Dr. Alemu is an Assistant Research Scientist at NASA Godard Space Flight Center (GSFC) through the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), University of Maryland (UMD). Before joining UMD ESSIC, he was a NASA postdoc (NPP) working with Dr. Christopher S.R. Neigh on land cover land use (LCLU) classification and drought and desert locust impacts on croplands. Currently, he is working with Drs. Christopher S.R. Neigh and Amy L. McNally on LCLU classification and change analysis of smallholder fragmented landscapes, as well as mapping of planted and non-planted croplands due to conflict, among other research activities. He uses very high-resolution commercial imagery and open-source optical and SAR imageries, with various remote sensing and geospatial techniques and deep learning. He earned a Ph.D. in Geospatial Science and Engineering (Remote Sensing Geography specialty) in 2017 from South Dakota State University.
Woubet Gashaw Alemu
(ASST RESEARCH SCIENTIST)
| Email: | woubet.g.alemu@nasa.gov |
| Org Code: | 618 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 618 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | UNIV OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK |
Brief Bio
Current Projects
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project
Remote Sensing
The aim of the research project is to develop a methodology for measuring the efficacy of “interventions” installed by Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to improve productivity in agriculture in developing countries. The primary intervention is the installation of irrigation infrastructure in water-limited areas. We will address research questions in the fields of land cover mapping, fine spatial resolution time series analysis, “big data” analysis, high-end computing, and spatial ecology.
Cropland Mapping, Yield Estimation, and Forecasting for Food Security Using Satellite Microwave and High Resolution Optical Datasets in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia
Land Cover/Use
In today’s world of increasing food insecurity due to the anticipated more frequent and extreme weather events, such as drought and floods, and developing countries unmatched population growth relative to economic development, a comprehensive understanding of global food crop production and yield is a critical need. More than 90% of agricultural production in East Africa comes from small-holder farmers, which are solely dependent on traditional rain-fed farming systems.
In-situ agricultural datasets are scarce in this part of the world. The Amhara Region occupies the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia that has the most crop-producing potential, yet food insecurity remains. Developing remote sensing-based crop maps can serve as a baseline for recurrent seasonal yield estimation and forecasting that can be used for planning purposes to alleviate food insecurity. Cropland mapping remains very challenging for subsistence farming in Africa, where small parcels are mixed with other land uses. Satellite microwave remote sensing data, unlike optical remote sensing data, are less sensitive to cloud contamination, aerosol effects, and solar illumination constraints, while optical data have a finer spatial resolution. To this end, I will map croplands, and estimate and forecast crop yields in the Amhara Region using finer spatial resolution (≤ 30m) optical and microwave remote sensing datasets and crop growth models.
Image segmentation, asymmetric double-sigmoid function for phenological metrics derivation, and crop models will be used to achieve the proposed objectives. Model performance evaluation will be done using registered farmland databases and crop yield statistics and data reports in the region. These research outputs will be beneficial in making informed decisions by the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) Rural Land Administration and Use Bureau (RLAUB), ARNS Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau (ARDB), ANSR Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Bureau (DRMFSB), and non-governmental Index-Insurance organizations that are currently active in the area such as R4 Project on food security, market management, and in the crop insurance sector in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Further, the best practices can be scaled up to other similar regions of the world.
Positions/Employment
Assistant Research Scientist
NASA GSFC - University of Maryland - Greenbelt, MD, USA
November 2023 - Present
Postdoctoral Fellow
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD, USA
November 2020 - October 2023
Distinguished Postdoctoral Scholar / Postdoctoral Associate
Florida International University - Miami, FL, USA
August 2018 - August 2020
Postdoctoral Fellow
South Dakota State University - Brookings, SD, USA
February 2017 - July 2018
Graduate Research Assistant
South Dakota State University - Brookings, SD, USA
August 2011 - January 2017
Lecturer
Bahir Dar University - Bahir Dar, ETH
June 2009 - July 2011
Lecturer; Graduate Assistant II; Graduate Assistant I
University of Gondar - Gondar, ETH
August 2004 - May 2009
Lecturer: 2007 - 2009; Graduate Assistant II: 2006 - 2007; & Graduate Assistant I: 2004 - 2006
Teaching Experience
Guest Lectures:
- Alemu WG. 2019. Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality Using Cool Earthlight in Croplands of Eastern Africa and the Linkages to Crop Production. FIU, Guest Lecture for Department of Earth & Environment Graduate students.
