Qihao Weng

Weng grew up in Fuzhou, a city in the southeastern coast of China. He received his undergraduate education in Geography from Minjiang University in 1984. After working as a middle school teacher for three years, he went to Guangzhou, studied and received a master's degree from South China Normal University in Physical Geography in 1990. In 1993, he came to the United States, obtained another master's degree from the University of Arizona in Geography in 1996, and finally, a PhD in Geography from the University of Georgia in 1999. His dissertation focused on the environmental impacts of land use and land cover change under the influence of rapid industrialization and urbanization.[1] By using the Pearl River Delta of southern China as an example, his research examined the impacts of China's economic reform policy (since the late 1970s) on environmental and ecological processes.[2][3] He approached this problem through an integrated approach of remote sensing, GIS, and spatial environmental modeling by utilizing satellite images, existing maps, statistics, and field survey data.[4]

In 1999, Weng began teaching and researching at the University of Alabama. He successfully secured funding from the National Geographic Society to study Guangzhou's urban growth and its impact on local climate and air quality,[5] and to model and monitor urban heat islands using satellite temperature measurements.[6]

In 2001, he was appointed as a tenure-track assistant professor of geography at Indiana State University, becoming a tenured associate professor in 2005, and full professor in 2009. He was a National Director of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 2007–2010, representing the Western Great Lakes Region.

From December 2008 to December 2009, he worked at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as a senior fellow. Some of his research has focused on urbanization effects on climate and surface energy balance.[7]

In 2019, he was awarded a fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under the "JSPS Invitational Fellowships for Research in Japan" (Short-term S[E]).[8] He worked at Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, the University of Tsukuba.

He started to work at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in July 2021 as a Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence, and was awarded a Global STEM Professorship.[9]

Weng's work focuses on remote sensing applications to urban environmental and ecological systems, land-use and land-cover changes, urbanization impacts, spatial environmental modeling, and human-environment interactions.[10] Through a serial invention of innovative algorithms, techniques, methods, and theories for urban remote sensing, his research fosters the science and technology of remote sensing and satellite imaging in geographical and environmental applications.[10]

He pioneered the development of novel models and methods to derive consistent biophysical parameters (including land surface temperature,[11] vegetation index,[12] impervious surfaces,[13] and land use and land cover[14] maps) from temporally irregularly-distributed satellite images, by fusing the strengths of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites,[15][16] and utilizing nighttime light imaging technology.[17][18][19] These parameters are then used to explore long-term urbanization processes,[20] environmental impacts of urbanization,[14] and human-environment interactions in different geographical settings and stages from a local to a global scope.[21][22][23]

His 2004 paper, Estimation of land surface temperature–vegetation abundance relationship for urban heat island studies,[24] developed a methodology for estimating land surface temperature with satellite-derived measures of vegetation that has become a core technique for those investigating urban climates.[25] Weng's seminal research on urban heat islands, landscape effects on land surface temperature, and urbanization processes opened a critical new frontier towards understanding and measuring novel environmental risks in rapidly growing urban regions.[25] His research has also demonstrated that urban sprawl and warming are not an isolated phenomenon, but instead are coupled with other risk factors, such as infectious diseases.[25]

Urban environments pose theoretical and technical challenges for many types of climate observations. For remote sensing methods to realize their potential as a tool to improve our ability to monitor these environments in a regular and routine manner requires detailed understanding of urban surface-atmosphere interactions, coupled with methods development.[26] Prof. Weng’s research has helped to bridge this gap between urban climate science and urban remote sensing. His work has incorporated atmospheric numerical modeling in urban thermal analysis,[27] modeled anthropogenic heat flux using remote sensing,[28] and incorporated dual[29] and triple-source energy balance models[30] to extract the fundamental surface energy balance fluxes that drive atmospheric processes in urban environments. These are the types of techniques required to develop a remote-sensing based approach that can provide better outputs to address the important themes of climate, health, energy use, hydrology and hazards assessments in urban areas.

• 2021 - Foreign Member, Academia Europaea (i.e., The Academy of Europe).[31]
• 2021 - Fellow, American Association of Geographers (AAG).[31]
• 2021 - Fellow, Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA).[32]
• 2020 - Fellow, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).[33]
• 2020 - AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors, American Association of Geographers (AAG).[25]
• 2019 - Invitational Fellowships for Research in Japan (Short-term S[E]), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.[34]
• 2019 - Taylor & Francis Lifetime Achievement Award.[35]
• 2019 - Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).[36]
• 2018 - Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).[37]
• 2018 - Notable Alumnus of Minjiang University: received the title of Notable Alumnus and gave a speech representing the alumni at the university's 60th anniversary celebration, Oct 28, 2018.[38]
• 2015 - Willard and Ruby S. Miller Award, American Association of Geographers (AAG).[39][40]
• 2011 - Outstanding Contributions Award in Remote Sensing, American Association of Geographers (AAG).[41][42]
• 2008 - Senior Fellowship Award, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.[43]

• Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association