Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Miguel O. Román

(SUPV RSCH AST,SCIENCE PROGRAM MGMT)

Miguel O. Román's Contact Card & Information.
Email: miguel.o.roman@nasa.gov
Org Code: 610
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 610
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Missions & Projects

Brief Bio


Dr. Miguel Román is the Deputy Director for Atmospheres in the Earth Sciences Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, an organization dedicated to advancing our understanding of the Earth's atmospheric processes, including mesoscale meteorology, precipitation, atmospheric chemistry, aerosols and clouds, radiative transfer, and related climate studies.


Dr. Román has held various science leadership roles across the federal government, industry, and non-profit organizations. Since 2014, he has led the Terra/Aqua MODIS and Suomi-NPP VIIRS science and instrument teams, a global consortium of principal investigators and technical experts responsible for one of the largest and most comprehensive polar-orbiting satellite systems critical for monitoring our planet's health. He also spearheaded the development of NASA's Black Marble product suite, pioneering the first quantitative measurements of nocturnal visible and near-infrared imagery to meet the diverse needs of Earth science research and applications communities. This innovation has enabled critical analysis of urbanization, disaster response, and understanding humanity's impact on the planet.


A recognized authority in satellite remote sensing, disaster risk reduction, and climate sustainability, Dr. Román has been instrumental in advancing interdisciplinary research and data-driven methodologies at the energy-climate-sustainability nexus. His work is internationally acclaimed for highlighting the unique vulnerabilities faced by socially-disadvantaged and underserved communities in the aftermath of major disasters. His extensive body of work includes over 60 technical publications, with mentions in major news outlets such as NPR, The Washington Post, NBC News, The Economist, El Nuevo Día, Smithsonian Magazine, USA Today, and BBC World News.


Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dr. Román's exceptional contributions to science and engineering have earned him prestigious accolades, including the inaugural 2023 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Award for Climate Sustainability, the 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) bestowed by President Barack Obama, and being a finalist for the 2014 Service to America Medal ("Sammies"), one of the highest honors for federal civil servants. Dr. Román's educational background includes a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, a master's degree in Systems Engineering from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in Remote Sensing from Boston University.

Education


 - Ph.D. in Geographical Sciences, Boston University, 2009. (Major: Remote Sensing and GIS)

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

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

Publications


Refereed

2024. "Continuity between NASA MODIS Collection 6.1 and VIIRS Collection 2 land products." Remote Sensing of Environment 302 113963 [10.1016/j.rse.2023.113963] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Calibration of the SNPP and NOAA 20 VIIRS sensors for continuity of the MODIS climate data records." Remote Sensing of Environment 295 113717 [10.1016/j.rse.2023.113717] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Continuous monitoring of nighttime light changes based on daily NASA's Black Marble product suite." Remote Sensing of Environment 282 113269 [10.1016/j.rse.2022.113269] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "NASA’s Black Marble Multiangle Nighttime Lights Temporal Composites." IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters 19 1-5 [10.1109/lgrs.2022.3176616] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Retired satellites: A chance to shed light." Science 373 (6562): 1451-1452 [10.1126/science.abl9965] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Quantifying uncertainties in nighttime light retrievals from Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band data." Remote Sensing of Environment 263 112557 [10.1016/j.rse.2021.112557] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Aboveground Woody Biomass Product Validation Good Practices Protocol." Good Practices for Satellite Derived Land Product Validation 236 [Full Text] [10.5067/doc/ceoswgcv/lpv/agb.001] [Other]

