Ronald Eastman

Professor Eastman received his Ph.D. from Boston University in 1982. He joined the department in 1981. His interests include cartography, geographic information systems and remote sensing. He is director of Clark Labs for Cartographic Technology and Geographic Analysis, one of four centers within the George Perkins Marsh Institute, and is involved in a variety of research activities with significant participation from students within the IDCE and Geography departments. Eastman is the author of IDRISI, one of the world's most widely distributed raster GIS and image processing software packages. He is currently teaching intermittently while he is focusing on research

Development of the IDRISI system is ongoing and provides many opportunities for students to become involved in algorithm development, programming and technical support. He has extensive experience in GIS implementation in Africa, South America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Dr. Eastman is also a Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

Selected Published Articles, Chapters, Monographs and Published Software

Eastman, J.R., Van Fossen, M. E. and Solarzano, L.A., (2005) "Transition Potential Modeling for Land Cover Change", in GIS, Spatial Analysis and Modeling, D. Maguire, M. Goodchild and M. Batty, eds., (Redlands, California : ESRI Press) [in press].

Eastman, J.R., Toledano, J., Crema, S., Zhu, H., and Jiang, H., (in press) "In-Process Classification Assessment of Remotely Sensed Imagery", GeoCarto International.

Li, Z., and Eastman, J.R., (submitted) "Remotely Sensed Imagery Classification Using an Improved Self-Organizing Map", submitted to Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing.

D. Lawrence, H. Vester, D. Pérez-Salicrup, R. Eastman, B. L. Turner II, and J. Geoghegan. (2003) Integrated Analysis of Ecosystem Interactions with Land-Use Change: The Southern Yucatán Peninsular Region. In Ecosystem Interactions with Land Use Change, G. Asner and R. DeFries, eds., Geophysical Monograph Series 153, 277-292 (Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union).

Eastman, J.R., (2003) IDRISI : The Kilimanjaro Edition (Worcester MA: Clark University).

Eastman, J.R., and Laney, R., (2002) "Bayesian Soft Classification for Sub-Pixel Analysis: A Critical Evaluation," Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 68, 11, 1149-1154.

Eastman, J.R., Jiang, H., Zhu, H., Crema, S. and Toledano, J., (2002) "In-Process Classification Assessment (IPCA) using a Dempster-Shafer Decomposition of Classification Uncertainty", Proceedings, 29th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment, Buenos Aires, April 8-12, 2000.

Eastman, J.R., (2002) "Analyzing Motion with Trend Surface Analysis", Analytical Notes, 1, www.clarklabs.org.

Haan, N., Gumbo, D., Eastman, R., Toledano, J., and Snel, M., (2002) Linking Geomatics and Participatory Social Analysis for Environmental Monitoring-Case Studies from Malawi, Cartographica, 37, 4, 21-32.

Eastman, J.R., (2001) "Uncertainty Management in GIS: Decision Support Tools for Effective Use of Spatial Data ", Chapter 18 in Hunsaker, C., Goodchild, M., Friedl, M., and Case, E., eds, Spatial Uncertainty in Ecology: Implications for Remote Sensing and GIS Applications, (NY : Springer-Verlag), 379-390.

Anyamba, A., Tucker, C.J., and Eastman, J.R., (2001) "NDVI Anomaly Patterns over Africa during the 1997/98 ENSO Warm Event", International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22, 10, 1847-1859.

Eastman, J.R., (2001) "The Evolution of Modeling Tools in GIS", Directions Magazine, July 2001, (on-line magazine (www.directionsmag.com).

Zhu, H., Eastman, J.R., and Toledano, J., (2001) "Triangulated Irregular Network Optimization from Countour Data using Bridge and Tunnel Edge Removal", International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 15, 3, 271-286.

Eastman, J.R., (2001) IDRISI32 : IDRISI for Workstations, Release 2 (Worcester MA: Clark University).

Eastman, J.R., (2000) "Managing Uncertainty for Effective Use of Data in GIS", Proceedings, GISDECO IV.

Jiang, H., and Eastman, J.R., (2000) "Application of Fuzzy Measure in Multi-Criteria Evaluation in GIS", International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 14, 2, 173-184.

Eastman, J.R., (1999) "Multi-criteria evaluation and GIS", Chap. 35 in Geographical Information Systems, Longley, P.A., Goodchild, M.F., Maguire, D.J., and Rhind, D.W., eds., (New York : John Wiley and Sons), 493-502.

Eastman, J.R., (1999) "Making Decisions under Uncertainty using GIS", a chapter in Hunsaker, C., Goodchild, M., Friedl, M., and Case, E., eds, Uncertainty in Spatial Data for Ecological Analysis, (National Center for Ecological Synthesis and Analysis). (NY : Springer-Verlag) [in press].

Eastman, J.R., (1999) IDRISI32 : IDRISI for Workstations, [Version 3.0] (Worcester MA: Clark University)

Zhu, H., Eastman, J.R., Schneider, K., (1999) "Constrained Delaunay Triangulation and Tin Optimization using Contour Data", Proceedings, Thirteenth International Conference on Applied Geologic Remote Sensing, Vancouver BC, Canada, March 1-3, 1999, II-373 - II-380.

Professor Eastman's Research Interests and Activities

Research groups within Clark Labs often develop around application or methodological problems and grow organically. Some research topics Professor Ron Eastman is working on include:

Decision Support Systems
Land Use/Land Cover Change Modeling
Classifiers for Image Processing
Uncertainty Management in Image Classification
Uncertainty Management in GIS
Technology Transfer for International Development
Dynamic Modeling
Agent-based Modeling
Neural Networks
Ecology and GIS

Professor Eastman's current funded research includes:

Analysis and Interpretation of Hyperspectral Imagery for Mapping Distributions of Fraxinus Species and Emerald Ash Borer Host Trees
Funding Agency: United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service

Gypsy Moth Risk Mapping for Uninfested Portions of the United States
Funding Agency: United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service

Landuse Modeling and Prediction for Biodiversity Conservation in the Andes
Funding Agency: Conservation International

Eastman has extensive experience in GIS implementation in Africa, South America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Dr. Eastman is also a Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

To read more about Professor Eastman's accomplishments, view his CV here.

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