Dr. Magruder’s research interests are in remote sensing applications and data validation. Her primary focus is in laser altimetry and 3-D geospatial data analysis. The majority of her current research efforts are focused on the NASA Earth observing Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2. ICESat-2 launched in 2018 and has taken 600+ billion global elevations. Dr. Magruder led the ICESat-2 Science Team for a decade and now continues working with ICESat-2 in the areas of nearshore bathymetry and terrestrial ecology studies. She is also a member of the NASA Surface, Topography and Vegetation Science Team .
Dr. Magruder’s geospatial research objectives are related to 3D feature extraction and reconstruction. Her team (3D Geospatial Laboratory (www.magruder3dgl.com)) provides innovative and efficient software solutions for automation and accurate assessment of the environment for science applications. In addition, she focuses on the relationship of the the remote sensing hardware to the the quality of the data to inform improvements in the acquisition. The research is a true end to end process where the work takes the measurements to the application and addresses all engineering aspects in between.