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Lalit Kumar

Lalit Kumar

Snr.Lecturer, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, School of Environmental and Rural Sciences

Contact

Email: lkumar@une.edu.au
Room: W55 Room 221
Phone: 02 6773 5239 (or +61 2 6773 5239 overseas)
Fax: 02 6773 2769

Convenor - Ecosystem Management

 

I am a Senior Lecturer in Ecosystem Management at UNE where I teach Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing subjects at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The main subjects I am involved in are Geomatics, Introduction to GIS and Spatial Analysis & Modelling.

Upon completing my undergraduate degrees, I taught year 11 and 12 students at a number of secondary schools in Fiji for five years. After this I joined the University of the South Pacific where I did a Master of Science in Physics and then taught Environmental Physics at the undergraduate level for five years. I then moved to the University of New South Wales where I studied for a Master in Applied Science and a PhD in the fields of GIS and Remote Sensing. The topic of my PhD was Modelling Forest Resources Using Geographical Information Systems and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing. During this time I also taught a number of GIS and Remote Sensing subjects at the masters level at UNSW.

In 1998 I moved to The Netherlands to take up a position as Research Scientist with Wageningen University and the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC). This work was mainly research on African Rangeland Systems and how GIS and Remote Sensing could be used to better understand, develop, map and monitor the rangelands. My work entailed linking environmental data (such as rainfall and soil types) and remote sensing data (NDVI) to crop and rangeland productions and upscaling point-based GIS models to make predictions on larger scales. We carried out research projects in Burkina Faso, Niger, Kenya and Tanzania, with field periods of six months.

I subsequently joined ITC as an Assistant Professor and lectured at the masters level in the theory and application of GIS and Remote Sensing. I also conducted short courses and field work in Iran, India, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Niger and Burkina Faso.

I joined UNE in December 2002. My main research interests are in the fields of environmental modelling and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing. Currently I am involved in projects dealing with monitoring health and condition of wetland vegetation, developing indices based on Hyperion data for mapping tannin and nitrogen concentrations in forests, and modelling species distribution based on the tannin and nitrogen maps. In the past I have been involved in using GIS/RS technology for rangeland degradation, habitat mapping, biodiversity & conservation, salt-marsh vegetation mapping, and mapping the distribution of eucalyptus species based on potential solar radiation modelled in a GIS.

Areas of Teaching

EM334/534 Introduction to GIS

EM432/532 Remote Sensing Image Analysis

EM433/533 Spatial Analysis and Modelling

 

Qualifications

  • PhD in GIS and Remote Sensing (University of New South Wales, 1997)
  • Master of Applied Science in GIS & Remote Sensing (University of New South Wales, 1994)
  • Master of Science - Physics (University of the South Pacific, 1993)
  • Postgraduate Diploma In Physics (University of the South Pacific, 1990)
  • Bachelor of Education (University of the South Pacific, 1989)
  • Bachelor of Science - Physics/Mathematics (University of the South Pacific, 1988)
  • Diploma In Education (University of the South Pacific, 1981)
  • Certificate in Data Analysis (University of New South Wales, 1994)

Current and recent postgraduate students

Subhashni Taylor – PhD - Mapping and monitoring Lantana Camara and probable distribution patterns under different climate change scenarios

Priyakant Sinha – PhD - Integrating GIS and Remote Sensing for Assessing the Impact of Disturbance on Biodiversity and Land Cover Change due to Environmental Degradation

Francis Karanja – PhD (Completed) – Ecosystem service provision from natural resource management interventions in the Gwydir Catchment, North Western New South Wales: Spatial Bio-Economic evaluation at catchment, district and farm scales

Su Xianfeng – PhD (Completed) – Vegetation recovery and simulation of colonization process of dominant species after open-cut mining at Boggabri, NSW, Australia

Tani Cooper – PhD - Fire Ecology of the Endangered Hastings River Mouse (Pseudomys oralis) and its Associated Mammal Assemblage

Brendan Soustel – ProfD - GIS/Engineering Standards Improvement Plan

Caitlin Johns – PhD – Effects of water depth and salinity on growth and survival of common coastal floodplain wetland macrophytes: implications for floodgate management

Simone Grounds – MGIS – Pineapples, pixels and objects: A comparison of Remote Sensing classification techniques for land use mapping

Michael Talbot – MGIS - Advances in Remote Sensing and its Implications on Precision Agriculture

Sue MacMinn – MGIS – GIS technology in disaster response coordination: Managing data and supporting decision-making

Richard Coughlin – MGIS – Mapping Lantana Camara using high spatial resolution Quickbird imagery

