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Kevin Turpie

Kevin Turpie

Research Associate Professor

Geography and Environmental Systems
Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) II

Off Campus Code 616 NASA GSFC

Education

Ph D University of Maryland 2012

MS The Johns Hopkins University 1991

BS University of Maryland 1986

About

Dr. Turpie holds a BSCS from the University of Maryland, a MS of Applied Mathematics the Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in Geographic Sciences from the University of Maryland.

He currently holds an appointment at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as a Research Associate Professor and an affiliate faculty of the Geography and Earth Sciences (GES) department.

Research Interests

Dr. Turpie has been involved in the major Earth observing, ocean colour capable missions since 1993 and have worked for the past two decades to promote and enable aquatic remotes sensing. From 1993 to 2004, he served as the Ocean Net Primary Productivity Science Computing Facility (SCF) Lead for the Terra and Aqua MODIS mission. His role involved working with the NASA processing and science teams, designing and building the entire computational architecture of the Ocean Net Primary Productivity Science Computing Facility (ONPP-SCF), including researching hardware cost and availability and working with US government procurement procedures and setting up security measures. For the software development, he won a NASA Innovator Award in 2003. He routinely analyzed data from MODIS, SeaWIFS and CZCS and became involved in data quality assessment for ocean colour, including predicting the effect of instrument behavior. He designed and oversaw development of the MODIS Quality Assurance Browse Imagery (MQABI) interactive online data and statistics visualization website to provide online access to visualization and statistical products for MODIS ocean datasets.

From 2004 on, he played multiple roles with Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) for Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) and Joint Polar-orbiting Satellite System (JPSS) missions. He initially served as S-NPP VIIRS Ocean Colour Deputy Principal Investigator (2004-2008) and then became the Science Principal Investigator (2009-2012) and NASA Science Team Ocean Discipline Lead (2010-2012 and 2016 to present). He also led the VIIRS Ocean Science Team (VOST) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), working with NOAA and contractors to understand the effects of instrument performance and characterization on science data quality, including especially ocean color and data products derived from it. As Ocean Discipline Lead, he provided general organization of the oceanographic principal investigators and liaise with project leads and NASA program management. He continues as a Joint Polar-orbiting Satellite System (JPSS) VIIRS Ocean Colour Subject Matter Expert for NASA, providing analysis and input regarding instrument performance metrics, anomalies and waivers with respect to the effects to science quality. He also supports the accurate calibration of the VIIRS instrument for application to ocean biospheric observations (i.e., ocean colour) and continues to work with the OBPG calibration team, facilitating a regular dialogue with the VIIRS and MODIS calibration team at GSFC.

He was also involved in the development of new remote sensing capabilities for coastal and inland aquatic systems, including high spatial and spectral resolution assets. He was appointed by NASA HQ to the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) Steering Committee Science Study Group in 2008. For ten years, he provided guidance for coastal and inland ecosystem remote sensing for the mission concept development. This role also involved working on multiple engineering studies and developing reports to NASA HQ. The work also involved community outreach and supporting the organization of at least two meetings per year, including scheduling speakers, setting up topics of discussion and moderating of science sessions in coordination between NASA GSFC and JPL. These tasks also led to the development of the Aquatic Study Group (ASG), for which he is the founding chair. The ASG is an international community of practice for coastal and inland remote sensing with over 130 members worldwide. As chair, he organizes town halls and science sessions at regular science conferences (e.g., Ocean Sciences and Ocean Optics), related breakout sessions at the IOCS meeting, and sets up and moderates international teleconferences with dual sessions to span 19 time zones. He fosters and enables aquatic community input to the NASA Decadal Survey mission concept studies, previously with HyspIRI and currently with the Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) Designated Observable (DO). He forms community writing teams to produce documents, such as white paper reports for NASA and the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, Committee for Earth Science and Applications from Space (CESAS). Several of these reports have led to peer-review and science literature publications. He distributes community announcements regarding opportunities for funding, collaborative research, or publication and updates regarding developments by satellite resource providers, including formally HyspIRI and now SBG. He also opened discussions with Group on Earth Observations (GEO) initiatives (and NOAA) to include the ASG as a GEO community of practice under the name, AquaRS, to expand the international scope, while retaining the group’s connection to NASA as the ASG. In 2018, he was appointed a member of the Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) Research and Analysis Team and as the aquatic Lead of the SBG Calibration and Validation Working Group (CVWG). In the former role, he coordinates community input from researchers at institutions worldwide through teleconferences and webinars, identifying calibration and validation options useful to the development of the SBG mission concept. In addition, he co-leads a special pathfinder task to build calibration and validation capacity for the SBG mission, using international input and building international partnerships. This also involves leading efforts to document efforts in NASA reports and in the peer review literature.

From 2017 to 2019, he was a co-investigator on the Arboreal to Benthic Canopies: Land and Ocean Biodiversity Observations (ABC-LOBO) scoping study, working with end-users and stake holders for resource management in Southern Florida to scope a high-altitude, multi-instrument, airborne remote sensing system to support assessment of biodiversity in regional watershed, wetland and marine environments. This study has fed into the BioSCAPE project in South Africa. Collaborations with SANSA towards SBG validation development are expected.

He is currently the principal investigator of the Airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance (Air-LUSI) mission, which is a cooperative effort between UMBC, NASA, NIST, and University of Guelph to characterize lunar spectral irradiance to unprecedented accuracy in order to develop the Moon as an absolute reference for Earth Observing satellites, especially calibration sensitive aquatic remote sensing. To this end, he manages all engineering activities, oversees field activities involving multiple organisations, and manages procurements and movement of materiel and data over borders. He also coordinates activities and funding with NASA HQ and multiple centers (GSFC, LaRC, AFRC, JPL, and ARC). The mission team is also collaborating with international organisations, including GSICS, CEOS, ESA, NPL, JAXA and CNES. He was initially involved in the development of this mission with NIST in 2014 and became its lead in 2016.

Teaching Interests

Dr. Turpie's teaching interests include graduate and undergraduate courses and seminars in the Earth and remote sensing sciences. He is currently teaching a general survey course in physical geography. However he also enjoys teaching introductory and advanced remote sensing techniques using satellite and airborne imagery in conjunction with in situ data and models. At a more advance level, Dr. Turpie is interested in acquainting students with coastal and inland aquatic environments and their response to climate change and human influence; wetland field work design and data collection techniques for support of remote sensing; and remote sensing sensor calibration and validation for aquatic research; remote sensing theory, modeling, and quantitative geography. Dr. Turpie is also interested in developing and teaching coursework that conveys quantitative skills and reasoning, particularly for applications in the Earth sciences.

Selected Classes

  • Spring 2018 GES 110 – Introduction to Physical Geography
  • Fall 2015 GES 381 – Remote Sensing

Intellectual Contributions

Muller-Karger, Frank, Hestir, Erin, Ade, Christiana, Turpie, Kevin Ross. (2017). Satellite sensor requirements for monitoring essential biodiversity variables of coastal ecosystems. Ecological Applications.

Muller-Karger, Frank, Hestir, Erin, Turpie, Kevin Ross., Roberts, Dar, Izenberg, Noam, Keller, Mary, Morgan, Frank, Frouin, Robert, Dekker, Arnold, Gardner, Royal, Goodman, James, Schaeffer, Blake, Franz, Bryan, Humm, David, Dierssen, Heidi, Najjar, Ray, Romanou, Natasha R., Tzortziou, Maria. (2016). Monitoring coastal and wetland biodiversity from space. 17 white paper submission in response to a 'Request for Information' issued on behalf of the steering committee for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine study, Earth Science and Applications from Space..

