Dr Elizabeth C. Atwood
Earth Observation Senior Scientist
liat@pml.ac.uk | +44 (0)1752 633100 (switchboard)"Every day at PML brings me the opportunity to make a real impact on the health of our oceans and ultimately our planet. It’s a place where cutting-edge science meets a sense of purpose, and collaborating with passionate colleagues who share this vision creates an energizing and fulfilling environment. "
Liz Atwood specialises in Earth Observation and remote sensing of marine and transitional water systems. With over a decade of experience, she focuses on algorithm development for satellite data processing, supporting projects investigating impact of flooding on river mouth and coastal water quality, improved operational water quality products for transitional water systems, monitoring coastal areas under influence of river plumes, and sub-daily detection of surface slicks (oil or otherwise) from satellites.
She has collaborated extensively with international institutes on application of evidence-based environmental EO solutions to societal challenges that promote improved stewardship of marine ecosystems. Prior to her role at PML, Dr. Atwood managed remote sensing projects at RSS Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH, where she developed expertise in land use classification and change analysis, water quality, and environmental monitoring.
She holds a doctoral degree specialising in remote sensing, with a distinguished academic background in marine biology and mathematics. She is an active contributor to scientific research and international collaborations, regularly presenting at high-profile conferences and publishing in leading peer-reviewed journals.
Key Projects
Selected Publications
E.C. Atwood, T. Jackson, A. Laurenson, B.F. Jönsson, E. Spyrakos, D. Jiang, G. Sent, N. Selmes, S. Simis, O. Danne, A. Tyler, S. Groom (2024). Framework for Regional to Global Extension of Optical Water Types for Remote Sensing of Optically Complex Transitional Water Bodies. Remote Sens. 16, 3267, doi: 10.3390/rs16173267.
B.F. Jönsson, J. Salisbury, E.C. Atwood, S. Sathyendranath, A. Mahadevan. (2023) Dominant timescales of variability in global satellite chlorophyll and SST revealed with a MOving Standard deviation Saturation (MOSS) approach. Remote Sens. Environ. 286, 113404, doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2022.113404.
E. Sullivan, M. Cole, E.C. Atwood, P.K. Lindeque, P.T. Chin., V. Martinez-Vicente (2023). In situ correlation between microplastic and suspended particulate matter concentrations in river-estuary systems support proxies for satellite-derived estimates of microplastic flux. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 196, 115529, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115529.
S. Piehl, E.C. Atwood, M. Bochow, H.K. Imhof, J. Franke, F. Siegert, C. Laforsch. (2020) Can water constituents be used as proxy to map microplastic dispersal within transitional and coastal waters? Frontiers in Environmental Science, 8, doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2020.00092.
E.C. Atwood, F.M. Falcieri, S. Piehl, M. Bochow, M. Matthies, J. Franke, S. Carniel, M. Sclavo, C. Laforsch, F. Siegert. (2019) Coastal accumulation of microplastic particles emitted from the Po River, Northern Italy: Comparing remote sensing and hydrodynamic modelling with in situ sample collections. Marine Pollution Bulletin 138: 561–574, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.11.045.
E. Atwood, J.T. Duffy-Anderson, J.K. Horne, C. Ladd. (2010). Influence of mesoscale eddies on ichthyoplankton assemblages in the Gulf of Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography 19(6): 493–507.