Eduard Heijkoop

Remote sensing researcher focused on high-resolution DEMs and sea level rise impact on coastal communities.

Who I Am

I’m a satellite remote sensing researcher specializing in high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) and their application to sea level rise impact studies. My work bridges the gap between cutting-edge satellite geodesy and real-world coastal resilience planning.

I develop algorithms and pipelines using satellite and other geospatial data: combined spaceborne stereo imagery with laser altimetry to build high-resolution DEMs; radar imagery to detect flooding; using topography data to estimate flooding under current and future sea level scenarios. I’ve also collaborated with city and national officials in South America and Asia to help their urban planning efforts.

Education

  • PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder (2024)
  • MSc in Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology (2017)
  • BSc in Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology (2014)

Research Interests

  • High Resolution DEM Generation : building high resolution topography using SETSM and CARS
  • Sea Level Change-Driven Inundation Modeling : static bathtub and hydrodynamic flood models
  • Geospatial Machine Learning : building detection from satellite imagery and improving global DEMs with ML
  • Coastal Vulnerability Assessment : population, infrastructure, and economic exposure
  • Algorithm Development : in Python, GDAL, and cloud-native geospatial platforms (Google Earth Engine and STAC)

Background

I completed my doctoral research focused on generating globally consistent, high-accuracy elevation products for low-lying coastal zones. These regions — often below 2 m elevation — are critically vulnerable to sea level rise, yet are notoriously difficult to map accurately using traditional spaceborne sensors due to their low topographic relief.

My GitHub (EduardHeijkoop) hosts open-source tools for DEM processing, ICESat-2 analysis, and coastal flood exposure methods.

Tools & Technologies

Category Tools    
Languages Python, SQL, JavaScript, MATLAB, C, Fortran    
Geospatial GDAL, PDAL, Google Earth Engine, Rasterio, GeoPandas, Shapely    
Visualization Folium, Matplotlib, Seaborn, (Py)QGIS    
Computing Linux/Unix, HPCs, AWS S3/EC2    
Satellite Data Maxar/Vantor, Sentinel-1/-2, ICESat(-2), Landsat, GRACE(-FO), SWOT, GEDI    
<!– Remote Sensing Google Earth Engine, SNAP, ENVI –>

Selected Publications

  • Heijkoop, E. R., Willis, M. J., Nerem, R. S. & Smith, B. E., Validation of ICESat-2 Laser Altimetry over the Bolivian Salar de Uyuni. Geophysical Research Letters (in review).
  • Johnson, J. Heijkoop, E. R., Tiampo, K. F., Willis, M. J. & Nerem, R. S., Quantifying Combined Impacts of Vertical Land Motion and Sea Level Rise on Urban Flood Risk: A Case Study of Lagos. Nature Sustainability (in review).
  • Heijkoop, E. R., Willis, M. J. & Nerem, R. S., Accuracy Improvement of High Resolution Digital Surface Models with ICESat-2 Laser Altimetry. Earth Observation (in prep).
  • Heijkoop, E. R., Willis, M. J., Tiampo, K. F. & Nerem, R. S., Improved Projections of Inundation Scenarios due to Future Sea Level Change with High Resolution Digital Surface Models. Remote Sensing of Environment (in prep).
  • Hamlington, B. D., Adams, K., Blackwood, C., Buzzanga, B., Cullather, R., Earlie, C., Heijkoop, E. R., Karnauskas, K. B., Kopp, R., Larour, E., Lee, T., Nerem, R. S., Nowicki, S., Piecuch, C. G., Ray, R., Rodriguez, A., Rounce, D., Thompson, P., Tripathi, A., Vinogradova, N., Wang, O. & Willis, M. J., Assessment of Timelines for Future Sea Level Rise and Associated Impacts for Kirbati. N-SLCT-2024-02 Technical Report (2024).
  • Adams, K., Blackwood, C., Cullather, R., Hamlington, B. D., Heijkoop, E. R., Karnauskas, K. B., Kopp, R., Larour, E., Lee, T., Nerem, R. S., Nowicki, S., Piecuch, C. G., Ray, R., Rounce, D., Thompson, P., Vinogradova, N., Wang, O. & Willis, M. J., Assessment of Sea Level Rise and Associated Impacts for Tuvalu. N-SLCT-2023-01 Technical Report (2023).
  • Goossens, S., Fernandez Mora, A., Heijkoop, E. R. and Sabaka, T. J., Patched local lunar gravity solutions using GRAIL data. Earth and Space Science (2021).
  • Buzzanga, B., Heijkoop, E. R., Hamlington, B. D., Nerem, R. S. & Gardner, A., An Assessment of Regional ICESat-2 Sea-Level Trends. Geophysical Research Letters (2020).

Contact

Feel free to reach out via GitHub or LinkedIn. I’m always interested in collaborations around coastal remote sensing, DEM accuracy assessment, or sea level rise adaptation.