Dr Robert Bryant

PhD

School of Geography and Planning

Reader in Earth Observation

Robert Bryant
Profile picture of Robert Bryant
R.G.Bryant@Sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7966
F6, Geography and Planning Building

Full contact details

Dr Robert Bryant
School of Geography and Planning
F6
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
Profile
I initially trained as an Earth Scientist with a BSc (hons) in Geology, followed by a PhD at PRIS/Department of Geography, University of Reading investigating the "sedimentology and hydrochemistry of the Chott el Djerid, Tunisia using remote sensing" - which allowed me to enter the world of Earth Observation. Post-PhD I worked a Research Assistant at Reading working on the pre-processing of AVHRR data (as part of the TREES project), and then spent a summer as a Research Assistant in Iceland working on a project focused on monitoring aeolian processes. I then gained Postdoctoral Fellowhip and Lectureship positions in Environmental Sciences at the University of Stirling where my research broadened into the use of airborne remote sensing and field spectroradiometry. I then moved to a Lecturership in Applied Remote Sensing at Sheffield. I have now been at Sheffield for over 25 years, and in that time have promoted to Senior Lecturer and Reader in Earth Observation.
Research interests

As an Earth Observation (EO) Science practitioner I’m particularly interested in driving conceptual, methodological, and evidential insights into global change. My interdisciplinary research leverages field data to build robust, multi-scale models These have been focused on studies of landscape dynamics, the global dust cycle, and development of geospatial technologies. My work provides a rigorous scientific foundation for climate assessments, supported by diverse funding from UKRI, ESA, the Royal Society, Leverhulme, Velux Stiftung and others.

My research spans three main areas onf endeavour:

1. Pioneering EO and Geospatial Technologies: I have develop cutting-edge monitoring solutions for dynamic environments (lakes, rivers, forests, wetlands, volcanoes) using airborne and ground data, UAS, satellite constellations, and field spectroradiometry. This research has generated significant real-world impact.

2. Observing Aeolian Processes and Dust Hazards: Using EO data, I have addressed key knowledge gaps in mineral dust source regions and their climatic impacts. By constructing pioneering regional and global dust source inventories across Africa, the Americas, and Australia, my work has contributed to improved climate forecast models and sand and dust storm hazard programs.

3. Benchmark Understanding of Landscape Dynamics: My research has focused on studies of hydrological and ecological responses to rapid climate change and associated impacts. Key outcomes include establishing the first monitoring benchmark for illegal selective logging in Peru with the World Resources Institute.

Publications

Journal articles

Book chapters

Conference proceedings

Reports

Datasets

Other

Preprints

Teaching interests

I have over 30 years of teaching experience across diverse international contexts, including work in the UK, Finland, Zambia, South Africa, and Namibia. My portfolio spans all levels - from undergraduate (UG) to postgraduate (PGT) - and class sizes ranging from small groups of 6 to large cohorts exceeding 300 students. To ensure relevance and engagement, my teaching is consistently underpinned by contemporary case studies drawn from both published literature and my own ongoing research programmes.

As a long-term advocate for Geospatial and Big Data, I have closely integrated the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) into my curriculum. I am particularly committed to embedding cutting-edge technology and best practices across all levels, specifically:

L1: Geographical Techniques, Geomorphology

L2: Remote Sensing and GIS, Landscape Dynamics, Field Training

L3: Advanced Geospatial Analysis, and UAVs

L4: Environmental Monitoring, Geospatial Analysis

Teaching activities

I am currently Programme Lead for BSc Physical Geography

I teach or lead the following Modules:

  • GPL129 - Critical Inquiry
  • GPL130 - Physical Geography and Environmental Science in the Field
  • GPL237 - Physical Geography Research Design and Fieldwork
  • GPL304 - Geography Dissertation
  • GPL323 - Advanced Geospatial Analysis
  • GPL414 - Environmental Applications of GIS
Professional activities and memberships

