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Christopher Potter

Senior Research Scientist

Contents

Affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center (ARC)

Division: NASA Earth Science Division (SG), Biospheric Science Branch (SGE)

Email: chris.potter@nasa.gov

Professional Biography

Dr. Christopher Potter is an Earth Scientist with 35 years of experience working at NASA Ames Research Center.  He has published more than 200 scientific articles in peer-reviewed research journals on wildfires, carbon cycling, and satellite data analysis.  He is currently a Principal Investigator on the NASA Soil-Moisture-Active-Passive satellite mission science team, and on NASA’s Climate Adaptation Science Investigators program, which was awarded the 2024 Blue Marble award that recognizes excellence demonstrated in environmental and energy management in support of NASA’s mission.

Education

Emory University, Atlanta, CA – Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Ecosystem Science

Honors

Potter and his colleagues at Stanford University were awarded NASA’s Public Service Medal for development of the first computer model (CASA) for global ecosystem exchange of all major biogenic trace gases with the atmosphere. He has been a NASA Science Team Member on the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), Large- Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA-ECO I and II), EOS Interdisciplinary Science (EOS-IDS), Intelligent Data Understanding, NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS), and Land Surface Hydrology.  In 2007, he was selected as a NASA Ames Associate Fellow in recognition of exceptional scientific research achievement.  He was awarded the Julian Allen Award in 2023 for the most important paper published at NASA Ames Research Center.

Research Interests

  • Wildfires
  • Carbon cycling
  • Coastal wetlands
  • Satellite data analysis

Select Publications

  • Potter, C., Pass, S., and Ulrich, R., 2024, Net primary production of ecoregions across North America in response to drought and wildfires from 2015 to 2022. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 129, e2023JG007750.
  • Foster, A., C. Potter, et al. (10 more co-authors), 2022, Disturbances in North American boreal forest and Arctic tundra: impacts, interactions, and responses. Environmental Research Letters. 17(11).
  • Zepeda M., A. Croteau, C. Potter, 2022, Can the Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) Satellite Track Soil Moisture at the Macro-Climate Scale Across the Western United States? J Remote Sens GIS. 11. 10.35248/2469-4134.22.11.231.
  • Potter, C., and O. Alexander, 2021, Impacts of the San Francisco Bay Area shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic on urban heat fluxes, Urban Climate. 37(11):100828.
  • Potter, C., 2021, Remote Sensing of Wetland Area Loss and Gain in the Western Barataria Basin (Louisiana, U.S.A.) since Hurricane Katrina, Journal of Coastal Research. 37(5).
  • Johnson, M., C. Potter, et al. 2020, Carbon Dioxide Emissions During the 2018 Kilauea Volcano Eruption Estimated Using OCO‐2 Satellite Retrievals. Geophysical Research Letters. 47(24).
  • Potter, C., 2020, Changes in Vegetation Cover of Yukon River Drainages in Interior Alaska: Estimated from MODIS Greenness Trends, 2000 to 2018.  Northwest Science. 94(2).
  • Potter, C. 2020, Changes in Growing Season Phenology Following Wildfires in Alaska. Remote Sensing in Earth Systems Sciences. 3(1-2).
  • Potter, C. and O. Alexander, 2020, Changes in Vegetation Phenology and Productivity in Alaska over the Past Two Decades, Remote Sensing. 12(10):1546.
  • Potter, C., 2020, Snowmelt timing impacts on growing season phenology in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park estimated from MODIS satellite data. Landscape Ecology, 35: 373–388.
  • Potter, C., 2017, Fire-climate history and landscape patterns of high burn severity areas on the California southern and central coast, Journal of Coastal Conservation, doi: 10.1007/s11852-017-0519-3.
  • Potter, C., S. Klooster, and V. Genovese, 2012, Net primary production of terrestrial ecosystems from 2000 to 2009, Climatic Change, doi:10.1007/s10584-012-0460-2.
  • Potter, C., 2010, The carbon budget of California, Environ. Sci. Policy,  doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2010.04.008.
  • Nepstad, D. C., A. Verissimo, A. Alencar, C. Nobre, E. Lima, P. Lefebvre, P. Schlesinger, C. Potter, P. Moutinho, E. Mendoza, M. Cochrane, and V. Brooks, 1999, Large-scale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire, Nature, 398: 505-508.
  • Potter, C. S., J. T. Randerson, C. B. Field, P. A. Matson, P. M. Vitousek, H. A. Mooney, and S. A. Klooster, 1993, Terrestrial ecosystem production: A process model based on global satellite and surface data, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 7(4):811-841.

Additional Websites

https://www.nasa.gov/casa-homepage