Qian Yu, Ph.D. Associate Professor in GIS and Remote Sensing Department of Geosciences University of Massachusetts 611 N Pleasant St.,Amherst, MA 01003 Office: 267 Morrill Science Center Phone: (413) 545-2095 Fax: (413) 545-1200 Email
About		Research	Teaching	Publication	Service	Awards & Grants	GIS lab schedule Request ENVI license Add to GIS/RS job list
I am an environmental geographer, interested in using GIS, remote sensing and spatial modeling to study environmental system.  My current research focuses on these following topics. Riverine carbon export from watershed, currently focusing on water carbon measure using in situ spectral measurement and hyperspectral remote sensing image. (Collaborate with Yong Tian at Central Michigan Univ. and Bob Chen of EEOS, UMass-Boston) Aquatic biomass monitoring and assessment from in situ spectral measurement and high resolution satellite imagery. (Collaborate with USGS MA-RI Water Resources Center ) Object-based classification and vegetation information (biophysical parameters and vegetation species) extraction from high resolution remote sensing imagery. Greenhouse gas emission and soil respiration. (Collaborate with Jim Tang @ Marine Biology Lab, Woods Hole) Click here for details.
APPOINTMENT 2012 – now Associate Professor, Geosciences, UMass 2006 - 2012    Assistant Professor, Geosciences, UMass April 2010 - now      School of Marine Sciences (Intercampus Graduate Program), UMass
EDUCATION 2005   Ph.D. in Environmental Science, University of California at Berkeley 2001   M.S. in Cartography and GIS, Nanjing University, P.R.China 1999   B.S. in Geography, Nanjing University, P.R.China
TEACHING Spring, GEO-SCI 468/668:  GIS and Spatial Analysis Fall,      GEO-SCI 426/626:  Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation Spring, GEO-SCI 636: Advanced Remote Sensing Spring, GEO-SCI 678: Spatial Data Analysis Spring, GEOGRAPH 593a: Aquatic Remote Sensing ADVISING Graduate Program Director of Geography MS Honors Program Director for the Geography Program Advisor for Undergraduate GIST Certificate Advisor for the Environmental Science majors
MENTORING Graduate Students Wenxiu Teng (Fall 2020-) Past Bonnie Turek (Fall 2020-Feb 2023) Monica Weisenbach (M.S.) (Fall 2018-Spring2021) Jiwei Li (Ph.D) (Fall 2012 - Spring 2018) Yue Xu (M.S.) (Fall 2016 – Spring 2018) Kristin Travis (M.S.) (Fall 2010 - Spring 2012) Weining Zhu (Ph.D) (Spring 2007- Spring 2012 ) Changjiang Ye (M.S.) (Fall 2010 – Spring 2013) Bradford Wheeler (M.S.) (Fall 2007- Spring2009)
Visiting Student/Scholar Bo Wang (Visiting scholar), (Oct 2019- Oct 2020), Shaanxi Geomatics Center of National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, Xi’an, China Linke Ouyang (Ph.D candidate) (Sept 2018 – March 2019) East China Normal University Jing Li (Ph.D candidate) (Sept 2016 – Sept 2017) Nanjing Institute of Limnology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science Meng Li (Ph.D candidate) (Sept 2016 – Sept 2017) Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology Yonghua Sun (July 2014 – July 2015 ), Ph.D. Capital Normal University, China Artur José Freire Gil (Visiting Ph.D student, 10/2010-4/2011) PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATION * denotes graduate student first authored paper, including who I serve as the chair or member of their thesis/dissertation committee, or visiting student. Publication in Research ID Google Scholar
2023	49. Yong Q. Tian, Qian Yu, Hunter Carrick, Brian Becker, Remegio Confesor, Mark Frencek, Olivia Anderson, Analysis of spatiotemporal variation in dissolved organic carbon concentrations for streams with cropland-dominated watersheds, Science of the Total Environment, 2023, (PDF) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160744.
