UNIGIS at GI_Salzburg 2023 – A Throwback

The GI_Salzburg23 conference (former AGIT and GI_Forum) is one of our Department’s annual highlights. At GI_Salzburg23, the Department of Geoinformatics at the University of Salzburg (PLUS), invites experts from the field – ranging from industry, to research, to ministry, and beyond – as well as participants from all over the world to present results, to get inspired, to get connected, and to exchange ideas. Amidst this crowd are also many students who benefit from this experience. This year, the themes included:

• Digital Earth and Climate Change (e.g., Natural Risk, Ecosystems, Modelling, Communication, …)
• Geomedia and Education for Sustainable Development
• Geoinformatics in Urban Science (e.g., Mobility, Public Health, Smart Cities, Digital Twins and AI, …)
• Advances in Geoinformation (e.g., EO, SDI, Geosimulation, Spatial Decision Making Models, …)
• …and of course, there was the EXPO with many exhibitors from all sorts of GI-related fields, ranging from Publishing to LiDAR scanners.

The conference offers many sessions on the topics mentioned above. In these sessions, latest findings are presented. Among the presenters were also some people form the UNIGIS Salzburg Team.

• Christian Neuwirth, Gudrun Wallentin, and Eva Reibersdorfer-Adelsberger, presented their latest works in the field of Spatial Simulation.
• Martin Loidl organised a panel discussion on GI and Mobility with guests from the government, the industry, Salzburg Traffic, and the Psychology Department of the University. In the discussion, they talked about the future of mobility.
• Petra Stutz organised a panel discussion on ChatGPT and its use in (Higher) Education, building up on her work from spring this year. Maybe you have already read her blog post on Ch(e)atGPT.
• Adrijana Car held a workshop on scientific writing and publishing, especially targeted at students and (prospective) PhD candidates, and
• Christoph Traun activly participated in a German-speaking Education Forum on Geoinformatics studies.

One of the sessions is dedicated to UNIGIS especially: the UNIGIS Forum. At this year’s UNIGIS Forum, Gudrun Wallentin, Head of UNIGIS Salzburg, opened the forum, and Christian Neuwirth and Judith Grubinger-Preiner moderated the session, where four UNIGIS students presented their master thesis and project findings:

• Timo Wicki (CH), on “Effekt der Einzugsgebietsmodellierung auf die Abflusssimulation im urbanen Gebiet“ (German)
• Mattia Sartori (I), on “Assessing the applicability of Sentinel-1 SAR data for semi-automatic detection of snow avalanche debris in the South Tyrolean Alps”
• Sean Jarrett (GB), on “Application of SAR change detection to evaluate flood event characteristics pre and post restoration of a floodplain”
• Winfried Schwan (GER), on “GIS meets real-time 3D engines”

Congratulations to the presenters and many thanks for sharing your works! It is always a joy to see UNIGIS students at the end of their studies, presenting their theses and projects at this conference, answering questions from experts, and sharing their experience on finishing their studies with fellow students.

Afterwards, we took the chance to mingle at the traditional UNIGIS get-together, at the rooftop terrace of the university building. While enjoying the impeccable view into the mountains, the fields, and onto the Salzburg fortress, UNIGIS students, lecturers, and staff took the chance to take some refreshments, chat, and exchange thoughts outside of offices and desk environments. This was also the time when the winner of the UNIGIS Ice Cream Challenge was drawn. He won a free Optional Module by UNIGIS. – Congratulations!