The 17th ISDE International Lectures

ISDE International Lectures, organized by the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) are a series of online events which feature invited lectures by well-known international experts in the field of Digital Earth. The purpose of the events is to bring international scholars in the relevant research fields of Digital Earth together to exchange academic perspectives, share research results, and disseminate the most cutting-edge and authoritative concept of Digital Earth.

The 17th ISDE International Lectures

The 17th ISDE International Lectures, with the theme of “From Pixels to Policy: Advanced Remote Sensing and GeoAI for Environmental and Hazard Mapping”, will feature three speakers to offer insights into AI-driven flood inventory mapping, advanced SAR descriptors for land cover, and the integration of advanced remote sensing with deep learning for ecosystem monitoring. They will altogether demonstrate how GeoAI delivers precise, scalable approaches to environmental management and disaster risk reduction.

Theme: From Pixels to Policy: Advanced Remote Sensing and GeoAI for Environmental and Hazard Mapping

Date & Time:

8th September 2025, 10:00-11:30 PM (Vancouver Time)

9th September 2025, 1:00-2:30 PM (Beijing Time)

Organized by: International Society for Digital Earth

Supported by:

International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals

International Journal of Digital Earth

Big Earth Data

Invited Speakers:

Ali Jamali (Simon Fraser University, Canada)

Avik Bhattacharya (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India)

Armin Moghimi (Leibniz University Hannover, Germany)

Moderator:

Ali Jamali (Simon Fraser University, Canada)

Programme:

Vancouver Time, Local Evening
10:00-10:05	Welcome and Introduction
10:05-10:25	Topic: AI-Driven Flood Inventory Generation from Multi-Source Remote Sensing for Reliable Susceptibility Mapping Speaker: Armin Moghimi (Leibniz University Hannover, Germany)
10:25-10:45	Topic: Advanced SAR Descriptors for Land Cover Characterization Speaker: Avik Bhattacharya (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India)
10:45-11:05	Topic: Ecosystem and Environmental Monitoring Using Advanced Remote Sensing technologies Speaker: Ali Jamali (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
11:05-11:30	Group Photo and Q&A

Zoom Link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85364896630?pwd=kqhA3S4vguQ2JDfiK6MYMxMOzxBAzL.1

ID: 853 6489 6630, Password: 541315

Contact:

ISDE Secretariat (Email: isde@radi.ac.cn, Tel.: 86-10-82178912)

Short Bio of Invited Speakers:

Armin Moghimi

Leibniz University Hannover, Germany

K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Iran

Dr. Armin Moghimi earned both his M.Sc. degree in Photogrammetry Engineering (2015) and Ph.D. degree in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (2022) from the K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. During his Ph.D. studies, he was a guest scientist at the Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation (IPI), Leibniz University Hannover, Germany. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Ludwig Franzius Institute for Hydraulic, Estuarine and Coastal Engineering, within the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy at Leibniz University Hannover. In addition, he serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at K. N. Toosi University of Technology. Dr. Moghimi is also a Junior Editor for The Photogrammetric Record (Wiley Online Library). His research interests include deep learning, change detection, computer vision, remote sensing techniques, image registration, SAR image processing, LiDAR data processing, and machine learning.

Avik Bhattacharya

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

Prof. Avik Bhattacharya received the integrated M.Sc. degree in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, in 2000 and the Ph.D. degree in remote sensing image processing and analysis from Telecom ParisTech, Paris, France, and the Ariana Research Group, Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA), Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France, in 2007.

He is a Professor at the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (CSRE, IITB), Mumbai, India. Before joining IITB, he was a Canadian Government Research Fellow at the Canadian Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) in Ottawa, ON, Canada. He received the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada visiting scientist fellowship at the Canadian national laboratories from 2008 to 2011. His current research interests include SAR polarimetry, physics-informed AI for SAR data analysis, and applications of Radar Remote Sensing in Agriculture, Cryosphere, Urban, and Planetary studies.

Dr. Bhattacharya was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters (GRSL) from 2019 to 2023. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Remote Sensing, a Science Partner Journal (SPJ) and the IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society. He has been the Guest Editor for several special issues in IEEE GRSS journals. He is the Founding Chairperson of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) Chapter of the Bombay Section. In 2024, he was awarded the IEEE GRSS Regional Leader Award. He is an elected member of the IEEE GRSS Administrative Committee (2024–2026) and is the Vice President of Professional Activities. He leads the Microwave Remote Sensing Lab (www.mrslab.in) at CSRE, IITB.

Ali Jamali

Simon Fraser University, Canada

Dr. Ali Jamali received the Ph.D. degree in Geoinformatics from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia, in 2017. He is an experienced R&D researcher with a demonstrated history of developing cutting-edge solutions based on advanced algorithms. Notably, his pioneering work on using generative deep learning models for wetland mapping and vision transformers for ecological monitoring has resulted in high-impact publications and practical tools that support decision-making in environmental management. He is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with Simon Fraser University (SFU), Burnaby, BC, Canada. He has authored over forty peer-reviewed publications in top Journals, including groundbreaking studies on Blueberry Scorch Virus (BlScV) detection using UAV-based imaging and deep learning models. He is currently working on various projects with government and industry partners to translate cutting-edge research and development initiatives into operational solutions in agriculture and environmental sectors.

Moderator: