Gang Chen

Dr. Gang Chen is a Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). He leads the Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Environmental Change (LRSEC), established in 2012, which focuses on applying remote sensing and geospatial sciences for environmental management. His research interests include remote sensing technologies (LiDAR, hyperspectral imaging), environmental modeling, urban sustainability, forest disturbances, and machine learning applications in ecological studies.

Dr. Chen’s work emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, such as integrating multi-sensor remote sensing with species distribution modeling to assess forest disease impacts and developing AI-driven tools like UrbanWatch for high-resolution urban land cover mapping. He has advised numerous graduate students, including MA/PhD candidates focused on remote sensing applications in environmental disasters, urban ecology, and geospatial data analytics.

His research has been published in top-tier journals such as Remote Sensing of Environment (ranked #1 in remote sensing), Environmental Research Letters, and ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. He holds an Honors Faculty designation at UNCC until June 2030.

LRSEC collaborates on projects like UrbanWatch, providing free 1m-resolution land cover maps for 23 U.S. cities using deep learning algorithms. Current initiatives explore human-environment interactions, including the effects of small hydropower plants on Amazon deforestation and post-wildfire forest recovery patterns.