image: The seventh ISEE Award was presented posthumously to Professor Hiroyuki Yamada (Former Professor, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus).
Credit: Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (ISEE), Nagoya University
On December 2, 2025, the ISEE Award 2025 Ceremony and Commemorative Lecture were held at Nagoya University in Japan.
The Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (ISEE) promotes interdisciplinary research on the relationship between the Earth, the Sun, and space, focusing on near-Earth environment and human expansion into space. The institute presents the annual ISEE Award to recognize outstanding research conducted through its collaborative research programs.
The seventh ISEE Award was presented posthumously to Professor Hiroyuki Yamada (Former Professor, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus) in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the establishment of high-altitude penetration flight observation techniques for typhoon eyes, as well as to the pioneering of typhoon research based on these techniques.
Professor Yamada's work transformed how scientists study typhoons. Using specially equipped aircraft, he and his collaborators developed methods to fly directly into typhoon eyes at altitudes reaching 14 kilometers—significantly higher than similar operations conducted elsewhere. This approach enabled researchers to observe the storm’s complete vertical structure, thereby providing unprecedented data on typhoon intensity.
Following the award ceremony, a commemorative lecture was delivered by Professor Kazuhisa Tsuboki (ISEE, Nagoya University) and Associate Professor Kosuke Ito (Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University), who were collaborators of the late Professor Yamada.
Lecture Title: Establishment of a High-Altitude Typhoon Eye Penetration Flight Technique and Contributions to Opening New Frontiers in Typhoon Research: The Scientific Legacy of Professor Hiroyuki Yamada.