Pamela Nagler, Ph.D.
Expertise: Remote sensing applications in ecohydrology with a focus on scaling ground-based evapotranspiration (water use) measurements of plants in riparian ecosystems, their uplands and adjacent agriculture fields. Applications include mapping vegetation communities and phenological change in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts and the transboundary region of northwestern Mexico and southwestern U.S.
Dr. Pamela Nagler’s interest in landscapes developed naturally through her experiences with a variety of lands and cultures throughout her early years. She first worked with USGS as a hydrological technician with the Water Resources Division, mentored by Drs. Jake Peters and Jamie Shanley. After obtaining a B.S. in Geography, Pamela interned with the late Barry Bishop (a member of the first American team to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1963) at the National Geographic Society in Washington DC, where she was greatly influenced to pursue her passion for geography as a career. She then worked for the Solid Waste Division of the EPA followed by a couple of years with the Defense Mapping Agency. At the University of Maryland at College Park, Pamela earned an M.A. in Geography with an emphasis on Land Remote Sensing; her Advisor, Dr. Sam Goward, served as the Landsat Science Team Leader from 1992 and completed Landsat’s Enduring Legacy: 50 years in 2017. As his mentee, she gained experience and skills needed to address environmental applications using remote sensing tools. During her Master’s program, Pamela had a research assistantship with the USDA Agriculture Research Service under the guidance of Dr. Craig Daughtry, and helped develop techniques using hyperspectral data to distinguish soil from litter in the landscape. Pamela continued this research in Japan with a fellowship sponsored by NSF. Dr. Yoshio Inoue, her academic host at the Japan National Institute of Agro-Environmental Studies in 1996-1997, encouraged Pamela to return to the US to continue her academic studies. Pamela spent time in ten Asian countries before starting her Ph.D. research with Dr. Alfredo Huete at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. Pamela's dissertation research used remote sensing tools to study environmental applications in the Colorado River delta in Mexico and her post-doctoral work with Dr. Edward Glenn was funded through a NASA grant. With direction from Ed Glenn, she studied seaweed productivity while living in Molokai, Hawaii, phytoremediation at DOE Legacy Mine sites on Navajo Nation near Monument Valley, and conservation and policy of the Colorado River Delta in the Borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico. Pamela received a PECASE Award at the White House with POTUS Obama in 2010, became a Kavli Fellow with the Academy of Sciences in 2011, and was internationally recognized by CSIRO in 2013. Pamela spent a year at CSIRO in their Land and Water Division in Adelaide, South Australia. Pamela serves students in three departments at the University of Arizona, including SNRE, SWES and more recently, Biosystems Engineering. She also serves on three journal Editorial Boards and as a Board Member of the FWS Sonoran Joint Venture.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. - 2001, Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
M.A. - 1997, Geography, University of Maryland. College Park, MD.
B.S. - 1989, Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Science and Products
Greenup and evapotranspiration following the Minute 319 pulse flow to Mexico: An analysis using Landsat 8 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data
Evapotranspiration by remote sensing: An analysis of the Colorado River Delta before and after the Minute 319 pulse flow to Mexico
It takes more than water: Restoring the Colorado River Delta
NDVI, scale invariance and the modifiable areal unit problem: An assessment of vegetation in the Adelaide Parklands
Effectiveness of environmental flows for riparian restoration in arid regions: A tale of four rivers
Comparing three approaches of evapotranspiration estimation in mixed urban vegetation; field-based, remote sensing-based and observational-based methods
Wide-area estimates of evapotranspiration by red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and associated vegetation in the Murray-Darling River Basin, Australia
Hydrology of the middle San Pedro area, southeastern Arizona
Hydrologic response of streams restored with check dams in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona
Wide-area ratios of evapotranspiration to precipitation in monsoon-dependent semiarid vegetation communities
Quantifying water requirements of riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: Implications for the management of environmental flows
Remote Sensing of Actual Evapotranspiration from Cropland: Chapter 3
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Greenup and evapotranspiration following the Minute 319 pulse flow to Mexico: An analysis using Landsat 8 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data
In the southwestern U.S., many riparian ecosystems have been altered by dams, water diversions, and other anthropogenic activities. This is particularly true of the Colorado River, where numerous dams and agricultural diversions have affected this water course, especially south of the U.S.–Mexico border. In the spring of 2014, 130 million cubic meters of water was released to the lower Colorado RiAuthorsChristopher J. Jarchow, Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. GlennEvapotranspiration by remote sensing: An analysis of the Colorado River Delta before and after the Minute 319 pulse flow to Mexico
The unique hydrologic conditions characterizing riparian ecosystems in dryland (arid and semi-arid) areas help maintain high biodiversity and support high levels of primary productivity compared to associated uplands. In western North America, many riparian ecosystems have been damaged by altered flow regimes (e.g., impoundments and diversions) and over utilization of water resources (e.g., groundAuthorsChristopher J. Jarchow, Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn, Jorge Ramirez-Hernandez, Eliana Rodriguez-BurguenoIt takes more than water: Restoring the Colorado River Delta
