CV
Academic curriculum vitae with research experience, publications, and activities.
General Information
| Full Name | Victor Hugo Rohden Prudente |
| Position | Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Michigan – School for Environment and Sustainability |
| Address | 4024 Dana Building, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 |
| victorrp@umich.edu | victor.rprudente@gmail.com | |
| Languages | Portuguese (Native), Spanish (Proficient), English (Proficient) |
| Links | ORCID | Google Scholar | ResearchGate | LinkedIn | Lattes | Personal webpage |
Research Focus
- My research centers on leveraging multi-sensor satellite data for Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) monitoring, with a specific focus on applying diverse data sources—such as optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery—for detailed crop mapping and monitoring.
- Currently, as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, I am developing remote sensing products designed to accurately estimate crop sowing times, areas, and dynamics within smallholder farming systems. This research aims to provide critical insights into farmer management practices and their impacts, offering pathways to enhance agricultural resilience and sustainability.
Research Metrics
| Publications | 30+ peer-reviewed articles (as of April/2026) |
| H-index | 9 | Citations: 381 (Google Scholar) |
| Grant funding | >$70,000 secured as PI/Awardee/Co-I; >$440,000 managed as Project Technical Lead |
| Students supervised | 2 PhD (1 completed, 1 current), 7 Master's (1 completed, 6 current) |
Education
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2017–2021 Ph.D. in Remote Sensing
National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil - Thesis: Multi-sensor Optical-SAR Approach to Land Use and Land Cover Characterization in Roraima
- Advisors: Dr. Ieda Del'Arco Sanches and Dr. Marcos Adami
- Internship: University of Maryland (UMD), USA (Oct 2019–Sep 2020). Foreign Advisor: Dr. Sergii Skakun
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2015–2017 M.S. in Agricultural Engineering
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), Brazil - Dissertation: Use of terrestrial remote sensing to characterize the spectro-temporal dynamics of soybean and beans
- Advisors: Dr. Erivelto Mercante and Dr. Jerry Adriani Johann
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2010–2014 B.S. in Agricultural Engineering (with honors)
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), Brazil
Career & Employment
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Oct 2022–Present Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability - PI: Dr. Meha Jain
- Developing remote sensing products to estimate crop sowing times and dynamics within smallholder farming systems.
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Apr 2021–Sep 2022 Data Scientist
Newe Seguros - Worked with remote sensing data (optical and microwave) and Google Earth Engine to create products supporting crop insurance decisions.
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Nov 2020–Mar 2021 Researcher
Santos Lab - Worked with remote sensing data (optical and microwave) to create new products for agriculture monitoring.
Honors & Awards
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2014 - 27th Paraná State Science and Technology Awards – Best Undergraduate Student (Department of Science, Technology and Higher Education – SETI)
- Second Place for Best Student – Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate (Western Paraná State University)
Complementary Education
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2018 TAT-6: Integration of Radar and Optical Remote Sensing in Studying LCLUC
European Space Agency, ESA-ESRIN, Croatia - 88 hours
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2017 Introduction to Radar Remote Sensing
European Space Agency (ESA), Online - 15 hours
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2016 Application of Satellite Remote Sensing to Support Water Resources Management
Applied Remote Sensing Training – NASA (ARSET), Brazil - 56 hours
Technical & GeoAI Skills
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Platforms
- Google Cloud Computing
- Google Earth Engine (GEE)
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Programming Languages
- Python
- R
- JavaScript
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Machine Learning & AI
- Deep learning
- Supervised/unsupervised classification
- Time series analysis
- Ensemble methods (Random Forest, XGBoost)
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Remote Sensing Physics
- Multi-sensor fusion (SAR-Optical)
- Phenology metrics
- SAR Polarimetry
Grants & Funding
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2026–2027 Google Cloud Research Credits Program
Google Cloud ($5,000) - Automating agricultural ground-truth data generation in Mexico through the fusion of Google Street View, satellite time-series, and Generative AI.
- Role: Awardee
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2025–2027 SinergIA: Remote Sensing and AI for Mapping Energy Crops in the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region
CNPq (BRL 249,937.95) - PI: A. T. Sales
- Role: International Technical Lead & Collaborator
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2021–2024 Land-Cover and Land-Use Change (LCLUC) Program
NASA ($448,693) - PI: M. Jain. Collaborators: V. Krishna, A. Lerner.
