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Environmental Sciences
South Africa
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
70
Citations
19344
World Ranking
1665
National Ranking
2

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

Onisimo Mutanga is affiliated with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, specializing in environmental science with a focus on remote sensing applications. Their research covers a variety of topics primarily within environmental science and related subfields.

Mutanga's main fields of study include:

  • Environmental Science

Within this broad field, key subfields of study include:

  • Ecology
  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Plant Science
  • Ecological Modeling

Their research topics cover the following areas:

  • Remote Sensing in Agriculture
  • Land Use and Ecosystem Services
  • Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications
  • Species Distribution and Climate Change
  • Soil Geostatistics and Mapping
  • Leaf Properties and Growth Measurement
  • Flood Risk Assessment and Management

Mutanga has co-authored extensively with several researchers, frequently collaborating with:

  • John Odindi
  • Mbulisi Sibanda
  • Timothy Dube
  • Kabir Peerbhay
  • Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi

The venues where Mutanga's research is most frequently published include:

  • Remote Sensing
  • Remote Sensing Applications Society and Environment
  • International Journal of Remote Sensing
  • International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
  • Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Among recent publications, the following papers provide insight into Mutanga's work:

  • "Spectral saturation in the remote sensing of high-density vegetation traits: A systematic review of progress, challenges, and prospects," 2023, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
  • "Advancements in the remote sensing of landscape pattern of urban green spaces and vegetation fragmentation," 2021, International Journal of Remote Sensing
  • "A quantitative framework for analysing long term spatial clustering and vegetation fragmentation in an urban landscape using multi-temporal landsat data," 2020, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
  • "The impact of land-use/land cover changes on water balance of the heterogeneous Buzi sub-catchment, Zimbabwe," 2020, Remote Sensing Applications Society and Environment
  • "A Comparative Estimation of Maize Leaf Water Content Using Machine Learning Techniques and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-Based Proximal and Remotely Sensed Data," 2021, Remote Sensing

Best Publications

  • Multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing for identification and mapping of wetland vegetation: a review

    Elhadi Adam;Onisimo Mutanga;Denis Rugege

  • High density biomass estimation for wetland vegetation using WorldView-2 imagery and random forest regression algorithm

    Onisimo Mutanga;Elhadi Adam;Moses Azong Cho

  • Narrow band vegetation indices overcome the saturation problem in biomass estimation

    Onisimo Mutanga;A. K. Skidmore

  • Google Earth Engine Applications Since Inception: Usage, Trends, and Potential

    Lalit Kumar;Onisimo Mutanga

  • Google Earth Engine Applications

    Onisimo Mutanga;Lalit Kumar

  • Land-use/cover classification in a heterogeneous coastal landscape using RapidEye imagery: evaluating the performance of random forest and support vector machines classifiers

    Elhadi Adam;Onisimo Mutanga;John Odindi;Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman

  • Predicting in situ pasture quality in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, using continuum-removed absorption features

    O. Mutanga;A.K. Skidmore;H.H.T. Prins

  • Red edge shift and biochemical content in grass canopies

    Onisimo Mutanga;Andrew K. Skidmore

  • Evaluating the utility of the medium-spatial resolution Landsat 8 multispectral sensor in quantifying aboveground biomass in uMgeni catchment, South Africa

    Timothy Dube;Onisimo Mutanga

  • Remote Sensing of Above-Ground Biomass

    Lalit Kumar;Onisimo Mutanga

  • Integrating imaging spectroscopy and neural networks to map grass quality in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

    O. Mutanga;A.K. Skidmore

  • Spectral discrimination of papyrus vegetation (Cyperus papyrus L.) in swamp wetlands using field spectrometry

    Elhadi Adam;Onisimo Mutanga

  • Examining the potential of Sentinel-2 MSI spectral resolution in quantifying above ground biomass across different fertilizer treatments

    Mbulisi Sibanda;Onisimo Mutanga;Mathieu Rouget

  • Discriminating tropical grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) canopies grown under different nitrogen treatments using spectroradiometry

    Onisimo Mutanga;Andrew K Skidmore;Sipke van Wieren

  • Detecting Sirex noctilio grey-attacked and lightning-struck pine trees using airborne hyperspectral data, random forest and support vector machines classifiers

    Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman;Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman;Onisimo Mutanga;Elhadi Adam;Riyad Ismail

  • Hyperspectral band depth analysis for a better estimation of grass biomass (Cenchrus ciliaris) measured under controlled laboratory conditions

    Onisimo Mutanga;Andrew K Skidmore

  • Forage quality of savannas - Simultaneously mapping foliar protein and polyphenols for trees and grass using hyperspectral imagery

    Andrew K. Skidmore;Andrew K. Skidmore;Jelle G. Ferwerda;Onisimo Mutanga;Sipke E. Van Wieren

  • Nitrogen detection with hyperspectral normalized ratio indices across multiple plant species

    Jelle G. Ferwerda;Andrew K. Skidmore;Onisimo Mutanga

  • Spectral saturation in the remote sensing of high-density vegetation traits: A systematic review of progress, challenges, and prospects

    Unknown

  • Investigating the robustness of the new Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager derived texture metrics in estimating plantation forest aboveground biomass in resource constrained areas

    Timothy Dube;Onisimo Mutanga

  • Estimating tropical pasture quality at canopy level using band depth analysis with continuum removal in the visible domain

    O. Mutanga;A.K. Skidmore;L. Kumar;J.G. Ferwerda

  • Commercial tree species discrimination using airborne AISA Eagle hyperspectral imagery and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

    Kabir Yunus Peerbhay;Onisimo Mutanga;Riyad Ismail

Frequent Co-Authors

Timothy Dube
Timothy Dube University of the Western Cape
Moses Azong Cho
Moses Azong Cho Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Andrew K. Skidmore
Andrew K. Skidmore University of Twente
Lalit Kumar
Lalit Kumar University of New England
Mathieu Rouget
Mathieu Rouget Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
Paramu L. Mafongoya
Paramu L. Mafongoya University of KwaZulu-Natal
Rob Slotow
Rob Slotow University of KwaZulu-Natal
Renaud Mathieu
Renaud Mathieu International Rice Research Institute
Chandrashekhar Biradar
Chandrashekhar Biradar International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Egypt
Herbert H. T. Prins
Herbert H. T. Prins Wageningen University & Research

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