DOUGLAS CHRISTOPHER MORTON
Biospheric Sciences Branch, Code 618
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Tel: 301-614-6688
Fax: 301-614-6695
Email: douglas.morton@nasa.gov
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Remote sensing of vegetation phenology, fire, forest disturbances, and land cover change;
Characterizing the response of vegetation to disturbances from land use and climate change using
ecosystem models; modeling carbon emissions from tropical deforestation and global fire activity;
LiDAR remote sensing of vegetation structure; and policy strategies for climate change mitigation.
EDUCATION
2008 Ph.D. Geography, University of Maryland, College Park
Changes in Amazon Forest Structure from Land-use Fires: Integrating Satellite
Remote Sensing and Ecosystem Modeling. Advisor: Ruth DeFries
2002 M.F.S. Forest Ecology, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
1999 B.A. Environmental Studies, Chemistry Minor, Dartmouth College
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
201020102009-2010
2008-2009
2008 (Fall)
2003-2008
2001-2003
2001-2002
2000
Research Physical Scientist, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD
Consultant, The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA
Lecturer, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Faculty Research Assistant, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Consultant, Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, MA
Teaching Fellow, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT
Research Analyst, Industrial Economics, Inc., Cambridge, MA
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS
2012-2013 Co-Investigator: Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Fires in the United
States, (PI G.J. Collatz, NASA-GSFC, part of the NASA contribution to the National
Climate Assessment).
2011-2013 Co-investigator: Global Carbon Emissions From Fires: Improving Our
DCM-1
2011-2013
2010-2012
2009-2011
2009-2011
2005-2008
2005-2008
1998-1999
Understanding of Interactions Between Land Use, Fires, and Climate Change, (PI: JT
Randerson, UCI, NASA Carbon Cycle Science.
Co-Investigator: DART-LiDAR: A Coupled Atmosphere-Vegetation Model for
Simulating Full-Waveform and Photon-Counting LiDAR. (PI B. Cook), NASA
Remote Sensing Theory.
Co-Investigator: Modeling the Impacts of Major Forest Disturbances on the Earth's
Coupled Carbon-Climate System, and the Capacity of Forests to Meet Future
Demands for Wood, Fuel, and Fiber. (PI George Hurtt). NASA IDS Program.
Science Principal Investigator: Biome boundary shifts during the Landsat era.
(NASA PI Jeff Masek) NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program (08/2009-12/2011).
Principal Investigator: Fire in Amazon forests: carbon emissions and the role of
canopy phenology in current and future fire risk. NASA Postdoctoral Program
(03/2009-03/2011).
Co-Investigator: Reducing uncertainties of carbon emissions from land use related
fires with MODIS data: Scaling from local to global. (PI Ruth DeFries), NASA
Land-cover and Land-use Change Program (01/01/2005-12/31/2008).
Principal Investigator: Savannization of a tropical forest frontier: carbon
consequences of climate change and fire from a height-structured ecosystem model.
NASA Earth System Science Fellowship (09/01/2005-08/31/2008).
Raynolds International Expedition Grant and Andrew W. Mellon Grant in support of
honors thesis research in Kenya and Uganda, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Fall, 2008
Lecturer, Causes, Impacts, and Implications of Global Change (GEOG123), University
of Maryland, College Park
2005
Instructor, MODIS Data Analysis, XII Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto,
Goiânia, Brazil (in Portuguese).
Spring, 2002 Teaching Fellow, Geographic Information Systems, Yale School of Forestry &
Environmental Studies
Fall, 2001 Teaching Fellow, Cartographic Modeling, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental
Studies
PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND RECOGNITION
2010
2006
2005
1999
American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting of the Americas, Biogeosciences
Section, Outstanding Student Paper Award
American Geophysical Union (AGU), Biogeosciences Section, Outstanding Student
Paper Award
NASA Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Research in the Amazon (LBA) Student
Paper Award, in Portuguese
High Honors, Environmental Studies Thesis, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
DCM-2
JOURNAL REVIEW
Nature Geoscience, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Global Change
Biology, Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, Forest Ecology and Management,
Ecological Applications, International Journal of Wildland Fire, Conservation Letters, Ecology
Letters, Remote Sensing of Environment, Biogeosciences, Ecological Indicators, Global
Biogeochemical Cycles, Ecosystems
SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE
2011
Co-organizer, SilvaCarbon Expert Workshops on Forest Degradation and Uncertainty
Estimates for Emissions Reporting
2011Technical Team Member, SilvaCarbon
2011
Co-organizer and Reviewer, NASA LBA Data Legacy Review Panel
2010
Co-Chair, Land Use and Forest Options for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction,
AGU Meeting of the Americas
2009Reviewer, NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program
2009Science Advisor, School for Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL), Washington DC
2008Member, DIVERSITAS Biome Boundary Shifts (BBS) Working Group
2008
Chair, Sustainable Forest Management Session, NASA LBA Conference
2008
Co-Chair, Future Directions for Fire Research at NASA, NASA Carbon Cycle and
Ecosystems Meeting
2007-2008 Reviewer, National Institute for Climate Change Research (NICCR)
2006
Co-chair, Rates and Patterns of Land Use Change Session, NASA LBA Science Team
Meeting
2005
Co-Chair, Observing Land Cover Session, NASA LBA Science Team Meeting
2003Member, American Geophysical Union
INVITED PRESENTATIONS (2005-)
2011
AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco. “What drives the Amazon green-up Phenomenon?”