Editorial responsibilities

  • Co-Editor of the Journal AREA for the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
  • Journal Reviewer for >20 International, peer-reviewed journals

Committee/panel activities

  • NERC Peer-Review College (2007-2011).
  • NERC EO Mission Support Scheme Moderating Panel (2007).
  • NERC Services Review Group (2008).
  • NERC steering committee for the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station (DSRS) and the NERC -Remote Sensing Data Analysis Service (RSDAS) (2001 - 2006).
  • Council Member of the British Society for Geomorphology (BSG: 2006-2008)
  • Council Member of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc: 2000-2002).
  • Advisor to USGS Dust Source Monitoring Workgroup (2007)

External Examiner roles

  • University of West Indies (Degrees in Geography) 2007-2011
  • Kings College London (Masters Programmes in Geography) 2012-2015
  • I have undertaken 27 PhD Examinations (12 external and 15 internal) - including overseas

Invited Lectures and Visiting Positions

I have given 26 departmental lectures/seminars at a range of locations
Invited research visits to USDA, Texas, ICESS, University of California Santa Barbara,
Invited Visiting Lectureships at the University of Zambia, University of Turku, Finland, and the University of Namibia (via a DAAD Humboldt Fellowship).

Press and Media

  • 02/04/2014 Featured in a Live Blog on air pollution. Quoted in The Guardian
  • 02/04/2014 Weather Alert. Quoted in the Belfast Telegraph and other local newspapers via the Press Association
  • 03/04/2014 Sheffield air pollution rise caused by Sahara dust. Quoted in the Sheffield Star
  • 03/04/2014 The hazy shade of Spring. Quoted in the Yorkshire Post
  • 03/04/2014 Warning to cut outdoor activity - Quoted in the Belfast Telegraph
  • 03/04/2014 Discussion of Saharan dust which was blown over to parts of the UK resulting in a layer of smog covering some towns and cities. Interview with the Independent
  • 03/04/2014 Discussion of Saharan dust which was blown over to parts of the UK resulting in a layer of smog covering some towns and cities. Interview with the BBC (National News)
  • 03/04/2014 Discussion of Saharan dust which was blown over to parts of the UK resulting in a layer of smog covering some towns and cities. Interview on BBC Radio Sheffield
  • 03/04/2014 Discussion of Saharan dust which was blown over to parts of the UK resulting in a layer of smog covering some towns and cities. Interview with Sheffield Star
  • 03/04/2014 Discussion of Saharan dust which was blown over to parts of the UK resulting in a layer of smog covering some towns and cities Discussion with the Guardian
  • 03/04/2014 South Yorks smog explained and YOUR photos. Sheffield Telegraph
  • 03/04/2014 “Smog expert: Worsening Saharan dust storms to become an annual” ...Large Feature (I’m the expert) in the Independent
  • 03/04/2014 Featured on the Nationalheadlines.co.uk web site “Smog expert: Worsening Saharan dust storms to become an annual Spring fixture as climate changes” Nationalheadlines.co.uk
  • 03/04/2014 Above story also features on worldnews.com, and news24.com - along with a quote from me. “The toxic smog that smothered most of Britain this week will become more frequent in coming years, experts warned last night.”
  • 04/04/2014 “999 calls soar as vulnerable choke on smog” – Quoted in The Scotsman
  • 04/04/2014 Is Saharan dust cloud just a load of hot air? Experts divided as even PM gives up his morning jog because of 'poor air quality' – Quoted in the Daily Mail
  • 04/04/2014 Further discussion with the Daily Mail about camel hair found in dust on a car in London!! – Daily Mail
  • 04/04/2014 Further discussion with the Times about the frequency of Saharan dust events, and a subsequent mention in the Sunday Times – The Times
  • 04/04/2014 ….the above "Dust from the Sahara - and more is UK bound“ story was also picked up by the New Zealand Herald and the Sheffield Star “Sheffield air quality 'will get worse'”. New Zealand Herald and Sheffield Star
  • 05/04/2014 “Sahara disease threat: Britain faces potential foot-and-mouth outbreak from smog” Quoted in this article in the Daily Star
  • 06/04/2014 Mentioned prominently in two articles discussing dust and foot and mouth and dust and climate change in general “Climate change to bring years of toxic smog” and “Britain's toxic smog leaves millions of people at risk of heart disease”. The Daily/Sunday Express
  • 06/04/2014 The above story was also picked up by the Star - Star/Star on Sunday
  • 06/04/2014 My outputs were featured on the RGS #geogtoday news feed. Royal Geographical Society
  • 18/3/2015 Daily Mirror quotes me in “Toxic smog hits UK: Air pollution health alert is set trigger asthma attacks and ...”
  • 19/3/2015 Birmingham Mail – Quoted my stance on air pollution complexity and the import of air masses and pollution from Africa from 2014.
  • 19/3/2014 The Daily Record also runs with my suggestions from 2014 in relation to the Smog event in March 2015.
  • 19/3/2015 The Daily Mirror [Toxic smog hits UK: Live updates] also picks up on the same story – and quotes me in a range of contexts.
  • 19/3/2015 Belfast Live picked up on the same story as above….
  • 19/3/2015 The Loughborough Echo does the same….as does the Cheddar Valley Gazette.
  • 8/12/2015 BBC News at 10 Coverage by David Schukman from Etosha Pan regarding the DO4Models project. Lengthy segment which highlighted the global importance of the research programme.
  • 9/12/2015 BBC Science and Environment Editorial about the RCUK funded DO4Models project. This was picked up by a range of other news outlets
Additional research projects

