World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
72
Citations
16139
World Ranking
1256
National Ranking
461

Overview

What is he best known for?

The fields of study he is best known for:

  • Ecology
  • Ecosystem
  • Biodiversity

Philip A. Townsend mainly investigates Remote sensing, Ecosystem, Canopy, Hydrology and Vegetation. His work in the fields of Remote sensing, such as Thematic Mapper and Remote sensing, intersects with other areas such as Radar imaging. To a larger extent, he studies Ecology with the aim of understanding Ecosystem.

His work focuses on many connections between Canopy and other disciplines, such as Photosynthetic capacity, that overlap with his field of interest in Temperate climate, Lignin, Nutrient cycle and Agronomy. His Hydrology research is multidisciplinary, relying on both Land cover and Urban heat island. His Vegetation research is multidisciplinary, incorporating elements of Similarity, Partial least squares regression, Imaging spectroscopy and Satellite imagery.

His most cited work include:

  • The Future of Evapotranspiration: Global requirements for ecosystem functioning, carbon and climate feedbacks, agricultural management, and water resources (243 citations)
  • Remote sensing change detection tools for natural resource managers: Understanding concepts and tradeoffs in the design of landscape monitoring projects (243 citations)
  • Modeling floodplain inundation using an integrated GIS with radar and optical remote sensing (219 citations)

What are the main themes of his work throughout his whole career to date?

Philip A. Townsend mostly deals with Remote sensing, Ecology, Ecosystem, Canopy and Vegetation. Remote sensing is represented through his Hyperspectral imaging, Remote sensing, Imaging spectroscopy, Satellite imagery and Thematic Mapper research. His Hyperspectral imaging study combines topics in areas such as Spectral bands and Partial least squares regression.

When carried out as part of a general Ecosystem research project, his work on Terrestrial ecosystem is frequently linked to work in Trait, therefore connecting diverse disciplines of study. He interconnects Photosynthetic capacity, Forest ecology and Atmospheric sciences in the investigation of issues within Canopy. Philip A. Townsend has included themes like Hydrology and Growing season in his Vegetation study.

He most often published in these fields:

  • Remote sensing (31.22%)
  • Ecology (27.80%)
  • Ecosystem (17.07%)

What were the highlights of his more recent work (between 2018-2021)?

  • Remote sensing (31.22%)
  • Ecosystem (17.07%)
  • Ecology (27.80%)

In recent papers he was focusing on the following fields of study:

Philip A. Townsend spends much of his time researching Remote sensing, Ecosystem, Ecology, Canopy and Imaging spectroscopy. His Remote sensing research incorporates themes from Optimal estimation, Partial least squares regression and Vegetation. The Ecosystem study combines topics in areas such as Biodiversity and Grassland.

His Productivity and Abundance study in the realm of Ecology connects with subjects such as Outbreak and Dendrochronology. His Canopy research incorporates elements of Integrated pest management, Temperate climate, Physical geography, Scale and Blowing a raspberry. In his study, Forestry, Quercus garryana, Scale, Leaf mass per area and Broadleaf forest is strongly linked to Lidar, which falls under the umbrella field of Imaging spectroscopy.

Between 2018 and 2021, his most popular works were:

  • Global photosynthetic capacity is optimized to the environment (56 citations)
  • Mapping foliar functional traits and their uncertainties across three years in a grassland experiment (33 citations)
  • Detecting prairie biodiversity with airborne remote sensing (25 citations)

In his most recent research, the most cited papers focused on:

  • Ecology
  • Ecosystem
  • Biodiversity

His scientific interests lie mostly in Remote sensing, Canopy, Biodiversity, Blight and Trait. His research in the fields of Imaging spectroscopy overlaps with other disciplines such as Earth observation. His Imaging spectroscopy research focuses on Forest ecology and how it relates to Hyperspectral imaging.

His research in Biodiversity intersects with topics in Agronomy, Caterpillar, Asclepias syriaca, Competition and Plant ecology. Within one scientific family, Philip A. Townsend focuses on topics pertaining to Pathogen under Blight, and may sometimes address concerns connected to Horticulture, Inoculation and Cultivar. His Ecosystem research is multidisciplinary, incorporating perspectives in Range and Atmospheric sciences.

Best Publications

  • The future of evapotranspiration: global requirements for ecosystem functioning, carbon and climate feedbacks, agricultural management, and water resources.

