He also served as vice president of the International Astronomical Union.

He was elected President of the volcanology section of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) for the period 1919–1922.

He discovered Ricco's Law, an important principle of vision science.

Ricco was also awarded the Janssen Medal in 1906 by the French Academy of Sciences for his work in astrophysics.

He was also awarded the Prix Jules Janssen of the Société astronomique de France (French Astronomical Society) in 1914.