THOMAS R. JORDAN
Associate Director
Center for Remote Sensing and
Mapping Science 
Department of Geography
The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-2502
Tel: 706-542-2372 Fax: 706-542-2388
tombob@uga.edu
Education
B.S. University of Georgia, Athens, GA 1979, Geography (Cartography
and photogrammetry)
M.A. University of Georgia, 1981, Geography (Analytical photogrammetry and Remote Sensing)
Ph.D. University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 2002, Geography (Digital photogrammetry, GIS,
remote sensing)
Biographical Sketch
Tommy Jordan is Associate Director of the Center for Remote Sensing and Mapping Science, The University of Georgia (UGA). He received his B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Geography, with concentrations in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at UGA in 1979, 1981 and 2002, respectively. He is an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist and Certified Mapping Scientist-GIS/LIS.
In 1982, he received the Sigma Xi Research Award for the outstanding Master's Thesis in Science at The University of Georgia for his thesis entitled, "Close Range Non-Metric Photogrammetry for Monitoring Stream Channel Erosion." His dissertation was titled "Softcopy Photogrammetric Techniques for Mapping Mountainous Terrain: Great Smoky Mountains National Park."
At CRMS, Tommy is responsible for overall project management, remote sensing, photogrammetric and GPS operations, training, as well as the maintenance and operation of the CRMS computer systems and networks. His primary interests these days are aerotriangulation, the development of digital orthophotos from digital image data, including scanned aerial photographs and various types of satellite images and automated production of DEMs using stereocorrelation techniques. In the Geography Department, Tommy teaches GEOG 4350/6350: Remote Sensing of Environment, GEOG 8350: Advanced Remote Sensing with GIS and GEOG 4470/6470: Analysis in GIS, as well as serving on PhD and MAster's committees and advising students.
He has been involved with projects which integrate softcopy photogrammetry, remote sensing, image processing and geographic information system technologies for a wide variety of applications. Some of these projects have included mapping vegetation in Natinoal Parks in southeastern United States, the development of a photogrammetric method for measuring ephemeral gully erosion, assessment of the geometric quality of Landsat and SPOT satellite image data, merging of multisensor datasets for studying tropical deforestation and modeling the hydrology of large watersheds for the quantification of non-point source pollution.
In addition to these activities, he is project manager for a number of commercially available software programs for mapping and image processing, including Desktop Mapping System (DMS), Flight Planner, and the Capture Digitizing Package. He is a frequent speaker on topics in softcopy photogrammetry and mapping techniques at national and international conferences and is a primary instructor for CRMS-sponsored short courses.
Dr. Jordan is a member of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Secretary of Working Group IV/6 of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.
He lives in Athens, Georgia with his wife, Mary, 2 boys, Charles and Ben, Henry the Miniature Schnauser and Corky the Cockatiel.
Tommy has been playing guitar solo and in bands for about 40 years in many different styles. He is currently learning to play in the flatpicking style and plays with a bluegrass/old time band called String Theory which is based in Athens, GA.
He also collects musical instruments and currently has 26 or so different ones, including acoustic and electric guitars (his primary love), mandolin, old time banjo (the new passion), acoustic and electric bass, trumpets, clarinet, flutes conventional and Irish), recorders, alto and tenor saxes, trombone, bugle (for scouts), penny whistles, piano, etc. The main problem is which one to pick up and play during the 5 free minutes he has each day (the guitar, mandolin or banjo usually wins the contest).
