The work on WP 3.2 will be led by Professor Michael Steven of the School of Geography. Professor Steven holds a BSc in Physics, an MSc in Meteorology and a PhD in Environmental Physics and has over 30 years of research experience. He has been Professor of Environmental Remote Sensing at the University since 2005. His research mainly focuses on environmental interactions of electromagnetic radiation, from solar climatology to remote sensing, with an emphasis on practical application. Major activities and achievements include:
- Monitoring vegetation productivity and yield from spectral characteristics
- Responses of crops to stress factors
- Crop monitoring by radar
- Monitoring techniques for precision agriculture
- The geometric characteristics of diffuse (sky) radiation
- Ultraviolet radiation climatology and vitamin D production in skin
- The effects of air pollution on the solar spectrum
- Atmospheric correction procedures and validation of earth observation data
- Measuring the consumption of methane by soil bacteria.
He is author of over 50 refereed academic articles and numerous other publications and was awarded The Remote Sensing Society President's Prize in 1996. He has been involved in 37 previous funded research projects, including – of relevance to the current proposal:
UK Carbon capture and Storage Consortium (2005-2008; NERC)
PRESENSE - monitoring leaks in gas pipelines (2001-2004; EU)