Tony A.

Cole
Oak Ridge Associated Universities/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Post-Masters Research Associate
1 Bethel Valley Rd.
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
tacole005@gmail.com
207-251-9632

Education

University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL

M.S. Earth System Science May 2016
GPA: 3.73
Thesis Research: Characterization of Nighttime Light Variability for Power Outage Detection

University of Southern Maine Portland, ME

B.A. Geography – Anthropology December 2013
Certificate in Applied Geographic Information Systems (GIS) August 2013
GPA: 3.42

Plymouth State University Plymouth, NH

GPA: 3.06 9/2009 – 5/2011

Employment

Oak Ridge Associated Universities/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, TN

Title: Post-Masters Research Associate 10/2016 - Present
Supervisor: Dr. Devin White (whiteda1@ornl.gov) (40 hours/week)

o Provided earth-observing system (EOS) satellite imagery expertise for the development of a global,
control imagery database for use in real-time operations.

University of Alabama in Huntsville/NASA SPoRT Center Huntsville, AL

Title: Research Associate I 5/2016 – 9/2016
Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Molthan (andrew.molthan@nasa.gov) (40 hours/week)

o Refined M.S. thesis document for publication in a science journal. Continued support of NASA
Disasters activities through the use of VIIRS DNB observations to identify and monitor illegal
fishing activities. Served as the in-house GIS/geospatial expert for team-wide spatial data and
mapping requests.

University of Alabama in Huntsville/NASA SPoRT Center Huntsville, AL

Title: Graduate Research Assistant 1/2014 – 5/2016
Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Molthan (andrew.molthan@nasa.gov) (20 hours/week)

o Assisted the Disaster Response Team at NASA’s Short-term Prediction Research and Transition
(SPoRT) Center by acquiring, processing and disseminating a variety of satellite images to partnering
National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices. Supported NASA ROSES-funded activities via
master’s thesis research using nighttime satellite imagery to detect power outages following severe
weather events. Generated publication-quality map documents, trained colleagues in the use of GIS
software and produced Python computer code, as needed.

NASA SERVIR Project Huntsville, AL

Title: ISERV Payload Support Specialist 5/2014 – 12/2014
Supervisor: Daniel Irwin (daniel.irwin@nasa.gov) (15-20 hours/week)
 o Remotely operated and sent commands to the ISS SERVIR Environmental Research and
Visualization System (ISERV) payload onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Earth-
observing telescopic camera system provided high resolution imagery to a variety of agencies
(USAID, IDC and NASA) for use in their daily operations. Created cartographic-quality map
documents to assess the impact of disaster events for publication to the SERVIR website.
Georeferenced ISERV imagery to provide improved geolocation accuracy for end users.

NASA SPoRT Center Huntsville, AL

Title: NASA Summer Internship (GIS) 6/2013 – 8/2013
Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Molthan (andrew.molthan@nasa.gov) (40 hours/week)

o Used GIS software to analyze MODIS, ASTER, and Landsat satellite imagery for visual
identification and manual digitization of tornado damage tracks using derived NDVI products.
o Digitized damage track characteristics (length and maximum width) were compared to official NWS
damage surveys to assess the feasibility of using satellite imagery to assist storm surveys during large
tornado outbreaks.

Muskie School of Public Service Portland, ME

Title: Student Research Assistant 9/2012 – 8/2013
Supervisor: Dr. Yuseung Kim (ykim@usm.maine.edu) (10-20 hours/week)

o Used GIS software to georeference cadastral and zoning maps on behalf of local towns in Maine for
storing planning information in a digital, geospatial environment. Following this effort, individual
parcels and zones were manually digitized and stored in a file geodatabase.

