Anthony Vodacek

Anthony Vodacek's picture

Research Details

Research Interests
  • Remote Sensing
  • Integrating remote sensing and environmental models
  • Data assimilation
  • Dynamic Data Driven Applications Systems (DDDAS)
  • Persistent Simulation
  • Imaging spectroscopy
  • Passive and active remote sensing of water quality
  • Remote detection of wildland fire
  • Feature extraction from hyperspectral data
  • Fourier analysis of landscape metrics

Personal Information

Contact Information
Room: 76-3258
Phone: (585)475-7816
Fax: (585)475-5988
Email: vodacek@cis.rit.edu

Center for Imaging Science
Rochester Institute of Technology
54 Lomb Memorial Dr.
Rochester, NY 14623
Title and Degrees
PhD, Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 1990
MS, Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 1985
BS, Chemistry, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1981
Personal Web Page
http://www.cis.rit.edu/people/faculty/vodacek/
Other details
Recent Invited Presentations

August 2008. Assimilating Remote Sensing in Surface Water Models. Workshop on Modeling and Sensing Environmental Systems. National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC), Petropolis, Brasil.

June 2008. Water Quality in Rwanda: A Study Using Remote Sensing. CGIS-NUR, KIST, and Office of Science and Technology

March 2008. Improving environmental forecasts using remote sensing data assimilation. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester.

October 2007. Assimilating remote sensing with dynamic data-driven environmental models. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo.

July 2006. Water Quality and DDDAS. DDDAS and Environmental Problems Workshop, National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC), Petropolis, Brasil.

February 2006. Environmental Forecasting with Remote Sensing. Center for Electronic Imaging Systems (CEIS) University Technology Showcase, Rochester, NY


Current Projects

1. Environmental Modeling and Remote Sensing in Rwanda (under construction)
We are working toward developing research and educational collaborations between RIT and Rwandan institutions such as the National University of Rwanda (NUR) in Butare and the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). A primary partner will be CGIS, the Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Centre at NUR. Our basic goal on the educational side is to build capacity at Rwandan universities by having Rwandan students work on PhD's at RIT, but performing their research projects in Rwanda, on topics of interest to national development. These projects would be collaborative efforts with existing Rwandan faculty. We visited Rwanda in June 2008 to scope out potential research projects in the area of environmental modeling and remote sensing. Here is a list of potential research projects:
Modeling water quality in Lake Kivu. The town of Gisenyi is a significant tourist destination in Rwanda. It lies on the shores of Lake Kivu and is near the Mountain Gorilla habitat of the Volcanoes National Park. There is a source of nutrients and sediment from a river that enters Lake Kivu near Gisenyi. The river plume creates an observable signature in Landsat images along the north east side of Lake Kivu, suggesting the impact of the river is wider than previously thought. This is a good potential site for further development of our efforts in water quality modeling with data assimilation. The series of Landsat images below show the persistent effects of this plume. (images to be provided soon, today's date 11/13/2008)
Modeling runoff and erosion. Rwanda is very densely populated with most of the very hilly landscape used for agricultural production. Erosion is a country-wide problem, with significant impacts to water quality in the rivers and lakes. Water borne disease is prevalent in Rwanda and erosion control and water quality improvement projects should have a measureable impact on the health of the Rwandan people.
Classification of coffee. Coffee is an important export crop and Rwanda produces excellent coffees. The production of high quality coffee would be enhanced by a better knowledge of the spatial context of the best coffee production areas. However, traditional classification techniques for identifying coffee are stressed by the extreme complexity of the Rwandan landscape. Application of new sensors such as lidar and high resolution multi- or hyperspectral imaging or combinations of both are needed to solve this problem. See pictures of our tour of the Maraba coffee washing station, tasting facility, etc. (pictures coming soon, today's date 11/13/2008)
Detecting and modeling wildland fires. Eastern Rwanda is much drier than the rest of the country and areas such as Akagera National Park are subject to a seasonal wildland fire threat. The development of a fire propagation model for use in the park would help park managers assess and deal with fires in a pro-active manner.
2. Collaborative Research: ITR: DDDAS: Data Dynamic Simulation for Disaster Management, NSF

A. Project Web site

B. The following are two papers that have appeared in Remote Sensing of Environment. The link is the Authors Accepted Manuscript without page numbers:

Ononye, A., A. Vodacek, and E. Saber. 2007. Automated Extraction of Fire Line Parameters from Multispectral Infrared Images. Remote Sensing of Environment. 108:179-188. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2006.09.029
Li, Y., A. Vodacek, and Y. Zhu. 2007. An Automatic Statistical Segmentation Algorithm for Extraction of Fire and Smoke Regions. Remote Sensing of Environment. 108:171-178. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2006.10.023
Past Projects

