James Churnside: Lidar on board -- imaging water surfaces at sea level
Observations from a boat or aircraft reveal important information about ocean dynamics and the life underwater.
James Churnside is a physicist with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.
His research interests include the interaction of electrodynamic waves with geophysical fluids, and the applications of those interactions for remote sensing of the atmosphere and oceans. Of special interest are the characteristics of light scattered from the ocean surface and near-surface layer and applications to remote sensing of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and epipelagic fish schools. He has worked on developing NOAA Fish Lidar for airborne surveys of fish and applying the lidar to various fisheries research problems.
He is a Fellow of SPIE and OSA, and has contributed more than 20 technical papers to SPIE symposia, as well as serving on the program committee for the annual Ocean Sensing and Monitoring conference. He was interviewed for SPIE Newsroom at SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing 2013.