Environmental flows have become important tools for restoring rivers and associated riparian ecosystems (Arthington, 2012; Glenn et al., 2017). In March 2014, the United States and Mexico initiated a bold effort in restoration, delivering from Morelos Dam a “pulse flow” of water into the Colorado River in its delta for the purpose of learning about its environmental effects (Flessa et al., 2013; BAuthorsJennifer Pitt, Eloise Kendy, Karen Schlatter, Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta, Karl W. Flessa, Patrick B. Shafroth, Jorge Ramirez-Hernandez, Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. GlennNDVI, scale invariance and the modifiable areal unit problem: An assessment of vegetation in the Adelaide Parklands
This research addresses the question as to whether or not the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is scale invariant (i.e. constant over spatial aggregation) for pure pixels of urban vegetation. It has been long recognized that there are issues related to the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) pertaining to indices such as NDVI and images at varying spatial resolutions. These issues arAuthorsHamideh Nouri, Sharolyn Anderson, Paul Sutton, Simon Beecham, Pamela L. Nagler, Christopher J. Jarchow, Dar A. RobertsEffectiveness of environmental flows for riparian restoration in arid regions: A tale of four rivers
Environmental flows have become important restoration tools on regulated rivers. However, environmental flows are often constrained by other demands within the river system and thus typically are comprised of smaller water volumes than the natural flows they are meant to replace, which can limit their functional efficacy. We review environmental flow programs aimed at restoring riparian vegetationAuthorsEdward P. Glenn, Pamela L. Nagler, Patrick B. Shafroth, Christopher JarchowComparing three approaches of evapotranspiration estimation in mixed urban vegetation; field-based, remote sensing-based and observational-based methods
Despite being the driest inhabited continent, Australia has one of the highest per capita water consumptions in the world. In addition, instead of having fit-for-purpose water supplies (using different qualities of water for different applications), highly treated drinking water is used for nearly all of Australia’s urban water supply needs, including landscape irrigation. The water requirement ofAuthorsHamideh Nouri, Edward P. Glenn, Simon Beecham, Sattar Chavoshi Boroujeni, Paul Sutton, Sina Alaghmand, Pamela L. Nagler, Behnaz NooriWide-area estimates of evapotranspiration by red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and associated vegetation in the Murray-Darling River Basin, Australia
Floodplain red gum forests (Eucalyptus camaldulensis plus associated grasses, reeds and sedges) are sites of high biodiversity in otherwise arid regions of southeastern Australia. They depend on periodic floods from rivers, but dams and diversions have reduced flood frequencies and volumes, leading to deterioration of trees and associated biota. There is a need to determine their water requirementAuthorsPamela L. Nagler, Tanya M. Doody, Edward P. Glenn, Christopher J. Jarchow, Armando Barreto-Munoz, Kamel DidanHydrology of the middle San Pedro area, southeastern Arizona
In the middle San Pedro Watershed in southeastern Arizona, groundwater is the primary source of water supply for municipal, domestic, industrial, and agricultural use. The watershed comprises two smaller subareas, the Benson subarea and the Narrows-Redington subarea. Early 21st century projections for heavy population growth in the watershed have not yet become a reality, but increased groundwaterAuthorsJeffrey T. Cordova, Jesse E. Dickinson, Kimberly R. Beisner, Candice B. Hopkins, Jeffrey R. Kennedy, Donald R. Pool, Edward P. Glenn, Pamela L. Nagler, Blakemore E. ThomasHydrologic response of streams restored with check dams in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona
In this study, hydrological processes are evaluated to determine impacts of stream restoration in the West Turkey Creek, Chiricahua Mountains, southeast Arizona, during a summer-monsoon season (June–October of 2013). A paired-watershed approach was used to analyze the effectiveness of check dams to mitigate high flows and impact long-term maintenance of hydrologic function. One watershed had beenAuthorsLaura M. Norman, Fletcher C. Brinkerhoff, Evan Gwilliam, D. Phillip Guertin, James B. Callegary, David C. Goodrich, Pamela L. Nagler, Floyd GrayWide-area ratios of evapotranspiration to precipitation in monsoon-dependent semiarid vegetation communities
Evapotranspiration (ET) and the ratio of ET to precipitation (PPT) are important factors in the water budget of semiarid rangelands and are in part determined by the dominant plant communities. Our goal was to see if landscape changes such as tree or shrub encroachment and replacement of native grasses by invasive grasses impacted ET and ET/PPT and therefore watershed hydrology in this biome. We dAuthorsEdward P. Glenn, Russell L. Scott, Uyen Nguyen, Pamela L. NaglerQuantifying water requirements of riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: Implications for the management of environmental flows
Water resource development and drought have altered river flow regimes, increasing average flood return intervals across floodplains in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, causing health declines in riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) forests and woodlands. Environmental flow allocations helped to alleviate water stress during the recent Millennium Drought (1997–2010), however, quanAuthorsTanya M. Doody, Matthew J. Colloff, Micah Davies, Vijay Koul, Richard G. Benyon, Pamela L. NaglerRemote Sensing of Actual Evapotranspiration from Cropland: Chapter 3
No abstract available.AuthorsTrent Biggs, George P. Petropoulos, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Michael Marshall, Edward P. Glenn, Pamela L. Nagler, Alex Messina - News