Mengistu, F., Hailu, B. T., Abera, T. A., Heiskanen, J., Zeleke, T. T., Johansson, T., ... & Pellikka, P. (2025). Climate-smart apiary site selection in East Africa: GIS-based analysis of current and future climate projections. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 17(1), 1243-1270.
Gubamwoyo, S., Hein, T., Heiskanen, J., Kisha, D. G., Pellikka, P., Gruber, G., Omondi, V. A., Leitner, S. M., Weigelhofer, G., Mwamodenyi, J. M., Obonyo, A. O., & Gettel, G. M. (2025). Assessing land use changes and agricultural practices in highland valley-bottom wetlands in Taita Hills, Kenya. Journal of Environmental Management, 389, 126122.
Gurmu E.B., Kiprotich L.E., Kagai J.G., Solomon A., Leitner S., Marquardt S., Merbold L., Ndungu P.W. and Arndt C. (2025) Beyond default estimates: developing system-specific Tier 2 enteric methane emission factors for rangeland cattle in Kenya. Pastoralism 15:14566. doi: 10.3389/past.2025.14566.
Leyton, M. S., Lattorff, H. M. G., Kiatoko, N., & Requier, F. (2025). Climate effects on honey bees can be mitigated by beekeeping management in Kenya. Journal of Environmental Management, 374, 123879.
Luo, Z., Heiskanen, J., Vuorinne, I., Ocholla, I., Zhang, S., Järvinen, S., ... & Pellikka, P. K. (2025). Mapping Melliferous Tree Species in Kenya Via One-Class Classification with Hyperspectral Unsupervised Domain Adaptation. Available at SSRN 5334526.
Ocholla, I. A., Heiskanen, J., Karanja, F., Boitt, M., & Pellikka, P. (2025). Towards monitoring livestock using satellite imagery: Transferability of object detection and segmentation models in Kenyan rangelands. ISPRS Open Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 100106.
Odongo, V., Leitner, S. M., Dowling, T. P., Gluecks, I., Jackowicz‐Korczynski, M., Rinne, J., ... & Merbold, L. (2025). Contrasting carbon and water flux dynamics in an East African rangeland and cropland. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 130(10), e2024JG008623.
Ogola, P. T., Ocholla, I. A., Vuorinne, I., Mjomba, M., Gettel, G., Heiskanen, J., & Pellikka, P. (2025). Remote sensing and computer vision for detection of water pans in agropastoral areas of Taita Taveta County in Kenya. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 1–25.
Räsänen, Matti and Omondi, Julius and Odongo, Vincent and Abera, Temesgen Alemayehu and Tuure, Juuso and Heiskanen, Janne and Hsieh, Cheng-I and Alakukku, Laura and Merbold, Lutz and Pellikka, Petri K.E. and Vesala, Timo. (2025). Evapotranspiration processes in a rainfed semi-arid maize field in Kenya. Available at SSRN:
van Hove, A., Aalstad, K., Lind, V., Arndt, C., Odongo, V., Ceriani, R., ... & Pirk, N. (2025). Inferring methane emissions from African livestock by fusing drone, tower, and satellite data. EGUsphere, 2025, 1-36.
van Hove, A., Aalstad, K., Lind, V., Arndt, C., Odongo, V., Ceriani, R., ... & Pirk, N. (2025). Inferring methane emissions from African livestock by fusing drone, tower, and satellite data. Biogeosciences, 22(16), 4163-4186.
Vuorinne, I., Heiskanen, J., Luo, Z., Ocholla, I., Kihungu, R., & Pellikka, P. K. E. (2025). Comparison of deep and shallow one-class classifiers for detecting invasive Prosopis trees in Kenya from airborne hyperspectral data. Ecological Indicators, 174, 113465.
Wen, J., Tagliabue, G., Rossini, M., Fava, F. P., Panigada, C., Merbold, L., ... & Sun, Y. (2025). Detection of fast-changing intra-seasonal vegetation dynamics of drylands using solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF). Biogeosciences, 22(8), 2049-2067.
