Efforts towards Large Scale Monitoring of Glacial Lakes & Potential GLOFs in HKH

Efforts towards Large Scale Monitoring of Glacial Lakes & Potential GLOFs in HKH

Webinar Speaker:

Dr. Adnan Siddique
Remote Sensing & Spatial Analytics (RSA)
Information Technology University of the Punjab (ITU)

About the Webinar

This webinar will introduce a new “local focus area” in the GRSS REACT, namely Cryosphere and related hazards in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH). There is a growing threat of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the wake of warming over the HKH in general. Around 2420 glacial lakes have been identified in the HKH part in Pakistan. Depending on the volume and size of an ice or moraine-dammed glacial lake, temperature and precipitation, and geomorphological parameters of the terrain, mechanical failures may cause breach in its wall. Consequently, a sudden discharge of millions of cubic meters of meltwater and debris can occur in a short time interval, with catastrophic impact on the socioeconomic life of the downstream communities. The webinar explores the use of machine learning in this context. The work is targeted at developing algorithm(s) to detect/classify glaciers & glacial lakes using imagery from spaceborne radar as well as optical sensors, estimation of surface velocity over glaciers, and in the ongoing run aiding the development of an explainable AI tool that computes the GLOF hazard potential of a glacier.

About the Speaker

Dr. Muhammad Adnan Siddique received the B.E. degree in electronics engineering from the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan in 2006 and the European Master of Research in Information and Communications Technology (MERIT) joint degree from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany and Universitat Politecnica de Cataluyna (UPC), Spain. He did PhD/post-doc at the Chair of Earth Observation & Remote Sensing, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, from 2013 – 2018. He joined the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES) in 2019, and spent two semesters there as an Assistant Professor before moving to ITU in June 2020.

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