2026 John M. Melack: Environmental Sciences Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Environmental Sciences	107	235	218	108	98	413	47833

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in United States Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in United States Leader Award
2011 - Fellow of American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2007 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

John M. Melack is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara in the United States. Their research spans multiple fields primarily within environmental science and earth and planetary sciences, with significant contributions to global and planetary change, oceanography, ecology, environmental chemistry, and water science and technology.

The scientist's scholarly output includes numerous publications focusing on environmental and aquatic ecosystems. They have extensively studied marine and coastal ecosystems, atmospheric and environmental gas dynamics, aquatic ecosystems and phytoplankton dynamics, methane hydrates and related phenomena, flood risk assessment and management, as well as hydrology and watershed management studies and sediment transport processes.

Recent scientific papers authored or co-authored by John M. Melack include:

Half of global methane emissions come from highly variable aquatic ecosystem sources, 2021, Nature Geoscience
A machine learning approach to estimate chlorophyll-a from Landsat-8 measurements in inland lakes, 2020, Remote Sensing of Environment
Reducing adverse impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion, 2022, Science
Amazon Hydrology From Space: Scientific Advances and Future Challenges, 2021, Reviews of Geophysics
Deeper waters are changing less consistently than surface waters in a global analysis of 102 lakes, 2020, Scientific Reports

Frequent co-authors include Sally MacIntyre, J. H. Amaral, Ayan Santos Fleischmann, Pedro M. Barbosa, and Bruce R. Forsberg. Collaboration with these researchers has contributed to a substantial body of cross-disciplinary scientific literature.

John M. Melack has published articles in several scientific journals, with the most frequent venues being:

Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences
Biogeochemistry
Limnology and Oceanography
Inland Waters
SSRN Electronic Journal

The scientist has also contributed to book publications, including a work published by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique titled Hidrologia da Amazônia vista do espaço: avanços cientificos e desafios futuros (2023).

John M. Melack has been recognized by major scientific organizations, holding fellowships as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007) and as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2011).

Best Publications

Plumbing the Global Carbon Cycle: Integrating Inland Waters into the Terrestrial Carbon Budget

Jonathan J. Cole;Yves T. Prairie;Nina F. Caraco;William H. McDowell

4369
Citations
Lakes and reservoirs as regulators of carbon cycling and climate

Lars J. Tranvik;John A. Downing;James B. Cotner;Steven A. Loiselle

2947
Citations
The global abundance and size distribution of lakes, ponds, and impoundments

J.A. Downing;Y.T. Prairie;J.J. Cole;C.M. Duarte

2204
Citations
Riverine coupling of biogeochemical cycles between land, oceans, and atmosphere

Anthony K Aufdenkampe;Emilio Mayorga;Peter A Raymond;John M Melack

1428
Citations
Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe

Catherine M. O'Reilly;Sapna Sharma;Derek K. Gray;Stephanie E. Hampton

1354
Citations
Outgassing from Amazonian rivers and wetlands as a large tropical source of atmospheric CO2.

Jeffrey E. Richey;John M. Melack;Anthony K. Aufdenkampe;Victoria M. Ballester

1339
Citations
Half of global methane emissions come from highly variable aquatic ecosystem sources

Judith A. Rosentreter;Judith A. Rosentreter;Alberto V. Borges;Bridget R. Deemer;Meredith A. Holgerson;Meredith A. Holgerson

911
Citations
An integrated conceptual framework for long‐term social–ecological research

Scott L Collins;Stephen R Carpenter;Scott M Swinton;Daniel E Orenstein

804
Citations
The use of Imaging radars for ecological applications : A review

Eric S Kasischke;John M Melack;M Craig Dobson

643
Citations
Landscape indicators of human impacts to riverine systems

Sarah E. Gergel;Monica G. Turner;James R. Miller;John M. Melack

633
Citations
Delineation of inundated area and vegetation along the Amazon floodplain with the SIR-C synthetic aperture radar

L.L. Hess;J.M. Melack;S. Filoso;Yong Wang

609
Citations
Transport of organic carbon in the world’s rivers

William H. Schlesinger;John M. Melack

606
Citations
Decomposition and carbon cycling of dead trees in tropical forests of the central Amazon.

Jeffrey Q. Chambers;Niro Higuchi;Joshua P. Schimel;Leandro V. Ferreira

549
Citations
Radar detection of flooding beneath the forest canopy - A review

Laura L. Hess;John M. Melack;David S. Simonett

503
Citations
Remote sensing of the land surface for studies of global change: Models — algorithms — experiments

P.J. Sellers;B.W. Meeson;F.G. Hall;G. Asrar

494
Citations
Precipitation and atmospheric circulation patterns at mid-latitudes of Asia

Elena M. Aizen;Vladimir B. Aizen;John M. Melack;Tsutomu Nakamura

462
Citations
Climatic and hydrologic changes in the Tien Shan, central Asia

Vladimir B. Aizen;Elena M. Aizen;John M. Melack;Jeff Dozier

454
Citations
Episodic rewetting enhances carbon and nitrogen release from chaparral soils

Amy E. Miller;Joshua P. Schimel;Thomas Meixner;James O. Sickman

448
Citations
Inundation patterns in the Pantanal wetland of South America determined from passive microwave remote sensing

Stephen K. Hamilton;Suzanne J. Sippel;John M. Melack

447
Citations
Interferometric radar measurements of water level changes on the Amazon flood plain

Douglas E. Alsdorf;John M. Melack;Thomas Dunne;Leal A. K. Mertes;Leal A. K. Mertes

443
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Sally Macintyre MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit

Bruce R. Forsberg National Institute of Amazonian Research

James O. Sickman University of California, Riverside

Evlyn Márcia Leão de Moraes Novo National Institute for Space Research

Stephen K. Hamilton Michigan State University

Thomas Dunne University of California, Santa Barbara

Thomas R. Fisher University of Maryland Center For Environmental Sciences

Frank W. Davis University of California, Santa Barbara

Thomas Meixner University of Arizona

Thiago Sanna Freire Silva University of Stirling

External Links

Personal website of John M. Melack

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