- Role: Project Technical Lead (Postdoctoral Fellow)
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2019–2020 CAPES-Print – SENSING: Satellites for Environmental Solutions Informing Nations Globally
CAPES-Print ($23,662.00) - Brazilian advisors: I. Sanches, M. Adami (INPE). Foreign Advisor: S. Skakun (UMD/USA)
- Role: PhD Awardee
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2018–2021 Research Grant – CNPq Bench Fee
CNPq (BRL 10,638.00) - Role: PhD Candidate
Grant Writing Experience
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2025 NASA CSDA – Agricultural residue burning mapping in smallholder systems
PI: M. Jain. Collaborators: M. Deshpande, V. Prudente -
2024 NASA LCLUC – Dynamic Agricultural LCLUC and Improved Hydrology into Climate Models
PI: M. Jain. Collaborators: S. McDermid, Y. Pokhrel, N. Bhattarai, A. Srivastava, A. Urfels, V. Prudente
(Co-)Supervised Theses & Mentorship
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PhD Students
- Heithor Alexandre de Araujo Queiroz (INPE, Brazil) – Co-advisor (2024–Present). Thesis: Advancing fruit crop mapping using remote sensing.
- Andre Dalla Bernardina Garcia (INPE, Brazil) – Co-advisor (2023–2025). Thesis: Mapping of irrigated rice in Santa Catarina based on optical and radar images of the sentinel constellation.
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Master's Students
- Kunxi Li (SEAS, University of Michigan) – 2024–2025 (completed)
- Shaoying Zheng (SEAS, University of Michigan) – 2023–present
- Zhiqing Huang (SEAS, University of Michigan) – 2025–present
- Hantao Wang (SEAS, University of Michigan) – 2025–present
- Jiangpan Bian (SEAS, University of Michigan) – 2025–present
- Simon Wu (SEAS, University of Michigan) – 2025–present
- Estela Carneiro Moraes (PPGEA, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco) – 2025–present
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Undergraduate Students
- Elvis Roberto Picinato Junior (UNIOESTE, Brazil) – 2017
- Fayllon Ricardo Furquim Garcia Rodrigues (UNIOESTE, Brazil) – 2017
Academic & Professional Teaching
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2025–Present Graduate Faculty Member / Lecturer
AmbGeo – Postgraduate Program in Remote Sensing and Geoprocessing - Module: Remote Sensing Applications in Agronomy
- Focus: Theory and practical application of satellite data for agricultural monitoring
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2022–Present Lead Instructor – Applied Radar Remote Sensing (SAR)
ClickGeo – Professional Training Program - Focus: Decoding SAR data, from theory to practical multidisciplinary analysis
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2024 Guest Lecturer – Radars (SAR) and Integration with Agricultural Targets
University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP) -
2023–Present Guest Lecturer – Geoprocessing II
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE) -
2018–Present Guest Lecturer – Agricultural Remote Sensing
National Institute for Space Research (INPE) - Focus: SAR and Optical multisensor for agricultural monitoring
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2018–2019 Instructor – Agriculture Remote Sensing Module
INPE – XX Course on Remote Sensing for Environmental Education -
2011–2012, 2019 Teaching Assistant
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE) - Courses: Geoprocessing, Topography, and Global Positioning System
List of Talks & Presentations
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2025 "Overcoming data scarcity to map corn in smallholder farms"
Faculty Seminar Series – Postdoc Lightning Talks, SEAS / University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI - Invited lecture
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2024 "Adapting Maize Systems to Climate Change in Mexico"
NASA LCLUC Science Team Meeting, Gaithersburg, MD - Poster presentation
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2023 "Using Sentinel-2 satellite data and GEE to identify field-level sow dates in smallholder systems"
American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA - Oral presentation
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2023 "Remote-sensing for crop type mapping: advances and applications for modeling pest populations"
Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting, Portland, OR - Oral presentation
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2023 "Sub-national cropland validation"
CEOS/GEOGLAM Joint Workshop on Community Good Practices, Beltsville, MD - Invited lecture
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2020 "SAR data for Land Use Land Cover classification in a tropical region with frequent cloud cover"
IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Waikoloa, HI (Virtual) - Oral presentation
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2019 "SAR Polarimetric and Interferometric data for Crop Classification"
International Workshop on Earth Observations for Agricultural Monitoring, New Delhi, India - Invited lecture
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2019 "Use of SAR data to classify first and second harvest agricultural species"
XIX Brazilian Symposium on Remote Sensing (SBSR), Santos, Brazil - Oral presentation
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2015 "Erosive susceptibility analysis in the Lontras river microbasin using multi-criteria analysis"
XLIV Brazilian Congress of Agricultural Engineering (CONBEA), São Pedro, Brazil - Oral presentation
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2013 "Use of GIS for characterization of soybean cultivated areas in Western Paraná"
XVI Brazilian Symposium on Remote Sensing (SBSR), Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil - Poster presentation
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2012 "Mapping the expansion of central pivot irrigation in Unaí-MG using geoprocessing techniques"