Lynda Weston – MGIS – Kosciuszko Alpine Resorts riparian land study – Using GIS to categorise riparian corridor land

Elayan Elmutairi – MGIS – How spatial data could be organised at a national scale in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its benefits to the GIS community

Paul Konings – MGIS – Automating request, process and delivery of satellite image analysis for individual crop zones: A GIS case study

Martin Dillon – MGIS - The utility of Weatherwatch radar for predicting local scale cumulative rainfall within Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Matthew Turner – MGIS – Mapping Lantana distribution using modeled solar radiation and environmental data

 

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

  1. Ismail, R., Mutanga, O., Kumar, L., Bob, U. (2008) Determining the optimal spatial resolution of remotely sensed data for the detection of Sirex noctilio infestations in pine plantations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The South African Geographical Journal, 90(1): 22-31
  2. Kumar, L. (2007) High-spectral resolution data for determining leaf water content in Eucalyptus species: leaf level experiments. Geocarto International. 22:3-16.
  3. Kumar, L. (2007) A comparison of reflectance characteristics of some Australian eucalyptus species based on high spectral resolution data - discriminating using the visible and NIR regions. Journal of Spatial Science, 52(2): 51-64.
  4. Liu, C. Frazier, P., Kumar, L. (2007) Comparative assessment of the measures of thematic classification accuracy. Remote Sensing of Environment, 107: 606-616.
  5. Mutanga, O. and Kumar, L. (2007) Estimating and mapping grass phosphorus concentration in an African savanna using hyperspectral image data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 28(21): 4897-4911.
  6. Kandeh, J.M.K., Kumar, L. (2006) Standardization in mapping and monitoring of invasive alien plant species. Journal of Environmental Informatics, 7 (1): 36-47.
  7. Kumar, L., Skidmore, A.K. (2006) NIR and SWIR Reflectance characteristics of dry plant materials of  some Eucalyptus species. International Journal of GeoInformatics, 2(1): 47-59.
  8. Liu, C., Frazier, P., Kumar, L., MacGregor, C., Blake, N. (2006) Multi-criterion GIS-based Assessment of Wetlands.  Environmental Management, 38(2): 316-326.
  9. Mutanga, O., Skidmore, A.K., Kumar, L., and Ferwerda, J. (2005) Estimating tropical pasture quality at canopy level using band depth analysis with continuum removal in the visible domain. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 26(6): 1093-1108).
  10. Schmidt, K.S., Skidmore, A.K., Kloosterman, E.H., Van Oosten, H., Kumar, L., Janssen, J. (2004) Mapping coastal vegetation using an expert system and hyperspectral imagery. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 70(6): 703-715.
  11. van Langevelde, F., van de Vijver, C.A.D.M., Kumar, L., van de Koppel, J., de Ridder, N., van Andel, J., Skidmore, A.K., Hearne, J., Stroosnijder, L., Bond, W.J., Prins, H.H.T., and Rietkerk, M. (2003). Effects of fire and herbivory on the stability of savanna ecosystems. Ecology, 84(2): 337-350.
  12. Kumar, L., Rietkerk, M., van Langevelde, F., van de Koppel, J., van Andel, J., Hearne, J., de Ridder, N., Stroosnijder, L., Prins, H.H.T., Skidmore, A.K. (2002) Relationship between vegetation recovery rates and soil type in the Sahel of Burkina Faso: Implications for resource utilization at large scales. Ecological Modelling, 149: 143-152.
  13. Rietkerk, M., Ouedraogo, T., Kumar, L., Sanou, S., Van Langevelde, F., Kiema, A., Van de Koppel, J., Van Andel, J., Hearne, J., Skidmore, A.K., De Ridder, N., Stroosnijder, L., and Prins, H.H.T. (2002). Fine-scale spatial distribution of plants and resources on a sandy soil in the Sahel. Plant and Soil, 239: 69- 77.
  14. Rietkerk, M., Boerlijst, M.C., Van Langevelde, F., HilleRisLambers, R., Van de Koppel, J., Kumar, L., Klausmeier, C.A., Prins, H.H.T., De Roos, A. (2002) Self-organisation of vegetation in arid ecosystems. The American Naturalist, 160(4): 524-530.
  15. Rietkerk, M., van de Koppel, J., Kumar, L., van Langevelde, F., Prins, H.H.T. (2002) The Ecology of Scale. Ecological Modelling, 149: 1-4.
  16. van de Koppel, J., Rietkerk, M., van Langevelde, F., Kumar, L., Klausmeier, A., Fryxell, J.M., Hearne, J., van Andel, J., de Ridder, N., Skidmore, A.K., Stroosnijder, L., Prins, H.H.T. (2002) Spatial heterogeneity and irreversible vegetation change in semi-arid grazing systems. The American Naturalist, 159(2): 209-218.
  17. Kumar, L., Skidmore, A.K. (2000) Radiation - vegetation relationships in an Eucalyptus forest. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 66(2): 193-204.
  18. Kumar, L., Skidmore, A.K., Knowles, E. (1997) Modelling topographic variation in solar radiation in a GIS environment. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 11(5): 475-497.
  19. Skidmore, A.K., Bijker, W., Schmidt, K., Kumar, L. (1997) Use of Remote Sensing and GIS for Sustainable Land Management. ITC Journal 1997-3/4: 302-315.

