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Frederick S Policelli

Photo of FREDERICK POLICELLI

Frederick S Policelli

  • AST, TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT
  • 301.614.6573 | 301.614.5620
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Mail Code: 617
  • Greenbelt , MD 20771
  • Employer: NASA

    • Brief Bio

    Dr. Policelli is a member of the NASA GSFC Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, where he is engaged in research and applications including surface water and flood water mapping.  Dr. Policelli studied mechanical engineering and worked in propulsion systems development and testing during his early career.  Dr. Policelli has extensive experience in applied sciences, systems engineering, and project management. Currently, Dr. Policelli is Principal Investigator on a NASA mission concept development project and Co-Investigator on a NASA Applied Sciences funded project that develops near real time global to regional scale flood mapping products with the goal of extending the results to operational partners for use in disaster management.  Dr. Policelli recently completed his PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

    Research Interests

    Water Balance

    Basin-level water balance analyses on a global basis.

    Surface Water Extent and Flood Mapping

    Near real time, global water and flood extent mapping for disaster management and related research and analysis.

    Flood Modeling

    Near real time, basin level flood modeling for disaster management and related research and analysis.

    Current Projects

    Global Flood Mapping

    Near real time global surface water extent and flood mapping for disaster management and research use.

    Vegetation Optical Depth retrieval from active and passive microwave data

    Mission concept development

    Teaching Experience

    Student mentoring as part of the NASA Applied Sciences Program's DEVELOP project.

    Positions/Employment

    4/1987 - 4/1991

    Project Engineer

    Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies, Inc., East Hartford, CT Development of commercial jet engines.
    5/1991 - 4/1998

    Systems Engineer/Test Director

    NASA SSC Propulsion Test Directorate, Stennis Space Center, MS Development, operation, and managment of propulsion test stands.
    4/1998 - 10/2005

    Project Manager

    NASA SSC Applied Sciences Directorate, Stennis Space Center, MS Management of projects related to development of applications of remote sensing data and establishing a U.S. commercial remote sensing business sector.  This position included details served in the U.S. Senate, NASA HQ, and NASA GSFC.
    10/2005 - 10/2015

    AST, Technical Management

    NASA GSFC Office of Applied Sciences, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    Mr. Policelli served as deputy to the chief of the NASA GSFC Office of Applied Sciences, where he provides leadership in center efforts to transition NASA research results to operational end-users for societal benefit.

    10/2015 - Present

    Physical Scientist

    NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center

    Dr. Policelli conducts research and applications development in the NASA GSFC Hydrological Science Lab

    Education

    1986 B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University,(Ithaca, NY)

    1990 M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hartford Graduate Center, (Hartford,CT)

    2018 Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University Earth and Planetary Sciences Department (Baltimore, MD)
     

    Selected Publications

    Refereed

    Li, B., M. Rodell, S. Kumar, et al. H. K. Beaudoing, A. Getirana, B. F. Zaitchik, L. G. Goncalves, C. Cossetin, S. Bhanja, A. Mukherjee, S. Tian, N. Tangdamrongsub, D. Long, J. Nanteza, J. Lee, F. Policelli, I. B. Goni, D. Daira, M. Bila, G. Lannoy, D. M. Mocko, S. C. Steele‐Dunne, H. Save, and S. Bettadpur. 2019. "Global GRACE data assimilation for groundwater and drought monitoring: Advances and challenges." Water Resour. Res., 55: 7564-7586 [10.1029/2018wr024618]

    Policelli, F., A. Hubbard, H. C. Jung, B. Zaitchik, and C. Ichoku. 2019. "A predictive model for Lake Chad total surface water area using remotely sensed and modeled hydrological and meteorological parameters and multivariate regression analysis." Journal of Hydrology, 568: 1071-1080 [10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.11.037]

    Policelli, F., A. Hubbard, H. Jung, B. Zaitchik, and C. Ichoku. 2018. "Lake Chad Total Surface Water Area as Derived from Land Surface Temperature and Radar Remote Sensing Data." Remote Sensing, 10 (2): [10.3390/rs10020252]

