Ph.D., Cornell University, 1993
A.B. University of California, Berkeley, 1984.

Office: PC325
Phone: 305-348-3089
email: whitmand@fiu.edu

Geophysics, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems

Research Interests

Hydrogeophysics: Geophysical methods provide cost-effective, noninvasive techniques for characterizing aquifer properties. We are using an AGI SWIFT/STING 28-electrode resistivity imaging system to explore innovative applications to environmental problems in South Florida. Current projects include investigations of submarine groundwater discharge, saltwater intrusion, and azimuthal electrical anisotrophy in the Biscayne aquifer.

Geologic and Environmental Hazards:
Because of its geographic location and burgeoning population, the state of Florida is vulnerable to a wide range of environmental hazards. Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technology provide tools for studying, understanding, and mitigating these hazards. Current research focuses on several areas related to these hazards. Projects include: application of airborne LIDAR mapping to assess shoreline impact of storms and to map precise topography in coastal areas susceptible to hurricane storm surge; the use of Satellite imagery to study land use changes in Florida; and the use of remotely sensed data sets and GIS to study the factors related to the formation of sinkholes in central and northern Florida.

Regional Tectonics:
An additional research interest is the crust and upper mantle structure, tectonics, and isostasy of young compressional mountain belts. Previous and current research centers on the gross lithospheric structure of the central Andean Plateau of Peru, Bolivia and Northwest Argentina and the northern Andes of Columbia and Venezuela. This research combines analysis of upper mantle seismic wave propagation with modeling of regional gravity data and digital topography.

Selected Publications
Robertson V., W., K. Zhang, C. W. Finkl, D. Whitman, Hydrodynamic and Geologic Influence of Event-Dependent Depth of Closure along the South Florida Atlantic Coast, Marine Geology, (in press), 2008.

C.D. Sinigalliano, M.L. Gidley, T. Shibata, D. Whitman, T.H. Dixon, E. Laws, A. Hou, D. Bachoon, L. Brand, L. Amaral-Zettler, R. J. Gast, G. F. Steward, O. D. Nigro, R. Fujioka, W.Q. Betancourt, G. Vithanage, J. Mathews, L.E. Fleming, H. M. Solo-Gabriele, Impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Microbial Landscape of the New Orleans Area, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 10.1073/pnas.0610552104, 2007

Robertson V, W., K. Zhang, D. Whitman, Hurricane-Induced Beach Change Derived from Airborne Laser Measurements near Panama City, Florida, Marine Geology, V. 237, 191-205, 2007.

Dixon, T. H., F. Amelung, A. Ferretti, F Novali, F Rocca, R. Dokka, G. Sella, S. Wan Kim, S. Wdowinski, D. Whitman, New Orleans Subsidence and Relation to Flooding after Hurricane Katrina, as Measured by Space Geodesy, Nature, V 441-1, 587, 2006.

Robertson V, W., K. Zhang, D. Whitman, S. P. Leatherman, Shoreline and Beach Volume Change Before and After the 2004 Hurricane Season, Palm Beach County, Florida, Shore & Beach Vol. 73, No. 2 & 3, 79-84, 2005

Leatherman, S. P., D. Whitman, K. Zhang, Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping and Light Detection and Ranging, in, M. Schwartz, (ed.), Encyclopedia of Coastal Science, Springer, p. 21-24, 2005.

Zhang, K, D. Whitman, Comparison of Three Algorithms for Filtering Airborne LIDAR data, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Photographic Engineering and Remote Sensing, V71-3, 313-324, 2005 Zhang K., D.

Whitman, S.P. Leatherman, and W. Robertson,. Quantification of the changes caused by Hurricane Floyd along Florida’s Atlantic Coast using airborne LIDAR survey. Journal of Coastal Research, 21, 120-131, 2005. Gross,

M.R., Ghosh, K., Manda, A.K. and Whitman, D., A GIS-based spatial analysis of caves and solution cavities with applications to predicting cave occurrence in limestone terrain, in Caldwell, D.R., Ehlen, J., and Harmon R.S. (eds.), Studies in Military Geography and Geology, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, p 287-306 2004.

Robertson, W. V, D. Whitman, K. Zhang, and S.P. Leatherman, Mapping Shoreline Position Using Airborne Laser Altimetry, Journal of Coastal Research, 20, 884-892, 2004

Whitman, D., K. Zhang, S. Leatherman, and W. Robertson, Airborne Laser Topographic Mapping: Application to Hurricane Storm Surge Hazards, in: Earth Sciences in the Cities, G. Heiken, R. Fakundiny, and J. Sutter, editors, American Geophysical Union, 363-378, 2003.

Zhang, K., S-C Chen, D. Whitman, M-L Shyu, J. Yan, C. Zhang, A Progressive Morphological Filter for Removing Non-ground Measurements from Airborne LIDAR Data, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, V 41, 872-882, 2003.

Ojeda, G. Y., and Whitman, D., Effect of windowing on lithosphere elastic thickness estimates obtained via the coherence method: Results from northern South America, J. Geophys. Res., 107, doi:10.1029/2000JB000114, 2002.

Whitman, D., K. Zhang, S.P Leatherman, W. Robertson, T. Bernier, C. Anderson, Application of Airborne LIDAR Topographic Mapping to Coastal Flooding and Erosion Hazards, Southeast Florida, Proceedings of the Seventh Annual International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments, Miami, FL, 20-22 May, 2002, 8 pages.

Whitman, D., T.L. Gubbels, L. Powell, Spatial interrelationships between lake elevations, water tables, and sinkhole occurrence in Central Florida: A GIS Approach, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. , 65, 1169-1178, 1999.

Whitman, D., T.L. Gubbels, Applications of GIS Technology to the triggering phenomena of sinkholes in Central Florida, in: Beck, B. F., Pettit, A. J., and Herring, J. G., eds., Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology of Sinkholes and Karst--1999, 67-73, 1999.

Whitman, D., T.L. Gubbels, L. Powell, 1999, Spatial interrelationships between lake elevations, water tables, and sinkhole occurrence in Central Florida: A GIS Approach, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, V 65, pp. 1169-1178.

Whitman, D., 1999, Isostatic Residual Gravity Anomaly in the Central Andes: 12 to 29deg; S: A Guide to Interpreting Crustal Structure and Deeper Lithospheric Processes, International Geology Review, 41: 457-475.

Whitman, D., B. L. Isacks, and S. Mahlburg Kay, 1996, Lithospheric structure and along-strike segmentation of the Central Andean Plateau: seismic Q, magmatism, flexure, topography, and tectonics, Tectonophysics, 259 (1-3), 29-40.

Whitman, D., 1994, Moho geometry beneath the eastern margin of the Andes, northwest Argentina, and its implications to the effective elastic thickness of the Andean foreland, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 15277-15290.

Whitman, D., B. L. Isacks, J-L Chatelain, J-M. Chiu, and A. Perez, 1992, Attenuation of High Frequency Seismic Waves beneath the Central Andean Plateau, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 19929 - 19947.

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