World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
84
Citations
57491
World Ranking
770
National Ranking
331

John R. Townshend publication distribution in Environmental Sciences in 2026

The chart shows the distribution of publications by all Research.com ranked scientists in the field of Environmental Sciences in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where John R. Townshend sits on this spectrum.

41–50 publications: 21 scientists 51–60 publications: 62 scientists 61–70 publications: 133 scientists 71–80 publications: 257 scientists 81–90 publications: 361 scientists 91–100 publications: 440 scientists 101–110 publications: 492 scientists 111–120 publications: 541 scientists 121–130 publications: 617 scientists 131–140 publications: 544 scientists 141–150 publications: 541 scientists 151–160 publications: 539 scientists 161–170 publications: 444 scientists 171–180 publications: 444 scientists 181–190 publications: 400 scientists 191–200 publications: 377 scientists 201–210 publications: 318 scientists 211–220 publications: 283 scientists 221–230 publications: 263 scientists 231–240 publications: 220 scientists 241–250 publications: 217 scientists 251–260 publications: 180 scientists 261–270 publications: 181 scientists 271–280 publications: 155 scientists 281–290 publications: 130 scientists 291–300 publications: 127 scientists 301–310 publications: 130 scientists 311–320 publications: 85 scientists 321–330 publications: 106 scientists 331–340 publications: 80 scientists 341–350 publications: 83 scientists 351–360 publications: 75 scientists 361–370 publications: 69 scientists 371–380 publications: 52 scientists 381–390 publications: 54 scientists 391–400 publications: 56 scientists 401–410 publications: 44 scientists 411–420 publications: 40 scientists 421–430 publications: 36 scientists 431–440 publications: 25 scientists 441–450 publications: 25 scientists 451–460 publications: 32 scientists 461–470 publications: 29 scientists 471–480 publications: 21 scientists 481–490 publications: 26 scientists 491–500 publications: 25 scientists 501–510 publications: 17 scientists 511–520 publications: 18 scientists 521–530 publications: 15 scientists 531–540 publications: 22 scientists 541–550 publications: 12 scientists 551–560 publications: 15 scientists 561–570 publications: 11 scientists 571–580 publications: 19 scientists 581–590 publications: 9 scientists 591–600 publications: 9 scientists 601–610 publications: 7 scientists 611–620 publications: 11 scientists 621–630 publications: 5 scientists 631–640 publications: 5 scientists 641–650 publications: 6 scientists 651–660 publications: 3 scientists 661–670 publications: 3 scientists 671–680 publications: 4 scientists 681–686 publications: 3 scientists 687+ publications: 100 scientists
41 publications 687+

This scientist: 246 publications — 77th percentile

77% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 687 publications or more.

John R. Townshend D-index placement in Environmental Sciences in 2026

The chart shows the D-index (discipline H-index) distribution of Environmental Sciences scientists ranked by Research.com in 2026. The highlighted bar marks where John R. Townshend sits on this spectrum.

