Education

1982 Bsc Geology Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (the Netherlands)
1987 M.Sc., Hydrogeology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
1998 Ph.D., "Linkages Between Global Vegetation and Climate", Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (the Netherlands)

Career

2006- Reader, Department of Geography, Swansea University
2003-2006 Senior Lecturer; Department of Geography, Swansea University.
2001-2003 Lecturer; Department of Geography, Swansea University.
1995-2001 Lead Interdisciplinary Scientist; Science Systems and Appications Inc. and the Biospheric Sciences Branch, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, USA.
1989-1995 Research Associate/Assistant; Department of Geography, University of Maryland at College Park, and the Biospheric Sciences Branch, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, USA.
1987-1989 Hydrologist; National Forest Survey (Staatsbosbeheer), Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Research Interests and current projects

• NERC Climate and Land Surface Systems Interaction Centre (CLASSIC) http://classic.nerc.ac.uk/
• Interactions between vegetation and climate; Remote Sensing of Global Vegetation, Environmental Modelling
• Co-Investigator on International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Intiative II; http://islscp2.sesda.com/

Recent Publications

Alton PB, North PR, Los SO, 2007, The impact of diffuse sunlight on canopy light-use efficiency, gross photosynthetic product and net ecosystem exchange in three forest biomes, Global Change Biology, 13 (4): 776-787.

Alton PB, Ellis R, Los SO, North PRJ. 2007, Improved global simulations of gross primary product based on a separate and explicit treatment of diffuse and direct sunlight, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. 112 (D7): Art. No. D07203.

Gibelin AL, Calvet JC, Roujean JL, Jarian L, Los SO, 2006, Ability of the land surface model ISBA-A-gs to simulate leaf area index at the global scale: Comparison with satellites products, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 111 (D18): Art. No. D18102.

Los SO, Weedon GP, North PRJ, Kaduk JD, Taylor CM, Cox PM, 2006, An observation-based estimate of the strength of rainfall-vegetation interactions in the Sahel, Geophysical Research Letters, 33(16): Art. No. L16402.

Grey WMF, North PRJ, Los SO, Mitchell, R. 2006, Aerosol optical depth and land surface reflectance from Multiangle AATSR measurements: Global validation and intersensor comparisons IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 44(8), 2184-2197.

Grey WMF, North PRJ, Los SO, 2006, Computationally efficient method for retrieving aerosol optical depth from ATSR-2 and AATSR data, Applied Optics, 45(12): 2786-2795.

Los SO, North PRJ, Grey WMF, Barnsley, M.J., 2005, A method to convert AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index time series to a standard viewing and illumination geometry, Remote Sensing of Enviroment, 99(4): 400-411.

Datasets

• ISLSCP Initiative 2 data (under construction)
• FASIR NDVI 1982-1988 http://islscp2.sesda.com/ISLSCP2_1/html_pages/groups/veg/fasir_ndvi_monthly_xdeg.html. This data set contains monthly FASIR NDVI, on a 1 degree grid, from 1982-1990. The FASIR NDVI data are derived from the Pathfinder AVHRR Land data and are corrected for sensor degradation, volcanic aerosols, outliers in time-series (Fourier Adjustment), Solar zenith angle and view angle effects, missing data in needleleaf evergreen forests during winter (Interpolation), and cloud effects over broadleaf evergreen forests (Reconstruction). FASIR stands for Fourier Adjusted, Solar and view zenith angle correction, Interpolation (of missing data during winter), and Reconstruction of NDVI (over tropical forests). NDVI stands for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. NDVI is related to the amount of light captured by land-surface vegetation for photosynthesis.
• Biophysical parameters 1982-1988 http://islscp2.sesda.com/ISLSCP2_1/html_pages/groups/veg.html FPAR, Total and Green LAI, (aerodynamic) Roughness Length, zero plane displacement, Vegetation cover fraction, soil background reflectance.
• Older versions of FASIR NDVI and related data for 1987 and 1988 are available from the ISLSCP Initiative 1 web site, see ftp://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/islscp_i1/data/vegetatn

Other Links

1. NERC-CLASSIC Home page http://classic.nerc.ac.uk/
2. NERC Home page http://www.nerc.ac.uk
3. ISLSCP Initiative 2 Home page http://islscp2.sesda.com/
4. ISLSCP Initiative 1 Home page http://eosdata.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/ISLSCP/islscp_i1.html
5. Pathfinder AVHRR Land data can be obtained from http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/LAND_BIO/GLBDST_Data.html
6. Department of Geography http://www.swan.ac.uk/geography
7. Swansea University http://www.swan.ac.uk/