2022	48. *Ouyang, Linke, Caiyan Wu, Junxiang Li, Yuhan Liu, Meng Wang, Ji Han, Conghe Song, Qian Yu, and Dagmar Haase. Mapping Impervious Surface Using Phenology-Integrated and Fisher Transformed Linear Spectral Mixture Analysis. Remote Sensing, 14, no. 7 (2022): 1673. (PDF) https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14071673 47. Jiang Chen, Weining Zhu, and Qian Yu, High-spatiotemporal-resolution estimation of solar energy component in the United States using a new satellite-based model, Journal of Environmental Management, Vol 302, Part B, 15 January 2022, 114077, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114077
2021	46. Jiang Chen, Weining Zhu, and Qian Yu, Estimating half-hourly solar radiation over the Continental United States using GOES-16 data with iterative random forest, Renewable Energy, Vol 178, November 2021, Pages 916-929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.06.129 45. Cawse-Nicholson et al, NASA's surface biology and geology designated observable: A perspective on surface imaging algorithms, Remote Sensing of Environment, 257, 112349, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112349 44. *Thaler, Evan A., Isaac J. Larsen, and Qian Yu. "The extent of soil loss across the US Corn Belt.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118.8 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1922375118
2020	43. Zhang, Y., Zhou, L., Zhou, Y., Zhang, L., Yao, X., Shi, K., Jeppesen, E., Yu, Q. and Zhu, W., 2020. Chromophoric dissolved organic matter in inland waters: present knowledge and future challenges. Science of The Total Environment, p.143550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143550 42. Jiang Chen, Weining Zhu, Yong Tian, and Qian Yu, Monitoring dissolved organic carbon by combining Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellites: Case study in Saginaw River estuary, Lake Huron, Science of the Total Environment, 718. (PDF) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137374
2019	41. *Evan Thaler, Isaac Larsen and Qian Yu, A New Index for Remote Sensing of Soil Organic Carbon Based Solely on Visible Wavelengths, Soil Science Society of America Journal, 83(5), p. 1443-1450. (PDF) 40. David F. Boutt, Stephen B. Mabee, and Qian Yu, 2019, Multi‐year increase in the stable isotopic composition of stream water from groundwater recharge due to extreme precipitation, Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2019GL082828. (PDF) https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082828
2018	39. *Jiwei Li, Qian Yu, Yong Q. Tian , Brian L. Becker, Paul Siqueira, and Nathan Torbick, 2018, Spatio-temporal Variations of CDOM in Shallow Inland Waters from a Semi-analytical Inversion of Landsat-8, Remote Sensing of Environment, 218, 189-200.(PDF) Access online 38. *Jiwei Li, Qian Yu, Yong Q. Tian, David F. Boutt, 2018, Effects of landcover, soil property and temperature on co-variations of DOC and CDOM in inland waters, Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, 10.1002/2017JG004179. (PDF) Highlighted by AGU EOS Research Spotlight 37. *Meng Li, R. Chu, Q. Yu, A. Islam, S. Chou and S. Shen, 2018, Evaluating Structural, Chlorophyll-Based and Photochemical Indices to Detect Summer Maize Responses to ContinuousWater Stress, Water, 10, 500; doi:10.3390/w10040500 (PDF)
2017	36. Jiang Chen, Weining Zhu, Yong Q. Tian, Qian Yu, Yuhan Zheng, and Litong Huang, 2017, Remote estimation of colored dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll-a in Lake Huron using Sentinel-2 measurements, Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 11(3), 036007. (PDF) 35. Qiao, H.J., Y.Q. Tian, Q. Yu, H.J. Carrick and J.W. Li, 2017, Snowpack enhanced dissolved organic carbon export during a variety of hydrologic of events in an agricultural landscape, Midwestern USA, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 246, 31-41. (PDF) 34. *Chingwen Cheng, Ethan Yang, Robert Ryan, Qian Yu and Elizabeth Brabec, 2017, Assessing climate change-induced flooding mitigation for adaptation in Boston's Charles River watershed, USA, Landscape and Urban Planning, 167, 25-36. (PDF) 33. *Jiwei Li, Q. Yu, Y.Q. Tian, and B.L. Becker, 2017, Remote Sensing Estimation of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) in Optically Shallow Waters, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 128, 98-110. (PDF) 32. Jiang Chen, Wei-Ning Zhu, Yong Q. Tian, and Qian Yu, 2017, Estimation of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter From Landsat-8 Imagery for Complex Inland Water: Case Study of Lake Huron, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 55(4), 2201-2211. (PDF)
2016	31. *Gil, A., Pacheco-Vieira, C., Yu, Q., Lobo, A., & Calado, H. (2016). Mapping the Ecological Structure in Oceanic Islands - the case-study of S. Miguel Island (Portugal). Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 15(7):1593-1602.