30 D-Index: 12 scientists 31 D-Index: 26 scientists 32 D-Index: 51 scientists 33 D-Index: 88 scientists 34 D-Index: 123 scientists 35 D-Index: 163 scientists 36 D-Index: 206 scientists 37 D-Index: 267 scientists 38 D-Index: 265 scientists 39 D-Index: 275 scientists 40 D-Index: 321 scientists 41 D-Index: 343 scientists 42 D-Index: 305 scientists 43 D-Index: 336 scientists 44 D-Index: 330 scientists 45 D-Index: 348 scientists 46 D-Index: 291 scientists 47 D-Index: 275 scientists 48 D-Index: 272 scientists 49 D-Index: 273 scientists 50 D-Index: 263 scientists 51 D-Index: 232 scientists 52 D-Index: 266 scientists 53 D-Index: 217 scientists 54 D-Index: 199 scientists 55 D-Index: 177 scientists 56 D-Index: 202 scientists 57 D-Index: 204 scientists 58 D-Index: 166 scientists 59 D-Index: 177 scientists 60 D-Index: 166 scientists 61 D-Index: 152 scientists 62 D-Index: 143 scientists 63 D-Index: 150 scientists 64 D-Index: 124 scientists 65 D-Index: 119 scientists 66 D-Index: 120 scientists 67 D-Index: 118 scientists 68 D-Index: 82 scientists 69 D-Index: 98 scientists 70 D-Index: 94 scientists 71 D-Index: 105 scientists 72 D-Index: 74 scientists 73 D-Index: 84 scientists 74 D-Index: 70 scientists 75 D-Index: 67 scientists 76 D-Index: 78 scientists 77 D-Index: 60 scientists 78 D-Index: 59 scientists 79 D-Index: 52 scientists 80 D-Index: 47 scientists 81 D-Index: 38 scientists 82 D-Index: 48 scientists 83 D-Index: 42 scientists 84 D-Index: 42 scientists 85 D-Index: 43 scientists 86 D-Index: 29 scientists 87 D-Index: 37 scientists 88 D-Index: 29 scientists 89 D-Index: 30 scientists 90 D-Index: 34 scientists 91 D-Index: 20 scientists 92 D-Index: 22 scientists 93 D-Index: 17 scientists 94 D-Index: 19 scientists 95 D-Index: 24 scientists 96 D-Index: 21 scientists 97 D-Index: 20 scientists 98 D-Index: 24 scientists 99 D-Index: 17 scientists 100 D-Index: 17 scientists 101 D-Index: 21 scientists 102 D-Index: 25 scientists 103 D-Index: 18 scientists 104 D-Index: 26 scientists 105 D-Index: 19 scientists 106 D-Index: 15 scientists 107 D-Index: 10 scientists 108 D-Index: 13 scientists 109 D-Index: 15 scientists 110 D-Index: 12 scientists 111 D-Index: 8 scientists 112 D-Index: 7 scientists 113 D-Index: 9 scientists 114 D-Index: 6 scientists 115 D-Index: 12 scientists 116 D-Index: 7 scientists 117 D-Index: 8 scientists 118 D-Index: 3 scientists 119 D-Index: 5 scientists 120 D-Index: 7 scientists 121 D-Index: 2 scientists 122 D-Index: 4 scientists 123 D-Index: 8 scientists 124 D-Index: 7 scientists 125+ D-Index: 99 scientists
30 D-Index 125+

This scientist: 84 D-Index — 92nd percentile

92% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

The last bar groups every scientist with 125 D-Index or more.

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2019 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

John R. Townshend is affiliated with the University of Maryland, College Park in the United States. Their research primarily focuses on environmental science, with a significant emphasis on global and planetary change, ecology, ecological modeling, oceanography, and nature and landscape conservation.

Their work encompasses various topics related to land use and ecosystem services, remote sensing in agriculture, conservation, biodiversity, and resource management, species distribution and climate change, coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics, marine and coastal plant biology, and ecology and vegetation dynamics studies.

Among their recent publications are:

  • Evolution of the representation of global vegetation by vegetation continuous fields, 2020, Remote Sensing of Environment
  • Very Rapid Forest Cover Change in Sichuan Province, China: 40 Years of Change Using Images From Declassified Spy Satellites and Landsat, 2021, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
  • Assessment of Wetland Change on the Delmarva Peninsula from 1984 to 2010, 2020, Journal of Coastal Research
  • Global land change from 1982 to 2016, 2022, FSC® Open Knowledge Repository (FSCOKR)
  • Improved modeling and analysis of the patch size-frequency distribution of forest disturbances in China based on a Landsat forest cover change product, 2020, International Journal of Digital Earth

Frequent co-authors in their research include:

  • Dan-Xia Song
  • Chengquan Huang
  • Tao He
  • Ainong Li
  • Sike Li

Publications by John R. Townshend have appeared in various scholarly venues, such as:

  • Remote Sensing of Environment
  • IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
  • Journal of Coastal Research
  • International Journal of Digital Earth
  • FSC® Open Knowledge Repository (FSCOKR)

John R. Townshend was awarded the status of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2019.

