Jan Komarek

Data uncertainty

Mountain and forest lover. Drone pilot. Enjoying academia and continuously trying to fit into the Remote Sensing community and become a real Earth Observer. Combining outdoor passion with academic curiosity to build and support a growing community in drone-based environmental remote sensing.

My research addresses drone-atmosphere uncertainties to enhance the precision of drone remote sensing. I focus on radiometric corrections and refining thermal retrievals, ensuring that both (multi)spectral and thermal data are metrologically sound despite atmospheric interference in the lower troposphere.

Research publicatons

Publication are ordered chronological: 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

2026

[29] Rous, J., Komárek, J.
Best practices for processing thermal UAV imagery from DJI platforms: limitations of JPEG-encoded temperature data and implications for mosaicking.
Remote Sensing Letters | In review

[28] Trebugova, P., Smets, B., Hein, L., Kokkoris, I., Perrone, M., Barták, V., Komárek, J., Moudrý, V., Remelgado, R., ..., Mayer, C.
Ecosystem extent mapping in a global monitoring context.
Journal of Environmental Management, 402, 129054 | 10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.129054

[27] Rous, J., Kuželková, M., Jačka, L., Komárek, J.
UAV-Based Surface Temperature Estimates in Agroforestry: Improvement Through Integration with Ground Sensors and Meteorological Observations.
Scientific Reports | In review

[26] Procházka, J., Komárek, J., Moravec, D., Rous, J., Klouček, T. (2026).
Pansharpening Largely Preserves the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index: A Multi-Sensor Comparison with PRISMA, Landsat 9, and Field Spectroscopy.
Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 6, 1713895 | 10.3389/frsen.2025.1713895

[25] Klouček, T., Modlinger, R., Zikmundová, Štěpánová, K., Pracná, P., Rous, J., Kozhoridze, G., Štych, P., Laštovička, J., Komárek, J. (2026).
The sensitivity of UAV-borne thermal imagery for early detection of the bark beetle-infested spruce trees.
Journal of Forestry Research | Accepted

[24] Jačka, L., Chalupecká, H., Kuželková, M., Kovář, M., Rous, J., Abbasizadeh, H., Komárek, J., Preininger, D., & Lojka, B. (2026).
The early-stage effect of alley cropping system on the soil moisture and temperature of drought-prone silt-loam soil in European moderate climate zone.
Agroforestry Systems, 100 (78) | 10.1007/s10457-026-01436-4

[23] Mosig, C., Vajna-Jehle, J., Mahecha, D., M., Cheng, Y., Hartmann, H., Montero, D., ... Komárek, J., ..., Kattenborn, T. (2026).
deadtrees.earth - An Open-Access and Interactive Database for Centimeter-Scale Aerial Imagery to Uncover Global Tree Mortality Dynamics
Remote Sensing of Environment | 10.1016/j.rse.2025.115027

[22] Komárek, J., Rous. J., Klouček, T. (2026).
The bigger, the better? Sample size effects in drone-estimated forest height.
Journal of Forestry Research 37 (62) | 10.1007/s11676-026-02008-z

2025

[21] Komárek, J. (2025).
When the Wind Blows: Exposing the Constraints of Drone‐Based Environmental Mapping.
Natural Sciences, 5(1-2), e70003. | 10.1002/ntls.70003

2024

[20] Moudrý, V., Gábor, L., Marselis, S., Pracná, P., ..., Komárek, J., Malavasi, M., ... & Wild, J. (2024).
Comparison of three global canopy height maps and their applicability to biodiversity modeling: Accuracy issues revealed.
Ecosphere, 15(10), e70026. | 10.1002/ecs2.70026

[19] Chakhvashvili, E., Machwitz, M., Antala, M., Rozenstein, O., Prikaziuk, E., Schlerf, M., ..., Komárek, J., Klouček, T., ... & Rascher, U. (2024).
Crop stress detection from UAVs: best practices and lessons learned for exploiting sensor synergies.
Precision Agriculture, 25(5), 2614-2642. | 10.1007/s11119-024-10168-3

[18] Kozhoridze, G., Korolyova, N., Komárek, J., Kloucek, T., Moravec, D., Simova, P., & Jakuš, R. (2024).
Direct and mediated impacts of mixed forests on Norway spruce infestation by European bark beetle Ips typographus.
Forest Ecology and Management, 569, 122184. | 10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122184

[17] Perrone, M., Conti, L., Galland, T., Komárek, J., Lagner, O., Torresani, M., Rossi, Ch., Carmona., C. P., de Bello, F., Rocchini, D., Moudrý, V., Šímová, P., Bagella, S., Malavasi, M. (2024).
“Flower power”: How flowering affects spectral diversity metrics and their relationship with plant diversity.
Ecological Informatics, 81, 102589 | 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2024.102589

[16] Rech, B., Moreira, R. N., Mello, T. A. G., Klouček, T., Komárek, J. (2024).
Assessment of daytime and nighttime surface urban heat islands across local climate zones–A case study in Florianópolis, Brazil.
Urban Climate, 55, 101954 | 10.1016/j.uclim.2024.101954

