Gareth Roberts is an Associate Professor at the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton. His research focuses on measuring and monitoring land surface dynamics using optical and thermal remote sensing methods, including the application of bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) models to characterise land surface changes and examine how vegetation characteristics influence remotely sensed measurements.
His work with thermal observations focuses on understanding fires in natural environments and using satellite data to assess their effects and impacts. This includes developing thermal Earth observation methods to quantify carbon emissions from biomass burning and using fire radiative power measurements to estimate fuel consumption.
More recently, his research has examined the impacts of landscape fires on air quality and human health, as well as the validation of satellite fire radiative power measurements using thermal camera imagery. He previously served as co-chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Land Product Validation Fire Disturbance theme and is a member of the Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD) Fire Implementation Team.