Abera, T.A., Heiskanen, J., Maeda, E.E. Mohammed Ahmed Muhammed, Netra Bhandari, Ville Vakkari, Binyam Tesfaw Hailu, Petri K. E. Pellikka, Andreas Hemp, Pieter G. van Zyl & Dirk Zeuss (2024). Deforestation amplifies climate change effects on warming and cloud level rise in African montane forests. Nat Commun 15, 6992.
Fang, X., Harris, S. J., Leitner, S. M., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Conz, R. F., Merbold, L., ... & Barthel, M. (2024). Mechanisms behind high N2O emissions from livestock enclosures in Kenya revealed by dual-isotope and functional gene analyses. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 196, 109505.
Heiskanen, J., Haurinen, H., Wekesa, C., & Pellikka, P. (2024). Repeat airborne laser scanning to assess canopy height changes in tropical montane forests. ISPRS annals of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences, 10, 179-185.
Leitner, S. M., Carbonell, V., Mhindu, R. L., Zhu, Y., Mutuo, P., Butterbach-Bahl, K., & Merbold, L. (2024). Greenhouse gas emissions from cattle enclosures in semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa: The case of a rangeland in South-Central Kenya. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 367, 108980.
Mengistu, F., Hailu, B.T, Abera, T.A., Heiskanen, J., Zeleke, T.T., Johansson, T. and Pellikka, P.K.E. (2024). Improving the accuracy of honeybee forage class mapping using ensemble learning and multi-source satellite data in Google Earth Engine. Scientific African
Ochola, J. B., Nganso, B. T., Subramanian, S., & Nkoba, K. (2024). Evaluation of volatiles from ethnobotanical plants as attractants for the honeybee swarms in Kenya. Journal of Applied Entomology, 148(8), 938-947.
Ocholla, I. A., Pellikka, P., Karanja, F., Vuorinne, I., Väisänen, T., Boitt, M., & Heiskanen, J. (2024). Livestock Detection and Counting in Kenyan Rangelands Using Aerial Imagery and Deep Learning Techniques. Remote Sensing, 16, 2929.
Ocholla, I., Pellikka, P.,Karanja, F., Vuorinne, I., Odipo, V,. Heiskanen, J. (2024). Livestock detection in African rangelands: Potential of high-resolution remote sensing data. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 33, 2024, 101139,
Pesonen, L., Vuorinne, I., Heiskanen, J., & Pellikka, P. (2024). Modelling dry season grass biomass in savanna rangelands in Kenya using imaging spectroscopy.
Ratemo, H. M., Gachuiri C. K., Maina J. G., and Onyango C. M. (2024). Effects of Prosopis juliflora pods meal supplementation on feed utilization, body weight and digestibility in male weaner galla goats. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 36(5).
Wen, J., Tagliabue, G., Rossini, M., Fava, F. P., Panigada, C., Merbold, L., ... & Sun, Y. (2024). Detection of Fast-Changing Intra-seasonal Vegetation Dynamics of Drylands Using Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF). EGUsphere, 2024, 1-26.
Zhu Y, Butterbach-Bahl K, Merbold L, Oduor CO, Gakige JK, Mwangi P, Leitner S (2024) Greenhouse gas emissions from sheep excreta deposited onto tropical pastures in Kenya. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.
Abera, T.A., Heiskanen, J., Johansson, T., Mwamodenyi, J. & Pellikka, P.K.E. (2023). Towards tree-based systems disturbance monitoring of tropical mosaic landscape using time series ensemble learning approach. Remote Sensing of Environment.
