UW Home >    ESS Home >    RS&PSL Home >    People >    Adams


John Adams

Professor Emeritus
Dept of Earth and Space Sciences

UW-ESS; Mailstop 351310
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-1310

Office: 331 Johnson Hall
Phone : 206-685-8265
Fax (shared) : 206-685-2379


Education:

B.S, Stanford University, 1956 (Geology). Ph.D., University of Washington, 1961 (Geology).

After graduate school and military service, Adams worked at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory on early geological exploration of the moon and planets. He was instrumental in developing reflectance spectroscopy as a remote-sensing method and was one of the first scientists to study lunar samples. Following several years at the West Indies Laboratory in St. Croix, he returned to the University of Washington in 1975 where he continued research on planetary surfaces and applied new remote-sensing spectroscopic techniques to the earth. During the 1980's and 1990's he studied geomorphic processes and weathering in arid regions, including the role of microorganisms in modifying desert surfaces. He also worked on the spectroscopy of vegetation and remote sensing at landscape scales to characterize terrestrial ecosystems, ranging from arid lands to tropical forests. Adams was Chairman of the Department of Geological Sciences from 1979 to 1984. He established the Remote Sensing Laboratory, and held joint appointments in the Departments of Geological Sciences (now ESS) and Astronomy. He retired from regular teaching duties in 1996. Adams is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a recipient of the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, the Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America and the Whipple Award from the American Geophysical Union. His current research interests include development of new methods for combining photo-interpretation with spectral analysis, and the application of these methods to images of Mars and of environmental change on Earth.

Recent publications:

Adams, J.B., Gillespie, A.R., Jackson, M.P.A., Montgomery, D.R., Dooley, T.P., Combe, J.-P.
     Schreiber, B.C., 2009.  Salt tectonics and collapse of Hebes Chasma, Valles Marineris, Mars.
     Geology v. 37 no. 12, 691-694, doi:10.113/G30024A.1

Adams, J. B. and Gillespie, A. R., 2006. Remote Sensing of Landscapes with Spectral Images: A Physical Modeling Approach, Cambridge University Press, 362 pp.

McCord, T. B., J. B. Adams, G. Bellucci, J-P. Combe, A. R. Gillespie, G. Hansen, H. Hoffmann, R. Jaumann, G. Neukum, P. Pinet, F. Poulet, K. Stephan, the HRSC Spectrophotometric Working group, and the HRSC Co-I Team, 2007. The Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera Spectrophotometric Data: Characteristics and Science Analysis. Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets 112, E06004, doi:10.1029/2006JE002769.  

Montgomery, D. R., Som, S. M., Jackson, M. P. A., Schreiber, B. C., Gillespie, A. R., and Adams, J. B., 2008.  Continental-scale salt tectonics on Mars and the origin of Valles Marineris and associated outflow channels.  Geological Society of America Bulletin, DOI: 10.1130/B26307.1.

Adams, J. B., Gillespie, A. R., Jackson, M. P. A., Montgomery, D. R., Dooley, T. P., Combe, J.-P., Schreiber, B. C., 2009, Salt tectonics and collapse of Hebes Chasma, Valles Marineris, Mars. Submitted.



Links

ESS Department short bio web site : http://earthewb.ess.washington.edu/

Publication for download:
Classification of Multispectral Images Based on Fractions of Endmembers: Application to Land-Cover Change in the Brazilian Amazon


    W. M. Keck Remote Sensing and Planetary Sciences Laboratory
    Department of Earth and Space Sciences
    University of Washington

    Box 351310   
    Seattle, WA  98195