
Overview
overview
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From Kenneth G. Furton, Provost and Executive Vice President - April 13, 2021:
It is with great sadness that I inform you today of the passing of Dr. Keqi Zhang, professor in the Department of Earth & Environment and Director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research in the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at Florida International University. Dr. Zhang was an expert in natural hazards and their effect on coastal environments. His research focused on coastal responses to sea level rise and storm impact, remote sensing, storm surge modeling, and the mapping of coastal hazards using geographic information systems.
Dr. Zhang completed his Ph.D. in coastal geomorphology at the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1998. His dissertation research resulted in many refereed journal articles, including several that for the first time demonstrated a quantitative link between sea level rise and beach erosion—now a basic principle in coastal geomorphology and engineering.
He began his FIU career in 1998 where he conducted important work on coastal processes, including utilizing airborne laser technology (now termed LIDAR). Dr. Zhang led the research team that first mapped hurricane storm surge-prone areas in South Florida utilizing the new LIDAR technology. He developed a new storm surge model (Coastal & Estuarine Storm Tide or CEST) that is currently used by the National Hurricane Center in their forecasts and by emergency managers. Dr. Zhang had the technical expertise, intellectual capacity, and dedication to develop state-of-the-art algorithms to process LIDAR data to obtain highly precise ground elevations, greatly increasing the accuracy of storm surge models.
Dr. Zhang innovatively utilized the new technology of ground lasers to determine the surface roughness of vegetation and buildings, thus making a major advance in understanding the deterioration of hurricane-force winds over land. He also pioneered the use of this technology in ecological studies, resulting in many theses and journal articles. One of his articles on morphological filtering now has over 1,022 citations.
Keqi was a friend, colleague, and mentor to many during his 23 years at Florida International University and to the larger coastal science community. Keqi was a wonderful collaborator. Students and colleagues who had the opportunity to work with him learned much from his rigorous intellectual approach as well as his excitement for understanding coastal processes.
Jaime Rhome at the National Hurricane Center eloquently stated that “Keqi was like a lighthouse in a storm, his ability to guide, inspire, and infuse hope was strongest during the COVID pandemic despite his long-term battle with cancer. In a true testimony to his dedication and vision, Keqi’s work will continue through his students and partners, ensuring an everlasting legacy.”
He was a loving husband and a caring, proud father of two wonderful children—his daughter, Michelle, graduated from Stanford University with a BS degree in Computer Science and a master’s degree in applied mathematics, and his son, Matthew, is studying Computer Science and Economics at Yale University.
research interests
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Keqi's research included working with colleagues to acquire large amounts of LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data along the Florida Atlantic, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York coasts. Dr. Zhang was involved with airborne LIDAR mapping since 1999. His specific research areas included:
* Development of algorithms to automatically identify ground and non-ground points and to extract three-dimensional shapes of buildings and trees from airborne LIDAR measurements.
* Development of high resolution storm surge models.
* Development of georeferenced, three-dimensional, visualization and animation platforms for studying hurricane-induced flooding and wind damage.
* Analysis of long-term and storm-induced beach erosion using shoreline position data from LIDAR measurements, field GPS surveys, aerial photographs, and historical maps.
* Examination of long-term trend and interdecadal variations in the number and severity of coastal storms using hourly water level records from tide gauges.