Books & Book Chapters

  1. Woodcock, C., Macomber, S., Kumar, L. (2002) Vegetation mapping and detection of environmental change. In Skidmore, A.K. (Ed). Environmental modelling using GIS and remote sensing. Sensing (Taylor & Francis) pp.97-120.
  2. Kumar, L., Schmidt, K.S., Dury, S., Skidmore, A.K. (2001) Imaging spectrometry and vegetation science. In F. van de Meer. and S.M. de Jong (Eds). Imaging Spectrometry (Kluwer Academic Press: Dordrecht), pp 111-155.


Conference And Other Proceedings

  1. Kumar, L., Singh, A. (2008) Estimating Fine Scale Ground Solar Radiation From GIS Modelled Data And Historical Meteorological Records. Australian Institute of Physics 18th National Congress, 30 November - 5 December 2008.
  2. Ground, S.F.,  R.J. Denham, R.J., Kumar, L. (2008) Spot The Pineapple: Mapping Land Use Using An Object-Based Classification Technique. 14th Australasian Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Conference 29 September - 3 October 2008.
  3. Kumar, L., Clarke, P., Munoz, C. Knox, K. (2008) Mapping of fire severity and comparison of severity indices across vegetation types in Gibraltar Range National Park, Australia. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXVII Part B7, pages 1477-1482, Beijing, China, 3-11 July 2008.
  4. Clarke, P., Kumar, L., Munoz, C., Knox, K (2007) Burn regimes and fire regime thresholds for plant conservation in New England Tableland National Parks. Report for the Department of Environment and Climate Change. 38 pages.
  5. Kumar, L., Mutanga, O., Ismail, R., Ahmed, F. (2007) Correlation between ground-recorded and GIS modelled solar radiation: development of regression equations for Australian conditions. Proceedings of The 28th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 12-16 November 2007.
  6. Mutanga, O., Ismail, R., Ahmed, F., Kumar, L. (2007) Using in-situ hyperspectral remote sensing to discriminate pest attacked pine forests in South Africa. Proceedings of The 28th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 12-16 November 2007.
  7. Ismail, R., Mutanga, O., Ahmed, F., Kumar, L. (2007) Predicting the potential distribution of Sirex noctilio infestations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Comparisons between single classification trees and random forest. Proceedings of The 28th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 12-16 November 2007.
  8. Aravind, N., Rakhesh.D. and Kumar, L. (2006) Agro-Ecological Zoning Using Temporal Satellite Data and GIS For Cultivation Of Improved Hybrid Varieties Through Precision Farming, Proceedings on International Conference on “Biotechnology Approaches For Alleviating Malnutrition And Human Health” on 9th - 11th January 2006, Jointly organized by USAID-ALO Washington, DC,  PURDUE University, USA and  University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India.
  9. Clarke, P.J., Coughlin, R., Kumar, L. (2006) Fire history and fire regimes: Implications for plant conservation in New England Tableland National Parks. The University of New England. Unpublished Report for DEC.
  10. Liu, C., Frazier, P., Kumar, L. (2006) Predicting the distribution and abundance of two saltmarsh plant species. International Geographical Union Conference, Brisbane, 3-7 July 2006.
  11. Liu, C., Frazier, P., Kumar, L., Bell, D. (2006) Characterizing the spatial distributions of two saltmarsh plant species. The joint conference of the NZ Ecological Society and the Ecological Society of Australia. Wellington, 28 August to 1 September 2006.
  12. Kumar, L., Coughlin, R., Mutanga, O., Ismail, R. (2006) Scope of high spatial resolution imagery for mapping Lantana Camara in a forest environment. Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Earth Observation & Geoinformation Sciences in Support of Africa’s Development. Cairo, Egypt 30 October – 2 November.
  13. Mutanga, O., Kumar, L. (2006) Imaging spectroscopy and grass phosphorous concentration in an african savanna. Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Earth Observation & Geoinformation Sciences in Support of Africa’s Development. Cairo, Egypt 30 October – 2 November.
