Alex Cunningham
Professor of Environmental Optics
Alex Cunningham graduated with a BSc in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh in 1972. He then joined the newly formed Department of Applied Physics at the University of Strathclyde, where he completed a PhD in mathematical ecology in 1976, took up an NERC Personal Research Fellowship in Microbial Population Dynamics in 1977, and was appointed to a lectureship in 1978. He is currently a Professor in the Physics Department, where he attempts to draw attention to the fact that we are currently trashing a beautiful planet while simultaneously carrying out research in hydrological optics and satellite remote sensing. Alex is coordinator of the Platforms and Sensors theme for Marine Science Scotland.
He takes up the post of Vice Dean (Resources) in the Science Faculty in August 2008.
| e: a.cunningham 
strath.ac.uk | t: 0141 548 3474 | u: http://bcp.phys.strath.ac.uk/
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Research
Alex founded the Strathclyde Environmental Optics Group in 1992 to study the propagation of light in seawater, employ optical techniques to detect changes in seawater composition, and develop algorithms for interpreting signals from airborne and satellite radiometers. The research of this group has been funded by 19 Research Council and EU grants and a substantial number of postgraduate studentships. Work is often carried out at sea, and we have participated in cruises in UK waters, the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, the North and South Atlantic, and the Southern Ocean. Current interests include the bio-optical properties of shelf seas, the influence of particle scattering on the volume reflectance of natural waters, and the use of hydrodynamic models to resolve ambiguities in ocean colour inversion algorithms.
Highlights
Early work on the variability in the carbon, nitrogen, and pigment content of phytoplankton cells under rapidly varying conditions of nutrient supply has become increasingly relevant to attempts to relate phytoplankton biomass to chlorophyll concentration and distinguish phytoplankton functional groups by satellite remote sensing of the chlorophyll/carotenoid ratio.
Innovations in environmental flow cytometry have included the construction of a custom instrument for JRC Ispra, the design of light-scattering modules for EurOPA instruments at the University of Amsterdam and the Rijkswaterstaat in Middelburg, and the deployment of the world’s first low-power submersible flow cytometer in an autonomous underwater vehicle.
We are engaged in the process of modelling of both underwater light climates and water-leaving radiances in UK shelf seas using radiative transfer theory. This work is founded on an extensive database of field observations has been made available to the community through an NERC Earth Observation enabling fund grant, and is now being exploited by workers at the Universities of Plymouth and Southampton.
Recent work on sources of variability in the sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence signals detected by satellite radiometers, is likely to bring about a radical re-appraisal of strategies for the remote sensing of algal blooms in shelf seas.
Selected publications
D.McKee, M.Chami, I.Brown, V.Calzado, D.Doxaran, A.Cunningham, "Role of measurement uncertainties in observed variability in the spectral backscattering ratio: a case study in mineral-rich coastal waters.", Appl. Opt. 48, 4663-75 (2009) doi: 10.1364/AO.48.004663
D.McKee, A.Cunningham, A.Dudek, "Optical water type discrimination and tuning remote sensing band-ratio algorithms: Application to retrieval of chlorophyll and K-d(490) in the Irish and Celtic Seas", Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 73, 827-834 (2007) doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2007.03.028
D.Mckee, A.Cunningham, D.Wright, L.Hay, "Potential impacts of nonalgal materials on water-leaving Sun induced chlorophyll fluorescence signals in coastal waters", Appl. Opt. 46, 7720-7729 (2007) doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2007.03.028
D.Mckee, A.Cunningham, "Identification and characterisation of two optical water types in the Irish Sea from in situ inherent optical properties and seawater constituents", Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 68, 305-316 (2006) doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2006.02.010
D.McKee, A.Cunningham, "Evidence for wavelength dependence of the scattering phase function and its implication for modeling radiance transfer in shelf seas", Appl. Opt. 44, 126-135 (2005) doi: 10.1364/AO.44.000126
I.MacCallum, A.Cunningham, D.McKee, "The measurement and modelling of light scattering by phytoplankton cells at narrow forward angles", J. Opt. A 6, 698-702 (2004) doi: 10.1088/1464-4258/6/7/007
A.Cunningham, D.McKee, S.Craig, G.Tarran, C.Widdicombe, "Fine-scale variability in phytoplankton community structure and inherent optical properties measured from an autonomous underwater vehicle", J. Marine Systems 43, 51-59 (2003) doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.69.043806
D.Mckee, A.Cunningham, K.J.Jones, "Optical and hydrographic consequences of freshwater run-off during spring phytoplankton growth in a Scottish fjord", J. Plankton Res. 24, 1163-1171 (2002) doi: 10.1093/plankt/24.11.1163
Current Grants
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