Experience — Arthur Elmes: Remote Sensing Specialist, GIScientist

Timeline

2021-Present: Element 84 Senior geospatial software Engineer

I am currently a Senior Geospatial Software Engineer at Element 84. In this role I help turn petabytes of big geodata into usable information and scientific products.

2021: Esri, Inc. Senior product Engineer

I was a Senior Product Engineer at Esri, Inc. In this role I developed imagery-based web content for Esri’s Living Atlas of the World, including product conception, team collaboration, prototyping, implementation, and customer engagement.

2020-2021: Umass Boston Assistant Research Professor

I was an Assistant Research Professor at the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston. In this position, I expanded my technical and subject-area skill sets, while developing manuscripts for peer-review and collaborating on grant proposals for NASA and NSF.

2018-2020: Umass Boston Postdoc

I was a Research Fellow at the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston. In this position, I greatly expanded my technical skill set, as I worked with high performance computing environments, Amazon Web Services, and a number of geospatial libraries and analytical frameworks. I used these tools to hone my remote sensing research, leveraging large image data sets and advanced imagery products to answer research questions ranging from Greenland ice sheet melt dynamics to invasive insect impacts on forest structure, with many smaller projects interspersed.

2017-2018: Clark University Postdoc

After completing my PhD, I became a postdoctoral fellow at the George Perkins Marsh Institute of Clark University. In this position, I continued my research in remote sensing, GIScience, and landscape ecology, and contributed to research projects relating to the human dimensions of climate change. I also taught courses in the International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE) department at Clark University, including Python programming, programming for GIS, open-source GIS, and web mapping.

2012-2017: PhD

In 2012, I joined the geography PhD program at the Clark University Graduate School of Geography. I completed my dissertation in May 2017, with degree conferral date of August 31, 2017. My dissertation is entitled: Assessing the Impact of Asian Longhorned Beetle in Worcester, MA: Thermal Effects, Community Responses, and Future Vulnerability.

2010-2012: Central Park GIS Data manager

After receiving my M.A. in geography, I moved to New York City, and worked as a GIS data coordinator for the Central Park Conservancy. Here I helped develop a GIS database for the park's trees and built infrastructure.

2008 - 2010: Ma in Geography

I completed my master's degree in geography at West Virginia University in 2010. My thesis is entitled: Modeling the spread of Ailanthus altissima airborne seeds using remotely sensed data and agent based modeling.

2004 - 2008: BA in Geography

I received my bachelor's and master's degrees in geography from West Virginia University, focusing on GIScience and Remote Sensing. working as a research assistant at the West Virginia GIS Technical Center.

Publications

Elmes, A. Erb, A., Wang, Z., Sun, Q., Li, Z., Hall, D., Scambos, T., Digirolamo, N., and Schaaf, C., 2021. Consequences of the 2019 Greenland Ice Sheet Melt Episode on Albedo. Remote Sensing, 13(2).

Elmes, A., Healy, M., Geron, N., Andrews, M.M., Rogan, J., Martin, D.G., Sangermano, F., Williams, C.A., and Weil, B., 2020. Mapping land surface temperature variability across the urban gradient in Worcester, Massachusetts using in situ thermochrons and Landsat- 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data. GIScience and Remote Sensing.

Boucher, P.B., Hancock, S., Orwig, D.A., Duncanson, L., Armston, J., Tang, H., Krause, K., Cook, B., Paynter, I., Li, Z. and Elmes, A., 2020. Detecting Change in Forest Structure with Simulated GEDI Lidar Waveforms: A Case Study of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae) Infestation. Remote Sensing, 12(8).

Elmes, A., Alemohammad, H., Avery, R., Caylor, K., Eastman, R., Fishgold, L., Friedl, M. A., Jain, M., Kohli, D., Laso Bayas, J., Lunga, D., McCarty, J. L., Pontius Jr, R. G., Reinmann R. B., Rogan, J., Song, L., Stoynova, H., Ye, S., Yi, Z., Estes, L. Accounting for training data error in machine learning applied to Earth observations. Remote Sensing, 12(6).

Bruegge C. J., Coburn, C., Elmes, A., Helmlinger, M. C., Kataoka, F., Kuester, M., Kuze A., Ochoa, T., Schaaf, C., Shiomi, K., Schwandner, F. M., 2019. Bi-Directional Reflectance Factor Determination of the Railroad Valley Playa. Remote Sensing, 11(22).

Elmes, A., Rogan, J., Williams, C., Ratick, S., and Nowak, D., 2019. Modeling Potential Asian Longhorned Beetle Dispersal in Worcester, MA using Circuit Theory, The Professional Geographer, 71 (4): 580-594.

Elmes, A., Rogan, J., Williams, C., Ratick, S., Nowak, D., and Martin, D., 2018. Causes of Mortality for Juvenile Trees in a Rural-to-Urban Cohort in Worcester, MA, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 30: 138-151.

Elmes, A., Rogan, J., Williams, C., Ratick, S., Nowak, D., and Martin, D., 2017. Effects of Urban Tree Canopy Loss on Land Surface Temperature Magnitude and Timing. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 128: 338-353.

Hisabayashi, M., Rogan, J., and Elmes, A., 2017. Quantifying shoreline change in Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu using a time series of QuickBird, WorldView and Landsat data. GIScience and Remote Sensing, doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2017.1367157.

Shatz, A. J., Rogan, J., Sangermano, F., Miller, J., & Elmes, A., 2015. Modeling the risk of spread and establishment for Asian Longhorned Beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) in Massachusetts from 2008-2009. Geocarto International, 1-19.

Elmes, A.; Yarlequé Ipanaqué, J. G.; Rogan, J.; Cuba, N.; and Bebbington, A., 2014. Mapping licit and illicit mining activity in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, Remote Sensing Letters, 5(10): 882-891.

In preparation

Elmes, A. Erb, A., Wang, Z., Sun, Q., Li, Z., and Schaaf, C. Land Surface Albedo, BRDF, and NBAR Continuity Products from MODIS and VIIRS. In preparation for the special issue “Analysis of Decadal-Scale Continuous Data Products from Weather Satellite Platforms” in preparation for Remote Sensing.

Elmes, A. Erb, A., Wang, Z., Sun, Q., Li, Z., Hall, D., Scambos, T., Digirolamo, N., and Schaaf, C. Consequences of the 2019 Greenland Ice Sheet Melt Episode on Albedo. In preparation.

Elmes, A., Rosenblum, H., Rogan, J., Mietkiewicz, N., Kulakowski, D., and Stow, D. Drivers of fire ignition in Southern California Mediterranean-type Ecosystems.

Rogan, J., Shatz, A., Zeimer, L., Frey, K., Polsky, C., Pontius, G., and Elmes, A., Thirty years of land cover conversion in Massachusetts: Change analysis of deforestation and urban sprawl trends using Landsat-derived land cover maps, in preparation.

Elmes, A., Warner T., Conley, J., and Landenberger, R. Exploring the Utility of an Agent-Based Approach to Modeling the Spread of Invasive Species: a Case Study of Ailanthus altissima., in preparation.