  14. Ismail, R., Mutanga, O., Kumar, L., Bob, U. (2006) Examining the effects of spatial resolution on sirex noctilio infestations using NDVI data. Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Earth Observation & Geoinformation Sciences in Support of Africa’s Development. Cairo, Egypt 30 October – 2 November.
  15. Coughlin, R., and Kumar, L. (2005) Determining the ability of fine-spatial-resolution sensor Quickbird to identify areas with or are susceptible to invasion by the invasive weed Lantana camara  within a forest environment. Spatial Sciences Conference, 12-16 September 2005. Melbourne Australia.
  16. Kandeh, J.M.K., Ahadi, A.W., Kumar, L. (2005) Using Remote Sensing Data for Earthquake Damage Assessment in Afghanistan: The Role of the International Charter. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Geo-information for Disaster Management, March 21 – 23, Delft, The Netherlands.  pp 832 – 84.
  17. Kumar, L., Laegdsgaard, P., Frazier, P., and MacGregor, C. (2005) Mapping salt-marsh vegetation using high-spatial and hyper-spectral satellite data to assist wetland inventory. Spatial Sciences Conference, 12-16 September 2005. Melbourne Australia.
  18. Liu, C., Frazier, P., Kumar, L., MacGregor, C., Blake, N. (2005) Multi-criterion GIS-based Assessment of Wetlands: Clarence Catchment, Australia. Spatial Sciences Conference, 12-16 September 2005. Melbourne Australia.
  19. Su, Xianfeng, Duggin, J.A. and Kumar, L. (2005).  Simulation of forest development after open-cut mining using an agent-based model.  XXII International Union of Forest Research Organisations World Congress, 8-13 August 2005, Brisbane
  20. Frazier, P., Graham, J., Duggin, J., MacGregor, C., Kumar, L. (2005) High-spatial resolution remote sensing of wetlands: mapping and monitoring. Spatial Sciences Conference, 12-16 September 2005. Melbourne Australia.
  21. Lamb, D., Frazier, P, and Kumar, L. (2004) Remote Sensing and Satellite Technology - Implementation and Capabilities, Australian Fertilizer Industry Conference, 2-5 August.  Stradbroke Island, Qld.
  22. Skidmore, A.K., Schmidt, K., Kloosterman, H., Kumar, L, van Oosten, H. (2001) Hyperspectral imagery for coastal wetland vegetation mapping. BCRS Report Project 3.4/DE-13. The Netherlands.
  23. Kumar, L., van Langevelde, F., Rietkerk, M., van de Koppel, J. (2000) Dependence of post-drought vegetation recovery on soil type and implications for resource utilization. 2000 World Conference on Natural Resource Modelling, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 26-30 June 2000.
  24. Rietkerk, M., van Langevelde, F., van de Koppel, J., Kumar, L. (2000) The origin of patterns in semi-arid vegetation. 2000 World Conference on Natural Resource Modelling, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 26-30 June 2000.
  25. van de Koppel, J., Rietkerk, M., van Langevelde, F., Kumar, L. (2000) Spatial heterogeneity and irreversible vegetation change in semi-arid grazing systems. 2000 World Conference on Natural Resource Modelling, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 26-30 June 2000.
  26. van Langevelde, F., Rietkerk, M., Kumar, L., van de Koppel, J. (2000) Irreversible vegetation collapse and optimal harvesting in semi-arid grazing systems. 2000 World Conference on Natural Resource Modelling, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 26-30 June 2000.
  27. Kumar, L., Skidmore, A.K. (1998) Use of derivative spectroscopy to identify regions of differences between some Australian Eucalypt species. 9th Australasian Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Conference, July 20-24, Sydney, Australia.
  28. Kumar, L. (1997) Solar radiation modelling in Arc/Info GRID and its use in eucalypt species delineation. Proceedings 11th Annual Australian ESRI & ERDAS Users Conference, 3rd - 5th September 1997. pp 55 - 64.
  29. Kumar, L. (1993) Problems faced by Physics educators in Fiji. Proceedings South Pacific Regional Conference on Pre-tertiary Physics Education, Port Moresby 22 - 25 June 1993.
  30. Kumar, L., Willatt, S.T. (1992) Soil compaction as a function of aggregate size and water content. Proceedings 4th National Soils Conference, Australian Society of Soil Science, Adelaide, 19 - 23 April 1992. p.74.