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Professor Peng ZHU 朱鵬 助理教授

Assistant Professor

Room 10.05

391 72830

zhupeng@hku.hk

ZHU Peng.png

Professor Zhu received the B.Eng. degree in remote sensing from Wuhan University and the M.S. degree in geographic information science from Chinese Academy of Science, respectively, and earned the Ph.D. degree in earth and atmosphere science from Purdue University. Prior to joining HKU, he was working in University of California, San Diego, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement and Sun Yat-sen University. His research interests are agroecosystem modeling, climate change impacts and adaptation, remote sensing, food-water-carbon nexus. Through integrating field observations, remote sensing, data-driven and process models, he aims to help stakeholders to better tackle climate risks, design effective climate adaptation strategies and finally achieve agricultural sustainability.

Research Interests

  • Agroecosystem modeling

  • Climate change impacts and adaptation

  • Environmental remote sensing

  • Food-water-carbon nexus

Courses

GEOG1022

Global change and sustainable development

6

credits

Annual; 2nd Semester

Selected Publications

2025

  • Yan, K., Gao, S., Yan, G., Ma, X., Chen, X., Zhu, P.,…Wang, Q. (2025). A global systematic review of the remote sensing vegetation indices. International journal of applied earth observation and geoinformation, 139, 104560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2025.104560

  • Cai, Y., Li, X., Zhu, P., Nie, S., Wang, C., Liu, X., & Yu-he, C. (2025). China Earth Observation Data Cube: The 30m Seamless Annual Leaf-On Landsat Composites from 1985 to 2023. Journal of remote sensing, 5. https://doi.org/10.34133/remotesensing.0698

  • You, N., Till, J., Lobell, D. B., Zhu, P., West, P. C., Kong, H.,…Jin, Z. (2025). Climate-driven global cropland changes and consequent feedbacks. Nature geoscience, 18(7), 639-645. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01724-1

  • Wang, F., Xue, M., Zhou, L., Doughty, C. E., Ciais, P., Reich, P. B.,…Chen, X. (2025). Contrasting age-dependent leaf acclimation strategies drive vegetation greening across deciduous broadleaf forests in mid- to high latitudes. Nature plants, 11(9), 1748-1758. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02096-5

  • Liu, R., Liang, J., Yang, J., He, J., & Zhu, P. (2025). Dual Classification Head Self-training Network for Cross-scene Hyperspectral Image Classification. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2502.17879

  • Cao, Y., Kong, L., Xu, Z., Ding, Z., Wang, L., Liu, Y.,…Ouyang, Z. (2025). Exploring coordinated pathways for sustainable ecosystem and socioeconomic development: A case study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Sustainable futures, 9, 100691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.100691

  • Guan, H., Zhu, P., Huang, J., Jin, Z., Ma, Y., Li, X.,…Wu, B. (2025). Extreme surface solar ultraviolet radiation events reduce maize yields in China. Communications earth & environment, 6(1), 449-412. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02432-9

  • Su, Y., Lauerwald, R., Makowski, D., Viovy, N., Guilpart, N., Zhu, P.,…Ciais, P. (2025). Future warming increases the chance of success of maize-wheat double cropping in Europe. European journal of agronomy, 170, 127723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2025.127723

  • Liang, J., Yang, J., Liu, R., Liu, Q., & Zhu, P. (2025). Spectral Structure-Aware Initialization and Probability-Consistent Self-Training for Cross-Scene Hyperspectral Image Classification. IEEE geoscience and remote sensing letters, 22, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2025.3575600

  • Xiao, G., Huang, J., Zhuo, W., Huang, H., Song, J., Du, K.,…Jin, Z. (2025). Progress and Perspectives of Crop Yield Forecasting With Remote Sensing: A review. IEEE geoscience and remote sensing magazine, 13(3), 338-368. https://doi.org/10.1109/MGRS.2025.3571906

  • Yu, X., Xiao, R., Zhang, Z., Zhou, F., Mo, F., Xu, Z.,…Wu, J. (2025). Rising disparities in grain self-sufficiency across China: Provincial divergence amidst overall national improvement. Environmental impact assessment review, 114, 107942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2025.107942

2024

  • Yun, H., Ciais, P., Zhu, Q., Chen, D., Zohner, C. M., Tang, J., . . . Elberling, B. (2024). Changes in above- versus belowground biomass distribution in permafrost regions in response to climate warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121(25): e2314036121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2314036121

  • Wang, C., He, T., Song, D.-X., Zhang, L., Zhu, P. and Man, Y. (2024). Comparison of change-based and shape-based data fusion methods in fine-resolution land surface phenology monitoring with Landsat and Sentinel-2 data. Science of The Total Environment 927: 172014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172014

  • He, L., Bhattarai, N., Pokhrel, Y., Jia, N., Zhu, P., Ye, G., . . . Li, Z. B. (2024). Dynamics of land cover changes and carbon emissions driven by large dams in China. iScience 27(4): 109516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.109516

  • Cai, Y., Zhu, P., Liu, X. and Zhou, Y. (2024). Forest fragmentation trends and modes in China: Implications for conservation and restoration. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 133: 104094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.104094

  • Fu, Z., Ciais, P., Wigneron, J.-P., Gentine, P., Feldman, A. F., Makowski, D., . . . Smith, W. K. (2024). Global critical soil moisture thresholds of plant water stress. Nature Communications 15(1): 4826. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49244-7

  • Liu, X., Zhu, P., Liu, S., Yu, L., Wang, Y., Du, Z., . . . Gong, P. (2024). Global cropland expansion enhances cropping potential and reduces its inequality among countries. Earth Syst. Dynam. 15(3): 817-828. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-817-2024

  • Liu, X., Zhu, P., Liu, S., Yu, L., Wang, Y., Du, Z., . . . Gong, P. (2024). Global cropland expansion enhances cropping potential and reduces its inequality among countries. Earth System Dynamics 15(3): 817-828. https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-817-2024

  • Mai, R., Xin, Q., Qiu, J., Wang, Q. and Zhu, P. (2024). High Spatial Resolution Soil Moisture Improves Crop Yield Estimation. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing 17: 19067-19077. https://doi.org/10.1109/jstars.2024.3417424

  • Mai, R., Xin, Q., Qiu, J., Wang, Q. and Zhu, P. (2024). High spatial resolution soil moisture improves crop yield estimation in the midwestern United States. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2024.3417424

  • Wang, S., Chen, H., Zhu, P. and Aghakouchak, A. (2024). Increasing Sensitivity of Winter Wheat Yield to Snow Drought, Springer Science and Business Media LLC.  https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4937390/v1

  • Zhang, X., Yan, K., Liu, J., Yang, K., Pu, J., Yan, G., . . . Myneni, R. B. (2024). An Insight Into the Internal Consistency of MODIS Global Leaf Area Index Products. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 62: 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1109/tgrs.2024.3434366

  • Che, Y., Li, X., Liu, X., Xu, X., Huang, K., Zhu, P., . . . Li, X. (2024). Mapping of individual building heights reveals the large gap of urban-rural living spaces in the contiguous US. The Innovation Geoscience 2(2): 100069. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100069

  • Fang, G., Sun, X., Zheng, H., Zhu, P., Wu, W., Yang, P. and Tang, H. (2024). Optimizing the ecosystem service flow of grain provision across metacoupling systems will improve transmission efficiency. Applied Geography 172: 103420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2024.103420

  • Xiong, Z., Zhang, Z., Gui, H., Zhu, P., Sun, Y., Zhou, X., . . . Xin, Q. (2024). Predicting time series of vegetation leaf area index across North America based on climate variables for land surface modeling using attention-enhanced LSTM. International Journal of Digital Earth 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947.2024.2372317

  • Zhong, R., Yan, K., Gao, S., Yang, K., Zhao, S., Ma, X., . . . Yin, G. (2024). Response of grassland growing season length to extreme climatic events on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Science of The Total Environment 909: 168488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168488

  • Peng, R., Yan, K., Liu, J., Gao, S., Pu, J., Maeda, E. E., . . . Myneni, R. B. (2024). Revisiting the consistency of MODIS LAI products from a new perspective of spatiotemporal variability. International Journal of Digital Earth 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947.2024.2407045

  • Liu, Z., Guo, C., Yu, Q., Zhu, P., Peng, X., Dong, M., . . . Lu, X. (2024). A SIF-based approach for quantifying canopy photosynthesis by simulating the fraction of open PSII reaction centers (qL). Remote Sensing of Environment 305: 114111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114111

  • Cai, Y., Xu, X., Zhu, P., Nie, S., Wang, C., Xiong, Y. and Liu, X. (2024). Unveiling spatiotemporal tree cover patterns in China: The first 30 m annual tree cover mapping from 1985 to 2023. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 216: 240-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2024.08.001

  • Peng, Y., Qiu, B., Tang, Z., Xu, W., Yang, P., Wu, W., . . . Li, Z. (2024). Where is tea grown in the world: A robust mapping framework for agroforestry crop with knowledge graph and sentinels images. Remote Sensing of Environment 303: 114016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114016

2023

  • Zeng, Y., Hao, D., Park, T., Zhu, P., Huete, A., Myneni, R., ... & Chen, M. 2023. Structural complexity biases vegetation greenness measures. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-9.

  • Pan, Y., Peng, D., Chen, J. M., Myneni, R. B., Zhang, X., Huete, A. R., Wu, C. 2023. Climate-driven land surface phenology advance is overestimated due to ignoring land cover changes. Environmental Research Letters, 18(4), 044045.

  • Abramoff, R. Z., Ciais, P., Zhu, P., Hasegawa, T., Wakatsuki, H., & Makowski, D. 2023. Adaptation strategies strongly reduce the future impacts of climate change on simulated crop yields. Earth's Future, 11(4), e2022EF003190.

2022

  • Zhu, P., Burney, J., Chang, J., Jin, Z., Mueller, N.D., Xin, Q., Xu, J., Yu, L., Makowski, D. and Ciais, P., 2022. Warming reduces global agricultural production by decreasing cropping frequency and yields. Nature Climate Change, pp.1-8.

  • Zhu, P., Kim, T., Jin, Z., Lin, C., Wang, X., Ciais, P., Mueller, N.D., Aghakouchak, A., Huang, J., Mulla, D. and Makowski, D., 2022. The critical benefits of snowpack insulation and snowmelt for winter wheat productivity. Nature Climate Change, 12(5), pp.485-490.

  • Zhu, P. and Burney, J., 2022. Untangling irrigation effects on maize water and heat stress alleviation using satellite data. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26(3), pp.827-840.

  • Yang, Y., Liu, L., Zhou, W., Guan, K., Tang, J., Kim, T., Grant, R.F., Peng, B., Zhu, P., Li, Z. and Griffis, T.J., 2022. Distinct driving mechanisms of non-growing season N2O emissions call for spatial-specific mitigation strategies in the US Midwest. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 324, p.109108.

  • Hao, D., Zeng, Y., Zhang, Z., Zhang, Y., Qiu, H., Biriukova, K., Celesti, M., Rossini, M., Zhu, P., Asrar, G.R. and Chen, M., 2022. Adjusting solar-induced fluorescence to nadir-viewing provides a better proxy for GPP. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 186, pp.157-169.

2021

  • Zhu, P., Abramoff, R., Makowski, D. and Ciais, P., 2021. Uncovering the past and future climate drivers of wheat yield shocks in Europe with machine learning. Earth's Future, 9(5), p.e2020EF001815.

  • Zhu, P. and Burney, J., 2021. Temperature‐driven harvest decisions amplify US winter wheat loss under climate warming. Global Change Biology, 27(3), pp.550-562.

2019

  • Zhu, P., Zhuang, Q., Archontoulis, S.V., Bernacchi, C. and Müller, C., 2019. Dissecting the nonlinear response of maize yield to high temperature stress with model‐data integration. Global Change Biology, 2019, 25(7): 2470-2484.

  • Zhu, P., Zhuang, Q., Welp, L., Ciais, P., Heimann, M., Peng, B., Li, W., Bernacchi, C., Roedenbeck, C. and Keenan, T.F., 2019. Recent warming has resulted in smaller gains in net carbon uptake in northern high latitudes. Journal of Climate, 32(18), pp.5849-5863.

  • Xu, X., Hu, H., Tan, Y., Yang, G., Zhu, P. and Jiang, B., 2019. Quantifying the impacts of climate variability and human interventions on crop production and food security in the Yangtze River Basin, China, 1990–2015. Science of the Total Environment, 665, pp.379-389.

2018

  • Zhu, P., Jin, Z., Zhuang, Q., Ciais, P., Bernacchi, C., Wang, X., Makowski, D. and Lobell, D., 2018. The important but weakening maize yield benefit of grain filling prolongation in the US Midwest. Global Change Biology, 24(10), pp.4718-4730.

2017

  • Zhu, P., Zhuang, Q., Eva, J. and Bernacchi, C., 2017. Importance of biophysical effects on climate warming mitigation potential of biofuel crops over the conterminous United States. Gcb Bioenergy, 9(3), pp.577-590.

  • Zhu, P., Zhuang, Q., Ciais, P., Welp, L., Li, W. and Xin, Q., 2017. Elevated atmospheric CO2 negatively impacts photosynthesis through radiative forcing and physiology‐mediated climate feedback. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(4), pp.1956-1963.

2015

  • Xin, Q., Broich, M., Zhu, P. and Gong, P., 2015. Modeling grassland spring onset across the Western United States using climate variables and MODIS-derived phenology metrics. Remote Sensing of Environment, 161, pp.63-77.

2014

  • Zhu, P. and Gong, P., 2014. Suitability mapping of global wetland areas and validation with remotely sensed data. Science China Earth Sciences, 57(10), pp.2283-2292.

  • Yu, L., Liang, L., Wang, J., Zhao, Y., Cheng, Q., Hu, L., Liu, S., Yu, L., Wang, X., Zhu, P. and Li, X., 2014. Meta-discoveries from a synthesis of satellite-based land-cover mapping research. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 35(13), pp.4573-4588.

2013

  • Gong, P., et al (including Peng Zhu)., 2013. Finer resolution observation and monitoring of global land cover: First mapping results with Landsat TM and ETM+ data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 34(7), pp.2607-2654.

Journal Reviews

Nature Food, Nature Communications, Global Change Biology, Global Food Security, Global Change Biology Bioenergy, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Climate Risk Management, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of geophysical research, Agronomy Journal, Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, International Journal of Remote Sensing

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