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+ SG Home > Earth Science Division > Biospheric Science Branch Staff > Vince Ambrosia
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Earth Science Directory: Staff
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Vince Ambrosia

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Vince Ambrosia

MS: 245-4
650-604-6565
vambrosia@mail.arc.nasa.gov



For project info, visit: http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/WRAP/
Education: B.S., Urban Planning/Geography, 1978
Carroll College, Waukesha, Wisconsin

M.S., Geography, 1980
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Professional Experience: NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
2001-Present Senior Research Scientist/Adjunct Faculty, California State University, Monterey Bay
2010-2011 Visiting Professor: Introduction to UAS Systems; Master Program, Univ. of Science and Aerospace Technology, Polytechnical Univ. of Catalunya, Spain.
1998-2001 Deputy Project Manager, Johnson Controls World Services, Inc
1993-2001 Senior Research Scientist, Johnson Controls World Services, Inc
1990-present Consultant, Remote Sensing, Image Processing, Natural Resources Management, Ecosystem Monitoring, and GIS.
1989-1992 Senior Remote Sensing Scientist, ATAC, Inc.
1980-1989 Research Scientist, TGS/Johnson Controls World Services, Inc.


Special Skills and Outreach:
  • Over thirty-two years of experience with project management, planning, modeling, and digital image processing of remotely sensed data for natural resource inventory, monitoring, conference / workshop organization / management, and geospatial research / applications specializing in disaster management with a particular focus on wildfire assessment.

  • Visiting Professor, Polytechnical University of Catalonia (UPC), Casteldeffels, Spain, April 2010 and April/May 2011.

  • Guest Seminar Speaker, Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, CSIC), Cordoba, Spain, May 16, 2011.

  • Invited Panel Member, NASA Public Outreach Forum, "Unmanned Vehicle Systems Supporting Wildfire Observations," Mountain View, CA, Sept. 9, 2010.

  • Invited Panel Member, Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems Intl. (AUVSI), Unmanned Systems North America 2010, Hot Topics Panel Session, "Potential Uses and Criteria for Unmanned Aerial Systems for Wildland Fire Fighting," Denver, CO, Aug. 2010.

  • Invited Panel Member, Natl. Academies of Science, Disaster Roundtable, "From Realities 2010 to Vision 2020: Translating Remotely Sensed Data to Assets, Exposure, Damage and Losses," Washington D.C., July 8, 2010.

  • Mentored and hosted Enric Pastor, PhD., from Polytechnical University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain, UAV developments and robotics controls, with focus on wildfire observations, June-August 2011.

  • Mentored and hosted Pablo Royo, PhD., Post-Doc from Polytechnical University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain, UAV developments and robotics controls, with focus on wildfire observations, Sept. 2009 - March 2010.

  • Team-authored, non-reimbursable agreement between NASA-ARC and CAL FIRE to jointly develop/share technologies for improved wildfire monitoring, Dec. 2010.

  • Guest lectures at numerous universities including UC Berkeley, Univ. Idaho, Calif. State Univ. at Monterey Bay, San Jose State University.


Honors and Awards: 2010 / 2011 Visiting Professor: Introduction to UAS Systems; Master program, University of Science and Aerospace Technology, Polytechnical University of Catalunya (UPC), Castelldefels, Spain, April.
 

2009 NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal.

 

2009 NASA-Ames Honors / Group Achievement Award, Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership (WRAP) Team. For the development and use of UAV technologies in providing critical fire information to state and federal fire fighting forces during the western firestorms of 2007-2008.

 

2009 Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer: Interagency Partnership Award. FLC’s highest honor; Recognizing the efforts of agency partners who have collaboratively accomplished outstanding work in the process of transferring a technology; WRAP Team.

  2009 The Pulaski Award: National Finalist: National award from the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior presented annually by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) and recognizes outstanding contributions to wildland firefighting and America’s wildland firefighters. The Pulaski Award recognizes group achievement.
  2008 Research and Development Journal: Top 100 R&D Significant Technologies Introduced to the Market in 2008 (Sensor Web 2.0).
 

2008 Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, Far West Region Outstanding Partnership Award: Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership (WRAP) Project.

  2008 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Operations Award (Brent Cobleigh; Project Team Member, Lead of NASA’s Ikhana UAS for the WSFM Missions): Distinguishes an AUVSI member or non-member directly involved in the testing, evaluation and / or operational deployment of unmanned systems.
  2008 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Best Paper Award ((P. Hall; NOAA/DFRC Ikhana Project Team Member): Operational Experience With Long-Duration Wildfire Mapping UAS Missions Over the Western United States.
  2008 NASA Group Achievement Award: Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership, for outstanding group achievement and public service integrating NASA technology into procedures for fighting wildfires in the western United States.
2008 NASA Group Achievement Award: Western States UAS Fire Mission Team, for successful execution of long-duration, unpiloted aircraft missions, multiple wildfire infrared-imagery collection, and real-time data delivery to on-scene fire commanders.
  2007 NASA-Ames Honor Award: Western States Fire Mission Team, for excellence in providing operational real-time fire condition information on the Esperanza Fire from a UAS operating in National Airspace.
  2007 NASA Group Achievement Award to Western States Fire Mission Team, for excellence in providing operational real-time fire condition information on the Esperanza Fire from a UAS operating in National Airspace.
  2006 Recipient, NASA Certificate of Recognition for “the creative development of a technical innovation which has been approved for publication as a NASA Tech Brief entitled, UAV Over-the-Horizon Disaster Management Demonstration Projects.”
  2004 Recipient, NASA Group Achievement Award to “ERAST Alliance, for outstanding success in pioneering uninhabited aerial vehicles and their associated systems. Impressive accomplishments of the Alliance have significantly advanced unpiloted aeronautics.”
  2003 Recipient, NASA Group Achievement Award to “Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Real Time Fire Response Experiment Team."
  1999 Recipient, ASPRS ERDAS Award For Best Scientific Paper in Remote Sensing: An Integration of Remote Sensing, GIS, and Information Distribution for Wildfire Detection and Management; in Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS), Vol. 64, No. 10, October 1998, pp. 977-985. (Lead Author)
  1992 Recipient, NASA Certificate of Recognition for "The Creative Development of a Technical Innovation: Aircraft and Satellite Thermographic Systems for Wildfire Mapping and Assessment."
  1990 Recipient, NASA Group Achievement Award to "Yellowstone Firestorms of 1988: Fire Response and Environmental Impact Assessment Team."
  1989 Recipient, 1989 NASA-Ames Group Achievement Award for "Obtaining a Unique and Time Critical Set of Measurements by Aircraft and Satellite and Thereby Impacting the Management of Fire Fighting Forces and Recovery Operations Involved with Stopping and Assessing the Massive Destruction of Life and Property in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem."

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