News

Two LSGI Scholars Grant RGC Research Fund 2023/24

We are delighted to announce that LSGI's scientific research capabilities have been duly recognized! Two projects led by LSGI scholars have been awarded funding from the Research Grant Council (RGC) Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) and Research Impact Fund (RIF) respectively in the 2023/2024 exercise. These two projects have received a total funding amount of HK$10.9 million. The primary goal of these funding is to act as a catalyst, motivating researchers to apply their studies towards the betterment of society. By supporting impactful and translational research projects, these funds encourage collaboration among academia, government, the business sector, industries, and research institutes. The funded CRF project, is led by Prof. Jianli CHEN, a professor in LSGI, with title "Multi-sensor monitoring, geophysical interpretation, and prediction of sea level rise in Hong Kong". This project aims to study the geophysical factors that contribute to sea level rise and develop a monitoring system to track sea level changes in different coastal areas of Hong Kong. Based on the research findings, the project aims to provide recommendations for coastal management and infrastructure planning to reduce the impact of rising sea levels. The funded RIF project, is led by Dr. Xintao LIU, an associate professor in LSGI, with title "An AI-enabled Geospatial Platform for Smart Facility Management and Smart Mobility of People with Disabilities". This project aims to introduce a dedicated smart mobility solution that will enhance the travel experience for people with disabilities and the elderly. By leveraging artificial intelligence and geospatial technologies, the project seeks to improve accessibility and inclusivity in transportation systems. The recognition of these two projects in the RGC research fund highlights LSGI's commitment to advancing geo-informatics technology and addressing societal concerns. We are pleased to witness our scholars translating scientific findings into tangible real-world applications, thereby providing impactful solutions that benefit society. Congratulations to Prof. Chen and Dr. Liu on these well-deserved recognitions!

The LSGI Student and Graduates Win Awards in AI x HK OpenCup 2023

We are proud to announce that a team of students and graduates from LSGI at PolyU was achieved the second runner-up and the Best Social Impact Award in AI x HK OpenCup 2023. This competition, organized by the Hong Kong Baptist University, encourages up-and-coming young talents to ideate innovative AI solutions for sustainable development in Hong Kong, with a focus on creating positive social impact and promoting sustainability within the community. The LSGI team, named “Forestree”, included Mr. CHAN Tze Chung, Mr. LAM Yik, and Mr. YU Kai Him Otto. Otto is currently an undergraduate student in LSGI, while the other two are graduates of our Higher Diploma programme. They are currently working on developing solutions to enhance urban forestry development using LiDAR, photogrammetry, and remote sensing techniques. In the contest, the team developed an AI-based tool for diagnosing tree defects, following the standards set by the Tree Management Office. This tool provides a user-friendly platform for the public to engage in tree management. For example, individuals can simply capture photos of damaged trees using their mobile devices and upload them to the system. By utilizing the database developed by the team, the system can analyze the tree photos and identify various tree problems, such as structural defects and management issues. This AI product, designed in accordance with local standards, is expected to enhance citizen engagement, improve the efficiency of tree management, and reduce the risk of tree collapse. To gain a better understanding of the team’s product, please watch the demonstration video here. Congratulations to the “Forestree” team on their achievements in AI x HK OpenCup 2023 !

LSGI Scholar Wins Award at the International Graduate Workshop on Geoinformatics (IGWG) 2023

