Welcome to the introduction of My Past and Current Projects By mastering concepts from Geoinformatics, remote sensing, and computer science, I address highly interdisciplinary topics in different projects.
Exploring ecosystem stability and critical transitions using satellite images
My M.Sc. project:
The focus of my M.Sc. research was on assessing ecosystem stability and critical transition using time series of satellite images. I quantified the signals obtained from satellite images through the ecosystem trajectories, and explored the impact of disturbances (e.g., climate change and land use change). I examined energy flow across basins using the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model. Energy flow is an important parameter for different proceses such as biophysical and biogeochemical cycles.
The danger of tree invoked powerline damage:
One million euro project funded by European Space Agency
Roads, construction sites, and unauthorized structures near or under electricity networks may cause hazards and potential risks to the powerlines. In this project, I have used very high resolution optical satellite images (e.g., Pléiades and SkySat), along with Sentinel-1 data (SAR) and airborne data (LIDAR), to estimate the danger of tree invoked power line damage. I have calculated tree heights, tree distance to powerlines, vegetation health, and the impact of disasters on powerlines.
Radar data for monitoring afforested areas
Optical satellite data allows to monitor the state of forests. However, availability of optical data can be challenging in some areas such as rainforests due to cloud coverage. Radar data is independent from solar illumination, clouds, haze, and rain. Therefore, it provides gap-free data for different purposes, such as vegetation mapping. I have created a web application that automatically generates the Radar Vegetation Index for monitoring afforested areas. You can freely try the web application to monitor the state of vegetation in a small study site:
Forests are critical in regulating climate by altering the Earth's surface albedo. Therefore, there is an urgent need to enhance our knowledge about the effects of forest structure on albedo. In this web application, I presented a global assessment of the links between forest structure and albedo at a 1-km spatial resolution using generalized additive models (GAMs). I used remotely sensed data to obtain variables representing forest structure, including forest density, leaf area index, and tree cover, during the peak growing season in 2005 with pure forest pixels that cover ~7% of the Earth's surface:
The mission of the HEDIMED project is to find out prevention of immune-mediated diseases, including type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, asthma, and allergies. The project is developed by 22 partners (including 11 universities). HEDIMED aims to identify the environmental exposures contributing to the development of the abovementioned diseases. My contribution in this project is to provide high quality remotely sensed data of environmental factors.
Smart cities, urban planning, and sustainable developement
The climate change will eventually alter the life in urban areas in the upcoming decades. Green buildings are structures that can cope the negative impacts on climate change on the environment by regulating the local climate. One of the challenges in green building development is the lack of data that represents their role in climate system in terms of climate. Remote sensing helps to establish a common and standardized way to monitor green buildings. In this project, my role was to provide data on air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), using TROPOMI data from Sentinel-5P. I demonstrated how green buildings can influence local air quality, utilizing these observations to highlight their potential in reducing pollution.
Mapping potentials for reforestation
Forest Regeneration for Climate Adaptation on a global scale
This project focuses on the critical role of forest regeneration in mitigating the local warming. By examining how future forest regeneration efforts influence local climates, I work to quantify the benefits of regenerating forests in cooling local temperatures. Using remote sensing and spatial data analysis, we evaluate the impact of regenerated forests on climate regulation, which can help to provide actionable insights for policymakers to prioritize forest regeneration as a strategy for climate adaptation.
Warming impact of deforestation in Tropical forests
Assessing Microclimate Changes at Ecologically Relevant Scales
This project (started in 2023) has been focusing on evaluating the warming effects of deforestation on near-ground air temperatures (microclimate) across tropical regions. By integrating over 290 in-situ microclimate measurements with satellite imagery and machine-learning models, we aim to quantify temperature changes due to deforestation from 2005 to 2023.
Econavigator
Exploring Vegetation’s Role in Temperature Control on a Global Scale
This project will start in 2025: The project explores the impact of future reforestation plans on temperature regulation and climate adaptation. Using remote sensing data from over 9,000 microclimate sensors worldwide, I analyze biophysical and biogeochemical processes that influence land-atmosphere interactions. My work contributes to improving climate models and designing strategies for sustainable forest management.
