Papers
6
Total Citations
129
H-Index
4
About
Kevin Turpie is a remote sensing scientist whose work sits at the intersection of satellite calibration, ocean color science, and radiometric measurement — fields critical to understanding Earth's changing environment from space. He has made significant contributions to the calibration of NASA's Suomi NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), helping develop rigorous methods using solar diffuser measurements and lunar observations to ensure the instrument's reliability for ocean color applications — work that has garnered 65 citations and underpins global marine monitoring efforts. Turpie is perhaps best known for championing the Moon as a climate-quality radiometric calibration reference, a concept detailed in his 2020 paper with 48 citations, which has helped establish lunar calibration as a credible standard for long-term satellite sensor stability. Central to this effort is his leadership on the air-LUSI project — an innovative autonomous telescope system deployed aboard NASA's ER-2 high-altitude aircraft to capture SI-traceable lunar spectral irradiance measurements at 70,000 feet. This ongoing engineering achievement bridges laboratory-grade metrology with operational satellite calibration, directly addressing the challenge of sensor degradation in Earth-observing systems monitoring climate change over decades.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2The Moon as a Climate-Quality Radiometric Calibration Reference48 citations · 2020
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- 4Air-LUSI: A robotic telescope design for lunar spectral measurements6 citations · 2020
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