Scholarly & Creative Works
selected publications
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Article
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2022Detection of Low Elevation Outliers in TanDEM-X DEMs With Histogram and Adaptive TINFull Text via DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2021.3061100 Web of Science: 000730619400025
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2021Hurricane Irma Simulation at South Florida Using the Parallel CEST ModelFull Text via DOI: 10.3389/fclim.2021.609688
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2021Improved modeling of the role of mangroves in storm surge attenuationFull Text via DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107515 Web of Science: 000702520300003
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2020Delineation of Tree Patches in a Mangrove-Marsh Transition Zone by Watershed Segmentation of Aerial PhotographsFull Text via DOI: 10.3390/rs12132086 Web of Science: 000550594200001
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2020Rip Current Hazard AnalysisFull Text via DOI: 10.2112/SI95-189.1 Web of Science: 000537556600181
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2019Comparison of TanDEM-X DEM with LiDAR Data for Accuracy Assessment in a Coastal Urban AreaFull Text via DOI: 10.3390/rs11070876 Web of Science: 000465549300141
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2019Hurricane flood risk assessment for the Yucatan and Campeche State coastal areaFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s11069-019-03587-3 Web of Science: 000475705400003
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2018Role of mudflat-creek sediment exchanges in intertidal sedimentary processesFull Text via DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.10.027 Web of Science: 000454753900029
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2018Impacts of Human Modifications and Natural Variations on Short-Term Morphological Changes in Estuarine Tidal FlatsFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s12237-017-0352-9 Web of Science: 000433916300003
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2017Application of terrestrial laser scanner on tidal flat morphology at a typhoon event timescaleFull Text via DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.04.034 Web of Science: 000405153300005
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2016A numerical study of the impact of hurricane-induced storm surge on the Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee, FloridaFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s10236-016-1001-8 Web of Science: 000387722600009
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2016Validation of the FAST forecast model for the storm surges due to hurricanes Wilma and IkeFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2301-5 Web of Science: 000379501000004
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2016Remote sensing of seasonal changes and disturbances in mangrove forest: a case study from South FloridaFull Text via DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1366 Web of Science: 000378523100028
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2015A Numerical Model for Storm Surges that Involve the Inundation of Complex LandscapesFull Text via DOI: 10.1142/S0578563415500175 Web of Science: 000370974500002
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2015Automatic Construction of 3-D Building Model From Airborne LIDAR Data Through 2-D Snake AlgorithmFull Text via DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2014.2312393 Web of Science: 000341536700001
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2013Comparison of three methods for estimating the sea level rise effect on storm surge floodingFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s10584-012-0645-8 Web of Science: 000317926800023
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2012The role of mangroves in attenuating storm surgesFull Text via DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2012.02.021 Web of Science: 000303628900002
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2011Assessment of sea level rise impacts on human population and real property in the Florida KeysFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s10584-011-0080-2 Web of Science: 000291658000007
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2011Analysis of non-linear inundation from sea-level rise using LIDAR data: a case study for South FloridaFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s10584-010-9987-2 Web of Science: 000290449200002
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2011Barrier Island Population along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf CoastsFull Text via DOI: 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-10-00126.1 Web of Science: 000288306500013
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2010Storm surge simulation along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts using a multi-scale numerical model approachFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s10236-010-0321-3 Web of Science: 000285100700013
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2010Sediment and Nutrient Deposition Associated with Hurricane Wilma in Mangroves of the Florida Coastal EvergladesFull Text via DOI: 10.1007/s12237-009-9242-0 Web of Science: 000275420700004
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2008Hydrodynamic and geologic influence of event-dependent depth of closure along the South Florida Atlantic CoastFull Text via DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2008.03.018 Web of Science: 000257939200009
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2008Identification of gaps in mangrove forests with airborne LIDARFull Text via DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2007.10.003 Web of Science: 000255370700031
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2008Comparison of the CEST and SLOSH models for storm surge floodingFull Text via DOI: 10.2112/06-0709.1 Web of Science: 000254408100019
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2008Modeling coastal eutrophication at Florida bay using neural networksFull Text via DOI: 10.2112/06-0646.1 Web of Science: 000254445500019
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2007Hurricane-induced beach change derived from airborne laser measurements near Panama City, FloridaFull Text via DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2006.11.003 Web of Science: 000244822900005
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2006Improved prediction of storm surge inundation with a high-resolution unstructured grid modelFull Text via DOI: 10.2112/04-0288.1 Web of Science: 000242695100002