Abera, T.A., Heiskanen, J., Maeda, E.,Odongo, V., Pellikka, P. (2023). Impacts of land cover and management change on top-of-canopy and below-canopy temperatures in Southeastern Kenya, Science of The Total Environment, 874,
Amara, E., H. Adhikari, J. M. Mwamodenyi, P. K. E. Pellikka, and J Heiskanen (2023). Contribution of Tree Size and Species on Aboveground Biomass across Land Cover Types in the Taita Hills, Southern Kenya. Forests 14 (3): 642.
Héger, M., Noiset, P., Nkoba, K., & Vereecken, N. J. (2023). Traditional ecological knowledge and non-food uses of stingless bee honey in Kenya’s last pocket of tropical rainforest. Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 19(1), 42.
Mwangi, A. W., Kunyanga, C. N., & Onyango, C. M. (2023). Development, nutritional and microbial evaluation of cultured bovine milk supplemented with baobab fruit pulp. CyTA-Journal of Food, 21(1), 198-208.
Mwangi, A. W., Kunyanga, C. N., & Onyango, C. M. (2023). Production, consumption, processing and marketing of the baobab fruit (Adansonia digitata L.) in Kenya. African Journal of Food Science, 17(2), 35-48.
Aalto, I.J., Maeda, E.E., Heiskanen, J., Aalto, E.K. & Pellikka, P.K.E. (2022). Strong influence of trees outside forest in regulating microclimate of intensively modified Afromontane landscapes. Biogeosciences 19, 4227–4247, 2022,
Abera, T. A., Vuorinne, I., Munyao, M., Pellikka, P. K. E., & Heiskanen, J. (2022). Land Cover Map for Multifunctional Landscapes of Taita Taveta County, Kenya, Based on Sentinel-1 Radar, Sentinel-2 Optical, and Topoclimatic Data. Data 7(3), 36.
Abera, T.A., Heiskanen, J., Maeda, E.E., Hailu, B.T. & Pellikka, P.K.E. (2022). Improved detection of abrupt change in vegetation reveals dominant fractional woody cover decline in Eastern Africa. Remote Sensing of Environment 271, 112897.
Graham, M. W., Butterbach-Bahl, K., du Toit C. J. L., Korir D., Leitner S., Merbold L., Mwape A., Ndung’u P. W., Pelster D. E., Rufino M. C., van der Weerden T., Wilkes A. &, Arndt C. (2022). Research Progress on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Livestock in Sub-Saharan Africa Falls Short of National Inventory Ambitions. Frontiers in Soil Science 2. DOI=10.3389/fsoil.2022.927452
Tang, Z., Adhikari, H., Pellikka, P., & Heiskanen, J. (2022). Impact of Preprocessing on Tree Canopy Cover Modelling: Does Gap-Filling of Landsat Time Series Improve Modelling Accuracy? Frontiers in Remote Sensing 3, 936194.
Wachiye, S., Pellikka, P., Rinne, J., Heiskanen, J., Abwanda, S., & Merbold, L. (2022). Effects of livestock and wildlife grazing intensity on soil carbon dioxide flux in the savanna grassland of Kenya. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 325, 107713.
Wachiye, S., Merbold, L., Vesala, T., Rinne, J., Leitner, S., Räsänen, M., ... & Pellikka, P. (2021). Soil greenhouse gas emissions from a sisal chronosequence in Kenya. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 307, 108465.
Amara, E., Adhikari, H., Heiskanen, J., Siljander, M., Munyao, M., Omondi, P. & Pellikka, P. (2020). Aboveground biomass distribution in a multi-use savannah landscape in southeastern Kenya: impact of land use and fences. Land 2020, 9, 381;
CONFERENCE PAPERS
Stigter, T.Y. et al. (2025). Building hydrological monitoring hubs for natural water tower systems in Africa. IAH2025 Congress, Melbourne, Australia, 14–19 September 2025.
Stigter, T.Y. et al. (2025). Establishing hydrological monitoring hubs to support the conceptual assessment and protection of Africa's natural water towers. XIX World Water Congress, Marrakech, Morocco, 1–5 December 2025.
