Introducing the North Carolina Coastal Atlas

Abstract

Dr. Allen is the director of C-SIM at ECU and the co-director of ECU's Center for Geographic

Information Science. He is interested in understanding spatial and temporal change in the

natural environment, particularly vegetation and related environmental processes in order to

inform human actions. His research therefore emphasizes the development of geospatial

technologies such as satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and

global positioning systems (GPS). His primary areas of study are coastal and mountain environments

of North America, Central America, and Fennoscandia. His current research projects

include spatial analysis of coastal barrier morphodynamics; mapping mangroves and

coastal change in Costa Rica; developing new algorithms for satellite remote-sensing monitoring

and change detection; remote sensing and GIS data fusion for characterizing estuarine

processes; and investigating biophysical patterns and processes in subarctic, alpine,

and mountain environments.