Observing Urban Complexity with Spatial Big Data
Aiman Soliman, Ph.D, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
Thursday, April 7, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM, via Zoom (Meeting ID 873 9199 3197; Passcode 675358)
Urban environments are complex and organic systems. The dynamics in urban areas are governed by the decisions of numerous stakeholders acting according to different frames of reference. Urban centers are also hubs for producing big data from various activities, such as the use of mobile phones, social media, credit cards, etc. These big spatial data offer ways to observe the complex urban dynamics that were not available to urban planners before. However, big urban data are usually collected without predefined survey protocols, often lack structure, and are burdensome to integrate with more authoritative data sources. This talk will expand on strategies for using machine and deep learning methods to extract knowledge about urban systems beyond providing future predictions. Examples include using big data to examine the morphology of the urban fabric, understand the coupling between the social and physical components of urban environments, and analyze the collective social behavior.
Bio:
Aiman Soliman is a Research Scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) with interests in Spatial Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. Aiman has training in environmental science and remote sensing. After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Guelph, he joined a team funded by the European Space Agency to lead the production of temperature maps of the Arctic using images from Terra, Aqua, and Envisat satellites. At the University of Illinois, he focused on leveraging cyberinfrastructure and high-performance computing in developing social sensing products, including the first socio-economic data set of India at the village level published by NASA SEDAC. Currently, he is a Co-Investigator on several national projects that leverage Spatial Big Data in analyzing global change and monitoring the spread of infectious diseases. Aiman also is a practicing Data Scientist, where he works with NCSA’s industrial partners on developing data solutions in the energy, finance, and agriculture sectors. Many of his data solutions are currently in production.
Questions? Contact Dr. Sean Kennedy