Contact Dr Abdou Khouakhi
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 754487
- Email: A.Khouakhi@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
- Google Scholar
Background
Dr Abdou Khouakhi obtained a PhD in coastal hazards and coastal vulnerability. His PhD integrated various satellite and aerial remote sensing data and spatial modelling to assess coastal erosion and flood risk and worked with stakeholders to develop measurable coastal sustainability indicators. He then worked as a Postdoctoral research scholar at the IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, The University of Iowa, the USA where he worked on extremes in weather and climate impacts such as extreme sea level/rainfall, temperature, tropical storms and their connection to climate harnessing data science approach and analytics. Before joining Cranfield, Abdou worked also as a research associate at Loughborough University, UK where he contributed to an EPSRC project on developing a real-time monitoring and early warning system for urban floods and water level monitoring, using a bespoke network of IoT wireless water sensors combined with machine learning.
Current activities
Dr Abdou Khouakhi is a Lecturer in Remote sensing at the Cranfield Environment Centre. His reasearch centres on understanding extreme climate hazards and their present and future impacts, focusing on their interconnectedness through systems-based approaches. For instance, I explore how these hazards affect population, soil, agriculture, ecology, and broader systems. My work integrates Earth observation, data science, AI, and climate model data to analyse these impacts.
I welcome discussions with researchers who may wish to collaborate to develop research proposals. I also welcome enquiries from prospective PhD and MSc students.
Teaching summary:
Abdou is an expert in satellite earth observation and geospatial data science, he leads three key modules at the intersection of technology and environment: Applied Earth Observation, Advanced GIS, and Real World Machine Learning. He also leads the Environmental Risks module, focusing on hazard assessment and management.
Beyond traditional coursework, Abdou develops and delivers specialised short courses tailored to professional needs, such as 'Earth Observation Data Science' and 'R for Hydrology.' His teaching portfolio spans a variety of courses within the Environmental programme.
As a mentor, Abdou has supervised a range of MSc theses, recent supervision topics include:
• Landscape-scale remote sensing techniques for conservation site monitoring.
• Estimation of agricultural crop coefficients and evapotranspiration using remote sensing.
• EO-based approaches for generating irrigated area maps to enhance water resources management.
• Investigations into the impacts of extreme weather on crop production.
• High-resolution thermal MWIR for vegetation analysis.
• Flash droughts, including drivers and mitigation strategies.
• InSAR and geospatial analyses for peat surface motion and carbon assessment
• EO for biodiversity monitoring on farmland, focusing on hedgerows
• Advanced SAR techniques for drought detection and monitoring.
• Flash Droughts detection from space
Clients
EPSRC
GCRF
NERC
HEIF
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Slater L, Coxon G, Brunner M, McMillan H, Yu L, .... (2024). Spatial sensitivity of river flooding to changes in climate and land cover through explainable AI. Earth's Future, 12(5)
- Knight C, Khouakhi A & Waine TW. (2024). The impact of weather patterns on inter-annual crop yield variability. Science of The Total Environment, 955
- Rawat A, Panigrahi N, Yadav B, Jadav K, Mohanty MP, .... (2023). Scaling up indigenous rainwater harvesting: a preliminary assessment in Rajasthan, India. Water, 15(11)
- Kim J, Khouakhi A, Corstanje R & Johnston ASA. (2023). Greater local cooling effects of trees across globally distributed urban green spaces. Science of The Total Environment, 911
- Yin J, Slater LJ, Khouakhi A, Yu L, Liu P, .... (2023). GTWS-MLrec: global terrestrial water storage reconstruction by machine learning from 1940 to present. Earth System Science Data Discussions, 15(12)
- Khouakhi A, Zawadzka J & Truckell I. (2022). The need for training and benchmark datasets for convolutional neural networks in flood applications. Hydrology Research, 53(6)