- Alemu WG. 2018. Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality Using Cool Earthlight in Croplands of Eastern Africa. FIU, Guest Lecture for Department of Earth & Environment undergraduate students.
Lecturer (2009 - 2011), Bahir Dar University, ETH
Courses developed/taught (Undergraduate and Graduate)
- GIS and Remote Sensing
- Watershed Management
Graduate Assistant - Lecturer (2004 - 2009), University of Gondar, ETH
Courses developed/taught (Undergraduate)
- GIS and Remote Sensing
- Map Reading and Interpretation
- Cartography
- Analysis of Spatial Patterns I
- Analysis of Spatial Patterns II
- Mathematics for Geographers
- Survey of Ethiopian Geography and the Horn
- General Ecology
- Terrain Analysis
Education
Ph.D. (2011 - 2017): Geospatial Science & Engineering (Remote Sensing Geography), South Dakota State University, USA
M.Sc. (2009 - 2011): Land Resources Management, Bahir Dar University, ETH
M.Sc. (2005 - 2007): Earth Sciences (Remote Sensing & GIS), Addis Ababa University, ETH
B.A. (2000 - 2004): Geography & Environmental Studies, Addis Ababa University, ETH
Diploma/Associate Degree (1994 - 1998): Geography, Bahir Dar University, ETH
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2012 - Present
North American Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE - North America)
2012 - Present
Ethiopian Geophysical Union - International (ETGU-I)
Member
2021 - Present
Awards
Research Funding, Fellowships & Scholarships
- Alemu WG (C.S.R. Neigh, Supervisor). 2020-2023. Cropland Mapping, Yield Estimation, and Forecasting for Food Security Using Satellite Microwave and High-Resolution Optical Datasets in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP). $250,000.
- Alemu WG (AM Melesse, Supervisor). 2018-2019 & 2019-2020. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Based on the Synergistic Use of Microwave, Optical and Modelled Data Suite in East African Croplands, and Linkages to Agricultural Crop Production for Food Security. Florida International University, USA. $110,000.
- Alemu WG (GM Henebry, Advisor). 2013-2016. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Using Earthlight: A Comparison between Tropical and Temperate Croplands, and Its Application for Agricultural Crop Productivity Assessment. Funded by NASA Earth & Space Sciences Fellowship Program (Grant No. NNX13AN58G), NASA, USA. $90,000.
- Woubet Gashaw Alemu (Birru Yitaferu, Advisor). 2011. Role of Soil and Water Conservation Measures to Ecosystem Services at Anjeni Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia. Funded by NCCR (National Center for Competence in Research) – North South RP-11 - Land Resource Potential, University of Bern, Switzerland. 30,000 ET birr.
- Woubet Gashaw Alemu (Dagnachew Belachew, Advisor). 2008. Flood Hazard & Risk Assessment Using GIS and Remote Sensing in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. Funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Youth Education and Training Awards for Africa (CYETA), Canada. 16,000 ET birr.
Awards
- US-IALE Student Travel Award (2014), US-IALE, USA
- US National Phenology Network 2012 conference travel award (2012), US National Phenology Network, USA
- Gold Medalist (2004) among College of Social Science Graduates, Addis Ababa University
- Aklilu Lemma Foundation (ALF) Financial Scholarship Merit winner (2002-2003 & 2003-2004), College of Social Sciences, Addis Ababa University.
