Virginia Tech® home

Phil Radtke

Associate Professor

Dr. Phil Radtke

Dr. Phil Radtke
319E Cheatham Hall
pradtke@vt.edu
540-231-8863
  • B.S., University of Minnesota, 1994 
  • M.S., Virginia Tech, 1996
  • Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1999

Assessment and modeling of forest resources; Evaluating models used in forestry and ecology; Acquisition, management and analysis of data; Improving access to growth and yield models.

Google Scholar Profile

  • FREC 2214, Introductory Land and Field Measurements
  • FREC 3214, Forest Biometrics
  • FREC 3224, Forest Biometrics Field Laboratory
  • FREC 5984, SS: Ecosystem Modeling 
  • Evaluating and Augmenting the FVS Southern (FVS-Sn) Variant for Southeastern Mixed Forests. Sensitivity Analysis, uncertainty assessment and calibration of the USDA Forest Service FVS-Sn variant for eight ecological sections in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. Assess accuracy of predictions accounting for the hierarchical structure of this individual-tree, multi-species, age-independent growth and yield model. Numerical and statistical analyses based on methods including Latin-hypercube sampling and the Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test, classical and repeated measures regression, and Bayesian MCMC estimation.
  • Modeling production and decay of coarse woody debris (CWD) in managed loblolly pine forests. Development of models to estimate production and decay of loblolly pine CWD across the commercial range of the species in the U.S. Variables used in the modeling system include stand density, thinning, age, and site variables. Results will be implemented in stand-level growth and yield models and used to make regional assessments of CWD volume and carbon content to augment USDA Forest Service FIA phase-III inventories.
  • Measuring forest canopy structure and aboveground biomass with a 3-D laser scanner. Development and testing of methods for measuring 3-D canopy structure with a commercially available scanning laser instrument. Estimation of the amount and spatial distribution of foliage surface area and mass in forested canopies. Estimation of wood volume and biomass in tree boles and large branches. Detailed measurement of stem profiles in standing trees.
  • Manufacturing and Marketing Natural Hardwood Charcoal in Virginia. Natural hardwood charcoal affords an opportunity for utilization and marketing of small diameter wood and wood from non-commercial tree species in Virginia. The goal here is work with the Virginia Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation and New River-Highlands RC&D council to encourage landowners, forest managers and entrepreneurs to realize the potential of this opportunity. Goals include the advancement of portable kiln technology, improving production methods, developing markets for natural hardwood charcoal, and outreach aimed at delivering this knowledge to interested citizens and professionals.
  • Wang, H.J., S.P. Prisley, P.J. Radtke, and J. Coulston. 2011. Errors in terrain-based model predictions caused by altered forest inventory plot locations in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. Mathematical and Computational Forestry and Natural Resources Sciences 3(2):114–123.
  • Weiskittel, A.R., Crookston, N.L., Radtke, P.J., 2011. Linking climate, gross primary productivity, and site index across forests of the western United States. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 41, 1710-1721.
  • Wang, H.J., Radtke, P.J., and S.P. Prisley. 2011. Coarse woody debris in southern United States loblolly pine plantations: from stand-level to regional scales. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 35(4):161-169.
  • Radtke, P.J., Boland, H.T., and G. Scaglia. 2010 An evaluation of overhead laser scanning to estimate herbage removals in pasture quadrats. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 150:1523–1528.
  • Radtke, P.J. and J. Munsell. 2010. Wikipeda as a tool for forestry outreach. Journal of Forestry 108(7):354-359.
  • Radtke, P.J., Amateis, R.L., Prisley, S.P., Copenheaver, C.A., Chojnacky, D.C., Pittman, J.R., and H.E. Burkhart. 2009. Modeling production and decay of coarse woody debris in loblolly pine plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 257(3):790-799.
  • Henning, J.G., and P.J. Radtke. 2008. Multiview range-image registration for forested scenes using explicitly-matched tie points estimated from natural surfaces. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing 63(1):68-83.
  • Packard, K.C., and P.J. Radtke. 2007 Forest sampling combining fixed- and variable-radius sample plots. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 37:1460-1471.
  • Henning, J. G., and P. J. Radtke. 2006. Ground-based laser imaging for assessing three-dimensional forest canopy structure. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 72:1349-1358.
  • Henning, J. G. and P. J. Radtke. 2006. Detailed stem measurements of standing trees from ground-based scanning LiDAR. Forest Science, 52:67-80.
  • Radtke, P. J. and A. P. Robinson. 2006. A Bayesian strategy for combining predictions from empirical and process-based models. Ecological Modelling, 190:287-298.
  • Amateis, R. L., P. J. Radtke, and G. D. Hansen. 2004. The effect of spacing rectangularity on stem quality in loblolly pine plantations. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34(2):498-501.
  • Radtke, P.J., Prisley, S.P., Amateis, R.L., Copenheaver, C.A. and H.E. Burkhart. 2004. A proposed model for deadwood C production and decay in loblolly pine plantations. Environmental Management, 33(Supplement 1):S56-S64.
  • Popescu, S. C., P. J. Radtke, and R. H. Wynne. 2003. Forest measurements with airborne and ground-based laser scanning. Geospatial Solutions 13(8):18.
  • Radtke, P. J., J. A. Westfall and H. E. Burkhart. 2003. Conditioning a distance-dependent competition index to indicate the onset of intertree competition. Forest Ecology and Management 175:17-30.
  • Radtke, P. J., T. E. Burk, and P. V. Bolstad. 2002. Bayesian Melding of a Forest Ecosystem Model with Correlated Inputs. Forest Science 48:701-711.
  • Radtke, P.J. and P.V. Bolstad. 2001. Laser point-quadrat sampling for estimating foliage-height profiles in broad-leaved forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 31:410-418.
  • Radtke, P.J. And PV Bolstad. 2001. Estimates of the distributions of forest ecosystem model inputs for deciduous forests of Eastern North America. Tree Physiology 21:505-512.