Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves in Random Media with Applications in Microwave Remote Sensing of Snow and Ice

The focus of my research is on wave scattering in dense volumetric and
layered random media. The goal is to use the microwave remote sensing technique to
monitor land surfaces for water resources and global climate change. Towards this goal,
I study the microwave scattering behavior of terrestrial snow, snow on sea ice, and the
polar ice sheet. In snow remote sensing, I will discuss about the dense media radiative
transfer (DMRT) theory and its applications at X-, Ku- and Ka- bands. I will also introduce
newly developed full wave simulation techniques to deal with scattering and emission
from layered snowpacks. The full wave approach readily applies to random
inhomogeneities scattering and emission above a random rough surface. In polar ice
sheet remote sensing, I will discuss a new instrument called ultrawide band software
defined radiometer (UWBRAD) operating at 0.5 to 2.0GHz. The instrument has been
flown over Greenland ice sheet twice in the year 2016 and 2017. I will report the
campaign results and explain the underlying wave scattering physics that help to
interpret the results. Here is a photo of Shurun taking data in the snow.
Shurun Tan received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in electrical engineering from
the Southeast University, Nanjing, China, in 2009 and 2012, respectively, and the Ph.D.
degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, in
Dec. 2016. From Dec. 2010 to Nov. 2011, he was a Visiting Student with the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
From Sep. 2012 to Dec. 2014, he was a PhD candidate with the Department of Electrical
Engineering, the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. From Jan. 2015, he has
been affiliated with the Radiation Laboratory, and the Department of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, first as a PhD
candidate, and recently as a postdoctoral research fellow since Jan. 2017. His research
interests include electromagnetic theory, wave propagation and scattering in random
media with applications in geophysical remote sensing of terrestrial snow, ice sheet, and
vegetated land surfaces. He is also interested in high performance computing, and in
wave propagation and scattering in periodic wave functional materials such as photonic
crystals and metamaterials.