X Latin American and Caribbean Congress of Agricultural Engineering (CLIA), Londrina, Brazil - Oral presentation
Committee Member
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2025 Pedro Brito – Ph.D. Applied Computing (Proposal Examination)
National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil - Thesis: Fusion of multisensor data cubes to map fruit farming areas in the São Francisco valley
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2025 Pedro Brito – Ph.D. Applied Computing (Qualifying Examination)
National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil - Thesis: Recent applications of SAR and LiDAR data for land use and land cover classification
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2025 Andre Dalla Bernardina Garcia – Ph.D. Remote Sensing
National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil - Thesis: Utilizing Artificial Intelligence and SAR-Optical Data to Mapping Irrigated Rice Cultivation in Santa Catarina, Brazil
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2024 Isabella Alves da Cunha – Master in Agricultural Engineering
University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil - Thesis: Using SAR Images to Predict Soybean Yield
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2024 Samuel Kuhl – Master in Agricultural Engineering
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), Brazil - Thesis: Variable Selection for Deforestation Classification Optimization on the Google Earth Engine Platform
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2023 Isabella Alves da Cunha – Master in Agricultural Engineering (Qualifying Examination)
University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil - Thesis: Using SAR Images to Predict Soybean Yield
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2023 Alex Paludo – Ph.D. Agricultural Engineering
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), Brazil - Thesis: Geospatial analysis of the storage capacity units in relation to agricultural production
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2023 Newmar Wegner – Ph.D. Agricultural Engineering
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), Brazil - Thesis: Use of geographical data and forecast automated with Neural Networks in agriculture
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2022 Henrique dos Santos Felipetto – Ph.D. Agricultural Engineering
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), Brazil - Thesis: Multispectral Images from a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in wheat yield estimation
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2022 Carlos Eduardo Vizzotto Cattani – Ph.D. Agricultural Engineering
Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), Brazil - Thesis: Gross primary productivity in areas with different types of land use and coverage
Peer Reviewer
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Journal Reviewer
- Remote Sensing of Environment
- ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
- International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
- Remote Sensing Applications – Society and Environment
- IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
- International Journal of Remote Sensing
- International Journal of Digital Earth
- Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
- Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
- Geocarto International
- Remote Sensing (MDPI)
- Sensors (MDPI)
- AIMS Agriculture and Food
- Brazilian Journal of Cartography
- Rural Science
- Heliyon
- Online Geoenvironmental
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Grant Reviewer
- NASA
Certifications
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2022 Basic Principles of Radar Backscatter
EO-College (Online) -
2018 TAT-6: Integration of Radar and Optical Remote Sensing in Studying LCLUC
European Space Agency, ESA-ESRIN, Croatia -
2017 Echoes in Space – Introduction to Radar Remote Sensing
EO-College (Online) -
2016 Application of Satellite Remote Sensing to Support Water Resources Management
ARSET-NASA, Brazil
Memberships
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Sigma-Xi Society
- NASA Land-Cover and Land-Use Change (LCLUC) Program
- Global Land Programme (GLP)
International Collaborations
- University of Michigan (USA)
- University of Maryland (USA)
- Mississippi State University (USA)
- National Institute for Space Research – INPE (Brazil)
- Western Paraná State University – UNIOESTE (Brazil)
- Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (Brazil)
- São Paulo State University (Brazil)
- University of Lisbon (Portugal)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – CSIRO (Australia)
- CIMMYT (Mexico and India)
Academic History – Courses
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Ph.D. in Remote Sensing (INPE)
- Physical Principles of Remote Sensing
- Introduction to Remote Sensors
- Introduction to Geoprocessing
- Imaging Radar – Principles and Applications
- Targets Spectral Behavior
- Agricultural Remote Sensing
- Digital Image Processing of Remote Sensing
- Advanced Topics in Image Processing
- Spatial Analysis
- Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
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M.S. in Agricultural Engineering (UNIOESTE)
- Experimental Statistics
- Geoprocessing I: Remote Sensing and Global Positioning System
- Scientific Research Methodology
- Geoprocessing II: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
- Multivariate Analysis
Referees
| Meha Jain, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, University of Michigan (UofM) — mehajain@umich.edu |
| Sergii Skakun, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, University of Maryland (UMD) — skakun@umd.edu |
| Marcos Adami, Ph.D. | Research Scientist, National Institute for Space Research (INPE) — marcos.adami@inpe.br |
| Erivelto Mercante, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE) — erivelto.mercante@unioeste.br |