John Kimball

Research Associate Professor with the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) and Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG). My expertise and research interests involve soil-vegetation-atmosphere water, energy and trace gas relations, remote sensing, hydrological and ecosystem process modeling. My current research activities integrate biophysical theory, field measurements and emerging technologies such as optical and microwave remote sensing, geographic information systems, computer simulation and visualization models to describe the function, distribution and condition of vegetation and associated processes across the landscape. My interests emphasize an ecosystem perspective for understanding hydrological and related processes, integrating across disciplines and various scales.

Examples of recent research:

Satellite remote sensing and regional monitoring of boreal-arctic ecosystems (more details).
Remote sensing of flow and salmonid habitat relations for assessing the value and restoration potential of regulated rivers (more details).
NASA HYDROS Mission (more details).
Northern carbon cycle (more details).
Understanding Patterns of and Controls on CO 2 Exchange over Complex Landscapes (details).

Kang, S., D. Lee, and J.S. Kimball, 2003. The effects of spatial aggregation of complex topography on hydro-ecological process simulations within a rugged forest landscape: Development and application of a satellite-based topoclimatic model. Canadian Journal of Forestry 34, 519-530.

Kimball, J.S., K.C. McDonald, S.W. Running and S. Frolking, 2004. Satellite radar remote sensing of seasonal growing seasons for boreal and subalpine evergreen forests. Remote Sensing of Environment 90, 243-258.

McDonald, K.C., J.S. Kimball, E. Njoku, R. Zimmermann, and M. Zhao, 2004. Variability in springtime thaw in the terrestrial high latitudes: Monitoring a major control on the biospheric assimilation of atmospheric CO 2 with spaceborne microwave remote sensing. Earth Interactions (In press).

McDonald, K. C., Zimmermann, R., and J. S. Kimball. 2002. Diurnal and spatial variation of xylem dielectric constant as related to microclimate, xylem sap flow, and xylem chemistry in Norway Spruce. IEEE Transactions in Geoscience and Remote Sensing 40(9), 2063-2082.

Turner, D.P., S.V. Ollinger, and J.S. Kimball, 2004. Integrating remote sensing and ecosystem process models for landscape- to regional-scale analysis of the carbon cycle. Bioscience 54(6), 573-584.

Whited, D.C., J. A. Stanford and J. S. Kimball. 2002. Application of airborne multi-spectral digital imagery to characterize riverine habitat under variable hydrologic flows. River Research & Applications 18(6), 583-594.