Maurice Estes - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Maurice Estes

Research paper thumbnail of Asthma and Air Quality in the Presence of Fires - A Foundation for Public Health Policy in Florida

Research paper thumbnail of Analyzing the Relationship Between Influenza-like-Illnesses (ILI's), Mortality Rates, Temperature, Humidity, and Precipitation in Alabama from 2013-2018 using NASA's Remotely Sensed Data

Research paper thumbnail of Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to investigate habitat suitability of the Cape Vulture in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

Research paper thumbnail of Use of MODIS Terra Imagery to Estimate Surface Water Quality Standards, Using Lake Thonotosassa, Florida, as a Case Study

Research paper thumbnail of Heat Island Mitigation Measures in Response to Climate Change Impacts

, in his book The City is the Frontier, wrote: "A city ... is the pulsating product of the human ... more , in his book The City is the Frontier, wrote: "A city ... is the pulsating product of the human hand and mind, reflecting man's history, his struggle for freedom, creativity, genius, and his selfishness and errors." *Cities have been viewed from a wide range of perspectives as representative examples of the "best" and "worst" of human creativity and selfishness

Research paper thumbnail of Using Remote Sensing Data to Evaluate Habitat Loss in the Mobile, Galveston, and Tampa Bay Watersheds

Journal of Coastal Research, 2010

The Gulf of Mexico has experienced dramatic wetland habitat area losses over the last two centuri... more The Gulf of Mexico has experienced dramatic wetland habitat area losses over the last two centuries. These losses not only damage species diversity, but contribute to water quality, flood control, and aspects of the Gulf coast economy. Overall wetland losses since the 1950s were examined using land cover/land use (LCLU) change analysis in three Gulf coast watershed regions: Mobile Bay, Galveston Bay, and Tampa Bay. Two primary causes of this loss, LCLU change and climate change, were then assessed using LCLU maps, U.S. census population data, and available current and historical climate data from NOAA. Sea level rise, precipitation, and temperature effects were addressed, with emphasis on analysis of the effects of sea level rise on salt marsh degradation. Ecological impacts of wetland loss, including fishery depletion, eutrophication, and hypoxia were addressed using existing literature and data available from NOAA. These ecological consequences in turn have had an affect on the Gulf coast economy, which was analyzed using fishery data and addressing public health impacts of changes in the environment caused by wetland habitat loss. While recent federal and state efforts to reduce wetland habitat loss have been relatively successful, this study implies a need for more aggressive action in the Gulf coast area, as the effects of wetland loss reach far beyond individual wetland systems themselves to the Gulf of Mexico as a whole.

Research paper thumbnail of Remote Sensing of Atlanta's Urban Sprawl and the Distribution of Land Cover and Surface Temperature

ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansio... more ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansion of Atlanta, Georgia. Urban surfaces have very different thermal properties than natural surfaces-storing solar energy throughout the day and continuing to release it as sensible heat well after sunset. The resulting heat island effect serves as catalysts for chemical reactions from vehicular exhaust and industrialization leading to a deterioration in air quality. In this study, high spatial resolution multispectral remote sensing data has been used to characterize the type, thermal properties, and distribution of land surface materials throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area. Ten-meter data were acquired with the Advanced Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) on May 11 and 12, 1997. ATLAS is a 15-channel multispectral scanner that incorporates the Landsat TM bands with additional bands in the middle reflective infrared and thermal infrared range. The high spatial resolution permitted discrimination of discrete surface types (e.g., concrete, asphalt), individual structures (e.g., buildings, houses) and their associated thermal characteristics. There is a strong temperature contrast between vegetation and anthropomorphic features. Vegetation has a modal temperature at about 20 C, whereas asphalt shingles, pavement, and buildings have a modal temperature of about 39 C. Broad-leaf vegetation classes are indistinguishable on a thermal basis alone. There is slightly more variability (+/-5 C) among the urban surfaces. Grasses, mixed vegetation and mixed urban surfaces are intermediate in temperature and are characterized by broader temperature distributions with modes of about 29 C. Thermal maps serve as a basis for understanding the distribution of "hotspots", i.e., how landscape features and urban fabric contribute the most heat to the lower atmosphere.

