Sciences and Exploration Directorate

J Bryan Blair

(AST, EARTH SCIENCES REMOTE SENSING)

J Bryan Blair's Contact Card & Information.
Email: james.b.blair@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.614.6741
Org Code: 61A
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 610.9
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Missions & Projects

Positions/Employment


Computer Hardware/Software Engineer

Science Systemas and Applications, Inc (SSAI) - Seabrook, MD (as full-time on-site contractor at NASA GSFC)

1989 - 1991


Remote Sensing Instrument Scientist & Instrument Lead Engineer

Laser Remote Sensing Laboratory & Geodesy and Geophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

1991 - Present

Awards


2018     Moe I. Schneebaum Memorial Award for Engineering (NASA GSFC).

2017     National Science Foundation Antarctic Service Medal.

2011     NASA GSFC Exceptional Achievement Award for Engineering.

NASA Group Achievement Awards:  GEDI Proposal Team (2015); ARISE Science Mission Team (2015); Operation IceBridge Team (2011); Land Vegetation and Ice  Sensor (LVIS) Team (2007); HOMER Laser Development Team (2007); Mars Global Surveyor Payload Development Team (1997); Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Development Team (MOLA-2) (1996); STS-77 Payloads Teams (1996); LITE Aircraft Instrument Team (1995); Shuttle Laser Altimeter (SLA) Development Team (1995); Mars Observer Payload Development Team (1993); Mars Observer Laser Altimeter Team (MOLA) (1991); GLOBE Instrument Team (1990).

Publications


Refereed

2022. "GEDI launches a new era of biomass inference from space." Environmental Research Letters 17 (9): 095001 [10.1088/1748-9326/ac8694] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Aboveground biomass density models for NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar mission." Remote Sensing of Environment 270 112845 [10.1016/j.rse.2021.112845] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "The scientific legacy of NASA's Operation IceBridge." Reviews of Geophysics (59): e2020RG000712 [10.1029/2020rg000712] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Mapping global forest canopy height through integration of GEDI and Landsat data." Remote Sensing of Environment 253 112165 [10.1016/j.rse.2020.112165] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation: High-resolution laser ranging of the Earth’s forests and topography." Science of Remote Sensing 1 100002 [10.1016/j.srs.2020.100002] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Chronosequence predictions are robust in a Neotropical secondary forest, but plots miss the mark." Global Change Biology 24 (3): 933-943 [10.1111/gcb.14036] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "The 2016 NASA AfriSAR campaign: Airborne SAR and Lidar measurements of tropical forest structure and biomass in support of future satellite missions." 2017 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 4286-4287 [10.1109/igarss.2017.8127949] [Proceedings]

2017. "Canopy height and structure measurements of Gabon from medium-footprint waveform lidar." 2017 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 4294-4295 [10.1109/igarss.2017.8127952] [Proceedings]

2017. "Arctic Radiation-IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment (ARISE): The Arctic Radiant Energy System During the Critical Seasonal Ice Transition." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 98 (7): 1399-1426 [10.1175/bams-d-14-00277.1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Estimation of ICESat intercampaign elevation biases from comparison of lidar data in East Antarctica." Geophysical Research Letters 40 (21): 5698-5703 [10.1002/2013gl057652] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Characterization of Canopy Layering in Forested Ecosystems Using Full Waveform Lidar." Remote Sensing 5 (4): 2014-2036 [10.3390/rs5042014] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Evaluating Prospects for Improved Forest Parameter Retrieval From Satellite LiDAR Using a Physically-Based Radiative Transfer Model." IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Observations Remote Sensing 6 (1): 45-53 [10.1109/jstars.2013.2244199] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Retrieval of vertical LAI profiles over tropical rain forests using waveform lidar at La Selva, Costa Rica." Remote Sensing of Environment 124 242-250 [10.1016/j.rse.2012.05.005] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Forest Canopy Cover and Height From MISR in Topographically Complex Southwestern US Landscapes Assessed With High Quality Reference Data." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 5 (1): 44-58 [10.1109/jstars.2012.2184270] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Characterizing 3D vegetation structure from space: Mission requirements." Remote Sensing of Environment 115 (11): 2753-2775 [10.1016/j.rse.2011.01.024] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Mapping biomass and stress in the Sierra Nevada using lidar and hyperspectral data fusion." Remote Sensing of Environment 115 (11): 2917-2930 [10.1016/j.rse.2010.08.027] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Three-dimensional range imaging apparatus and method." U.S. Patent No. 7,978,312 B2 [Full Text] [Other]