2015	30. *Zhu, W.N., Q. Yu, Y.Q. Tian, B.L. Becker and H.J.Carrick, Issues and Potential Improvement of Multiband Models for Remotely Estimating Chlorophyll-a in Complex Inland Waters, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 8(2), 562-575. (PDF)
2014	29.* Gil, A., Yu, Q., Abadi, M., and Calado, H. (2014). Using ASTER multispectral imagery for mapping woody invasive species in Pico da Vara Natural Reserve (Azores Islands, Portugal). Revista ARVORE, 38: 391-401. DOI: 10.1590/S0100-67622014000300001. (PDF) Available online 28. *Zhu, W.N., Q. Yu, Y.Q. Tian, B.L. Becker, T. Zheng, and H.J.Carrick, 2014, An assessment of remote sensing algorithms for colored dissolved organic matter in complex freshwater environments, Remote Sensing of Environment, 140, 766-778. (PDF)
2013	27. *Zhu, W.N., Q. Yu and Y.Q. Tian, 2013, Uncertainty analysis of remote sensing of colored dissolved organic matter: evaluations and comparisons for three rivers in North America, ISPRS Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 84, 12-22. (PDF) 26. *Zhu, W.N., Y. Q. Tian, Q. Yu and B. L. Becker, 2013, Using Hyperion Imagery to Monitor the Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter in Estuarine and Coastal Regions, Remote Sensing of Environment, 134, 342-354. (PDF) 25. Tian Y.Q., Yu Q., Feig A.D., Ye CJ., and Blunden A.M., 2013, Effects of climate and land-surface processes on terrestrial dissolved organic carbon export to major U.S. coastal Rivers, Ecological Engineering, 54, 192-201. (PDF) 24. *Zhu, W.N. and Q. Yu, 2013, Inversion of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) from Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Images for Turbid Estuarine and Coastal Waters, IEEE Transactions of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 51(6), 3286-3298. (PDF)
2011	23. Zimmerman, M.J., Q. Yu, and Y.Q. Tian, 2011, Monitoring to assess progress toward meeting the Assabet River, Massachusetts, Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load - Aquatic macrophyte biomass and sediment-phosphorus flux, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report, 2011-5179, 77p. (available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2011/5179/) 22. *Gil, A., Q. Yu, A. Lobo, P. Lourenço, L. Silva and H. Calado, 2011, Assessing the effectiveness of high resolution satellite imagery for vegetation mapping in small islands protected areas, Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64, 1663-1667, Szczecin, Poland, ISSN 0749-0208. (PDF) 21. *Zhu, W.N., Q. Yu, Y.Q. Tian, R.F. Chen, and B.G. Gardner, 2011, Estimation of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya river plume regions using above‐surface hyperspectral remote sensing, Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 116, C02011, doi:10.1029/2010JC006523. (PDF) 20. Pu, R.L., S. Landry, and Q. Yu, 2011, Object-based urban detailed land cover classification with high spatial resolution IKONOS Imagery, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 32(12), 3285-3308. (PDF)
2010	19. *Zhu, W.N. and Q. Yu, 2010, Spatial chromatic tessellation: structure, topology, interpretation and implication, Annals of GIS, 16(4), 238-254. (Best Student Paper Awards in Geoinformatics 2010) (PDF) 18. Yu, Q., Y. Q. Tian,  R.F. Chen, A. Liu, G.B. Gardner and W.N. Zhu,  2010, Functional linear analysis for estimating riverine CDOM in coastal environment using in situ hyperspectral data, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 76(10), 1147–1158. (2009 Early Career Best Paper Award, AAG Remote Sensing Specialty Group) (PDF) 17. Tian, Y.Q.,  Q. Yu, , M.J. Zimmerman, S. Flint, and M. C. Waldron, 2010, Differentiating aquatic plant communities and densities in a eutrophic river using hyperspectral and multispectral remote sensing, Freshwater Biology, 55(8), 1658–1673.(PDF)
