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https://webcdn.mmu.ac.uk/profiles/img/profile-images/EliasSymeonakis_photo-crop-145x145-59b7a8de82338.png
Politics, travelling, world cinema, photography, modern art, theatre, dance, music, swimming, cycling.
Geographical Information Systems; Remote Sensing; Spatial Data Analysis
I am a Remote Sensing and GIS scientist with a Master’s degree in GIS (University College London) and a PhD in Geography (King’s College London). Previously, I worked as a researcher or a lecturer in other institutions, such as the CSIRO (Australia), Royal Holloway, King’s College London, CGIAR/CIAT (Colombia), the University of Valencia (Spain) and the University of the Aegean (Greece). I have received funds for undertaking research in Europe, Africa, Australia and South America. More recently, I was awarded with a 4-year EU Marie Curie Career Integration Grant to carry out research in South Africa related with the monitoring of land degradation and desertification with the use of Earth Observation data.
University of the Aegean, Greece (Lecturer in Geographical Analysis)
CSIRO, Australia (post-doc fellow)
University of Valencia, Spain (post-doc fellow)
CIAT/CGIAR, Colombia (Visiting Scientist)
Royal Holloway, University of London, UK (AL)
Timetabling for the Division of Geography and Environmental Management
Project Leader of the Remote Sensing Research Group at MMU.
Currently PI of two EU Marie Curie Fellowships.
Fluent in Greek, English and Spanish
Working knowledge of French, Portuguese, Italian
Mapping, monitoring and modelling of land use/cover change with Earth observation data and GIS Land degradation and desertification in African and Mediterranean environments Current & Recent Projects2014-1018: EU FP7 'LanDDApp' 2009-2013: EU FP7 'COMPASS' 2005-2008: EU FP6 'Monitoring Land Use' 2002-2004: EU FP5 'Land Use Change and Land Degradation in Mediterranean Agricultural Systems'
J. Borges, TP. Higginbottom, E. Symeonakis, M. Jones (2020). Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Data for Savannah Land Cover Mapping: Optimising the Combination of Sensors and Seasons. Remote Sensing. 12(23), pp.3862-3862.
A. Smetanová, JP. Nunes, E. Symeonakis, E. Brevik, M. Schindelwolf, et al. R. Ciampalini. (2020). GUEST EDITORIAL—SPECIAL ISSUE: Mapping and modelling soil erosion to address societal challenges in a changing world. Land Degradation and Development. 31(17), pp.2519-2524.
II. Nababa, E. Symeonakis, S. Koukoulas, TP. Higginbottom, G. Cavan, et al. S. Marsden. (2020). Land Cover Dynamics and Mangrove Degradation in the Niger Delta Region. Remote Sensing. 12(21), pp.3619-3619.
GN. Zaimes, D. Gounaridis, E. Symeonakis (2019). Assessing the impact of dams on riparian and deltaic vegetation using remotely-sensed vegetation indices and Random Forests modelling. Ecological Indicators. 103, pp.630-641.
E. Symeonakis, PA. Caccetta, JF. Wallace, E. Arnau-Rosalen, A. Calvo-Cases, et al. S. Koukoulas. (2017). Multi-temporal Forest Cover Change and Forest Density Trend Detection in a Mediterranean Environment. Land Degradation and Development. 28(4), pp.1188-1198.
E. Symeonakis, K. Petroulaki, T. Higginbottom (2016). Landsat-based woody vegetation cover monitoring in Southern African savannahs. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. 41, pp.563-567.
RJ. Payne, E. Symeonakis (2012). The spatial extent of tephra deposition and environmental impacts from the 1912 Novarupta eruption. Bulletin of Volcanology. 74(10), pp.2449-2458.
E. Symeonakis, P. Caccetta, S. Koukoulas, S. Furby, N. Karathanasis (2012). Multi-temporal land-cover classification and change analysis with conditional probability networks: the case of Lesvos Island (Greece). International Journal of Remote Sensing. 33(13), pp.4075-4093.
E. Symeonakis, N. Drake (2010). 10-Daily soil erosion modelling over sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 161(1-4), pp.369-387.
E. Symeonakis, R. Bonifaçio, N. Drake (2009). A comparison of rainfall estimation techniques for sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 11(1), pp.15-26.
F. Frattaruolo, L. Pennetta, M. Piccarreta, HN. Le Houérou, A. Marshall, et al. E. Symeonakis, N. Drake, L. Zhou, J. Zhang, J. Wu. (2009). PLANTING TREES FOR THE RECLAMATION OF DESERT LANDS. Journal of Maps. 5(1), pp.117-125.
E. Symeonakis, A. Calvo-Cases, E. Arnau-Rosalen (2007). Land Use Change and Land Degradation in Southeastern Mediterranean Spain. Environmental Management. 40(1), pp.80-94.