Best Publications

  • High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change

    M.C. Hansen;P.V. Potapov;R. Moore;M. Hancher

  • Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems

    Nick M. Haddad;Lars A. Brudvig;Jean Clobert;Kendi F. Davies

  • Global land cover classification at 1 km spatial resolution using a classification tree approach

    M. C. Hansen;R. S. Defries;J. R. G. Townshend;R. Sohlberg

  • An assessment of support vector machines for land cover classification

    C. Huang;L. S. Davis;J. R. G. Townshend

  • The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS): land remote sensing for global change research

    C.O. Justice;E. Vermote;J.R.G. Townshend;R. Defries

  • Global land change from 1982 to 2016.

    Xiao Peng Song;Matthew C. Hansen;Stephen V. Stehman;Peter V. Potapov

  • An overview of MODIS Land data processing and product status

    C.O Justice;J.R.G Townshend;E.F Vermote;E Masuoka

  • 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

  • NDVI-derived land cover classifications at a global scale

    R. S. Defries;J. R. G. Townshend

  • Global Percent Tree Cover at a Spatial Resolution of 500 Meters: First Results of the MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields Algorithm

    M. C. Hansen;R. S. DeFries;J. R. G. Townshend;M. Carroll

  • Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation and regrowth based on satellite observations for the 1980s and 1990s.

    Ruth S. DeFries;Richard A. Houghton;Matthew C. Hansen;Christopher B. Field

  • Global, 30-m resolution continuous fields of tree cover: Landsat-based rescaling of MODIS vegetation continuous fields with lidar-based estimates of error

    Joseph O. Sexton;Xiao-Peng Song;Min Feng;Praveen Noojipady

  • Humid tropical forest clearing from 2000 to 2005 quantified by using multitemporal and multiresolution remotely sensed data

    Matthew C. Hansen;Stephen V. Stehman;Peter V. Potapov;Thomas R. Loveland

  • Global land cover classifications at 8 km spatial resolution: The use of training data derived from Landsat imagery in decision tree classifiers

    R. S. De Fries;M. Hansen;J. R. G. Townshend;R. Sohlberg

  • The impact of misregistration on change detection

    J.R.G. Townshend;C.O. Justice;C. Gurney;J. McManus

  • Global land cover classification by remote sensing: present capabilities and future possibilities

    John Townshend;Christopher Justice;Wei Li;Charlotte Gurney

  • Analysis of the dynamics of African vegetation using the normalized difference vegetation index

    J. R. G. Townshend;C. O. Justice

  • Towards an operational MODIS continuous field of percent tree cover algorithm: examples using AVHRR and MODIS data

    M.C Hansen;R.S DeFries;J.R.G Townshend;R Sohlberg

  • A new global 1-km dataset of percentage tree cover derived from remote sensing

    R.S. DeFries;M.C. Hansen;J.R.G. Townshend;A.C. Janetos

Frequent Co-Authors

Chengquan Huang
Chengquan Huang University of Maryland, College Park
Christopher O. Justice
Christopher O. Justice University of Maryland, College Park
Ruth S. DeFries
Ruth S. DeFries Columbia University
Eric Vermote
Eric Vermote Goddard Space Flight Center
Shunlin Liang
Shunlin Liang University of Hong Kong
Compton J. Tucker
Compton J. Tucker Goddard Space Flight Center
Jeffrey G. Masek
Jeffrey G. Masek Goddard Space Flight Center
Joseph JaJa
Joseph JaJa University of Maryland, College Park
Samuel N. Goward
Samuel N. Goward University of Maryland, College Park
Peter Potapov
Peter Potapov University of Maryland, College Park

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