Status and Research Interests:

Research Associate Professor with the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) and Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG). My expertise and research interests involve soil-vegetation-atmosphere water, energy and trace gas relations, remote sensing, and ecosystem process modeling. My current research activities integrate biophysical theory, field measurements and emerging technologies such as optical and microwave remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems, computer simulation and visualization models to describe the function, distribution and condition of vegetation and associated carbon, water and energy cycle processes across the landscape. My interests emphasize a landscape perspective for understanding ecosystem processes, integrating across disciplines and various scales.

Education:

• Ph.D. 1995. Bioresource Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis OR.
• M.A. 1990. Physical Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego CA
• B.A. 1987. Physical Geography, San Diego State University, San Diego CA

Professional affiliations:

• NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission Science Transition Team
• NASA EOS MODIS and AMSR-E instrument science teams
• Associate Editor, Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing
• NSF NEON Board Member Representative for UMT
• Member: American Geophysical Union (AGU); IEEE Geoscience & Remote Sensing Society

Selected publications:

• Kimball, J.S., K.C. McDonald, S.W. Running, and S. Frolking, 2004. Satellite radar remote sensing of seasonal growing seasons for boreal and subalpine evergreen forests. Remote Sensing of Environment 90, 243-258.
• Kimball, J.S., M. Zhao, A.D. McGuire, F.A. Heinsch, J. Clein, M. Calef, W.M. Jolly, S. Kang, S.E. Euskirchen, K.C. McDonald, and S.W. Running, 2007. Recent climate driven increases in vegetation productivity for the Western Arctic: Evidence of an acceleration of the northern terrestrial carbon cycle. Earth Interactions 11, 4, 1-23.
• McDonald, K.C, and J.S. Kimball, 2005. Hydrological application of remote sensing: Freeze-thaw states using both active and passive microwave sensors. Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences. Part 5. Remote Sensing. M.G. Anderson and J.J. McDonnell (Eds.), John Wiley & Sons Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/0470848944.hsa059a.
• Whited, D.C., M.S. Lorang, M.J. Harner, F.R. Hauer, J.S. Kimball and J.A. Stanford, 2007. Climate, Hydrologic disturbance, and succession: Drivers of floodplain pattern. Ecology 88 (4), 940-953.
• Zhang, K., J.S. Kimball, K.C. McDonald, J.J. Cassano, and S.W. Running, 2007. Impacts of large-scale oscillations on pan-Arctic terrestrial net primary production. Geophysical Research Letters 34, L21403, doi:10.1029/2007GL031605.