Robert Colwell, 87, Satellite Forester
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Robert Colwell, a University of California at Berkeley forestry professor who revolutionized his field with the use of satellite photography, died April 14 in Walnut Creek, Calif. He was 87.
Colwell’s expertise was in remote sensing – utilizing satellite photography to collect vast amounts of data from the earth.
His experience with the technology began in the military when he examined photographs of Japanese-held territories during World War II to help plan major Pacific offensives.
He was also one of the first in the Navy to examine photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after atomic bombs devastated those cities.
Colwell joined the faculty of Berkeley’s School of Forestry in 1947 and used remote sensing to analyze forests. An avid trout fisherman, Colwell also used his expertise in aerial photography to find remote lakes, colleagues said.
Colwell published nearly 400 papers in his field and wrote two seminal books on remote sensing.