1. Integrating remote sensing with water quality modeling for prediction of beach closures at Ontario Beach, Rochester NY, NOAA. You can download a presentation describing this water quality modeling project given at ASLO in Santa Fe in February 2007

2. Forest Fires Imaging Experimental System (FIRES)

3. Hyperspectral Imaging of Benthic Algae Habitat Along the Southern Shoreline of Lake Ontario

Current graduate students and research topic
Yushan Zhu (PhD), Great Lakes aquatic optics
Alvin Spivey (PhD), Dynamic remote sensing feedback to hydrologic modeling, Fourier analysis of landscape metrics

Former graduate students, thesis titles, and present position
Shari McNamara, MS 2007, Using Multispectral Sensor WASP-Lite to Analyze Harmful Algal Blooms, ITT

Zhen Wang, PhD 2007, Modeling Wildland Fire Radiance in Synthetic Remote Sensing Scenes, undecided.

Yan Li, PhD 2007, An Integrated Water Quality Modeling System with Dynamic Remote Sensing Feedback, Rapiscan Systems.

Ying Li, PhD 2006, Remote Sensing Algorithm Development for Wildland Fire Detection and Mapping, Rapiscan Systems.

Gretchen Sprehe, MS 2005, Application of Phenology to Assist in Hyperspectral Species Classification of a Northern Hardwood Forest, NGA.

Andrew Fordham, MS 2002, Band Selection and Algorithm Development for Remote Sensing of Wildfires, Lockheed-Martin

Nikole Wilson, MS 2000, Hyperspectral Imaging for Bottom Type Classification and Water Depth Determination, Dr. of Veterinary Medicine

Kirk Knobelspiesse, MS 2000, Atmospheric Compensation for SeaWiFS Images of Lake Superior Utilizing Spatial Information, PhD student at Columbia Univ.

Former postdoctoral advisee, research area, and present position
Ambrose Ononye, Feature extraction of wildland fire parameters, ITD, Stennis Space Center, MS

History

Member for
42 weeks 3 days

Publications

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES

    Wang, Z.; Vodacek, A.; Coen, J.L., Generation of synthetic infrared remote-sensing scenes of wildland fire, International Journal of Wildland Fire, 18, 3, pp. 302-309 (2009) [BibTeX]

    Makarewicz, J.C.; Lewis, T.W.; Bosch, I.; Noll, M.R.; Herendeen, N.; Simon, R.D.; Zollweg, J.; Vodacek, A., The impact of agricultural best management practices on downstream systems: Soil loss and nutrient chemistry and flux to Conesus Lake, New York, USA, Journal of Great Lakes Research, 35, pp. 23-36 (2009) [BibTeX]

    Mandel, J.A.; Bennethum, L.S.; Beezley, J.D.; Coen, J.L.; Douglas, C.C.; Kim, M.; Vodacek, A., A wildland fire model with data assimilation, Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 79, pp. 584-606 (2008) [BibTeX]

    Li, Y.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Garrett, A.J.; Bosch, I.; Makarewicz, J.C.; Lewis, T.W., Circulation and stream plume modeling in Conesus Lake., Environmental Modeling and Assessment., 13, pp. 175-289 (2008) [BibTeX]

    Li, Y.; Vodacek, A.; Zhu, Y., An automatic statistical segmentation algorithm for extraction of fire and smoke regions, Remote Sensing of Environment, 108, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2006.10.023, pp. 171-178 (2007) [BibTeX]

    Ononye, A.E.; Vodacek, A.; Saber, E., Automated extraction of fire line parameters from multispectral infrared images., Remote Sensing of Environment, 108, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2006.09.029., pp. 179-188 (2006) [BibTeX]

    Li, Y.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Ononye, A.E., A hybrid contextual approach to wildland fire detection using multispectral imagery., IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 43, pp. 2115-2126 (2005) [BibTeX]

    Kremens, R.L.; Faulring, J.W.; Gallagher, A.J.; Seema, A.; Vodacek, A., Autonomous field-deployable wildland fire sensors., International Journal of Wildland Fire, 12, pp. 237-244 (2003) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Fordham, A.J.; VanGorden, S.C.; Luisi, D.; Schott, J.R.; Latham, D.J., Remote optical detection of biomass burning using a potassium emission signature., International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23, pp. 2721-2726 (2002) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A., Environmental applications of remote sensing., RIT Digital Media Library (2000) [BibTeX]

