Robert Austin
Research and Extension Specialist – Geographic Information Systems
EPA Faculty and Professionals
Williams Hall 3403F
Specialty: Geographic Information Specialist
My work is directed toward geomatics and the application of related technologies in soils, agriculture, and the environment. I largely support faculty, staff, and students in the use of geospatial information and analytics.
Current program emphasis is directed toward (i) the use and application of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in early-season nitrogen management and crop scouting, (ii) the optimization of commercial nitrogen inputs through on-farm, multiple rate strip trials, and (iii) the spatial characterization of heavy metals on agriculture land resulting from the 2014 Dan River coal ash spill.
Other technology and programming interests include: web-based distribution of spatial data (RESTful APIs, leaflet, GeoServer, PostgreSQL PostGIS), open-source spatial solutions (GDAL/OGR), mobile application development, spatial analytics (R), and the development of tools and services for use in agriculture and farm management
Publications
- Sorption and Phase Associations of Chromate and Vanadate with Two Contrasting North Carolina Saprolites, Soil Systems (2024)
- Assessing unmanned aerial vehicle-based imagery for breeding applications in St. Augustinegrass under drought and non-drought conditions, CROP SCIENCE (2023)
- Discrimination between protoporphyrinogen oxidase-inhibiting herbicide-resistant and herbicide-susceptible redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) with spectral reflectance, WEED SCIENCE (2023)
- Assessing the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework toolbox in a Southern Piedmont landscape of the United States, JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION (2022)
- Combining Survey, Soil Coring, and GIS Methods to Improve Reservoir Capacity Estimates in the Maya Lowlands, ADVANCES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRACTICE (2022)
- Drone-based polarization imaging for phenotyping peanut in response to leaf spot disease, POLARIZATION: MEASUREMENT, ANALYSIS, AND REMOTE SENSING XV (2022)
- Nutrient Management Effects on Wine Grape Tissue Nutrient Content, PLANTS-BASEL (2022)
- Utilization of image-based spectral reflectance to detect herbicide resistance in glufosinate-resistant and glufosinate-susceptible plants: a proof of concept, WEED SCIENCE (2022)
- Remote Sensing for Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.) Detection in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), AGRONOMY-BASEL (2021)
- The Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework: Opportunities and challenges in the eastern United States, AGRICULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL LETTERS (2021)