Dr. Joseph Shaw (Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Director of the Optical Technology Center, MSU)

10/05/2023  3:10pm

Abstract:  At the Montana State University Optical Remote Sensor Laboratory, we design, calibrate, and deploy optical remote sensing instruments for studying the natural Earth environment. This includes both active sensors, such as LiDARs that infer information about the environment from scattered laser light, and passive sensors, such as spectral imagers and polarization imagers that infer information about the environment from scattered sunlight or thermal emission. Much of our research is in the realm of climate science and weather research. For example, we are developing polarization-sensitive imaging systems for distinguishing between liquid water and ice clouds in the atmosphere. This information is fundamental to climate science, but it also may help identify conditions airplanes do or do not need to be delayed for deicing. Another area of growing activity is river and lake ecology. For example, we have developed methods using drone-based imaging systems to map algae blooms and estimate the water quality from the algae spectral signature. This talk will describe these examples amid a broader context of the remote sensing research that we conduct from the Arctic to the Tropics.