E. Symeonakis, T. Robinson, N. Drake (2007). GIS and multiple-criteria evaluation for the optimisation of tsetse fly eradication programmes. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 124(1-3), pp.89-103.
PC. Gosling, E. Symeonakis Automated map projection selection for GIS. Cartography and Geographic Information Science. 47(3), pp.261-276.
E. Symeonakis, N. Drake (2004). Monitoring desertification and land degradation over sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 25(3), pp.573-592.
N. Drake, X. Zhang, E. Symeonakis, M. Wooster, G. Patterson, et al. R. Bryant. (2005). Near Real-Time Modelling of Regional Scale Soil Erosion Using AVHRR and METEOSAT Data: A Tool for Monitoring the Impact of Sediment Yield on the Biodiversity of Lake Tanganyika. In: Spatial Modelling of the Terrestrial Environment. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp.157-174.
C. Karakizi, O. Gounari, E. Sofikiti, G. Begkos, K. Karantzalos, et al. E. Symeonakis. (2023). Assessing the Contribution of Optical and SAR Data for Fractional Savannah Woody Vegetation Mapping. In: IGARSS 2023 - 2023 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. 16/7/2023. pp.3118-3121.
E. Symeonakis, A. Korkofigkas, TP. Higginbottom, J. Boyd, E. Arnau-Rosalén, et al. G. Stamou, K. Karantzalos. (2022). Towards a Deep Learning Fractional Woody Vegetation Cover Monitoring Framework. In: IGARSS. 17/7/2022. pp.5905-5908.
J. Nwachukwu, L. Clarke, F. Brearley, E. Symeonakis Assessment of the sources and human health risk of nitrate contaminated groundwater and effective groundwater governance in a sub-Saharan urban setting (Owerri, south east Nigeria). Phoenix, Arizona, 22/9/2019.
E. Symeonakis (2016). Modelling land cover change in a Mediterranean environment using Random Forests and a multi-layer neural network model. In: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). Beijing, China, 10/7/2016. pp.5464-5466.
E. Symeonakis, T. Higginbottom (2014). Bush encroachment monitoring using multi-temporal Landsat data and random forests. In: The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Toronto, CANADA, 6/10/2014. pp.29-35.
E. Symeonakis, PA. Caccetta, E. Arnau-Rosalen, JF. Wallace, A. Calvo-Cases (2008). MULTI-TEMPORAL WOODY PERENNIAL VEGETATION COVER CHANGE DETECTION. Mytilene, Greece, 1/6/2008.
S. Koukoulas, AT. Vafeidis, G. Vafeidis, E. Symeonakis (2008). The role of spatial metrics on the performance of an artificial neural-network based model for land use change. In: International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives. pp.1661-1665.
E. Symeonakis, N. Karathanasis, S. Furby, I. Gatsis (2008). Mapping post-olympics urban use change in the periphery of athens using multi-temporal pixel-based and segmentation techniques. In: International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives. pp.1675-1680.
E. Symeonakis, P. Caccetta, S. Furby, J. Wallace, S. Koukoulas (2007). Mapping land use change using conditional probability networks: A case study in the Mediterranean island of Lesbos. In: Proceedings, 32nd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment: Sustainable Development Through Global Earth Observations.
E. Symeonakis, R. Bonifacio, N. Drake (2007). A comparison of number-of-rain-days estimation techniques for continental hydrological modelling. pp.4542-4545.
E. Symeonakis, PA. Caccetta, JF. Wallace, S. Koukoulas (2006). Multi-temporal land use/cover change detection in the Spanish Mediterranean coast. In: International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives.
E. Symeonakis, S. Koukoulas, A. Calvo-Cases, E. Arnau-Rosalen, I. Makris (2004). A landuse change and land degradation study in Spain and Greece using remote sensing and GIS. In: International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives. pp.553-558.
E. Symeonakis, R. Bonifacio, N. Drake (2000). Validation of satellite and rain-gauge data for parameterising a soil erosion model for Sub-Saharan Africa. In: International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives. pp.215-222.
J. Mallalieu, I. Barr, M. Martin, E. Symeonakis, B. Edwards, et al. M. Spagnolo, D. Mullen. (2023). An exploration of volcanic controls on glacier velocity.
Convener of sessions at the European Geosciences Union
FELLOWSHIPS / GRANTS 2014:
EU Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (FP7)
2009: EU Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (FP7)
2005: EU FP6 Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship (FP6)
2005: The Ministry of Education (Greece)
2002: EU Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (FP5)
2001: The British Council
1999: United Nations Development Project (UNDP)
1998: King's College London
1995: The Greek Foundation of State Scholarships (I.K.Y.)