Curriculum Vitae for Vince Ambrosia
Brief Bio:
Vince Ambrosia is a Senior Research Scientist and Adjunct Faculty Member at California State University – Monterey Bay who is affiliated with NASA-Ames Research Center. He is the NASA Applied Science Associate Program Manager for Wildfire at NASA HQ, responsible for management of a portfolio of projects related to wildfire applications and remote sensing.
He was a recipient of the 2009 NASA Outstanding Public Service Medal for efforts focused on emergency wildfire observations with unmanned vehicle systems / sensors in 2006-2009. His research team at Ames received the 2009 Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, Interagency Partnership Award for efforts focused on improving national wildfire observations. He has authored or co-authored over 140 papers, journal articles, and book chapters. He holds a BS in Geography from Carroll University and the MS from the University of Tennessee (1980), and has been at NASA-Ames in various positions since 1980.
Research Interests:
Wildfires, UAS, Applications Development
Professional Experience:
| 2001 - Present | Senior Research Scientist, California State University - Monterey Bay |
| 2013 - Present | Associate Program Manager - Wildfires, NASA Applied Sciences Program, NASA HQ |
| 1993 - 2001 | Senior Remote Sensing Scientist / Deputy Project Manager, Johnson Controls World Services, Inc., Ecosystems Science and Technolo |
| 1989 - 1992 | Senior Remote Sensing Lab Scientist, ATAC, Inc., Airborne Data Facility, High Alt. Mission Branch, NASA-Ames |
| 1980 - 1989 | Research Scientist, TGS Technology, Inc., Ecosystem Science and Technology Branch, NASA-Ames |
Education:
1980 - M.Sc., geography, Remote Sensing - University of Tennessee-Knoxville
1978 - B.Sc.Geography / Land Planning - Carroll University
Professional Societies:
American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
Association of American Geographers (AAG)
National Council for Geographic Education
Gamma Theta Upsilon (Honor Society of Geography)
Professional Service:
Technical Organizing Committee, 2015 ISRSE Conference, May 2015, Berlin, Germany
Technical Program Committee, 2011 ISRSE Conference, April 2011 Sydney, Australia
Forest Fire Airborne Observations Sessions and UAS Workshop Organizing Committee, ISRSE Conference, April 2011 Sydney, Australia
Technical Program Committee, 2009 ISRSE Conference, May 2009, Stresa, Italy
ISRSE Workshop Organizer, UAS Uses For Remote Sensing, May 2009, ISRSE, Stresa, Italy
Scientific Committee, 2011, 8th International Workshop of EARSeL Special Interest Group of Forest Fires, October 2011, Stresa, Italy
Guest Editor: Geocarto International Journal: UAS for Remote Sensing Special Issue (2011);
Organizing Committee, USFS Remote Sensing Conference 1990-2010, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Guest Editor: IEEE-Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing issue on UASs for Remote Sensing (2009);
Geocarto International, Editorial Committee
Awards:
2009 NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, June 2009
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 wester
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;
2008 Research and Development Journal: Top 100 R&D Significant Technologies Introduced to the Market in 2008 (Sensor Web 2.0). September 2008.
2008 Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, Far West Region Outstanding Partnership Award: Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership (WRAP) Project. September 2008
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. May 2008
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. May
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,” September 2007.
2007 NASA Group Achievement 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,” September 2007.
2006 NASA Certificate of Recognition for “The Creative Development of a Technical Innovation: UAV Over-The-Horizon Disaster Management Demonstration Projects.”
2004 Recipient – 2004 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 aerona
2003 NASA Group Achievement Award to “Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Real Time Fire Response Experiment Team,” May 2003.
1999 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, Oct
1992 NASA Certificate of Recognition for "The Creative Development of a Technical Innovation. Aircraft and Satellite Thermographic Systems for Wildfire Mapping and Assessment."
1990 NASA Group Achievement Award to "Yellowstone Firestorms of 1988 - Fire Response and Environmental Impact Assessment Team." June 1990.
