Vegetation remote sensing: Leaf area index (LAI), Clumping effect, Scale effect

LiDAR remote sensing: Terrestrial laser scanner (TLS), Airborne laser scanner (ALS), Spaceborne laser scanner

Ecological remote sensing：Spatial-temporal assessment of forest, grassland, and wetland ecosystem

Sep 2015 – Aug 2018, University of Strasbourg
Ph.D. in Remote Sensing, École Doctorale MSII, ICube Lab, TRIO Group
Supervisor: Françoise Nerry 

Sep 2012 – Jul 2018 , Beijing Normal University
Ph.D. in Geography, School of Geography
Supervisor: Xiaowen Li, Guangjian Yan

Sep 2008 – Jul 2012 , Beijing Normal University
B.Sc. (Honors) in Geography, School of Geography

July 2019 – Aug 2021, Lecturer, University of Chinese Academy of Science

Sep 2021 – , Associate Professor, University of Chinese Academy of Science

​Lidar Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing Image Processing

Practical Applications of Quantitative Remote Sensing

2026

Yongkang Lai, Xihan Mu, Ronghai Hu, Donghui Xie, Guoqing Zhou, Guangjian Yan : Estimating the leaf area index from terrestrial laser scanning point cloud data with fractal theory, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 2026, 10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2026.04.029

2025

Da Guo, Xiaoning Song, Ronghai Hu*, Max Mallen-Cooper, Yuzhen Xing, Ruijin Li, Hong Zeng, Han Guo, Guangjian Yan, Paul Kardol : Large-scale Retrieval and Quality Control of Leaf Area Index based on ICESat-2 Spaceborne Photon-counting Laser Altimeter, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2025, 10.1109/TGRS.2025.3592523

Yi Li, Guangjian Yan, Weihua Li, Donghui Xie, Hailan Jiang, Linyuan Li, Jianbo Qi, Ronghai Hu, Xihan Mu, Xiao Chen, Shanshan Wei, Hao Tang : Accurate spaceborne waveform simulation in heterogeneous forests using small-footprint airborne LiDAR point clouds, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2025, 10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2024.11.020

Xiaoyu Zhang, Lei Feng, Hong Zeng, Ruijin Li, Menggenxikexierge Cairibujiafu, Zeyuan Wang, Lizhen Cui, Yuzhen Xing, Zongsong Wang, Zelin Zhang, Ronghai Hu*, Xiaoning Song, Kai Xue, Yanfen Wang: Terrestrial Ecosystem Integrity and Change Trends in the Yellow River Basin, Recent Advances in Remote Sensing, 2025, 10.62880/rars25007

Shuntian Guan, Longyue Zhang, Yunqi Xiong, Congjia Li, Zhenzhen Zheng, Shibo Huang, Ronghai Hu, Xiaoming Kang, Jianqin Du, Kai Xue, Xiaoyong Cui, Yanfen Wang, Yanbin Hao: Discrepant Pathway in Regulating ET Under Change in Community Composition of Alpine Grassland in the Source Region of the Yellow River, Remote Sensing, 2025, 17(24), 4046

2024

Yuzhen Xing, Ronghai Hu*, Hengli Lin, Hong Zeng, Da Guo, Guangjian Yan, Xiaoning Song, Pierre Kastendeuch, Marc Saudreau, Françoise Nerry, Kai Xue, and Yanfen Wang: Bottom-Up Estimation of Stand Leaf Area Index From Individual Tree Measurement Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning Data, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2024, DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2024.3372293

Guangjian Yan, Tian Xie, Xuewei Hu, Shiyu Chen, Hailan Jiang, Ronghai Hu, Fan Li, Xihan Mu, Donghui Xie: Estimating the Leaf Area of Urban Individual Trees from Single-scan Terrestrial Laser Scanner Based on Slant Leaf Area Index, , 2024, 10.1109/TGRS.2024.343500IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2024, 10.1109/TGRS.2024.343500

Han Guo, Xiaoning Song, Pei Leng, Xinming Zhu, Ronghai Hu, Da Guo, Liang Gao, Yanfen Wang, Kai Xue: Higher water ecological service values have better network connectivity in the middle Yellow River basin, Ecological Indicators, 160, 111797

