July 7, 2016
It is my great pleasure to announce the recipient of the 2016 Doug D. Nebert NSDI Champion of the Year Award. It goes to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) MODIS team. They are recognized for their "innovation, persistence, and creativity in the development of the MODIS tools. While similar tools now exist in the data community, the ORNL DAAC MODIS tools were some of the earliest pioneers of such systems and have established a new paradigm in remote sensing based Spatial Data Infrastructure." MODIS tools provide summaries of selected MODIS Land Products in an easy to use file format through an intuitive user interface. The ORNL DAAC MODIS system provides MODIS land products data (2000-present and for the global land area) in a nonproprietary comma delimited text file format and in GIS compatible GeoTIFF file format. Web-based visualization tools and a multitude of data delivery options are available to meet the demands of a large variety of user communities in research areas including climatology, meteorology, hydrology, vegetation productivity and condition, land cover mapping, and disturbance monitoring.
ORNL DAAC MODIS Team members who have contributed over the years (in alphabetical order):
- Tammy Beaty (User Services, 2002-present)
- Robert Cook (Retired, Chief Scientist, 2001-2016)
- Pete Eby (System Administrators, 2009-2015)
- Susan Holladay (Website and Subset List, 2002-2007)
- Deborah Higdon (Student Intern, Summer, 2012-2014)
- Jim Kidder (Librarian, 2007-present)
- Steve Margle (Retired, Lead Developer, 2002-2007)
- Ben McMurry (Database Specialist, 2006-present)
- Jack McNelis (Student Intern, 2015-present)
- Ketan Patel (System Administrators, 2014-present)
- Dave Sill (System Administrator, 2002-present)
- Bruce Wilson (DAAC Manager, 2006-2008)
- Suresh Vannan (Lead Developer, 2006-2011)
- Makhan Virdi (Lead Developer, 2011-present)
The ORNL DAAC User Working Group has also played a key role in the design, development, and success of the ORNL DAAC MODIS tools.
The award honors Doug Nebert, who was a respected FGDC colleague, technical visionary, and recognized national and international leader in the establishment of spatial data infrastructures. It is based on the following precepts:
- Innovation and vision
- Interoperability
- Use of standards
- Advancement of NSDI principles
- Service to communities of users
- Developed once, used by many
- Improved performance and service
- Real-world application
Please join me in congratulating the MODIS team for their efforts.
Jennifer Gimbel
FGDC Chair