    D'Sa, E.J.; Steward, R.G.; Vodacek, A.; Blough, N.V.; Phinney, D., Optical absorption of seawater colored dissolved organic matter determined using a liquid capillary waveguide., Limnology and Oceanography, 44, pp. 1142-1148 (1999) [BibTeX]

    Bartlett, J.S.; Voss, K.J.; Sathyendranath, S.; Vodacek, A., Raman scattering by pure water and seawater., Applied Optics, 37, pp. 3324-3332 (1998) [BibTeX]

    Kaiwar, S.P.; Vodacek, A.; Blough, N.V.; Pilato, R.S., Protonation-state-dependent luminescence and excited-state electron-transfer reactions of 2- and 4-pyridine(-ium)-substituted metallo-1,2-enedithiolates., Journal of the American Chemical Society, 119, pp. 9211-9214 (1997) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; DeGrandpre, M.D.; Peltzer, E.T.; Nelson, R.K.; Blough, N.V., Seasonal variation of CDOM and DOC in the Middle Atlantic Bight: Terrestrial inputs and photooxidation., Limnology and Oceanography, 42, pp. 674-686 (1997) [BibTeX]

    Kaiwar, S.P.; Hsu, J.K.; Vodacek, A.; Yap, G.; Liable-Sands, L.M.; Rheingold, A.L.; Pilato, R.S., Metallo 2,3-disulfidothienoquinoxaline, 2,3-disulfidothienopyridine, and 2-sulfido-3-oxidothienoquinoxaline complexes: Synthesis and characterization, Inorganic Chemistry, 36, pp. 2406-2412 (1997) [BibTeX]

    Kaiwar, S.P.; Vodacek, A.; Blough, N.V.; Pilato, R.S., Excited state properties of quinoxaline-substituted platinum 1,2-enedithiolates., Journal of the American Chemical Society, 119, pp. 3311-3316 (1997) [BibTeX]

    DeGrandpre, M.D.; Vodacek, A.; Nelson, R.K.; Bruce, E.J.; Blough, N.V., Seasonal seawater optical properties of the U.S. Middle Atlantic Bight., Journal of Geophysical Research, 110, C10, pp. 22727-22736 (1996) [BibTeX]

    Hoge, F.E.; Williams, M.E.; Swift, R.N.; Yungel, J.K.; Vodacek, A., Progress toward global oceanic carbon assessment: satellite retrieval of the absorption coefficient of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in continental margins., Journal of Geophysical Research, 100, pp. 24847-24854 (1995) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Hoge, F.E.; Swift, R.N.; Yungel, J.K.; Peltzer, E.T.; Blough, N.V., The use of in situ and airborne fluorescence measurements to determine UV absorption coefficients and DOC concentrations in surface waters., Limnology and Oceanography, 40, pp. 411-415 (1995) [BibTeX]

    Hoge, F.E.; Vodacek, A.; Swift, R.N.; Yungel, J.K.; Blough, N.V., Inherent optical properties of the ocean: Retrieval of the absorption coefficient of chromophoric dissolved organic matter from airborne laser spectral fluorescence measurements., Applied Optics, 34, pp. 7032-7038 (1995) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Green, S.A.; Blough, N.V., An experimental model of the solar-stimulated fluorescence of chromophoric dissolved organic matter., Limnology and Oceanography, 39, pp. 1-11 (1994) [BibTeX]

    Hoge, F.E.; Swift, R.N.; Yungel, J.K.; Vodacek, A., Fluorescence of dissolved organic matter: a comparison of North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans during April 1991., Journal of Geophysical Research, 98, C12, pp. 22779-22787 (1993) [BibTeX]

    Hoge, F.E.; Vodacek, A.; Blough, N.V., Inherent optical properties of the ocean: Retrieval of the absorption coefficient of DOM from spectral fluorescence measurements., Limnology and Oceanography, 38, 7, pp. 1394-1402 (1993) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A., An explanation of the spectral variation in freshwater CDOM fluorescence., Limnology and Oceanography, 37, 8, pp. 1808-1813 (1992) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A., Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy of dissolved organic matter in surface waters: application to airborne remote sensing., Remote Sensing of Environment, 29, pp. 51-65 (1989) [BibTeX]

    Philpot, W.D.; Vodacek, A., Laser-induced fluorescence: Limits to the remote detection of hydrogen ion, aluminum, and dissolved organic matter., Remote Sensing of Environment, 29, 1, pp. 51-65 (1989) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Philpot, W.D., Environmental effects on laser-induced fluorescence spectra of natural waters., Remote Sensing of Environment, 21, 1, pp. 83-95 (1987) [BibTeX]


CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

    Vodacek, A.; Li, Y.; Garrett, A.J., Remote sensing data assimilation in environmental models, Proceedings of AIPR '08, IEEE, Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop, 2008, Washington, District of Columbia, United States, October (2008) [BibTeX]

    Beezley, J.D.; Chakraborty, S.; Coen, J.L.; Douglas, C.C.; Mandel, J.A.; Vodacek, A.; Wang, Z., Real-Time Data Driven Wildland Fire Modeling., Lecture Notes in Computer Science, International Conference on Computational Science, ICCS 2008, 5103, Krakow, Malopolskie, Poland, pp. 46-53 (2008) [BibTeX]

    Mandel, J.A.; Beezley, J.D.; Bennethum, L.S.; Chakraborty, S.; Coen, J.L.; Douglas, C.C.; Hatcher, J.; Kim, M.; Vodacek, A., A dynamic data driven wildland fire model, Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Computational Science, Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, International Conference on Computational Science - ICCS 2007, 4487, Beijing, Beijing, China, pp. 1042-1049 (2007) [BibTeX]

    Douglas, C.C.; Li, D.; Lodder, R.A.; Ewing, R.E.; Efendiev, Y.; Qin, G.; Coen, J.L.; Kritz, M.; Beezley, J.D.; Iskandarani, M.; Vodacek, A.; Haase, G., DDDAS approaches to wildland fire modeling., Proceedings of the First China-Japan-Korea-Joint Conference on Numerical Mathematics, Hokkaido University, First China-Japan-Korea-Joint Conference on Numerical Mathematics, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, pp. 23-26, August (2006) [BibTeX]

    Douglas, C.C.; Lodder, R.A.; Ewing, R.E.; Efendiev, Y.; Qin, G.; Coen, J.L.; Kritz, M.; Beezley, J.D.; Mandel, J.A.; Iskandarani, M.; Vodacek, A.; Haase, G., DDDAS Approaches to Wildland Fire Modeling and Contaminant Tracking., Proceedings of the 38th conference on Winter simulation, IEICE ESS, Winter Simulation Conference, Dynamic data driven application simulation: sensor/simulation fusion, ISBN:1-4244-0501-7, Monterey, California, United States, pp. 2117-2124 (2006) [BibTeX]

    Douglas, C.C.; Beezley, J.D.; Coen, J.L.; Li, D.; Li, W.; Mandel, A.K.; Mandel, J.A.; Qin, G.; Vodacek, A., Demonstrating the Validity of a Wildfire DDDAS, Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science, University of Reading, International Conference on Computational Science - ICCS 2006, 3993, doi:10.1007/11758532_69, Reading, England, United Kingdom, pp. 522-529 (2006) [BibTeX]

    Mandel, J.A.; Bennethum, L.S.; Chen, M.; Coen, J.L.; Douglas, C.C.; Franca, L.P.; Johns, C.J.; Kim, M.; Knyazev, A.V.; Kulkarni, V.; Qin, G.; Vodacek, A.; Wu, J.; Zhao, W.; Zornes, A., Towards a dynamic data driven application system for wildfire simulation., roceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science, Emory University, International Conference on Computational Science - ICCS 2005, 3515, doi:10.1007/11428848_82, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, pp. 632-639 (2005) [BibTeX]

    Raqueno, R.V.; Raqueno, N.G.; Weidemann, A.D.; Effler, S.W.; Perkins, M.G.; Vodacek, A.; Schott, J.R.; Philpot, W.D.; Kim, M., Megacollect 2004: hyperspectral collection experiment over the waters of the Rochester Embayment., Proceedings of the SPIE, SPIE Defense and Security, Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XI, Spectral Phenomenology and Collection Experiments, 5806, Orlando, Florida, United States, pp. 566-577 (2005) [BibTeX]

    Ononye, A.E.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L., Fire temperature retrieval using constrained spectral unmixing and emissivity estimation., SPIE, Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XI, 5806, pp. 352-360 (2005) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Ononye, A.E.; Faulring, J.W., Remote image and field data collection for a dynamic fire modeling system., Proc. 10th Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conference, Remote Sensing for Field Users, Salt Lake City, UT (2005) [BibTeX]

    Ononye, A.E.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L., Improved fire temperature estimation using constrained spectral unmixing., 10th Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conf., Remote Sensing for Field Users, Salt Lake City, UT (2005) [BibTeX]

