Weblog: Dr. Jon Ranson in Siberia
 

Biographies

Dr. Jon Ranson has experience with using optical and radar remote sensing for characterizing vegetation cover and biomass. In addition, he has led the Forest Ecosystem Dynamics and the Siberian Mapping Projects at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for the past several years, working on remote-sensing data fusion and ecosystem characterization. He is the Primary Investigator of a project to utilize various types of satellite data (GLAS, MODIS and MISR) for mapping forest type and biomass in central Siberia and along the circumpolar tundra–forest interface. In the past he has twice served as acting Program Manager at NASA Headquarters and most recently was the Terra Project Scientist. He also serves as the Head of NASA GSFC’s Biospheric Sciences Branch, which is advancing the use of satellite technology to study the carbon cycle and ecosystem science. Dr. Ranson enjoys music and outdoor activities including hiking, birding, fishing, and camping out in the wilderness.

 
  Photograph of Dr. Jon Ranson on a boat
 

Dr. Guoqing Sun is an Associate Research Professor at University of Maryland-College Park who is also affiliated with NASA GSFC’s Biospheric Sciences Branch. He is an expert in satellite data processing and analysis, remote-sensing modeling, land cover–land use change, and GIS. His specialty is developing and using remote-sensing models for forest canopies and sensor data fusion (lidar, radar, and passive optical sensors). Dr. Sun has contributed to several NASA projects dealing with land cover mapping in northeast China and has collaborated on NASA GSFC Siberian research projects. He was also a Primary Investigator for a Shuttle Radar Topographic Mapping project in Siberia.

Dr. Slava Kharuk, a forest ecologist, is the Head of the Biological Laboratory of the Sukachev Institute of Forest in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. He has collaborated on several NASA-supported projects including projects in Maine, Canada, and Siberia with Dr. Ranson and other NASA and USDA Forest Service scientists over the past several years. Dr. Kharuk leads the field and remote-sensing data activities at the Sukachev Institute and collaborates in data analysis research at NASA GSFC.

 

Dr. Jon Ranson

  Photograph of Dr. Slava Kharuk
 
 

Dr. Slava Kharuk