- Mitsubishi term-top student award (2001), Mitsubishi, Ethiopia
- Top CGPA student (1998) among Bahir Dar University Associate Degree graduates
Publications
Refereed
2024. "EO-Validation: Low Latency Commodity-Based Collaborative Validation Framework for Geoai Data Products." IGARSS 2024 - 2024 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 51 6916-6919 [10.1109/igarss53475.2024.10641506] [Proceedings]
2024. "A Deep Learning Data Fusion Approach for Modeling Land use in Smallholder Agriculture Systems." IGARSS 2024 - 2024 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 4077-4080 [10.1109/igarss53475.2024.10641952] [Proceedings]
2023. "Large-Scale Distributed Compositing and Statistics Framework For Very-High-Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery." IGARSS 2023 - 2023 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium [10.1109/igarss52108.2023.10283222] [Proceedings]
2023. "Land Cover Mapping in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia Using Convolutional Neural Networks and Domain Adaptation Techniques." IGARSS 2023 - 2023 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium [10.1109/igarss52108.2023.10283273] [Proceedings]
2023. "Optimizing WorldView-2, -3 cloud masking using machine learning approaches." Remote Sensing of Environment 284 113332 [10.1016/j.rse.2022.113332] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Desert Locust Cropland Damage Differentiated from Drought, with Multi-Source Remote Sensing in Ethiopia." Remote Sensing 14 (7): 1723 [10.3390/rs14071723] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Land Cover and Land Use Change in the US Prairie Pothole Region Using the USDA Cropland Data Layer." Land 9 (5): 166 [10.3390/land9050166] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Evaluation of Remotely Sensed and Interpolated Environmental Datasets for Vector-Borne Disease Monitoring Using In Situ Observations over the Amhara Region, Ethiopia." Sensors 20 (5): 1316 [10.3390/s20051316] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities in the US Prairie Pothole Region Coupling AMSR Passive Microwave Data with the USDA Cropland Data Layer." Remote Sensing 11 (21): 2550 [10.3390/rs11212550] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Impacts of longterm conservation measures on ecosystem services in Northwest Ethiopia." International Soil and Water Conservation Research 8 (1): 47-55 [10.1016/j.iswcr.2019.10.002] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality Using Cool Earthlight in Croplands of Eastern Africa and the Linkages to Crop Production." Remote Sensing 9 (9): 914 [10.3390/rs9090914] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Comparing Passive Microwave with Visible-To-Near-Infrared Phenometrics in Croplands of Northern Eurasia." Remote Sensing 9 (6): 613 [10.3390/rs9060613] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Characterizing Cropland Phenology in Major Grain Production Areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan by the Synergistic Use of Passive Microwave and Visible to Near Infrared Data." Remote Sensing 8 (12): 1016 [10.3390/rs8121016] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using cool earthlight in mid-latitude croplands." Environmental Research Letters 8 (4): 045002 [10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/045002] [Journal Article/Letter]
2013. "Impacts of Soil and Water Conservation on Land Suitability to Crops: The Case of Anjeni Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia." Journal of Agricultural Science 5 (2): [10.5539/jas.v5n2p95] [Journal Article/Letter]
2011. "Flood Hazard and Risk Assessment Using GIS and Remote Sensing in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia." Nile River Basin 179-206 [10.1007/978-94-007-0689-7_9] [Article in Book]
Talks, Presentations and Posters
Invited
Mapping land cover at very high resolution in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using convolutional neural networks on WorldView imagery
September 9, 2023
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru
NASA GSFC AICE Seminar, Greenbelt, MD
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. An ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks for Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using Very High-Resolution Commercial Satellite Imageries.
3, 2022
Bahir Dar University, Geospatial Data & Technology Center, Administration Building, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh. 2022. Desert Locust and Drought Cropland Damage Assessment in Ethiopia.
3, 2022
Bahir Dar University, Geospatial Data & Technology Center, Administration Building, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. An ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks for Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using Very High-Resolution Commercial Satellite Imageries.
December 18, 2022
Bahir Dar University, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Zenzelima Campus, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Convolutional Neural Networks
July 19, 2022
The 3rd International Workshop on AGRICULTURE-VISION: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPUTER VISION IN AGRICULTURE. https://www.agriculture-vision.com/agriculture-vision-2022/program-schedule-2022
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2016. Cropland land surface phenology and seasonality in East Africa: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and South Sudan.
March 5, 2016
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. February 5, 2016. (Invited Talk)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2015. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Using Earthlight: A Comparison between Tropical and Temperate Croplands, and Its Application for Agricultural Crop Productivity Assessment.
April 13, 2015
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. March 13, 2015. (Invited Talk)
Other
Regional Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Deep Learning on WorldView Imageries
November 26, 2023
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru
ORAU 2023 Annual Site Visit Presentation, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD
Land Cover Mapping in The Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia Using Convolutional Neural Networks and Domain Adaptation Techniques
August 17, 2023
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru, C Mulu
International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 16 - 21 July 2023, Pasadena, CA, USA (Talk; https://2023.ieeeigarss.org/view_paper.php?PaperNum=4647)
Large-scale distributed compositing and statistics Framework for very-high-resolution remote sensing imagery
August 17, 2023
Spradlin C, W Margaret, JA Caraballo-Vega, ML Carroll, CSR Neigh, K Wessels, M Tri Le, P Montesano, WG Alemu, N Thomas
International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 16 - 21 July 2023, Pasadena, CA, USA (Poster; https://2023.ieeeigarss.org/view_paper.php?PaperNum=5747)
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. An ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks for Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using Very High-Resolution Commercial Satellite Imageries.
