Agronomy undergraduate student Zion Bloom participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium on August 1. Bloom presented on “Identifying the Transition from Measurements of Soil Roughness to Vegetation Optical Depth by the NASA SMAP Satellite Mission in Central Iowa.” Dr. Brian Hornbuckle served as Bloom’s mentor. Bloom’s work is helping Matt Kavanaugh, a graduate student in agricultural meteorology, complete his MS degree. Together, Bloom and Kavanaugh are laying the groundwork for how the SMAP satellite might be used to monitor changes in soil surface roughness related to tillage, in addition to its original intent of only observing soil moisture.
In photo at top: Undergraduate student Zion Bloom with mentor Dr. Brian Hornbuckle.
