Biography

Welcome to my website! I am currently a doctoral student in the Earth System Modelling group at the Technical University of Munich, where I am supervised by Prof. Dr. Niklas Boers. I am also a doctoral reseracher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Previously, I was a research assistant at the Open Geographic Modeling and Simulation group at Nanjing Normal University, where I worked under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Min Chen.

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My research is driven by my passion for merging geospatial technologies🛰️, such as geoinformatics and remote sensing, with advanced data-driven approaches such as machine learning and deep learning🤖. I'm also interested in assessing the developed models beyond their accuracy, including generalisation, explainability, interpretability, and reproducibility. My overall goal is to use these interdisciplinary methodologies to explore and deepen our understanding of the interactions between human and Earth systems, contributing to their sustainability in the Anthropocene era🌍. My academic journey can be summarised in two main areas of focus: (1) examining sustainable urban environments at various scales, encompassing infrastructure and landscapes, in response to climate change, and (2) investigating the interactions between (human-influenced) forest ecosystems and climate impacts.

Please feel free to explore this website where you can find my Full CV, the latest news about my work💻, a list of my publications📑, as well as datasets and codes📀 that I have made available to the academic community.

Interests
  • Coupled Human and Natural Systems
  • Data-driven Modeling
  • GIS & Remote Sensing
Education

  • Doctoral student in Earth System Modeling, 2024 - Present

    Technical University of Munich, Germany

  • MSc in Geography, 2020 - 2023

    Nanjing Normal University, Jiangsu, China

  • BSc in Geography, 2016 - 2020

    Nantong University, Jiangsu, China

Latest News

2020-Present

  • [Aug. 29, 2024] 📑 Our paper "Collaboration between artificial intelligence and Earth science communities for mutual benefit" gets accepted to Nature Geoscience [IF 15.7, JCR Q1]. We outline the mutually beneficial relationship between AI and Earth sciences and propose an interdisciplinary field and community called AIXES to facilitate improvements between them. Prof. Min Chen and I co-led this work.
  • [Aug. 22, 2024] 🏆 I am awarded "Provincial Excellent Master’s Thesis" (Top 1%)
  • [Aug. 17, 2024] 📑 Our paper "Artificial intelligence for geoscience: Progress, challenges and perspectives" gets accepted to The Innovation [IF 33.2, JCR Q1].
  • [Aug. 13, 2024] 📑 Our paper "Assessment of Rooftop Photovoltaic Potential Considering Building Functions" gets accepted to Remote Sensing [IF 4.2, JCR Q1].
  • [Jul. 29, 2024] 📑 Our paper "An urban building use identification framework based on integrated remote sensing and social sensing data with spatial constraints" gets accepted to Geo-spatial Information Science [IF 4.4, JCR Q1].
  • [May 29, 2024] 📑 Our paper "A global catalog of Martian impact craters with actual boundaries and degradation states" gets accepted to International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation [IF 7.6, JCR Q1].
  • [Mar. 29, 2024] 📑 First-authored paper "Simultaneous extraction of spatial and attributional building information across large-scale urban landscapes from high-resolution satellite imagery" gets accepted to Sustainable Cities and Society [IF 11.7, JCR Q1].
  • [Feb. 8, 2024] 📑 Our paper "Power generation assessment of photovoltaic noise barriers across 52 major Chinese cities" [DOI] gets accepted to Applied Energy [IF 11.2, JCR Q1].
  • [Oct. 29, 2023] 📑 My recent work, "Multi-task deep learning for large-scale building detail extraction from high-resolution satellite imagery," is released at arXiv [DOI].
  • [Oct. 11, 2023] 📑 Our paper "Reproducing computational processes in service-based geo-simulation experiments" [DOI] gets accepted to International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation [IF 7.5, JCR Q1].
  • [Aug. 11, 2023] 📑 Our paper "Boundary delineator for Martian crater instances with geographic information and deep learning" [DOI] gets accepted to Remote Sensing [IF 5.0, JCR Q1].
  • [May 25, 2023] 📑 Our paper "Iterative integration of deep learning in hybrid Earth surface system modeling" [DOI] gets accepted to Nature Reviews Earth and Environment [IF 37.214, JCR Q1]. We propose a conceptual framework that iteratively integrates deep learning into hybrid Earth surface system modeling, and my supervisor Prof. Min Chen and I co-led this work.
  • [Apr. 23, 2023] 🏆 I receive the President's Scholarship for Postgraduates (Top 0.1%)
  • [Apr. 17, 2023] 🏆 As the only student representative of the college, I am recommended as a candidate for the "Star of Chinese Students' Self-improvement" scholarship
  • [Apr. 14, 2023] 📑 Our paper "Carbon mitigation potential afforded by rooftop photovoltaic in China" [DOI] gets accepted to Nature Communications [IF 17.694, JCR Q1].
  • [Mar. 31, 2023] 🏆 I am awarded the title of "Outstanding Graduates in Jiangsu Province" as the only candidate among Master's and PhD students in the School of Geography, and only 9 people in the whole university received the title! (Top 0.01%)
  • [Mar. 22, 2023] 📑 Our paper "Documentation strategy for facilitating the reproducibility of geo-simulation experiments" [DOI] gets accepted to Environmental Modelling & Software [IF 5.471, JCR Q1].
  • [Feb. 22, 2023] 📑 Our paper "GIScience can facilitate the development of solar cities for energy transition" [DOI] gets accepted to Advances in Applied Energy.
  • [Nov. 27, 2022] 📑 Our paper "Deep solar PV refiner: A detail-oriented deep learning network for refined segmentation of photovoltaic areas from satellite imagery" [DOI] gets accepted to International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation [IF 7.672, JCR Q1].
  • [Nov. 25, 2022] 🏆 I am awarded the title of Outstanding Graduate Student Pioneer as the only candidate among Master's and PhD students in the School of Geography, and only 10 people in the whole university received the title! (Top 0.01%)
  • [Nov. 15, 2022] 🏆 I receive the First-class Scholarship for Postgraduates (Top 1%)
  • [Sept. 30, 2022] 📑 Our paper "Improving the performance of automated rooftop extraction through geospatial stratified and optimized sampling" [DOI] gets accepted to Remote Sensing [IF 5.349, JCR Q1].
  • [Sept. 30, 2022] 🏆 I receive the National Scholarship for Postgraduates (Top 0.1%)
  • [Aug. 16, 2022] 📑 First-authored paper "Vectorized dataset of roadside noise barriers in China using street view imagery" [DOI] gets accepted to Earth System Science Data [IF 11.815, JCR Q1].
  • [Jun. 30, 2022] 📑 Our paper "Quantifying the photovoltaic potential of highways in China" [DOI] gets accepted to Applied Energy [IF 11.446, JCR Q1].
  • [Jan. 12, 2022] 📑 Our paper "Vectorized rooftop area data for 90 cities in China" [DOI] gets accepted to Scientific Data [IF 8.501, JCR Q1].
  • [Jan. 9, 2022] 📑 First-authored paper "Deep Roof Refiner: A detail-oriented deep learning network for refined delineation of roof structure lines using satellite imagery" [DOI] gets accepted to International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation [IF 7.672, JCR Q1].
  • [Dec. 20, 2021] 📑 Our paper "Using street view images to identify road noise barriers with ensemble classification model and geospatial analysis" [DOI] gets accepted to Sustainable Cities and Society [IF 10.696, JCR Q1].
  • [Nov. 29, 2021] 🏆 I am awarded the title of Outstanding Student Leaders in University for Postgraduates (Top 1%)
  • [Oct. 28, 2021] 🏆 I receive the First-class Scholarship for Postgraduates (Top 3%)
  • [Sept. 10, 2021] 🏆 My graduate thesis is awarded "Excellent Graduation Design (Thesis) in Jiangsu Province for Undergraduates" (Top 1%)
  • [Jul. 29, 2021] 🎯 I am selected to join the Datawhale Open Source Project Management Committee, an organization that popularizes data science.
  • [Dec. 27, 2020] 🏆 I organize a team to participate in the China Graduate Student Mathematical Modeling Competition and win the second prize (Top 5%)
  • [Nov. 10, 2020] 🏆 My graduate thesis is awarded "Excellent Graduation Thesis of Surveying and Mapping in Jiangsu Province for Undergraduates" (Top 1%)
  • [Oct. 21, 2020] 🏆 I receive the First-class Scholarship for Postgraduates (Top 3%)
  • [Sept. 16, 2020] 🎯 I join OpenGMS lab in NNU as a master student, supervised by Prof. Min Chen.
  • [Jul. 28, 2020] 📑 First-authored paper “Identification of urban functional areas by coupling satellite images and taxi GPS trajectories” [DOI] get accepted to Remote Sensing [IF 5.349, JCR Q1].
  • [Jun. 14, 2020] 🎯 I graduate from Nantong University and give a graduation speech as the only representative of the whole graduates.
  • [Mar. 15, 2020] 📑 First-authored paper "Cluster-based extraction method of entrances and exits in AOI" [DOI] get published to Geography and Geo-Information Science [in Chinese, Chinese Core Journals].

