Miller Lab

EOL/Research

The Earth Observations Laboratory (EOL) was established at York University in 1992 through funding support of the Ontario Centre of Excellence programme, primarily through the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech), but also assisted by associated government and industrial partners. The major thrust was to enhance the capacity for university faculty and students to undertake research into the potential of imaging spectrometry to develop quantitative optical remote sensing methods and applications. Through dedication of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates, project scientists, and funding support of numerous projects between 1992 and 2003, EOL established the capability for airborne operations with its Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI), including operational, turn-key geometric and radiometric calibration of airborne imagery to produce at-surface, reflectance imagery. The first major project undertaken was a contribution to the BOREAS project between 1994 and 1996, followed by applications-oriented projects sponsored by CRESTech and the GEOIDE Centre of Excellence projects.

In 2003, CRESTech was downsized and all research labs were transferred to the relevant cooperating universities. The facilities in EOL were transferred to York University where research activities are continuing. However, with the retirement of John Miller July 1, 2008 the facilities of EOL are now being managed, augmented, and further developed by Geomatics Engineering Professor Baoxin Hu [http://www.yorku.ca/baoxin/] [baoxin@yorku.ca].

Recent EOL Research Projects [2003 – 2008]

Recent projects (within the past 5 years) carried out by the Earth Observations Laboratory under the leadership of Professor John Miller are provided in tabular form below, with links to resulting journal (J) and conference (C) publications.

Investigators	Funding Agency/Title	Period Held	Publication Links
John Miller	NSERC Discovery Grant: "Remote monitoring methods of vegetation functioning”	2003 – 2009	J88, J84, J83, J79, C131, C127
Nicolas Tremblay (AAFC) et al: Miller, J. R. (YorkU)	Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Research Contract: “CASI Airborne Data Acquisition for Developments in Precision Agriculture” [contribution to AAFC GAPS Project].	2004 - 2008	J82, C129, C112, C105
Bernard Long (INRS-ETE) et al, including G. Sohn, J. Miller, YorkU.	GEOIDE (Phase III: Project# SLMDFM12 : Projet géomatique intégré en zone cotière: Fusion des Données Terrestres, Aéroportées et Marines (FUDOTERAM)	2005 - 2009	J85, C132, C126
Jing Chen (U of T), A. Simic, and J. R. Miller	University of Toronto/PWGSC/CSA Contract: “Refining the Concept of Combining Hyperspectral and Multi-angle Sensors for Land Surface Applications - CASI Airborne Data Contribution”	2007 - 2008	J87, J73, C130,
John Miller & B. Hu	Canadian Space Agency Research Contract: “HERO Utility Development and Related Activities Task 1 Data Evaluation”	2003 - 05	C89, C88
John Miller S. Jacquemoud, J. Moreno, I. Moya, W. Verhoef, P. Zarco-Tejada	European Space Agency, Research Contract: ”Development of a Vegetation Fluorescence Canopy Model”, York University (Prime Contractor), with sub-contractors: U. Paris, U. Valencia, U. Valladolid and National Aerospace Lab., The Netherlands	2002 - 2004	J75, J71, C117, C116, C115, C103
John Miller, Rivard, B., Chen, J. M., Collins, M., Harris, J., Noland, T., O’Neill, N. T. , Sanchez-Azofeifa, G. A., Tremblay, N., Zwick, H.H.	National Centres of Excellence (NCE), Geomatics for Informed Decisions (GEOIDE) : “Imaging spectroscopy: Developments for Renewable and Mineral Resources”	2002 - 2005	J68, J67, J66, J65, J64, J62,
Pablo Zarco-Tejada, et al. including J.R. Miller	Spanish Ministry of Science & Technology (MCyT), Estimation of leaf and crop biophysical variables through radiative transfer modeling and hyperspectral remote sensing for integration with precision agriculture”	2002 - 2005	J86, J79, J72, J69, C114
Elizabeth Pattey, (Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada) et al. including J. R. Miller	Canadian Space Agency: Earth Observation – Government Related Initiatives Program: “Retrieval of biophysical crop and field descriptors for delineating homogeneous field sub-units for crop management using CV-580 Polarimetric SAR data and CASI Hyperspectral Reflectance”	2002 - 2004	J81, J78, J76, J74, C113, C110, C109, C104
Udo Nielson (Dendron), J. R. Miller, T. Noland	Canadian Space Agency: Earth Observations Applications Development: “Tree Species Identification using Hyperspectral Data”	2002 - 2003	C128, C108, C102, C101
Udo Nielson, J. Miller, T. Noland	Canadian Space Agency: Earth Observations Applications Development: “Hyperspectral Indicators of Forest Condition: Jack Pine”	2001 - 2002	J80, C123
John Miller, B. Hu	Macdonald, Detwiller & Associates (MDA) Research Contract: “Compressed hyperspectral cubes”	2002 - 2003	J70