Dr. Eric S. Kasischke

 
Education

PhD  Remote Sensing/Forest Ecology, The University of Michigan, 1992
MS   Remote Sensing, The University of Michigan, 1980
BS    Natural Resources, The University of Michigan, 1974

Research Interests

• Carbon Cycling
• Fire emissions
• Boreal forests
• Ecosystem processes
• Remote Sensing

Dr. Kasischke's research interests focus on two areas: (1) understanding how fire and the climate interact to influence ecosystem processes and carbon cycling in the world's boreal forests; and (2) developing approaches to use spaceborne imaging synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to monitor spatial and temporal characteristics of the earth's land surface. In carrying out this research, he conducts inter-disciplinary research with ecologists, atmospheric scientists, carbon cycle modelers and scientists interested in using remote sensing to observe the effects of fire throughout the boreal region, as well as changes in sea level in the Chesapeake Bay. Current research is focused in several areas. First, carrying out field-based research on patterns of fire severity and post-fire succession in Interior Alaska. Second, carrying out analyses of how to use satellite imagery to assess fire severity and post-fire soil moisture. Third, assessing the degree to which SAR imagery can be used to monitor the impacts of sea-level rise on coastal marsh vegetation. And fourth, developing approaches to integrate field and satellite observations to assess changes in terrestrial carbon cycling in the boreal region.

• Wildfire consumption of ground-layer organic matter in N.A.boreal forests & peatlands: implications for atmospheric trace gas emissions & long-term soil carbon storage
• Assessing the effects of sea level rise on the patterns of coastal flooding and the distribution and extent of wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay using Landsat and satellite radar imagery
• The Dynamics of Change in Alaska's Boreal Forests: Resilience and Vulnerability in Response to Climate Warming

Representative Papers

Kasischke, E.S., L.L. Bourgeau-Chavez, and J.F. Johnstone, Assessing spatial and temporal variations in surface soil moisture in fire-disturbed black spruce forests using spaceborne synthetic aperture radar imagery - implications for post-fire tree recruitment, Remote Sensing of Environment, in review.

O'Neill, K.P, D.D. Richter, and E.S. Kasischke, Succession-driven changes in soil respiration following fire in black spruce stands of Interior Alaska., Biogeochemistry, in press.

Kasischke, E.S., and M.R. Turetsky, Recent changes in the fire regime across the North American boreal region- spatial and temporal patterns of burning across Canada and Alaska, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L09703, doi:10.1029/2006GL025677, 2006.

Bourgeau-Chavez, L.L., K.B. Smith, S.M. Brunzell, C.J. Richardson, E.A. Romanowicz, and E.S. Kasischke, Remote monitoring of regional scale inundation patterns and hydroperiod in the Greater Everglades using synthetic aperture radar, Wetlands, 25, 176-191, 2005.

Johnstone, J.F. and E.S. Kasischke, Stand-level effects of burn severity on post-fire regeneration in a recently-burned black spruce forest, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 35, 2151-2163, 2005.

Kasischke, E.S., and J.F. Johnstone, Variation in ground-layer surface fuel consumption and its effects on site characteristics in a black spruce forest complex in Interior Alaska, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 35, 2164-2177, 2005.

Kasischke, E.S.,. E.P. Hyre, P.C. Novelli, L.P. Bruhwiler, N.H.F. French, A. Sukhinin, J. Hewson, and B.J. Stocks, Influences of boreal fire emissions on Northern Hemisphere atmospheric carbon and carbon monoxide, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19,GB1012, doi:10.1029/2004GB002300, 2005.

Kasischke, E.S., and J.E. Penner, Improving global estimates of atmospheric emissions from biomass burning, Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, D14S01, doi:10.1029/2004JD004972, 2004.

Sukhinin, A., N.H.F. French, A. Soja, J. Hewson, I. Csiszar, S. Conard, and E.S. Kasischke, Satellite-based Mapping of Fires in Eastern Russia: A New Product for Fire Management and Carbon Cycle Studies, Remote Sensing of Environment, 93, 546-564, 2004.

See Professor Kasischke's personal website for full lists of publications and projects.