Dr Vahid Akbari

Lect in Artificial Intelligence/Data Sci

Computing Science and Mathematics - Division 4X6, Cottrell Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Dr Vahid Akbari

Contact details

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http://www.stir.ac.uk/people/vahidakbari

About me

I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Data Science/Artificial Intelligence at the University of Stirling. I received the Ph.D. degree in physics with a specialisation in radar remote sensing and data analytics from the UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway, in 2013.

Since 2014, I continued my research in radar remote sensing and machine learning as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the UiT—The Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, and the University of Stirling.

I have been a Visiting Scientist with the Signal Processing and Telecommunications Laboratory, Department of Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy, in 2011, and a Visiting Researcher with the German Geoscience Center (GFZ), Potsdom, Germany, in 2008.

I am also a Council Member of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc), U.K.

My primary research interests revolve around the intersection of radar remote sensing and statistical modelling/machine learning, with a particular focus on the applications in environmental monitoring.

My research interests lie at the intersection between machine learning and Earth Observation for environmental monitoring. Specifically, I have focused on the applications of Interferometric SAR (InSAR) for land subsidence monitoring and Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) for target detection, change detection, and land cover classification. Additionally, my work involves developing novel methods in machine learning, signal and Image processing, and data analytics for multidimensional SAR data. Furthermore, I am actively engaged in the field of big Earth data analytics with SAR for forestry, glaciology, and agriculture monitoring. In summary my research is focused on the following area:

•Artificial intelligence for Earth Observation (AI4EO)

•Big EO data analytics

•Advanced InSAR and PolSAR techniques for environmental monitoring.

I am a member of the Data Science and Intelligent Systems (DAIS) Earth and Planetary Observation Research Groups. I am also a member of the Stirling Vision and Image Processing Group (SVIP).

Award

RSPSoc 2020 - The President's Prize
Awarded for the best oral presentation at RSPSoc2020

RSPSoc 2023- The President's Prize
Awarded for the best oral presentation at RSPSoc2023

Community Contribution

Publication Chair and Board Member
https://www.rspsoc.org.uk/
Publications Committee Convener

Representative Member of the SAGES Research Theme
SAGES Administrator
https://sages.ac.uk/…lligence-esm-ai/

Consultancy

Monitoring biodiversity and soil health with AI and EO

Event / Presentation

Big Data Analytics with SAR for Forestry Applications
SAGES Administrator

Change detection in multilook polarimetric SAR imagery with hoteling lawley trace and determinant ratio test statistics
https://polinsar-biomass2023.esa.int/agenda/

Machine learning-based detection and mapping of water hyacinth growth cycles in Anzali international wetland using Sentinel-2 time series
https://www.rspsoc.org.uk/…er_16_Akbari.jpg

Multimodal remote sensing for monitoring water hyacinth
SAGES Administrator

Professional membership

Senior Member
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Supervision of Research Assistants

Coherent change detection algorithms in several polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data for deforestation mapping
University of Stirling

Hedgerow mapping and detection using deep learning methods in very high resolution remote sensing imagery
University of Stirling and University College Dublin (UCD)

An AI-based approach for improving brain tumor diagnosis from MRI images
University of Stirling

Deep learning techniques for vegetation mapping in multispectral drone imagery
University of Stirling

Heterogeneous change detection in SAR and optical Imagery
University of Stirling

Iceberg detection and characterisation in polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data
University of Stirling

Temporal convolutional neural network for the land cover and crop classification in multi-temporal synthetic aperture radar data
University of Stirling

Research projects (1)

Multimodal data analysis for monitoring invasive aquatic weeds in India
PI: Dr Savi Maharaj
Funded by: Royal Academy of Engineering
–

Outputs (42)

Conference Paper (published)

Monitoring temporal trends to assess infestation of water hyacinth in Lake Victoria using PolSAR

Isundwa F, Simpson M, Akbari V, Datta A, Nagendra P, Pranuthi G, Silva T, Srikanth R & Marino A (2024) Monitoring temporal trends to assess infestation of water hyacinth in Lake Victoria using PolSAR. In: EUSAR 2024; 15th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, Munich, 23.04.2024-26.04.2024. VDE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10659438

Conference Paper (unpublished)

Multitemporal multispectral drone imagery for water hyacinth mapping in Patancheru lake, Hyderabad, India

Akbari V, Datta A, Bhowmik D, Marino A, Kumar S, Rupavatharam S, Prabhu GN, Kleczkowski A, R. P. Sujeetha JA & Maharaj S (2022) Multitemporal multispectral drone imagery for water hyacinth mapping in Patancheru lake, Hyderabad, India. Bostater CR (Editor) & Neyt X (Editor) Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice, Coastal Waters, and Large Water Regions 2022, Berlin, Germany, 05.09.2022-08.09.2022. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2639004