2011
Johns Hopkins University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Bromery Lecture.
“Forecasting Fire Activity in Amazonia Using Sea Surface Temperatures.”
2011
Global Land Reserve Workshop, organized by the Franqui Foundation at the Academia
Belgica, Rome. “A Time Series Look at the Land Reserve in Amazonia.”
2011
SilvaCarbon Expert Workshop on Forest Degradation, Washington. “Monitoring Forest
Degradation from Fire in Amazonia.”
2011
REDD+ Training Workshop, organized by the US Forest Service and Instituto Floresta
Tropical in Belém, Pará. “Desmatamento e Degradação de Florestas Tropicais: Efeitos
no Balanço de Carbono” (in Portuguese).
DCM-3
2011
Advancing Land-use Modeling and Analysis for Carbon Cycling Studies at Princeton
University. “Land Use Emissions from Fires in Tropical Forests.”
2011
Inaugural meeting of the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity, Paris,
France. “Integrating Remote Sensing and Models to Improve Projections of Fire in
Amazon Forests.”
2011
International Society of Tropical Foresters at Yale University in New Haven, CT.
“Remote Sensing and REDD+: Mapping and Monitoring Tropical Forest Carbon
Stocks.”
2010
UNFCCC Climate Change Meeting (COP-16) in Cancun, Mexico. “Satellite
Monitoring of Agriculture & Land Abandonment in Amazonia.”
2010
Bellona Foundation Pavilion at the UNFCCC Climate Change Meeting (COP-16) in
Cancun, Mexico. “REDD+ v2.0: LiDAR.”
2010
AGU Meeting of the Americas, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. “ Climate Regulation of Fire
Activity Along the Cerrado-Amazon Biome Boundary.”
2009
United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), Copenhagen, Denmark.
“Modeling Historic Carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.”
2009
REDD Carbon Accounting in Amazonia (Contabilidade do Carbono em Projetos de
REDD), The Nature Conservancy, Cuiabá, Brazil. “Estimating Baseline Carbon
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Mato Grosso” (in Portuguese).
2009
Columbia University, E3b Seminar Series, New York, NY. “Fire in Amazon Forests:
Causes, Consequences & Opportunities.”
2008
AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA. “Assessing the Impact of Recurrent Fires on
Forests in Southern Amazonia”
2008
NASA LBA International Science Conference, Manaus, Brazil. “Modeling changes in
Amazon forest structure from repeated exposure to anthropogenic fires.”
2008
University of New Hampshire, Sustainability Seminar Series, Durham, NH. “21st
Century Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Land Use in Amazonia.”
2007
NASA 11th LBA-ECO Science Team Meeting, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. “Contribution
of Fire to Forest Disturbance in the Upper Xingu Basin.”
2007
XIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto. Florianopolis, Brazil. “Secondary
forest dynamics and Cerradão loss in Mato Grosso during 2001-2005 from MODIS
phenology time series” (in Portuguese).
DCM-4
2006
NASA 10th LBA-ECO Science Team Meeting, Brasilia, Brazil. “2001-2006 Trends in
Amazon Forest Conversion Fires.”
2005
Society for Conservation Biology, Brasilia, Brazil. “Quantifying Cropland Expansion in
Cerrado and Transition Forest Ecosystems with MODIS Satellite Image Time Series.”
2005
II Congresso de Estudantes e Bolsistas do Experimento LBA, Manaus, Brazil. “A Nova
Dinâmica do Desflorestamento em Mato Grosso: Implicações para os Processos do
Ecossistema” (in Portuguese).
NASA 9th LBA-ECO Science Team Meeting, São Paulo, Brazil. “Annual pasture and
cropland expansion in Mato Grosso from MODIS phenology metrics.”
2005
2005
XII Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Goiânia, Brazil. “Validation of
MODIS annual deforestation monitoring with CBERS, Landsat, and field data” (in
Portuguese).
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
JOURNAL ARTICLES
1.