2008	16. Hui, F.M., B. Xu, H.B. Huang, Q. Yu, and P. Gong, 2008, Modeling spatial-temporal change of Poyang Lake using multi-temporal Landsat imagery, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 29(20), 5767-5784.(PDF) 15. Yang, J., Q. Yu, P. Gong, 2008, Quantifying air pollution removal by green roofs in Chicago, Atmospheric Environment, 42(31), 7266-7273.(PDF) 14. Pu, R.L., P. Gong, and Q. Yu, 2008, Comparative analysis of EO-1 ALI and Hyperion, and Landsat ETM+ data for mapping forest crown closure and leaf area index, Sensors, 8(6), 3744-3766; DOI: 10.3390/s8063744.(PDF) 13. Yu, Q., P. Gong, Y.Q. Tian,  R. Pu and J. Yang, 2008, Factors affecting spatial variation of classification uncertainty in an object-based vegetation mapping, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 74 (8), 1007-1018.(PDF) 12. Ge, S.K., R.I. Carruthers, D.F. Spencer, and Q. Yu, 2008, Canopy assessment of biochemical features by ground-based hyperspectral data for an invasive species, giant reed (Arundo donax), Environmental Monitoring and Assessment,147(1-3):271-278. DOI 10.1007/s10661-007-0119-z.(PDF) 11. *He, H.M., Q. Yu,  J. Zhou, Y.Q. Tian and R.F. Chen, 2008, Modelling complex flood flow evolution in the Middle Yellow River basin, China, Journal of Hydrology, 353, 76– 92. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.01.030.(PDF)
2007	10. *He, H.M., J. Zhou, Y.J. Wu, Q. Yu, W.C. Zhang and X.P. Xie, 2007, Estimating water quality pollution impacts based on economic loss models in urbanization process in Xi'an, China, Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 133(3), 151-160.(PDF) 9. *He, H.M.,  J. Zhou, Q. Yu, Y.Q. Tian, and R.F. Chen, 2007, Flood Frequency and Routing Processes at a Confluence of the Middle Yellow River in China, River Research and Applications, 23 (4) 407-427.(PDF) 8. Tian Y.Q., R. McDowell, Q. Yu, G.W. Sheath, W.T. Carlson and P. Gong, 2007, Modeling to analyze the impacts of animal treading effects on soil infiltration, Hydrological Processes, 21(8), 1106-1114 (DOI: 10.1002/hyp.6293).(PDF)
2006	7. Yu, Q., P. Gong, N. Clinton,G. Biging, M. Kelly and D. Schirokauer, 2006, Object-based detailed vegetation classification with airborne high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 72(7) 799-811. (PDF). Top most-cited Classic Papers in Remote Sensing by Google Scholar 6. Guo, Y. Y.,  R.G. Amundson, P. Gong and Q. Yu, 2006, Quantity and spatial variability of soil carbon in the conterminous United States, Soil Science Society of America Journal, 70: 590-600.(PDF) 5. Guo, Y. Y.,  R.G. Amundson, P. Gong and Q. Yu, 2006, Analysis of factors controlling soil carbon in the conterminous United States, Soil Science Society of America Journal,  70: 601-612.(PDF)
2005	4. Tian Y.Q., D.G. McCall, W. Dripps, Q. Yu and P. Gong, 2005, Using surface features to evaluate meat tenderness of grazing beef animals, Food Australia, 57 (8): 322-326. (PDF) 3. Pu, R.L., Q. Yu, P. Gong and G.S. Biging, 2005, EO-1 Hyperion, ALI and Landsat 7 ETM+ data comparison for estimating forest crown closure and leaf area index, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 26(3):457-474.(PDF)
2004	2. Tian, Y.Q., J.D. Radke, P. Gong and Q. Yu, 2004, Model development for spatial variation of PM2.5 emissions from residential wood burningSpatially allocating PM2.5 emissions from residential wood burning in California, Atmospheric Environment, 38 (6): 833-843.(PDF)
2001	1. Yu, Q., G. Wu, and X. Li, 2001, Studies on relational storage of spatial data, Remote Sensing Information, 61(1): 24-30. (In Chinese)
Conference Proceedings
2011	Liu, H., Q. Yu, W. Ding, D.H. Ni, HG Wang, and S. Shannon, 2011, Feasibility Study For Automatic Calibration Of Transportation Simulation Models, 2011 Spring Simulation Multiconference. (PDF)
AWARDS 2010,          AAG Early Career Award, Remote Sensing Specialty Group, Washington, DC 2004,          ASPRS (American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing ) Space Imaging Award 2004,          Block Grant Scholarship, UC Berkeley 2002,          Block Grant Scholarship, UC Berkeley Award to Advisee Jing Li Estimating algal biomass in a shallow eutrophic lake using a look-up-table and spectrum-matching approach, 2nd Place, Student Honors Paper Competition, Remote Sensing Specialty Group, AAG 2017, Boston. Jiwei Li Remote sensing retrieval of colored dissolved organic matter in optically shallow waters, 2nd Place, Student Honors Paper Competition, Remote Sensing Specialty Group, AAG 2016, San Francisco. Weining Zhu, International Student Travel Award, Geographic Information Systems and Science Specialty Group (GISS-SG), 2011 AAG Conference, Seattle, WA. Weining Zhu and Qian Yu, Spatial chromatic tessellation: conception, interpretation, and implication, Best Student Paper Awards in Geoinformatics 2010, June 18-20, Peking, China.
