Phone: +420 221 951 362
E-mail: kropacja@natur.cuni.cz
Office: Legerova 5, No. 328C

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Kropacek2

Research interests

• Impact of climate change on cryosphere and hydrological cycle in High Asia
• Slope movements and erosion in the Ethiopian Highlands and the Tibetan Plateau
• Methods of remote sensing: monitoring of inland waters using optical satellite data, microwave remote sensing, satellite altimetry of glaciers and lakes, utilization of historical aerial and satellite photographs

Education

• Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, 1994 and 1996 resp.
• PhD. Degree, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 2004
• Habilitation, Faculty of Environment Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 2019

Fellowships and research stays

• Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, teaching the one-week course titled Remote Sensing in Physical Geography in frames of a project “Stawiamy na rozwój UKW” (Focusing on the development of UKW) co-financed by the EU Operational Program Knowledge Education Development, 5 – 16 Dec 2022
• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Geography Department, Group of Prof. Tobias Sauter, invited stay in frames of the DFG Project ‘Glacial lake outburst floods in the Halji region, Nepal’, 1 month in 2021
• Chinese Academy of Science, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Beijing, China, scholarship in frames of CAS President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI), three months in 2018
• Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, India, Exchange scholarship based on Czech – Indian intergovernmental agreement, three months in 1997
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, Water and Carbon Cycles Group of the Science Division, Pasadena, USA, ten days internship in 2007

Working experience

• Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, 2016-2020
• University of Tuebingen, Department of Geosciences, Tuebingen, Germany, 2012 – 2015
• Dresden University of Technology, Institute of Cartography, Dresden, Germany, 2012 – 2015
• University of Tuebingen, Geographical Institute, Tuebingen, Germany, 2008 - 2011
• European Commission DG, Joint Research Centre, Institute of Environment and Sustainability, Ispra, Italy, 2004 – 2008
• AQUATEST a.s., Prague, Czech Republic, 2002 – 2004
• Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, Department of Remote Sensing, Prague, Czech Republic, 1997 – 2001

Supervised Ph.D. candidates

Pragya Mehrishi, Aayushi Pandey

Selected publications

Kropáček, J., 2024, A novel approach for the representation of multispectral samples in a planar pentagon plot. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 127, 103658.

Bhattacharya, A., Mukherjee, K., King, O., Karmakar, S., Remya, S. N., Kulkarni, A. V., Kropáček, J. & Bolch, T. (2023). Influence of climate and non-climatic attributes on declining glacier mass budget and surging in Alaknanda Basin and its surroundings. Global and Planetary Change, 230, 104260.

Pandey, A., & Kropáček, J., 2023, Rapid formation and drainage of a new glacial lake in the Monte Rosa Massif, Swiss Alps, as observed on Sentinel-2 imagery. Annals of Glaciology, 1-3.

Hasheminasab, S., Rahimi, D., Zakerinejad, R., & Kropáček, J., 2022, Assessment of climate change impact on surface water: a case study—Karoun River Basin, Iran. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 15(9), 904.

Kropáček, J., Vilímek, V. & Mehrishi, P., 2021, A preliminary assessment of the Chamoli rock and ice avalanche in the Indian Himalayas by remote sensing. The Landslides, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-021-01742-1

Nyssen, J., Debever, M., Gebremeskel, G., De Wit, B., Hadgu, K. M., De Vriese, S., Verbeurgt, S. Frankl, A., Besha, B., Kropáček, J., Forceville, A., Demissie, B., 2021, Online digital archive of aerial photographs (1935–1941) of Ethiopia, Geoscience Data Journal, https://doi.org/10.1002/gdj3.115

Perrone, M., Scalici, M., Conti, L., Moravec, D., Kropáček, J., Sighicelli, M., ... & Malavasi, M., 2021, Water Mixing Conditions Influence Sentinel-2 Monitoring of Chlorophyll Content in Monomictic Lakes. Remote Sensing, 13(14), 2699.

Cama, M., Schillaci, C., Kropáček, J., Hochschild, V., Bosino, A., & Märker, M., 2020, A probabilistic assessment of soil erosion susceptibility in a head catchment of the Jemma Basin, Ethiopian Highlands. Geosciences, 10(7), 248.

Kropáček, J., 2019, Erosion dynamics in the southern Tibetan Plateau at a century time scale from historical photographs. Journal of Arid Environments, 161, 47-54.

Maerker, M., Schillaci, C., Melis, R. T., Kropáček, J., Bosino, A., Vilímek, V., ... & Mussi, M., 2019, Geomorphological processes, forms and features in the surroundings of the Melka Kunture Palaeolithic site, Ethiopia. Journal of Maps, 15(2), 797-806

Engel, Z., Kropáček, J., & Smolíková, J., 2019, Surface elevation changes on Lachman Crags ice caps (north-eastern Antarctic Peninsula) since 1979 indicated by DEMs and ICESat data. Journal of Glaciology, 65(251), 410-421.

