Michael Saha

Ph.D. Candidate

Department of Environmental Sciences

The University of Virginia

Land Surface Changes After Fire

Fire causes dramatic, instantaneous changes at the land surface. By destroying vegetation, depositing char and revealing underlying soil, fire has the ability to profoundly affect the movement of energy, water, and carbon through the landscape. This research aims to characterize the different ways, regions, and spatiotemporal scales in which fire modifies the land surface.


MV Saha, P D’Odorico & TM Scanlon (2017) Albedo changes after fire as an explanation of fire-induced rainfall suppression. Geophysical Research Letters.

Fire-Atmosphere Interactions

Changes at the land surface have an impact on the boundary layer processes, and may modify where and when precipitation occurs. This research investigates the potential for fire-induced land surface changes to modify seasonal precipitation. We find a link between extensive, late dry season fires and rainfall deficits in the following wet season. This finding reveals the potential for fire-rainfall feedbacks over multiple years.

MV Saha, TM Scanlon & P D'Odorico (2016) Suppression of rainfall by fires in African drylands. Geophysical Research Letters 43(16), 8572-8533.

Dryland Ecology

Drylands are undergoing significant global change. Understanding how hydrology, climate and human activity influence plant communtiy composition and structure will help us assess the shifting provision of ecosystem services for a quarter of the worlds population.


MV Saha, TM Scanlon & P D’Odorico (2015) Examining the linkage between shrub encroachment and recent greening in water-limited southern Africa. Ecosphere 6(9).

K Yu, MV Saha & P D’Odorico (2016) The Effects of Interannual Rainfall Variability on Tree–Grass Composition Along Kalahari Rainfall Gradient. Ecosystems.

Past Research: Heat Waves and Human Mortality

Heat waves contribute to more deaths in the U.S. any other natural disaster. This research focuses on characterizing the spatiotemperal variability of high heat and the resultant human health impacts in major U.S. metropolises.

MV Saha, RE Davis, DM Hondula (2014) Mortality displacement as a function of heat event strength in 7 US cities. American Journal of Epidemiology 179(4), 467-474.

DM Hondula, RE Davis, MV Saha, CR Wegner, LM Veazey (2012) Fine-scale spatial variability of heat-related mortality in Philadelphia County, USA, from 1983-2008: a case-series analysis. Environmental Health 11(1), 16.

DM Hondula, RE Davis, MV Saha, CR Wegner, LM Veazey (2015) Geographic dimensions of heat-related mortality in seven US cities. Environmental Research 138, 439-452.

DM Hondula, RE Davis, J Rocklöv, MV Saha (2013) A time series approach for evaluating intra-city heat-related mortality. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 67(8), 707-712.

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