Mark Alan
Fonstad (born September 21, 1973 in Some of Fonstad’s accomplishments include the HAB Transform for converting images of rivers into maps of water depth, the SATS treeline ecotone model, a cellular automata model of instream hydrodynamics (with Jay Parsons), and the Critical Riverbank Conjecture, for which he received (with W. Andrew Marcus) the 2005 G.K. Gilbert Award for Excellence in Geomorphic Research. His more recent work has focused on the high-resolution remote sensing of river habitats, modeling of river dynamics and ecotones, and work on the upcoming NASA SWOT satellite mission. He also co-organized the 2007 Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium on the subject of Complexity in Geomorphology, and the 2008 European Geosciences Union special sessions on the Remote Sensing of Rivers.
Beginning in January 2010, Mark will become the new Environmental Sciences associate editor of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers.
CV | Current
Research | Publications on the Web | Courses | Fonstad
Research Group | Miscellany
| Contact Information
Current Research Projects:
The
Remote Sensing
of Rivers - Current projects are centered around the Texas Hill
Country, Yellowstone
National Park, and the Willamette Valley
of
Oregon. We are looking for tools, methods, and applications to
inventory river habitats from remote platforms including satellites,
airplanes, trikes, blimps, kites, and poles. Imaging systems
range from ordinary digital cameras and aerial photos to imaging
spectrometers.
Two-dimensional cellular hydraulics simulations have been developed to
aid and extend these observations. The observations are being used to
test classical river theories and identify key habitats.
Dynamics of
Mountain Streams - Current projects are centered around Yellowstone
National Park and the Oregon Coast
Range. We are analyzing
the spatial and temporal patterns by which mountain streams expend
their energy, move sediment and wood, and create unstable geomorphic
zones. As these patterns grow, change, and diminish, they produce
physical habitate templates for aquatic organisms, another aspect of
our observations and simulations.
Ecotone
Dynamics - Current projects are centered around Glacier
National
Park and the Rwenzori
Mountains in Uganda. We are looking at how
mountain ecotones (transitions from one ecosystem to another) react to
climate change and other factors, and the sensitivity of ecotones to
various internal and external processes. This research combines
fieldwork, remote sensing, and numerical simulations such as the SATS
treeline ecotone model..
The Beaded
Stream - Currently, the project is centered on the Alaska North
Slope. I am beginning to study this unusual stream pattern, formed
where fluvial processes mix with thermokarst processes in areas of
continuous permafrost. I am interested in how the permafrost processes
interact with typical fluvial geomorphology and where there are
thresholds of change to either pure permafrost forms or pure fluvial
forms. These streams slow down meltwater floods and alter arctic stream
ecosystems, and they are likely to be very sensitive to climate change
in the United States, Canada, and Russia. This research combines
fieldwork, remote sensing, and numerical simulations.
NASA's
SWOT: Surface
Water Ocean Topography - Currently my work is focused on
the SWOT surface hydrology group. The satellite under design by NASA
and CNES will be a polar-orbiting interferometric radar that will map
the existence, elevation, and slope of surface water around the world
at the resolution of tens of meters. The mission group and the
hydrology subgroup are tasked with taking data that SWOT will
(hopefully!) produce and extract hydrologically meaningful information,
such as
river discharge, floodwave extents and speeds, water volumes, and
geomorphically meaningful hydraulics measures.Publications on the Web:
Murray, A.B. Lazarus, E., Ashton, A., Baas, A., Coco, G., Coulthard, T., Fonstad, M., Haff, P., McNamara, D., Paola, C., Pelletier, J.,
Reinhardt, L. 2009. Geomorphology, complexity, and the emerging science of the earth’s surface. Geomorphology. 103, pp. 496-505.
Marcus, W.A. and Fonstad, M.A., 2008, Optical remote mapping of rivers at sub-meter resolutions and watershed extents, Earth Surface
Processes and Landforms, vol. 33, pp. 4-24.
Murray, A.B. and Fonstad, M.A. 2007. Preface: complexity (and simplicity) in landscapes. In Complexity in Geomorphology: Proceedings of
the 38th International Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium. Murray, A.B. and Fonstad, M.A. (eds). 173-177.
Giordano, A., Lu, Y., Anderson, S.A., Fonstad, M.A., 2007, Wireless mapping, GIS, and learning about the digital divide: a classroom
experience, Journal of Geography, vol. 106, pp. 285-295.
Parsons, J.A. and Fonstad, M.A., 2007, A geographical cellular automata model of surface water flow, Hydrological Processes, vol. 21,
no. 16, pp. 2189-2195.
Fonstad, M.A., 2006, Cellular automata as analysis and synthesis engines at the geomorphology-ecology interface, Geomorphology,
vol. 77, no. 3-4, pp. 217-234.
Anderson, S.J., Fonstad, M.A., Delrieux, C.A. 2006. Satellite image restoration using the VMCA model. XII Congresso Argentino de
Ciencias de la Computation (Proceedings of the 12th Annual Computer Science Conference).