University of Southern Maine Gorham, ME

Title: Undergraduate Fellowship 6/2012 – 5/2013
Supervisor: Dr. Firooza Pavri (firooza.pavri@maine.edu) (10-20 hours/week)

o Used remote sensing and GIS software to analyze land use/cover change over multiple decades near
Sebago Lake, Maine in support of a NSF-funded project. Prepared and delivered cartographic map
documents to the City of Portland, Maine Water District, created posters for presentation at related
conferences, and organized/distributed a survey to Sebago Lake residents to assess public opinion on
local water resource use.

Selected Technical Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

GIS/Satellite Remote Sensing Analysis

o Data collection/conversion – expert
- Gathered and processed geospatial data, converted into appropriate formats for ingestion into
GIS environments.
o Satellite image classification – proficient
- Performed supervised, unsupervised and hybrid classifications on satellite images from a variety
of sensors.
o Satellite image processing – proficient
- Individually and batch-processed images to enhance features and generate derived products.
o Spatial & network analysis – expert
- Analyzed autocorrelation characteristics of spatial datasets and performed routing analyses on
vector road networks.
o Geocoding – expert
- Created and/or utilized excel spreadsheets containing addresses or lat/long information to
produce geospatial layers.
o Georeferencing – expert
- Used GIS software to position satellite images, aerial photographs and printed maps to their true
ground location using a reference basemap. Created and provided georeferencing training to
colleagues.
 o FGDC-compliant metadata creation – proficient
- Created FGDC-compliant metadata for geospatial datasets used within federally-funded projects.
o Map document creation and publication – expert
- Implemented cartographic standards to create and distribute presentation-quality map
documents for print and publication on the web.

Computer Programming
o Python – proficient
- Processed large volumes of satellite imagery for pixel-based statistical calculations, geographic
coordinate system transformations, feature detection and image manipulation. Experience
running scripts within ArcGIS or standalone using open source libraries (i.e. ogr, GDAL, etc.).
o IDL – beginner
- Performed image classification (supervised, unsupervised, hybrid) and radiometric enhancements
(histogram stretching, filtering, edge detection, etc.) on satellite imagery.
o Unix – proficient
- Utilized Unix/Putty environment for file and computer code management; acquired spatial data
via remote FTP connection.
o JavaScript – beginner
- Produced and customized web mapping applications; created and ran geoprocessing code in the
Google Earth Engine framework.

Geospatial Software
o ArcGIS for desktop 9.3 - 10.3 – expert
- Performed geospatial analyses including site selection, spatial autocorrelation, network analysis,
in addition to image georeferencing and manual feature digitization.
o Q-GIS – proficient
- Performed geospatial analyses using an open source GIS environment. Used additional plug-ins
to connect with web mapping services and export layer styling information for use online.
o Harris ENVI – proficient
- Performed satellite image processing, derived products from raw data, and enhanced images.
o Hexagon ERDAS Imagine 2011 – proficient
- Performed satellite image processing, derived products from raw data, and enhanced images.

Web Mapping
o PostgreSQL + PostGIS – beginner
- Imported and stored spatial data in an object-relational database. Utilized the PostGIS extension
to provide data to web mapping applications (i.e. Geoserver).
o Geoserver – proficient
- Stored and served spatial data (vector and raster) for publication via web mapping applications
(WMS, WFS, vector tiles, etc.).
o GeoWebCache – proficient
- Pre-built and cached raster tiles for serving to rapid-refresh web mapping services.
o OpenLayers – beginner
- Hosted dynamic maps on web pages with this open source library.
o TileMill – proficient
- Rendered self-generated raster map tiles for use in web mapping applications.

GPS
o Trimble GeoExplorer – GeoXT 6000 series – proficient
- Collected mapping-grade survey points.
o Trimble 5700 Dual Frequency Receiver (RTK Rover) – proficient
- Collected mapping-grade survey points.
o SpectraPrecision Geodimeter 608 Series Total Station – proficient
- Collected survey-grade data points.
o HP iPaq PDA with wireless GPS antennae – proficient
 - Used to collect mapping-grade survey points.

