Welcome to the Ecohydrology & Remote Sensing Lab webpage at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where cutting-edge technology meets water resources engineering science.

What We Do:

Our research group advances the understanding of ecological and hydrological processes through innovative remote sensing and environmental biophysics modeling. We integrate remote sensing data with ecohydrological models to study interactions among water, soil, vegetation, and atmosphere across scales, using satellite and aerial imagery to understand ecosystem responses to environmental changes.

Primary Research Questions:

1. How does vegetation cover influence hydrological processes across different landscapes? We examine vegetation’s role in water flow and soil moisture within the hydrological cycle, aiming to improve and develop models of evapotranspiration and soil moisture using high-resolution remote sensing from satellites, uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), and proximal devices.

2. How can understanding soil-plant-atmosphere processes improve water management? We study the surface energy balance, focusing on how it affects plant water use and vegetation’s role in heat and water vapor exchange between land and atmosphere, examining energy fluxes like sensible and latent heat and water vapor dynamics influenced by vegetation cover.

3. How can remote sensing enhance water resource management practices? We explore how high-resolution remote sensing can provide precise spatial data to improve sustainable water management. Using advanced imaging, we aim to offer detailed insights into water variability, quality, and availability to support more effective resource management strategies.