Kropáček, J., Vařilová, Z., Nyssen, J., 2018, Historical aerial and terrestrial photographs for the investigation of mass movement dynamics in the Ethiopian Highlands, Land Degradation & Development, 30, 5, 483-493, doi:10.1002/ldr.3220

Kropáček, J., 2018, Erosion dynamics in the southern Tibetan Plateau at a century time scale from historical photographs, Journal of Arid Environment, 161, 2019, 47-54, doi: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2018.10.00

Kropáček, J., Schillaci, C., Salvini, R., & Märker, M., 2017, Assessment of gully erosion in Upper Awash, Central Ethiopian Highlands based on comparison of archived aerial photographs and very high resolution satellite images. Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria, 39, 161-170.

Bhattacharya, A., Bolch, T., Mukherjee, K., Pieczonka, T., Kropáček, J. and Buchroithner, M.F., 2016, Overall recession and mass budget of Gangotri Glacier, Garhwal Himalayas, from 1965 to 2015 using remote sensing data, Journal of Glaciology, 1–19, doi: 10.1017/jog.2016.96.

Kropáček J, Schillaci C, Salvini R, Märker M (2016) Assessment of gully erosion in the Upper Awash, Central Ethiopian highlands based on a comparison of archived aerial photographs and very high resolution satellite images Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria 39:161-170 doi:10.4461/GFDQ2016.39.15

Kropáček, J., Vařilová, Z., Baroň, I., Battacharya, A., Eberle, J. and Hochschild, V., 2015, Remote sensing for characterisation and kinematic analysis of large slope failures: Debre Sina landslide, Main Ethiopian Rift escarpment, Remote Sensing, 7(12), 16183-16203.

Kropáček, J.; Neckel, N.; Tyrna, B.; Holzer, N.; Hovden, A.; Gourmelen, N.; Schneider, C.; Buchroithner, M. & Hochschild, V., 2015, Periodic Glacial Lake Outburst Floods threatening the oldest Buddhist monastery in north-west Nepal, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 15(10), 2425-2437. doi: 10.5194/nhess-15-2425-2015.

Haider, V. L., Kropáček, J., Dunkl, I., Wagner, B. & von Eynatten, H., 2015, Identification of peneplains by multi-parameter assessment of digital elevation models, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 40 (11), 1477–1492, doi: 10.1002/esp.3729.

Huintjes, E., Sauter, T., Schröter, B., Maussion, F., Yang, Y., Kropáček, J., Buchroithner, M., Scherer, D., Kang, S., Schneider, C., 2015, Evaluation of a coupled snow and energy balance model for Zhadang glacier, Tibetan Plateau, using glaciological measurements and time-lapse photography, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 47 (3), 573-590, doi:10.1657/AAAR0014-073.

Neckel, N., Kropáček, J., Schröter, B., Scherer, D., 2015, Effects of HudHud Cyclone captured by high altitude Automatic Weather Station in north-western Nepal, Weather, 70 (7), 208-210.

Kropáček, J., Neckel, N., Bauder, A., 2014, Estimation of Mass Balance of the Grosser Aletschgletscher, Swiss Alps, from ICESat Laser Altimetry Data and Digital Elevation Models, Remote Sensing, 6, 5614-5632.

Neckel, N., Kropáček, J., Bolch, T. & Hochschild, V., 2014, Glacier mass changes on the Tibetan Plateau 2003–2009 derived from ICESat laser altimetry measurements, Environmental Research Letters, 2014, 9, 014009.

Neckel, N., Braun, A., Kropáček, J., and Hochschild, V., 2013, Recent mass balance of the Purogangri Ice Cap, central Tibetan Plateau, by means of differential X-band SAR interferometry, The Cryosphere, 7, 1623-1633, doi:10.5194/tc-7-1623-2013.

Kropáček, J., Maussion, F., Chen, F., Hoerz, S., and Hochschild, V., 2013, Analysis of ice phenology of lakes on the Tibetan Plateau from MODIS data, The Cryosphere, 7, 287-301, doi:10.5194/tc-7-287-2013. 

Kropacek, J., Braun, A., Kang, S., Feng, C., Ye, Q., Hochschild, V., 2012, Analysis of lake level changes of Nam Co in Central Tibet by synergy of satellite altimetry and evaluation of optical satellite imagery. - International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 17, 3-11.

Kropacek, J., De Grandi, G., Rauste, Y., 2011, Georeferencing of continental scale JERS-1 SAR mosaics based on matching homologous features with a digital elevation model: theory and practice, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 33, (8), 2413-2433.

Kropacek, J., Feng, C., Alle, M., Kang, S., Hochschild, V., 2010, Temporal and Spatial Aspects of Snow Distribution in the Nam Co Basin on the Tibetan Plateau from MODIS Data, Remote Sensing, 2, 2700-2712.

De Grandi, G.D., Lucas, R.M., Kropacek, J., 2009, Analysis by Wavelet Frames of Spatial Statistics in SAR Data for Characterizing Structural Properties of Forests, IEEE Tranactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 47, (2), 494 – 507.

Durieux, L., Kropacek, J.,  De Grandi, G.F., Achard, F., 2007, Object-oriented and textural image classification of the Siberia GBFM radar mosaic combined with MERIS imagery for continental scale land cover mapping, International Journal of  Remote Sensing, 28 (18), 4175-4182.