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Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory (614)

Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory (614)

Profile for Miguel Román


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Title: Research Physical Scientist
Affiliation: NASA
Contact: E-mail
Terrestrial Information Systems Branch
Mail Code 614.5, Bldg 32, S-036E
Greenbelt, MD 20771

Office Phone: 301-614-5498
Fax: 301-614-5269

Profile

     Miguel Román is a research physical scientist who in 2009 joined NASA as a civil servant in the Terrestrial Information Systems Branch at Goddard Space Flight Center. He is part of a multi-agency team of Earth scientists in charge of performing algorithm assessments and validation for the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Land Environmental Data Records (EDRs). He currently coordinates NASA's validation and scientific investigations in support of NPP-VIIRS Land EDRs. He is also a science team member for NASA’s Cloud Absorption Radiometer, the most frequently used airborne instrument built in-house at GSFC. His research is centrally concerned with the development and application of remote sensing, radiative transfer, image processing, and geostatistical techniques to measure and monitor terrestrial essential climate variables. He has participated in several field campaign programs (e.g. FLUXNET, NACP, ARM-DoE, and BSRN) and intense observing periods (e.g. ChEAS’06, CLASIC’07, and ARCTAS’08) to coordinate the production of in-depth accuracy and variability assessments for current and future reprocessing of global surface albedo and reflectance anisotropy products. His research at NASA focuses on understanding the relation between vegetation parameters estimated from remotely sensed data at different spatial scales (from both airborne and satellite sensors) and the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) of different surface types and ecosystems.
 
EDUCATION

- Ph.D. in Geography, Boston University, 2009. (Major: Remote Sensing and GIS)
Dissertation Title: “Use of in situ and airborne data to assess satellite-based estimates of directional reflectance and albedo”. Advisor: Crystal B. Schaaf.

- M.Eng. in Systems Engineering, Cornell University, 2005.

- B.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, 2004.

RECENT AWARDS
 
- NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship (JPFP) (Cohort IV).
 
- NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) Fellowship (2007-2009).
 

 

Recent Presentations

Use of In Situ and Airborne Data to Assess Satellite Estimates of Directional Surface Reflectance and Albedo, (PDF, 9.6MB, Abstract). Presented at the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) STAR Science Forum in Camp Springs, MD, Nov. 3, 2009.

VIIRS-Land Validation Overview, (PDF, 3.4MB). Presented at the MODIS/VIIRS Science Team Meeting in Washington, DC, Jan. 27, 2010.

Selected Publications

Lewis, P.E., G.P. Anderson, S.S. Shen, J. Chetwynd, M.O. Román, C.B. Schaaf, D.D. Turner, D.A. Rutan, A. Berk, D.P. Miller, and R. Kroutil (2009). MODTRAN5 analysis of clear-sky, co-located space- and ground-based infrared atmospheric measurements: AERI, AIRS, CERES, MODIS. Proc. SPIE, 7334(733410)
10.1117/12.819920

Liu, J., C.B. Schaaf, A.H. Strahler, Z. Jiao, Y. Shuai, Q. Zhang, M.O. Román, J.A. Augustine, and E.G. Dutton (2009). Validation of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) albedo retrieval algorithm: Dependence of albedo on solar zenith angle J. Geophys. Res., 114(D01106)
10.1029/2008JD009969

Román, M.O., C.B. Schaaf, C.E. Woodcock, A.H. Strahler, X. Yang, R.H. Braswell, P.S. Curtis, K.J. Davis, D. Dragoni, L. Gu, M.L. Goulden, D.Y. Hollinger, T.E. Kolb, T.P. Meyers, J.W. Munger, J.L. Privette, A.D. Richardson, T.B. Wilson, and S.C. Wofsy (2009). The MODIS (Collection V005) BRDF/albedo product: Assessment of spatial representativeness over forested landscapes Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 2476-2498
10.1016/j.rse.2009.07.009

Rutan, D., F. Rose, M.O. Román, N. Manalo-Smith, C. Schaaf, and T. Charlock (2009). Development and assessment of broadband surface albedo from Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Clouds and Radiation Swath data product J. Geophys. Res., 114(D08125)
10.1029/2008JD010669

Anderson, G.P., C.B. Schaaf, K. Loukachine, R.S. Stone, E. Andrews, E.P. Shettle, E.G. Dutton, M.O. Román, A. Stohl, and A. Berk (2008). Assessing the radiative impact of aerosol smoke using MODTRAN5. Proc. SPIE, 6966(696617)
10.1117/12.782364

Coddington, O., K.S. Schmidt, P. Pilewskie, W.J. Gore, R.W. Bergstrom, M.O. Román, J. Redemann, P.B. Russell, J. Liu, and C.C. Schaaf (2008). Aircraft measurements of spectral surface albedo and its consistency with ground-based and space-borne observations J. Geophys. Res., 113(D14S16)
10.1029/2007JD009657

Knobelspiesse, K.D., B. Cairns, B. Schmid, M.O. Román, and C.B. Schaaf (2008). Surface BRDF estimation from an aircraft compared to MODIS and ground estimates at the Southern Great Plains site J. Geophys. Res., 113(D20105)
10.1029/2008JD010062

Stone, R.S., G.P. Anderson, E.P. Shettle, E. Andrews, K. Loukachine, E.G. Dutton, C. Schaaf, and M.O. Román (2008). Radiative impact of boreal smoke in the Arctic: Observed and modeled J. Geophys. Res., 113(D14S16)
10.1029/2007JD009657

Goddard Signature