Keshav D. Singh, Ph.D.
Remote Sensing, Phenomics and Agro-Ecosystem Resilience. Mainly working on Proximal and UAV based RGB, Thermal, Multispectral and Hyperspectral Imaging applications in the framework of Precision Agriculture and Plant Phenotyping.
Current research and/or projects
- Developing a robust digital imaging system for controlled and field-based environments phenotyping to support plant breeding program
- Engaged in advanced sensors technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven agriculture research to identify complex physiological traits
- Optical sensing technology for development of stress resistance high yielding cultivars in a changing climate (plant phenomics)
- High-throughput imaging capabilities for safe and effective uses of herbicides and fertilizers in field crops (precision agriculture)
- Retrieval of bio-chemical and bio-physical parameters from leaf and canopy spectra to estimate plant photosynthesis capacity (imaging spectroscopy)
- My research mainly integrates autonomous systems, AI models (machine/deep learning), and big-data analytics in digital agriculture to develop tools to promote growing crops in smarter and more sustainable way.
Research and/or project statements
Over last ten years, I gained expertise in high-throughput aerial imaging and digital agriculture to study horticulture, oilseed rape, legumes and cereal crop phenomics. I have developed an advanced calibration and imaging methodology to improve robustness of UAV-acquired remote sensing data to identify stress response by crops with high classification accuracy. As an Agrophysicist and UAV pilot my research area include Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) technology for plants health detection, resistance to biotic (pest, disease, weeds) and abiotic (drought, heat, cold) stresses, and nutrient status. It involves agronomic data processing, association of GHG emission, image-cube analysis, AI algorithms development, crops mapping and predictive analytics. My research focuses on applying innovative sensing technologies to advance the data science into traditional agricultural industry to facilitate the digital Ag revolution for global food security.
Professional activities / interests
- RPAS (UAV) Drone Pilot (Advanced Operations), Transport Canada
- Remote sensing methods for mapping and monitoring of vegetation and agricultural crops
- Target crops adaptability to changing agro-ecosystem (sustainable agriculture)
- Reviewing manuscripts for peer journals (Remote Sensing, Sensors and Agriculture)
- Mentoring diversified students and researchers
Education and awards
Education:
- Research Ass. (RA) at the University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada
- Postdoctoral Fellow (Post-doc) at the University of California- Davis, CA, USA
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Hyperspectral Remote Sensing, IIT Bombay, IN
- Master of Technology (M.Tech.) in Engineering Physics, GGSIP University, IN
- Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Applied Physics, Delhi University, IN
- Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Physics (Hons.), Delhi University, IN
Honors and Awards:
- Member of Logistics Committee, NAPPN Phenomics planning, North America
- Best Poster Presentation Award, P2IRC Symposium, GIFS, Saskatoon, Canada
- Best Young Scientist Paper Competition, Agro-Geoinformatics, Fairfax, VA, USA
- Selected for Greenland GNSS (GNET) Workshop, GSFC, NASA, USA
- Selected for TUM Research Opportunities Week & DLR, Munich, Germany
- Awarded Full International Travel Support (ITS), DST, Govt. of India, IN
- Awarded International Commonwealth Fellowship (DFAIT–GSEP), Canada
- University Gold Medalist in Engineering Physics, GGSIP University, IN
Professional Certificates:
- Certificate in Understanding Phenology with Remote Sensing, NASA, USA
- Attended Philosophy and Practice of University Teaching, USask, Canada
- Certificate in Drone Technology & GIS for Crop Agriculture, UCANR, UC Davis, CA, USA
- Certificate in Environmental Monitoring and Research with UAVs, UC Davis, CA, USA
- Certificate in Food+Ag Entrepreneurship Academy (AGEA’17), UC Davis, CA, USA
- Certificate in Learner–Centered Teaching, CEE, UC Davis, CA, USA
- Certificate in Ag Innovation Entrepreneurship Academy (AGEA’16), UC Davis, USA
- Certificate of HYPERSPECTRA Workshop, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, IN
International experience and/or work
Research Ass. (RA) at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada [2018–2020]
Worked on UAV-based multidisciplinary projects which mainly included canola, wheat, and lentil crops phenotyping. My research focused on different canola genotypes seedpods maturity and shattering problem; nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in canola varieties; wheat cultivars phenotyping and yield prediction strategies using machine learning and statistical models; assessment of wheat stripe-rust in a nursery; evaluating different herbicides responses to dry down the lentils.
Post-doctoral Employee at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California- Davis, CA, USA [2015–2017]
Worked on the greenhouse and UAV-based Hyperspectral Imaging technology in study of host selection by selected insects/pests and abilities to assess crop health via reflectance profiling in the framework of Precision Agriculture (detection of crop responses to biotic & abiotic stressors). Here, I have studied different horticultural crops and nut-fruit trees grows in the central valley, California. It included strawberry, soybean, tomato, gerbera, rice, almond and walnut orchard.
Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics, JECRC University, Jaipur, IN [Feb.–Jun. 2015]
Taught "Engineering Physics" at Graduate and Post-graduate level
Ph.D. Scholarship at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai by MHRD Government of India, IN [2009–2014]
Thesis: Spectral Unmixing of Hyperspectral Data in the Reflective and Emissive Domain: Terrestrial and Planetary Remote Sensing
Visiting Graduate Student (Ph.D.) Fellowship awarded by International Canadian Commonwealth Fellowship (DFAIT–GSEP), University of Western Ontario, ON, Canada [Mar.–Oct. 2011]
Research Project: Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to study volcanic eruption in Mount Sinabung, Indonesia using JAXA-ALOS satellite data
Additional links
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=P3Hs8CcAAAAJ&hl=en
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Keshav-Singh-8
Key publications
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Natarajan, M., Singh, K.D., George, J., and Ragupathy, R., “Developing a Low-cost Digital Imaging System for Plant Phenotyping using Raspberry Pi Computers”, ISCB-ISMB Digital Agriculture Conference, Jul. 2022, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, Abstract # 921. (Virtual Online)
2022 - View publication details
Contact
Research facility
ORCIDExpertise
Affiliations
- Member of Technical Science Advisory Committee (STB)
- Member of North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN)
- Member of Canadian Remote Sensing Society (CRSS)
- Member of International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA)
- Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Member of Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN)