Ernest Gold

Ernest Gold (24 July 1881 – 30 January 1976) was a British meteorologist and Lieutenant-Colonel.

Family and education Ernest Gold was born at Berkswell, near Coventry, Warwickshire, in 1881. His parents were John Gold, a tenant farmer, and Ellen Gold Peckett. Gold then attended St John's College, Cambridge. He was awarded First Class Honours in the Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos in 1903,

Early career In June 1906, Gold was employed for a year at the Meteorological Office as Superintendent of Instruments. Gold provided critical weather forecasting information and research for the war effort, such as monitoring changes in rainfall and the impact on ground conditions to support strategic decisions. He also proved that for accurate artillery fire against the enemy wind conditions needed to be taken into consideration. Gold became Assistant Director of the Meteorological Office. In 1920 he was elected president of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO, now the World Meteorological Organization)'s Commission for Synoptic Weather Information, dealing with questions of synoptic meteorology. He worked in this position for 28 years.

He was elected President of the Royal Meteorological Society for 1934–35.

Gold is also credited as the original proposal for the term "thermal wind."