About the project
This project will develop novel remote sensing technologies using AI methods to monitor illicit crop production.
Illicit crops, such as opium poppies, coca, and cannabis, mostly used in drug production, are a major funding source for criminal and terrorist activity. Often controlled by arm groups, these areas provide a significant risk to political stability and cross border security. Despite international willingness to collaborate in treaties on drug control, it is challenging to monitor their distribution and productional reliability as any ground monitoring data for such crops are either non-existent for some countries or very limited. Developing a surveillance system and understanding the drivers for such practices is a crucial component in the broader strategy of national and regional security.
Advances in remote sensing data availability provides a unique opportunity for accurate, cost effective and timely monitoring of illicit crops. The aim of this project is to develop a multi-modal remote sensing-based approach to identify these crops, estimate potential crop yield and understand the socio-economic and environmental impact of such crops. Machine learning methods will be developed to learn the growth patterns of common agriculture crops and illicit crops from time series of satellite data and will be used to automatically classify the illicit crop cultivation area. Finally, the project will develop understanding of the socio-economic and environmental impacts of illicit crop cultivation, as it can inform more comprehensive and sustainable intervention strategies.
Funding for this project is offered by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Complex Integrated Systems for Defence & Security (CISDnS), which will recruit motivated and inquisitive candidates across the themes of digital, physical and biological systems to provide a diverse and interconnected cohort training environment. You can read more about the Centre and the training programme.
CISDnS is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity. We welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age, and will give full consideration to applicants seeking flexible working patterns and those who have taken a career break or are transitioning into a new role. The University has a generous maternity policy, onsite childcare facilities, and offers a range of benefits to help ensure employees’ well-being and work-life balance.