14, 2022
AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago, IL, USA, & Online Everywhere, (i-poster, https://agu2022fallmeetingagu.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=86-FE-EA-10-93-3B-71-AB-59-FC-76-95-01-BF-32-CE&guestview=true)
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Machine Learning.
April 24, 2022
NASA GSFC 618 Brown Bag Seminar: Early Career Showcase. Talk
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2021. Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Convolutional Neural Networks.
17, 2021
AGU Fall Meeting. 13-17 December 2021, New Orleans, LA & Online Everywhere. (Talk, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/941933)
Alemu WG, CSR Neigh. 2021. Desert Locust and Drought Cropland Damage Assessment in Ethiopia.
August 28, 2021
The Ninth International Conference on Agro-Geoinformatics, 26-29 July 2021/ Virtual Conference (Talk, http://agro-geoinformatics.org/).
Alemu WG, AM Melesse, GB Senay. 2020. Assessment of Drought Dynamics in East Africa using Satellite Passive Microwave Integrated Drought Indices.
June 12, 2020
IALE-NA Annual Symposium. May 11 –24, 2020, Virtual Conference. (i-poster; https://2020toronto-ialena.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=EB-0F-4A-DE-43-93-91-7E-B2-1B-31-78-93-FC-AE-7D.
Alemu WG, AM Melesse, GB Senay. 2019. Drought Monitoring in East Africa using Integrated Satellite Passive Microwave Drought Indices (2003-2018).
12, 2019
AGU Fall Meeting. 9-13 December 2019, San Francisco. (Poster, https://agu-do03.confex.com/agu/fm19/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/510724)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities of Croplands in the Prairie Pothole Region Using Passive Microwave Data (2003-2016).
2017
AGU Fall Meeting. 11-15 December 2017, New Orleans. (Poster, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/256856)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities of Croplands and Grasslands in the Prairie Pothole Region Using Cropland Data Layer & Passive Microwave Data (2003-2016).
December 2017
Pecora20, Observing a Changing Earth, Sioux Falls, SD. November 13 – 16, 2017. (Poster)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017. Exploring Land Surface Dynamics in Eastern South Dakota using Cropland Data Layer and Passive Microwave Data.
December 8, 2016
Eastern South Dakota Water Conference, Brookings, SD. November 8, 2017. (Poster)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2015. Cropland land surface phenology and seasonality in East Africa: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and South Sudan.
2015
AGU Fall Meeting. 14-18 December 2015, San Francisco. (Poster, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/65127)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2014. Synergistic Use of Passive Microwave and Visible to Near Infrared Data Improves Monitoring of Cropland Dynamics in Major Grain Production Areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
2014
AGU Fall Meeting. 15-19 December 2014, San Francisco. (Poster, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm14/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/8890, http://neespi.org/web-content/meetings/AGU_2014/Alemu-poster.pdf)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2014. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Using Cool Earthlight in the Major Grain Production Areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. US-IALE Annual Symposium.
June 2014
May 18 –22, 2014, Anchorage, Alaska. (Talk, http://usiale.org/anchorage2014/presentation-details/4952)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2013. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using cool earthlight in the major grain production areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
2013
AGU Fall Meeting. 9-13 December 2013, San Francisco. (Poster, http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2013/FM/GC21D-0867.html; http://neespi.org/web-content/meetings/AGU_2013/Alemu-poster.pdf)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2013. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using earth-light: A comparison between tropical and temperate croplands.
May 2013
US-IALE Annual Symposium. April 14 –18, 2013, Austin, Texas. (Poster, http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2013/FM/GC21D-0867.html)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2012. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using earthlight: a comparison between tropical and temperate croplands.
2012
AGU Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA, 3-7 December, San Francisco. (Poster, http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2012/FM/B11C-0433.html)
Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2012. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using earthlight: Application to the Amhara Highlands, Ethiopia.
October 2012
Phenology 2012. Milwaukee, WI, 10-12 September. (Talk, http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/conferences/phenology2012/abstract_book.pdf)
Woubet G, Dagnachew L. 2011. Flood hazard and risk assessment in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia, using GIS and remote sensing. Workshop on Hydrology and Ecology of the Nile River Basin under Extreme Conditions.
July 2011
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 16-19 June. (Talk, http://www2.fiu.edu/~melessea/Nile%20Workshop%20Proceedings_%20June%2016-19,%202008.pdf)