    Joshua B. Fisher;Forrest S. Melton;Elizabeth M. Middleton;Christopher Hain;Christopher Hain

  • Observing terrestrial ecosystems and the carbon cycle from space

    David Schimel;Ryan Pavlick;Joshua B. Fisher;Gregory P. Asner

  • Remote sensing change detection tools for natural resource managers: Understanding concepts and tradeoffs in the design of landscape monitoring projects

    Robert E. Kennedy;Philip A. Townsend;John E. Gross;Warren B. Cohen

  • Modeling floodplain inundation using an integrated GIS with radar and optical remote sensing

    Philip A. Townsend;Stephen J. Walsh

  • Spectroscopic determination of leaf morphological and biochemical traits for northern temperate and boreal tree species

    Shawn P. Serbin;Aditya Singh;Brenden E. McNeil;Clayton C. Kingdon

  • Changes in the extent of surface mining and reclamation in the Central Appalachians detected using a 1976-2006 Landsat time series

    Philip A. Townsend;David P. Helmers;Clayton C. Kingdon;Brenden E. McNeil

  • Integrating remote sensing with ecology and evolution to advance biodiversity conservation

    Unknown

  • Leaf optical properties reflect variation in photosynthetic metabolism and its sensitivity to temperature

    Shawn P. Serbin;Dylan N. Dillaway;Eric L. Kruger;Philip A. Townsend

  • NASA's surface biology and geology designated observable: A perspective on surface imaging algorithms

    Kerry Cawse-Nicholson;Philip A. Townsend;David Schimel;Ali M. Assiri

  • Plant spectral diversity integrates functional and phylogenetic components of biodiversity and predicts ecosystem function.

    Anna-Katharina Schweiger;Jeannine Cavender-Bares;Philip A Townsend;Sarah E Hobbie

  • Imaging spectroscopy algorithms for mapping canopy foliar chemical and morphological traits and their uncertainties

    Aditya Singh;Shawn P. Serbin;Brenden E. McNeil;Clayton C. Kingdon

  • Global photosynthetic capacity is optimized to the environment.

    Nicholas G. Smith;Nicholas G. Smith;Trevor F. Keenan;Trevor F. Keenan;I. Colin Prentice;Han Wang

  • Temperature-driven range expansion of an irruptive insect heightened by weakly coevolved plant defenses

    Kenneth F. Raffa;Erinn N. Powell;Philip A. Townsend

  • Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity

    Jeannine Cavender-Bares;John A. Gamon;John A. Gamon;Philip A. Townsend

  • Remote sensing of forested wetlands: Application of multitemporal and multispectral satellite imagery to determine plant community composition and structure in southeastern USA

    Philip A. Townsend;Stephen J. Walsh

  • Principles and Applications of Imaging Radar: Manual of Remote Sensing

    Philip A Townsend

  • Mapping Seasonal Flooding in Forested Wetlands Using Multi-Temporal Radarsat SAR

    Philip A. Townsend

  • Urban heat island impacts on plant phenology: intra-urban variability and response to land cover

    Samuel C Zipper;Jason Schatz;Aditya Singh;Christopher J Kucharik

  • Estimating the effect of gypsy moth defoliation using MODIS

    K. M. deBeurs;P. A. Townsend

  • Application of imaging spectroscopy to mapping canopy nitrogen in the forests of the central Appalachian Mountains using Hyperion and AVIRIS

    P.A. Townsend;J.R. Foster;R.A. Chastain;W.S. Currie

  • Relationships between forest structure and the detection of flood inundation in forested wetlands using C-band SAR

    P. A. Townsend

  • Estimation of forest structural parameters using 5 and 10 meter SPOT-5 satellite data

    Peter T. Wolter;Phillip A. Townsend;Brian R. Sturtevant

Frequent Co-Authors

Shawn P. Serbin
Shawn P. Serbin Brookhaven National Laboratory
John A. Gamon
John A. Gamon University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Jeannine Cavender-Bares
Jeannine Cavender-Bares University of Minnesota
Eric L. Kruger
Eric L. Kruger University of Wisconsin–Madison
Ankur R. Desai
Ankur R. Desai University of Wisconsin–Madison
Benjamin Zuckerberg
Benjamin Zuckerberg University of Wisconsin–Madison
Sarah E. Hobbie
Sarah E. Hobbie University of Minnesota
Brian R. Sturtevant
Brian R. Sturtevant US Forest Service
Kenneth F. Raffa
Kenneth F. Raffa University of Wisconsin–Madison
Joshua B. Fisher
Joshua B. Fisher Chapman University

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