Kenneth Jon Ranson
(Senior Scientist)
| Email: | kenneth.j.ranson@nasa.gov |
| Org Code: | |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 618 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | CATHOLIC UNIV OF AMERICA |
Brief Bio
Jon Ranson is a visiting scientist with Catholic University at the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He received the B.S. degree in Watershed Sciences and M.S. degree in Earth Resources from Colorado State University where his graduate research involved geologic and forest cover mapping. He later joined the Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing (LARS) at Purdue University where he earned the Ph. D. degree. His Doctoral research quantified bidirectional reflectance characteristics of agricultural crops. In 1986, Dr. Ranson joined the Biospheric Sciences Branch where he has developed remote sensing linkages to forest ecosystem models and conducted optical and radar research while leading several domestic and international NASA projects. He also served as the Deputy Project scientist and Project Scientist of the EOS Terra Mission, was the science lead on the DESDynI lidar concept. His current research is focused on active and passive remote sensing of ecosystem dynamics of the boreal forest, especially in Siberia. He served as Chief of the Biospheric Science Laboratory from 2003-2014 and twice served as an acting NASA HQ Program Manager. He has authored and co-authored over 100 peer reviewed journal articles and was awarded a NASA Leadership Medal, Goddard Exceptional Supervisor Award and numerous Goddard performance awards. He is a member of IEEE GRSS AGU, AAAS and is an adjunct faculty for Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Ranson retired from NASA in 2025.
Research Interests
Active and passive optical and microwave research for ecosystem analysis
Earth Science: Carbon CycleCurrent Projects
Structure and Function of Ecosystems
Carbon Cycle
Linkages between vegetation functional parameters and 3-D structure.
Positions/Employment
Research Physical Scientist
Biospheric Sciences Lab. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD
October 2014 - Present
Conduct basic research on optical and microwave remote sensing and modeling for study of global forested ecosystems.
Branch Head/Laboratory Chief
Biospheric Sciences Lab. GSFC, NASA GSFC - Greenbelt, MD
August 2003 - September 2014
Research Physical Scientist
GSFC - Greenbelt, MD
October 1986 - July 2003
Conduct basic research on optical and microwave remote sensing and modeling for study of global forested ecosystems.
Research Agronomist,
Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing (LARS), Purdue University. - W. Lafayette, IN
May 1980 - September 1986
Conduct basic and applied agricultural and forest research utilizing bidirectional reflectance and microwave scattering measurements and models.
Education
Colorado State University 1972
M.S. Earth Resources
Colorado State University 1975
Ph.D. Agronomy (Remote Sensing)
Purdue University 1983
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union
Member
2000 - Present
Professional Service
Journals : Agronomy Journal, Canadian Journal of Forestry, IEEE Transactions on Geosciences and Remote Sensing, International Journal of Remote Sensing, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing of Environment, Remote Sensing Reviews, Remote Sensing Letters, Remote Sensing, Global Change Biology
Proposals : NASA Terrestrial Ecosystems Program, NASA Hydrology and Remote Sensing Science Programs, NASA EOS Interdisciplinary Science, NASA New Investigator Program. USDA-ARS, National Environment Research Council (UK), NSERC (Canada), Israeli Science Foundation, USAID, NASA Graduate Student Research Program
Awards
2019 NASA Performance Award Award
2018 NASA Performance Award Award
2017 NASA Distinguished Performance Award
2017 - TEAM Excellence Award ( Satellite Needs Assessment Team)
2016 NASA Performance Award
2015 NASA Performance Award
2014 NASA Performance Award
2013 RF Goddard Exceptional Supervisor Award
2012 NASA GSFC Performance Award
2011 NASA GSFC Performance Award
2010 NASA GSFC Performance Award
2009 NASA GSFC Performance Award
2008 NASA GSFC Quality Increase Award
2007 NASA Leadership Medal, NASA GSFC Special Act Award
2006 AIAA Space Systems Awards to NASA Earth Observing System Team, NASA GSFC Special Act Award, NASA GSFC Performance Award, NASA GSFC New Business Capture Award
2005 NASA GSFC Performance Award, NASA GSFC Special Act Award
2004 NASA GSFC Special Act Award
2003 NASA GSFC Performance Award
2002 NASA GSFC Performance Award
2001 NASA Group Achievement Awards – EOS Terra Project, NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award – EOS Terra Program Team
2000 NASA GSFC Performance Award (2)
1998 GSFC Group Achievement Award - Forest Ecosystem Dynamics
1997 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Performance Award
1996 GSFC Group Achievement Award - BOREAS Project Team
1995 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Quality Increase Award
