资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Xiaoxiang Zhu of the Remote Sensing Technology Institute at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has been awarded the 30,000 euro Leopoldina Early Career Award 2018. The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina honours her for her outstanding achievements in satellite-based Earth observation, focused on mapping worldwide urbanisation and assessing natural hazards.
 
"At the age of 33, Professor Zhu is already an eminent and internationally renowned scientist in the field of mathematical signal processing techniques and Earth observation, with a focus on tracking urban areas and civil infrastructure. She has had an exceptional meteoric career so far," stated the jury. Xiaoxiang Zhu heads the Earth Observation Data Science Department at the DLR site in Oberpfaffenhohen. She is also a professor at the Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering at the Technical University of Munich. Zhu joined the faculty in 2015, becoming one of the youngest professors in Germany at the age of 30.

As part of her research, the DLR scientist maps cities using satellite-based Earth observation. Climate change and urbanisation are among the most severe challenges faced by our planet. Satellite data is evaluated in order to track such developments. Zhu has developed new radar techniques and algorithms for this purpose, and supplements this data with information from social networks. In order to analyse large quantities of data from such a vast array of sources, Zhu uses machine learning with deep neural networks to automatically detect and evaluate images. This work has made Zhu a pioneer in the field of deep learning applied to Earth observation.

Zhu will be presented with the Early Career Award 2018 at the Leopoldina annual assembly, which will take place in Halle (Saale) on 21 September 2018. The award is sponsored by the Commerzbank Foundation.