Turpie, Kevin Ross., Ackelson, Steven, Bell, Thomas, Dierssen, Heidi, Goodman, James, Green, Robert, Guild, Liane, Hochberg, Eric, Klemas, Victor V., Lavender, Samantha, Lee, Christine, Minnett, Peter, Moisan, Tiffany, Muller-Karger, Frank, Ortiz, Joseph, Palacios, Sherry, Thompson, David R., Zimmerman, Richarch. (2016). . 17 white paper submission in response to a 'Request for Information' issued on behalf of the steering committee for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine study, Earth Science and Applications from Space..

Turpie, Kevin Ross., Abelev, Andrei, Babin, Marcel, Bachmann, Charles, Bell, Thomas, Devred, Emmanuel, Forget, Marie-Hélène, Goodman, James, Hochberg, Eric, Hu, Chuanmin, Kelly, Maggi, Klemas, Victor V., Lee, ZhongPing, Moisan, Tiffany, Moses, Wesley, Philpot, William, Toro-Farmer, Gerardo, Jo, Heon-Young, Yu, Qian, Byrd, Kristin, Guild, Liane, Brando, Vittorio, Dekker, Arnold, Muller-Karger, Frank, Palacios, Sherry. (2015). . ca 109 Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: NASA Science and Technical Information (STI) Technical Memoranum (TM).

Turpie, Kevin Ross. (2013). Explaining the Spectral Red-Edge Features of Inundated Marsh Vegetation. 5. 29 7 Coconut Creek, FL: Journal of Coastal Research.

Eplee, Jr., R. E., Turpie, Kevin Ross., Meister, G., Patt, F. S., Fireman, G. F., Franz, B. A., McClain, C. R. (2013). A synthesis of VIIRS solar and lunar calibrations. Proceeding of the SPIE, Earth Observing Systems XVIII 8855-8866

Turpie, Kevin Ross., Balch, Barney, Bowler, Bruce, Franz, Bryan A., Frouin, Robert, Gregg, Watson W., McClain, Charles R., Rousseaux, Cecile, Siegel, David, Wang, Menghua, Eplee, Robert Eugene., Robinson, Wayne. (2013). . 98 NASA White Paper.

Presentations

Turpie, Kevin Ross (Author & Presenter). JCET Poster Session. Poster. "Uncertainty in Spectral Red-Edge Features of Inundated Marsh Canopies," UMBC GES. (Nov 22, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross (Author & Presenter). Ocean Optics XXIII. Oral Presentation. "HyspIRI Town Hall," TOS. (Oct 27, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross. (Author), Steve, Ackelson (Presenter). Ocean Optics XXIII. Oral Presentation. "Current Status of the HyspIRI Mission and the Aquatic Studies Group (ASG)," NASA/GSFC. (Oct 27, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross (Author & Presenter). HyspIRI Science Workshop. Oral Presentation. "Recent Activities of the HyspIRI Aquatic Studies Group (ASG)," NASA JPL. (Oct 20, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross. (Author & Presenter), Muller-Karger, Frank (Author). HyspIRI Science Workshop. Oral Presentation. "Observing Coastal and Inland Aquatic Ecosystems from Space," NASA JPL. (Oct 20, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross (Author & Presenter). 4th Annual HyspIRI Aquatic Forum. Oral Presentation. "HyspIRI Aquatic Studies Group (ASG) Update," NASA/GFSC. (Jun 3, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross (Author & Presenter). Ocean Color Research Team (OCRT) Meeting. Oral Presentation. "HyspIRI Aquatic Studies Group (ASG) Update," NASA. (May 2, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross. (Author & Presenter), Woody, Turner, Liane, Guild. Ocean Sciences 2016. Oral Presentation. "Welcome - Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) Coastal and Inland Water Remote Sensing - Town Hall," AGU, TOS, and ASLO. (Feb 23, 2016).

Turpie, Kevin Ross. (Author & Presenter), Klemas, Victor V. (Author), Byrd, Kristin (Author), Kelly, Maggi (Author), Jo, Young-Heon (Author). Ocean Sciences 2016. Oral Presentation. "The Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) and Global Observations of Tidal Wetlands," AGU, TOS, and ASLO. (Feb 23, 2016).