Chor Pang Lo
Professor of Geography
William A.
Owens Award 2001
Chor Pang Lo, Professor of Geography, bridges the physical,
social and technical science fields to advance research on urban
and suburban environments. His contributions lie in three important
areas: estimation of population and population characteristics,
assessment of the quality of life by integrating biophysical
variables acquired from remotely sensed data with socio-economic
data obtained from the census, and urban land use/cover change
detection and its environmental impact.
Dr. Lo is widely regarded as one of the top scholars in urban
remote sensing and in the use of GIS approaches for examining
population-environment interactions.
Remote sensing is the art and science of extracting information
about an object without actually touching it and is widely used
in mapping terrains and human activities on the earth’s surface.
Remote sensing is achieved by placing a sensor on an aerial or
satellite platform from which reflectance and emittance from
objects on the earth’s surface will be detected. The results
are analog or digital data, from which photography and images
can be created to show the characteristics of the objects.
Linking remote sensing and social science is a challenging task.
Dr. Lo’s research on the application of remote sensing to study
the urban environment has been recognized as a major milestone
in this field. His research has been integral to a large interdisciplinary
research project funded by NASA that has investigated how land
cover and land use changes in the Atlanta metropolitan area over
the last 25 years have impacted meteorology and air quality over
the city. His work on Project ATLANTA was key to developing a
better understanding of how urban sprawl has contributed to the
growth of the Urban Heat Island effect. He has unequivocally
illustrated how remote sensing data, in conjunction with population
information, can be used to derive better quantitative information
on human-induced and cover changes and to assess their effects
on the environment.
Dr. Lo’s remote sensing, GIS, and associated methodological
research has been published in such highly regarded journals
as Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing of Environment, GeoCarto International, Computers and Geoscience, and the International Journal of Remote Sensing. His work in human-environment interactions
and Chinese regional studies has appeared in such outlets as
the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, The
Professional Geographer, and Urban Geography.
Source: 22nd Annual Research Awards Program (2001)
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