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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

Michel M. Verstraete 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 Michel M. Verstraete 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: 219 publications — 70th percentile

70% of scientists in this discipline score the same or lower.

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

Michel M. Verstraete 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 Michel M. Verstraete 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: 71 D-Index — 84th percentile

84% 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

  • 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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