GRANTS Hongkun Zhang (PI), Qian Yu (co-PI), Hui Guan (co-PI) and Brenda Philips (co-PI), ATD: Deep Learning on Anomaly Detection for Human Dynamics and Hazard Response, NSF Algorithms for Threat Detection (ATD), 8/1/2023-7/31/2026. Brian Yellen (PI), Q. Yu and J. Woodruff, Effects of urban coastal armoring on salt marsh sediment supplies and resilience to climate change, NE CASC, 9/1/2022-8/31/2025. Brian Yellen (PI), J. Woodruff, J. Richardson, and Q. Yu, Regional scaling of blue carbon measurements with lidar-derived geomorphic tools, USDA NRCS 2020 Soil Science Collaborative Research. 6/1/2020-3/1/2023. Brenda Philips (PI), David Jensen, Qian Yu, Understanding and predicting human response to personalized severe weather warnings for urban flash floods, UMass Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Award, March, 2020. 5. Qian Yu (PI), UMass Faculty Research Grant, Remote sensing of dissolved organic carbon in inland and estuarine waters for the assessment of terrestrial-aquatic carbon flux. 05/01/2016-11/30/2017. 6. UMass President's 2010 Science & Technology (S&T) Initiatives, Hong Liu (PI), Co-PIs: Qian Yu et al., Consortium on Anytime-Anywhere-Anyway (AAA) Transportation Information, Nov, 2010. 7. NSF Collaboration in Mathematical Geosciences (CMG), Qian Yu (PI), Co-PIs: Anna Liu, Collaborating with Yong Tian and Robert Chen at UMass-Boston, Collaborative Research: Modeling DOC dynamics from landscapes to coasts: hydrological connectivity and estuary processes, Sept 2010 - Aug 2014. USGS Water Resources Annual Institute Program (sponsored by MA WRRC), Qian Yu (PI), Co-PIs: Weining Zhu, Monitoring and modeling chromophoric dissolved organic matter in Neponset River and Boston Harbor using GIS and hyperspectral remote sensing, May 2010-April 2011. 9. UMass Faculty Research Grant, Qian Yu (PI), Estimating carbon flux from terrestrial landscape to coastal water using remote sensing technology and watershed modeling, 05/01/2007-09/30/2010. 10. Five Colleges Lecture Fund, applied for Five Colleges GIS Day, Qian Yu (PI), Nov 2007. 11. National Park Service, Peng Gong (PI), Co-PI: Qian Yu, Object-oriented vegetation classification at peninsular national parks in California with airborne high resolution imagery: DAIS, 2002-2004. 12. Monterey Pine Forest Ecology Cooperative, Qian Yu (PI), High Resolution Remote Sensing Based Monterey Pine Mapping and Inventory at San Francisco and Northern San Mateo Coast, 2003.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Member, the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Member, the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Member, the American Geophysical Union (AGU, ASLO)
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 2006-present GIS lab manager in the dept. of Geosciences at UMass 2005-2006 Vice president of the CPGIS 2001-2005 Secretary-General of the CPGIS