Ephemeral Lakes and Dust Emissions

Atmospheric mineral aerosols impact global climate through the absorption and scattering of incoming solar radiation and outgoing planetary radiation, as well as affecting ocean and terrestrial biogeochemistry. Due to the prevalence of arid surfaces with reduced vegetation cover and high velocity winds, much of the observed atmospheric dust is derived from susceptible surfaces within dryland regions.

Work has shown that topographic lows are the predominant sources of atmospheric desert dust within drylands. However, there are no general theories of why some basins are more active dust sources than other regions. Gross changes in the hydrology of an ephemeral lake system can lead to extreme changes in regional dust emissions (eg Owens Lake). It is possible, therefore, that changes in the frequency and extent of natural inundation occurring on large ephemeral lake systems may lead to significant fluctuations in regional dust loadings on a seasonal and inter-annual basis.

Research here focuses on using a range of remote sensing approaches (eg TOMS, POLDER, AVHRR) to constrain the affect of inundation on dust emissions from ephemeral lake systems in Africa.

Including Collaboration with: Natalie Mahowold (UCSB/NCAR), Giles Wiggs (Oxford), Frank Eckhardt (UCT) and Richard Washington (Oxford). Funding from NERC and the Royal Society.

(A) MODIS Visible (250m – Channel-1) image of dust plumes which seem to emanate from the southern part of Sua Pan (B) SeaWIFS (Channel-2) image of a similar dust plume 10 days later. Here the dust plume also seems to emanate from parts of Ntetwe Pan (C) Near Infra-Red (Landsat ETM-Channel 4) Image showing the extent of standing water on Sua and Ntetwe Pan following heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Eline.

Landsat ETM+ image of the Northern edge of Sua pan after the flood event of 2000.

Monitoring Ephemeral Lakes

In drylands past fluctuations in climate have resulted in relatively extreme changes in regional precipitation regimes. However, within most drylands contemporary changes in regional rainfall patterns are difficult to assess by direct measurement, and are best indicated and preserved by studying changes in the level and chemistry of closed or "non-outlet" lakes. However, many of these basins are un-gauged, and relatively little is known about their hydrologic response to climate inputs.