Microsoft Office Suite – expert

o Created word documents for paper publications, excel spreadsheets for statistical/spatial analysis and
PowerPoint presentations for conferences and internal meetings/external briefings.

Volunteer Experience

Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) Portland, ME

Title: GIS Analyst 2/2013 – 6/2013
Point of Contact: Ellen Grant (egrant@gmri.org) (10-15 hours/week)

o Volunteered to assist GMRI’s Ecosystem Design Project for visualizing geospatial information
related to Maine’s demographics and learning ecosystem. Responsible for converting educational data
into GIS-ready layers, collecting and assembling other relevant geospatial demographic data,
performing analysis on assembled data to identify unique educational regions of Maine, as well as
deliver reports and present findings to the Core Design Team, as appropriate.

Sadhana Forest Auroville, India

Title: Project Volunteer 1/2011 – 2/2011
Point of Contact: Steve Whitman (swwhitman@plymouth.edu) (30-40 hours/week)

o Volunteered on a reforestation project aimed at restoring water table levels, improving vegetation
growth, and increasing overall sustainable living knowledge within surrounding villages.

Select Publications/Presentations

Peer-Reviewed Publications:

Cole, T.A., D.W. Wanik, A.L. Molthan, M.O. Román, and R.E. Griffin (In Review), Synergistic Use of
Nighttime Satellite Data, Electric Utility Infrastructure, and Ambient Population to Improve Power
Outage Detections, Remote Sensing, TBD, TBD.

Molthan, A.L., J.R. Bell, T.A. Cole, and J.E. Burks (2014), Satellite-based identification of tornado damage
tracks from the 27 April 2011 severe weather outbreak, J. Oper. Meteorol., 2(16), 191–208.

Oral Presentation:

Cole, T.A., A.L. Molthan, and L.A. Schultz (2016), Characterization of Nighttime Light Variability
Over the Southeastern United States, in 96th Annual AMS Meeting, p. 1, New Orleans, LA.

Schultz, L.A., K. Angle, T.A. Cole, K. Skow, J.R. Bell, A.L. Molthan, J.E. Burks, and K.M. McGrath (2016),
Applications of Satellite Imagery Applications to Assist in Storm Damage Assessment, in 96th Annual
AMS Meeting, p. 1, New Orleans, LA.

Poster Presentation:

Cole, T.A., A.L. Molthan, and L.A. Schultz (2015), Characterization of Nighttime Light Variability Over the
Southeastern United States, in American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, p. 1, San Francisco, CA.

Cole, T.A. (2015), Detection of Power Outages and Recovery Following Natural Disasters: The Chilean
Earthquake of 1 April 2014, in University of Alabama in Huntsville Research Horizons Day Poster Competition,
p. 1, Huntsville, AL.
Cole, T.A., A.L. Molthan, J.E. Burks, and J.R. Bell (2014b), Using Satellite Imagery to Identify Tornado
Damage Tracks and Recovery from the 27 April 2011 Severe Weather Outbreak, in 94th American
Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting, p. 1, Atlanta, GA.

Cole, T.A., and Y. Kim (2013), Relationship Between Residential Land Price and Accessibility in Cumberland
County, Maine, in University of Southern Maine Thinking Matters Conference, p. 1, Portland, ME.

Awards

NASA Group Achievement Award: Nepal Earthquake Disaster Response Team 7/2016
UAH Research Horizons Day Poster Competition: 2nd Place Poster 4/2015
NASA Group Achievement Award: SPoRT Disasters Team 8/2014

Extracurricular Activities

University of Alabama in Huntsville: Earth System Science Association Member 1/2014 – 05/2016
Plymouth State University Geography Club Member 9/2011 – 5/2012
o Assisted in organizing and participating in Trail Clean-Up Day.
o Organized PSU alumni working in the geospatial field to present their experiences to current
students.

Professional Memberships

American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ASPRS) 12/2016 - Present
American Geophysical Union, Student Member 12/2015 – Present