World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Environmental Sciences
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
134
Citations
94607
World Ranking
57
National Ranking
24

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in United States Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in United States Leader Award
  • 2015 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2009 - Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Overview

Compton J. Tucker is affiliated with the Goddard Space Flight Center in the United States. Their research predominantly spans the field of Environmental Science, with a focus on several specialized subfields, including Global and Planetary Change, Infectious Diseases, Forestry, Ecology, and Nature and Landscape Conservation.

The scholar's work covers key topics such as African Botany and Ecology Studies, Remote Sensing in Agriculture, Forest Ecology and Management, Viral Infections and Vectors, Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications, Fire Effects on Ecosystems, and Land Use and Ecosystem Services.

Compton J. Tucker has contributed to multiple recent papers. Notable publications include:

  • "An unexpectedly large count of trees in the West African Sahara and Sahel" (2020, Nature)
  • "Sub-continental-scale carbon stocks of individual trees in African drylands" (2023, Nature)
  • "More than one quarter of Africa's tree cover is found outside areas previously classified as forest" (2023, Nature Communications)
  • "Nation-wide mapping of tree-level aboveground carbon stocks in Rwanda" (2022, Nature Climate Change)
  • "USA Crop Yield Estimation with MODIS NDVI: Are Remotely Sensed Models Better than Simple Trend Analyses?" (2021, Remote Sensing)

Their frequent coauthors include Pierre Hiernaux, Martin Brandt, Ankit Kariryaa, Rasmus Fensholt, and Christian Igel. These collaborations have contributed to a substantial body of research in related areas.

Publication venues where Compton J. Tucker's work appears frequently include Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Nature, Research Square, PLoS ONE, and Nature Communications.

Over the course of their career, Compton J. Tucker has been recognized with fellowships from prominent scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2015 and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in 2009.

Best Publications

  • Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation

    Compton J. Tucker

  • Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991

    R. B. Myneni;C. D. Keeling;C. J. Tucker;G. Asrar

  • Climate-Driven Increases in Global Terrestrial Net Primary Production from 1982 to 1999

    Ramakrishna R. Nemani;Charles D. Keeling;Hirofumi Hashimoto;Hirofumi Hashimoto;William M. Jolly

  • Using the satellite-derived NDVI to assess ecological responses to environmental change

    Nathalie Pettorelli;Jon Olav Vik;Atle Mysterud;Jean-Michel Gaillard

  • An extended AVHRR 8‐km NDVI dataset compatible with MODIS and SPOT vegetation NDVI data

    Compton J. Tucker;Jorge E. Pinzon;Molly E. Brown;Daniel A. Slayback

  • Tropical Deforestation and Habitat Fragmentation in the Amazon: Satellite Data from 1978 to 1988

    David Skole;Compton Tucker

  • Variations in northern vegetation activity inferred from satellite data of vegetation index during 1981 to 1999

    Liming Zhou;Compton J. Tucker;Robert K. Kaufmann;Daniel Slayback

  • Satellite remote sensing of primary production

    C. J. Tucker;P. J. Sellers

  • African land-cover classification using satellite data.

    Compton J. Tucker;John R.G. Townshend;Thomas E. Goff

  • Analysis of the phenology of global vegetation using meteorological satellite data

    C. O. Justice;J. R. G. Townshend;B. N. Holben;C. J. Tucker

  • A Non-Stationary 1981–2012 AVHRR NDVI3g Time Series

    Jorge E. Pinzon;Compton J. Tucker

  • Fast Plasma Investigation for Magnetospheric Multiscale

    C. Pollock;T. Moore;A. Jacques;J. Burch

  • A Revised Land Surface Parameterization (SiB2) for Atmospheric GCMS. Part II: The Generation of Global Fields of Terrestrial Biophysical Parameters from Satellite Data

    Piers J. Sellers;Compton J. Tucker;G. James Collatz;Sietse O. Los

  • Recent trends in vegetation dynamics in the African Sahel and their relationship to climate

    Stefanie M. Herrmann;Assaf Anyamba;Compton J. Tucker

  • Satellite remote sensing of total herbaceous biomass production in the Senegalese Sahel - 1980-1984

    C.J. Tucker;C.L. Vanpraet;M.J. Sharman;G. Van Ittersum

  • Expansion and Contraction of the Sahara Desert from 1980 to 1990

    Compton J. Tucker;Harold E. Dregne;Wilbur W. Newcomb

  • Evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate in China

    Liming Zhou;Robert Earl Dickinson;Yuhong Tian;Jingyun Fang

  • Analysis of Sahelian vegetation dynamics using NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data from 1981–2003

    A. Anyamba;A. Anyamba;C.J. Tucker

  • Higher northern latitude normalized difference vegetation index and growing season trends from 1982 to 1999

    Compton J. Tucker;Daniel A. Slayback;Jorge E. Pinzon;Sietse O. Los

  • Fifty years of deforestation and forest fragmentation in Madagascar

    Grady J. Harper;Marc K. Steininger;Compton J. Tucker;Daniel Juhn

  • North American vegetation patterns observed with the NOAA-7 advanced very high resolution radiometer

    Samuel N. Goward;Compton J. Tucker;Dennis G. Dye

Frequent Co-Authors

Assaf Anyamba
Assaf Anyamba Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ranga B. Myneni
Ranga B. Myneni Boston University
Sietse O. Los
Sietse O. Los Swansea University
Piers J. Sellers
Piers J. Sellers Goddard Space Flight Center
Martha K. Raynolds
Martha K. Raynolds University of Alaska Fairbanks
Donald A. Walker
Donald A. Walker University of Alaska Fairbanks
Josefino C. Comiso
Josefino C. Comiso Goddard Space Flight Center
Christopher O. Justice
Christopher O. Justice University of Maryland, College Park
Uma S. Bhatt
Uma S. Bhatt University of Alaska Fairbanks
Howard E. Epstein
Howard E. Epstein University of Virginia

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