2011. "Retrieval of canopy height using moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data." Remote Sensing of Environment 115 (6): 1595-1601 [10.1016/j.rse.2011.02.010] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Use of waveform lidar and hyperspectral sensors to assess selected spatial and structural patterns associated with recent and repeat disturbance and the abundance of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) in a temperate mixed hardwood and conifer forest." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 5 (1): 053504 [10.1117/1.3554639] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Solid Earth Applications of DESDynI Lidar." Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Honolulu, Hawaii, 25-30 July, 2010 [10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5652368] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "DESDynI lidar for solid earth applications." 2010 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium [10.1109/igarss.2010.5652368] [Proceedings]

2010. "Estimation of tropical forest height and biomass dynamics using lidar remote sensing at La Selva, Costa Rica." Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 115 (G2): [10.1029/2009jg000933] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Assessing the Performance of 20-25m Footprint Waveform Lidar data Collected in ICESat Data Corridors in Greenland." Geophysical Research Letters 35 (24): [10.1029/2008GL035774] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Integrating waveform lidar with hyperspectral imagery for inventory of a northern temperate forest." Remote Sensing of Environment 112 (4): 1856-1870 [10.1016/j.rse.2007.09.009] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Forest vertical structure from GLAS: An evaluation using LVIS and SRTM data." Remote Sens Environ 112 (1): 107-117 [10.1016/j.rse.2006.09.036] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Forest canopy recovery from the 1938 hurricane and subsequent salvage damage measured with airborne LiDAR." Remote Sensing of Environment 109 (2): 142-153 [10.1016/j.rse.2006.12.016] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Comparison of SRTM-NED data to LIDAR derived canopy metrics." 2007 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium [10.1109/igarss.2007.4423431] [Proceedings]

2006. "Mapping forest structure for wildlife habitat analysis using multi-sensor (LiDAR, SAR/InSAR, ETM+, Quickbird) synergy." Remote Sensing of Environment 102 (1-2): 63-73 [10.1016/j.rse.2006.01.021] [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "Validation of SRTM Elevations Over Vegetated and Non-vegetated Terrain Using Medium Footprint Lidar." Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing 72 (3): 279-285 [10.14358/pers.72.3.279] [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "Predicting lidar measured forest vertical structure from multi-angle spectral data." Remote Sens Environ 100 503-511 [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "The use of waveform lidar to measure northern temperate mixed conifer and deciduous forest structure in New Hampshire." Remote Sensing of Environment 105 (3): 248-261 [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "Mapping forest structure for wildlife habitat analysis using waveform lidar: Validation of montane ecosystems." Remote Sensing of Environment 96 (3-4): 427-437 [Journal Article/Letter]

2002. "Introduction to Special Issue on Laser Altimetry." Journal of Geodynamics 34 (3-4): 343-345 [10.1016/S0264-3707(02)00091-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2002. "Validation of Vegetation Canopy Lidar sub-canopy topography measurements for a dense tropical forest." Journal of Geodynamics 34 (3-4): 491-502 [10.1016/s0264-3707(02)00046-7] [Journal Article/Letter]

2002. "Laser altimeter return pulse correlation: a method for detecting surface topographic change." Journal of Geodynamics 34 (3-4): 477-489 [10.1016/s0264-3707(02)00043-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2002. "Sensitivity of large-footprint lidar to canopy structure and biomass in a neotropical rainforest." Remote Sensing of Environment 81 (2-3): 378-392 [10.1016/s0034-4257(02)00013-5] [Journal Article/Letter]

2002. "Estimation of tropical forest structural characteristics using large-footprint lidar." Remote Sensing of Environment 79 (2-3): 305-319 [10.1016/s0034-4257(01)00281-4] [Journal Article/Letter]

2001. "Laser altimeter canopy height profiles: methods and validation for closed-canopy, broadleaf forests." Remote Sensing of Environment 76 (3): 283-297 [10.1016/s0034-4257(00)00210-8] [Journal Article/Letter]

2001. "Laser altimeter canopy height profiles: Methods and validation for deciduous, broadleaf forests." Rem Sens Environ 76 283-297 [10.1016/S0034-4257(00)00210-8] [Journal Article/Letter]

2000. "Decomposition of laser altimeter waveforms." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 38 (4): 1989-1996 [10.1109/36.851780] [Journal Article/Letter]

2000. "Volumetric lidar return patterns from an old-growth tropical rainforest canopy." International Journal of Remote Sensing 21 (2): 409-415 [10.1080/014311600210939] [Journal Article/Letter]

2000. "An airborne scanning laser altimetry survey of Long Valley, California." International Journal of Remote Sensing 21 (12): 2413-2437 [10.1080/01431160050030547] [Journal Article/Letter]

2000. "Using airborne laser altimetry to detect topographic change at Long Valley Caldera, California." Remote Sensing of Active Volcanism (Geophysical Monograph Series) 116 249-264 [10.1029/gm116p0249] [Article in Book]

