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Environmental Sciences
South Africa
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
71
Citations
17630
World Ranking
1593
National Ranking
1

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in South Africa Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in South Africa Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in South Africa Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Environmental Sciences in South Africa Leader Award

Overview

Michel M. Verstraete is a researcher affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Their work mainly focuses on environmental science and engineering, contributing to various subfields such as global and planetary change, ecology, aerospace engineering, ecological modeling, and atmospheric science.

Their research themes include remote sensing in agriculture, calibration and measurement techniques, land use and ecosystem services, species distribution and climate change, atmospheric aerosols and clouds, atmospheric and environmental gas dynamics, as well as atmospheric ozone and climate.

Michel M. Verstraete has published multiple papers, with notable recent works including:

  • Parametric Models to Characterize the Phenology of the Lowveld Savanna at Skukuza, South Africa (2020) in Remote Sensing
  • Replacing missing values in the standard Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) radiometric camera-by-camera cloud mask (RCCM) data product (2020) in Earth system science data
  • Improving the usability of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) L1B2 Georectified Radiance Product (2000-present) in land surface applications (2020) in Earth system science data

They have frequently collaborated with a range of co-authors, including Hugo De Lemos, L. A. Hunt, Mary C. Scholes, Larry Di Girolamo, and Veljko Jovanović.

Their publications have appeared mainly in the journals Earth system science data and Remote Sensing, reflecting their engagement with earth observation data and applications.

Best Publications

  • Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument description and experiment overview

    D.J. Diner;J.C. Beckert;T.H. Reilly;C.J. Bruegge

  • The Concept of Essential Climate Variables in Support of Climate Research, Applications, and Policy

    Stephan Bojinski;Michel Verstraete;Thomas C. Peterson;Carolin Richter

  • GEMI: a non-linear index to monitor global vegetation from satellites

    B. Pinty;M. M. Verstraete

  • Coupled surface-atmosphere reflectance (CSAR) model: 2. Semiempirical surface model usable with NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer data

    Hafizur Rahman;Bernard Pinty;Michel M. Verstraete

  • Techniques for the retrieval of aerosol properties over land and ocean using multiangle imaging

    J.V. Martonchik;D.J. Diner;R.A. Kahn;T.P. Ackerman

  • Designing optimal spectral indexes for remote sensing applications

    M. M. Verstraete;B. Pinty

  • Estimation of vegetation canopy leaf area index and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation from atmosphere‐corrected MISR data

    Y. Knyazikhin;J. V. Martonchik;D. J. Diner;R. B. Myneni

  • Optical remote sensing of vegetation: Modeling, caveats, and algorithms

    R.B. Myneni;S. Maggion;J. Iaquinta;J.L. Privette

  • The structural and radiative consistency of three-dimensional tree reconstructions from terrestrial lidar

    Jean-François Côté;Jean-Luc Widlowski;Richard A. Fournier;Michel M. Verstraete

  • Third Radiation Transfer Model Intercomparison (RAMI) exercise: Documenting progress in canopy reflectance models

    Jean-Luc Widlowski;Malcolm Taberner;Bernard Pinty;Véronique Bruniquel-Pinel

  • Raytran: a Monte Carlo ray-tracing model to compute light scattering in three-dimensional heterogeneous media

    Y.M. Govaerts;M.M. Verstraete

  • Potential and limitations of information extraction on the terrestrial biosphere from satellite remote sensing

    Michel M. Verstraete;Bernard Pinty;Ranga B. Myneni

  • Advanced vegetation indices optimized for up-coming sensors: Design, performance, and applications

    N. Gobron;B. Pinty;M.M. Verstraete;J.-L. Widlowski

  • Estimating leaf area distribution in savanna trees from terrestrial LiDAR measurements

    Martin Béland;Jean-Luc Widlowski;Richard A. Fournier;Jean-François Côté

  • On seeing the wood from the leaves and the role of voxel size in determining leaf area distribution of forests with terrestrial LiDAR

    Martin Béland;Martin Béland;Dennis D. Baldocchi;Jean-Luc Widlowski;Richard A. Fournier

  • A physical model of the bidirectional reflectance of vegetation canopies: 1. Theory

    Michel M. Verstraete;Bernard Pinty;Robert E. Dickinson

  • Evaluation of the performance of various vegetation indices to retrieve vegetation cover from AVHRR data

    Catherine Leprieur;Michel M. Verstraete;Bernard Pinty

  • A climate model-based review of drought in the Sahel: Desertification, the re-greening and climate change

    Alessandra Giannini;Michela Biasutti;Michel M. Verstraete

  • The fourth phase of the radiative transfer model intercomparison (RAMI) exercise: Actual canopy scenarios and conformity testing

    Jean Luc Widlowski;Corrado Mio;Mathias Disney;Jennifer Adams

  • A physical model for predicting bidirectional reflectances over bare soil

    Bernard Pinty;Michel M. Verstraete;Robert Earl Dickinson

  • Determination of land and ocean reflective, radiative, and biophysical properties using multiangle imaging

    J.V. Martonchik;D.J. Diner;B. Pinty;M.M. Verstraete

  • Described is the concept of Essential Climate Variables developed under the Global Climate Observing System for a range of applications, as well as to provide an empirical basis for understanding past, current, and possible future climate variability and change. THE CONCEPT OF ESSENTIAL CLIMATE VARIABLES IN SUPPORT OF CLIMATE RESEARCH, APPLICATIONS, AND POLICY

    Michel VerStraete;Michael ZeMp

Frequent Co-Authors

Nadine Gobron
Nadine Gobron European Commission Joint Research Centre
Bernard Pinty
Bernard Pinty University of Clermont Auvergne
Jean-Luc Widlowski
Jean-Luc Widlowski European Commission Joint Research Centre
David J. Diner
David J. Diner Jet Propulsion Lab
John V. Martonchik
John V. Martonchik Jet Propulsion Lab
Anthony B. Davis
Anthony B. Davis California Institute of Technology
Michael E. Schaepman
Michael E. Schaepman University of Zurich
Ralph A. Kahn
Ralph A. Kahn Goddard Space Flight Center
Massimo Menenti
Massimo Menenti Delft University of Technology
Robert J. Scholes
Robert J. Scholes University of the Witwatersrand

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