2019. "Evaluation of MODIS and VIIRS cloud-gap-filled snow-cover products for production of an Earth science data record." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 23 (12): 5227-5241 [10.5194/hess-23-5227-2019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Emergencies do not stop at night: Advanced analysis of displacement based on satellite-derived nighttime light observations." IBM Journal of Research and Development 1-1 [10.1147/jrd.2019.2954404] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Satellite-based assessment of electricity restoration efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria." PLOS ONE 14 (6): e0218883 [10.1371/journal.pone.0218883] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "The influence of spatial resolution on the angular variation patterns of optical reflectance as retrieved from MODIS and POLDER measurements." Remote Sensing of Environment 215 371-385 [10.1016/j.rse.2018.06.025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "NASA's Black Marble nighttime lights product suite." Remote Sensing of Environment 210 113-143 [Full Text] [10.1016/j.rse.2018.03.017] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "MONITORING DISASTER-RELATED POWER OUTAGES USING NASA BLACK MARBLE NIGHTTIME LIGHT PRODUCT." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLII-3 1853-1856 [10.5194/isprs-archives-xlii-3-1853-2018] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "An algorithm for the retrieval of the clumping index (CI) from the MODIS BRDF product using an adjusted version of the kernel-driven BRDF model." Remote Sensing of Environment 209 594-611 [10.1016/j.rse.2018.02.041] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Capturing rapid land surface dynamics with Collection V006 MODIS BRDF/NBAR/Albedo (MCD43) products." Remote Sensing of Environment 207 50-64 [10.1016/j.rse.2018.02.001] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Land Surface Temperature Product Validation Best Practice Protocol." Good Practices for Satellite-Derived Land Product Validation, 58 [10.5067/doc/ceoswgcv/lpv/lst.001] [Article in Book]

2018. "Land Surface Temperature Product Validation Best Practice Protocol. Version 1.0. ." CEOS-LPV Best Practice for Satellite-Derived Land Product Validation [doi:10.5067/doc/ceoswgcv/lpv/lst.001] [Report]

2017. "Evaluation of the VIIRS BRDF, Albedo and NBAR products suite and an assessment of continuity with the long term MODIS record." Remote Sensing of Environment 201 256-274 [10.1016/j.rse.2017.09.020] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Evaluation of satellite remote sensing albedo retrievals over the ablation area of the southwestern Greenland ice sheet." Remote Sensing of Environment 198 115-125 [10.1016/j.rse.2017.05.030] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Monitoring land surface albedo and vegetation dynamics using high spatial and temporal resolution synthetic time series from Landsat and the MODIS BRDF/NBAR/albedo product." International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 59 104-117 [10.1016/j.jag.2017.03.008] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Overview of NASA's MODIS and VIIRS Snow-Cover Earth SystemData Records." Earth System Science Data Discussions 1-30 [10.5194/essd-2017-25] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Synergistic Use of Nighttime Satellite Data, Electric Utility Infrastructure, and Ambient Population to Improve Power Outage Detections in Urban Areas." Remote Sensing 9 (3): 286 [10.3390/rs9030286] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Impact of Spatial Sampling on Continuity of MODIS–VIIRS Land Surface Reflectance Products: A Simulation Approach." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 55 (1): 183-196 [10.1109/tgrs.2016.2604214] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "A method for improving hotspot directional signatures in BRDF models used for MODIS." Remote Sensing of Environment 186 135-151 [10.1016/j.rse.2016.08.007] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "How Universal Is the Relationship between Remotely Sensed Vegetation Indices and Crop Leaf Area Index? A Global Assessment." Remote Sensing 8 (7): 597 [Full Text] [10.3390/rs8070597] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Early spring post-fire snow albedo dynamics in high latitude boreal forests using Landsat-8 OLI data." Remote Sensing of Environment [10.1016/j.rse.2016.02.059] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Estimating the effective spatial resolution of the operational BRDF, albedo, and nadir reflectance products from MODIS and VIIRS." Remote Sensing of Environment 175 52-64 [10.1016/j.rse.2015.12.033] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Holidays in lights: Tracking cultural patterns in demand for energy services." Earth's Future 3 (6): 182-205 [10.1002/2014ef000285] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Validation of Land Surface Temperature products derived from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) using ground-based and heritage satellite measurements." Remote Sensing of Environment 154 19-37 [10.1016/j.rse.2014.08.013] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Surface albedo darkening from wildfires in northern sub-Saharan Africa." Environ. Res. Lett. 9 (6): 065003 [10.1088/1748-9326/9/6/065003] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Evaluation of MODIS albedo product (MCD43A) over grassland, agriculture and forest surface types during dormant and snow-covered periods." Remote Sensing of Environment 140 60-77 [10.1016/j.rse.2013.08.025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Land and cryosphere products from Suomi NPP VIIRS: Overview and status." J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 118 (17): 9753-9765 [10.1002/jgrd.50771] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Use of In Situ and Airborne Multiangle Data to Assess MODIS- and Landsat-Based Estimates of Directional Reflectance and Albedo." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 51 (3): 1393-1404 [10.1109/TGRS.2013.2243457] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "A comparison of foliage profiles in the Sierra National Forest obtained with a full-waveform under-canopy EVI lidar system with the foliage profiles obtained with an airborne full-waveform LVIS lidar system." Remote Sensing of Environment 136 330–341 [10.1016/j.rse.2013.05.020] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Dynamics of vegetation indices in tropical and subtropical savannas defined by ecoregions and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land cover." Geocarto International 27 (2): 153-191 [10.1080/10106049.2011.626529] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Evaluation of Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow albedo product (MCD43A) over tundra." Remote Sensing of Environment 117 264–280 [10.1016/j.rse.2011.10.002] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Status of the Suomi NPP visible/infrared imager radiometer suite's (VIIRS) land environmental data records (EDRs) after early evaluation of on-orbit performance." Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2012 IEEE International 1084-1087 [10.1109/IGARSS.2012.6351360] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Intercomparison of MODIS albedo retrievals and in situ measurements across the global FLUXNET network." Remote Sensing of Environment 121 323–334 [10.1016/j.rse.2012.02.019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Pre-launch evaluation of the NPP VIIRS Land and Cryosphere EDRs to meet NASA's science requirements." Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 2011 IEEE International 154-157 [10.1109/IGARSS.2011.6048921] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Measuring effective leaf area index, foliage profile, and stand height in New England forest stands using a full-waveform ground-based lidar." Remote Sensing of Environment 115 (11): 2954-2964 [10.1016/j.rse.2010.08.030] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Characterizing vegetation cover in global savannas with an annual foliage clumping index derived from the MODIS BRDF product." Remote Sensing of Environment 115 (8): 2008-2024 [10.1016/j.rse.2011.04.003] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Variability in surface BRDF at different spatial scales (30m–500m) over a mixed agricultural landscape as retrieved from airborne and satellite spectral measurements." Remote Sensing of Environment 115 (9): 2184-2203 [10.1016/j.rse.2011.04.012] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Biogeography, Ecology and Dynamics of Global Savanna: A Geospatial View." Ecosystem Function in Savannas: Measurement and Modeling at Landscape to Global Scales [Article in Book]

