Joel B Sankey, Ph.D.
Joel Sankey is a Research Geologist for the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC), and the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC), in Flagstaff, Arizona.
I am also an adjunct professor of the School of Earth and Sustainability (SES) at Northern Arizona University. Previously, I was a Mendenhall Fellow with the USGS Western Geographic Science Center located at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I have a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from the Geosciences Department at Idaho State University.
Overall, my research focus is on geomorphic and ecosystem processes and function of rivers and upland environments. I characterize and interpret physical and biological land surface change that occurs contemporarily at intra-annual to decadal time scales. I study changes that occur as a function of soil erosion and sediment transport. I also study biophysical processes that change the distribution and composition of vegetation. Many of the land surface changes I study are driven by disturbances caused by people, fires, flooding, and wind. My work is directly relevant to either management actions that are implemented by humans to mitigate these disturbances (e.g., large-scale planting and seeding) or management actions that have either intentionally (e.g., controlled river floods; prescribed fires; removal of invasive vegetation) or unintentionally (e.g., climate change) produced the disturbance and therefore are drivers of change. Increasingly, my work focuses on forecasting how future changes in climate, weather, and hydrology, will affect ecosystems and management outcomes.
Much of my work incorporates remote sensing with digital imagery and topographic data acquired from multispectral and LiDAR sensors on ground-based, airborne (including manned and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)), and satellite platforms. I also use detailed field-investigations for ecological and geomorphic assessment.
At the GCMRC, I lead the remote sensing group. I design our research and monitoring to be responsive to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP), a Federal Advisory Committee chartered by the US Department of Interior and chaired by the Undersecretary for Water and Science.
Science and Products
Riparian vegetation, Colorado River, and climate: five decades of spatiotemporal dynamics in the Grand Canyon with river regulation
Gully annealing by fluvially-sourced Aeolian sand: remote sensing investigations of connectivity along the Fluvial-Aeolian-hillslope continuum on the Colorado River
Meteorological data for selected sites along the Colorado River Corridor, Arizona, 2011-13
Remote sensing of Sonoran Desert vegetation structure and phenology with ground-based LiDAR
High-resolution topography and geomorphology of select archeological sites in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Gully annealing by aeolian sediment: field and remote-sensing investigation of aeolian-hillslope-fluvial interactions, Colorado River corridor, Arizona, USA
Lidar-derived estimate and uncertainty of carbon sink in successional phases of woody encroachment
Employing lidar to detail vegetation canopy architecture for prediction of aeolian transport
Transport of biologically important nutrients by wind in an eroding cold desert
Quantifying soil surface change in degraded drylands: shrub encroachment and effects of fire and vegetation removal in a desert grassland
Aeolian nutrient fluxes following wildfire in sagebrush steppe: Implications for soil carbon storage
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
Filter Total Items: 25No Result Found
- Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 71
Riparian vegetation, Colorado River, and climate: five decades of spatiotemporal dynamics in the Grand Canyon with river regulation
Documentation of the interacting effects of river regulation and climate on riparian vegetation has typically been limited to small segments of rivers or focused on individual plant species. We examine spatiotemporal variability in riparian vegetation for the Colorado River in Grand Canyon relative to river regulation and climate, over the five decades since completion of the upstream Glen CanyonAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Barbara E. Ralston, Paul E. Grams, John C. Schmidt, Laura E. CagneyGully annealing by fluvially-sourced Aeolian sand: remote sensing investigations of connectivity along the Fluvial-Aeolian-hillslope continuum on the Colorado River
Processes contributing to development of ephemeral gully channels are of great importance to landscapes worldwide, and particularly in dryland regions where soil loss and land degradation from gully erosion pose long-term, land-management problems. Whereas gully formation has been relatively well studied, much less is known of the processes that anneal gullies and impede their growth. This work inAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Amy E. East, Brian D. Collins, Joshua J. CasterMeteorological data for selected sites along the Colorado River Corridor, Arizona, 2011-13
