I created a video that describes the entire tragic 2014
field season in Nepal and has footage of both my crevasse
fall and climb as well as the tragic accident that killed 16
Nepali climbers on Mt. Everest - it can be found at:
What lead you to such an adventurous career path?
I saw a need for more data collection in these remote
regions. I also teach biogeography and one of the common
laments is that the Naturalist as a profession no longer
exists. I try to do some of the same things by exploring the
world and collecting environmental data in conjunction
with a variety of other great scientists in the ACSP.
Describe your job in five words.
Paperwork, teaching, paperwork, research, paperwork.
What would you like to see happen in your lifetime in
the geospatial industry?
Unfortunately, what I would most like would be to see
us go back in time—which isn’t possible. Quality remote
sensing imagery from 1900 or even 1920 would be incred-
ible. There have been so many changes since the 1970’s
when we first began to get multi spectral images, but think
about history and how the world changed after WWII. I
would love to be able to do change detection at the century
scale instead of the decadal. I guess I will just have to keep
working for 60 more years...
If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it
be? What would you discuss?
Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most interesting people I
history and would be great to meet. Unfortunately I don’t
speak Italian and so our discussion would be short.
John All has written a series of highlight
Articles about ACSP Expeditions for
PE&RS
.
Remote Sensing and Ground-Based Measurements
Across A Remote Rainforest Transect —
published in the
May 2014 issue.
Connecting Pixels with People to Examine
Environmental Changes in the Mt. Everest Region of
Nepal —
published in the July 2014 issue.
Remote Sensing And Ground-Based Measurements
Across A Remote Rainforest Transect —
scheduled to be
published in the September 2014 issue.
Disentangling the Effects of Environmental Variability
from Land Management Decisions on Changing
Semi-Arid Savanna Landscapes in Southern Africa
using Remote Sensing —
scheduled to be published in the
November 2014 issue.
Remote Sensing Challenges in
Mountainous Regions
Remote sensing technology is advancing
at a dizzying pace as ever more accurate
sensors and analysis techniques emerge.
However, while this cornucopia provides
us with seemingly unlimited tools, there
is still the need for ground reference data
and other ancillary data so that the radiative transfer state
variables translate into biophysical variables of interest. The
American Climber Science Program (ACSP) is on the cutting
edge of this process as we explore some of the harshest areas
on Earth – from Central American mountain rain forest to the
summit of Mt. Everest - and gather data that is integrated
through remote sensing to create holistic understandings of
these environmental systems. The ACSP is an integrated
research program designed to facilitate field data collection
opportunities for scientists in regions that are difficult to
access. Scientists and climbers come together for expeditions
to collect in situ data for scientific projects and to share their
enthusiasm for the mountains. Research expeditions are also
designed to provide opportunities for non-scientists to learn
about scientific practices as well as to instruct future scientists
on safety in mountain regions.
The ACSP’s central tenet is integrated research and our ex-
peditions are formed of scientists and students from diverse
disciplines. Each participant leads their individual project and
also assists in data gathering for all of the expedition stud-
ies. We gather a variety of ground data: from spectroradiom-
eter readings to glacier particulate composition and quantity
to interviews of local yak herders on grazing patterns. This
information is then integrated and regionalized using remote
sensing data to help inform local resource management and
conservation efforts in coordination with various stakeholders.
At the end of the day, we seek out research projects with max-
imum societal benefit and scientific innovation.
Over the next year, we will be periodically sharing ACSP work
from Central America, Africa, the Himalayas, and the Andes as
PE&RS
Highlight articles. More information can be found about
the ACSP at
or
.
org and we invite collaborators in all disciplines.
Our first example will be from the ACSP Cordillera Blanca
expeditions in Peru. In association with
the American Alpine
Club, the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment, Huascaran
National Park, and several PeruvianUniversities, the ACSP has
conducted research expeditions where, among other things, we
have sampled anthropogenic pollutants deposited on glaciers.
These pollutants can lead to increased glacier melt rates and
the article which follows discusses the issues involved in using
remote sensing techniques to detect these pollutants.
John All, Executive Director, American Climber Science
Program; Department of Geography and Geology, Western
Kentucky University
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
August 2014
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