    Jung, H. C., A. Getirana, F. Policelli, et al. A. McNally, K. R. Arsenault, S. Kumar, T. Tadesse, and C. D. Peters-Lidard. 2017. "Upper Blue Nile Basin Water Budget from a Multi-Model Perspective." Journal of Hydrology, [10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.10.040]

    Ichoku, C., L. T. Ellison, K. E. Willmot, et al. T. Matsui, A. K. Dezfuli, C. K. Gatebe, J. Wang, E. M. Wilcox, J. Lee, J. Adegoke, C. Okonkwo, J. Bolten, F. S. Policelli, and S. Habib. 2016. "Biomass burning, land-cover change, and the hydrological cycle in Northern sub-Saharan Africa." Environmental Research Letters, 11 (9): 095005 [10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/095005]

    Schumann, G. J., S. Frye, G. Wells, et al. R. Adler, R. Brakenridge, J. Bolten, J. Murray, D. Slayback, F. Policelli, D. Kirschbaum, H. Wu, P. Cappelaere, T. Howard, Z. Flamig, R. Clark, T. Stough, M. Chini, P. Matgen, D. Green, and B. Jones. 2016. "Unlocking the full potential of Earth observation during the 2015 Texas flood disaster." Water Resources Research, 52 (5): 3288-3293 [10.1002/2015wr018428]

    Brown, M. E., A. E. Racoviteanu, D. G. Tarboton, et al. A. Sen Gupta, J. D. Nigro, F. S. Policelli, S. Habib, M. M. Tokay, M. S. Shrestha, S. Bajracharya, P. Hummel, M. Gray, P. Duda, B. Zaitchik, V. Mahat, G. Artan, and S. Tokar. 2014. "An integrated modeling system for estimating glacier and snow melt driven streamflow from remote sensing and earth system data products in the Himalayas." Journal of Hydrology, 519 (Part B): 1859-1869 [10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.050]

    Long, S., T. E. Fatoyinbo Agueh, and F. S. Policelli. 2014. "Flood extent mapping for Namibia using change detection and thresholding with SAR ." Environ. Res. Lett., 9 (3): 035002 [10.1088/1748-9326/9/3/035002]

    Khan, S. I., Yang Hong, H. J. Vergara, et al. J. J. Gourley, G. R. Brakenridge, T. De Groeve, Z. L. Flamig, F. Policelli, and Bin Yong. 2012. "Microwave Satellite Data for Hydrologic Modeling in Ungauged Basins." IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 9 (4): 663-667 [10.1109/lgrs.2011.2177807]

    Wu, H., R. Adler, Y. Hong, Y. Tian, and F. Policelli. 2012. "Evaluation of Global Flood Detection Using Satellite-Based Rainfall and a Hydrologic Model." J. Hydrometeorology, 13 (4): 1268-1284 [10.1175/JHM-D-11-087.1]

    Wang, J., Y. Hong, L. Li, et al. J. J. Gourley, S. I. Khan, K. K. Yilmaz, R. F. Adler, F. S. Policelli, S. Habib, D. Irwn, A. S. Limaye, T. Korme, and L. Okello. 2011. "The coupled routing and excess storage (CREST) distributed hydrological model." Hydrological Sciences Journal, 56 (1): 84-98 [10.1080/02626667.2010.543087]

    Khan, S. I., P. Adhikari, Y. Hong, et al. H. Vergara, R. F Adler, F. Policelli, D. Irwin, T. Korme, and L. Okello. 2011. "Hydroclimatology of Lake Victoria region using hydrologic model and satellite remote sensing data." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 15 (1): 107-117 [10.5194/hess-15-107-2011]

    Khan, S. I., Y. Hong, J. Wang, et al. K. K. Yilmaz, J. J. Gourley, R. F. Adler, G. R. Brakenridge, F. Policelli, S. Habib, and D. Irwin. 2011. "Satellite Remote Sensing and Hydrologic Modeling for Flood Inundation Mapping in Lake Victoria Basin: Implications for Hydrologic Prediction in Ungauged Basins." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 49 (1): 85-95 [10.1109/tgrs.2010.2057513]