Shun He, Jianqing Du, Yanfen Wang, Lizhen Cui, Wenjing Liu, Yifan Xiao, Qinwei Ran, Linfeng Li, Zuopei Zhang, Li Tang, Ronghai Hu, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui, Kai Xue : Differences in background environment and fertilization method mediate plant response to nitrogen fertilization in alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Science of the Total Environment, 906, 167272

Yuanqi Li, Ronghai Hu, Yuzhen Xing, Zhe Pang, Zhi Chen, Haishan Niu: Comparison of Three Approaches for Estimating Understory Biomass in Yanshan Mountains. Remote Sensing, 16(6), 1060

2023

Cong Liu, Ronghai Hu*, Yanfen Wang, Hengli Lin, Dongli Wu, Yi Dai, Yongchao Zhu, Zhigang Liu, Dasheng Yang, Quanjun Zhang, Changliang Shao, Zhengyi Hu: Integrating ICESat-2 Laser Altimeter Observations and Hydrological Modeling for Enhanced Prediction of Climate-Driven Lake Level Change, Journal of Hydrology, 2023, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130304

Yanfen Wang, Kai Xue, Ronghai Hu, Boyang Ding, Hong Zeng, Ruijin Li, Bin Xu, Zhe Pang, Xiaoning Song, Congjia Li, Jianqing Du, Xiuchun Yang, Zelin Zhang, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui, Ke Guo, Qingzhu Gao, Yangjian Zhang, Juntao Zhu, Jian Sun, Yaoming Li, Lili Jiang, Huakun Zhou, Caiyun Luo, Zhenhua Zhang, Qingbo Gao, Shilong Chen, Baoming Ji, Xingliang Xu, Huai Chen, Qi Li, Liang Zhao, Shixiao Xu, Yali Liu, Linyong Hu, Jianshuang Wu, Qien Yang, Shikui Dong, Jinsheng He, Xinquan Zhao, Shiping Wang, Shilong Piao, Guirui Yu, Bojie Fu: Vegetation structural shift tells environmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau over 40 years, Science Bulletin, 2023, 10.1016/j.scib.2023.07.035

Shun He, Jianqing Du, Yanfen Wang, Lizhen Cui, Wenjing Liu, Yifan Xiao, Qinwei Ran, Linfeng Li, Zuopei Zhang, Li Tang, Ronghai Hu, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui, Kai Xue: Differences in background environment and fertilization method mediate plant response to nitrogen fertilization in alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Science of The Total Environment, 2023, 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167272

Ge Gao, Jianbo Qi, Simei Lin, Ronghai Hu, Huaguo Huang: Estimating plant area density of individual trees from discrete airborne laser scanning data using intensity information and path length distribution, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 2023, 118, 103281

Da Guo, Ronghai Hu*, Xiaoning Song*, Xinhui Li, Hengli Lin, Yanan Zhang, Liang Gao, Xinming Zhu: Exploring Photon-Counting Laser Altimeter ICESat-2 in Retrieving LAI and Correcting Clumping Effect, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2023, 10.1109/TGRS.2022.3233037

Linyuan Li, Xihan Mu, Hailan Jiang, Francesco Chianucci, Ronghai Hu, Wanjuan Song, Jianbo Qi, Shouyang Liu, Jiaxin Zhou, Ling Chen, Huaguo Huang, Guangjian Yan: Review of ground and aerial methods for vegetation cover fraction (fCover) and related quantities estimation: definitions, advances, challenges, and future perspectives, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 2023, 199, 133-156

2022

Jun Geng, Lili Tu, Jing M Chen, Jean-Louis Roujean, Gang Yuan, Ronghai Hu, Jianwei Huang, Chunju Zhang, Zhourun Ye, Xiaochuan Qu, Min Yu, Yongchao Zhu, Qingjiu Tian: Variation of clumping index with zenith angle for forest canopies, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2022, 10.1109/TGRS.2022.3226154

Yanfen Wang, Jianqing Du, Zhe Pang, Yali Liu, Kai Xue, Yann Hautier, Biao Zhang, Li Tang, Lili Jiang, Baoming Ji, Xingliang Xu, Jing Zhang, Ronghai Hu, Shutong Zhou, Fang Wang, Rongxiao Che, Di Wang, Chaoting Zhou, Xiaoyong Cui, Nico Eisenhauer, Yanbin Hao: Unimodal productivity–biodiversity relationship along the gradient of multidimensional resources across Chinese grasslands, National Science Review, 2022, 9 (12), nwac165.