Gurmu, E.B., Kiprotich, L.E., Kagai, J.G., Solomon, A., Leitner, S., Marquardt, S., Merbold, L., Ndungu, P.W. and Arndt, C. 2025. Enteric Methane Emission Factors for Cattle in Pastoral Systems: A Case Study in Kenya. Poster presented at the 9th International Greenhouse Gas and Animal Agriculture (GGAA) Conference, 5-9 October 2025. Nairobi: ILRI.
Gurmu, E.B., Graham, M., G., Kipchirchir, N., Kagai, J., Saya, N., Kiprotich, L.E. and Arndt, C. 2025. Emission Factors for enteric methane emissions from Cattle in Taita Country, Kenya. Poster prepared for the 9th International Greenhouse Gas & Animal Agriculture Conference, Nairobi, 5-9 October 2025. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
Gurmu, E.B., Graham, M., Kipchirchir, N., Kagai, J., Saya, N., Kiprotich, L.E. and Arndt, C. 2025. Emission Factors for ruminant livestock in Pastoral systems: A case study in Ethiopia's Yabello district, Ethiopia. Poster prepared for the 9th International Greenhouse Gas & Animal Agriculture Conference, Nairobi, 5-9 October 2025. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
Mwilawa, A.J., Gurmu, E.B., Weisbjerg, M.R., Laswai, G.H., Poole, J. and Arndt, C. 2025. Assessing IPCC Tier 2 Methodology for Enteric Methane Estimation in Tanzanian Rangeland Cattle: Evidence of Systematic Underestimation. Poster prepared for the 9th International Greenhouse Gas & Animal Agriculture Conference, Nairobi, 5-9 October 2025. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
Odongo, V., Leitner, S., Räsänen, M., Omondi, J., Pellikka, P., Vesala, T., Heiskanen, J., Rinne, J., Dowling, T. P. F., Jackowicz-Korczynski, M., Wooster, M. J., Mauder, M. and Merbold, L. 2025. Environmental controls on peak carbon uptake across four Kenyan dryland ecosystems. Poster prepared for the 9th International Greenhouse Gas & Animal Agriculture Conference, Nairobi, 5-9 October 2025. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
Mwilawa, A.J., Gurmu, E.B., Weisbjerg, M.R., Laswai, G.H., Poole, J. and Arndt, C. 2025. Animal Performance and Methane Emissions in Feedlot vs. Traditional Pastoral Systems with Concentrate Supplementation for Tanzanian Short Horn and Boran Cattle. Presented at the 9th International Greenhouse Gas & Animal Agriculture Conference, Nairobi, 5-9 October 2025. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
Frem, M. et al. (2025). Recharge mechanism and hydrogeological functioning of mountainous springs in two East African highland-lowland systems. XIX World Water Congress, Marrakech, Morocco, 1–5 December 2025
Gubamwoyo, S. et al. (2025). Biogeochemical dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions from groundwater-fed springs in a tropical highland system, Taita Hills, East Africa. EGU 2025.
Gubamwoyo, S. et al. (2024). Greenhouse gas emissions from valley-bottom wetlands in an agricultural tropical highland system, Taita Hills, East Africa. EGU 2024.
Stigter, T.Y. et al. (2024). Hydrological functioning and resilience to drought of mountainous springs systems at Taita Hills Kenya. IAH2024 Congress, Davos, Switzerland, 8–13 September 2024.
Frem, M. et al. (2024). Data-driven conceptual modelling of highland-lowland hydrological interactions for two East African water tower systems. IAH2024 Congress, Davos, Switzerland, 8–13 September 2024.
Heiskanen, J., Haurinen, H., Wekesa, C., & Pellikka, P. (2024). Repeat airborne laser scanning to assess canopy height changes in tropical montane forests. ISPRS annals of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences, X-3-2024, 179-185.
