Leonhard Blesius
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 2002
Courses Taught
Remote Sensing of Environment II
Seminar in Geographic Information Science
Seminar in Physical Geography: Geomorphology
Biography
Geographic Areas: Southern California, San Francisco Bay area, mountainous regions.
Leonhard Blesius's research interests can be broadly divided into environmental systems analysis, in particular fluvial geomorphology and natural hazards, as well as remote sensing and its application to regions where few ancillary data are available. His focus in geomorphology is primarily related to fluvial systems in high-energy environments, specifically landslide susceptibility mapping. He approaches this problem from several angles, but an important component is the combination of engineering methods and remote sensing technology. Currently he is employing the infinite slope method, but other techniques may provide a potentially fruitful pursuit of further research. Due to his work in Southern California, he has become interested in fire dynamics, and how this affects the initiation of debris flows as well as the question of changes in friction angle and cohesion in soils due to fire.