David Allen has been working at NIST for over 20 years. Current research interests include advancing hyperspectral imaging for critical applications related to medicine, defense, and the environment. This effort encompasses the development of end-to-end analysis methodology that integrates standards and best practices for hyperspectral imager performance metrics. Recent work has focused on the collection of spectral signatures and the examination of their inherent variability. Earlier work included establishing, maintaining and improving national scales of reflectance and transmittance in the NIST spectrophotometry program.
He is a member of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), the Council for the Optical Radiation Measurements (CORM), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
He has been awarded the NIST Bronze Medal in 2011 and 2018, NASA Customer Service Excellence Award in 2002, Hood College Leah B. Allen Astronomy Award in 1996.