1999. "Modeling laser altimeter return waveforms over complex vegetation using high-resolution elevation data." Geophysical Research Letters 26 (16): 2509-2512 [10.1029/1999gl010484] [Journal Article/Letter]

1999. "The Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor: a medium-altitude, digitisation-only, airborne laser altimeter for mapping vegetation and topography." ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 54 (2-3): 115-122 [10.1016/s0924-2716(99)00002-7] [Journal Article/Letter]

1999. "Use of a large-footprint scanning airborne lidar to estimate forest stand characteristics in the western Cascades of Oregon." Remote Sensing of Environment 67 (3): 298-308 [10.1016/S0034-4257(98)00091-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

1998. "Observations of the Earth's topography from the Shuttle Laser Altimeter (SLA): laser-pulse echo-recovery measurements of terrestrial surfaces." Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 23 1053-1068 [Full Text] [10.1016/S0079-1946(98)00145-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

1996. "Space Laser Altimetry: Laser Engineering for Multi-Beam Applications." The Review of Laser Engineering 24 (12): 1285-1292 [10.2184/lsj.24.1285] [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2020. "Advanced silicon avalanche photodiodes on NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission." Proceedings of the Photonic Instrumentation Engineering VII 1128713 [10.1117/12.2545203] [Proceedings]

2019. "Optical system design and integration of the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lidar." Proceedings of the SPIE 11128, Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XXVII (111280J): [10.1117/12.2530653] [Proceedings]

2019. "Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) instrument alignment and test." Proc. SPIE 11103, Optical Modeling and System Alignment [10.1117/12.2532471] [Proceedings]

2019. "Space-Time Coverage Scenarios for A Global Snow Satellite Constellation." IGARSS 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Yokohama, Japan, 28 July - 2 August 2019 [10.1109/igarss.2019.8899017] [Proceedings]

2013. "Fiber Scanning Array for 3 Dimensional Topographic Imaging." Imaging and Applied Optics. OSA Technical Digest (online) [Full Text] [10.1364/aopt.2013.jtu4a.24] [Proceedings]

2011. "Lifetest of the High Output Maximum Efficiency Resonator (HOMER) Laser for the SAFFIRE Instrument on NASA’s DESDynI Project." CLEO:2011 - Laser Applications to Photonic Applications JWA47 [Full Text] [https://doi.org/10.1364/CLEO_AT.2011.JWA47] [Proceedings]

2008. "Range Imaging Without Moving Parts." NASA Tech Briefs GSC-15184-1 [Full Text] [Magazine]

2002. "Laser Pulse Correlation: A Method for detecting subtle topographic change using lidar return waveforms." International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Volume XXXIV-3/W4, Annapolis, Maryland, 22-24 Oct. 2001 XXXIV (3/W4): 181-184 [Full Text] [Proceedings]

2002. "Modeling Lidar Waveforms Using a Radiative Transfer Model ." International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Volume XXXIV-3/W4, Annapolis, Maryland, 22-24 Oct. 2001 [Full Text] [Proceedings]

2002. "Wide-Swath Imaging Lidar Development for Airborne and Spaceborne Applications ." International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Volume XXXIV-3/W4, Annapolis, Maryland, 22-24 Oct. 2001 17-19 [Full Text] [Proceedings]

2000. "Technical Report Series on the BorealEcosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS): Volume 93, SLICER Airborne Laser Altimeter Characterization of Canopy Structure and Sub-canopy Topography for the BOREAS Northern and Southern Study Regions: Instrument and Data Product Description." NASA/TM-2000-209891 93 51 [Full Text] [Report]

1996. "Shuttle Laser Altimeter (SLA): A pathfinder for space-based laser altimetry and lidar." 1995 Shuttle Small Payloads Symposium NASA-CP-3310 83-90 [Full Text] [Proceedings]

1996. "Using laser echo recovery and a scannable field-of-view telescope to determine vegetation structure and sub-canopy topography over wide swaths." 1996 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium(IGARSS) 1-4 1806-1808 [Full Text] [10.1109/IGARSS.1996.516807] [Proceedings]

1995. "Airborne laser altimetry and interferometric SAR measurements of canopy structure and sub-canopy topography in the Pacific northwest." IEEE Conference Proceedings Second Topical Symposium on Combined Optical-Microwave Earth and Atmosphere Sensing [Full Text] [10.1109/comeas.1995.472395] [Proceedings]

1994. "Laser altimetry simulator. Version 3.0: User's guide." NASA-TM-104588 71 [Full Text] [Report]

1994. "Laser altimetry waveform measurement of vegetation canopy structure." 1994 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 1-4 1251-1253 [Full Text] [10.1109/IGARSS.1994.399398] [Proceedings]

1994. "Optimization of an airborne laser altimeter for remote sensing of vegetation and tree canopies." International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 1-4 939-941 [Full Text] [10.1109/IGARSS.1994.399307] [Proceedings]