I am an academic and researcher specializing in Remote Sensing, GIS, Geospatial AI, Earth Observation, and scientific programming.

I hold a PhD in Geography (Remote Sensing) from the University of Leicester and have more than 17 years of experience in GIS, remote sensing, research, programming, and university teaching.

My research combines satellite observations, GIS, machine learning, deep learning, and environmental modelling to investigate environmental and climate-related challenges.

I have contributed to international collaborative research, including Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies, with research published in journals including The Lancet and The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

My main research interests include:

• 🛰️ Remote Sensing & Earth Observation
• 🤖 Geospatial AI, Machine Learning & Deep Learning
• 🌡️ Climate & Environmental Monitoring
• 🌱 Vegetation & Drought Monitoring
• 🔥 Burned Areas & Land-Cover Change
• 💧 Hydrology & Water Resources
• 🏙️ Urban Growth & Land Surface Temperature
• 🐍 Geospatial Programming & Automation

A cooking and recipe platform designed to help people discover recipes, share food, and find meals based on ingredients they already have.

🌐 Live: flaavo.app · 📄 Project page: Azad77/flaavo-app

A Python package for geospatial and Land Surface Temperature (LST) applications.

📦 PyPI: pylst · 💻 Code: Azad77/pylst

Deep learning forecasts of vegetation health (EVI) from Sentinel-2 and TerraClimate data for Erbil, Duhok, Sulaymaniyah and Halabja.

Fully reproducible data and code for a study of how field-measurement error limits the validation of remotely sensed forest structure.

Google Earth Engine · ArcGIS · ArcPy · QGIS · PyQGIS · ENVI

Python · R · JavaScript

TensorFlow · PyTorch · Scikit-learn · Deep Learning · Time-Series Forecasting

Sentinel-2 · Landsat · MODIS · ERA5 · TerraClimate · GRACE

• Rasul, A., Balzter, H., Smith, C. (2015). Spatial variation of the daytime Surface Urban Cool Island during the dry season in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, from Landsat 8. Urban Climate, 14, 176–186. doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2015.09.001
• Rasul, A., Balzter, H., Smith, C., et al. (2017). A review on remote sensing of urban heat and cool islands. Land, 6(2), 38. doi:10.3390/land6020038
• Rasul, A., Balzter, H., Ibrahim, G., et al. (2018). Applying built-up and bare-soil indices from Landsat 8 to cities in dry climates. Land, 7(3), 81. doi:10.3390/land7030081
• Traore, M., Lee, M., Rasul, A., Balew, A. (2021). Assessment of land use/land cover changes and their impacts on land surface temperature in Bangui (the capital of Central African Republic). Environmental Challenges, 4, 100114. doi:10.1016/j.envc.2021.100114 · code
• Naghavi, M., et al. — GBD 2021 Causes of Death Collaborators (2024). Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021. The Lancet, 403, 2100–2132. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00367-2
• Ikuta, K., et al. — GBD 2019 Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators (2022). Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019. The Lancet, 400, 2221–2248. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02185-7

➡️ Full list: Google Scholar · ORCID · Scopus

• 🐍 Python for Researchers — Udemy course · YouTube playlist · code
• 🗺️ ArcPy for GIS automation — course code
• 🤖 Harnessing AI and Machine Learning for Geospatial Analysis — course outline
• ✍️ Blog: smartrs.hashnode.dev — tutorials on Python, PyQGIS and remote sensing

Open to research collaboration and student supervision in remote sensing, GIS and geospatial AI.

📧 azad.rasul@soran.edu.iq · 🌐 azad77.github.io/AzadRasul