Dr Rob Bryant

Reader in Dryland Processes

	Room number:	F6
	Telephone (internal):	27966
	Telephone (UK):	0114 222 7966
	Telephone (International):	+44 114 222 7966
	Email:	R.G.Bryant@Sheffield.ac.uk

Rob gained his BSc (hons) in Geology from the University of Reading in 1989. This was 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 was completed in 1993. He has been a Research Assistant at Reading (1993) working on the pre-processing of AVHRR data, and then spent a summer in Iceland assisting Jukka Käyhkö on a project focused on monitoring aeolian processes. He then went on to take up a Postdoctoral Fellowship (1993-1995) and Lectureship (1995-1998) at the Department of Environmental Science, University of Stirling where his research broadened into the use of airborne remote sensing and field spectroradiometry. He was appointed Lecturer in Applied Remote Sensing at Sheffield in 1999 and in doing so returned to lecturing and researching drylands. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2004, and Reader in Dryland Processes in 2007. Research Interests The global dust cycle, with particular emphasis on monitoring hydrological processes within "dry" arid basins, and remote sensing of mineral aerosols. Applications of airborne remote sensing and field spectroscopy to a range of environments (rivers, wetlands, coasts). I am currently part of the DO4 Models team, involving collaboration with Oxford, Imperial and UCT. The overall aim of this research is to collect the first dust source-area process data tailored to climate model grid-box resolution from targeted remote sensing and fieldwork in order to develop a new generation of model dust emission schemes. Further details on ResearcherID Current Research My current work falls within the following three themes Desert Dust Development and evaluation of remote sensing techniques to understand land/climate interactions, and controls on mineral aerosol emissions dryland regions Desert dust research Ephemeral Lakes The use of global time-series of moderate resolution EO data (e.g. MODIS, SPOT-VGT, AVHRR) to determine inundation frequency and groundwater levels for large un-gauged ephemeral systems. Monitoring of the geochemistry and surface morphology of ephemeral lake systems Ephemeral lakes research Applied Remote Sensing Use of airborne remote sensing and deployment of field spectroradiometry to constrain simple radiative transfer models for use in monitoring/evaluation of surface vegetation, sediments and soils. Applied Remote Sensing research Spectroscopy Laboratory

Tweets by @sheffield_dust

---

Teaching

I have almost 20 years of teaching experience in a range of universities in the UK and other countries (eg Finland, Zambia and Namibia), and have taught classes of all levels and sizes. I currently teach a range of modules at the undergraduate and postgraduate level based on topics that I find to be both exciting and enabling. The major themes of my teaching are driven by my research interests and experience and encompass aspects of dryland geomorphology and the use/exploitation of a range of earth observation approaches. At all levels I encourage learning through inquiry, seek to expose students to the most up to date technological advances in geographical research, and aim to include both field and laboratory components wherever possible.

Rob teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses including:

GEO108 Earth's Changing Surface
GEO211 Applied Remote Sensing
GEO232 Dryland Geomorphology

GEV6010 Introduction to Remote Sensing
GEO6804 International Development Field Class
GEO6807 Understanding Environmental Change

All staff also engage in personal supervision and tutoring of individual students at all three undergraduate levels in the following modules:
GEO163 (Information & Communication Skills for Geographers)
GEO263 or GEO264 (Research Design in Human or Physical Geography)
GEO356 (Geographical Research Project)

Key Publications

• Baddock, M.C., Bullard, J.E. and Bryant, R.G. (2009). Dust source identification using MODIS: a comparison of techniques applied to the Lake Eyre Basin, Australia.  Remote Sensing of Environment, 113(7), 1511-1523.
  doi:10.1016/j.rse.2009.03.002
• Bryant, R.G., Bigg, G.R., Mahowald, N.M., Eckhardt, F.D., and Ross, S.G., (2007). Dust emission response to climate in southern Africa. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres.
  doi:10.1029/2005JD007025
• Harris, A., Bryant, R.G. and Baird, A.J. (2006). Mapping Near-Surface Moisture Stress in Sphagnum spp.: preliminary perspectives using airborne remote sensing. Remote Sensing of Environment, 100, 363-378.
  doi:10.1016/j.rse.2005.10.024
• Mahowold, N.M., Bryant, R.G., del Corral, J. and Steinberger, L. (2003). Ephemeral Lakes and desert dust sources. Geophysical Research Letters, 30(2).
  doi:10.1029/2002GL016041
• Bryant, R.G., and Rainey, M.P. (2002). Investigation of flood inundation on playas within the Zone of Chotts using a time series of AVHRR. Remote Sensing of the Environment, 82, 360-375.
  doi:10.1016/S0034-4257(02)00053-6

Full publication list

Other Information

Rob has been a council member of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc) and the British Society for Geomorphology (BSG (00/01). He is a fellow of the AGU, and an active member of Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research (SCIDR). He has also served a term (2000/06) on the steering committee for the NERC Dundee Satellite Receiving Station (DSRS). Rob has also been a visiting lecturer in remote sensing at the University of Turku, Finland, and the University of Zambia (UNZA), Lusaka, Zambia. He has recently acted as external examiner (2006-2009) for degree courses in Geography at the University of the West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago).

Rob is an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan and retired cricketer.