Center of Applied Remote Sensing and GIS

The Center of Applied Remote Sensing and GIS is one of the research centers of scientific specializations in the use and interpretation of visualization space and earth surface interpretation. This includes the task of developing educational and research capacity and the use of visualization and analysis of the space in order to take advantage of them in the areas of exploration and exploitation of natural resources and environment-related studies. The active research and development program of the center focuses on advancing the application of various geo-spatial technologies including remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The center also develops spatial-statistical analysis/modelling techniques to the environmental, agricultural and natural resource sciences and management.

Objectives

·        Education, training, preparation and rehabilitation specialists in the field of remote sensing and GIS including through the use of sophisticated software.

·        To develop and provide educational opportunities to individuals interested in computer aided analyses of remote sensing and spatial information data.

·        Enable researchers and students to conduct sophisticated analysis of spatial data with metadata, and access to the modeling for their case studied.

·        Provide scientific aid and technical consulting for all universities, corporations, and institutions, and contribute to addressing and resolving issues related to various scientific issues. This turns to develop the performance and improve achievements which gain the benefit to the society.

·        Preparing creative pioneers to have the ability to develop research plans in the applications of remote sensing and GIS of interest to the community and meet the required needs to directly reflect and offer solutions to current problems and future programs.

Projects

Trees Mapping and Identification in the Duhok District by Using WorldView-2 Imagery: 

ARS&GIS conducted a project in collaboration with the Directorate of Forestry in the Duhok Governorate to detect and map the spatial distribution of tree species in the Duhok district using remote sensing and GIS techniques. These projects with its results were presented at the "SPIE" Remote Sensing 2014 Conference entitled, "Object Based Technique for Delineating and Mapping 15 Tree Species using VHR WorldView-2 Imagery".

Supervising a Project of Updating the Cadastral Map of the Duhok Governorate: 

Most of the cadastral maps of the Duhok Governorate are old and belong to the year of 1932 with a coarse scale. Therefore, based on the modern era of utilizing advanced techniques, cadastral maps need to be converted from paper maps into digital maps, in order to deal with it in a proper, sufficient and advanced way. Such maps serve several directorates within the Duhok Governorate which provide efficient land information systems as well as determining the land category and the boundaries and ownership of the land parcels.

Area Estimation of Vegetation Coverage in the Duhok Governorate by Using Remote Sensing and GIS: 

Generally, monitoring and mapping of vegetation coverage are essential to have a healthy environment. Therefore, getting data and up-to-date information of vegetation statue with timely and consistent way, can be achieved by using modern technologies (remote sensing and GIS). The objective of this project is to estimate the ratio of vegetation coverage within the Duhok Governorate in 2014 by using remote sensing and GIS. The output of this project will serve several targets. It is going to be the first database provided to the KRG Ministry of Agricultural and Water Resources with a high level of accuracy. Moreover, this information is going to be used to have knowledge about the distribution of vegetation and how further plans could be prepared and how the vegetation must be distributed and where the plantation must be carried out.

Trees Mapping and Classification in Parts of the Amadiya District by Using Worldview-3 Imagery: 

This project is also conducted with the Directorate of Forestry in the Duhok Governorate. The very high resolution imagery worldview-3 with 30 cm is used in this project and a map of the classified trees was produced. This project is still under processing and will completed at the beginning of 2016.

Publications

2014

Yaseen T. Mustafa, Valentyn A. Tolpekin, and Alfred Stein, “Improvement of spatio-temporal growth estimates in heterogeneous forests using Gaussian Bayesian networks”, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 52, No. 8, pp. 4980 - 4991, 2014.

2014

Hindav N. Habeeb, Yaseen T. Mustafa, “High Spatial Resolution WorldView-2 Imagery for Mapping and Classification of Tree Species in Zawita Sub-district, Duhok, Kurdistan Region-Iraq”, Journal of University of Duhok, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2014.

2014

Nadhir Al-Ansari, Mawada Abdellatif, Saleh Zakaria, Yaseen T. Mustafa, Sven Knutsson, “Future Prospects for Macro Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) Technique in North East Iraq”, Journal of Water Resource and Protection, Vol. 6, No. 5, 2014.

2014

Mohamad J. Noori, Hussein H. Hassan, and Yaseen T. Mustafa, “Spatial estimation of rainfall distribution and its classication in Duhok Governorate using GIS”, Journal of Water Resource and Protection, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2014.

2014

Yaseen T. Mustafa, Hindav N. Habeeb. (2014) Object based technique for delineating and mapping 15 tree species using VHR WorldView-2 imagery. Proc. SPIE 9239, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology XVI, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 22-25 September 2014.

2013

Saleh Zakaria, Yaseen T. Mustafa, Diary A. Mohammed, Salahalddin Saeed Ali, Nadhir Al-Ansari, Sven Knutsson “Estimation of annual harvested runoff at Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan region of Iraq ”, Natural Science, Vol. 5, No. 12, 2013.

2013

Saleh Zakaria, Nadhir Al-Ansari, Yaseen T. Mustafa, M. D. J. Alshibli, Sven Knutsson “Macro Rain Water Harvesting Network to Estimate Annual Runoff at Koysinjaq (Koya) District, Kurdistan Region of Iraq”, Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 12, 2013.

2013

Saleh Zakaria, Nadhir Al-Ansari, Yaseen T. Mustafa, Sven Knutsson, Payman Suhbat Ahmad, Bahra Dhahir Ghafour “Rainwater Harvesting at Koysinjaq (Koya), Kurdistan Region, Iraq”, Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2013.

2013

Yaseen T. Mustafa, Mohamad J. Noori “Satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to assess changes in the water level in the Duhok dam”, International Journal of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2013.

2013

Yaseen T. Mustafa, “Satellite Remote Sensing for Spatio-Temporal Estimation of Leaf Area Index in Heterogeneous Forests”, International Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2013.

2013

Nadhir Al-Ansari, Saleh Zakaria, Yaseen T. Mustafa, Payman Suhbat Ahmad, Bahra Dhahir Ghafour, Sven Knutsson. (2013) Development of Water Resources in Koya City, Iraq. In First International Symposium on Urban Development, Erbil, Kurdistan region-Iraq, 16 December 2013, p. 104-114.

2012

Yaseen T. Mustafa, Rebar T. Ali, and Razwan M.S. NajmAldeen,“Monitoring and evaluating land cover change in the Duhok city, Kurdistan region-Iraq, by using remote sensing and GIS”, International Journal of Engineering Inventions, Vol. 1, No. 12, 2012.

2012

Yaseen T. Mustafa, Valentyn A. Tolpekin, and Alfred Stein, “Application of the Expectation Maximization Algorithm to Estimate Missing Values in Gaussian Bayesian Network Modeling for Forest Growth,” IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol. 50, pp. 1821-1831, 2012.

2012

Yaseen T. Mustafa. (2012) Spatio-temporal estimation of LAI in heterogeneous forests using satellite remote sensing. In 2 nd International conference on Climate Change & Social Issues, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 28-29 November 2012, p.104-114