Yongkang Lai, Xihan Mu, Weihua Li, Jie Zou, Yuequn Bian, Kun Zhou, Ronghai Hu, Linyuan Li, Donghui Xie, Guangjian Yan: Correcting for the clumping effect in leaf area index calculations using one-dimensional fractal dimension, Remote Sensing of Environment, 2022, 281, 113259.

Yanfen Wang, Wangwang Lv, Kai Xue, Shiping Wang, Lirong Zhang, Ronghai Hu, Hong Zeng, Xingliang Xu, Yaoming Li, Lili Jiang, Yanbin Hao, Jianqing Du, Jianping Sun, Tsechoe Dorji, Shilong Piao, Changhui Wang, Caiyun Luo, Zhenhua Zhang, Xiaofeng Chang, Mingming Zhang, Yigang Hu, Tonghua Wu, Jinzhi Wang, Bowen Li, Peipei Liu, Yang Zhou, A Wang, Shikui Dong, Xianzhou Zhang, Qingzhu Gao, Huakun Zhou, Miaogen Shen, Andreas Wilkes, Georg Miehe, Xinquan Zhao, Haishan Niu: Grassland changes and adaptive management on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 2022, 1-16.

Cong Liu, Ronghai Hu*, Yanfen Wang, Hengli Lin, Hong Zeng, Dongli Wu, Zhigang Liu, Yi Dai, Xiaoning Song, Changliang Shao: Monitoring water level and volume changes of lakes and reservoirs in the Yellow River Basin using ICESat-2 laser altimetry and Google Earth Engine, Journal of Hydro-environment Research, 2022, 44, 53-64.

Han Yan, Qinwei Ran, Ronghai Hu, Kai Xue, Biao Zhang, Shutong Zhou, Zuopei Zhang, Li Tang, Rongxiao Che, Zhe Pang, Fang Wang, Di Wang, Jing Zhang, Lili Jiang, Zhi Qian, Sanguo Zhang, Tiande Guo, Jianqing Du, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui, Yanfen Wang: Machine learning-based prediction for grassland degradation using geographic, meteorological, plant and microbial data, Ecological Indicators, 2022, 137, 108738.

Biao Zhang, Kai Xue, Shutong Zhou, Kui Wang, Wenjing Liu, Cong Xu, Lizhen Cui, Linfeng Li, Qinwei Ran, Zongsong Wang, Ronghai Hu, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui, Yanfen Wang: Environmental selection overturns the decay relationship of soil prokaryotic community over geographic distance across grassland biotas, Elife, 2022, 11, e70164.

2021

Shutong Zhou, Kai Xue, Biao Zhang, Li Tang, Zhe Pang, Fang Wang, Rongxiao Che, Qinwei Ran, Anquan Xia, Kui Wang, Linfeng Li, Junfu Dong, Jianqing Du, Ronghai Hu, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui, Yanfen Wang: Spatial patterns of microbial nitrogen-cycling gene abundances along a precipitation gradient in various temperate grasslands at a regional scale, Geoderma, 2021, 404, 115236.

Shuohao Cai, Xiaoning Song, Ronghai Hu, Pei Leng, Xiaotao Li, Da Guo, Yanbin Hao, Yanfen Wang: Spatiotemporal characteristics of agricultural droughts based on soil moisture data in Inner Mongolia from 1981 to 2019, Journal of Hydrology, 2021, 603, 127104.

Hailan Jiang, Guangjian Yan, Yiyi Tong, Shiyu Cheng, Xuebo Yang, Ronghai Hu, Linyuan Li, Xihan Mu, Donghui Xie, Wuming Zhang, Guoqing Zhou, Felix Morsdorf: Correcting Crown-Level Clumping Effect for Improving Leaf Area Index Retrieval From Large-Footprint LiDAR: A Study Based on the Simulated Waveform and GLAS Data, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2021, 14, 12386-12402.

Hailan Jiang, Shiyu Cheng, Guangjian Yan, Andres Kuusk, Ronghai Hu, Yiyi Tong, Xihan Mu, Donghui Xie, Wuming Zhang, Guoqing Zhou, Felix Morsdorf: Clumping Effects in Leaf Area Index Retrieval From Large-Footprint Full-Waveform LiDAR, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2021, 60, 1-20.

