Pearn Peter Niiler (1937–2010)

[1] Peter Niiler, great friend, valued colleague, and AGU Fellow since 1986, will be remembered for his scientific achievements and as one of the most colorful physical oceanographers of his generation. Indeed, the Tropic Heat experiment's colors of mauve on pink, complete with Peter's matching ensemble, remain a vivid memory of that otherwise orthodox 1980s program championed by Peter to target equatorial Pacific mixing. Peter always sought understanding: to get things right for the right reason. Therefore, he held a healthy skepticism of numerical modeling and remote sensing, while utilizing both satellites and his own brand of diagnostic modeling. Peter's science motives were noble and would lead him to fight the good fight when necessary, especially when advocating his views on the Gulf Stream path, trapped inertial currents, heat and vorticity balances, and other subjects evoking his passion.