Aaron Berg

Soil moisture is an important component of the global water and energy cycle and in biogeochemical cycling. Meteorological conditions such as the near surface air temperature, boundary layer mixing heights and precipitation have been shown to depend, in part, on the soil moisture state. Accurate and timely soil moisture information has numerous applications in agricultural prediction and assessment, weather and climate prediction and streamflow prediction. Together with my research group we explore issues in hydrology using remote sensing and hydrological models.

My current areas of research are associated with following research networks and projects, well qualified students with interests in any of these topics are invited to contact me about opportunities for research funding:

• Transformative Sensor Technologies and Smart Watersheds
• Northern Water Futures
• Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute

Keywords: Hydrology and remote sensing with applications to agriculture, land-atmosphere interactions and hydro-climatology

• GEOG*1300 Introduction to the Biophysical Environment
• GEOG*1350 Earth: Hazards and Global Change
• GEOG*3420 Remote Sensing of the Environment
• GEOG*3610 Environmental Hydrology
• GEOG*4110 Environmental Systems Analysis
• GEOG*4690 Geography Field Research
• GEOG*4990 Independent Study in Geography*
• GEOG*6090 Geographic Research Methods
• GEOG*6100 Geographic Scholarship and Research
• GEOG*6610 Global Hydrology

*Over the past several years I have advised a number of students in independent studies (GEOG 4990). If students are looking for potential research opportunities I have a number of projects related to hydrology or remote sensing available.

Jaison Ambadan, Gordon Drewitt, Nasim Alavi, Tracy Rowlandson, Parinaz Rahimzadeh, Ehsan Roshani, Simon Zwieback, Ahmed Laamrani, Cameron Proctor, Manoj Kizhakkeniyil

An up-to-date list of my publications is available on Google Scholar

Shirriff* K, KC KB, Berg A. 2022. Evaluation of Agrobiodiversity and Cover Crop Adoption in Southern Ontario Field Crops. Agronomy. 12(2):415.

Berg, A., J. Thomas Ambadan*, A. Colliander, H. McNairn, J. Powers, E. Tetlock. 2022. The Impact of In-Situ Probe Orientation on SMAP Validation Statistics. IEEE Remote Sensing Letters. 19. 3000205. 10.1109/LGRS.2020.3018077

Chang*, Q., S. Zwieback, B. DeVries, A. Berg. 2022. Application of L-Band SAR for mapping tundra shrub biomass, leaf area index and rainfall interception. Remote Sensing of Environment. 268. 112747.

Chaubell, J., S. Yueh, S. Dunbar, A. Colliander, D. Entekhabi, S. Chan, F. Chen, X. Xu, R. Bindlish, P. O;Neill J. Asansuma, A. Berg, D.D. Bosch, T. Caldwell, M. Cosh, C. Holifield Collins, K. Jensen, J. Martinez-Fernandez, H. McNairn, M. Seyfried, P.J. Starks, Z. Su, M. Thibeault, J. Walker. 2022. Implementation and Analysis of the regularized dual-channel algorithm for the retrieval of soil moisture and vegetation optical depth for SMAP. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 15, 102-114. 10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3123932

Colliander, A., R.H. Reichle, W.T. Crow, M.H. Cosh, F. Chen, S. Chan, N. Das, R. Bindlish, M.J. Chaubell, S.B. Kim, Q. Liu, P. O’Neill, R.S. Dunbar, L. Dang, J. Kimball, T.J. Jackson, H.K. al Jassar, J. Asanuma, B. K. Bhattacharya, A. Berg, D.D. Bosch, L. Bourgeau-Chavez, T. Caldwell, J-C. Calvet, W. Dorigo, C. Holifield Collins, K. Jensen, S. Livingston, E. Lopez-Baeza, J. Martínez-Fernández, H. McNairn, M. Moghaddam, C. Montzka, C. Notarnicola, T. Pellarin, J. Prueger, J. Pulliainen, J. Ramos, M. Seyfried, P. Starks, Z. Su, R. van der Velde, Y. Zeng, M. Thibeault, J.P. Walker, M. Zribi, D. Entekhabi, S. Yueh. 2022. Validation of soil moisture data products from the NASA SMAP mission. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 15, 364-392. 10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3124743

