PolyU 85th Anniversary FCE Chair Professor Lecture Series: Where does Remote Sensing Belong: Technology, Science, AI, or …?

Abstract

The development of Earth observing and weather sensors onboard satellites since the second half of the 20th century allows remote sensing to progress to a global scale and provides data for civil, research, and military usages. At the turn of the 21st century, innovative sensor technologies, such as hyperspectral imaging, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and spaceborne radar, greatly advanced remote sensing. Today, remote sensing has become an essential tool for understanding the Earth and managing human-Earth interactions. By integrating with Geographic Information System (GIS), GPS, mobile mapping, Internet Technology and modern telecommunication technologies, remote sensing has contributed to the emergence of abundant geo-referenced information, creating a new geo-referenced “world”. How to process ever-increasing remote sensing and associated geospatial big data, has become a new challenge.

This talk will examine the interplay between remote sensing, image/signal processing, AI, computer vision, and how this interplay will likely shape the discipline of remote sensing. Three key science questions will be discussed, including: (1) Is remote sensing a technology, science, or something else? (2) Has recent development in AI re-shaped the field of remote sensing, and if so, how? and (3) Have there been any paradigm shifts in the remote sensing research? If so, how are they associated with research frontiers over time? Can we synthesize advances across those multiple frontiers to advance the remote sensing field?