Research paper thumbnail of Downscaling MODIS Land Surface Temperature for Urban Public Health Applications

This study is part of a project funded by the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Program, which ... more This study is part of a project funded by the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Program, which focuses on Earth science applications of remote sensing data for enhancing public health decisionmaking. Heat related death is currently the number one weather-related killer in the United States. Mortality from these events is expected to increase as a function of climate change. This activity sought to augment current Heat Watch/Warning Systems (HWWS) with NASA remotely sensed data, and models used in conjunction with socioeconomic and heat-related mortality data. The current HWWS do not take into account intra-urban spatial variations in risk assessment. The purpose of this effort is to evaluate potential methods to improve spatial delineation of risk from extreme heat events in urban environments by integrating sociodemographic risk factors with land surface temperature (LST) estimates derived from thermal remote sensing data. In order to further improve the assessment of intra-urban variations in risk from extreme heat, we developed and evaluated a number of spatial statistical techniques for downscaling the 1-km daily MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST data to 60 m using Landsat-derived LST data, which have finer spatial but coarser temporal resolution than MODIS. These techniques have been demonstrated and validated for

Research paper thumbnail of Environmental Public Health Surveillance for Exposure to Respiratory Health Hazards: A Joint NASA/CDC Project to Use Remote Sensing Data for Estimating Airborne Particulate Matter Over the Atlanta, Georgia Metropolitan Area

Research paper thumbnail of Using Remotely Sensed Data and Hydrologic Models to Evaluate the Effects of Climate Change on Shallow Aquatic Ecosystems in the Mobile Bay, AL Estuary

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating the Impact of Land Use Change on Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Stressors in Mobile Bay

Alabama coastal systems have been subjected to increasing pressure from a variety of activities i... more Alabama coastal systems have been subjected to increasing pressure from a variety of activities including urban and rural development, shoreline modifications, industrial activities, and dredging of shipping and navigation channels. The impacts on coastal ecosystems are often ...

Research paper thumbnail of Remote Sensing of Atlanta's Urban Sprawl and the Distribution of Land Cover and Surface Temperatures

ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansio... more ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansion of Atlanta, Georgia. Urban surfaces have very different thermal properties than natural surfaces-storing solar energy throughout the day and continuing to release it as sensible heat well after sunset. The resulting heat island effect serves as catalysts for chemical reactions from vehicular exhaust and industrialization leading to a deterioration in air quality. In this study, high spatial resolution multispectral remote sensing data has been used to characterize the type, thermal properties, and distribution of land surface materials throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area. Ten-meter data were acquired with the Advanced Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) on May 11 and 12, 1997. ATLAS is a 15-channel multispectral scanner that incorporates the Landsat TM bands with additional bands in the middle reflective infrared and thermal infrared range. The high spatial resolution permitted discrimination of discrete surface types (e.g., concrete, asphalt), individual structures (e.g., buildings, houses) and their associated thermal characteristics. There is a strong temperature contrast between vegetation and anthropomorphic features. Vegetation has a modal temperature at about 20 C, whereas asphalt shingles, pavement, and buildings have a modal temperature of about 39 C. Broad-leaf vegetation classes are indistinguishable on a thermal basis alone. There is slightly more variability (+/-5 C) among the urban surfaces. Grasses, mixed vegetation and mixed urban surfaces are intermediate in temperature and are characterized by broader temperature distributions with modes of about 29 C. Thermal maps serve as a basis for understanding the distribution of "hotspots", i.e., how landscape features and urban fabric contribute the most heat to the lower atmosphere.