McManus, K, Morton DC, Masek JF, Wang D, Sexton J, Nagol J, Ropars P, Boudreau S.
(submitted). Satellite-based evidence for shrub and grassland expansion in northern
Quebec since 1986.
2.
Wang, D, Morton DC, Masek JF, Wu A, Nagol J, Xiong X, Levy R, Vermote E, Wolfe R.
(2012). Impact of sensor degradation on the MODIS NDVI time series. Remote Sensing
of Environment, 119:55-61.
3.
Macedo M, DeFries RS, Morton DC, Stickler CM, Galford GL, Shimabukuro YE. (2012).
Decoupling of deforestation and soy production in the southern Amazon during the late
2000’s. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi/10.1073/pnas.1111374109
4.
Morton DC, Sales MH, Souza Jr CM, Griscom B. (2011). Historic emissions from
deforestation and degradation in Mato Grosso, Brazil: 1) Source data uncertainties.
Carbon Balance and Management, 6:18, doi:10.1186/1750-0680-6-18.
5.
Chen Y, Randerson JT, Morton DC, DeFries RS, Collatz GJ, Kasibhatla PS, Giglio L, Jin
Y, Marlier M. (2011). Predicting fire season severity in South America using sea surface
temperature anomalies. Science, 334:787-791, 11 November 2011.
6.
Mu M, Randerson JT, van der Werf GR, Giglio L, Kasibhatla PS, Morton DC, Collatz GJ,
DeFries RS, Hyer EJ, Prins EM, Griffith DWT, Wunch D, Toon GC, Sherlock V,
DCM-5
Wennberg PO. (2011). Daily and hourly variability in global fire emissions and
consequences for atmospheric model predictions of carbon monoxide. Journal of
Geophysical Research, 116, D24303, doi:10.1029/2011JD016245.
7.
Morton DC, DeFries RS, Nagol J, Souza Jr. CM, Kasischke ES, Hurtt GC, Dubayah R
(2011). Mapping canopy damage from understory fires in Amazon forests using
annual time series of Landsat and MODIS data. Remote Sensing of Environment
115(7): 1706-1720.
8.
van der Werf GR, Randerson JT, Giglio L, Collatz GJ, Mu M, Kasibhatla PS, Morton DC,
DeFries RS, Jin Y, van Leeuwen TT (2010). Global fire emissions and the contribution of
deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural, and peat fires (1997-2009). Atmos. Chem.
Phys., 10, 11707-11735.
9.
Le Page Y, van der Werf GR, Morton DC, Pereira JMC (2010). Modeling fire-driven
deforestation potential in Amazonia under current and projected climate conditions.
Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences 115, G03012,
doi:10.1029/2009JG001190.
10.
Chen Y, Randerson JT, van der Werf GR, Morton DC, Kasibhatla PS (2010). Nitrogen
deposition in tropical forests from deforestation and savanna fires. Global Change Biology
16(7), 2024-2038, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02156.x.
11.
Giglio L, Randerson JT, van der Werf GR, Kasibhatla PS, Collatz GJ, Morton DC,
DeFries RS (2010). Assessing variability and long-term trends in burned area by merging
multiple satellite fire products. Biogeosciences 7, 1171-1186.
12.
van der Werf GR, Morton DC, DeFries RS, Olivieir JGJ, Kasibhatla PS, Jackson RB,
Collatz GJ, Randerson JT (2009). CO2 emissions from forest loss. Nature Geoscience 2,
737-738.
13.
van der Werf GR, Morton DC, DeFries RS, Gilgio L, Randerson JT, Collatz GJ,
Kasibhatla PS (2009). Estimates of deforestation-induced carbon fluxes in the southern
Amazon based on satellite data and biogeochemical modeling. Biogeosciences 6, 239-245.
14.
DeFries RS, Morton DC, van der Werf GR, Giglio L, Collatz GJ, Randerson JT,
Houghton RA, Kasibhatla PS (2008). Fire-related carbon emissions from multiple land
use transitions in southern Amazonia. Geophysical Research Letters 35,
doi:10.1029/2008GL035689.
15.
van der Werf GR, Dempewolf J, Trigg SN, Randerson JT, Kasibhatla P, Giglio L,
Murdiyarso D, Peters W, Morton DC, Collatz GJ, DeFries RS (2008). Climate regulation
of fire emissions and deforestation in equatorial Asia. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 105(51), 20350-20355.
DCM-6
16.
Morton DC, DeFries RS, Randerson JT, Giglio L, Schroeder W, Van der Werf GR (2008).
Agricultural intensification increases deforestation fire activity in Amazonia. Global
Change Biology 14, 2262-2275.
17.
Giglio L, Csiszar I, Restás Á, Morisette JT, Schroeder W, Morton DC, Justice CO (2008).
