Introduction
Xin Tao received the bachelor degree in Geographic Information System, double major in Economics, and the master degree in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing from Peking University, China. He received the Ph.D. degree in Geographical Sciences from the University of Maryland, USA. He was a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Geography, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA. He held a clinical appointment at SIM-UB. His research interests include forest disturbance mapping, the estimation of biogeophysical variables from satellite data, data fusion of satellite products, and scaling effect and scale transformation of biogeophysical variables.