Gubamwoyo, S. et al. (2023). Simulating groundwater parameters and land use conversion as a source of greenhouse gas emissions. IALE Conference, Nairobi, 2023.
Merbold, L., Odongo, V., Dowling, T., Fava, F., Glücks, I., Vrieling, A., Wooster, M., and Leitner, S.: Continuous observations of CO2 and CH4 exchange from East-African rangelands, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14158,
Ocholla, I., Pellikka, P., Karanja, F., Boitt, M., Väisänen, T., Vuorinne, I., Heiskanen, J. Developing livestock detection model for very high -resolution satellite imagery using aerial imagery and deep learning in Kenya, Big Data from Space 2023, Vienna, Austria, 6-9 Nov 2023, JRC135493,
Gettel, G.M. Muhadia, C. B., Mwanake, R. M. Omuron, O., Leitner, S., Ericksen, P. & Butterbach-Bahl, K. (2022). Waterpans as hot spots for methane emissions in arid and semi-arid regions of East Africa. AGU Conference, Chicago, USA, 12–16 December 2022.
Khan, N. et al. (2022). Assessing Groundwater Recharge and Flow Processes in Taita Hill Region of Kenya. IAH2022 Congress, Wuhan, China, 18–23 September 2022.
Mwende, B. et al. (2022). Comparative assessment of the impact of land cover change and climate variability on groundwater recharge: A remote sensing approach to Taita Hills catchment case study in Kenya. International Conference “Groundwater, key to the Sustainable Development Goals”, Paris, France, 18–20 May 2022.
Ocholla, I. (2025). Livestock detection and counting in Kenyan rangelands using remote sensing and deep learning techniques. PhD thesis.
Filagot Mangistu (2025). Mapping Honey Bee Forage Class, Suitability of Apiculture and Its Impact on Honey Bee Habitat Fragmentation and Loss in East Africa, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Zhaozhi Luo (2025). Learning Beyond Labels: Unsupervised Learning for Hyperspectral Image Understanding from Denoising to Domain-Adaptive Classification. University of Helsinki, Finland. PhD dissertation submitted for pre-examination.
Michel Frem (2027). Unravelling the Interplay of Hydrology, Land Use, and Climate in East African Highland-Lowland Systems
Angela Too (2025). Climate Variability and Pan water quality in Taita Taveta County, Kenya. Kenyatta University. Kenya.
Saana Järvinen (2025). Spectral Footprints of Change: Mango Tree Distribution and Climate Change Mitigation Potential in Taita Hills, Kenya. University of Helsinki, Finland.
Leyton, M. S. et al. 2025, Climate effects on honeybees can be mitigated by beekeeping management in Kenya. MSc thesis:
Olyad Daniel , Yitbarek Woldehawariat, Zewdu Ararso, Denberu Kebede, Binyam Tesfaw Hailu, Asnake Desalegn (2025). Evaluation of Beauveria bassiana Isolates on the Ecto-parasitic mite of Honeybees (Apis mellifera), Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae), under Laboratory Condition
Benjamin M et al. 2024, the influence of colony and hive attributes, landscape and seasonality on the occurrence of large hive beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Taita Taveta County, Kenya. MSc thesis:
Obonyo, Amose Ouko (2024) Quantifying Fine-Scale Temporal Variations in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Tropical Highland Valley Bottom Wetlands, A Case Study in Taita Hills, Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands
Ongaya, Simo Raphael (2024) Ecosystem services, land use change, and greenhouse gas emission from Cheleleka Wetland, Rift Valley, Ethiopia. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Pesonen, Linda (2024). Modelling dry season grass biomass in savanna rangelands in Kenya using imaging spectroscopy. Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki.
Hellen Moraa Ratemo (2024). Utilization of Prosopis juliflora in Taita Taveta County and effects of Prosopis juliflora pods meal supplementation on performance of male weaner Galla goats. Department of Animal Production. University of Nairobi. Kenya.
