Biographies

Crystal Schaaf
Professor of Remote Sensing/GIS, School for the Environment & Director, Geospatial Analysis and Modeling for the Environment, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Contact Information:
Phone: 617-287-7440
Email:

Biography:
Crystal Schaaf is working on the development and use of operational products from MODIS to monitor the Earth's environments from the Terra and Aqua polar-orbiting space platforms. She is a science team member for both MODIS and the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor on board the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership platform (NPP is the precursor to the next generation of national meteorological satellites).

Schaaf's current interests include modeling reflectance anisotropy and albedo and using remote sensing data to reconstruct and monitor the reflectance characteristics of various land surfaces, including vegetation phenology and land surface change. More recently she has also been involved in the development and use of ground-based lidar systems to characterize biomass and vegetation structure.