1994 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Performance Award
1993 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, Quality Increase Award
1992 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Performance Award
1991 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Superior Accomplishment
1990 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Quality Increase Award
1989 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Quality Increase Award
1988 NASA Certificate of Outstanding Performance, NASA Performance Award
Publications
Refereed
2025. "Characterizing the influence of varying functional traits from remotely sensed data on forest productivity acquired from selected NEON sites.", Science of Remote Sensing, 12 100262 [10.1016/j.srs.2025.100262] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "EVALUATING APPROACHES RELATING ECOSYSTEM PRODUCTIVITY WITH DESIS SPECTRAL INFORMATION.", The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLVI-1/W1-2021 31-37 [10.5194/isprs-archives-xlvi-1-w1-2021-31-2022] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Importance of tree- and species-level interactions with wildfire, climate, and soils in interior Alaska: Implications for forest change under a warming climate.", Ecological Modelling, 409 108765 [10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108765] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Larch (Larix dahurica Turcz) growth response to climate change in the Siberian permafrost zone.", Regional Environmental Change, 19 (1): 233-243 [10.1007/s10113-018-1401-z] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Climate-Induced Northerly Expansion of Siberian Silkmoth Range.", Forests, 8 (8): 301 [10.3390/f8080301] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Biomass retrieval from L-band polarimetric UAVSAR backscatter and PRISM stereo imagery.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 194 331-346 [10.1016/j.rse.2017.03.034] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "The use of sun elevation angle for stereogrammetric boreal forest height in open canopies.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 196 76-88 [10.1016/j.rse.2017.04.024] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Tree wave migration across an elevation gradient in the Altai Mountains, Siberia.", Journal of Mountain Science, 14 (3): 442-452 [10.1007/s11629-016-4286-7] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Climate-induced mortality of Siberian pine and fir in the Lake Baikal Watershed, Siberia.", Forest Ecology and Management, 384 191-199 [10.1016/j.foreco.2016.10.050] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Fir decline and mortality in the southern Siberian Mountains.", Regional Environmental Change, [10.1007/s10113-016-1073-5] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Spaceborne potential for examining taiga–tundra ecotone form and vulnerability.", Biogeosciences, 13 (13): 3847-3861 [10.5194/bg-13-3847-2016] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Calibration and Validation of Landsat Tree Cover in the Taiga−Tundra Ecotone.", Remote Sensing, 8 (7): 551 [10.3390/rs8070551] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Wildfires Dynamics in Siberian Larch Forests.", Forests, 7 (6): 125 [10.3390/f7060125] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Climate-induced landsliding within the larch dominant permafrost zone of central Siberia.", Environmental Research Letters, 11 (4): 045004 [10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/045004] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Climate-induced larch growth response within the central Siberian permafrost zone.", Environmental Research Letters, 10 (12): [10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/125009] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Climate-induced mortality of spruce stands in Belarus.", Environmental Research Letters, 10 (12): 125006 [10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/125006] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Characterization of ASTER GDEM elevation data over vegetated area compared with lidar data.", International Journal of Digital Earth, 8 (3): 198-211 [10.1080/17538947.2013.861025] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Extraction of ground surface elevation from ZY-3 winter stereo imagery over deciduous forested areas.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 159 194-202 [10.1016/j.rse.2014.12.007] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "The uncertainty of biomass estimates from modeled ICESat-2 returns across a boreal forest gradient.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 158 95-109 [10.1016/j.rse.2014.10.029] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "The uncertainty of biomass estimates from LiDAR and SAR across a boreal forest structure gradient.