Esther Ishuga (2024). Evaluating the role of Governance in enhancing beekeeping potential in Taivata Taveta County. Wangari Maathai Institute. University of Nairobi. Kenya.
Etukutan, Peter Ekatorot (2024) Assessing the relationship between groundwater recharge and discharge in a hard rock mountainous system in Wundanyi catchment, Taita Hills - Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands
Jepchumba, Rotich Belvine (2024) Influence of Land Use and Land Cover on Riverine Greenhouse Gas Emissions in an Afro-montane Catchment, Ethiopia. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Apondi, Omondi Victor (2023) Nitrogen budget of a mixed-use catchment in Taita Hills, Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands
Kaarto, E-N., 2023, Changes in agroforestry in the Taita Hills, Kenya, based on multitemporal airborne laser scanning data, MSc thesis:
Haurinen, H. 2023. Monitoring canopy height changes in tropical montane forests and exotic plantations in the Taita Hills, Kenya. MSc thesis:,
Korpelainen T. 2023. Spatio-temporal dynamics of grass cover in savanna rangelands in Kenya based on multi-resolution remote sensing data. MSc thesis
Damaris, Kisha Guranya (2023) Influence of wetland conversion on greenhouse gas emission in valley bottom wetlands in Taita Hills, Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Gerges, Elie (2023) Evaluating groundwater recharge using remote sensing and GIS in the Wondo Genet watershed in Ethiopia. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
Haurinen, Hanna (2023). Monitoring canopy height changes in tropical montane forests and exotic plantations in the Taita Hills, Kenya using airborne laser scanning. Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki.
Ibrahim, Abdalmajeed (2023) Assessment of highland-lowland hydrological interactions in the semi-arid upper Wondo Genet catchment in Ethiopia as a function of land use and geology. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
Korpelainen, Taiga (2023). Spatio-temporal dynamics of grass cover in savanna rangelands in Kenya based on multi-resolution remote sensing data. Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki.
Kaarto, Elli-Nora (2023). Changes in agroforestry in the Taita Hills, Kenya, based on multitemporal airborne laser scanning data. Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki.
Mwangi Angela Wanjiku (2023). Development and quality evaluation of a functional food from cultured milk supplemented with baobab fruit pulp. Department of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition. University of Nairobi. Kenya.
Rose Njambi Kihungu (2023). Mapping Prosopis Juliflora Biomass in Taita Taveta County. Department of Geospatial. University of Nairobi. Kenya.
Viertola, Julia (2022). Livelihood Aspirations of Maasai Women Amid Systemic Change in Pastoralism. Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki.
Cardozo, Dahiana Rocio Gamarra (2022). Assessment of the spring resilience to drought under different landuse type in Taita Hills, Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Khan, Abdul Hadi Al Nafi (2022). Assessing the recharge areas and groundwater flow systems of the Taita Hill springs in Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Kihungu, Rose (2022). Mapping Prosopis juliflora Aboveground Biomass Using Remote Sensing in Taveta Sub-County, Kenya. Department of Geospatial and Space Technology, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Mulondo, Ivan (2022). Contribution of livestock bomas to nutrient pollution and microbial fecal contamination of aquatic systems, Taita-Taveta County, Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Mulualem kere (2022). Assessing of Forest Structure Using Earth Observation Data: A Case Study in Munessa Forest, Oromia Region, Ethiopia.
Belachew Tsehay Tarekegn (2022) Identification of degraded rangeland areas, and rehabilitation site analysis for feed specious growth: the case of Borana rangeland, Oromia region, Ethiopia.
Mwende, Bobsammy Munioki (2022). Comparative assessment of the impact of land cover change and climate variability on groundwater recharge - A remote sensing approach in Taita Hills catchment in Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Omuron, Oswald (2022). Greenhouse gas emissions from two prominent features of livestock managements systems: Waterpans and bomas in pastoral and agro-pastoral systems in Taita-Taveta County, Kenya. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.