Team

We are a research team working in the interface between plant physiology and remote sensing.

The FLEXINEL team is part of the Laboratory for Earth Observation (LEO) and the interdisciplinary research unit Image Processing Laboratory (IPL) of the University of Valencia.

Jochem Verrelst

Team Leader

I received my M.Sc. degree in tropical land use and in geo-information science both in 2005 and the Ph.D. in remote sensing in 2010 from Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands. My dissertation focused on the spaceborne spectrodirectional estimation of forest properties. In 2010, I moved to the Laboratory of Earth Observation (LEO), Image Processing Laboratory (IPL), University of Valencia, Spain. I have been involved in preparatory activities for ESA’s 8th Earth Explorer FLEX. My research interests include the retrieval of vegetation properties using airborne and satellite optical (hyperspectral) data, canopy radiative transfer modelling and emulation, and hyperspectral data analysis. I am the founder of the ARTMO software package that brings together radiative transfer models and machine learning algorithms. In 2017, I received an ERC Starting Grant to work on the development of vegetation products based on the synergy of FLEX and Sentinel-3 data. During 2018-2022, I was the vice-chair of the COST Action SENSECO that focused on Optical synergies for spatiotemporal SENsing of Scalable ECOphysiological traits. In 2022, I received an ERC Consolidator Grant to work on the development of photosynthesis products based on the synergy of FLEX and Sentinel-3 data.

Pablo Reyes-Muñoz

Technician/PhD student

I obtained a degree in environmental sciences and a Master in Geophysics and Meteorology in 2007 and 2011, respectively, from the University of Granada. I started working in data

science and remote sensing during my first position (2010-2012) in the Ecology Department of the same university. After that, I obtained a strong background in object-oriented programming by accomplishing specialized courses. Between 2018-2019 I led a local project aiming to develop a database to study the impacts of global change on local ecosystems, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of ecological transition. In late 2020, I moved to the UV and joined the SENTIFLEX ERC project directed by Dr. Jochem Verrelst, following a PhD program. During the same time, I was involved in the generation of a vegetation traits database from optical Sentinel-3 data for an ESA ITT project - Land Carbon Constellation Study. Currently, my research is focused on machine learning methods for modeling of terrestrial carbon fluxes.

Jose Luis Garcia

PhD student

I finished my Physics Bachelor in 2016. After that, I decided to focus on Earth observation with my Master's degree in Remote Sensing and a master's thesis on the spatial downscaling of irradiation products and its applicability to obtain GPP at a global scale.

With that background, I started my labor in the research group of Jochem Verrelst, SENTIFLEX. There I worked as a support technician, participating in several papers, developing ARTMO (Automated Radiative Transfer Model Operator) and also as part of the team developing and improving the CHIME (Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment) vegetation module.

After a year and a half, I moved to Magellium to work on its Earth Observation Section. In my time on Magellium, I worked on the FLEX (Fluorescence Explorer), the GSOOS (Generic Simulator of Earth Observation Optical Sensors) and the VICALOPS (VIcarious CALibration Operational Service), being more focused on the development of DIMITRI (Database for Imaging Multi-spectral Instruments and Tools for Radiometric Intercomparison).

Now, I started my PhD thesis in the group of Jochem Verrelst within the FLEXINEL project, working on the development of novel vegetation retrieval models.

Miguel Morata

PhD student

I received the B.Sc. degree in physics from the University of València, València, Spain, in 2018 and the Master’s degree in remote sensing from the University of València, València, Spain, in 2020. My master's thesis was about the evaluation of the impact of climate on vegetation using nonlinear Granger causality.

Since 2020, I have been a member of the Laboratory of Earth Observation (LEO) and Image Processing Laboratory (IPL) at the University of València, València, Spain, in the research group of Jochem Verrelst, SENTIFLEX. In 2021, I started my PhD working on emulation of computationally expensive processes applied to experimental data from hyperspectral sensors. There, I also worked as a support technician, participating in several papers, developing ARTMO (Automated Radiative Transfer Model Operator), and helping to develop and improve the CHIME vegetation module.

My research interests include emulation, hyperspectral data analysis, machine learning regression algorithms and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF).

Emma De Clerck

PhD student

After completing my Master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering (Forest and Nature Management) at Ghent University in 2023, I started as a trainee at the Laboratory of Earth Observation. Since February 2024, I am a doctoral researcher funded by the FLEXINEL ERC grant.

My work focuses on mapping vegetation traits from remote sensing data, such as Sentinel-2, developing machine learning models, radiative transfer modelling, and applying cloud-based workflows for large-scale agricultural and environmental monitoring. I aim to bridge advanced computational methods with practical applications.

Yuxin Zhang

PhD student

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Geographical Science from Qufu Normal University, China, in 2020. After graduation, I completed a one-year internship at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where I constructed large-scale fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation datasets using machine learning algorithms. I then obtained a Master’s degree in Ecology from the Chinese Academy of Forestry (2024), during which I focused on developing a radiative transfer model for simulating sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF). Currently, I am pursuing my PhD in Jochem Verrelst’s group at the University of Valencia within the FLEXINEL project. My research focuses on the generation of SIF products using cloud computing and machine learning approaches and subsequent SIF-based gross primary productivity estimation.

Pankaj Sharma

PhD student

I am Pankaj Sharma, MSc (Physics) with a Post‐M.Sc. in Theoretical Physics from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, India. My strength lies in computational modelling, numerical analysis and data automation (with experience in C++ and Python). At FLEXINEL I will contribute by developing and implementing numerical algorithms and machine-learning workflows that interpret satellite and hyperspectral data streams, automate processing pipelines, and support the extraction of vegetation fluorescence and photosynthesis parameters.

Bhagyashree Verma

Postdoc

I completed my Master’s degree in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi (India) and subsequently pursued a Ph.D. in Remote Sensing from IIT BHU (India). During my doctoral research, I focused on the utilization and development of models for estimating biophysical and biochemical parameters of agricultural species. My work involved techniques such as image simulation, spectral denoising, and the application of machine learning algorithms. Following my doctorate, I joined Prof Lara’s laboratory in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, where I applied my expertise to study Arctic disturbances within the NASA-ABoVE project. Currently, I am part of Jochem Verrelst’s Image Processing Laboratory (IPL), where I continue to advance my research interests in remote sensing, with a focus on vegetation monitoring, model development, and the integration of machine learning and imaging spectroscopy for environmental applications.

Alumni

Dávid D.Kovács
PhD student (2022-2024)