Lapierre, J., P.V. Ferrari Machado, Z. Bebruyn, S.E. Brown, S. Jordan, A. Berg, A. Biswas, H.A.L. Henry. C. Wagner-Riddle. 2022. Cover crop mixtures: a powerful strategy to reduce post-harvest surplus soil nitrate and leaching. Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment. 325. 107750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2021.107750

Alijani*, Z., J. Lindsay, M. Chabot*, T. Rowlandson*, A. Berg. 2021. Sensitivity of C-Band SAR polarimetric variables to the directionality of surface roughness parameters. Remote Sensing. 13(11):2210. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13112210

Brown S, C. Wagner-Riddle, Z. Debruyn, S. Jordan, A. Berg, J.T. Ambadan*, K.A. Congreves, P.V. Machado. 2021. Assessing variability of soil water balance components measured at a new lysimeter facility dedicated to the study of soil ecosystem services. Journal of Hydrology. 2021 127037.

DeBeer, C.M., H. S. Wheater, J. W. Pomeroy, A. G. Barr, J. L. Baltzer, J. F. Johnstone, M. R. Turetsky, R. E Stewart, M. Hayashi, G. van der Kamp, S. Marshall, E. Campbell, P. Marsh, S. K. Carey, W. L. Quinton, Y. Li, S. Razavi, A. Berg, J. J. McDonnell, C, Spence, W. D. Helgason, A. M. Ireson, T.A Black, B. Davison, A. Howard, J. M. Thériault, K. Shook, A. Pietroniro. 2021. Summary and synthesis of Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN) research in the interior of western Canada–Part 2: Future change in cryosphere, vegetation, and hydrology. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 25. 1849-1882. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1849-2021

Eyre* R, Lindsay J, Laamrani* A, Berg A. 2021. Within-Field Yield Prediction in Cereal Crops Using LiDAR-Derived Topographic Attributes with Geographically Weighted Regression Models. Remote Sensing. 13(20):4152. doi.org/10.3390/rs13204152

Pardo Lara* R, A. Berg, J. Warland, G. Parkin. Implications of measurement metrics on soil freezing curves: A simulation of freeze-thaw hysteresis. Hydrological Processes 35(7), e14269, 10.1002/hyp.14269 2021

Mardian*, J, A. Berg. B. Daneshfar, 2021. Evaluating the Temporal Accuracy of Grassland to Cropland Change Detection Using Multitemporal Image Analysis. Remote Sensing of Environment. 255, 112292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112292

Mavrovic A., R. Pardo Lara*, A. Berg, F. Demontoux, A. Royer, A. Roy. 2021. Soil dielectric characterization during freeze-thaw transitions using L-band coaxial probe and soil moisture probes. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 25, 1117-113. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1117-2021

Park, C-H., A. Berg, M.H. Cosh, A. Colliander, A. Behrendt, H. Manns, J. Hong, J. Lee, V. Wulfmeyer. 2021. An inverse dielectric mixing model at 50 MHz that considers soil organic carbon. Hydrology and Earth System Science. 25, 6407-6420. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6407-202

I’m always happy to chat about research opportunities for students with interests in terrestrial hydrology and/or remote sensing. Positions are available for students at the PhD or MSc level. Several funded positions are typically available to students interested in the applied use of GIS and remote sensing for observation of soil moisture (both passive and active sensors), soil freeze thaw processes, and agricultural land management.

All projects provide excellent opportunities for combining field work, laboratory and computer analysis. We have field sites in the arctic, within boreal forests, and in agricultural regions. Students with backgrounds in Physical Geography or Geomatics, Physical Sciences, Engineering or Computer Sciences are encouraged to contact me to discuss available projects and funding opportunities.