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 154 398-407 [10.1016/j.rse.2014.01.027] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "Model-Based Analysis of the Influence of Forest Structures on the Scattering Phase Center at L-Band.", Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on, 52 (7): 3937 - 3946 [10.1109/TGRS.2013.2278171] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "Features of point clouds synthesized from multi-view ALOS/PRISM data and comparisons with LiDAR data in forested areas.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 149 47-57 [10.1016/j.rse.2014.04.001] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "Birch stands growth increase in Western Siberia.", Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 29 (5): 421-426 [10.1080/02827581.2014.912345] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Taking stock of circumboreal forest carbon with ground measurements, airborne and spaceborne LiDAR.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 137 274-287 [10.1016/j.rse.2013.06.019] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Achieving accuracy requirements for forest biomass mapping: A spaceborne data fusion method for estimating forest biomass and LiDAR sampling error.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 130 153-170 [Journal Article/Letter]
2012. "Development of the EcoSAR P-band synthetic aperture radar.", Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2012 IEEE International, 4505 - 4508 [10.1109/IGARSS.2012.6350469] [Journal Article/Letter]
2011. "Object-based mapping of the circumpolar taiga–tundra ecotone with MODIS tree cover.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 115 (12): 3670-3680 [10.1016/j.rse.2011.09.006] [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. "FOREST BIOMASS MAPPING FROM LIDAR AND RADAR SYNERGIES.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 115 (11): 2906-2916 [Journal Article/Letter]
2010. "Assessing general relationships between aboveground biomass and vegetation structure parameters for improved carbon estimate from lidar remote sensing.", J. Geophys. Res., 115 (G2): G00E11 [10.1029/2009JG000936] [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "Estimating Siberian timber volume using MODIS and ICESat/GLAS.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 113 (3): 691-701 [10.1016/j.rse.2008.11.010] [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "ESTIMATING SIBERIAN TIMBER VOLUME USING MODIS AND ICESAT/GLAS.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 113 (3): 691-701 [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "MODIS TREE COVER VALIDATION FOR THE CIRCUMPOLAR TAIGA-TUNDRA TRANSITION ZONE.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 113 (10): 2130-2141 [Journal Article/Letter]
2009. "An Overview of Terra Mission Results Related to the Carbon Cycle.", Geography Compass, 3 (2): 536-559 [10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00183.x] [Journal Article/Letter]
2008. "Radar and Lidar Measurement of Terrestrial Processes.", Eos, Trans. AGU 89(38) [Full Text] [Journal Article/Letter]
2008. "Wildfires dynamic in the larch dominance zone.", Geophys Res Lett, 35 (1): L01402 [10.1029/2007GL032291] [Journal Article/Letter]
2008. "Tree vegetation of the forest-tundra ecotone in the Western Sayan mountains and climatic trends.", Russian J Ecology, 39 (1): 8-13 [10.1134/S1067413608010025] [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. "Fusion of imaging spectrometer and LIDAR data over combined radiative transfer models for forest canopy characterization.", Remote Sens Environ, 106 449-459 [Journal Article/Letter]
2007. "Spatial pattern of Siberian silkmoth outbreak and taiga mortality.", Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 22 (6): 531-536 [Journal Article/Letter]
2007. "Evidence of Evergreen Conifer Invasion into Larch Dominated Forests During Recent Decades in Central Siberia.", Eurasian J Forest Research, 10 (2): 163-171 [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. "Forest-tundra larch forests and climatic trends.", Russian Journal of Ecology, 37 (5): 291-298 [Journal Article/Letter]
2006. "Inversion of a Lidar Waveform Model for Forest Biophysical Parameter Estimation.", IEEE Geosci Remote Sens Letts, 3 (1): 49-53 [Journal Article/Letter]
2005. "The spatiotemporal pattern of fires in northern Taiga larch forests of central Siberia.", Russian Journal of Ecology, 36 (5): 302-311 [Journal Article/Letter]
2005. "Expansion of Evergreen Conifers to the Larch-Dominated Zone and Climatic Trends.", Russian J Ecol, 36 (3): 164-170 [Journal Article/Letter]
1997. "BOREAS in 1997: Experiment overview, scientific results, and future directions.", J. Geophys. Res., 102 (D24): 28731–28769 [10.1029/97JD03300] [Journal Article/Letter]
1996. "Remote sensing of forest canopies.", Selbyana, 17 6-14 [Full Text] [Journal Article/Letter]
1995. "The Boreal Ecosystem–Atmosphere Study (BOREAS): An Overview and Early Results from the 1994 Field Year.", Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 76 (9): 1549-1577 [10.1175/1520-0477(1995)076<1549:TBESAO>2.0.CO;2] [Journal Article/Letter]
