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Bill Pichel

Satellite Oceanography & Climatology Division

Marine Ecosystems and Climate Branch
Research Scientist

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William G. Pichel

Education: M.S. Physical Oceanography, University of Hawaii, 1979 (Thesis Chairman: Dr. Klaus Wyrtki); B.S. Physics (with honors) University of Florida, 1969.

Experience: Mr. Pichel's career with NOAA began in 1970 when he joined the NOAA Commissioned Corps and served aboard the NOAA Ship Researcher attaining the rank of Lieutenant and serving as Computer Officer. He has been an employee of NESDIS since 1973. He has been Product Area Leader for Oceanographic Products (1973-1985), Chief of the Product Systems Branch (1985-1988), and then since 1988 has been a research scientist in the ORA/ORAD. His primary research interests have been in improving satellite sea surface temperature measurements and in ocean applications of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. He served as PI on ERS-1 and RADARSAT-1 SAR projects, and Co-I on an ERS-2 SAR project. He is now PI on ENVISAT, ALOS, and RADARSAT-1 projects, all related to demonstrations of coastal ocean applications of SAR data. Currently the focus of his SAR work is the Alaska SAR Demonstration and the Gulf of Mexico Experiment which are near real-time and retrospective demonstrations of practical SAR applications (high-resolution surface winds for safety of life and property, vessel positions for fisheries management and enforcement, river ice spring breakup monitoring for hazard warnings, sea ice imagery for ice forecasts, oil spill mapping, and river plume monitoring). He has received four Dept. of Commerce Bronze Medals (2002, 1999, 1997, 1993) for his work in developing ocean requirements, for the Alaska SAR Demonstration, for implementing a system for operational use of RADARSAT SAR, and for CoastWatch sea surface temperature product development and implementation. In 2004 he received the Dept. of Commerce Silver Medal for his work on convergence zone monitoring with satellite data in support of marine debris detection.

Most Recent Publications

Monaldo, F., V. Kerbaol and the SAR Wind Team*, 2004, The SAR measurement of ocean surface winds: an overview, Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Coastal and Marine Applications of Synthetic Aperture Radar, 8-12 September, 2003, Svalbard, Norway, SP-565, European Space Agency, June 2004, 15-32.

SAR Wind Team: Pablo Clemente-Colón, Birgitte Furevik, Jochen Horstmann, Johnny Johannessen, Xiaofeng Li, William Pichel, Todd Sikora, Donald Thompson, and Christopher Wackerman.

Pichel, W. P., P. Clemente-Colón, C. Bertoia, M. Van Woert, C. Wackerman, F. Monaldo, D. Thompson, K. Friedman, and X. Li, 2004, Routine production of SAR-derived ice and ocean products in the United States, Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Coastal and Marine Applications of SAR, 8-12 September 2003, Svalbard, Norway, SP-565, June 2004, 175-182.

Pichel, W., P. Clemente-Colón, C. Wackerman, and K. Friedman, 2004, Ship and wake detection, Synthetic Aperture Radar Marine User's Manual (Christopher Jackson and John Apel, eds.), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 277-303.

Pichel, W., K Friedman, P. Clemente-Colón, F. Monaldo, C. Wackerman, and X. Li, 2004, Status of operational demonstration of CoastWatch coastal oceanographic and hydrologic applications of ENVISAT ASAR imagery, Proceedings of 2004 Envisat & ERS Symposium, 6-10 September 2004, Salzburg, Austria SP-572, 6 pp.

Wackerman, C., W. Pichel, and P. Clemente-Colón, Automated Location of Ice Regions in RADARSAT SAR Imagery, 2004, Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Coastal and Marine Applications of SAR, 8-12 September 2003, Svalbard, Norway, SP-565, European Space Agency, June 2004, 169-174.

Wackerman, C., W. Pichel, and P. Clemente-Colón, 2004, A projection method for automated estimation of wind vectors with RADARSAT SAR imagery, Proceedings of the 2 nd Workshop on Coastal and Marine Applications of SAR, 8-12 September 2003, Svalbard, Norway, SP-565, European Space Agency, June 2004, 55-60.

Wackerman, C. and P. Clemente-Colón, 2004, Wave refraction, breaking, and other near-shore processes, Synthetic Aperture Radar Marine User's Manual (Christopher Jackson and John Apel, eds.), U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 171-187.

E-mail to: William.G.Pichel@noaa.gov