VU
Session Title:
GeoAI and multi-source Remote Sensing for conflict-affected cities: From damage assessment to urban recovery
Organized by:
Name | Affiliation | |
Dr.-Ing. Samer Karam | samer.karam@tu-darmstadt.de | Technical University of Darmstadt |
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorota Iwaszczuk | dorota.iwaszczuk@tu-darmstadt.de | Technical University of Darmstadt |
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mila Koeva | m.n.koeva@utwente.nl | University of Twente |
Focus:
Urban areas affected by conflict require reliable, multi-scale, and regularly updated geospatial information to support damage assessment, cultural heritage
documentation, infrastructure rehabilitation, recovery planning, and resilient reconstruction. This special session focuses on GeoAI and multi-source urban remote sensing approaches for mapping and analysing conflict-affected cities, covering the full spectrum from rapid damage assessment and destruction monitoring to long-term recovery and reconstruction. It welcomes contributions using optical and radar satellite imagery, SAR/InSAR, UAV LiDAR/photogrammetry, airborne and terrestrial/mobile LiDAR, street-level imagery, and 3D point clouds, as well as GeoAI, machine learning
and deep learning methods for physical and functional damage detection, change analysis, semantic segmentation, 3D reconstruction, recovery monitoring, uncertainty assessment, and decision-support workflows. Particular attention will be given to the connection between technical mapping outputs and practical reconstruction needs, including damaged buildings, transport infrastructure, archaeological and cultural heritage sites, and conflict-affected or data-scarce urban environments. By bringing together researchers working on Earth Observation, GeoAI, 3D documentation, cultural heritage, disaster/conflict mapping, and urban reconstruction, the session aims to highlight how urban remote sensing can support evidence-based, transparent, and resilient recovery in post-conflict contexts.