Research paper thumbnail of Assessing Riparian Buffer Zone Health of Pinhook Creek, Madison County, AL, using NASA's Remotely Sensed Data to Understand Impacts on Water Quality and Quantity

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Developing a Dynamic SPARROW Water Quality Decision Support System Using NASA Remotely-Sensed Products

Research paper thumbnail of Heat Warning Decision Support System Enhancements in New York State Using Satellite Derived Estimates of Air Temperature

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Project ATLANTA (Atlanta Land use Analysis: Temperature and Air Quality): Use of Remote Sensing and Modeling to Analyze How Urban Land Use Change Affects Meteorology and Air Quality Through Time

Dale A. Quattrochi, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Global Hydrology and Cli... more Dale A. Quattrochi, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Global Hydrology and Climate Ctr. (GHCC), Huntsville, AL; and JC Luvall, MG Estes, CP Lo, SQ Kidder, J. Hafner, H. Taha, RD Bornstein, RR Gillies, and KP Gallo ...

Research paper thumbnail of Using Remotely Sensed Data and Watershed and Hydrodynamic Models to Evaluate the Effects of Land Cover Land Use Change on Aquatic Ecosystems in Mobile Bay, AL

Research paper thumbnail of The Urban Heat Island Phenomenon: How Its Effects Can Influence Environmental Decision Making in Your Community

Research paper thumbnail of Pecora 22: Remote Sensing for Freshwater and Marine Environments

Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin

Research paper thumbnail of Urban Landscape Characterization Using Remote Sensing Data For Input into Air Quality Modeling

ABSTRACT The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured... more ABSTRACT The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured in air quality models that are used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, particularly for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of air quality models to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well these models predict ozone pollutant levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban growth projections as improved inputs to meteorological and air quality models focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling schemes. Use of these data have been found to better characterize low density/suburban development as compared with USGS 1 km land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for future scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission. This allows the State Environmental Protection agency to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect future air quality.

Research paper thumbnail of Asthma and Air Quality in the Presence of Fires - A Foundation for Public Health Policy in Florida

Research paper thumbnail of Analyzing the Relationship Between Influenza-like-Illnesses (ILI's), Mortality Rates, Temperature, Humidity, and Precipitation in Alabama from 2013-2018 using NASA's Remotely Sensed Data

Research paper thumbnail of Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to investigate habitat suitability of the Cape Vulture in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

Research paper thumbnail of Use of MODIS Terra Imagery to Estimate Surface Water Quality Standards, Using Lake Thonotosassa, Florida, as a Case Study

Research paper thumbnail of Heat Island Mitigation Measures in Response to Climate Change Impacts

, in his book The City is the Frontier, wrote: "A city ... is the pulsating product of the human ... more , in his book The City is the Frontier, wrote: "A city ... is the pulsating product of the human hand and mind, reflecting man's history, his struggle for freedom, creativity, genius, and his selfishness and errors." *Cities have been viewed from a wide range of perspectives as representative examples of the "best" and "worst" of human creativity and selfishness

Research paper thumbnail of Using Remote Sensing Data to Evaluate Habitat Loss in the Mobile, Galveston, and Tampa Bay Watersheds

Journal of Coastal Research, 2010

The Gulf of Mexico has experienced dramatic wetland habitat area losses over the last two centuri... more The Gulf of Mexico has experienced dramatic wetland habitat area losses over the last two centuries. These losses not only damage species diversity, but contribute to water quality, flood control, and aspects of the Gulf coast economy. Overall wetland losses since the 1950s were examined using land cover/land use (LCLU) change analysis in three Gulf coast watershed regions: Mobile Bay, Galveston Bay, and Tampa Bay. Two primary causes of this loss, LCLU change and climate change, were then assessed using LCLU maps, U.S. census population data, and available current and historical climate data from NOAA. Sea level rise, precipitation, and temperature effects were addressed, with emphasis on analysis of the effects of sea level rise on salt marsh degradation. Ecological impacts of wetland loss, including fishery depletion, eutrophication, and hypoxia were addressed using existing literature and data available from NOAA. These ecological consequences in turn have had an affect on the Gulf coast economy, which was analyzed using fishery data and addressing public health impacts of changes in the environment caused by wetland habitat loss. While recent federal and state efforts to reduce wetland habitat loss have been relatively successful, this study implies a need for more aggressive action in the Gulf coast area, as the effects of wetland loss reach far beyond individual wetland systems themselves to the Gulf of Mexico as a whole.

