| Brian Wardlow
Brian Wardlow earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Geography at the University of Kansas where he was a NASA Earth System Science (ESS) Graduate Research Fellow at the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS) Program. He received a Bachelor of Science in geography and geology from Northwest Missouri State University in May, 1994 and a Master’s of Arts from the Department of Geography at Kansas State University. While at Kansas State, he served a graduate teaching assistant for remote sensing courses and his thesis research focused on remote sensing of reservoir surface water quality using Landsat Thematic Mapper data. Prior to joining KARS in August 1999, Brian worked as a remote sensing scientist for the National Land Cover Characterization program at the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) EROS Data Center. His primary duties included land use/land cover (LULC) classification work in support of the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD 1992) and the training of NLCD-related staff at other USGS mapping centers. His current NASA ESS research involves the application of time-series Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250-meter data for regional scale mapping and monitoring of the U.S. Central Great Plains agro-ecosystem. The objective is to develop a MODIS-based crop mapping and monitoring protocol that provides detailed LULC information (i.e., crop type and relative crop condition) in a timely and cost efficient to support a variety of environmental modeling (e.g., carbon cycle, climate, and water quality), monitoring, and management activities. Data sets produced from this work include a hierarchical series of crop-related LULC classifications (general crop types – alfalfa, summer crops, winter wheat, and fallow; summer crop types – corn, sorghum, and soybeans), and irrigated/non-irrigated crops) and a suite of vegetation phenology metrics (VPMs) (e.g., greenup onset and length of growing season). The long-term objective of this work is to use this protocol to characterize cropping patterns each year, document major LULC changes (i.e., crop rotations), and monitoring intra- and inter-annual changes in crop conditions at a regional scale within the U.S. Central Great Plains. Brian has 10 years of applied research experience using remote sensing and GIS technology. His current research interests include: large area LULC characterization, LULC change detection, vegetation phenology and dynamics, geovisualization, impacts of human-environment interactions, plant/vegetation geography, and agricultural applications. Professional Papers and Reports Wardlow, B.D., J.H. Kastens, and S.L. Egbert, In Press. Using USDA crop progress data for the evaluation of greenup onset date calculated from MODIS 250-meter data. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. Wardlow, B.D. and S.L. Egbert, 2003. A State-Level Comparative Analysis of the GAP and NLCD Land-Cover Data Sets. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 69(12), pp. 1387-1397. (PDF) Proceedings and Other Publications State-Level Crop Mapping in the U.S. Central Great Plains Agroecosystem Using MODIS 250-Meter NDVI Data. Proceedings paper presented at PECORA 16, Sioux Falls, SD, October 23-27, 2005. (PDF) Crop Mapping in the U.S. Central Great Plains Region Using Time-Series MODIS 250 Meter NDVI Data. Poster presented at 30th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, Honolulu, HI, November 10-14, 2003. (2003_poster.pdf ) Discriminating Cropping Patterns for the U.S. Central Great Plains Region Using Time-Series MODIS 250-Meter NDVI Data. Proceedings paper presented at PECORA 15, Denver, CO, November 10-15, 2002. (PDF) MODIS 250-Meter Vegetation Index (VI) Database for Kansas. Fact Sheet. (PDF)Other Links of Interest |