Research here focuses on the use of time-series EO data to determine inundation frequency and groundwater levels for large ephemeral systems. These data are used to estimate regional hydrologic inputs, and generate simple hydrological models.

Including collaboration with: Dr Charon Birkett (GSFC), NERC Dundee Satellite Receiving Station, NASA Surface Water Working Group. Funding from NERC and the Royal Society

Time series of observations for the Magkadigkadi Basin, (A) Lake inundation data at Sua Pan derived from AVHRR and MODIS data; a time series of NIR reflectance and the percent of the lake area covered by surface water. Key flood events are highlighted, (B) rainfall within the Nata River Catchment derived from gridded climate data (0.5 degree) and flow on the Nata River, (C) Average and anomalies in FASIR FAPAR data for the Makgadikgadi Basin, (D) monthly normalized anomalies (monthly mean minus the mean of the monthly means normalized to one standard deviation) for TOMS AAI v8 (NIMBUS7 and Earth Probe) 1980 through 2005 and wind speed data derived from the ECMWF ERA-40 gridded climate product (1 degree); (E) Sea Surface Temperature anomalies for the Dipole Mode Index (DMI) and Pacific (ENSO3.4) regions. The landfall of Tropical Cyclones on the Eastern Coast of southern Africa are also noted [L]

Applied Remote Sensing

Research here has focused on the innovative application of airborne remote sensing (principally CASI, CASI SWIR and Daedalus ATM) to estuaries, rivers, and wetlands, and a range of other environments. These dynamic and important environments require both progressive and innovative use of remote sensing techniques.

The work has included collaboration with Andrew Tyler and Dave Gilvear (Stirling), Andrew Baird and Angela Harris (Sheffield), Graham Ferrier (Hull). Data from NERC ARSF and FSF facilities.

Daedalus ATM Image of Cors Fochno (Borth Bog) collected in May 2002 as part of a project targeted at understanding and mapping the effects of water stress on Sphagnum spp - and thereby derive proxy measures of seasonal and sub-seasonal water table fluctuations

Co-ordinated Fieldwork at Cors Fochno in May 2002 : (a) Location of the study area, (b) Comparison of monthly rainfall totals for 2002 and mean total rainfall throughout 1981-2003, (c-d) A map of the locations of field sampling sites, and a photograph of typical primary and sub sampling stations

Field and Laboratory Spectroscopy

Reflectance spectroscopy is the study of light as a function of wavelength that has been reflected or scattered from a solid, liquid, or gas. Spectroscopy is therefore a field and laboratory research tool that can be used to identify and map specific materials by detecting specific chemical bonds. As a result it is an excellent tool for environmental assessments, mineral mapping and exploration, vegetation communities/species and health studies, and general land management studies.

Field/Lab Spectrometers

Within the Department of Geography, Sheffield we have a laboratory facility with associated dark room, lights sources and controller PC. We have one ASD Fieldspec-3JR (0.4 - 2.5 micron) spectrometer and one ASD HH (0.1-1.1 micron) spectrometer to measure samples and provide in situ calibration of surface directional reflectance/radiance for terrestrial imaging spectroscopy studies. They also serve as laboratory spectrometers when rapid spectra are needed. We have a series ASD attachments and software to that enable us to analyse a wide range of soil, sediment, rock and vegetation samples.

ASD Fieldspec HH being used to characterise soil reflectance at field sites in Southern Tunisia

NERC FSF ASD Fieldspec Pro being used to characterise a kaeolinite target reflectance at field sites on the island of Milos, Greece as part of an airborne remote sensing campaign

Typical field spectral signatures for S. pulchrum collected in May and September 2002 as part of a laboratory and field campaign targeted at understanding and mapping the Effects of Water Stress on Sphagnum.

Links

SELECT Project  SELECT Project Movie  SELECT Project Story  Centre for Global Wood Security  Google Scholar  Researchgate