John M. Norman
Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Ph.D. in Soil Science, University of Wisconsin, 1971
263 Soils Building
1525 Observatory Dr.
262-4576

jmnorman@facstaff.wisc.edu

Areas of Interest:

Soil physics, environmental biophysics

Research Interests

My research interests center on the synthesis of knowledge from numerous disciplines that are concerned with specific parts of the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Animal system. This integrative effort is well suited to having a home in Soil Science because of the broad perspective inherent in this discipline; soil scientists being quite familiar with considerations of biota and atmospheric phenomena as well as their own purview.

The approach that I use to integrate the information from the wide range of disciplines is dependent upon mathematical modeling of various components of this system. The modeling program draws heavily on various kinds of computer resources at the University of Wisconsin and other locations throughout the U.S. via communication networks. Measurement studies are also underway to obtain coefficients that are needed in the model as well as verifications to provide tests for model predictions.

Applications to ecology, agriculture, forestry and meteorology have included plant productivity and water use efficiency, integrated pest management, irrigation water use, precision agriculture, remote sensing, the contribution of surface exchanges to boundary-layer processes, and measurement and modeling of surface CO2 fluxes. Recent research focuses on the sustainability of agricultural production and the importance of soil in the spatial and temproal distribution of crop production and environmental consequences.

The same radiative transfer physics as is important in estimating photosynthesis can be used to predict the radiative signatures of vegetation when viewed from an aircraft or satellite. These remote observations may be useful in estimating vegetation type, density and transpiration rate. Students involved in this program would normally major in soil science; however, the interdisciplinary nature of this program could lead to a student majoring in one of many departments. I also teach a graduate course on Environmental Biophysics.

Related Links:

• Soil Science
• Environmental Studies
• Radiation and Remote Sensing

Publications

Brye, K.R., J.M. Norman, L.G. Bundy, and S.T. Gower. 2001. Nitrogen and carbon leaching in agroecosystems and their role in denitrification potential. J. Environ. Qual. 30:58-70.

Anderson, M.C., W.L. Bland, J.M. Norman and G.D. Diak. 2001. Canopy wetness and humidity prediction using satellite and synoptic-scale meteorological observations. Plant Disease 85:1018-1026.

Bisbee, K.E., S.T. Gower, J.M. Norman, and E.V. Nordheim. 2001. Environmental control on ground cover species composition and productivity in a boreal black forest. Oecologia 129(2):261-270.

Norman, J.M., W.P. Kustas, J.H. Prueger, and G.R. Diak. 2000. Surface flux estimation using radiometric temperature: A dual-temperature-difference method to minimize measurement errors. Water Resour. Res. 36:2263-2274.

Twine, T.E., W.P. Kustas, J.M. Norman, D.R. Cook, P.R. Houser, T.P. Meyers, J.H. Prueger, P.J. Starks, and M.Welely. 2000. Correcting eddy-covariance flux underestimates over a grassland. Agric. For. Meteorol. 102:279-300.

Anderson, M.C., J.M. Norman, T.P. Meyers, and G.R. Diak. 2000. An analytical model for estimating canopy transpiration and carbon assimilation fluxes based on canopy light-use efficiency. Agric. For. Meteorol. 101:265-289.

Brye, K.R., J.M. Norman, L.G. Bundy, and S.T. Gower. 2000. Water budget evaluation of prairie and maize ecosystems. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 715-724.

Kustas, W.P., and J.M. Norman. 2000. Evaluating the effects of sub-pixel heterogeneity on pixel average fluxes. Remote Sensing Environ. 74:327-342.

Gower, S.T., C.J. Kucharik, and J.M. Norman. 1999. Direct and indirect estima-tion of leaf area index, fAPAR, and net primary production of terrestrial eco-systems. Remote Sensing Environ. 70:29-51.

Kustas, W.P., and J.M. Norman. 1999. Evaluation of soil and vegetation heat flux predictions using a simple two-source model with radiometric temperatures for partial canopy cover. Agric. For. Meteorol. 94:13-29.