Da Guo, Xiaoning Song, Ronghai Hu, Shuohao Cai, Xinming Zhu, Yanbin Hao: Grassland type-dependent spatiotemporal characteristics of productivity in Inner Mongolia and its response to climate factors, Science of The Total Environment, 2021, 775, 145644.

Shuohao Cai, Xiaoning Song, Ronghai Hu, Da Guo: Ecosystem-Dependent Responses of Vegetation Coverage on the Tibetan Plateau to Climate Factors and Their Lag Periods, ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 2021, 10 (6), 394.

Guangjian Yan, Hailan Jiang, Jinghui Luo, Xihan Mu, Fan Li, Jianbo Qi, Ronghai Hu, Donghui Xie, Guoqing Zhou: Quantitative evaluation of leaf inclination angle distribution on leaf area index retrieval of coniferous canopies, Journal of Remote Sensing, 2021

Yiting Wang, Guangjian Yan, Donghui Xie, Ronghai Hu, Hu Zhang: Generating long time series of high spatiotemporal resolution FPAR images in the remote sensing trend surface framework, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2021, 60, 1-15.

Tong Li, Lizhen Cui, Zhihong Xu, Ronghai Hu, Pawan K Joshi, Xiufang Song, Li Tang, Anquan Xia, Yanfen Wang, Da Guo, Jiapei Zhu, Yanbin Hao, Lan Song, Xiaoyong Cui: Quantitative analysis of the research trends and areas in grassland remote sensing: a scientometrics analysis of Web of Science from 1980 to 2020, Remote Sensing, 2021, 13 (7), 1279.

Da Guo, Xiaoning Song, Ronghai Hu, Xinming Zhu, Yazhen Jiang, Shuohao Cai, Yanan Zhang, Xiaoyong Cui: Large-scale analysis of the spatiotemporal changes of net ecosystem production in Hindu Kush Himalayan Region, Remote Sensing, 2021, 13 (6), 1180.

Hailan Jiang, Ronghai Hu, Guangjian Yan, Shiyu Cheng, Fan Li, Jianbo Qi, Linyuan Li, Donghui Xie, Xihan Mu: Influencing factors in estimation of leaf angle distribution of an individual tree from terrestrial laser scanning data. Remote Sensing, 2021, 13(6): 1159.

2020

Yiting Wang, Guangjian Yan, Ronghai Hu, Donghui Xie, Wei Chen: A Scaling-Based Method for the Rapid Retrieval of FPAR From Fine-Resolution Satellite Data in the Remote-Sensing Trend-Surface Framework. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2020, 58(10): 7035-7048.

Wuming Zhang, Shangshu Cai, Xinlian Liang, Jie Shao, Ronghai Hu, Sisi Yu, Guangjian Yan, Cloth simulation-based construction of pit-free canopy height models from airborne LiDAR data, Forest Ecosystems, 2020, DOI: 10.1186/s40663-019-0212-0

Linyuan Li, Xihan Mu, Maxime Soma, Peng Wan, Jianbo Qi, Ronghai Hu, Wuming Zhang, Yiyi Tong, Guangjian Yan: An Iterative-Mode Scan Design of Terrestrial Laser Scanning in Forests for Minimizing Occlusion Effects. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2020, DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2020.3018643

2019

G. Yan*, R. Hu*, J. Luo, W. Marie, H. Jiang, X. Mu, D. Xie, W. Zhang: Review of indirect optical measurements of leaf area index: Recent advances, challenges, and perspectives. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2019, 265: 390-411. (PDF)

Q. Ran, Y. Hao, A. Xia, W. Liu, R. Hu, X. Cui, K. Xue, X. Song, C. Xu, B. Ding, Y. Wang*: Quantitative Assessment of the Impact of Physical and Anthropogenic Factors on Vegetation Spatial-Temporal Variation in Northern Tibet. Remote Sensing, 2019, 11(10): 1183.

L. Chen, G. Yan, T. Wang, H. Ren, R. Hu, S. Chen, H. Zhou: Spatial Scale Consideration for Estimating All-Sky Surface Shortwave Radiation With a Modified 1-D Radiative Transfer Model. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2019, 12(3): 821-835.