    Khan, S. I., P. Adhikari, Y. Hong, et al. H. Vergara, T. Grout, R. F. Adler, F. Policelli, D. Irwin, T. Korme, and L. Okello. 2010. "Observed and simulated hydroclimatology using distributed hydrologic model from in-situ and multi-satellite remote sensing datasets in Lake Victoria region in East Africa." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 7 (4): 4785-4816 [10.5194/hessd-7-4785-2010]

    Brown, M. E., H. Ouyang, S. Habib, et al. B. Shrestha, P. Panday, M. Tzortziou, F. Policelli, A. Artan, A. Artan, A. Artan, and A. Racovinteanu. 2010. "HIMALA: Climate Impacts on Glaciers, Snow, and Hydrology in the Himalayan Region." Mountain Research and Development, 30 (4): 401-404 [10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-10-00071.1]

    Non-Refereed

    Policelli, F., D. Slayback, R. Brakenridge, et al. J. Nigro, A. Hubbard, B. Zaitchik, M. Carroll, and H. Jung. 2017. "The NASA Global Flood Mapping System." Remote Sensing of Hydrological Extremes 47-63 [DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43744-6_3]

    Brief Bio

    Dr. Policelli is a member of the NASA GSFC Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, where he is engaged in research and applications including surface water and flood water mapping.  Dr. Policelli studied mechanical engineering and worked in propulsion systems development and testing during his early career.  Dr. Policelli has extensive experience in applied sciences, systems engineering, and project management. Currently, Dr. Policelli is Principal Investigator on a NASA mission concept development project and Co-Investigator on a NASA Applied Sciences funded project that develops near real time global to regional scale flood mapping products with the goal of extending the results to operational partners for use in disaster management.  Dr. Policelli recently completed his PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

    Selected Publications

    Refereed

    Li, B., M. Rodell, S. Kumar, et al. H. K. Beaudoing, A. Getirana, B. F. Zaitchik, L. G. Goncalves, C. Cossetin, S. Bhanja, A. Mukherjee, S. Tian, N. Tangdamrongsub, D. Long, J. Nanteza, J. Lee, F. Policelli, I. B. Goni, D. Daira, M. Bila, G. Lannoy, D. M. Mocko, S. C. Steele‐Dunne, H. Save, and S. Bettadpur. 2019. "Global GRACE data assimilation for groundwater and drought monitoring: Advances and challenges." Water Resour. Res. 55 7564-7586 [10.1029/2018wr024618]

    Policelli, F., A. Hubbard, H. C. Jung, B. Zaitchik, and C. Ichoku. 2019. "A predictive model for Lake Chad total surface water area using remotely sensed and modeled hydrological and meteorological parameters and multivariate regression analysis." Journal of Hydrology 568 1071-1080 [10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.11.037]

    Policelli, F., A. Hubbard, H. Jung, B. Zaitchik, and C. Ichoku. 2018. "Lake Chad Total Surface Water Area as Derived from Land Surface Temperature and Radar Remote Sensing Data." Remote Sensing 10 (2): [10.3390/rs10020252]

    Jung, H. C., A. Getirana, F. Policelli, et al. A. McNally, K. R. Arsenault, S. Kumar, T. Tadesse, and C. D. Peters-Lidard. 2017. "Upper Blue Nile Basin Water Budget from a Multi-Model Perspective." Journal of Hydrology [10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.10.040]

    Ichoku, C., L. T. Ellison, K. E. Willmot, et al. T. Matsui, A. K. Dezfuli, C. K. Gatebe, J. Wang, E. M. Wilcox, J. Lee, J. Adegoke, C. Okonkwo, J. Bolten, F. S. Policelli, and S. Habib. 2016. "Biomass burning, land-cover change, and the hydrological cycle in Northern sub-Saharan Africa." Environmental Research Letters 11 (9): 095005 [10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/095005]

    Schumann, G. J., S. Frye, G. Wells, et al. R. Adler, R. Brakenridge, J. Bolten, J. Murray, D. Slayback, F. Policelli, D. Kirschbaum, H. Wu, P. Cappelaere, T. Howard, Z. Flamig, R. Clark, T. Stough, M. Chini, P. Matgen, D. Green, and B. Jones. 2016. "Unlocking the full potential of Earth observation during the 2015 Texas flood disaster." Water Resources Research 52 (5): 3288-3293 [10.1002/2015wr018428]

