TILOTTAMA (TILO) GHOSH
Payne Institute Research Associate, Earth Observation Group

Tilottama (Tilo) Ghosh is currently a Research Associate with the Earth Observation Group at the Payne Institute for Public Policy. She completed her PhD in Geography from the University of Denver in March 2010. Her educational background and training in geography, demography, economics, remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have shaped her interests, career, and passion.

Her research interests include nighttime lights remote sensing, human geography,  sustainability science, and spatio-temporal research using remote sensing and GIS. She has over 12 years of experience working with low-light imaging data from the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which she has worked with since 2013.

Tilo is responsible for creating the nightly, monthly, and annual VIIRS nighttime lights (VNL) products, as well as two other flagship products: VIIRS Boat Detection (VBD) and VIIRS Night Fire (VNF). She also oversees the processing of DMSP monthly and annual cloud-free composites. Along with her team, she conceptualizes and tests processing algorithms, creates metadata to document data products, fulfills data requests related to nighttime lights and the DMSP archive, and provides training in the use and implementation of nighttime lights software for scientists and researchers. She documents DMSP and VIIRS algorithms and achievements through manuals, conference proceedings, and journal submissions.

In addition to her technical work, she conducts socio-economic research and develops analytical models using Earth Observation Group (EOG) nighttime products and official socio-economic data to estimate socio-economic indices at both global and local scales. Her research is published in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters.

Originally from Kolkata, India, Tilo currently lives in Boulder, Colorado. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, staying informed about global affairs, reading, hiking, traveling, and watching movies.

EDUCATION:
Ph.D., 2010, University of Denver, Geography
M.P.S., 2005, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India, Population Studies
M.S., 2003, Presidency College (University of Calcutta), Kolkata, India, Geography
B.S., 2001, Loreto College (University of Calcutta), Kolkata, India, Geography