Project Senior Assis. Prof. Nishino et al. receive the Best Paper Award and the Best Paper and Presentation Award at SDSC 2026

At the 10th International Smart Data and Smart Cities Conference (SDSC 2026), held from September 28 to October 2, 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria as part of GeoSofia 2026 together with the 21st 3D GeoInfo Conference and the 14th FIG Workshop on LADM & 3D LA, a research paper assessing future heat risk in Greater Sydney for 2031 by integrating a satellite-derived outdoor heat-stress index (Universal Thermal Climate Index, UTCI) with population projections was selected for the Best Paper Award (one of three papers) and also received the Best Paper and Presentation Award, which is given to only one paper across the conference and sponsored by the ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (MDPI).

This research was conducted by Project Senior Assistant Professor Akihiko Nishino, who also serves as a Visiting Fellow at the School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW), and Professor Naohiko Kohtake of the Sensing and Design Lab. (Kohtake Laboratory), in collaboration with Professor Sisi Zlatanova of UNSW.

Title: Future Urban Heat Risk Assessment in Sydney: Integrating Satellite-Derived UTCI with Population Projections
Authors: Akihiko Nishino, Sisi Zlatanova, and Naohiko Kohtake