Areas Grant Petty is Knowledgeable in:
Satellite image processing, atmospheric radiative transfer, remote sensing algorithms, atmospheric physical processes. Principal component analysis and dimensional reduction of high-dimensional observational datasets. Physical and empirical estimation techniques, including optimal estimation; measurement theory. Principles of stereophotogrammetry.
Techniques Grant Petty Uses:
Ad hoc, heuristic, intuitive, experimental, and/or numerical simulation.
Grant Petty's Problem Solving Skills:
- radiative transfer
- meteorological measurements
- satellite image analysis
- meteorology
- textbook author
- textbook publishing
- LaTeX
- optimal estimation
- data analysis
- scientific programming (C, Fortran, Python)
- photography
- commercial UAV/drone pilot
- private pilot
- atmospheric physics
- technical writing
- remote sensing
- electromagnetic scattering
- statistical analysis
- UAV/drone construction
- reviewer of journal articles and science proposals
- basic electronics
Grant Petty's Problem Solving Experience:
- I developed a novel unsupervised classification algorithm based on pairwise similarities among the members of a multidimensional data set.
- In the era before terabyte-sized hard disk drives, I developed a C-language program for treating an open-ended collection of sequential magnetic tapes as a virtual random-access storage device.
- I wrote a Python program for automating the creation and management of invoices for online book orders.
- I built a 2.6m autonomous fixed-wing drone for making meteorological measurements.
- I developed a new technique for estimating rainfall from satellite multifrequency microwave observations of the global atmosphere and published results showing that it performs significantly better than the then-standard algorithm.
- I developed a theoretical concept for measuring the mass of falling precipitation particles using soft x-rays.
- I started an independent textbook publishing business that currently ships well over 1,000 books per year, including two of my own titles and three titles by other authors.
- I built and fly a manned ultralight airplane for use in meteorological research.
- I published a paper presenting the first calculations of scattering of microwave energy from realistic aggregated snowflakes.
- I developed a method for measuring above-surface winds by photogrammetrically tracking balloons with pro-sumer grade cameras.
- As a graduate student, I wrote a 10,000+ line C custom program for interactive display and analysis of satellite microwave images.
- For my Ph.D. dissertation, I developed a self-contained parametric model for the response of a particular satellite microwave radiometer to atmospheric state.