Dr. Dabin XUE, a Postdoctoral Fellow of LSGI at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), recently received an Excellent Presentation Award at the International Graduate Workshop on Geoinformatics (IGWG) held in Wuhan, Mainland China from 17th to 19th December 2023. Dr. Xue is a Postdoc at the Micro-Laboratory of Atmospheric Research and Geomatics Engineering (Micro-LARGE) under the supervision of Prof. George LIU, Associate Head (Partnership) & Professor of LSGI. Dr. Xue completed a PhD degree earlier in 2023 from the Micro-LARGE, with joint supervision by Prof. Jian YANG at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen, Mainland China. The awarded presentation, titled "Space weather effects on aviation operation and related air traffic management solutions for mitigating these effects," provided a comprehensive overview of the impact of space weather on aviation operations. The presentation covered topics such as high-frequency communication blackouts, GNSS-based navigation and surveillance failures, and increased cosmic radiation. Additionally, Dr. Xue proposed solution methods to mitigate the effects of space weather on air transportation from an air traffic management perspective. Some of the presentation findings were based on the paper "Examining the economic costs of the 2003 Halloween storm effects on the Northern Hemisphere aviation using flight data in 2019," which was published in Space Weather in 2023. The paper has been selected as a Research Highlight in the Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. The annual IGWG event, jointly organized by the Wuhan University, Peking University, and PolyU, aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and research among postgraduates and early career scholars in the field of geo-informatics. The workshop provides participants with an opportunity to broaden their knowledge and establish meaningful connections with fellow researchers.

LSGI PhD Student Wins the First Place Award in United Nations-affiliated Big Data Hackathon Competition

We are delighted to announce that Mr. Songyang LI, a PhD student from the Remote Sensing Laboratory of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), won the First Place Award with his team at the UN Datathon China Division from 3rd to 6th November 2023. As a yearly global competition hosted by the United Nations Statistics Division, UN Datathon organized its first-ever China Division at the United Nations Global Platform for Big Data China Hub (UNBDC) in Hangzhou, Mainland China this year, which attracted nearly 100 teams from China's top universities, research institutions, and companies. Being the only finalist team from Hong Kong, Sustainable Roaming, consisting Mr. Li and his teammates from PolyU AMA and HKU, stood out from the top 12 teams in the final round with their project “China-Africa Cooperation: Shared Prosperity for Sustainable Development”. In an intense 3-day period, the team applied geospatial techniques and machine learning approaches to multi-source satellite datasets and World Bank open-access data to evaluate the impact and contribution of China-Africa cooperation projects to the sustainable development of African countries over the past two decades, particularly in the areas of socio-economic development, urbanization, food production, health care, and education. An online platform was built to illustrate the project distribution, progress, outcomes, and assessment results. The project exhibited great potential in offering technical support and decision-making recommendations for future Sino-foreign cooperation under the South-South cooperation framework and the Belt and Road Initiative. Congratulations to Songyang and his team on their achievements in the United Nations-affiliated Big Data Hackathon Competition!

LSGI Scholar Delivered a Presentation at The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships Community Leaders Sharing

On 19 December 2023, Prof. Qihao WENG, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence from LSGI at PolyU, was invited by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships to share his knowledge and insights on the topic of "Technological Innovations Enabling Sustainable Urban Development" at the Community Leaders Sharing session. The 21st century has witnessed the dawn of the "urban century," with cities experiencing continuous growth and escalating global challenges, such as waste disposal, air pollution, and water pollution. Public awareness of monitoring and managing urban areas has intensified due to concerns over global climate change. In light of this, Prof. Weng was invited to share the technological advancements that facilitate the monitoring of natural resources and urban assets, while effectively managing exposures to both natural and man-made risks. During the sharing session, Prof. Weng shed light on the application of Earth Observations (EO) methodologies and AI technologies in comprehending the causes, effects, and responses to environmental and societal challenges in cities and urban areas. By harnessing these technologies, Prof. Weng emphasized their potential to bring about substantial changes and advocate for positive transformations in urban environments. We are delighted to see Prof. Weng receiving positive comments. His insightful speeches and knowledge sharing left a lasting impression on the scholars in attendance. They were truly captivated by Prof. Weng’s words: Chrystal Chan: “Prof. Weng, thank you for sparing your precious time and sharing with us the latest technology in the field of geomatics and AI. It was truly eye-opening.” Rocky Chan: “Thank you for the detailed explanation of this popular issue on a more professional and technological foundation. I found it very inspiring!” Aviva Lau: “Thank you for giving us such an easy-to-understand presentation, especially for students like me who are not studying geography or AI.” Singh Niraj Kumar: “The presentation urged me to think about the burning issue of climate change. Every country should take action to mitigate the risk of climate change. Therefore, I thank you for your thought-provoking presentation.”

