Global Forest Monitoring from Earth Observation (PDF)

Dr. Frederic Achard is a senior scientist at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy. Having joined the JRC in 1992, he started research over Southeast Asia in the framework of the TREES project. His current research interests include the development of Earth observation techniques for global and regional forest monitoring, and the assessment of the implications of forest cover changes in the tropics and boreal Eurasia on the global carbon budget. Dr. Achard received his Ph.D. in tropical ecology and remote sensing from Toulouse University, Toulouse, France, in 1989. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers in leading scientific journals including Nature, Science, International Journal of Remote Sensing, Forest Ecology and Management, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, and Remote Sensing of Environment.

Dr. Matthew C. Hansen is a professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has a bachelor of electrical engineering degree from Auburn University, Alabama, USA. His graduate degrees include a master of engineering in civil engineering and a master of arts in geography from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a doctoral degree in geography from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. His research specialization is in large area land cover monitoring using multi-spectral, multi-temporal, and multi-resolution remotely sensed data sets. He is an associate member of the MODIS (moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer) Land Science Team and a member of the GOFC-GOLD Implementation Working Group.