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2006Automatic construction of building footprint's from airborne LIDAR dataFull Text via DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2006.874137 Web of Science: 000240167200021
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2006Mapping height and biomass of mangrove forests in Everglades National Park with SRTM elevation dataFull Text via DOI: 10.14358/PERS.72.3.299 Web of Science: 000235753500011
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2005Comparison of three algorithms for filtering airborne lidar dataFull Text via DOI: 10.14358/PERS.71.3.313 Web of Science: 000227477700007
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2005Quantification of beach changes caused by Hurricane Floyd along Florida's Atlantic coast using airborne laser surveysFull Text via DOI: 10.2112/02057.1 Web of Science: 000226987500009
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2004Mapping shoreline position using airborne laser altimetryFull Text via DOI: 10.2112/1551-5036(2004)20[884:MSPUAL]2.0.CO;2 Web of Science: 000225203600026
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2004Global warming and coastal erosionFull Text via DOI: 10.1023/B:CLIM.0000024690.32682.48 Web of Science: 000220927500004
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2003A progressive morphological filter for removing nonground measurements from airborne LIDAR dataFull Text via DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2003.810682 Web of Science: 000183412500015
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2002Do storms cause long-term beach erosion along the U.S. East Barrier Coast?Full Text via DOI: 10.1086/340633
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2001Beach erosion potential for severe nor'eastersWeb of Science: 000169316900005
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2000Twentieth-century storm activity along the US east coastFull Text via DOI: 10.1175/1520-0442(2000)013<1748:TCSAAT>2.0.CO;2 Web of Science: 000087350100008
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Book Chapter
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2018Ecosystem Services and Economic Valuation. 249-266.Full Text via DOI: 10.1201/9780429435362-18
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2018A Framework for Automated Construction of Building Models from Airborne LiDAR Measurements. 563-585.Web of Science: 000473346700019
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2018Florida and US East Coast Beach Change Metrics Derived from LiDAR Data Utilizing ArcGIS Python Based Tools. 239-258.Full Text via DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-58304-4_12 Web of Science: 000448964600014
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2013Airborne LiDAR remote sensing and its applications. 33-67.Web of Science: 000351308500003
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2012Integrating geographic and meteorological data for storm surge planning. 273-292.Full Text via DOI: 10.1007/978-3-7091-0738-6_13
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2011Integrating Geographic and Meteorological Data for Storm Surge Planning. 273-292.Full Text via DOI: 10.1007/978-3-7091-0738-6_13
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2004Coastal Hazards and Barrier Beach Development. 455-460.Full Text via DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-2352-1_74
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Conference
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2013A Multi-Pass Generation of DEM for Urban Planning. 543-548.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/CLOUDCOM-ASIA.2013.24 Web of Science: 000355658800082
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2013A GUI based LIDAR data processing system for model generation and mapping. 40-43.Full Text via DOI: 10.1145/2534931.2534934
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2013A cluster-based morphological filter for geospatial data analysis. 1-7.Full Text via DOI: 10.1145/2534921.2534922
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2011Catastrophic inundation from sea level rise and its policy implication. 502-510.Full Text via DOI: 10.1061/41185(417)44
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2010A three-dimensional geographic and storm surge data integration system for evacuation planning. 181-188.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/IRI.2010.5558942
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2009A 3-D Traffic Animation System with Storm Surge Response. 257-+.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/ISM.2009.95 Web of Science: 000288888100039
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2009Automatic 3D Building Reconstruction from Airborne LiDAR Measurements. 483-+.Web of Science: 000270972300082
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2007Animating tree branch breaking and flying effects for a 3D interactive visualization system for hurricanes and storm surge flooding. 335-+.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/ISM.Workshops.2007.63 Web of Science: 000253974200057
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2007Depth of closure derived from airborne laser bathymetryFull Text via DOI: 10.1061/40926(239)147
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2007A graph reduction method for 2D snake problems. 353-+.Web of Science: 000250382800048
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2007Airborne laser derived shoreline and volume changes caused by hurricane charley. 3504-3515.Full Text via DOI: 10.1142/9789812709554_0295
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2006Airborne Laser Mapping of Mangroves on the Biscayne Bay Coast, Miami Florida. 3750-+.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/IGARSS.2006.961 Web of Science: 000260989402147
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2006Use of Airborne LIDAR for the Assessment of Landscape Structure in the Pine Forests of Everglades National Park. 1960-+.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/IGARSS.2006.507 Web of Science: 000260989401099
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2006Using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Elevation Data to Map Mangrove Forest Height in the Caribbean. 1713-+.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/IGARSS.2006.443 Web of Science: 000260989401035
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2005Tree animation for a 3D interactive visualization system for hurricane impacts. 598-601.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/ICME.2005.1521494 Web of Science: 000234623800150
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2003Damage pattern mining in hurricane image databases. 227-234.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/IRI.2003.1251418 Web of Science: 000189158700031
