Omid Rahmati, PhD
Assistant professor,
Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Department,
Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center,
Agricultural Research Education And Extention Organization (AREEO),
Sanandaj, Iran
Bio:
Omid is a geo-environmental researcher by background. He has widespread research interests in risk, modeling, uncertainty, and decision-making in relation to natural hazards and natural resources management. His Ph.D. research focused on the development and application of data-mining and machine-learning models for spatial modeling of gully-erosion susceptibility. He has published over 80 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and many books/book chapters, and these have been cited over 10000 times so far according to the ISI Web of Knowledge. He joined the AREEO as an Assistant Professor in September 2019. Omid has been identified as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (Top 0.1%) in 2021 and 2022. In addition, he has been recognized as one of the World's top 2% scientists during 2020-2024 based on Stanford University's list and Elsevier's annual report.
Contact information:
E-mails: o.rahmati@areeo.ac.ir; orahmati68@gmail.com
Tel: +988733623353
Fax: +988733623351
Research interests:
- Watershed management
- Natural hazards: monitoring, modeling, and mitigation
- Natural resources planning
- Soil conservation and sediment control
- Sustainable development
Education:
BSc. Natural Resources Management, Ferdowsi University of Mashad, Iran
MSc. Watershed Management Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran
PhD Watershed Management Engineering, Lorestan University, Iran
Publication links:
Google Scholar (publications & citations) ResearchGate (academic network & science-related posts)
Research:
As a geomorphologist and environmental scientist, my research area focuses on watershed planning and natural disaster management. I usually use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data mining models to analyze the natural- and human-related processes in nature with an interdisciplinary perspective. Assessing the role of anthropogenic activities allows for updating management strategies to reduce natural disaster risks. Developing sustainable development programs based on soil and water conservation is one of the research priorities. I have collaborated with over 40 world-class researchers around the world in my projects and publications.
Development and design of software and GIS-based tools:
1. PMT
Description: a GIS-based tool for investigating the goodness-of-fit and predictive performance of spatial models
Rahmati, O., Kornejady, A., Samadi, M., Deo, R.C., Conoscenti, C., Lombardo, L., Dayal, K., Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi, R., Pourghasemi, H.R., Kumar, S. and Bui, D.T., 2019. PMT: New analytical framework for automated evaluation of geo-environmental modelling approaches. Science of the total environment, 664, pp.296-311.
2. SWPT
Description: a user-friendly GIS-based tool for prioritization of watersheds
Rahmati, O., Samadi, M., Shahabi, H., Azareh, A., Rafiei-Sardooi, E., Alilou, H., Melesse, A.M., Pradhan, B., Chapi, K. and Shirzadi, A., 2019. SWPT: An automated GIS-based tool for prioritization of sub-watersheds based on morphometric and topo-hydrological factors. Geoscience Frontiers, 10(6), pp.2167-2175.
3. SAS
Description: a GIS-based tool for the selection of absence samples in geospatial modeling
Rahmati, O., Moghaddam, D.D., Moosavi, V., Kalantari, Z., Samadi, M., Lee, S. and Tien Bui, D., 2019. An automated Python language-based tool for creating absence samples in groundwater potential mapping. Remote Sensing, 11(11), p.1375.
4. SSS
Description: a software for site selection in watershed management and environmental projects
Rahmati, O., Kalantari, Z., Samadi, M., Uuemaa, E., Moghaddam, D.D., Nalivan, O.A., Destouni, G. and Tien Bui, D., 2019. GIS-based site selection for check dams in watersheds: Considering geomorphometric and topo-hydrological factors. Sustainability, 11(20), p.5639.
5. HAND
Description: a GIS-based tool for producing Height Above the Nearest Drainage map
Rahmati, O., Kornejady, A., Samadi, M., Nobre, A.D. and Melesse, A.M., 2018. Development of an automated GIS tool for reproducing the HAND terrain model. Environmental Modelling & Software, 102, pp.1-12.
Services:
Toward science communication, I participate in conferences, webinars, and public events, and provide scientific perspectives. I also serve in editorial roles for international journals:
1. The guest editor in Remote Sensing, special issues: "Remote Sensing of Water Resources Monitoring, Parametrization and Modeling"
2. The guest editor in Remote Sensing, special issues: "GeoAI: Integration of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning with Remote Sensing"
3. The guest editor in Sustainability, special issues: "Artificial Intelligence Pathway for Environmental Sustainability: Monitoring, Modeling, and Decision Making".
4. The guest editor in Remote Sensing, special issues: "Geocomputation Using Remote Sensing Techniques Under Data-Scarcity Conditions"
5. The guest editor in Land, special issues: "Watershed Processes in the Face of Dynamic Landscapes and Climate Change"
In addition, I review papers for several high-quality journals such as Journal of Hydrology, Catena, Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, Science of the Total Environment, Journal of Environmental Management, Natural Resources Research, Natural Hazards, Land Degradation and Development, and Geoscience Frontiers.
Advising:
Although I work in a research organization, I enjoy working with students and helping them to meet their academic and professional goals. I have been an advisor for MSc. and Ph.D. students from different universities. Fortunately, they completed their thesis successfully and publish their achievements in high-quality journals. Ph.D. students and Postdocs can contact me and contribute to my projects.
Awards:
- Outstanding researcher award in 2020 (Iran's National Elites Foundation)
- The best researcher award in 2019 (Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center)
- The best researcher award in 2020 (Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center)
- The World's top 2% of scientists listed in 2020 based on the Composite Index of Stanford University.
- The World's top 2% of scientists listed in 2021 based on the Composite Index of Stanford University.
- The Frontier of Science award in 2021 at the Ministry of Agriculture.
- Clarivate Highly-Cited Researcher (top 1%) in 2021 based on Web-of-Science report.
- Clarivate Highly-Cited Researcher (top 1%) in 2022 based on Web-of-Science report.
- The World's top 2% of scientists listed in 2020 based on the Composite Index of Stanford University.
- The World's top 2% of scientists listed in 2021 based on the Composite Index of Stanford University.
- The World's top 2% of scientists listed in 2022 based on the Composite Index of Stanford University.
- The World's top 2% of scientists listed in 2023 based on the Composite Index of Stanford University.
- The World's top 2% of scientists listed in 2024 based on the Composite Index of Stanford University.
Teaching:
I have been invited to teach courses related to geomorphology, cartography, GIS and RS, and applied hydrology at Lorestan and Environment Universities. I try to combine class teaching, field visiting, and lab activities for each course to enhance students' practical skills.
Current projects:
- Multi-hazard mapping and climate change analysis in the Zagros region
- The effects of climate change on soil erosion and sediment transport
- Estimation of gully erosion rate using machine learning models on the national scale
- Sediment fingerprinting and determining the contribution of each soil erosion type to sediment yield in Neiriz Watershed, Fars province
- Evaluation of landslide vulnerability in five selected provinces in Iran
- Gully erosion susceptibility mapping using data-mining and machine-learning algorithms
- Flood hazard, vulnerability, and risk analysis
- Sediment connectivity analysis and modeling
More information about the research environment and experiences:
Research activities in SCWMRD (visit this page)