Jón Atli Benediktsson, former rector of the University of Iceland and professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the only research scientist working in Iceland included on the Clarivate Analytics list of the most influential researchers in the world. This is the eighth consecutive year that the former rector has been featured on the list in the field of remote sensing.
Highly Cited Researchers is published annually and is based on data from the Web of Science database that shows how often a scientist’s research is cited. The list encompasses citations from the last 11 years and has been carefully curated in accordance with established quality standards.
Highly Cited Researchers ranks the top 1% by citations for each field of study and publication year in international science journals. The ranking encompasses over 20 different fields of study and comprises almost 6,900 research scientists across 20 fields of study.
Jón Atli Benediktsson is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and is featured among the leading scientists in earth sciences. He is at the forefront in the field of remote sensing and digital image analysis, which are widely used in that academic field. Remote sensing involves, for example, taking digital images from planes and satellites and using these to extract data regarding the Earth's surface, e.g. in connection with volcanic eruptions, vegetation and retreating glaciers. A total of 160 research scientists are ranked on the Clarivate list as the most influential in the field of earth sciences.
Jón Atli's presence on the list is all the more remarkable, considering that he was rector of the University of Iceland for 10 years, from 1 July 2015 to 30 June this year, and has thus been less active in his research than earlier in his career. His continued inclusion on the Clarivate list for this duration thus emphasises his high standing and impact, as well as the esteem in which he is held as a researcher.
Jón Atli is the author of over 400 scientific articles and book chapters in electrical and computer engineering. He has, furthermore, received numerous acknowledgements for his research and contributions to education in remote sensing, including most recently when he was formally inducted into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in Washington, DC.
In addition to Jón Atli, Jocelyn Chnussot, professor at the Université Grenoble Alpes in France, and Ian F. Akyildiz, a Professor Emiritus at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, are also featured on the Clarivate list of the world's most influential scientists, both of whom serve as guest lecturers at the University of Iceland's Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering.