I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation. My research and teaching activities concentrate on the application of satellite image time series for the understanding, mapping, and monitoring of dynamic natural resources. I predominantly analyze changes in agricultural and natural vegetation cover to infer relevant information. This information can then be applied for improved understanding of the effects of environmental change (e.g. climate), or for more efficient natural resource management. Besides a direct focus on societally-relevant applications, I also have a more fundamental interest in assessing the potential of new satellite sensors, particularly those with a high repeat frequency, for monitoring vegetation seasonality at fine spatial scales. My main focus areas include:

  1. vegetation phenology, including at fine spatial resolution;
  2. agricultural drought monitoring and prediction, for example in the framework of index insurance programs;
  3. interaction between livestock and the environment in rangelands.

Before joining the University of Twente in 2009, I obtained two MSc's and a PhD from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. The MSc's were obtained in the fields of 'Tropical Land Use' and 'Geo-information Science' in 2001. My PhD was on the use of satellite data for soil erosion studies, and was completed in 2007. Between 2007 and 2009, I worked at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Ispra, Italy).

Expertise

  • Earth and Planetary Sciences

    • Time Series
    • Model
    • Datum
    • Sentinel-2
    • Investigation
    • Estimate
    • Vegetation
    • Area

Organisations

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation. My research and teaching activities concentrate on the application of satellite image time series for the understanding, mapping, and monitoring of dynamic natural resources. I predominantly analyze changes in agricultural and natural vegetation cover to infer relevant information. This information can then be applied for improved understanding of the effects of environmental change (e.g. climate), or for more efficient natural resource management. Besides a direct focus on societally-relevant applications, I also have a more fundamental interest in assessing the potential of new satellite sensors, particularly those with a high repeat frequency, for monitoring vegetation seasonality at fine spatial scales. My main focus areas include:

  1. vegetation phenology, including at fine spatial resolution;
  2. agricultural drought monitoring and prediction, for example in the framework of index insurance programs;
  3. interaction between livestock and the environment in rangelands.

Before joining the University of Twente in 2009, I obtained two MSc's and a PhD from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. The MSc's were obtained in the fields of 'Tropical Land Use' and 'Geo-information Science' in 2001. My PhD was on the use of satellite data for soil erosion studies, and was completed in 2007. Between 2007 and 2009, I worked at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Ispra, Italy).

Publications

2024
Towards accurate spatial prediction of Glossina pallidipes relative densities at country-scale in KenyaEcological informatics, 81, Article 102610, 1-12 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Gachoki, S. M., Groen, T. A., Vrieling, A., Skidmore, A. K. & Daniel, M.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2024.102610Detection and attribution of cereal yield losses using Sentinel-2 and weather data: A case study in South AustraliaISPRS journal of photogrammetry and remote sensing, 213, 33-52. Duan, K., Vrieling, A., Schlund, M., Nidumolu, U. B., Ratcliff, C., Collings, S. & Nelson, A.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2024.05.021Enhancing regional estimates of evapotranspiration with earth observation data. University of Twente, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC). Zhang, L.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036561259Annual winter crop distribution from MODIS NDVI timeseries to improve yield forecasts for EuropeInternational Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 130, Article 103898. Seguini, L., Vrieling, A., Meroni, M. & Nelson, A.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.103898Modelling the spatial and temporal distribution of tsetse flies for targeted control. University of Twente, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC). Gachoki, S. M.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036560610An ensemble neural network approach for space-time landslide predictive modelling. Earth ArXiv. Lim, J., Santinelli, G., Dahal, A., Vrieling, A. & Lombardo, L.https://doi.org/10.31223/X5198VScattered tree death contributes to substantial forest loss in CaliforniaNature communications, 15, Article 641 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Cheng, Y., Oehmcke, S., Brandt, M., Rosenthal, L., Das, A., Vrieling, A., Saatchi, S., Wagner, F., Mugabowindekwe, M., Verbruggen, W., Beier, C. & Horion, S.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44991-z
2023

Research profiles

Since 2009 I teach in the Faculty ITC, and prior to that I taught at Wageningen University (2001-2006). I have contributed to a wide variety of courses, generally for international classrooms. My teaching activities focus on the application of satellite image time series for the understanding, mapping, and monitoring of dynamic natural resources. These activities comprise:

  • lecturing in courses on remote sensing, environmental monitoring (mostly related to vegetation), and natural resource management;
  • design and coordination of courses related to e.g. remote sensing of vegetation phenology, drought monitoring, natural resource management;
  • design and supervision of case studies for challenge-based learning;
  • development of online courses in the frameworks of FAO E-learning, the EU-funded GeoNetC project, and the online MSc-programme iGEON;
  • supervision of >40 MSc students for their Master's thesis (besides PhD supervision);
  • individual mentoring in the MSE programme to facilitate students in defining and managing their own learning goals and pathways.

Affiliated study programs

Courses academic year 2023/2024

Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.

Courses academic year 2022/2023

Address

Visiting address

University of Twente

Langezijds (building no. 19), room 1125
Hallenweg 8
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands

Navigate to location

Organisations

Additional contact information

<a href="http://www.itc.nl/resumes/vrieling">http://www.itc.nl/resumes/vrieling</a>

Scan the QR code or
Download vCard