Marco Peña (M.Sc.)

My research interests and expertise are centered on applying different passive remote sensing techniques to mapping and modeling land surface and environmental processes. My technical and theoretical background embraces the spectral analysis of thermal and optical images (acquired from airborne or space platforms) to assist a wide range of issues including urban land planning, precision agriculture, forest monitoring and management, and mountain permafrost mapping. Currently, I work in the Department of Geography, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile, as research associate and instructor. As a Ph.D. student in the field of GIScience in Jena I study novel approaches to analyze high-dimensional remote sensing data, mainly to understand quantitative parameters of native and agricultural vegetation.

Contact: mapena@uahurtado.cl

Postal address

Institut für Geographie
Lehrstuhl für Geoinformatik
Löbdergraben 32
07737 Jena

Key research areas

Use of satellite time image series to classify land features.
Use of MODIS products to modeling atmospheric pollutants.
Application of hyperspectral data for quantitative and qualitative vegetation characterization.

Selected Publications

Peña, M.A., Cruz, P. & Roig, M. (2013). The effect of spectral and spatial degradation of hyperspectral imagery for the classification of Sclerophyll tree species. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 34(20): 7113-7130.
Peña, M.A., Brenning, A. & Sagredo, A. (2012). Constructing satellite-derived hyperspectral indices sensitive to canopy structure variables of a Cordilleran Cypress (Austrocedrus chilensis) forest. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing. 74: 1-10.
Brenning, A., Peña, M.A., Shilei, I. & Soliman, A.S. (2012). Thermal remote sensing of ice-debris landforms using ASTER: an example from the Chilean Andes. The Cryosphere. 6(2): 367-382.
Poulain, M., Peña, M., Schmidt, A., Schmidt, H. & Schulte, A. (2012). Aboveground biomass estimation in intervened and non-intervened Nothofagus pumilio forests by using remotely sensed data. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 33(12): 3816-3833.
Poulain, M., Peña, M., Schmidt, A., Schmidt, H. & Schulte, A. (2010). Relationships between forest variables and remote sensing data in a Nothofagus pumilio forest. Geocarto International. 25(1): 25-43.
Peña, M.A. (2009). Examination of the land surface temperature response for Santiago, Chile. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing. 75(10): 1191-1200.
Peña, M.A. & Altmann, S.H. (2009). Use of satellite-derived hyperspectral indices to identify stress symptoms in an Austrocedrus chilensis forest infested by the aphid Cinara cupressi. International Journal of Pest Management. 55(3): 197-206.
Peña, M.A. (2008). Relationships between remotely sensed surface parameters associated with the urban heat sink formation in Santiago, Chile. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 29(15): 4385-4404.