2018

R. Hu, E. Bournez, S. Cheng, H. Jiang, F. Nerry, T. Landes, M. Saudreau, P. Kastendeuch, G. Najjar, J. Colin, G. Yan: Estimating the leaf area of an individual tree in urban areas using terrestrial laser scanner and path length distribution model. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 2018, 144: 357-368. (PDF)

R. Hu, G. Yan, F. Nerry, Y. Liu, Y. Jiang, S. Wang, Y. Chen, X. Mu, W. Zhang, D. Xie: Using Airborne Laser Scanner and Path Length Distribution Model to Quantify Clumping Effect and Estimate Leaf Area Index. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 2018, 56(6): 3196-3209. (PDF)

Y. Chen, W. Zhang, R. Hu, J. Qi, Dan Li, W. Peng, C. Qiao, A. Shen, G. Yan: Estimation of forest leaf area index using terrestrial laser scanning data and path length distribution model in open-canopy forests. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 2018, 263:323-333.

2017

X. Mu, R. Hu, Y. Zeng, T. R. McVicar, H. Ren, W. Song, Y. Wang, R. Casa, J. Qi, D. Xie, G. Yan: Estimating structural parameters of agricultural crops from ground-based multi-angular digital images with a fractional model of sun and shade components. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 2017, 246: 162-177.

D. Xie, Y. Wang, R. Hu, Y. Chen, G. Yan, W. Zhang, P. Wang: Modified gap fraction model of individual trees for estimating leaf area using terrestrial laser scanner. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing. 2017, 11(3): 035012.

2016

R. Hu, J. Luo, G. Yan, Jie Zou, X. Mu: Indirect Measurement of Forest Leaf Area Index Using Path Length Distribution Model and Multispectral Canopy Imager. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 2016, 9(6): 2532-2539.

Y. Wang, D. Xie, S. Liu, R. Hu, Y. Li, G. Yan: Scaling of FAPAR from the Field to the Satellite. Remote Sensing. 2016, 8(4): 310.

G. Yan, R. Hu*, Y. Wang, H. Ren, W. Song, J. Qi, Ling Chen: Scale Effect in Indirect Measurement of Leaf Area Index. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 2016, 54(6): 3475-3484. (PDF)

G. Yan, R. Hu, J. Luo, X. Mu, D. Xie, W. Zhang: Review of indirect methods for leaf area index measurement. Journal of Remote Sensing, 2016, 20(5): 958-978.(In chinese)

2015

Y. Zeng, J. Li, Q. Liu, R. Hu, X. Mu, W. Fan, B. Xu, G. Yin, S. Wu: Extracting Leaf Area Index by Sunlit Foliage Component from Downward-Looking Digital Photography under Clear-Sky Conditions. Remote Sensing. 2015; 7(10): 13410-13435.

2014

R. Hu, G. Yan, X. Mu, J. Luo. Indirect measurement of leaf area index on the basis of path length distribution. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2014, 155: 239–247. (PDF)

2013

H. Ren, G. Yan, R. Liu, R. Hu, T. Wang, X. Mu. Spectral recalibration for in-flight broadband sensor using man-made ground targets. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 2013, 51(7): 4316 - 4329.

H. Ren, G. Yan, R. Liu, F. Nerry, Z-L Li, R. Hu. Impact of sensor footprint on measurement of directional brightness temperature of row crop canopies. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2013, 134: 135-151.

2012

R. Hu, G. Yan. Indirect measurement of forest LAI to deal with the underestimation problem based on Beer-Lambert law. Journal of Geo-Information Science. 2012, 14: 366-375. (In chinese)

R. Hu, X. Li, H. Wei, L. Zhang, Y. Lei, J. Wang. Drought risk assessment model of mountainous area based on DEM: A case of southwest china. Journal of Natural Disasters. 2012, 21: 157-162. (In chinese)

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1. Correcting Forest Clumping Effect Using Airborne Lidar and Path Length Distribution Model. 2019 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, USA, 2019.
2. Accurate Estimation of Fractional Vegetation Cover at Various Flight Altitudes Using UAV- based Digital Photos. International Workshop on Quantitative Remote Sensing for Heterogeneous Land Surface; 07/2016
3. Spatial scale effect on vegetation phenological analysis using remote sensing data. 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Beijing, China, 2016.
4. Indirect measurement of forest leaf area index using path length model and Multispectral Canopy Imager. 2015 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Milan, Italy, 2015.
5. A portable multi-angle observation system. 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Munich, Germany, 2012.
6. A method for leaf gap fraction estimation based on multispectral digital images from Multispectral Canopy Imager. 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium(IGARSS), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2011.