Conference Paper (published)

Comparison of target detectors to identify icebergs in Quad- Polarimetric SAR Alos-2 images

Bailey J, Marino A & Akbari V (2021) Comparison of target detectors to identify icebergs in Quad- Polarimetric SAR Alos-2 images. In: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS, Brussels, Belgium, 11.07.2021-16.07.2021. Piscataway, NJ, USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. pp. 5223-5226. https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS47720.2021.9554230

Conference Paper (published)

Determining Iceberg Scattering Mechanisms in Greenland Using Quad Pol ALOS-2 SAR Data

Bailey J, Marino A & Akbari V (2021) Determining Iceberg Scattering Mechanisms in Greenland Using Quad Pol ALOS-2 SAR Data. In: 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS. IGARSS 2021 - 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Brussels, Belgium, 11.07.2021-16.07.2021. Piscataway, NJ, USA: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss47720.2021.9553540

Conference Paper (published)

Monitoring Aquatic Weeds In Indian Wetlands Using Multitemporal Remote Sensing Data With Machine Learning Techniques

Akbari V, Simpson M, Maharaj S, Marino A, Bhowmik D, Prabhu GN, Rupavatharam S, Datta A, Kleczkowski A & Sujeetha JARP (2021) Monitoring Aquatic Weeds In Indian Wetlands Using Multitemporal Remote Sensing Data With Machine Learning Techniques. In: 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS. International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), Belgium, 12.07.2021-16.07.2021. Piscataway, NJ, USA: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS47720.2021.9553207

Article

Assessment of land subsidence using interferometric synthetic aperture radar time series analysis and artificial neural network in a geospatial information system: case study of Rafsanjan Plain

Bagheri M, Dehghani M, Esmaeily A & Akbari V (2019) Assessment of land subsidence using interferometric synthetic aperture radar time series analysis and artificial neural network in a geospatial information system: case study of Rafsanjan Plain. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 13 (04), p. 1. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.jrs.13.044530

Article

Land cover changes detection in polarimetric SAR data using algebra, similarity and distance based methods

Najafi A, Hasanlou M & Akbari V (2017) Land cover changes detection in polarimetric SAR data using algebra, similarity and distance based methods. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-4/W4, pp. 195--200. https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLII-4-W4/195/2017/; https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-4-W4-195-2017

Conference Paper (published)

Subaperture analysis of polarimetric SAR data for iceberg detection

Akbari V, Doulgeris AP & Brekke C (2016) Subaperture analysis of polarimetric SAR data for iceberg detection. In: IGARSS 2016 - 2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Beijing, China, 10.07.2016-15.07.2016. New Jersey: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss.2016.7730480

Conference Paper (published)

The Hotelling-Lawley trace statistic for change detection in polarimetric SAR data under the complex Wishart distribution

Akbari V, Anfinsen SN, Doulgeris AP & Eltoft T (2014) The Hotelling-Lawley trace statistic for change detection in polarimetric SAR data under the complex Wishart distribution. In: IGARSS 2013 - 2013 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 21.07.2013-26.07.2013. New York: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss.2013.6723750

Conference Paper (published)

Automatic PolSAR segmentation with the u-distribution and Markov Random Fields

Doulgeris AP, Akbari V & Eltoft T (2012) Automatic PolSAR segmentation with the u-distribution and Markov Random Fields. In: EUSAR 2012; 9th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar, Nuremberg, 23.04.2012-26.04.2012. VDE, pp. 183-186. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6217009

Conference Paper (published)

Speckle reduction of SAR images using curvelet and wavelet transforms based on spatial features characteristics

Alioghli Fazel M, Homayouni S, Akbari V & Mahdian Pari M (2012) Speckle reduction of SAR images using curvelet and wavelet transforms based on spatial features characteristics. In: IGARSS 2012 - 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Munich, 22.07.2012-27.07.2012. New Jersey: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss.2012.6351078

Conference Paper (published)

A K-Wishart Markov random field model for clustering of polarimetric SAR imagery

Akbari V, Moser G, Doulgeris AP, Anfinsen SN, Eltoft T & Serpico SB (2011) A K-Wishart Markov random field model for clustering of polarimetric SAR imagery. In: IGARSS 2011 - 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 24.07.2011-29.07.2011. New Jersey: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss.2011.6049317

Teaching

•Deep Learning for Vision and NLP

•Radar Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring

•Systems

• Representing and Manipulating Data

•Machine Learning

I also supervise dissertations at honours, masters and PhD levels.

Teaching

Associate Fellowship of Advance HE
I hold Associate Fellowship of Advance HE

Research programmes

Research centres/groups