Dr. Erika Podest is a scientist with the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Group in JPL's Earth Science Division. 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.

• Ph.D., Applied Physics Specializing in Remote Sensing and Image Processing - University of Dundee, Scotland, UK
• 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.
• Integrating different remote sensing and in situ measurements to address biodiversity science

• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
• Scientist, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Group (2009-present)
• Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar (2006-2008)

• NASA Group Achievement Award, SMAP Science and Cal/Val Team (2016)
• Federal Labs Interagency Partnership Award for SMAP Applications (2016)
• NASA Group Achievement Award, SMAPVEX12 Field Campaign Team (2013)
• JPL Team Award (800), Water Cycle Workshop (2013)
• JPL Team Award (324), SMAPVEX12 Field Campaign (2013)
JPL Team Award (324), Water Cycle Workshop (2012)
• JPL Mariner Award, Representing NASA at COP-17 (2012)
• JPL Team Award, CARVE (2010)

1. Prados, A.I., A. Carleton-Hug, P. Gupta, A. Mehta, B. Blevins, C. Schmidt, D. G. Barbato, A. J. McCullum, E. Hook, E. Podest, M. Follette-Cook, S. Hudson-Odoi, and T. Kinsey, 2019. "Impact of the ARSET Program on Use of Remote-Sensing Data", ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf., 8, 261.
2. Schimel, D., F. D. Schneider, ... E. Podest, 2019. "Flux Towers in the Sky: Global Ecology from Space", New Phytologist, 224: 570-584.
3. Rodriguez-Alvarez, N.; S. Misra,E. Podest, M. Morris, and L. Bosch-Lluis, 2019. "The Use of SMAP-Reflectometry in Science Applications: Calibration and Capabilities", Remote Sens., 11, 2442.
4. Rodriguez-Alvarez, N., E. Podest, K. Jensen, and K. McDonald, 2019. "Classifying Inundation in a Tropical Wetlands Complex with GNSS-R", Remote Sens., 11, 1053.
5. Rodriguez-Alvarez, N., B. Holt, S. Jaruwatanadilok,E. Podest, and K. C. Cavanaugh, 2019. "An Arctic Sea Ice Multi-Step Classification Based on GNSS-R Data from the TDS-1 Mission", Remote Sens., 230, 111202.
6. Jensen, K., K. McDonald, E. Podest, N. Rodriguez-Alvarez, V. Horna, and N. Steiner, 2018. "Assessing L-Band GNSS-Reflectometry and Imaging Radar for Detecting Sub-Canopy Inundation Dynamics in a Tropical Wetlands Complex", Remote Sens., 10, 1431.
7. Chew, C., S. Lowe, N. Parazoo, S. Esterhuizen, S. Oveisgharan, E. Podest, C. Zuffada, and A. Freedman, 2017. "SMAP Radar Receiver Measures Land Surface Freeze/Thaw State Through Capture of Forward-Scattered L-Band Signals", Remote Sens. Environ., 198:333-344.
8. Schroeder, R., K. McDonald, B. Chapman, K. Jensen, E. Podest, Z.D. Tessler, T. Bohn, and R. Zimmermann, 2015. "Development and Evaluation of a Multi-Year Fractional Surface Water Data Set Derived from Active/Passive Microwave Remote Sensing Data", Remote Sens., 7, 16688-16732.
9. Bue, B., D. Thompson, G. Sellar, E. Podest, M. Eastwood, M. Helminger, I. McCubbin, and J. Morgan, 2015. "Leveraging In-Scene Spectra for Robust Discrimination of Vegetation Species with MESMA-MDA", ISPRS, 108, pp. 33-48.
10. Bateni, S. M., Margulis, S. A., E. Podest, and K. McDonald, 2015. "Characterizing Snowpack and the Freeze-Thaw State of Underlying Soil via Assimilation of Multi-Frequency Passive/Active Microwave Data: A Case Study (NASA CLPX 2003)", IEEE TGARS, vol. 53, No. 1.
11. E. Podest, K. McDonald, and J.S. Kimball, 2014. "Multisensor Microwave Sensitivity to Freeze/Thaw Dynamics Across a Complex Boreal Landscape", IEEE TGARS, vol. 52, No. 11.
12. Bateni, S.M., C. Huang, S. Margulis,E. Podest, and K. McDonald, 2013. "Feasibility of Characterizing Snowpack and the Freeze-Thaw State of Underlying Soil Using Multi-Frequency Active/Passive Microwave Data", IEEE TGARS, vol. 51, No. 7.
13. Thompson, D. R, M. de la Torre Juarez, C. M. Barker, J. Holeman, S. Lundeen, S. Mulligan, T. H. Painter, E. Podest, F. C. Seidel, and E. Ustinov, 2013. "Airborne Imaging Spectroscopy to Monitor the Evolution of Urban Mosquito Microhabitats", Remote Sens. Environ., vol. 137.
14. Bohn, T. J., E. Podest, R. Schroeder, N. Pinto, K. C. McDonald, M. Glagolev, I. Filippov, S. Maksyutov, M. Heimann, and D. P. Lettenmaier, 2013. "The Effects of Surface Moisture Heterogeneity on Wetland Carbon Fluxes in the West Siberian Lowland", Biogeosciences Discuss., 10, 6517-6562.
15. Gao H., T. Bohn, E. Podest, K. McDonald, and D. Lettenmaier, 2011. "On the Causes of the Shrinking of Lake Chad", Environ. Res. Lett., 6, 034021.
16. 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", Environ. Res. Lett., 5, 015003 (7pp).
17. 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, and T. Zhang, 2010. "Analysis of the Arctic System for Freshwater Cycle Intensification: Observations and Experiments", J. Clim., 23, 5715-5737.
18. Whitcomb, J., M. Moghaddam, K. McDonald, J. Kellndorfer, and E. Podest, 2009. "Wetlands Map of Alaska Using L-Band Radar Satellite Imagery", Can. J. Remote Sens., vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 54-72.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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.