1989 NASA-Ames Group Achievement Award, for "Group Achievement" in 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 Stoppi
1988 NASA Group Achievement Award, as member of Biomass Burn/Biospheric-Environmental Impact Measurement Team for "Obtaining a Unique Set of Measurements Leading to Improved Characterization of the Impact of Forest Fires on the Biosphere, the Soil, and th
First Author Publications:
- Ambrosia, V., and T. Zajkowski (2014), Selection of Appropriate Class UAS/Sensors to Support Fire Monitoring, Real-Life Experiences in the US, Handbook of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, edited by K. P. Valavanis and G. J. Vachtsevanos. New York: Springer Verlag; ISBN 978-9048197064.
- Ambrosia, V., et al. (2013), The Ikhana unmanned airborne system (UAS) western states, Geocarto International Journal, 26, 85-101, doi:10.1080/10106049.2010.539302.
- Ambrosia, V., and M. Hutt (2011), K. Lulla.. UAS for Remote Sensing, UAS for Remote Sensing. Geocarto International Journal, 26, 69-70, doi:10.1080/10106049.2011.553507.
- Ambrosia, V., et al. (2011), The Ikhana UAS Western States Fire Imaging Missions: From Concept to Reality (2006-2010), Geocarto International Journal, 26, 85-101.
- Ambrosia, V., et al. (2009), Lessons Learned: Experiences in UAS Sensor Operations Supporting Disaster Scenarios (Wildfires) in the United States. Proceedings of 33rd International Symposium on, Remote Sensing of Environment, Stresa, 1-4.
- Ambrosia, V. (2009), NASA's Airborne Fire Monitoring Efforts, 2007-2008 UAS Experiences. Proceedings of the Aerial Firefighting Conference, Feb., Anaheim, 19-20.
- Ambrosia, V., et al. (2003), Demonstrating UAV-acquired real-time thermal data over fires, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 69, 391-402.
Co-Authored Publications:
- Reynolds, K. W., et al. (2015), Repurposing Surplus Unmanned Aircraft Systems Into UAS Platforms For Science Missions, Auvsi.
- Hinkley, E., V. Ambrosia, and S. Wegener (2014), Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Environmental Monitoring Applications, Chap. 8, in Autonomous Technologies: Applications that Matter, edited by W. Messner. Warrendale, PA: SAE International, 138-156.
- Schroeder, W., et al. (2014), Integrated Active Fire Retrievals and Biomass Burning Emissions Using Complementary Near-Coincident Ground, Airborne, and Spaceborne Sensor data, Remote Sensing of Environment, 140, 719-730.
- Peterson, D., et al. (2013), A sub-pixel-based calculation of fire radiative power from MODIS observations: 1 Algorithm development and initial assessment, Remote Sensing of Environment, 129, 262-279, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2012.10.036.
- Watts, A., V. Ambrosia, and E. Hinkley (2012), Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Remote Sensing and Scientific Research, Classification and Considerations of Use. Remote Sensing, 4, 1671-1692.
- Hinkley, E., et al. (2009), NASA Partners with Forest Service on Fire Mission, Technology Innovation, 15, 28-30.
- Zhou, G., et al. (2009), Guest Editorial: Forward to the Special Issue on Unmanned Airborne Vehicle (UAV) Sensing Systems for Earth Observations, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 47, 687-689.
- Brass, J. A., et al. (1996), Consequences of fire on aquatic nitrate and phosphate dynamics in Yellowstone National Park, International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF)., 53-57.
- Richardson, L. L., et al. (1994), The Detection of Algal Photosynthetic Accessory Pigments Using Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectromter (AVIRIS) Spectral Data, Journal of Marine Technology Society, 28.3, 10-21.
- Cofer, W. R., et al. (1989), Trace Gas Emissions from Chaparral and Boreal Forest Fires, J. Geophys. Res., 94, 2255.