Active fire detection and characterization with the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal
Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). Remote Sensing of Environment 112,
3055-3063.
18.
Schroeder W, Prins E, Giglio L, Csiszar I, Schmidt C, Morrisette J, Morton DC (2008).
Validation of GOES and MODIS active fire detection productions using ASTER and
ETM+. Remote Sensing of Environment 112, 2711-2726.
19.
Chambers JQ, Asner GP, Morton DC, Anderson LO, Saatchi SS, Espirito-Santo FDB,
Palace M, Souza Jr. CM (2007). Regional ecosystem structure and function: ecological
insights from remote sensing of tropical forests. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 22(8),
414-423.
20.
Morton DC, Shimabukuro YE, Rudorff BFT, Lima A, Freitas R, DeFries RS (2007).
Challenges for conservation at the agricultural frontier: deforestation, fire, and land use
dynamics in Mato Grosso. Agua & Ambiente 2(1), 5-20.
21.
Pongratz J, Bounoua L, DeFries RS, Morton DC, Anderson LO, Mauser W, Klink C
(2006). The impact of land cover change on surface energy and water balance in Mato
Grosso, Brazil. Earth Interactions 10, Paper 10-019.
22.
Morton DC, DeFries RS, Shimabukuro YE, Anderson LO, Arai E, Espirito-Santo FDB,
Freitas R, Morisette J (2006). Cropland expansion changes deforestation dynamics in the
southern Brazilian Amazon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(39),
14637-14641.
23.
Jasinski EW, Morton DC, DeFries RS, Shimabukuro YE, Anderson LO, Hansen MC
(2005). Physical landscape correlates of the expansion of mechanized agriculture in Mato
Grosso, Brazil. Earth Interactions 9, Paper 09-016.
24.
Schroeder W, Morisette J, Csiszar I, Giglio L, Morton DC, Justice CO (2005).
Characterizing vegetation fire dynamics in Brazil through multisatellite data: Common
trends and practical issues. Earth Interactions 9, Paper 09-013.
25.
Anderson LO, Shimabukuro YE, DeFries RS, Morton DC (2005). Assessment of
deforestation in near real time over the Brazilian Amazon using multitemporal fraction
images derived from Terra MODIS. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters 2(3),
315-318.
DCM-7
26.
Morton DC, DeFries RS, Shimabukuro YE, Anderson LO, del bon Espírito-Santo F,
Hansen MC, Carroll M (2005). Rapid assessment of annual deforestation in the Brazilian
Amazon using MODIS data. Earth Interactions 9, Paper 09-008.
BOOKS, BOOK CHAPTERS
27.
Morton DC, DeFries RS, Shimabukuro YE (in press). Cropland expansion in Cerrado and
transition forest ecosystems: Quantifying habitat loss from satellite-based vegetation
phenology. In: Cerrado Land-use and Conservation: Assessing Trade-offs Between
Human and Ecological Needs. Klink C, DeFries RS, Cavalcanti R, eds. Conservation
International, Washington, DC.
28.
Alves DS, Morton DC, Batistella M, Roberts DA, Souza Jr. S (2009). The Changing
Rates and Patterns of Deforestation and Land Use in Brazilian Amazonia. In: Amazonia
and Global Change. Gash J, Keller M, Bustamente M, Silva Dias P, eds. American
Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.
29.
Morton DC, Roessing M, Camp A, Tyrrell M (2003). Assessing the Environmental,
Social, and Economic Impacts of Wildfire. New Haven, Global Institute of Sustainable
Forestry, Yale University. 59 pp.
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
30.
Morton DC, Shimabukuro YE, Freitas RM, Arai E, DeFries RS (2007). Secondary forest
dynamics and Cerradão loss in Mato Grosso during 2001-2005 from MODIS phenology
time series. Anais XIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Florianópolis, Brasil,
21-26 abril 2007, INPE, p. 6859-6866.
31.
Morton DC, Espirito-Santo FDB, Shimabukuro YE, DeFries RS, Anderson LO (2005).
Validation of MODIS annual deforestation monitoring with CBERS, Landsat, and field
data. Anais XII Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Goiânia, Brasil, 16-21
abril 2005, INPE, p. 3159-3166.
32.
Anderson LO, Shimabukuro YE, DeFries RS, Morton DC, Espirito-Santo FDB, Jasinski E,
Hansen M, Lima A, Duarte V (2005). Utilização de dados multitemporais do sensor MODIS
para o mapeamento da cobertura e uso da terra. Anais XII Simpósio Brasileiro de
Sensoriamento Remoto, Goiânia, Brasil, 16-21 abril 2005, INPE, p. 3443-345.
DCM-8