Item talk:Q50669

usgs_staff_profile:

 meta:
   status_code: 200
   timestamp: '2023-09-30T17:41:04.485631'
   url: https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/prasad-thenkabail
 profile:
   abstracts:
   - "As a result of Dr. Thenkabail\u2019s scientific accomplishments, standing,\
     \ and stature, he is a highly sought-after speaker. Since 2011, he has given\
     \ 117 talks (averaging ~12 per year) of which 40% (47/117) were invited. He\
     \ has been invited as a speaker in Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany,\
     \ India, Indonesia, Israel, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and various places in\
     \ USA (e.g., Purdue, OSU)."
   affiliations:
   - Editor-in-Chief, Remote Sensing Open Access Journal; 2011-present.
   - Associate Editor, American Society of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote
     Sensing (PE&RS), a Journal of the Imaging and Geospatial Information Society
     (ASPRS).
   - Editorial Advisory Board, International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote
     Sensing (ISPRS) Journal of Photo. & Remote Sensing, 2014-present.
   - Editorial Board Member, Remote Sensing of Environment (2007-2016)
   - 'Core member,  NASA South/Southeast Asia Research Initiative (SARI):  2014-present'
   - Member, American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (1988-present)
   - 'Chair: International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Working
     Group WG VIII/7: Land cover and its dynamics, including Agricultural & Urban
     Land Use (2013-2016)'
   - Global Coordinator, Committee for Earth Observing Systems Agriculture Societal
     Beneficial Areas (CEOA SBA) (2010-2013)
   - "Co-lead, IEEE \u201CWater for the World\u201D (2007-2011)"
   - Member, Landsat Science Team (2007-2011)
   education:
   - 1992 - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Agricultural Engineering, The Ohio State
     University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
   - 1983 - Master of Engineering (M.E.) in Hydraulics and Water Resources Engineering,
     Mysore University (India).
   - 1981 - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (B.E.), Mysore University (India).
   email: pthenkabail@usgs.gov
   expertise_terms:
   - geospatial analysis
   - maps and atlases
   - remote sensing
   - spatial analysis
   - forest resources
   - natural resource management
   - water resources
   - ecosystems
   - environmental assessment
   - forest ecosystems
   - freshwater ecosystems
   - wetland ecosystems
   - climate change
   - droughts
   - global cropland mapping
   - hydrology
   - food security
   - floods
   - hyperspectral remote sensing
   - groundwater
   - irrigation
   - machine learning and cloud computing
   - water budget
   - crop water productivity
   - water use
   - water security
   - vegetation
   honors:
   - 2023  Fellow, American Society of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing
     (ASPRS)
   - 2023 Talbert Abrahms Grand Award, highest paper award from American Society
     of Photogrammetric Enginering and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).
   - 2022 - PESEP Scholar. The NASA-ISRO Professional Engineer and Scientist Exchange
     Program (PESEP). USA (NASA) and India (ISRO) scientific exchange scientist for
     2022-2023.
   - 2020 - Proposal evaluation panel for Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology,
     to their bi-national Italy-Israel joint laboratory in Precision Agriculture.
   - "2019 - Advisory Board member, Taylor and Francis Inc., online library collection\
     \ to support the United Nations\u2019 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)."
   - 2019 - USGS STAR award for supervision
   - 2019 - Member, NASA Surface Biology Geology (SBG)-Applications. For the SBG
     hyperspectral remote sensing mission (replacing former HyspIRI program).
   - 2019 - Member, NASA Calibration and Validation Working Group. For the SBG hyperspectral
     remote sensing mission (replacing former HyspIRI program).
   - 2019 - USGS 10-year service recognition
   - 2018 - The Excellent Reviewer of Remote Sensing of Environment
   - 2018 - Honored by the Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain and the Dubai-based International
     Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) for giving the keynote lecture.
   - 2016 - NASA Group Achievement Award, 2016. (Member of Team) Fallowed Area Map
   - '2015 - ASPRS Best Scientific Paper Award, 2015: ASPRS ERDAS award for best
     scientific paper in remote sensing (given annually for the papers published
     in American Society of Photogrammetry'
   - 2015 - Task Force Member NASA, SARI, 2015-present. South Asia Regional Initiative
     (SARI), A response to regional needs in Land Cover/Land Use Change (LCLUC) Science
     and Education (NASA)
   - '2015 - Innovations Inventory, PARIS21, 2015: Remote Sensing Data for Drought
     Assessment and Monitoring monograph authors (as first author) is in the PARIS21.'
   - 2013 - Panel chair, 2013, USGS RGE. For the Spring 2013 GIS and Remote Sensing
     USGS Research Grade Evaluation (RGE) panel.
   - "2008 - ASPRS President\u2019s award for practical papers: American Society\
     \ of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) John I. Davidson President\u2019\
     s Award for practical papers, 2008."
   - 2007 - Special achievement in GIS award from ESRI, awarded by ESRI President
     Mr. Jack Dangermond during the 2007 annual ESRI conference in San Diego.
   - "2006 - Best team award for my remote sensing and GIS team @ the International\
     \ Water Management Institute (IWMI) during Institute\u2019s Annual Research\
     \ Meeting 2006."
   - "2005 - Best paper award (5 best paper awards given) by International Water\
     \ Management Institute (IWMI) during Institute\u2019s Annual Research Meeting\
     \ 2005."