1994. "Multispectral bidirectional reflectance of northern forest canopies with ASAS.", Remote Sens. Environ., 47 (2): 276-289 [10.1016/0034-4257(94)90161-9] [Journal Article/Letter]
1994. "Comparative analysis of data acquired by three narrow-band airborne spectroradiometers over subboreal vegetation.", Remote Sens. Environ., 47 (2): 204-215 [10.1016/0034-4257(94)90156-2] [Journal Article/Letter]
1991. "Surface albedo from bidirectional reflectance.", Remote Sens. Environ., 35 (2-3): 201-211 [10.1016/0034-4257(91)90012-U] [Journal Article/Letter]
1991. "An off-nadir pointing imaging spectroradiometer for terrestrial ecosystem studies.", IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 29 (1): 66-74 [10.1109/36.103294] [Journal Article/Letter]
1988. "Estimating big bluestem albedo from directional reflectance measurements.", Remote Sensing of Environment, 25 (2): 185-199 [10.1016/0034-4257(88)90100-9] [Journal Article/Letter]
Non-Refereed
2021. "Understanding Active Layer Thickness Variability Under Changing Climatic Conditions Across the North American Taiga-Tundra Ecotone.", AGU 2021 Fall Meeting, [10.1002/essoar.10509696.1] [Proceedings]
2021. "High Resolution Simulations of Forest Structure Project Heterogeneous Change Across the North American Taiga-Tundra Ecotone.", AGU Fall Meeting 2021, [Proceedings]
2016. "Development of Next Generation Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar architectures.", 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), [10.1109/igarss.2016.7729544] [Proceedings]
2016. "ECOSAR: P-Band Digital Beamforming Polarimetric and Single Pass Interferometric SAR: Instrument Performance.", Proceedings of EUSAR 2016: 11th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, 1-5 [Proceedings]
2015. "Next generation Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR-2).", 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2774-2777 [10.1109/igarss.2015.7326389] [Proceedings]
2015. "ECOSAR: P-band digital beamforming polarimetric and single pass interferometric SAR.", 2015 IEEE Radar Conference (RadarCon), [10.1109/radar.2015.7131086] [Proceedings]
2015. "LiDAR-based Biomass Estimates, Boreal Forest Biome, Eurasia, 2005-2006.", Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, [10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1278] [Dataset]
2014. "The ecosystems SAR (EcoSAR) an airborne P-band polarimetric InSAR for the measurement of vegetation structure, biomass and permafrost.", Radar Conference, 2014 IEEE, 1443-1445 [10.1109/RADAR.2014.6875827] [Proceedings]
2012. "Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR) polarimetric operation during the Eco3D flight campaign.", Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2012 IEEE International, 1549-1552 [Full Text] [10.1109/IGARSS.2012.6351101] [Journal Article/Letter]
2012. "The 2011 Eco3D flight campaign: Vegetation structure and biomass estimation from simultaneous SAR, lidar and radiometer measurements.", 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 3387–3390 [10.1109/IGARSS.2012.6350694] [Proceedings]
2011. "Assessment of multiangu-lar polarization contribution to the bidirectional reflectance of natural samples.", IEEE International Geoscience Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 1017-1020 [10.1109/IGARSS.2011.6049306] [Proceedings]
2010. "The effect of incident light polarization on vegetation bidirectional reflectance factor.", 2010 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 1652-1655 [10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5652893] [Proceedings]
2008. "The Potential of Combined Lidar and SAR Data in Retrieving Forest Parameters using Model Analysis.", IGARSS 2008 - 2008 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 5 V-542 - V-545 [10.1109/IGARSS.2008.4780149] [Other]
1996. "BOREAS-96 Experiment Plan, V0.0, V1, V2.0.", , 2 vol [Other]
1995. "The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS).", Proc. AGU Symposium, Baltimore, MD, 5/29-31/95, [Proceedings]
1995. "The boreal ecosystem-atmosphere study (BOREAS) (Invited).", Proc. EGS Symposium, Hamburg, Germany, 4/3-8/95, [Proceedings]
1993. "BOREAS Experiment Plan (Version 1.0).", , 358, appendices [Report]
Selected Public Outreach
Siberian expedition blogs
July 2007 - August 2016
2007 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SiberiaBlog/
2008 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SiberiaBlog2008/
2010 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/2010/08/10/wild-west-siberia-2010-introduction/
2012 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/category/siberia-2012-embenchime-river-expedition/
Northwoods, Maine
May 1989 - August 2019
Conducted field and remote sensing measurements in the Howland and Penobscot Forests in Central Maine. Purpose was 1) test RS algorithms for Radar, Lidar, bi-directional reflectance and several optical imaging sensors, 2) develop and validate forest succession models and 3) develop fusion techniques to improve accuracy of RS methods..