
AJ Purdy
Assistant Professor
Biography
Dr. Purdy’s research leverages satellite observations, models, and geospatial analysis to study hydrology, water resources, ecosystems, and the environment from farm fields and watersheds to global scales. Before arriving at USF, Dr. Purdy was a postdoctoral scholar at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His roles included supporting the validation state-of-the art satellite observations with on-ground observations, developing open-source software to ease the use of NASA data to support water management, and collaborating with industrial designers to improve drought and hydrologic data communication. At the University of San Francisco, he continues to apply satellites and on-ground measurements to study water cycling as it relates to human activity.
Research Areas
- Water Resources
- Hydrology
- Remote Sensing
Education
- UC Irvine, PhD in Earth System Science 2018
- CSU Monterey Bay, MS in Watershed Science and Policy 2012
- University of San Diego, BS/BA in Industrial and Systems Engineering 2008
Prior Experience
- Postdoctoral Fellow, CalTech / Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Awards & Distinctions
-
NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship
-
Tao Beta Pi
Selected Publications
- Fisher, J.B., Lee, B., Purdy, A.J., Halverson, G. et. al (2020) ECOSTRESS: NASA's Next Generation Mission to Measure Evapotranspiration From the International Space Station Water Res. Res.
- Purdy, A.J., David, C.H., Sikder, M.S., Reager, J.T., Chandanpurkar, H.A., Jones, N.L., Matin, M.A., J. (2019) An Open-Source Tool to Facilitate the Processing of GRACE Observations and GLDAS Outputs: An Evaluation in Bangladesh.
- Purdy, A.J., Kawata, J., Fisher, J.B., Reynolds, M., Om, G., et. al. (2019), Designing drought indicators. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
- Purdy, A.J., et al. (2018), SMAP soil moisture improves global evapotranspiration. Remote Sensing of Environment 219: 1-14
- Massoud, E.C., Purdy, A.J., Miro, M., Famiglietti, J.S. (2018) Projecting groundwater storage changes in California’s Central Valley. Scientific Reports 8 (1), 12917
- Purdy, A.J., Fisher, J.B., Goulden, M.L., Colliander, A., Halverson, G., Tu, K., Famiglietti,J.S., (2018), SMAP soil moisture improves global evapotranspiration. Remote Sensing of Environment 219: 1-14
- Fisher, J.B. ... A.J. Purdy, ... et al. (2017) The Future of Evapotranspiration: Global requirements for ecosystem functioning, carbon and climate feedbacks, agricultural management, and water resources. Water Resources Research 53(4): 2618-2626
- Castle, S., .. Purdy, A.J., .. et al., (2016), Remote detection of water management impacts on evapotranspiration in the Colorado River Basin. Geophysical Research Letters 43, 5089–5097, doi:10.1002/2016GL068675.