    Li, Y.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Ononye, A.E., A hybrid contextual fire detection algorithm using MODIS Imagery., Proceedings of the 10th Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conference, USDA, 10th Biennial Forest Service Remote-Sensing Applications Conference, Remote Sensing for Field Users, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States (2005) [BibTeX]

    Wang, Z.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Ononye, A.E., Modeling wildland fire with DIRSIG., 10th Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conf., Remote Sensing for Field Users, Salt Lake City, UT (2005) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Ononye, A.E.; Wang, Z.; Li, Y., Automatic estimation of direction of propagation of fire from aerial imagery., Proc. 10th Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conf., Remote Sensing for Field Users, Salt Lake City, UT (2005) [BibTeX]

    Ononye, A.E.; Vodacek, A.; Li, Y.; Wang, Z., Mapping of active fire area by image gradient technique using multi-spectral imagery., Proc. 10th Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conf., Remote Sensing for Field Users, Salt Lake City, UT (2005) [BibTeX]

    Wang, Z.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Ononye, A.E., Modeling wildland fire with DIRSIG., Proceedings of the SPIE, SPIE Defense and Security, Visual Information Processing XIII, Poster Session, 5438, Orlando, Florida, United States, pp. 290-296, April (2004) [BibTeX]

    Mandel, J.A.; Chen, M.; Franca, L.P.; Johns, C.J.; Puhalskii, A.; Coen, J.L.; Douglas, C.C.; Kremens, R.L.; Vodacek, A.; Zhao, W., A Note on Dynamic Data Driven Wildfire Modeling., Computational Science - ICCS 2004, International Conference on Computational Science, ICCS 2004, 3038, Krakow, Malopolskie, Poland, pp. 725-731 (2004) [BibTeX]

    Li, Y.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Ononye, A.E., A new algorithm for global forest fire detection using multispectral images., Proceedings of the SPIE, SPIE AeroSense, Targets and Backgrounds IX: Characterization and Representation, Poster Session, 5075, Orlando, Florida, United States, pp. 367-377, April (2003) [BibTeX]

    Ononye, A.E.; Vodacek, A.; Kremens, R.L.; Li, Y.; Merritt, D., Empirical testing of subpixel detection of fire., Proceedings of the SPIE, SPIE AeroSense, Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery IX, Spectral Applications and Methodologies II, 5093, Orlando, Florida, United States, pp. 343-352, April (2003) [BibTeX]

    Raqueno, R.V.; Raqueno, N.G.; Fairbanks, R.; Schott, J.R.; Vodacek, A.; Hamel, J., Hyperspectral analysis tools for the multiparameter inversion of water quality factors in coastal regions., Proceedings of the SPIE, SPIE Annual Meeting, Imaging Spectrometry VI, Scene Phenomenology, 4132, San Diego, California, United States, pp. 323-333 (2000) [BibTeX]

    Fairbanks, R.; Schott, J.R.; Vodacek, A., The impact of clouds on SeaWiFS derived water quality., Proceedings of the IEEE, IEEE, International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 2000, 1, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, pp. 252-254 (2000) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Blough, N.V., Seasonal variation of CDOM in the Middle Atlantic Bight: terrestrial inputs and photooxidation., Proceedings of the SPIE, SPIE, Ocean Optics XIII, Optical Properties, 2963, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, pp. 132-137 (1997) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A., Observation of DOM composition by synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy, ISPRS, 5th International Colloquium on Physical Measurements and Signatures in Remote Sensing, 2, Courchevel, Centre, France, pp. 763-766 (1991) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Vertucci, F.A., The remote sensing of lake acidification using laser fluorosensing, ASPRS, 51st annual ASP meeting, 2, Washington, District of Columbia, United States, pp. 793-802 (1985) [BibTeX]

    Vodacek, A.; Philpot, W.D., Use of induced fluorescence measurements to assess aluminum- organic interactions in acidified lakes., ASPRS, 51st annual ASP meeting, 2, Washington, District of Columbia, United States, pp. 460-469 (1985) [BibTeX]


BOOK CHAPTERS

    Mandel, J.A.; Chen, M.; Coen, J.L.; Douglas, C.C.; Franca, L.P.; Johns, C.J.; Kremens, R.L.; Puhalskii, A.; Vodacek, A.; Zhao, W., Dynamic Data Driven Wildfire Modeling., Dynamic Data Driven Applications Systems, Frederica Darema, Kluwer, Amsterdam, Limburg, Netherlands (2007) [BibTeX]