May 13, 2026
The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) organized the IIRS Academia Meet (IAM-2026),under the theme ‘Integrating Earth Observation (EO) and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Emerging Paradigms in Geospatial Science.’, on April 22, 2026. More than120 delegates, including eminent invitees, faculty members, research scholars, and students participated in the meet. Dr. R. P. Singh, Director, IIRS in his welcome address highlighted the significant transformation in geospatial science driven by AI. He emphasized on the priority of embedding AI with EO in research, education, and capacity building. The Chief Guest of the function, Ms. Bharat Jyoti, Director of the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), urged that AI applications be oriented towards end-user requirements and emphasized that both the use and misuse of AI must be properly understood. The Guest of Honour, Dr. S. P. Aggarwal, Director, NESAC, highlighted the importance of using AI to offer prescriptive solutions rather than just predictive ones. Mrs. Shefali Agrawal, Dean (Academics), IIRS, presented the vote of thanks.
During the meet, atechnical session was organised on theme ‘Integrating Earth Observation and AI: Emerging Paradigms.’In total eight presentations were delivered by experts frompremier national organizations NIAS, NCMRWF, WII, IISER, NIC, IIT Bhubaneswar, MNCFC and IIRS.They highlighted the current progress, challenges and opportunities in use of AI for disaster resilience, weather forecasting, large-scale ecological monitoring, dynamics for Earth science, urban planning, urban-climate-pollution nexus, crop inventory and forecasting, etc.
In the post-lunch session, Dr. Prakash Chauhan, Director, NRSC delivered a plenary talk titled ‘Disaster Risk Reduction using Earth Observation and Leveraging Benefits of AI,’underlining the strategic importance of AI in mitigating natural hazards. A panel discussion was organised on theme ‘AI for EO Science & Applications: Future Directions’. The panel expressed that students and researchers should focus on acquiring specific technical skills to leverage the benefit of AI in different thematic areas besides gaining in-depth subject knowledge. The event concluded with closing remarks from Director, IIRS, reaffirming the commitment to advancing EO and AI integration through cross-disciplinary partnerships.