Charles Bachmann Headshot

Charles Bachmann

Wiedman Professor

Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science
College of Science
Program Faculty - PhD Program in Physics
cmbpci@rit.edu
585-475-7238
Office Location
CAR-3250

Charles Bachmann

Wiedman Professor

Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science
College of Science
Program Faculty - PhD Program in Physics

Education

AB, Princeton University; Sc.M., Ph.D., Brown University

Bio

Charles M. Bachmann received the A.B. in physics from Princeton University (1984) and the Sc.M. (1986) and Ph.D. (1990) in physics from Brown University. He was a research physicist (1990-2013) at the Naval Research Laboratory, serving as Head of the Coastal Science and Interpretation Section in the Remote Sensing Division (2003 - 2013).  From 2012-2013, through the US Navy Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program, he was at the Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) Maritime Division, Sydney, Australia.  In 2013, he joined the faculty of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science (CIS) as the Frederick and Anna B. Wiedman Chair. Since 2016, he has also served as CIS Graduate Program Coordinator.  His research focuses on hyperspectral remote sensing of coastal and desert environments, BRF and radiative transfer modeling for retrieval of geophysical and biophysical parameters, field calibration and validation, the development of advanced instrumentation (goniometers), as well as abstract models for interpreting hyperspectral and multi-sensor imagery based on manifold descriptions and graph theory.  He holds two U.S. Patents for methods of analysis related to hyperspectral remote sensing imagery

cmbpci@rit.edu
585-475-7238
Personal Links
Google Scholar
Areas of Expertise
Digital Imaging
Remote Sensing
Hyperspectral Imaging
Multi-sensor Imaging
RADAR
radiative Transfer Modeling
Goniometers
BRDF
Calibration and Validation
Coastal Science and Applications
Coastal Sediments
Wetlands
Manifold and Graph Algorithms
Imaging Science

