Remote Sensing for Wildfire Management

Santosh K. Panda serves as Associate Professor of GIS and Remote Sensing at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he holds joint appointments with the Geophysical Institute and the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension. His research focuses on understanding Arctic landscape dynamics, particularly permafrost response to climate change and its effects on Arctic systems. After completing his PhD in Geology from UAF, he has pioneered high-resolution permafrost modeling across Alaska's national parks and developed innovative approaches to mapping boreal forest wildfire patterns using hyperspectral remote sensing. His work includes significant community engagement, notably building capacity for permafrost monitoring in native villages of Telida and Nikolai, and mapping Colville River bathymetry to support safe river navigation. As principal investigator for the Alaska NSF EPSCoR Fire and Ice project, he leads research on improving boreal wildfire fuel mapping. His publications have garnered over 795 citations, with significant contributions to permafrost dynamics modeling, remote sensing applications, and Arctic landscape change analysis. Beyond research, he maintains an active teaching role in remote sensing and GIS at both undergraduate and graduate levels while advancing the application of spatial technologies to understand Arctic environmental changes.