Mecikalski, J.R., G.R. Diak, M.C. Anderson, and J.M. Norman, 1999. Estimating fluxes on continental scales using remotely-sensed data in an atmospheric-land exchange model. J. Appl. Meteorol. 38:1352-1369.

Kucharik, C.J., J.M. Norman, and S.T. Gower. 1999. Characterizing the radiation regime in nonrandom forest canopies: Theory, measurements and modeling and a simplified approach. Tree Physiol. 19:695-706.

Diak, G.R., M.C. Anderson, W.L. Bland, J.M. Norman, J.M. Mecikalski, and R.M. Aune. 1998. Agricultural management decision aids driven by real-time satellite data. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 79:1345-1355.

Brye, K.R., J.M. Norman, L.G. Bundy, and S.T. Gower. 1998. An equilibrium tension lysimeter for measuring drainage through soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 63: 536-542.

Kucharik, C.J., J.M. Norman, L.M. Murdock, and S.T. Gower. 1997. Characterizing canopy non-randomness with a multiband vegetation imager (MVI). J. Geophys. Res. 102(D24): 29,455-29,473.

Anderson, M.C., J.M. Norman, G.R. Diak, W.P. Kustas, and J.r. Mecikalski. 1997. A two-source time-integrated model for estimating surface fluxes using thermal infrared remote sensing. Remote Sens. Environ. 60:195-215.

Norman, J.M., C.J. Kucharik, S.T. Gower, D.D. Baldocchi, P.M. Crill, M. Rayment, K. Savage, and R.G. Striegl. 1997. A comparison of six methods for measuring soil surface carbon dioxide fluxes. J. Geophys. Res. 102(D24): 28,771-28,777.

Gower, S.T., J.G. Vogel, J.M. Norman, T.K. Stow, C.J. Kucharik, and S.T. Steele. 1997. Carbon distribution and net primary production of aspen, jack pine and black spruce BOREAS forests. J. Geophys. Res. 102(D24):29,029-29,041.

Wang, D., B. Lowery, J.M. Norman, and K. McSweeney. 1996. Ant burrow effects on water flow and soil hydraulic properties of Sparta sand. Soil Tillage Res. 37:83-93.

McSweeney, K., and J.M. Norman. 1996. Soil landscape modeling: Issues of scale. GeoTimes 41:22-24. Am. Geol. Inst., Alexandria, VA.

Norman, J.M., M. Divakarla, and N.S. Goel. 1995. Algorithms for extracting information from remote thermal-IR observations of the earth's surface. Remote Sens. of Environ. 51:157-168.

Arkebauer, T.J., and J.M. Norman. 1995. From cell growth to leaf growth: III. Kinetics of leaf expansion. Agron. J. 87:112-121.

Norman, J.M., and F. Becker. 1995. Terminology in thermal infrared remote sensing of natural surfaces. Remote Sensing Rev. 12:159-173.

Norman, J.M., W.P. Kustas and K.S. Humes. 1995. A two-source approach for estimating soil and vegetation energy fluxes from observations of directional radiometric surface temperature. Agric. For. Meteorol. 77:263-293.

Kim, B.C., R.G. Kauffman, J.M. Norman and S.T. Joo. 1995. Measuring water-holding capacity in pork musculature with a tensiometer. Meat Sci. 39:363-374.

Wang, D., J.M. Norman, B. Lowery, and K. McSweeney. 1994. Nondestructive determination of hydrogeometrical characteristics of soil macropores. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 58:294-303.

Goel, N.S., and J.M. Norman (eds.). 1990. Instrumentation for studying vegetation canopies for remote sensing in optical and thermal infrared regions. Harwood Academic Publ., London. 360 p.

Norman, J.M. 1988. Synthesis of canopy processes. In G. Russell (ed.) Plant canopies: Their growth, form and function. Soc. for Experimental Biol. Seminar Series 29, Cambridge Univ. Press, New York.