Select Scholarship

Journal Paper
Lee, Chris H., et al. "A Comprehensive BRF Model for Spectralon™ and Application to Hyperspectral Field Imagery." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 62. (2024): 1-16. Web.
Li, Chunyan, et al. "Dynamic impact of transiting weather systems on coastal currents in the northern Gulf of Mexico." Deep-Sea Research Part II 216. (2024): 105395, 1-21. Web.
Carmon, Nimrod, et al. "Shape from spectra." Remote Sensing of Environment 288. (2023): 113497. Web.
Nur, Nayma Binte and Charles M. Bachmann. "Comparison of Soil Moisture Content Retrieval Models Utilizing Hyperspectral Goniometer Data and Hyperspectral Imagery from an Unmanned Aerial System." Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 128. 6 (2023): e2023JG007381. Web.
Mao, Yiwei, et al. "High resolution imaging spectroscopy of the sky." Solar Energy 262. (2023): 111821. Web.
Golding, Rachel M., et al. "The Effect of Grain Size on Hyperspectral Polarization Data of Particulate Material." Remote Sensing 15. (2023): 3668. Web.
Roth, Benjamin D., et al. "Leaf Bidirectional Transmittance Distribution Function (BTDF) Estimates and Models for Select Deciduous Tree Species." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 60. (2022): 4401214. Web.
Shiltz, Dylan J. and Charles M. Bachmann. "An Alternative to Hapke\'s Macroscopic Roughness Correction." Icarus 390. (2023): 115240. Web.
Eon, Rehman S. and Charles M. Bachmann. "Mapping Barrier Island Soil Moisture Using a Radiative Transfer Model of Hyperspectral Imagery from an Unmanned Aerial System." Scientific Reports 11. (2021): 3270. Web.
Eon, Rehman S., et al. "Retrieval of Sediment Fill Factor in a Salt Panne from Multi-View Hyperspectral Imagery." Remote Sensing 12. 3 (2020): 422. Web.
Roth, Benjamin D., et al. "On Leaf BRDF Estimates and Their Fit to Microfacet Models." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 13. 1 (2020): 1761-1771. Web.
Goldsmith, Sarah B., et al. "Assessing Salt Marsh Vulnerability using High-Resolution Hyperspectral Imagery." Remote Sensing 12. 18 (2020): 2938. Web.
Badura, Gregory P., et al. "A Novel Approach for Deriving LAI of Salt Marsh Vegetation Using Structure from Motion and Multi-Angular Spectra." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics In Applied Earth Observations And Remote Sensing 12. 2 (2019): 599-613. Web.
Badura, Greg and Charles M. Bachmann. "Assessing Effects of Azimuthally Oriented Roughness on Directional Reflectance of Sand." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 12. 3 (2019): 1012-1025. Print.
Badura, Gregory, et al. "Observed Relationship Between BRF Spectral-Continuum Variance and Macroscopic Roughness of Clay Sediments." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 57. 9 (2019): 6726-6740. Print.
Eon, R. S., et al. "Retrieval of Salt Marsh Above-ground Biomass From High-spatial Resolution Hyperspectral Imagery Using PROSAIL." Remote Sensing 11. 11 (2019): 1385. Web.
Eon, Rehman S., Charles M. Bachmann, and Aaron Gerace. "Retrieval of Sediment Fill Factor by Inversion of a Modified Hapke Model Applied to Sampled HCRF from Airborne and Satellite Imagery." Remote Sensing 10. 11 (2018): 1758. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "A Low-Rate Video Approach to Hyperspectral Imaging of Dynamic Scenes." Journal of Imaging 5. 1 (2018): 6. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Modeling and intercomparison of field and laboratory hyperspectral goniometer measurements with G-LiHT imagery of the Algodones Dunes." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 12. 1 (2017): 012005-1 - 012005-20. Web.
McCorkel, Joel, et al. "An overview of the 2015 Algodones Sand Dunes field campaign to support sensor inter-calibration." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 12. 1 (2017): 012003-1 - 012003-11. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Wavelength dependence of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of beach sands." Applied Optics 54. 31 (2015): F243--F255. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Flexible goniometer system: The Goniometer for Outdoor Portable Earth Reflectance (GOPHER)." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 10. 3 (2016): 036012-1-036012-22. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Soil signature simulation of complex mixtures and particle size distributions." Optical Engineering 54. 9 (2015): 094103-1--094103-10. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "A Flexible Goniometer System: The Goniometer for Outdoor Portable Earth Reflectance (GOPHER)." Optics Express. (2014): --. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Phase Angle Dependence of Sand Density Observable in Hyperspectral Reflectance." Remote Sensing of Environment 150. (2014): 53--65. Print.
Mied, Richard P., et al. "Tidal constituents from remote sensing image sequences." Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 117. (2013): 159-167. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "A dual-spectrometer approach to reflectance measurements under sub-optimal sky conditions." Optics Express 20. 8 (2012): 8959-8973. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Bathymetry Retrieval from Hyperspectral Imagery in the Very Shallow Water Limit: A Case Study from the 2007 Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR\\\'07) Multi-Sensor Campaign." Marine Geodesy 33. (2010): 53-75. Web.
Published Conference Proceedings
Lockwood, Ronald, et al. "Aquatic ecosystems science using an imaging spectrometer." Proceedings of the SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, Proc. SPIE 12688, Imaging Spectrometry XXVI: Applications, Sensors, and Processing, 126880C. Ed. SPIE. San Diego, CA: SPIE, 2023. Web.
Smith, David D., et al. "Optical performance of reflectivity control devices for solar sail applications." Proceedings of the SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications XIII. Ed. PC1266405 (28 September 2023), https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676775. San Diego, CA: SPIE, 2023. Web.
Nur, Nayma Binte, et al. "Retrieval of Soil Organic Carbon from Hyperspectral Imagery." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting 2022. Ed. AGU. Chicago, IL: AGU, 2022. Web.
Nu, Nayma Binte, et al. "Mapping Soil Organic Carbon Using UAS Hyperspectral Imagery." Proceedings of the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS) 2023. Ed. IEEE. Pasadena, CA: IEEE, 2023. Web.
Smeaton, Corrie, et al. "Imaging Spectrometer Implementation on a Small Satellite Platform for Aquatic Ecosystems Science." Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 37th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites. Ed. AIAA/USU. Logan, UT: AIAA/USU, 2023. Web.
Mao, Yiwei, et al. "Measuring Diffuse Sky Radiance Using Imaging Spectroscopy." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting 2023. Ed. AGU. San Francisco, CA: AGU, 2023. Web.
Nur, Nayma Binte, Charles M. Bachmann, and Timothy D. Bauch. "A Comparative Study Evaluating and Enhancing Soil Moisture Retrieval Models for Hyperspectral Missions." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting 2023. Ed. AGU. San Francisco, CA: AGU, 2023. Web.
Nur, Nayma Binte, et al. "Utilizing UAS Hyperspectral Imagery for Precise Soil Organic Matter, Carbon, and Nitrogen Assessment." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting 2023. Ed. AGU. San Francisco, CA: AGU, 2023. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Improving the Characterization of Aquatic Ecosystems with an Enhanced Imaging Spectrometer." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting 2023. Ed. AGU. San Francisco, CA: AGU, 2023. Web.
Lee, Chris H., et al. "Goniometric and Polarized Imaging Spectroscopic Lab Measurements of Spacecraft Materials." Proceedings of the AMOS Technical Conference, September 27-30, 2022, Maui, HI. Ed. AMOSTech. Mauii, HI: n.p., Web.
Bachmann, Charles M., et al. "Retrieval of Sediment Geophysical Properties from Hyperspectral UAS Imagery in Preparation for the NASA SBG Mission." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting. Ed. American Geophysical Union. New Orleans, LA: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/947789, 2021. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M. and Reid Nichols. "Hyperspectral Imager for Updated Littoral Situational Awareness (HULA)." Proceedings of the NOAA Emerging Technologies Workshop. Ed. NOAA. College Park, MD: NOAA Emerging Technologies Workshop 2019 Report, 2019. Web.
Tyler, Anna C., et al. "Addressing High Spatial Heterogeneity in Salt Marsh Primary Production Using High Resolution Remote Sensing." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting. Ed. AGU. Washington, DC: AGU, 2018. Web.
Bachmann, Charles M. "A Next Generation Field-portable Goniometer System." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2016. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2015. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "How Many Spectral Bands are Necessary to Describe the Directional Reflectance of Beach Sands?" Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2016. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2015. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Retrieval of Sediment Fill Factor from Hyperspectral BRDF Measurements of Coastal Sediments." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2016. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2015. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Schrodinger Eigenmaps for Semi-supervised Manifold Alignment of Hyperspectral Imagery." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2016. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2015. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Improved Modeling of Multiple Scattering in Hyperspectral BRDF of Coastal Sediments Observed Using the Goniometer of the Rochester Institute of Technology (GRIT)." Proceedings of the Imaging Spectrometry XX. San Diego, California: SPIE, 2015. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Influence of Density on Hyperspectral BRDF Signatures." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2015. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2015. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Modeling and Mitigating Noise in Graph and Manifold Representations of Hyperspectral Imagery." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2015. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2015. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Modeling and Mitigating Noise in Graph and Manifold Representations of Hyperspectral Imagery." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2015. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2014. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Influence of Density on Hyperspectral BRDF Signatures." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2015. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2014. Print.
Bachmann, Charles M. "Retrieval of Sand Density from Hyperspectral BRDF." Proceedings of the SPIE Defense and Security 2014. Baltimore, Maryland: SPIE, 2014. Print.
Peer Reviewed/Juried Poster Presentation or Conference Paper
Eon, Rehman S., et al. "Improving Accuracy of Salt Marsh Aboveground Biomass using High-Spatial Resolution, Multi-View Hyperspectral Imaging Systems." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting. Ed. AGU. Washington, DC: AGU.
Goldsmith, Sarah, et al. "Assessing Salt Marsh Vulnerability Potential Through the use of High Resolution Hyperspectral Imagery." Proceedings of the AGU Fall Meeting. Ed. AGU. Washington, DC: AGU.

