Roy A. Armstrong, Ph.D.
Department of Marine Sciences
University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 00681-9013
Email: roy@cacique.uprm.edu

Phone: (787) 899-6875 Fax (787) 899-2630

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Marine Sciences (1990) Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
M.S. Marine Sciences (1982) Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico
B.A. Biology (1976) Biology Department, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

AWARDS

1994-1996 Ames Associate, NASA Ames Research Center Associate Program
1993 NASA/Ames Contractor Certificate of Excellence
1990-1992 Research Associateship, National Research Council
1986-1988 Research Fellowship, NASA's Graduate Student Researchers Program
1984 Research Fellowship, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
1984 NASA Planetary Biology Internship Award

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

June 1999 to Present Associate Professor, University of Puerto Rico
August 1996 to May 1999 Assistant Professor, University of Puerto Rico
July 1994 to July 1996 Researcher, University of Puerto Rico
July 1992 to June 1994 Research Scientist, Johnson Controls World Services, Inc.
July 1990 to July 1992 Postdoctoral Fellow, National Research Council and NASA Ames Research Center
January 1986 to December 1989 Research Associate, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (Out of 52)

Gilbes, F., R.A. Armstrong, R. Webb, and F. Muller-Karger. In press. SeaWiFS helps to monitor the impact of hurricanes in the Caribbean region. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union.
Detrés, Y., R.A. Armstrong, and X. Connelly. In press. Ultraviolet-induced responses in two species of climax tropical marine macrophytes. J. of Photochemistry and Photobiology.

Armstrong, R.A., F. Gilbes, R. Guerrero, C. Lasta, and H. Miazán. In review. Validation of SeaWiFS chlorophyll algorithm for the Rio de la Plata Estuary and adjacent waters. Intl. J. of Remote Sensing .

Gilbes, F. and R.A. Armstrong. In review. Phytoplankton dynamics in the eastern Caribbean Sea as detected by space remote sensing. Intl. J. of Remote Sensing.

Armstrong, R.A., J. Lopez, and F. Gilbes. 2000. Apparent optical properties at the Caribbean Time Series Station. Ocean Optics XV - CDROM Publication.

Gilbes, F., and R.A. Armstrong. 2000. Inherent optical properties at the Caribbean Time Series Station (CaTS). Ocean Optics XV - CDROM Publication.

Corredor, J., A.W. Bruckner, F. Muszynski, R.A. Armstrong, and J.M. Morell. 2000. UV-absorbing compounds in three species of Caribbean zooxanthellate corals: depth distribution and spectral response. Bulletin of Marine Science 67:821-830.

Navarro, A., J. Corredor, J. Morell, and R.A. Armstrong. 2000. Distribution of the cyanophyte Trichodesmium in the Eastern Caribbean Sea: Influence of the Orinoco River. Intl. J. of Tropical Biology 48(1).

Sastre, M., and R. A. Armstrong. 2000. SeaWiFS Estimates of Ocean Primary Productivity in the Caribbean Sea. Proceedings, NASA University Research Conference, April 7-10, Nashville, Tennessee.

Armstrong, R.A. 1999. Mesoscale Effects of the Orinoco River Plume. Astrobiology: El Niño and South American Ecosystems, INIDEP, Mar del Plata, April 7-9.

Muszynski, F., A. Bruckner, R.A. Armstrong, J.M. Morell, and J.E. Corredor. 1998. Within-colony variations of UV absorption in a reef building coral. Bull. Mar. Sci., 63(3): 589-594.

Armstrong, R.A. 1997. Hyperspectral remote sensing of phytoplankton pigments in the eastern Caribbean. Proceedings, Fourth International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments, Orlando, Florida, 17-19 March.

Stoner, A.W., P.A. Pitts, and R.A. Armstrong. 1996. The interaction of physical and biological factors in the large-scale distribution of queen conch populations in seagrass meadows. Bull. Mar. Sci., 58(1):217-233

Armstrong, R.A. 1994. Oceanic fronts in the northeastern Caribbean revealed by satellite ocean color imaging. International Journal of Remote Sensing 15(6):1169-1171

Armstrong, R.A. 1993. Remote sensing of submerged vegetation canopies for biomass estimation. International Journal of Remote Sensing 14(3):621-627.

Abstract

Remote Sensing Research and Digital Archives at the University of Puerto Rico

Roy A. Armstrong and Fernando Gilbes

The Space Information Laboratory (SIL) of the Tropical Center for Earth and Space Studies of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez has been collecting and processing satellite data since December of 1996. Satellite data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) are acquired using a TeraScan High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) receiving system from SeaSpace Corp., which schedules, acquires, and processes data from NOAA-12, NOAA-14, and Orbview-2 satellites. The HRPT station, which consists of a 1.2 m diameter parabolic antenna enclosed in a dome, receives data from the Mid-Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico and from Brazil to Northeastern United States.

AVHRR images are processed with TeraScan software and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is derived and posted near real-time at http://sil.uprm.edu/images.htm. The SeaWiFS data show that in the fall Orinoco River intrusions in the eastern Caribbean and strong coastal upwelling in Venezuela during winter-spring play an important role in phytoplankton fertilization in this region. SeaWiFS and hydrological data are also combined to evaluate the impact of hurricanes on phytoplankton distribution in the Caribbean Sea. A 5-meter X-Band antenna that receives RADARSAT and Landsat-7 data is also operated by SIL. In the near future this antenna system will be upgraded to receive MODIS sensor data from the Terra satellite. Since some of these image files could be hundreds of megabytes in size, a high-performance network, such as AMPATH will make possible the rapid dissemination of data to all our users and collaborators throughout the U.S. and Latin America.