Dr. Erika Podest is a scientist with the Water and Carbon Cycles Group in JPL´s Earth Science Division and Visiting Associate Researcher in the Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering (JIFRESSE) at UCLA. Her research focuses on using Earth observing satellites, particularly microwave sensors, for characterizing and monitoring wetland ecosystems and seasonal freeze/thaw dynamics in the northern high latitudes as related to the global carbon and water cycles and climate change. She is working on the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, a NASA Earth observing satellite currently planned for launch in 2014, which will improve our understanding of Earth's water and carbon cycles and our ability to manage water resources. Dr. Podest also leads a project that uses satellite data to study palm swamp wetland ecosystems of the Amazon rainforest to better understand their contribution to the global carbon budget.

Dr. Podest is a member of IEEE and of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

• Ph.D., Applied Physics Specializing in Remote Sensing and Image Processing - University of Dundee, Scotland, UK (2005)
• M.Sc., Applied Physics Specializing in Remote Sensing and Image Processing - University of Dundee, Scotland, UK
• B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Minor in Mathematics and Aviation Safety - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona, USA

Effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems particularly wetlands and the boreal high latitudes using spaceborne microwave remote sensing.

• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
• Scientist, Water and Carbon Cycles Group (2009-present)
• Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar, Water and Carbon Cycles Group, (2006-2008)
• Graduate Researcher, Caltech, Water and Carbon Cycles Group, (2001-2005)
• Visiting Associate, Radar Science Section (1999-2001)
• Intern, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Vienna, Austria (1998)

1. Bateni S.M., C. Huang, S. Margulis, E. Podest, and K. McDonald, 2012. Feasibility of Characterizing Snowpack and the Freeze-Thaw State of Underlying Soil Using Multifrequency Active/Passive Microwave Data. IEEE TGRS. accepted.
2. Schroeder, R., M.A. Rawlins, K. McDonald, E. Podest, R. Zimmermann, and M. Kueppers. 2010. "Satellite microwave remote sensing of North Eurasian inundation dynamics: development of coarse-resolution products and comparison with high-resolution synthetic aperture radar data", Environmental Research Letters 5, 015003 (7pp), doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/5/1/015003.
3. Gao H., T. Bohn, E. Podest, K. McDonald, D. Lettenmaier, 2011. On the Causes of the Shrinking of Lake Chad. Environmental Res. Lett. 6 034021.
4. Rawlins, M.A., M. Steele, M. M. Holland, J. C. Adam, J. E. Cherry, J. A. Francis, P. Ya. Groisman, L. D. Hinzman, T. G. Huntington, D. L. Kane, J. S. Kimball, R. Kwok, R. B. Lammers, C. M. Lee, D. P. Lettenmaier, K. C. McDonald, E. Podest, J. W. Pundsack, B. Rudels, M. C. Serreze, A. Shiklomanov, Ø. Skagseth, T. J. Troy, C. J. Vörösmarty, M. Wensnahan, E. F. Wood, R. Woodgate, D. Yang, K. Zhang, T. Zhang, 2010. "Analysis of the Arctic System for Freshwater Cycle Intensification: Observations and Experiments". Journal of Climate, 23, 5715-5737.
5. Whitcomb, J., M. Moghaddam, K. McDonald, J. Kellndorfer, and E. Podest, 2008. "Wetlands Map of Alaska Using L-Band Radar Satellite Imagery", Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 54-72, February 2009.
6. Bohn, T., D. Lettenmaier, K. Sathulur, L. C. Bowling, E. Podest, and K. McDonald, 2007. "Methane Emissions from Western Siberian Wetlands: Heterogeneity and Sensitivity to Climate Change", Environmental Research Letters, 2 (4), No. 045015, ISSN 1748-9326.
7. Podest, E. and S. Saatchi, 2002. "Application of Multiscale Texture in Classifying JERS-1 Data over Tropical Vegetation", International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2002, 23(7) 1487-1506.
8. Saatchi, S., B. Nelson, E. Podest, and J. Holt, 2000. "Mapping Land Cover Types in the Amazon Basin using 1 km JERS-1 Mosaic", International Journal of Remote Sensing, 21:(6-7) 1201-1234.