PolyU Joins BRICS Remote Sensing Satellites Data Application Project

The International Aerospace Forum, with the theme "Accelerating the Application of BRICS Satellite Data and Facilitating International Cooperation in Space and Space Information," took place in Wenchang, Hainan, Mainland China on 25th November 2023. As part of the forum, an expert seminar on the cooperation of satellite remote sensing data application was held, with notable attendees including Dr Guoping LI, Chief Engineer of the National Space Administration, Mr Xiaoming LIU, Governor of Hainan Province, Dr Yirong WU, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Dr Yaqiu JIN, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. PolyU, as one of the co-initiators of the 'Declaration on Cooperation in Data and Application based on BRICS Remote Sensing Satellites,' actively contributed to the project's promotion. In this regard, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Prof. Charles WONG, Associate Dean of FCE & Professor of LSGI, as a Member of the BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Project Team for the period spanning from November 2023 to November 2026. Additionally, the "BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation Data and Application Center (China)" was officially introduced on 21st November 2022. This milestone was followed by an announcement made during the 15th BRICS Leaders' Meeting on 23rd August 2023, where President XI Jinping emphasized China's reliance on the BRICS remote sensing satellite constellation to establish a "BRICS Global Remote Sensing Satellite Data and Application Cooperation Platform." This platform aims to provide data support for the advancement of agriculture, ecology, disaster reduction, and other areas in different countries.

LSGI PhD Student Wins the 2023 “Zhu Kezhen” Prize from the Hong Kong Meteorological Society

We are pleased to announce that Mr Yangzhao GONG, a PhD student at the Micro-Laboratory of Atmospheric Research and Geomatics Engineering (Micro-LARGE) led by Prof. George LIU, Associate Head (Partnership) & Professor of LSGI at PolyU, has been selected as the recipient of the “Zhu Kezhen” prize awarded by the Hong Kong Meteorological Society (HKMetS) in 2023. This prize recognises Mr Gong's outstanding work on assimilating satellite-based all-sky Near Infrared (NIR) Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) data into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. Notably, Mr. Gong is the third winner of the "Zhu Kezhen" prize from Prof. Liu's Micro-LARGE team. The assimilation of near-infrared water vapor data has long posed challenges due to the absence of an effective radiative transfer model for NIR radiance data assimilation. Additionally, effectively assimilating cloud-affected NIR water vapor data, which cannot penetrate clouds, is another critical problem. Mr. Gong and his supervisor Prof. Liu, in collaboration with two scientists from the Hong Kong Observatory, have become the first team in the world to successfully assimilate satellite-based NIR all-sky PWV data into NWP models. Their groundbreaking work has significantly advanced NWP performance in the global meteorological community. In particular, assimilating all-sky PWV data from Sentinel-3 satellites has improved rainfall forecast skill scores by 2.4%. In contrast, clear-sky PWV data assimilation only yields a 1.0% improvement. Furthermore, assimilating all-sky PWV data has substantially corrected the humidity forecast bias in NWP models, resulting in improved rainfall spatial patterns. The "Zhu Kezhen" prize is a prestigious award established by HKMetS, granted to no more than one outstanding paper in the field of meteorology each year. The prize-winning paper for 2023, titled "Assimilating Sentinel‐3 All‐Sky PWV Retrievals to Improve the WRF Forecasting Performance Over the South China," was published in the American Geophysical Union (AGU)'s "Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres" in 2023.This work received financial support from both the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) and the Emerging Frontier Area (EFA) scheme of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) at PolyU. Given the context of global warming and the anticipated increase in extreme weather events, assimilating satellite-based NIR all-sky PWV data will undoubtedly benefit the global community by enhancing NWP accuracy and reliability. Congratulations to Mr. Gong and his supervisor Prof. Liu on this remarkable achievement!

