STREAM: Scalable Techniques for High-Resolution Elevation Analysis and Modeling

Speaker:	Professor Pankaj K. Agarwal
		Duke University

Title:		"STREAM: Scalable Techniques for High-Resolution
		 Elevation Analysis and Modeling"

Date:		Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Time:		4:30pm - 5:30pm

Venue:		Room 2404 (via lifts 17/18) HKUST

Abstract:

With recent advances in terrain-mapping technologies such as Laser
altimetry (LIDAR) and ground based laser scanning, millions of
georeferenced points can be acquired within short periods of time.
However, while acquiring and georeferencing the data has become extremely
efficient, transforming the resulting massive amounts of heterogeneous
data to useful information for different types of users and applications
is lagging behind, in large part because of the scarcity of robust,
efficient algorithms for terrain modeling and analysis that can handle
massive data sets acquired by different technologies and that can rapidly
detect and predict changes in the model as the new data is acquired.

This talk will review our on-going work on developing efficient algorithms
for terrain modeling and analysis that work with massive data sets. It
will focus on a memory-aware algorithm for computing contour maps and
river networks of a terrain that is too large to fit in main memory.


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Biography:

After earning his PhD in Computer Science from the Courant Institute of
Mathematical Sciences at New York University, Dr. Agarwal joined Duke
University in 1989 where he is now the RJR Nabisco Professor of Computer
Science. He was the Department Chair from 2004 to 2010. He also has an
appointment in the Department of Mathematics.

His research interests include geometric computing, spatial databases,
ecological modeling, geographic information systems, sensor networks,
computational molecular biology, and robotics.  A Sloan Fellow, an ACM
Fellow, and a National Young Investigator, he has authored four books and
more than three hundred research articles. He serves on the editorial
boards of a number of journals and on the advisory boards of several
institutes and centers.