Selected Publications

All publications are available via my Google Scholar profile.

Collaboration between artificial intelligence and Earth science communities for mutual benefit
Artificial intelligence is rapidly being integrated into Earth science, but how Earth science may benefit artificial intelligence has been overlooked. We call for mutual balancing between the two disciplines and improving cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Min Chen, Zhen Qian, Niklas Boers, Felix Creutzig, Gustau Camps-Valls, Klaus Hubacek, Christophe Claramunt, John P. Wilson, Stefano Nativi, Anthony J. Jakeman, R. Dietmar Müller, Michael Batty, Chenghu Zhou, Fahu Chen, Qiao Wang, Fan Zhang, C. Michael Barton, Josef Strobl, Michael Meadows, Carlo Ratti, Philipp Hess, Qingsong Xu, Zhixin Zhang, Qiushi Gu, A-Xing Zhu, Hui Lin, Linwang Yuan, Guonian Lü
Collaboration between artificial intelligence and Earth science communities for mutual benefit
Simultaneous extraction of spatial and attributional building information across large-scale urban landscapes from high-resolution satellite imagery
To conduct a thorough examination of building infrastructure and develop a deeper understanding of human-urban dynamics, this study introduced a multi-task network, MT-BR, to extract unified building information. This study proposed a method for selecting representative samples for robust network training that considers both their location and the features of the urban environment they represent, so that they can be used effectively across large urban landscapes.
Zhen Qian, Min Chen, Zhuo Sun, Fan Zhang, Qingsong Xu, Jinzhao Guo, Zhiwei Xie, Zhixin Zhang
Simultaneous extraction of spatial and attributional building information across large-scale urban landscapes from high-resolution satellite imagery
Iterative integration of deep learning in hybrid Earth surface system modelling
Methods to integrate Earth system modelling (ESM) with deep learning offer promise for advancing understanding of Earth processes. This Perspective explores the development and applications of hybrid Earth system modelling, a framework that integrates neural networks into ESM throughout the modelling lifecycle.
Min Chen, Zhen Qian, Niklas Boers, Anthony J. Jakeman, Albert J. Kettner, Martin Brandt, Mei-Po Kwan, Michael Batty, Wenwen Li, Rui Zhu, Wei Luo, Daniel P. Ames, C. Michael Barton, Susan M. Cuddy, Sujan Koirala, Fan Zhang, Carlo Ratti, Jian Liu, Teng Zhong, Junzhi Liu, Yongning Wen, Songshan Yue, Zhiyi Zhu, Zhixin Zhang, Zhuo Sun, Jian Lin, Zaiyang Ma, Yuanqing He, Kai Xu, Chunxiao Zhang, Hui Lin, Guonian Lü
Iterative integration of deep learning in hybrid Earth surface system modelling
Vectorized dataset of roadside noise barriers in China using street view imagery
Roadside noise barriers (RNBs) are important urban infrastructures to ensure a city is liveable. This study provides the first reliable and nationwide vectorized RNB dataset with street view imagery in China. The generated RNB dataset is evaluated in terms of two aspects, i.e., the detection accuracy and the completeness and positional accuracy. The method is based on a developed geospatial artificial intelligence framework.
Zhen Qian, Min Chen, Yue Yang, Teng Zhong, Fan Zhang, Rui Zhu, Kai Zhang, Zhixin Zhang, Zhuo Sun, Peilong Ma, Guonian Lü, Yu Ye, Jinyue Yan
Vectorized dataset of roadside noise barriers in China using street view imagery
Vectorized rooftop area data for 90 cities in China
The first rooftop area dataset for 90 cities in China is of high quality and can be used for data support and decision-making that can facilitate sustainable urban development effectively.
Zhixin Zhang, Zhen Qian, Teng Zhong, Min Chen, Kai Zhang, Yue Yang, Rui Zhu, Fan Zhang, Haoran Zhang, Fangzhuo Zhou, Jianing Yu, Bingyue Zhang, Guonian Lü, Jinyue Yan
Vectorized rooftop area data for 90 cities in China
See all publications

Contact

  • zhen.qian@tum.de
  • 85521 Ottobrunn, Lise-Meitner-Straße 9-11, Munich, Bayern 85521