Ian BrownAssociate professor, Docent
About me
I research the development of Earth Observation techniques for for environmental and climate change analyses. A particular interest is the uses of interferometric and polarimetric synthetic aperture radar and their applications to the measurement of the properties of snowpacks and mangrove forests (I know: they're quite different).
I have a Ph.D from Dundee University in Scotland and since then have worked for Stockholm University in Kiruna and Stockholm. I am a member of the European Space Sciences Committee panel on Earth Sciences.
Teaching
I am the coordinator ofthe Masters program in Geomatics with Remote Sensing and GIS and also coordinate a number of remote sensing courses at the Masters level. I have administrative responsibility for all teaching in Geomatics.
I have also organised Ph.D courses in remote sensing and microwave remote sensing.
Research
I am an Associate Professor (Docent) in Earth Observation (EO) specialising in observations using Synthetic Aperture Radar. I work primarily on snow and ice though not exclusively. Other projects include polarimetric SAR observations of the mangrove forests of the Rufiji Delta and evaluating resource-scarcity as a cause of the conflict in Darfur using satellite imagery.
My interests in Earth Observation can be defined by two scales: process investigations at the local scale and regional/continental scale applications of EO for environmental analyses and monitoring. The former include investigations into scattering processes in media as diverse as glacier firn; boreal forests; and mangrove forests. At the wider scale I am interested in identifying climate and environmental change in EO data, the ultimate goal of which is to better inform the public and policy makers.
