Professor Arnon Karnieli from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, visited the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) for academic exchange from Aug 6 to 12. His visit will better fulfill the key project of the Ministry of Science and Technology's international scientific and technological innovation cooperation program, "Global Agricultural Drought Monitoring Research.”

During this period, Chinese and foreign experts conducted field research, held project seminars, and organized academic reports open to domestic and international researchers.

The project team conducted research on vegetation restoration and salinization in the Mu Us Desert in Yulin, Shaanxi, providing first-hand data on remote sensing monitoring of land surface cover, soil moisture change, and salinization levels. On Aug 11, Professor Arnon Karnieli gave three academic talks, including the research on remote sensing monitoring methods for wildfire burn area based on NDVI, NBR, and AFRI, monitoring soil moisture using the OPTRAM model, and the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use/land cover in the Mu Us Desert based on change vector analysis technology. He explained the current applications and potentials of remote sensing in the fields of fire monitoring, soil moisture monitoring, and land use change to more than 70 participants from the IARRP of CAAS, National Satellite Meteorological Center, Nanjing University, and other institutions. The report was hosted by Dr. Gao Maofang.

Professor Karnieli is the director of the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the chief researcher of the Vegetation and Environment New Microsatellite (VENμS) mission launched by Israel. He has published over 240 research papers on related topics.