This report presents data from 14 automated weather stations collected as part of an ongoing monitoring program within the Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon Recreation Area along the Colorado River Corridor in Arizona. Weather data presented in this document include precipitation, wind speed, maximum wind gusts, wind direction, barometric pressure, relative humidity, and air temperature cAuthorsJoshua J. Caster, Timothy P. Dealy, Timothy Andrews, Helen C. Fairley, Amy E. East, Joel B. SankeyRemote sensing of Sonoran Desert vegetation structure and phenology with ground-based LiDAR
Long-term vegetation monitoring efforts have become increasingly important for understanding ecosystem response to global change. Many traditional methods for monitoring can be infrequent and limited in scope. Ground-based LiDAR is one remote sensing method that offers a clear advancement to monitor vegetation dynamics at high spatial and temporal resolution. We determined the effectiveness of LiDAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Seth M. Munson, Robert H. Webb, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Cesar M. DuranHigh-resolution topography and geomorphology of select archeological sites in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Along the Colorado River corridor between Glen Canyon Dam and Lees Ferry, Arizona, located some 25 km downstream from the dam, archaeological sites dating from 8,000 years before present through the modern era are located within and on top of fluvial and alluvial terraces of the prehistorically undammed river. These terraces are known to have undergone significant erosion and retreat since emplaceAuthorsBrian D. Collins, Skye C. Corbett, Joel B. Sankey, Helen C. FairleyGully annealing by aeolian sediment: field and remote-sensing investigation of aeolian-hillslope-fluvial interactions, Colorado River corridor, Arizona, USA
Processes contributing to development of ephemeral gully channels are of great importance to landscapes worldwide, and particularly in dryland regions where soil loss and land degradation from gully erosion pose long-term land-management problems. Whereas gully formation has been relatively well studied, much less is known of the processes that anneal gullies and impede their growth. This study ofAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Amy E. DrautLidar-derived estimate and uncertainty of carbon sink in successional phases of woody encroachment
Woody encroachment is a globally occurring phenomenon that contributes to the global carbon sink. The magnitude of this contribution needs to be estimated at regional and local scales to address uncertainties present in the global- and continental-scale estimates, and guide regional policy and management in balancing restoration activities, including removal of woody plants, with greenhouse gas miAuthorsTemuulen Sankey, Rupesh Shrestha, Joel B. Sankey, Stuart Hardgree, Eva StrandEmploying lidar to detail vegetation canopy architecture for prediction of aeolian transport
The diverse and fundamental effects that aeolian processes have on the biosphere and geosphere are commonly generated by horizontal sediment transport at the land surface. However, predicting horizontal sediment transport depends on vegetation architecture, which is difficult to quantify in a rapid but accurate manner. We demonstrate an approach to measure vegetation canopy architecture at high reAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Darin J. Law, David D. Breshears, Seth M. Munson, Robert H. WebbTransport of biologically important nutrients by wind in an eroding cold desert
Wind erosion following fire is an important landscape process that can result in the redistribution of ecologically important soil resources. In this study we evaluated the potential for a fire patch in a desert shrubland to serve as a source of biologically important nutrients to the adjacent, downwind, unburned ecosystem. We analyzed nutrient concentrations (P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Al) in windAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Matthew J. Germino, Shawn G. Benner, Nancy F. Glenn, Amber N. HooverQuantifying soil surface change in degraded drylands: shrub encroachment and effects of fire and vegetation removal in a desert grassland
Woody plant encroachment, a worldwide phenomenon, is a major driver of land degradation in desert grasslands. Woody plant encroachment by shrub functional types ultimately leads to the formation of a patchy landscape with fertile shrub patches interspaced with nutrient-depleted bare soil patches. This is considered to be an irreversible process of land and soil degradation. Recent studies have indAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Sujith Ravi, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Robert H. Webb, Travis E. HuxmanAeolian nutrient fluxes following wildfire in sagebrush steppe: Implications for soil carbon storage
. Pulses of aeolian transport following fire can profoundly affect the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in semi-arid and arid ecosystems. Our objective was to determine horizontal nutrient fluxes occurring in the saltation zone during an episodic pulse of aeolian transport that occurred following a wildfire in a semi-arid sagebrush steppe ecosystem in southern Idaho, USA. We also examined how tAuthorsN.J. Hasselquist, M.J. Germino, Joel B. Sankey, L.J. Ingram, N.F. Glenn - News