Lei, Fangni

Assistant Research Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Email fangni.lei@uconn.edu
Phone (301) 250-0983
Mailing Address Civil and Environmental Engineering 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3037 Storrs, CT 06269-3037
Campus Storrs
Google Scholar Link

Brief Bio

Dr. Fangni Lei is an Assistant Research Professor at the Eversource Energy Center and is affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut. She is an expert in hydrology, particularly focusing on the use of remote sensing for quantifying hydrological variables and understanding land-atmosphere interactions. 

Dr. Lei has a substantial publication record, including papers in high-impact journals such as Nature Communications, Remote Sensing of Environment, and Water Resources Research. Dr. Lei's research contributes significantly to the field of hydrology by developing and applying advanced techniques to enhance our understanding of hydrological processes and inform sustainable practices in agriculture and water resource management. 

  • Watershed-scale hydrologic modeling and hydrological data assimilation: This involves developing and applying models to understand and predict water movement within watersheds, incorporating data from various sources to improve accuracy.
  • Microwave remote sensing of soil moisture: Quantifying soil moisture levels using microwave signals from satellites, crucial for agricultural and climate monitoring.
  • Land surface water and energy balance modeling: Analyzing the exchange of water and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere, impacting weather patterns and climate.
  • Agricultural water management with remote sensing applications: Developing and implementing remote sensing techniques to optimize water use in agriculture for sustainable practices. 
Machine learning-based CYGNSS soil moisture estimates over ISMN sites in CONUS
V Senyurek, F Lei, D Boyd, M Kurum, AC Gurbuz, R Moorhead
Remote Sensing 12 (7), 1168
The grape remote sensing atmospheric profile and evapotranspiration experiment
WP Kustas, MC Anderson, JG Alfieri, K Knipper, A Torres-Rua, CK Parry, ...
Bulletin of the American meteorological society 99 (9), 1791-1812
Evaluations of machine learning-based CYGNSS soil moisture estimates against SMAP observations
V Senyurek, F Lei, D Boyd, AC Gurbuz, M Kurum, R Moorhead
Remote Sensing 12 (21), 3503
Data assimilation of high-resolution thermal and radar remote sensing retrievals for soil moisture monitoring in a drip-irrigated vineyard
F Lei, WT Crow, WP Kustas, J Dong, Y Yang, KR Knipper, MC Anderson, ...
Remote sensing of environment 239, 111622
Quasi-global machine learning-based soil moisture estimates at high spatio-temporal scales using CYGNSS and SMAP observations
F Lei, V Senyurek, M Kurum, AC Gurbuz, D Boyd, R Moorhead, WT Crow, ...
Remote Sensing of Environment 276, 113041
Global investigation of soil moisture and latent heat flux coupling strength
F Lei, WT Crow, TRH Holmes, C Hain, MC Anderson
Water resources research 54 (10), 8196-8215
Land transpiration-evaporation partitioning errors responsible for modeled summertime warm bias in the central United States
J Dong, F Lei, WT Crow
Nature Communications 13 (1), 336
Soil evaporation stress determines soil moisture‐evapotranspiration coupling strength in land surface modeling
J Dong, PA Dirmeyer, F Lei, MC Anderson, TRH Holmes, C Hain, ...
Geophysical Research Letters 47 (21), e2020GL090391
The impact of local acquisition time on the accuracy of microwave surface soil moisture retrievals over the contiguous United States
F Lei, WT Crow, H Shen, RM Parinussa, TRH Holmes
Remote Sensing 7 (10), 13448-13465
Triple collocation based multi-source precipitation merging
J Dong, F Lei, L Wei
Frontiers in Water 2, 1
Improving the estimation of hydrological states in the SWAT model via the ensemble Kalman smoother: Synthetic experiments for the Heihe River Basin in northwest China
F Lei, C Huang, H Shen, X Li
Advances in Water Resources 67, 32-45
A global assessment of added value in the SMAP Level 4 soil moisture product relative to its baseline land surface model
J Dong, W Crow, R Reichle, Q Liu, F Lei, MH Cosh
Geophysical Research Letters 46 (12), 6604-6613
Extending the SMAP 9-km soil moisture product using a spatio-temporal fusion model
J Hongtao, S Huanfeng, L Xinghua, Z Chao, L Huiqin, L Fangni
Remote Sensing of Environment 231, 111224
Robust estimates of soil moisture and latent heat flux coupling strength obtained from triple collocation
WT Crow, F Lei, C Hain, MC Anderson, RL Scott, D Billesbach, ...
Geophysical Research Letters 42 (20), 8415-8423
Assessment of the impact of spatial heterogeneity on microwave satellite soil moisture periodic error
F Lei, WT Crow, H Shen, CH Su, TRH Holmes, RM Parinussa, G Wang
Remote sensing of environment 205, 85-99
Evaluation of multiple downscaled microwave soil moisture products over the central Tibetan Plateau
H Jiang, H Shen, H Li, F Lei, W Gan, L Zhang
Remote Sensing 9 (5), 402
Soil moisture–evapotranspiration overcoupling and L-Band brightness temperature assimilation: Sources and forecast implications
WT Crow, CA Gomez, JM Sabater, T Holmes, CR Hain, F Lei, J Dong, ...
Journal of Hydrometeorology 21 (10), 2359-2374
A quasi-global approach to improve day-time satellite surface soil moisture anomalies through the land surface temperature input
RM Parinussa, RAM De Jeu, R Van der Schalie, WT Crow, F Lei, ...
Climate 4 (4), 50
Effects of Cover Crops and Soil Amendments on Soil CO2 Flux in a Mississippi Corn Cropping System on Upland Soil
J Hu, DM Miles, A Adeli, JP Brooks, FA Podrebarac, R Smith, F Lei, X Li, ...
Environments 10 (2), 19