Grant Gunn

Assistant Professor
Gunn

EV1-307
g2gunn@uwaterloo.ca

Key Areas of Graduate Supervision

Remote sensing and target interactions with permafrost and lakes in Arctic, sub-Arctic and Temperate regions.

Research Interests

My main research interests aim to improve the retrievals of physical components of the Cryosphere, including permafrost (active layer thickness, timing of thaw/refreeze) and ice parameters in sub-Arctic and Arctic environments. My research applies emerging technologies including: airborne/spaceborne synthetic aperture radar, high-performance cloud computing (ex. Google Earth Engine), interferometry, polarimetric decomposition, thermodynamic modeling, and the collection of field variables to validate these remote observations. 

I am currently interested in the application of these methods in tundra and boreal regions where small lakes and ponds are numerous providing significant ecosystem services to local communities through fishery/game habitat and winter transportation corridors. I approach  research questions incorporating field observations and modeling efforts to improve the understanding of the interaction of microwaves with physical features of the lake system, thereby providing the ability to retrieve and monitor permafrost and ice properties, furthering the ability to assess how the frozen regime will change in the future.

Current Courses Taught

GEOG 318: Spatial Analysis
GEOG 387: Spatial Databases
GEOG 381: Advanced Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 481: Geographic Information Systems Project

Selected Publications

  • Chen, P., & Gunn, G. E., (2025). Surface Water Extent Extraction in Prairie Environments Using Sentinel-1 Image-pair Coherence, Glacies, 2(2), 6.
  • Culpepper, J., Sharma, S., Gunn, G. E., Magee, M., Meyer, M., Anderson, E., Arp, C., Cooley, S., Dolan, W., Dugan, H., Duguay, C., Jones, B. M., Kirillin, G., Ladwig, R., Lepparanta, M., Li, X., Magnuson, J., Pavelsky, T., Piccolroaz, S., Roberston, D., Steele, B., Tom, M., Weyhenmeyer, G. A., Woolway, I., Xenopoulos, M. A., & Yang, X. (2025). One-hundred fundamental, open questions to integrate methodological approaches in lake ice research. Water Resources Research, 61(5), e2024WR039042.
  • Rutty, M., Cardwell, F., & Gunn, G. (2023). Snowmobiling and Climate Change: Exploring Shifts in Snowmobile Activity Using a Temporal Analogue Approach in Ontario (Canada). Tourism and Hospitality, 4(4), 604-617.
  • Kapsar. J., Gunn, G. E., Brigham, L., Liu, J. (2023). Mapping vessel traffic patterns in the ice-covered waters of the Pacific Arctic. Climatic Change, 176(7), 94.
  • Murfitt, F., Duguay, C. R., Picard, G., Gunn, G. E., (2023). Forward modelling of synthetic aperture radar backscatter from lake ice over Canadian Subarctic Lakes. Remote Sensing of Environment, 286, 113424. 
  • Ferguson, J. E., & Gunn, G. E. (2022). Polarimetric decomposition of microwave-band freshwater ice SAR data: Review, analysis, and future directions. Remote Sensing of Environment, 280, 113176. 
  • Murfitt, J., Duguay, C. R., Picard, G., & Gunn, G. E. (2022). Investigating the Effect of Lake Ice Properties on Multifrequency Backscatter Using the Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer (SMRT) Model. Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, in press, TGRS-2022-01106.
  • Tuttle, S. E., Roof, S. R., Retelle, M. J., Werner, A., Gunn, G. E., & Bunting, E. L. (2022). Evaluation of Satellite-Derived Estimates of Lake Ice Cover Timing on Linnévatnet, Kapp Linné, Svalbard Using In-Situ Data. Remote Sensing, 14(6), 1311. 
  • Gunn, G. E., Jones, B. M., & Rangel, R. C. (2021). Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Retrieval of Snow Depth Over Freshwater Lake Ice Using Structure From Motion. Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 2, 15.
  • Gunn, G. E., Tarabara, V., Rutty, M., Bessette, D., & Richardson, R. (2021). Roughness and storage capacity of freshwater ice in the Straits of Mackinac. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 186
  • Macrae, M., Jarvie, H., Brouwer, R., Gunn, G. E., Reid, K., Joosse, P., King, K., Kleinman, P., Smith, D., Williams, M., & Zwonitzer, M. (2021). One size does not fit all: towards regional conservation practice guidance to reduce phosphorus loss risk in the Lake Erie watershed. Journal of Environmental Quality. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20218 
  • Bessette, D., Rutty, R., Gunn, G. E., Tarabara, V., & Richardson, R., (2021). The Perceived Risk of the Line 5 Pipeline and Spills Under Ice. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 47(1), 226-235. 
  • Queen, C., Nelson, F., Gunn, G. E., & Nyland, K. (2020). A Characteristic Periglacial Landform: Specific Geomorphometry of Cryoplanation Terraces in Eastern Beringia, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes (PPP-20-0005). https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2083.