PolyU Successfully Hosts Workshop on GeoAI and Big Data for Urban, Environment, and Sustainability

The workshop on GeoAI and Big Data for Urban, Environment, and Sustainability, along with the Inauguration Ceremony for the Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics (RCAIG), was successfully held at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 9th and 10th December 2023. This two-day event brought together distinguished guests, speakers, and attendees to discuss the latest advancements in GeoAI and Big Data for sustainable urban development and celebrate the launch of RCAIG. The event was chaired by Prof. Qihao WENG, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence from LSGI at PolyU, and esteemed guests included Prof. Christopher CHAO, Director of PReCIT, Vice President (Research and Innovation) & Chair Professor of Thermal and Environmental Engineering at PolyU, Professor Peng GONG, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Development) & Chair Professor of Global Sustainability at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), Prof. Anthony G.O. YEH, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Chair Professor of Urban Planning at HKU, Prof. Charles WONG, Associate Dean (Teaching) of Faculty of Construction and Environment & Professor from LSGI at PolyU, Prof. Xiaoli DING, Director of Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) & Chair Professor of Geomatics from LSGI at PolyU, Dr. Xuanya LI, Director of University Relationship, Baidu, Inc., Mr. Cary BARCE, GIS Solution Manager, Esri China (Hong Kong) Limited, and Sr. Kwok Fai CHANG, Deputy Director of Survey & Mapping at Lands Department. The event served as a platform for interdisciplinary research, collaborations and knowledge exchange between researchers and industry professionals. It fostered a comprehensive approach to address the challenges and needs in urban development and environmental stewardship. Meanwhile, the RCAIG focuses on developing innovative AI research in geomatics and their applications to solve environmental and societal challenges. The success of the workshop, combined with the Inauguration Ceremony for RCAIG, demonstrated the commitment of PolyU and its partners to advancing research and innovation in the fields of AI and Geomatics.

Introducing the Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics (RCAIG)

We are pleased to announce the establishment of Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics (RCAIG) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), led by Prof. Qihao WENG, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence from LSGI. The inauguration ceremony of RCAIG, along with a workshop on GeoAI and Big Data for Urban, Environment, and Sustainability was successfully held on 9th and 10th December 2023 at PolyU. RCAIG is a collaborative centre comprising five academic departments: the Department of Land Surveying & Geo-Informatics (LSGI), the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), the Department of Computing (COMP), and the Department of Applied Mathematics (AMA), which belong to three faculties: the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), the Faculty of Engineering (FENG), and the Faculty of Science (FS).  By bringing together expertise and resources, RCAIG aims to fully utilize and expand the potential of the JC STEM Lab of Earth Observations. The centre focuses on developing original and innovative AI technologies in geomatics and their applications to address environmental and societal challenges. Its vision is to become a global R&D hub in GeoAI, providing a collaborative platform for PolyU researchers from various departments and faculties, facilitating their R&D efforts, and nurturing local talent. Additionally, RCAIG offers opportunities for dialogue with stakeholders in government, industry, and communities to promote knowledge transfer and cooperation. Furthermore, RCAIG aims to foster cross-fertilization of research ideas, facilitate knowledge transfer, and promote talent development in the fields of Geomatics and AI. It actively encourages interdisciplinary research to tackle critical challenges not only in Hong Kong but also in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and beyond. By enhancing Hong Kong's status as a global R&D center, RCAIG significantly contributes to the second major initiative of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA).   Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics (RCAIG) Centre Director: Prof. Qihao WENG, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence, the Department of Land Surveying & Geo-Informatics (LSGI) To find out more about RCAIG: https://rcaig.com

Visit by delegation from Hohai University (HHU)

A delegation from Hohai University (HHU), including Prof. Yang SHEN, Director of Academic Affairs Office, and Prof. Yiping LI, Director of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office, visited LSGI on 12th December 2023. The HHU team received a warm welcome from Prof. Wu CHEN, Head of LSGI, Prof. George LIU, Associate Head (Partnership), Dr Xintao LIU and Dr Guoqiang SHI, representing LSGI. During the visit, the two groups had a meeting and toured the Underground Utility Survey Laboratory. The visit aims to strengthen the partnership between LSGI and HHU, focusing on student exchange and talent training. It provides a platform for both institutions to foster a closer relationship and explore potential collaborations in academics and student affairs.