- Khouakhi A, Driouech F, Slater L, Waine T, Chafki O, .... (2022). Atmospheric rivers and associated extreme rainfall over Morocco. International Journal of Climatology, 42(15)
- Rincón-Avalos P, Khouakhi A, Mendoza-Cano O, López-De la Cruz J & Paredes-Bonilla KM. (2022). Evaluation of satellite precipitation products over Mexico using Google Earth Engine. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 24(4)
- Zhang W, Murakami H, Khouakhi A & Luo M. (2021). Editorial: Compound Climate Extremes in the Present and Future Climates: Machine Learning, Statistical Methods and Dynamical Modelling. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9
- Zhang W, Luo M, Gao S, Chen W, Hari V, .... (2021). Compound hydrometeorological extremes: drivers, mechanisms and methods. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9
- Zawadzka J, Truckell I, Khouakhi A & Rivas Casado M. (2021). Detection of flood damage in urban residential areas using object-oriented UAV image analysis coupled with tree-based classifiers. Remote Sensing, 13(19)
- Malainine C-E, Raji O, Ouabid M, Khouakhi A, Bodinier J-L, .... (2021). An integrated ASTER-based approach for mapping carbonatite and iron oxide-apatite deposits. Geocarto International, 37(22)
- Slater L, Villarini G, Archfield S, Faulkner D, Lamb R, .... (2021). Global changes in 20‐year, 50‐year, and 100‐year river floods. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(6)
- Mendoza-Cano O, Aquino-Santos R, López-de la Cruz J, Edwards RM, Khouakhi A, .... (2021). Experiments of an IoT-based wireless sensor network for flood monitoring in Colima, Mexico. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 23(3)
- Mendoza-Cano O, Rincón-Avalos P, Watson V, Khouakhi A, López-de la Cruz J, .... (2021). The burden of dengue in children by calculating spatial temperature: a methodological approach using remote sensing techniques. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(8)
- Driouech F, Stafi H, Khouakhi A, Moutia S, Badi W, .... (2020). Recent observed country‐wide climate trends in Morocco. International Journal of Climatology, 41(S1)
- Khouakhi A, Pattison I, López‐de la Cruz J, Martinez‐Diaz T, Mendoza‐Cano O, .... (2020). Tropical cyclone—Induced heavy rainfall and flow in Colima, Western Mexico. International Journal of Climatology, 40(6)
- Slater LJ, Khouakhi A & Wilby RL. (2019). River channel conveyance capacity adjusts to modes of climate variability. Scientific Reports, 9(1)
- Slater LJ, Thirel G, Harrigan S, Delaigue O, Hurley A, .... (2019). Using R in hydrology: a review of recent developments and future directions. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 23(7)
- Khouakhi A, Villarini G, Zhang W & Slater LJ. (2019). Seasonal predictability of high sea level frequency using ENSO patterns along the U.S. West Coast. Advances in Water Resources, 131
- Villarini G, Khouakhi A & Cunningham E. (2017). On the impacts of computing daily temperatures as the average of the daily minimum and maximum temperatures. Atmospheric Research, 198
- Khouakhi A, Villarini G & Vecchi GA. (2017). Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to Rainfall at the Global Scale. Journal of Climate, 30(1)
- Khouakhi A & Villarini G. (2017). Attribution of annual maximum sea levels to tropical cyclones at the global scale. International Journal of Climatology, 37(1)
- Khouakhi A & Villarini G. (2016). On the relationship between atmospheric rivers and high sea water levels along the U.S. West Coast. Geophysical Research Letters, 43(16)
- Khouakhi A, Niazi S, Raji O & Fahchouch ANE. (2015). Vulnerability assessment of seawater intrusion using hydro-geological indices in Moroccan Mediterranean aquifers. International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, 5(2)
- Khouakhi A, Snoussi M, Niazi S & Raji O. (2013). Vulnerability assessment of Al Hoceima bay (Moroccan Mediterranean coast): a coastal management tool to reduce potential impacts of sea-level rise and storm surges. Journal of Coastal Research, 65(sp1)
- Raji O, Niazi S, Snoussi M, Dezileau L & Khouakhi A. (2013). Vulnerability assessment of a lagoon to sea level rise and storm events: Nador lagoon (NE Morocco).. Journal of Coastal Research, 65(sp1)
- Snoussi M, Ouchani T, Khouakhi A & Niang-Diop I. (2009). Impacts of sea-level rise on the Moroccan coastal zone: Quantifying coastal erosion and flooding in the Tangier Bay. Geomorphology, 107(1-2)