Currently Teaching

IMGS-599
Imaging Science Independent Study
1 - 4 Credits
This course is a faculty-directed tutorial of appropriate topics that are not part of the formal curriculum. The level of study is appropriate for student in any of their years of study.
IMGS-619
Radiometry
2 Credits
This course is focused on the fundamentals of radiation propagation as it relates to making quantitative measurements with imaging systems. The course includes an introduction to common radiometric terms, detector figures of merit, and noise concepts.
IMGS-643
Mathematical Methods of Imaging Science 1
1 Credits
This course will provide the foundational mathematics needed in Imaging Science. This course is the first semester in a two-semester sequence covering fundamental mathematical tools and methods with specific examples drawn from Imaging Science. Students will have the opportunity to put concepts into practice through practical implementation in computer programming assignments.
IMGS-699
Imaging Science Graduate Co-op
0 Credits
This course is a cooperative education experience for graduate imaging science students.
IMGS-719
Radiative Transfer I
3 Credits
This course is the first course in a two-semester course sequence that covers the theory of radiative transfer in disordered media. The course begins with a brief review of basic electromagnetism and models for scattering and absorption by single particles and progresses to the theory of radiative transfer in semi-infinite media. Various approximations that allow closed-form solutions are presented, and related phenomenology, such as the shadow-hiding opposition effect and coherent backscatter opposition effects, are described in terms of these models.
IMGS-740
Imaging Science MS Systems Project Paper
3 Credits
The analysis and solution of imaging science systems problems for students enrolled in the MS Project capstone paper option.
IMGS-790
Research & Thesis
1 - 6 Credits
Masters-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.
IMGS-791
Continuation of Thesis
0 Credits
Continuation of Thesis
IMGS-799
Imaging Science Independent Study
1 - 4 Credits
This course is a faculty-directed tutorial of appropriate topics that are not part of the formal curriculum. The level of study is appropriate for student in their graduate studies.
IMGS-890
Research & Thesis
1 - 6 Credits
Doctoral-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.
IMGS-891
Continuation of Thesis
0 Credits
Continuation of Thesis

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