Conyers, M.M. and Fonstad, M.A., 2005, The unusual channel resistance of the Texas Hill Country and its effect on flood flow
predictions, Physical Geography, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 379-395.
Fonstad, M.A. and Marcus, W.A., 2005, Remote sensing of stream depths with hydraulically-assisted bathymetry (HAB) models,
Geomorphology, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 320-339.
Dunham, S., Fonstad, M.A.,
of vegetation to drought in the Great Lakes region, GIScience and Remote Sensing, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 185-201.
Jordan, D.C. and Fonstad, M.A., 2005, Two-dimensional mapping of river bathymetry and power using aerial photography and
GIS on the Brazos River, Texas, Geocarto, vol 20, no. 3.
Fonstad, M.A., Reichling, J., Van de Grift, J.W., 2005, Design of a new transparent velocity head rod for rapid and precise stream
velocity measurements, Journal of Geoscience Education, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 44-52.
Legleiter, C.J., Roberts, D.A., Marcus, W.A., Fonstad, M.A., 2004, Optical remote sensing of river channel morphology and in-
stream habitat: physical basis and feasibility, Remote Sensing of Environment, vol. 93, pp. 493-510.
Fonstad, M.A. and Marcus, W.A., 2003, Self-organized criticality in riverbank systems, Annals of the Association of American
Geographers, vol. 93, no. 2, pp. 281-296.
Legleiter, C.J.,
Yellowstone: a spatially explicit analysis, Geomorphology, vol. 54, no. 3-4, pp. 119-136.
Fonstad, M.A., 2003, Spatial variation in the power of mountain streams in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, USA, Geomorphology,
vol. 55, no. 1-4, pp. 75-96.
Courses:
Geo 2410: Introduction to Physical Geography | S 2002 | F 2002 | S 2003 | F 2003 | S 2005 | F 2005 | F 2006
Geo 2426: Fundamentals of GIS | F 2001
Geo 3325: Geomorphology | S 2003
Geo 3434: Water Resources Management | S 2002 | F 2004 | F 2005
Geo 4325: Fluvial Processes | F 2008
Geo 4412: Digital Remote Sensing | S 2002 | S 2009
Geo 4430: Field Methods | S 2004 | S 2005 | S 2007
Geo 5395: Problems in Applied Geography | F 2001
Geo 5334: Applied Water Resources Management | F 2003 | F 2006
Geo 5430: Advanced Field Methods | S 2004 | S 2005 | S 2007
Geo 5370: Modeling in Physical Geography | S 2004
Geo 7300: Advanced Geographic Research Design | S 2006 | S 2007
Geo 7313: Environmental Systems Analysis | F 2004 | F 2008
Geo 7316: Remote Sensing and Environment | F 2002
Geo 7318: GIS in Environmental Geography | S 2006
Geo 7364: Geocomputation | S 2009
Fonstad Research Group:
Jane Heath Atha (Dissertation Advisor, beginning August, 2009)
The importance of large wood in the fluvial systems of the Oregon Coast Range
Mindy Conyers (Dissertation Advisor, in progress)
Spatial prediction of channel instability in the Animas River Basin, Colorado
Jacob Maas (Dissertation Advisor, in progress)
Dam removal in fine sediment systems: geomorphology and ecology
Jay Parsons (Dissertation Advisor, in progress)
Participatory GIS in landcover and watershed change
C. Andy Day (Dissertation Advisor, in progress)
Hydrological and climate change across mountainous regions
Delbert Humberson (Thesis Advisor, 2008)
Applying the Cellular Automata Evolutionary Slope and River (CAESAR) model to a highly erosive reach of the Colorado
River, Austin, Texas
Jane Heath (Thesis Advisor, 2006)
Criticality and river instability response to mountain environment control
Jonathan Frodge (Thesis Advisor, 2006)
Modeling the occurrence of springs and seeps along the
Jason Pinchback (Thesis Advisor, 2005)
Spatial aspects of water quality management in Austin, Texas
Jay Parsons (Thesis Advisor, 2004)
A computational cellular automaton for modeling surface water flow within the
Mindy Conyers (Thesis Advisor, 2003)
A regional evaluation of Manning's roughness estimates in streams of south-central
Susan Dunham (Thesis Advisor, 2003)
Using multitemporal satellite imagery to monitor the response of vegetation to drought in the
David Jordan, (Thesis Advisor, 2002)
Two-dimensional mapping of river bathymetry and power using aerial photography and GIS on the
Miscellany:
Texas State Department of Geography
Texas State University
Mountain Studies Institute
That Pancake
I also manage the River Remote Sensing Group on Facebook
Contact Information:
E-mail: mfonstad@txstate.edu
Phone (with voice mail): 512-245-7809
Department:
office phone: 512-245-2170
office fax: 512-245-8353
Mailing address:
Department of Geography
Department office: Room 139 Evans
Liberal Arts
My office: Room 383 Evans Liberal Arts
The page last updated April 15, 2009
Department of Geography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666
Texas State University Personal Web Page Disclaimer: http://www.txstate.edu/disclaimer