Hawaii Standard Time (UTC/GMT -10 hours)
January 7th (Sunday), 2024 – Afternoon (PM)
Transforming Earth Observation Analytics: Advancements and Applications of Foundation Models in Remote Sensing – by Dr. Hamed Alemohammad, Director of the Center for Geospatial Analytics, Clark University
There is a rapid growth in developing foundation models for Earth observations (EO) including multi-modal models that combine inputs from various sensors in Earth orbit. These developments build on the success of deploying various supervised and semi-supervised techniques for EO in the last several years, and publication of a large number of benchmark datasets. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of these benchmarks and their successes. Next, I will review recent advancements in using transformer-based architectures and developing foundation models for EO. In conclusion, I will present the results from the Prithvi foundation model for various downstream tasks including cloud gap filling, flood mapping, land cover/crop type mapping, and burn scar detection.
Short papers – 8 min with Q&A
The Role of Earth Observation Image Analysis in Humanitarian Response – by Dr. Kasie Richards, American Red Cross Situational Awareness Lead
A discussion covering the growing need for EO analysis as the frequency of disasters and emergency response increases. With dialogue on the opportunities of EO image analysis in addressing decision support and situation awareness in humanitarian response, including present and future applications. Touching on the challenges in field adoption of EO, CV and other forward leaning research and technology.
Keynote speakers, authors of accepted papers, and members of the audience will have the opportunity to engage in discussions from a predefined set of topics, as well as questions posed by the audience during the event.
Bio: Dr. Kasie Richards has been working as a Senior Director, Situational Awareness & Decision Support Disaster Cycle Services at American National Red Cross, which is part of the Non-Profit & Charitable Organizations industry. She holds a Doctorate degree in Public Health, Community and Behavioral Health from the East Tennessee State University.
Bio: Dr. Hamed Alemohammad is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Geography and Director of the Center for Geospatial Analytics at Clark University. He is an interdisciplinary scientist with expertise in remote sensing, earth science, and artificial intelligence (AI). Hamed has been the PI for several projects focused on developing novel AI models for multispectral, microwave and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite observations. Prior to Clark University, Hamed was the Chief Data Scientist and Executive Director at Radiant Earth Foundation where he established and led the development of Radiant MLHub – the open-access repository for geospatial training data and AI models. He received his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from MIT.