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2003A real-time 3D animation environment for storm surge. 705-708.Web of Science: 000184737900177
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Letter
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2004Questioning the rules in coastal erosion - Reply. 21-22.Full Text via DOI: 10.1063/1.4796650 Web of Science: 000223003600010
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Note
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Other Scholarly Work
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2006A 3D visualization system for hurricane storm-surge flooding. 18-25.Full Text via DOI: 10.1109/MCG.2006.4 Web of Science: 000234355200005
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Review
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2011The Role of the Everglades Mangrove Ecotone Region (EMER) in Regulating Nutrient Cycling and Wetland Productivity in South Florida. 633-669.Full Text via DOI: 10.1080/10643389.2010.530907 Web of Science: 000287494000023
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2009Disturbance and the rising tide: the challenge of biodiversity management on low-island ecosystems. 471-478.Full Text via DOI: 10.1890/070221 Web of Science: 000271559000015
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Works By Students
chaired theses and dissertations
- Gann, Daniel, Quantitative Spatial Upscaling of Categorical Data in the Context of Landscape Ecology: A New Scaling Algorithm 2018
- Cui, Zheng, A Generalized Adaptive Mathematical Morphological Filter for LIDAR Data 2013
- Cook, Evan D., Barrier Island Response to Sea Level Rise in North Carolina 2013
- Dittmar, John Andrew, Impacts of sea level rise on population and real property in the Florida Keys 2010
- Robertson, William, Airborne Laser Quantification of Florida Shoreline and Beach Volume Change Caused by Hurricanes 2007
Research
principal investigator on
- Hurricane loss Reduction for Housing in FL awarded by Florida Department of Community Affairs 2010
- Development of an Integrated Coastal Inundation Forecast Demonstration System in Caribbean Region Pilot Project for the Dominican Republic and Haiti awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2015 - 2019
- Transition of the Coastal and Estuarine Storm Tide Model to an Operational Model for Forecasting Storm Surges awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2015 - 2019
- Philippines Workshop Storm Surge Forecasting and Evacuation Zone Delineation Using SLOSH and other Advanced Storm Surge Inundation ModelsProject awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2015 - 2016
- Quanification of Inundation in South FL caused by Sea L awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2010 - 2014
- Understanding and Preparing for Hurricane Storm Surges awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2009 - 2013
- Hurricane Loss Reduction for Housing in Florida awarded by Florida Department of Community Affairs 2012
- Hurricane Loss Reducation for Housing in FL awarded by Florida Department of Community Affairs 2011
- Lower Florida Keys LIDAR Survey. awarded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2007 - 2010
- Hurricane loss Reduction for Housing in FL awarded by Florida Department of Community Affairs 2010
- Prediction of Pine Forest Changes in the Florida Keys Due to Sea Level Rise Storm Surge. awarded by U.S. Department of Energy 2007 - 2009
- Development of LIDAR Data Processing Algorithms and Software for the National Science Foundation Supported Center for Airborne Laser Mapping. awarded by National Science Foundation 2005 - 2008
co-principal investigator on
- CC* Compute: RAPTOR - Reconfigurable Advanced Platform for Transdisciplinary Open Research awarded by National Science Foundation 2021 - 2023
- Derivation of Digital Terrain and Bathymetric Models with Remote Sensing Data for Modeling Storm Surges in Bahamas awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2020 - 2022
- Optimization of LiDAR Data Processing Algorithms for Wetland Graminoid Marsh and Prairie Vegetation awarded by National Park Service 2018 - 2021
- Hurricane Irma assessment: effects on forests of the USFWS Refuges of the Florida Keys awarded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2017 - 2019
- RAPID: HURRICANE IRMA: How do ecosystem perturbations interact to influence long-term resilience mechanisms? awarded by National Science Foundation 2017 - 2019
- FIU's Hurricane Loss Reduction for Housing in Florida awarded by Florida Division of Emergency Management 2017 - 2018
- Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model Project Model Enhancements to Estimate Losses from Storm Surge and Flooding 2013-2014 awarded by Florida Office of Insurance Regulation 2013 - 2017
- Hurricane Loss Reduction for Housing in Florida awarded by Florida Division of Emergency Management 2013
- Deepwater Oil Spill Collaborative Research & Monitoring Plan: Impact on Mangroves Ecosystems awarded by U.S. Forest Service 2010 - 2011
- The Florida Hurricane Alliance Research Program - Round 4 (Program Management, Coastal Vulnerability and Subcontracts). awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2007 - 2011
- The Florida Hurricane Alliance Research Program - Round 1. awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2004 - 2010
subproject principal investigator on
- Development of an Integrated Coastal Inundation Forecast Demonstration (Yucatan Penisula, Belize, Leeward islands & Jamaica) awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2019 - 2021
- Collier County Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study for Hydrodynamic Modeling and Initial Water Quality Evaluations awarded by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2020 - 2021
- Hurricane Loss Reduction for Housing in Florida awarded by Florida Division of Emergency Management 2013
- The Florida Hurricane Alliance Research Program - Round 4 (Program Management, Coastal Vulnerability and Subcontracts). awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2007 - 2011
- The Florida Hurricane Alliance Research Program - Round 1. awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin 2004 - 2010
Contact
full name
- Keqi Zhang
Identifiers
ORCID iD
- https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5128-3544 (confirmed)
visualizations
publication subject areas
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Electrochemistry
- Engineering
- Environmental Sciences & Ecology
- Geochemistry & Geophysics
- Geology
- Imaging Science & Photographic Technology
- Instruments & Instrumentation
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
- Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
- Oceanography
- Physical Geography
- Remote Sensing
- Water Resources