[15] Klouček, T., Modlinger, R., Zikmundová, M., Kycko, M., Komárek, J. (2024).
Early detection of bark beetle infestation using UAV-borne multispectral imagery: a case study on the spruce forest in the Czech Republic.
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 7, 1215734 | 10.3389/ffgc.2024.1215734

[14] Komárek, J., Lagner, O., Klouček, T. (2024).
UAV leaf-on, leaf-off and ALS-aided tree height: A case study on the trees in the vicinity of roads.
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 93, 128229 | 10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128229

[13] Kirschner, V., Moravec, D., Macků, K., Kozhoridze, G., Komárek, J. (2024).
Comparing the Effects of Green and Blue Bodies and Urban Morphology on Land Surface Temperatures Close to Rivers and Large Lakes.
Land, 13(2), 1-16 | 10.3390/land13020162

2022

[12] Kašpar, V., Zapletal, M., Samec, P., Komárek, J., Bílek, J., Juráň, S. (2022).
Unmanned aerial systems for modelling air pollution removal by urban greenery.
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 78, 127757 | 10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127757

[11] Klouček, T., Klápště, P., Marešová, J., Komárek, J. (2022).
UAV-Borne Imagery Can Supplement Airborne Lidar in the Precise Description of Dynamically Changing Shrubland Woody Vegetation.
Remote Sensing, 14(9), 2287 | 10.3390/rs14092287

[10] Komárek, J., Klápště, P., Hrach, K., Klouček, T. (2022).
The Potential of Widespread UAV Cameras in the Identification of Conifers and the Delineation of Their Crowns.
Forests, 13(5), 710 | 10.3390/f13050710

2021

[10] Moravec, D., Komárek, J., López-Cuervo Medina, S., Molina, I. (2021).
Effect of atmospheric corrections on NDVI: Intercomparability of Landsat 8, Sentinel-2, and UAV sensors.
Remote Sensing, 13(18), 3550 | 10.3390/rs13183550

[09] Conti, L., Malavasi, M., Galland, T., Komárek, J., Lagner, O., Carmona, C. P., de Bello, F., Rocchini, D., Šímová, P. (2021).
The relationship between species and spectral diversity in grassland communities is mediated by their vertical complexity.
Applied Vegetation Science, 24(3) | 10.1111/avsc.12600

[08] Malavasi, M., Bazzichetto, M., Komárek, J., Moudrý, V., Rocchini, D., Bagella, S., Acosta, A. T. R., Carranza, M. L. (2021).
Unmanned aerial systems‐based monitoring of the eco‐geomorphology of coastal dunes through spectral Rao's Q.
Applied Vegetation Science, 24(1), e12567 | 10.1111/avsc.12567

2020

[07] Komárek, J. (2020).
The perspective of unmanned aerial systems in forest management: do we really need such details?.
Applied Vegetation Science, 23(4), 718-721 | 10.1111/avsc.12503

2019

[06] Moudrý, V., Gdulová, K., Fogl, M., Klápště, P., Urban, R., Komárek, J., Moudrá, L., Štroner, M., Barták, V., Solský, M. (2019).
Comparison of leaf-off and leaf-on combined UAV imagery and airborne LiDAR for assessment of a post-mining site terrain and vegetation structure: Prospects for monitoring hazards and restoration success.
Applied geography, 104, 32-41 | 10.1016/j.apgeog.2019.02.002

[05] Klouček, T., Komárek, J., Surový, P., Hrach, K., Janata, P., Vašíček, B. (2019).
The use of UAV mounted sensors for precise detection of bark beetle infestation.
Remote Sensing, 11(13) | 1561 10.3390/rs11131561

2018

[04] Šímová, P., Moudrý, V., Komárek, J., Hrach, K., Fortin, M. J. (2019).
Fine scale waterbody data improve prediction of waterbird occurrence despite coarse species data.
Ecography, 42(3) | 511-520 10.1111/ecog.03724

[03] Moudrý, V., Urban, R., Štroner, M., Komárek, J., Brouček, J., Prošek, J. (2019).
Comparison of a commercial and home-assembled fixed-wing UAV for terrain mapping of a post-mining site under leaf-off conditions.
International Journal of Remote Sensing, 40(2), 555-572 | 10.1080/01431161.2018.1516311

[02] Klouček, T., Moravec, D., Komárek, J., Lagner, O., Štych, P. (2018).
Selecting appropriate variables for detecting grassland to cropland changes using high resolution satellite data.
PeerJ, 6, e5487 | 10.7717/peerj.5487

[01] Komárek, J., Klouček, T., Prošek, J. (2018).
The potential of Unmanned Aerial Systems: A tool towards precision classification of hard-to-distinguish vegetation types?.
International journal of applied earth observation and geoinformation, 71, 9-19 | 10.1016/j.jag.2018.05.003

