Laurence C. Smith

LAURENCE C. SMITH holds a joint appointment in the Department of Earth & Space Sciences.

His research interests focus on the effects of climate change on high-latitude environments, particularly the hydrologic interactions between the land surface, atmosphere and oceans, and the response of those linkages to climate warming. To date, three research themes have emerged in his work: [1] high-latitude river systems, including time-series analysis of historical records and remote sensing of discharge, ice cover and sedimentation patterns; [2] glacier systems, including surface melt processes and outburst floods; and [3] carbon cycling in high-latitude peatlands and their response to past and present climate changes. Because the polar regions are remote, multi-national and poorly instrumented, satellite remote sensing is a useful tool in his work. Therefore, a cross-cutting research theme (often spanning [1] – [3]) has been development of hydrologic applications for emerging remote sensing technologies, notably synthetic aperture radar (SAR), SAR interferometry (InSAR), and laser altimetry.

Beyond Edge: Laurence C. Smith's homepage