Professor

Ramsey

Contact Info

Institution: Utah State University, Senior Partner

Phone: (435) 770-0224

Address: Department of Wildland Resources, UMC 5230 Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-5230, US

Website: https://www.gis.usu.edu/

Research Disciplines

  • Ecosystem Services

  • Ecology/Landscape

  • Rangeland Ecology

  • Geographic Information Systems

  • Remote Sensing

  • Spatial Analysis

  • Disturbance Modeling

  • Computational Geography

Research Interests

Land Cover/Use Mapping, Landscape Monitoring, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, Drones)

Projects

Estimation Of Plant Height Using Photogrammetrically Derived Point Clouds - This project investigated the ability of imagery and topographic point clouds collected by unmanned aerial systems to extract canopy cover and plant height metrics and to determine how well those estimates matched similar data collected using traditional, transect-based field techniques.  Comparisons between the two techniques resulted in a variance of 6-8 cm, showing that UAS derived point clouds were successful in duplicating field derived metrics.

Biography

Dr. Ramsey is a plant ecologist, remote sensing, and geospatial scientist.  His main interests lie in applying long-term digital remote sensing data to monitor ecosystem and developing spatial databases to aid in resource management and research.  He has 37 years (as of 2021) of practical experience applying satellite and airborne imagery to solve natural resource problems.  Dr. Ramsey has conducted research in the Western U.S., Mexico, Egypt, Iceland, India, Namibia, Uzbekistan, and China in semi-arid, forested, agricultural, and urbanized landscapes.  He has developed techniques for analyzing spatial data using geospatial techniques to solve problems in natural resource management, geology, landscape ecology, archeology. and urbanized landscapes.

Education

  • BS, 1982, Rangeland Management, Brigham Young University.
  • MS, 1983, Plant Ecology, Brigham Young University.   Thesis title ‑ Influence of Tree Overstory on Understory Production and Composition in Aspen Forests of Central Utah.
  • Ph.D., 1989, Geography, with an emphasis on remote sensing and geospatial sciences, University of Utah.  Dissertation title ‑ Modeling Leaf Area as an Input to Transpiration Models in Aspen‑Conifer Forests in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah Using Remotely Sensed Data and Geographic Information Systems.</liL