2010. "Assessing the coupling between surface albedo derived from MODIS and the fraction of diffuse skylight over spatially-characterized landscapes." Remote Sensing of Environment 114 (4): 738-760 [10.1016/j.rse.2009.11.014] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "The MODIS (Collection V005) BRDF/albedo product: Assessment of spatial representativeness over forested landscapes." Remote Sensing of Environment 113 (11): 2476-2498 [10.1016/j.rse.2009.07.009] [Journal Article/Letter]

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 (D8): D08125 [10.1029/2008JD010669] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "Validation of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) albedo retrieval algorithm: Dependence of albedo on solar zenith angle." J. Geophys. Res. 114 (D1): D01106 [10.1029/2008JD009969] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "MODTRAN5 analysis of clear-sky, co-located space- and ground-based infrared atmospheric measurements: AERI, AIRS, CERES, MODIS." Proc. SPIE 7334, Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XV 7334 733410 [10.1117/12.819920] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Surface BRDF estimation from an aircraft compared to MODIS and ground estimates at the Southern Great Plains site." J. Geophys. Res. 113 (D20): D20105 [10.1029/2008JD010062] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Aircraft measurements of spectral surface albedo and its consistency with ground-based and space-borne observations." J. Geophys. Res. 113 (D17): D17209 [10.1029/2008JD010089] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Assessing the radiative impact of aerosol smoke using MODTRAN5." Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XIV 6966 696617 [10.1117/12.782364] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Radiative impact of boreal smoke in the Arctic: Observed and modeled." J. Geophys. Res. 113 (D14): D14S16 [10.1029/2007JD009657] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2020. "Reaching Broad Audiences from a Large Agency Setting." Foundations of Data Visualization 319-340 [10.1007/978-3-030-34444-3_18] [Article in Book]

2018. "After the Hurricane." The Economist (April 14 Issue): 18-20 [Full Text] [Magazine]

2014. "Land, Cryosphere, and nighttime enviromental products from Suomi NPP VIIRS: Overview and status ." Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2014 IEEE International 3530 - 3533 [10.1109/IGARSS.2014.6947244] [Proceedings]

2012. "The 2011 Eco3D flight campaign: Vegetation structure and biomass estimation from simultaneous SAR, lidar and radiometer measurements." 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 3387–3390 [10.1109/IGARSS.2012.6350694] [Proceedings]