    Brown, M. E., A. E. Racoviteanu, D. G. Tarboton, et al. A. Sen Gupta, J. D. Nigro, F. S. Policelli, S. Habib, M. M. Tokay, M. S. Shrestha, S. Bajracharya, P. Hummel, M. Gray, P. Duda, B. Zaitchik, V. Mahat, G. Artan, and S. Tokar. 2014. "An integrated modeling system for estimating glacier and snow melt driven streamflow from remote sensing and earth system data products in the Himalayas." Journal of Hydrology 519 (Part B): 1859-1869 [10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.050]

    Long, S., T. E. Fatoyinbo Agueh, and F. S. Policelli. 2014. "Flood extent mapping for Namibia using change detection and thresholding with SAR ." Environ. Res. Lett. 9 (3): 035002 [10.1088/1748-9326/9/3/035002]

    Khan, S. I., Yang Hong, H. J. Vergara, et al. J. J. Gourley, G. R. Brakenridge, T. De Groeve, Z. L. Flamig, F. Policelli, and Bin Yong. 2012. "Microwave Satellite Data for Hydrologic Modeling in Ungauged Basins." IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters 9 (4): 663-667 [10.1109/lgrs.2011.2177807]

    Wu, H., R. Adler, Y. Hong, Y. Tian, and F. Policelli. 2012. "Evaluation of Global Flood Detection Using Satellite-Based Rainfall and a Hydrologic Model." J. Hydrometeorology 13 (4): 1268-1284 [10.1175/JHM-D-11-087.1]

    Wang, J., Y. Hong, L. Li, et al. J. J. Gourley, S. I. Khan, K. K. Yilmaz, R. F. Adler, F. S. Policelli, S. Habib, D. Irwn, A. S. Limaye, T. Korme, and L. Okello. 2011. "The coupled routing and excess storage (CREST) distributed hydrological model." Hydrological Sciences Journal 56 (1): 84-98 [10.1080/02626667.2010.543087]

    Khan, S. I., P. Adhikari, Y. Hong, et al. H. Vergara, R. F Adler, F. Policelli, D. Irwin, T. Korme, and L. Okello. 2011. "Hydroclimatology of Lake Victoria region using hydrologic model and satellite remote sensing data." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 15 (1): 107-117 [10.5194/hess-15-107-2011]

    Khan, S. I., Y. Hong, J. Wang, et al. K. K. Yilmaz, J. J. Gourley, R. F. Adler, G. R. Brakenridge, F. Policelli, S. Habib, and D. Irwin. 2011. "Satellite Remote Sensing and Hydrologic Modeling for Flood Inundation Mapping in Lake Victoria Basin: Implications for Hydrologic Prediction in Ungauged Basins." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 49 (1): 85-95 [10.1109/tgrs.2010.2057513]

    Khan, S. I., P. Adhikari, Y. Hong, et al. H. Vergara, T. Grout, R. F. Adler, F. Policelli, D. Irwin, T. Korme, and L. Okello. 2010. "Observed and simulated hydroclimatology using distributed hydrologic model from in-situ and multi-satellite remote sensing datasets in Lake Victoria region in East Africa." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 7 (4): 4785-4816 [10.5194/hessd-7-4785-2010]

    Brown, M. E., H. Ouyang, S. Habib, et al. B. Shrestha, P. Panday, M. Tzortziou, F. Policelli, A. Artan, A. Artan, A. Artan, and A. Racovinteanu. 2010. "HIMALA: Climate Impacts on Glaciers, Snow, and Hydrology in the Himalayan Region." Mountain Research and Development 30 (4): 401-404 [10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-10-00071.1]

    Non-Refereed

    Policelli, F., D. Slayback, R. Brakenridge, et al. J. Nigro, A. Hubbard, B. Zaitchik, M. Carroll, and H. Jung. 2017. "The NASA Global Flood Mapping System." Remote Sensing of Hydrological Extremes 47-63 [DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43744-6_3]

                                                                                                                                                                                            
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