Salomonson Receives Nordberg Award for Outstanding Leadership for NASA's Earth Observing System

Dr. Vincent V. Salomonson, a senior scientist for NASA's Earth Science Directorate, is the 2002 recipient of the William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Sciences. The award was presented at the November 15 Scientific Colloquium during the William Nordberg Memorial Lecture presented by Eric G. Adelberger from the University Of Washington. Dr. Salomonson is the ninth recipient since the Goddard honor was first introduced in 1994.

Dr. Nordberg, who was the Director of Space Applications at Goddard, was a pioneer in using remote sensing to investigate the Earth and its environment. The William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science is presented annually to a Goddard employee "who best exhibits qualities of broad scientific perspective, enthusiastic programmatic and technical leadership on the national and international levels, wide recognition by peers, and substantial research accomplishments in understanding Earth science processes."

Dr. Salomonson's career has spanned 34 years of outstanding scientific and managerial achievements at Goddard. In addition to his position as a Senior Scientist for the Earth Sciences Directorate, Dr. Salomonson is also the Science Team Leader for the Earth Observing System's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (EOS/MODIS), a position he has held since the formation of the MODIS Science Team in 1989. As Team Leader, he has overseen all aspects of the MODIS sensor during the 18-year development process.