Research Directions | AI-SMART Research Group

Research Directions

Connected questions. Complementary methods.

Students develop focused research projects across these interconnected areas, guided by scientific questions, data availability, and practical relevance.

01 / OBSERVE — Earth Observation & Remote Sensing

Use satellite observations to investigate changes in water storage, precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, snow, vegetation, and land cover.

• GRACE/GRACE-FO

• Satellite datasets

• Environmental change

02 / MODEL — Hydrology & Earth Systems

Study water balances, rainfall-runoff processes, recharge, storage change, and interactions between land, atmosphere, climate, and human activities.

• Water balance

• Land-surface models

• Recharge

03 / LEARN — Geospatial Artificial Intelligence

Develop and evaluate machine-learning approaches for downscaling, prediction, forecasting, spatial analysis, and transparent uncertainty assessment.

• Explainable AI

• Downscaling

• Uncertainty

04 / SUSTAIN — Groundwater & Agricultural Water

Examine groundwater depletion and recharge, irrigation demand, monitoring priorities, and opportunities for sustainable water management.

• Groundwater

• Irrigation

• Water security

05 / ANTICIPATE — Hydroclimatic Extremes & Risk

Investigate floods, droughts, extreme rainfall, heat, and wildfire-hydrology interactions to understand hazards and their consequences.

• Floods & droughts

• Extreme events

• Risk assessment

06 / ADAPT — Climate & Environmental Sustainability

Assess how climate and land-use changes affect water, ecosystems, agriculture, and communities, and explore adaptation strategies.

• Climate impacts

• Ecosystems

• Adaptation