Research paper thumbnail of Remote Sensing of Atlanta's Urban Sprawl and the Distribution of Land Cover and Surface Temperature

ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansio... more ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansion of Atlanta, Georgia. Urban surfaces have very different thermal properties than natural surfaces-storing solar energy throughout the day and continuing to release it as sensible heat well after sunset. The resulting heat island effect serves as catalysts for chemical reactions from vehicular exhaust and industrialization leading to a deterioration in air quality. In this study, high spatial resolution multispectral remote sensing data has been used to characterize the type, thermal properties, and distribution of land surface materials throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area. Ten-meter data were acquired with the Advanced Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) on May 11 and 12, 1997. ATLAS is a 15-channel multispectral scanner that incorporates the Landsat TM bands with additional bands in the middle reflective infrared and thermal infrared range. The high spatial resolution permitted discrimination of discrete surface types (e.g., concrete, asphalt), individual structures (e.g., buildings, houses) and their associated thermal characteristics. There is a strong temperature contrast between vegetation and anthropomorphic features. Vegetation has a modal temperature at about 20 C, whereas asphalt shingles, pavement, and buildings have a modal temperature of about 39 C. Broad-leaf vegetation classes are indistinguishable on a thermal basis alone. There is slightly more variability (+/-5 C) among the urban surfaces. Grasses, mixed vegetation and mixed urban surfaces are intermediate in temperature and are characterized by broader temperature distributions with modes of about 29 C. Thermal maps serve as a basis for understanding the distribution of "hotspots", i.e., how landscape features and urban fabric contribute the most heat to the lower atmosphere.

Research paper thumbnail of Downscaling MODIS Land Surface Temperature for Urban Public Health Applications

This study is part of a project funded by the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Program, which ... more This study is part of a project funded by the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Program, which focuses on Earth science applications of remote sensing data for enhancing public health decisionmaking. Heat related death is currently the number one weather-related killer in the United States. Mortality from these events is expected to increase as a function of climate change. This activity sought to augment current Heat Watch/Warning Systems (HWWS) with NASA remotely sensed data, and models used in conjunction with socioeconomic and heat-related mortality data. The current HWWS do not take into account intra-urban spatial variations in risk assessment. The purpose of this effort is to evaluate potential methods to improve spatial delineation of risk from extreme heat events in urban environments by integrating sociodemographic risk factors with land surface temperature (LST) estimates derived from thermal remote sensing data. In order to further improve the assessment of intra-urban variations in risk from extreme heat, we developed and evaluated a number of spatial statistical techniques for downscaling the 1-km daily MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST data to 60 m using Landsat-derived LST data, which have finer spatial but coarser temporal resolution than MODIS. These techniques have been demonstrated and validated for

Research paper thumbnail of Environmental Public Health Surveillance for Exposure to Respiratory Health Hazards: A Joint NASA/CDC Project to Use Remote Sensing Data for Estimating Airborne Particulate Matter Over the Atlanta, Georgia Metropolitan Area

Research paper thumbnail of Using Remotely Sensed Data and Hydrologic Models to Evaluate the Effects of Climate Change on Shallow Aquatic Ecosystems in the Mobile Bay, AL Estuary

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating the Impact of Land Use Change on Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Stressors in Mobile Bay

Alabama coastal systems have been subjected to increasing pressure from a variety of activities i... more Alabama coastal systems have been subjected to increasing pressure from a variety of activities including urban and rural development, shoreline modifications, industrial activities, and dredging of shipping and navigation channels. The impacts on coastal ecosystems are often ...

