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Popescu, Sorin

Sorin Popescu

Professor
Office:
WFES 334
Email:
s-popescu@tamu.edu
Phone:
(979) 862-2614
Resume/CV
https://lasers.tamu.edu
Undergraduate Education
Diploma Degree, Transylvania University, Forest Engineer
Graduate Education
Ph.D. Forestry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Postdoctoral Study, Forestry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Professional Summary

Dr. Sorin Popescu’s academic interests focus on the application of remote sensing, in particular, and spatial sciences, in general, in natural resources assessment, monitoring, and management. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Forestry at Virginia Tech. At Texas A&M University, he is currently teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in aerial photography, image interpretation, and remote sensing. His research interests include remote sensing applications in natural resources and forest sciences, assessment of forest fuels, forest volume and biomass, land use and land cover change, forest carbon sources and sinks, and global environmental change. He has developed various algorithms and software tools for multisensor data fusion and for processing LIDAR data for estimating forest biophysical parameters, such as stand density, tree height, crown diameter, volume, and biomass. Visit his personal web page for more information on recent projects and publications.

Research Interests and Specializations

Dr. Sorin C. Popescu’s research area is in remote sensing of the environment, with a specialty in laser or lidar remote sensing of vegetation structure, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS/UAV), sensors and algorithmic methodologies to derive vegetation biophysical parameters and three- dimensional structure, including biomass, carbon, and fuels and fire risk. He has developed innovative methods of remote sensing data processing and authored highly cited peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He serves as Principal Investigator on a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Team for the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat 2) satellite Lidar mission. 

LASERS Lab

The LASERS Lab conducts research in remote sensing of the environment, with a core component in laser or lidar remote sensing of three-dimensional vegetation structure using data from sensors on terrestrial, airborne and spaceborne platforms. The lab focuses on algorithmic developments to derive vegetation biophysical parameters, including biomass, carbon, forest fuels, fire risk, and other structural metrics that enable advanced research in ecological and earth system sciences. The lab owns and operates advanced laser scanning and imaging systems on terrestrial and UAV/UAS platforms and uses state of the art remote sensing methods for assessing ecosystem dynamics and land cover mapping.

Recent Publications

Popescu, S.C., R.H. Wynne, and R.E. Nelson, 2003. Measuring individual tree crown diameter with lidar and assessing its influence on estimating forest volume and biomass. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 29(5): 564-577. DOI: 10.5589/M03-027 Times cited: 776
 
Popescu, S.C., 2007. Estimating biomass of individual pine trees using airborne lidar. Biomass & Bioenergy 31(9): 646-655. DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOMBIOE.2007.06.022 Times cited: 553
 
Popescu, S.C. and R.H. Wynne, 2004. Seeing the trees in the forest: using LiDAR and multispectral data fusion with local filtering and variable window size for estimating tree height. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing 70(5): 589-604. DOI: 10.14358/PERS.70.5.589 Times cited: 537
 
Popescu, S.C., R.H. Wynne and R.E. Nelson, 2002. Estimating plot-level tree heights with LiDAR: local filtering with a canopy-height based variable window. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 37(1-3):71-95. DOI: 10.1016/S0168-1699(02)00121-7 Times cited: 481
 
Kaartinen, H., J. Hyyppä, X. Yu, M. Vastaranta, H. Hyyppä, A. Kukko, M. Holopainen, C. Heipke, M. Hirschmugl, F. Morsdorf, E. Næsset, J. Pitkänen, Popescu, S. Solberg, B. M. Wolf and J.C. Wu, 2012. An International Comparison of Individual Tree Detection and Extraction Using Airborne Laser Scanning. Remote Sensing (4): 950-974. DOI: 10.3390/RS4040950 Times cited: 430

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