Grants and research projects

Cryosphere Science Concluding in new Observations and Productive Exploitation (CryoSCOPE)
Role: Task leader
Founder: Horizon Widera (Hop-on facility)
Duration: 2026-2028
Web

Methodology for the collection, evaluation and verification of spatial data from inspection activities for use in the inspection activities of the Czech Environemntal Inspection
Role: Co-investigator, Institutional PI
Founder: Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (PPZ program)
Duration: 2025-2027

Pan-European Network of Green Deal Agriculture and Forestry Earth Observation Science (PANGEOS)
Role: MC substitute, WGs member
Founder: European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)
Duration: 2023-2026
Web

Building Bridges between Earth Observation and Environmental Sciences
Role: Co-investigator, Task leader
Founder: Horizon 4.1.2 - Twinning
Duration: 2023-2025
Web

Solar potential of the Ústí nad Labem Region: data for future methodologies and frameworks in the energy sector
Role: Principal investigator
Founder: Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Théta program)
Duration: 2023-2025
Web

Monitoring and evaluation of risk phenomena in the vicinity of transport infrastructure using remote sensing
Role: Co-investigator, Institutional PI
Founder: Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Doprava2002+ program)
Duration: 2021-2024
Web

Advanced methods for detecting trees infested with bark beetles.
Role: Co-investigator
Founder: Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Gama program)
Duration: 2020-2021
Web

Vegetation health monitoring under ongoing climate change using remote sensing
Role: Principal investigator
Founder: Norway Grants & State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic
Duration: 2019-2020
Web

Vegetation health monitoring under ongoing climate change using remote sensing
Role: Principal investigator
Founder: VisegradFunds
Duration: 2019-2020
Web

Safety mapping of the vegetation along the transport infrastructure
Role: Principal investigator
Founder: Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Zéta program)
Duration: 2019-2020
Web

Optical synergies for spatiotemporal SENsing of Scalable ECOphysiological traits (SENSECO)
Role: MC substitute, WGs member
Founder: European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)
Duration: 2018-2022
Web

Detection of infection forest bark beetle (Ips typographus) in advance using unmanned air vehicles
Role: Co-investigator
Founder: Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Zéta program)
Duration: 2019-2019
Web

Remote sensing: an effective tool for the study of spatial dynamics of bark beetles at Krkonoše National Park
Role: Co-investigator
Founder: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Duration: 2019-2019
Web

Influence of Remote Sensing Data Resolution in Evaluating Ecological Measures
Role: Co-investigator
Founder: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Duration: 2017-2019

Development and implementation of technologies for digital soil mapping
Role: Co-investigator
Founder: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Duration: 2016-2017

Data collection design and species detection probability as a source of uncertainty in species distribution models
Role: Principal investigator
Founder: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Duration: 2015-2016

Using data from the long-term monitoring programs for modeling detectability and actual distribution of birds
Role: Principal investigator
Founder: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Duration: 2015-2017

Dissemination


Published contributions

Jak přesně měří drony výšku stromů a kolik jich musíme změřit, aby to mělo smysl?
2026, Lesnická práce xx/2026

Data z dronů? Jen za hezkého počasí
2025, Vesmír 2025/10

Spektrální projev vybraných dřevin v kontextu klimatické změny
2022, Ochrana přírody 4/2022

The perspective of unmanned aerial systems in forest management: Do we really need such details?
2020, Vegetation Science Blog 6/2020

Drony v environmentální praxi: Bezpochyby efektivní nástroje sběru dat o přírodě, jsou ale uživatelé při svých požadavcích dost realističtí?
2019, Ochrana přírody 6/2019

Potenciál dronů pro detekci stromů napadených kůrovcem
2018, Fórum Ochrany přírody 3/2018

Drony. Přeceňovaný fenomén, nebo nástroj pro včasnou detekci kůrovce?
2018, Lesnická práce 09/2018

Nebeští zahradníci: Jak pomáhají drony naší přírodě?
2017, ABC 09/2017

Snímky z družic a dronů jako nástroj pro management zemědělských podniků)
2017, Mechanizace zemědělství 05/2017


Other activities

Popularisation lecture, Prague, Czech Republic.
2025/05, Lecture for higher elementary school and lower high school students.

Popularisation lecture, Brandýs nad Labem, Czech Republic.
2024/04, Lecture for higher grades of high school students.

Public lecture at Open Access Week.
2022/10, Way to Open Access. Link.

Public lecture at ELLS Open classes.
2021/05, Unmanned Aerial Systems in Environmental Sciences. Link.

Video spot on YouTube.
2021/01, Monitoring and detection of bark beetle-infested trees. Link.

TV news, Studio CT24.
2020/08, Drone helps search for bark beetles in forests. Link.

TV news, CT1.
2019/04, Czech Republic affected by bark beetle. Link.

Popularisation lectures, Ústí nad Orlicí, Czech Republic.
2022/01, Lecture for high school students.

Popularisation lectures, Brandýs nad Labem, Czech Republic.
2017/1, Lecture for high school students.

Open minds, open skies