   - "2004 - Best paper award (5 best paper awards given) by International Water\
     \ Management Institute (IWMI) during Institute\u2019s Annual Research Meeting\
     \ 2004."
   - 2001 - Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Rapideye, a Private German Satellite
     Company.
   - 1994 - Autometric award for outstanding paper by American Society of Photogrammetry
     and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).
   intro_statements:
   - "Dr. Prasad S. Thenkabail, Senior Scientist (ST), United States Geological Survey\
     \ (USGS), is a world-recognized expert in remote sensing science with major\
     \ contributions in the field sustained for nearly 40 years. Dr. Thenkabail\u2019\
     s career scientific achievements can be gauged by successfully making the list\
     \ of world\u2019s top 1% of scientists across fields (22 scientific fields and\
     \ 176 sub-fields)."
   name: Prasad S. Thenkabail, PhD
   name_qualifier: null
   orcid: 0000-0002-2182-8822
   organization_link: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/western-geographic-science-center
   organization_name: Western Geographic Science Center
   personal_statement: "Dr. Thenkabail has conductedpioneering researchinhyperspectral\
     \ remote sensing of vegetationand in that ofglobal croplands and their water\
     \ use for food security. Inhyperspectral remote sensinghe has done cutting-edge\
     \ research with wide implications in advancing remote sensing science in application\
     \ to agriculture and vegetation. This body of work led to more than ten peer-reviewed\
     \ research publications with high impact. For example, a single paper entitled\
     \ \u201CHyperspectral vegetation indices and their relationships with agricultural\
     \ crop characteristics\u201D has received 1500 citations (3/14/23). In studies\
     \ ofglobal croplands for food and water security, he has led the release of\
     \ the world\u2019s first Landsat-derived: 1. global cropland extent product\
     \ @ 30m (GCEP30), and 2. global rainfed and irrigated area product @ 30m (LGRIP30).\
     \ This work demonstrates a \u201Cparadigm shift\u201D in how remote sensing\
     \ science is conducted. As per Google Scholar, the papers Dr. Thenkabail's research\
     \ are cited 14,235 times. His h-index is 58 and i10-index is 113.Dr. Thenkabail\u2019\
     s contributions to series of leading edited books on remote sensing science\
     \ places him as a world leader in remote sensing science advances. He editedthree-volume\
     \ bookentitledRemote Sensing Handbookpublished by Taylor and Francis, with 82\
     \ chapters and more than 2000 pages, widely considered a \u201Cmagnus opus\u201D\
     \ encyclopedic standard reference for students, scholars, practitioners, and\
     \ major experts in remote sensing science. He has recently completed editingHyperspectral\
     \ Remote Sensing of Vegetationpublishedbooks by Taylor and Francis in four volumes\
     \ with 50 chapters.This is the second edition that is currently in press and\
     \ is a follow-up on the earlier single-volumeHyperspectral Remote Sensing of\
     \ Vegetation. He has also edited a book onRemote Sensing of Global Croplands\
     \ for Food Security.He obtained his PhD from the Ohio State University in 1992\
     \ and has 168 publications including 9 books, 146 peer-reviewed journal articles,\
     \ and 13 major data releases. Dr. Thenkabail is at the center ofrendering scientific\
     \ service to the world\u2019s remote sensing communityin roles that includeEditor-in-Chief\
     \ (2011-present)of Remote Sensing Open Access Journal andAssociate Editor (2017-present)of\
     \ American Society\u2019s Journal Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing.\
     \ Dr. Thenkabail was recognized as Fellow of the American Society of Photogrammetry\
     \ and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) in 2023. His scientific papers have won several\
     \ awards over the years demonstrating world class highest quality research.\
     \ These include: 2023 Talbert Abrams Grand Award, the highest scientific paper\
     \ award of the ASPRS, 2015 ASPRS ERDAS award for best scientific paper in remote\
     \ sensing, and 1994 Autometric Award for the outstanding paper in remote sensing.\
     \ He was a Landsat Science Team Member (2007-2011)."
   professional_experience:
   - 2022 - present - Senior Scientist (ST), United States Geological Survey (USGS)
   - 'Oct. 2008-2022 - USGS: Supervisory Research Geographer-15 (2017-present), Research
     Geographer-15 (2011-2017), Research Geographer-14 (2008-2011), United States
     Geological Survey (USGS), Flagstaff, AZ.USA.'
   - 'March 2003-Sept. 2008 - IWMI: Principal Researcher, Global Research Division
     group and Head of Remote Sensing and GIS Unit, International Water Management
     Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka.'
   - 'April 1997-March 2003 - Yale University: Associate Research Scientist, Center
     for Earth Observation, Yale University, New Haven, CT,USA.'
   - 'Nov. 1995-March 1997 - ICIMOD: Remote Sensing Specialist, International Center
     for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal.'
   - 'July 1992-Nov. 1995 - IITA: Remote Sensing Specialist, International Institute
     of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria.'
   - 'Sept. 1998-June 1992 - OSU: Graduate Research Assistant, The Ohio State University,
     Columbus, Ohio.'
   - 'Dec. 1984-Nov. 1986 - Mysore and Bangalore University: Teaching hydraulics
     and water resources, India.'
   - The countries he has worked in include China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Israel, Syria,
     United States, Canada, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal,
     Sri Lanka, Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
     Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Mozambique, and
     South Africa.
   title: Senior Scientist (ST)