Research Directions

Develop solutions for

Spatial Big Data Modeling

Identify needs and analyze for

Smart City Development

Spatial Big Data Modeling and Analytics

Spatial big data modeling and analytics are based on i) the emerging research topic of big data, especially spatial big data in the geographic information science (GIS) community, and ii) the related research accumulation in the areas of spatial, temporal and dynamic data modeling, and spatial analytics. Strategies for this research direction include:

identifying the needs and analytics for smart city development with dynamic urban data, heterogeneous and multi-resolution sources of spatial data;
creating spatial data models for an integrated indoor and outdoor environment; and
analyzing the urban mobility and dynamic behavior.

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Smart Positioning and Mobility

Navigation technologies are the core technologies to support a mobile internet, Location Based Services (LBS), and the Internet of things (IoT). Satellite based navigation systems (i.e. GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo), as the backbone of navigation technologies, have become the fundamental infrastructure for national security and economic growth. We develop GNSS positioning technologies such as multi-antenna GPS; evaluation & modeling of GPS positioning errors; development of technologies for landslide and structural monitoring; multi-sensor and map matching techniques for navigation in high-rise urban areas; intelligent transport information systems; location-based computing and services.

LSGI has conducted related research for 30+years.

The Navigation Laboratory has been established since 1999. Research on GNSS signal shadowing, GNSS multipath, and seamless positioning for urban positioning and navigation technologies has supported economic development, automatic and dynamic map generalization for vehicle navigation and multi-scale cartographic databases. We leverages with the Beidou, a satellite navigation system developed in China, which integrates with other navigation systems to improve navigation performance in urban areas. Research on smart positioning on land with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and signal opportunities has been actively carrying out. A public transport enquiry system has been developed for and adopted by the Transport Department since 2010.

Urban Sensing and Measurement

Research in this area includes urban heat island, urban atmosphere monitoring, urban hazard monitoring, urban utility and infrastructure monitoring and management, urban 3D mapping, and 3D modeling for urban applications. The research prospect for the future will include

(i) urban remote sensing for environmental monitoring and modeling, and hazard/deformation monitoring of urban infrastructures;

(ii) urban underground utility’s geophysical surveying, imaging and diagnosis, and the related theories, algorithm development and real-life applications, such as mapping of utility, leakage detection & diagnosis, void imaging;

(iii) advanced photogrammetric hardware and software systems for real-time 3D measurement of urban scenes;

(iv) more automated 3D/4D city modeling with a high level of details from multiple-source remote sensing datasets;

(v) facilitating the development of a spatial data infrastructure for smart city in Hong Kong;

(vi) artificial intelligence in remote sensing and urban application; and

(vii) modeling and mapping microclimatic conditions in urban areas including, wind flow, urban heat island effect; anthropogenic heat flux.

Planetary Remote Sensing Geodesy and Geo-dynamics

Planetary remote sensing has advanced our knowledge and understanding of the surface features, the physical phenomenon of the planetary objects in our solar system. The current and future research directions of our planetary mapping research stream include:

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(i) Planetary remote sensing techniques and new instrument technologies;
(ii) Planetary topographic mapping including photogrammetry, shape-from-shading, and laser altimetry;
(iii) Planetary geomorphological mapping based on AI and deep learning;
(iv) Mapping and characterization of planetary surfaces for optimized evaluation of potential landing sites to support future missions;
(v) Dynamical interaction between the solid Earth, oceans and atmosphere, El Nino; and
(vi) InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) for monitoring Earth surface deformation; precise determination of the geoid; space geodesy; sea-level change and impact assessment; applications of space geodetic techniques to study crustal deformation, atmospheric and environmental changes and the related natural hazards.