Hampapuram Ramapriyan

Dr. H. K. “Rama” Ramapriyan is a Research Scientist and Subject Matter Expert at Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI). In this role he continues some of his earlier work at NASA related to Earth science data and information systems, focusing on data stewardship, preservation, provenance and information quality. Before joining SSAI in September 2014, he served as the Assistant Project Manager of the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He has extensive managerial and technical experience in science data systems development, image processing, remote sensing, parallel processing, algorithm development, science data processing, archiving and distribution. The ESDIS Project develops and operates the Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS) in support of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The ESDIS Project has been instrumental in establishing, as a part of EOSDIS, a set of 12 Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) across the US that manage NASA’s Earth science data and provide convenient access to tens of petabytes of data in various disciplines. Dr. Ramapriyan’s responsibilities in the Project ranged from supervising a group of technical professionals in the design and implementation of EOSDIS and managing the early development and operation of the DAACs to providing a customer focus by interfacing with the scientific customer community to understand their requirements and assuring that the system development accommodates their requirements. He was involved in the study of the evolution of EOSDIS for the future decade and its implementation. His most recent focus is on data preservation and stewardship. He developed NASA’s Earth Science Data Preservation Content Specification and is currently leading an international team developing a standard (ISO 19165-2) titled Geographic information -- Preservation of digital data and metadata -- Part 2: Content specifications for Earth observation data and derived digital products. Dr. Ramapriyan is an active member of the U.S. Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Data Stewardship Committee (DSC) and the ESIP Information Quality Cluster (IQC). He chaired the IQC during 2015-2019. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union and a Senior Member of the IEEE. During 2005-2009 he was the Co-Chair of the Data Archive and Distribution Technical Committee (DAD TC) of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS). During 2009-2013, he chaired the DAD TC. During 2014-2017 he was a Distinguished Lecturer of the GRSS.