John Jensen, Ph.D.

John R. Jensen is a Carolina Distinguished Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina. In 1968, he took a 'photo interpretation' course and discovered his life's work. He majored in physical geography and specialized in analytical cartography and remote sensing at California State University-Fullerton (BA, 1971), Brigham Young University (MA, 1972), and University of California-Los Angeles (Ph.D., 1976). While attending UCLA (1972 to 1974), he worked full-time for Aero Service Corporation where he was trained on Wild stereoplotters. In 1974, his mentor at UCLA, Dr. Norman J.W. Thrower, graciously allowed John to go 'ABD' to University of California-Santa Barbara to work with Dr. John Estes and Dr. David Simonett in remote sensing. At UC-Santa Barbara he learned advanced principles of remote sensing, how to conduct field work, and the significance and practicality of geographic information systems (GIS).

In 1977, he accepted a professorship at the University of Georgia. In 1981, he went to the University of South Carolina as an Associate Professor and helped to develop a new Ph.D. program in 'Geographic Information Processing' which specialized in remote sensing, cartography, and GIS. The program is now one of the most respected in the nation. He became a distinguished USC 'Carolina Research Professor' in 1986. He has mentored 34 Masters' students and 14 Ph.D.'s in remote sensing. All his graduates currently work in remote sensing and represent his most important contribution to the discipline of Geography.

• remote sensing of vegetation biophysical resources, especially inland and coastal wetlands;
• remote sensing of urban/suburban land use/cover;
• the development of improved digital image processing for classification, change detection, and error evaluation;
• assessing the 'state of the art' for geographers; and
• the development of educational materials for remote sensing instruction.

Dr. Jensen has conducted approximately $4 million in remote sensing contract and grant research, including extensive practical remote sensing with the Department of Energy Savannah River Site, NASA EOCAP 1 and 2 commercial applications of space technology, and NOAA CoastWatch. He pioneered the use of remote sensing and GIS for oil spill 'environmental sensitivity index' mapping which is now being applied to much of the earth's vulnerable shoreline. He has published 70 refereed journal articles and presented approximately 130 papers at professional meetings.

The second edition of his textbook "Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Sensing Perspective" has been published by Prentice Hall in 1996. It is one of the most comprehensive books on digital image processing and is used extensively throughout the world. If you are looking for a remote sensing text that takes you from 'ground-zero' to a final product, this is the book for you.

Some of his many honors include:

1. past Director of the Remote Sensing Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers;
2. Meritorious Service Award from the Remote Sensing Specialty Group (1989);
3. past President of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (1995);
4. ASPRS President's Award for practical papers (1980);
5. ASPRS Ford Bartlett Award (1984);
6. ASPRS Alan Gordon Memorial Award for significant achievements in remote sensing and photographic interpretation (1990);
7. Certified Photogrammetrist #852 (1991);
8. contributing author to the Manual of Remote Sensing (1st and 2nd editions) and Manual of Photographic Interpretation (2nd edition, 1997);
9. chairman of the Commission on Education in Remote Sensing and GIS for the International Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (1989-92);
10. Academic Advisory Council of SPOT IMAGE (1990-present);
11. delivered U.S. Senate testimony on the 'Landsat Policy Act of 1992' (May 6, 1992); and
12. associate editor for The American Cartographer (82-86), Professional Geographer (86-87), Annals of the Association of American Geographers (88-91), and Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing (1988-present).

John and his wife Marsha, live in Columbia, SC and have three children. His oldest daughter is married and lives in Utah. His son is on a mission for the LDS church in Manaus, Brazil. When not working, John enjoys watching his youngest daughter's cross-country races and working in his backyard on Lake Murray.