Research paper thumbnail of Remote Sensing of Atlanta's Urban Sprawl and the Distribution of Land Cover and Surface Temperatures

ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansio... more ABSTRACT Between 1973 and 1992, an average of 20 ha of forest was lost each day to urban expansion of Atlanta, Georgia. Urban surfaces have very different thermal properties than natural surfaces-storing solar energy throughout the day and continuing to release it as sensible heat well after sunset. The resulting heat island effect serves as catalysts for chemical reactions from vehicular exhaust and industrialization leading to a deterioration in air quality. In this study, high spatial resolution multispectral remote sensing data has been used to characterize the type, thermal properties, and distribution of land surface materials throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area. Ten-meter data were acquired with the Advanced Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) on May 11 and 12, 1997. ATLAS is a 15-channel multispectral scanner that incorporates the Landsat TM bands with additional bands in the middle reflective infrared and thermal infrared range. The high spatial resolution permitted discrimination of discrete surface types (e.g., concrete, asphalt), individual structures (e.g., buildings, houses) and their associated thermal characteristics. There is a strong temperature contrast between vegetation and anthropomorphic features. Vegetation has a modal temperature at about 20 C, whereas asphalt shingles, pavement, and buildings have a modal temperature of about 39 C. Broad-leaf vegetation classes are indistinguishable on a thermal basis alone. There is slightly more variability (+/-5 C) among the urban surfaces. Grasses, mixed vegetation and mixed urban surfaces are intermediate in temperature and are characterized by broader temperature distributions with modes of about 29 C. Thermal maps serve as a basis for understanding the distribution of "hotspots", i.e., how landscape features and urban fabric contribute the most heat to the lower atmosphere.

Research paper thumbnail of Assessing Riparian Buffer Zone Health of Pinhook Creek, Madison County, AL, using NASA's Remotely Sensed Data to Understand Impacts on Water Quality and Quantity

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Developing a Dynamic SPARROW Water Quality Decision Support System Using NASA Remotely-Sensed Products

Research paper thumbnail of Heat Warning Decision Support System Enhancements in New York State Using Satellite Derived Estimates of Air Temperature

AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, Dec 1, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Project ATLANTA (Atlanta Land use Analysis: Temperature and Air Quality): Use of Remote Sensing and Modeling to Analyze How Urban Land Use Change Affects Meteorology and Air Quality Through Time

Dale A. Quattrochi, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Global Hydrology and Cli... more Dale A. Quattrochi, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Global Hydrology and Climate Ctr. (GHCC), Huntsville, AL; and JC Luvall, MG Estes, CP Lo, SQ Kidder, J. Hafner, H. Taha, RD Bornstein, RR Gillies, and KP Gallo ...

Research paper thumbnail of Using Remotely Sensed Data and Watershed and Hydrodynamic Models to Evaluate the Effects of Land Cover Land Use Change on Aquatic Ecosystems in Mobile Bay, AL

Research paper thumbnail of The Urban Heat Island Phenomenon: How Its Effects Can Influence Environmental Decision Making in Your Community

Research paper thumbnail of Pecora 22: Remote Sensing for Freshwater and Marine Environments

Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin

Research paper thumbnail of Urban Landscape Characterization Using Remote Sensing Data For Input into Air Quality Modeling

ABSTRACT The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured... more ABSTRACT The urban landscape is inherently complex and this complexity is not adequately captured in air quality models that are used to assess whether urban areas are in attainment of EPA air quality standards, particularly for ground level ozone. This inadequacy of air quality models to sufficiently respond to the heterogeneous nature of the urban landscape can impact how well these models predict ozone pollutant levels over metropolitan areas and ultimately, whether cities exceed EPA ozone air quality standards. We are exploring the utility of high-resolution remote sensing data and urban growth projections as improved inputs to meteorological and air quality models focusing on the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area as a case study. The National Land Cover Dataset at 30m resolution is being used as the land use/land cover input and aggregated to the 4km scale for the MM5 mesoscale meteorological model and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling schemes. Use of these data have been found to better characterize low density/suburban development as compared with USGS 1 km land use/land cover data that have traditionally been used in modeling. Air quality prediction for future scenarios to 2030 is being facilitated by land use projections using a spatial growth model. Land use projections were developed using the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan developed by the Atlanta Regional Commission. This allows the State Environmental Protection agency to evaluate how these transportation plans will affect future air quality.