Azad Rasul

AZAD RASUL Phone: +9647507358574 Email: [email protected]

SUMMARY Experienced Assistant Professor of Remote Sensing and GIS with over 15 years of experience teaching and conducting research. Developed four remote sensing indices that have been used by over 200 researchers, proficient in data handling, coding, and technical report writing. Strong problem-solving skills, with a history of impactful research publications. Skilled in curriculum enhancement and student engagement. Seeking opportunities in the fields of remote sensing, GIS, or climate research.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Assistant Professor of Remote Sensing Soran University, Soran, Erbil, Iraq | 2010 Mar– Present

Successfully revamped department lectures and syllabus, leading to heightened student engagement and improved learning outcomes.
Instructed postgraduate and undergraduate courses in Applied Programming in Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing, Climate, and Applied Climatology.
Supervised ongoing PhD projects (2 PhD projects on water monitoring), completed 2 PhD who have published their research in top journals, and Master projects (3 related to precipitation, temperature, and water).
Formulated the Soil Moisture and Evapotranspiration Revealed Drought Index.
Project Assistant (part-time) University of Leicester and Copernicus Global Land Service | 2016 Nov – 2020 Mar

Assessed quality of global burned area product.
Utilized data handling and coding skills in Google Earth Engine, producing technical reports.
PhD Student Researcher University of Leicester | 2013 Sep – 2016 Dec

Devised three remote sensing indices (Dry Built-up Index, Dry Bare-soil Index, Normalized Ratio Scale).
Published four high-impact papers from thesis in renowned journals.
EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Remote Sensing and Geography University of Leicester, Leicester, UK | 2016 Sep

Relevant Coursework: Remote Sensing, GIS, R programming
Master Geography – Climate Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Luhansk, Ukraine | 2009 Jun

Relevant Coursework: Computer Technology in Science and Education, Thematic Cartography, Natural Resource Management
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Geography Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq | Jul 2000

Relevant Coursework: Geographical Statistics, Cartography, Remote Sensing, Agricultural Geography
HONORS AND AWARDS

HCDP PhD Scholarship: Full scholarship awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research – KRG – Iraq in 2012 October.
Acknowledgement and appreciation: Recognized by the President of Soran University for outstanding academic performance in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
SKILLS

Languages: English, Arabic, Russian, Kurdish.
Proficient in Google Earth Engine, ENVI, QGIS, GeoServer, ArcGIS, Python, and R.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent technical document and operational procedure creation.
Demonstrated cross-functional thinking and process validation abilities.
LICENCES AND CERTIFICATIONS

Remote Sensing of Coastal Ecosystems, NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training Program, 2020 Oct.
Understanding Phenology with Remote Sensing, NASA’s ARSET, 2020 Aug.
Using Earth Observations to Monitor Water Budgets for River Basin Management, NASA ARSET,  2020 Aug.
2nd ESA Advanced Training Course on Atmospheric Remote Sensing, European Space Agency, 2014 Oct.
Forest Mapping and Monitoring with SAR Data, NASA’s ARSET, 2020 May.
CONFERENCES

RSPSoc 2020 Virtual Conference ‘Measure the World’, 2020 Sep.
Virtual Symposium on Climatological, Meteorological and Environmental Factors in the COVID-19 Pandemic, World Meteorological Organization, 2020 Aug.
First Conference on GIS and Remote Sensing, Soran University, Iraq, 2019 Oct.
RSPSoc Annual Conference, Nottingham, UK, 2016 Sep.
9th International Conference on Urban Climate, Toulouse, France, 2015 Jul.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

GBD Collaborator at Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation – University of Washington.
International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
PUBLICATIONS

Published over 30 research articles in prestigious journals, including Lancet (Impact Factor: 202.7), Lancet Public Health (Impact Factor: 72.4), Urban Climate (Impact Factor: 6.66), and Environment, Development and Sustainability (Impact Factor: 4.08). Notable publications include:
“Global mortality associated with 33 bacterial pathogens in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019” – Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02185-7
” Effect of air pollution on disease burden, mortality, and life expectancy in North Africa and the Middle East: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019″ – Lancet Planetary Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00053-0
“Improving Crop Classification Accuracy with Integrated Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data” – Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41651-023-00152-2
“Applying Built-Up and Bare-Soil Indices from Landsat 8 to Cities in Dry Climates”- Land. https://doi.org/10.3390/land7030081
“Spatial Variation of the Daytime Surface Urban Cool Island During the Dry Season in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, from Landsat 8” – Urban Climate. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2015.09.001
PERSONAL WEBSITE

SmartRS Blog