

for original and pioneering studies that revolutionized seismic wave analysis and greatly aided the international search for petroleum. He is the youngest ever recipient of the

Maurice Ewing Medal Two international geophysical societies offer awards each year which are named in honor of Maurice Ewing; these are the American Geophysical Union and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists: __TOC__ AGU Ewing Medal The Maurice Ewing Medal is awa ...

of the

Society of Exploration Geophysicists The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) is a learned society dedicated to promoting the science and education of exploration geophysics in particular and geophysics in general. The Society fosters the expert and ethical practice of geophys ...

, having received this award in 1992 for lifetime achievements when he was in his early fifties.Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Asteroid 156990 Claerbout, discovered by Joseph A. Dellinger at George Observatory in 2003, was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function T ...

on 17 May 2011 ().

References

Living people American geophysicists American seismologists 1938 births Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering {{geoscientist-stub