Dr. Prasad S. Thenkabail, Senior Scientist (ST), United States Geological Survey (USGS), is a world-recognized expert in remote sensing science with major contributions in the field sustained for nearly 40 years. Dr. Thenkabail’s career scientific achievements can be gauged by successfully making the list of world’s top 1% of scientists across fields (22 scientific fields and 176 sub-fields).
Global Food Security-Support Analysis Data at 30 m (GFSAD)
Global Hyperspectral Imaging Spectroscopy of Agricultural-Crops & Vegetation (GHISA)
Remote Sensing of Agriculture, Water, and Food Security
- Download Landsat Derived Global Rainfed and Irrigated Cropland Product at 30m (…
- Download Landsat Derived Global Cropland Extent Product at 30m (GCEP30) from LP…
- Browse Full Resolution View of Global Cropland Products
- Global Crop Water Productivity and Savings through waterSMART (GCWP)
- Global Irrigated and Rainfed Cropland Mask at 1km
- Global Cropland Dominance Product at 1km
Dr. Thenkabail has conducted pioneering research in hyperspectral remote sensing of vegetation and in that of global croplands and their water use for food security. In hyperspectral remote sensing he has done cutting-edge research with wide implications in advancing remote sensing science in application to agriculture and vegetation. This body of work led to more than ten peer-reviewed research publications with high impact. For example, a single paper entitled “Hyperspectral vegetation indices and their relationships with agricultural crop characteristics” has received 1500 citations (3/14/23). In studies of global croplands for food and water security, he has led the release of the world’s first Landsat-derived: 1. global cropland extent product @ 30m (GCEP30), and 2. global rainfed and irrigated area product @ 30m (LGRIP30). This work demonstrates a “paradigm shift” in how remote sensing science is conducted. As per Google Scholar, the papers Dr. Thenkabail's research are cited 14,235 times. His h-index is 58 and i10-index is 113.
Dr. Thenkabail’s contributions to series of leading edited books on remote sensing science places him as a world leader in remote sensing science advances. He edited three-volume book entitled Remote Sensing Handbook published by Taylor and Francis, with 82 chapters and more than 2000 pages, widely considered a “magnus opus” encyclopedic standard reference for students, scholars, practitioners, and major experts in remote sensing science. He has recently completed editing Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Vegetation published books by Taylor and Francis in four volumes with 50 chapters. This is the second edition that is currently in press and is a follow-up on the earlier single-volume Hyperspectral Remote Sensing of Vegetation. He has also edited a book on Remote Sensing of Global Croplands for Food Security.
He obtained his PhD from the Ohio State University in 1992 and has 168 publications including 9 books, 146 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 13 major data releases. Dr. Thenkabail is at the center of rendering scientific service to the world’s remote sensing community in roles that include Editor-in-Chief (2011-present) of Remote Sensing Open Access Journal and Associate Editor (2017-present) of American Society’s Journal Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. Dr. Thenkabail was recognized as Fellow of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) in 2023. His scientific papers have won several awards over the years demonstrating world class highest quality research. These include: 2023 Talbert Abrams Grand Award, the highest scientific paper award of the ASPRS, 2015 ASPRS ERDAS award for best scientific paper in remote sensing, and 1994 Autometric Award for the outstanding paper in remote sensing. He was a Landsat Science Team Member (2007-2011).
Science and Products
Global Food-and-Water Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD)
Increasing data accessibility by adding existing datasets and capabilities to a cutting-edge visualization app to enable cross-community use
Processing a new generation of hyperspectral data on the Cloud using Pangeo
Global Crop Water Productivity and Savings through waterSMART (GCWP)
Global Hyperspectral Imaging Spectral-library of Agricultural-Crops & Vegetation (GHISA)
Global Croplands and Their Water Use for Food Security in the Twenty-first Century
Science and Products
- Publications
- Science
Global Food-and-Water Security-support Analysis Data (GFSAD)
The GFSAD is a NASA funded project (2023-2028) to provide highest-resolution global cropland data and their water use that contributes towards global food-and-water security in the twenty-first century. The GFSAD products are derived through multi-sensor remote sensing data (e.g., Landsat-series, Sentinel-series, MODIS, AVHRR), secondary data, and field-plot data and aims at documenting cropland...Increasing data accessibility by adding existing datasets and capabilities to a cutting-edge visualization app to enable cross-community use
We will collate and publish existing datasets from collaborators and ingest them into a visualization app to help researchers with machine learning model-building and hypothesis-making. These data collation and app development methods could help other researchers increase their data accessibility.Processing a new generation of hyperspectral data on the Cloud using Pangeo
We aim to migrate our research workflow from a closed system to an open framework, increasing flexibility and transparency in our science and accessibility of our data. Our hyperspectral data of agricultural crops are crucial for training/ validating machine learning algorithms to study food security, land use, etc. Generating such data is resource-intensive and requires expertise, proprietaryGlobal Crop Water Productivity and Savings through waterSMART (GCWP)
The waterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) project places technical information and tools in the hands of stakeholders that allow them to answer pertinent questions regarding water availability. Two goals of waterSMART are to 1) establish water availability and its use based on an understanding of the past and present water users and to 2) project water availability and...Global Hyperspectral Imaging Spectral-library of Agricultural-Crops & Vegetation (GHISA)
This webpage showcases the key research advances made in hyperspectral remote sensing of agricultural crops and vegetation over the last 50 years. There are three focus areas:Global Croplands and Their Water Use for Food Security in the Twenty-first Century
Global climate change is putting unprecedented pressure on global croplands and their water use, vital for ensuring future food security for the world's rapidly expanding human population. The end of the green green revolution (productivity per unit of land) era has meant declining global per capita agricultural production requiring immediate policy responses to safeguard food security amidst glob - Data
- News
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government