Research Interests
- Geotagged Social Media Data Analytics
- Sampling Bias Evaluation and Correction
- Spatial and Temporal Modeling
- Machine Learning and Deep Learning Applications in GIScience
Publications
- , & Yao, X. (Invited). Social Media for Election Prediction. In Citizen Earth: A Guide to Crowdsourced Geospatial Information for Earth and Human Systems (Springer Nature, in preparation).
- , Yao, X. A. (2025). A Review of Methods for Evaluating and Correcting Sampling Bias in Geotagged Social Media Data. (in preparation)
- Yang, H., Yao, X. A., Roozkhosh, F., , & Mai, G. (2025). From theory to deep learning: Understanding the impact of geographic context factors on traffic violations. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 119, 102268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2025.102268
- Yang, H., Yao, X. A., , & Whalen, C. C. (2023). Developing a Place–Time-Specific Transmissibility Index to Measure and Examine the Spatiotemporally Varying Transmissibility of COVID-19. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 113(6), 1419–1443. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2182758
- UGA Geography Globe Award for Methodological Advancement (2023)
- , Yao, X., Guo, C., & Wei, X. (2020). Can We Forecast Presidential Election Using Twitter Data? An Integrative Modelling Approach. Annals of GIS, 27(1), 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2020.1829704
- Most Downloaded Paper Award 1st Place & Best Paper Award 3rd Place in Annals of GIS Journal (2021)
- (2016). Freeboard Retrieval and Analysis Using Digital Mapping System Images (DMS) and Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) Elevation in Arctic. Sun Yat-Sen University Theses.
- Excellent Undergraduate Thesis Award
Conferences (*not attend in person)
- *2025 GIScience Conference, Poster Presentation (Christchurch, New Zealand, Aug 2025)
- *2025 Esri User Conference, Map Gallery (San Diego, CA, Jul 2025)
- *2025 AAG Annual Meeting, Paper Presentation (Detroit, MI, Mar 2025)
- 2024 CaGIS + UCGIS Symposium, Paper Presentation (Columbus, OH, Jun 2024)
- 2024 AAG Annual Meeting, Paper Presentation (Honolulu, HI, Apr 2024)
- 2023 AAG Annual Meeting, Paper Presentation (Denver, CO, Mar 2023)
- *2022 AAG Annual Meeting (Virtual, Apr 2022)
- *2021 AAG Annual Meeting, Paper Presentation (Virtual, Apr 2021)
- *2020 Esri User Conference, Map Gallery (Virtual, Jul 2020)
- *2020 UCGIS Symposium, Poster Gallery (Virtual, Jun 2020)
- *2020 AAG Annual Meeting (Virtual, Apr 2020)
- 2019 AAG Annual Meeting, Paper Presentation (Washington, DC, Apr 2019)
- 2017 AAG Annual Meeting, Poster Presentation (Boston, MA, Apr 2017)
- 2016 SEDAAG Annual Meeting (Columbia, SC, Nov 2016)
- 2016 Georgia Geospatial Conference (Athens, GA, Oct 2016)
Research Projects
GRADUATE RESEARCHER:
- Conduct research in geospatial analytics, social media data science, sampling bias evaluation, and predictive modeling.
- Developed a conceptual framework for evaluating and correcting sampling bias in geotagged social media datasets and conducted a literature review about current methods (Oral Presentation at AAG 2023 and AAG 2024 and CaGIS+UCGIS Symposium).
- Integrated Twitter sentiment with election forecasting models and predicted U.S. presidential election outcomes (Python, NLP, ArcGIS, Machine Learning Models; Oral Presentation at AAG 2019; Annals of GIS Most Downloaded Paper Award 1st Place and Best Paper Award 3rd Place).
- Evaluated gender representativeness of Twitter datasets and mapped spatial variation (Python, ArcGIS Pro; UCGIS 2020 Poster Gallery; Oral Presentation at AAG 2021).
RESEARCH COLLABORATOR:
- Collaborated on interdisciplinary research projects in transportation, public health, and spatial modeling.
- Examined geographic context factors influencing traffic violations using theory-guided and deep learning models (Python, Graph Convolutional Networks; Published in CEUS).
- Developed a place-time-specific transmissibility index for COVID-19 and assessed spatiotemporal variations in infectiousness (Python, Machine Learning Models; Published in Annals of the AAG; UGA Geography Globe Award for Methodological Advancement).
APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECTS:
- Research Assistant, National Institute of Health (NIH) Project: TB Movement Reconstruction
- Conducted spatial and temporal interpolation of call detail records and reconstructed movement patterns of Tuberculosis (TB) cases in Kampala, Uganda (Python, ArcGIS Pro).
- NSF I-GUIDE Summer School: Urban Green Spaces Cooling Effects
- Employed machine learning models to extract UGS and evaluated cooling effects across the southeastern United States (Python; Oral Presentation at NSF I-GUIDE Summer School and Virtual Consulting Office Webinar).
COURSE-BASED RESEARCH PROJECTS:
- Classified influenza-like illness tweets using machine learning models and compared patterns with CDC flu maps (Python, Machine Learning Models).
- Analyzed subjective well-being across Athens, Georgia and identified key local factors affecting community health (ArcGIS, Geospatial Modeling).
- Examined personal happiness in mainland China using geographically weighted regression (ArcGIS, Poster Presentation at AAG 2017).
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
- Undergraduate Thesis: Freeboard Retrieval and Analysis Using NASA Digital Mapping System (DMS) and Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) Data
- Classified DMS imagery, derived sea surface height relationships, and calculated Arctic freeboard (ArcGIS, ENVI, ERDAS, Statistical Analysis; Excellent Undergraduate Thesis Award).
- Sea Ice Thickness and Snow Depth Analysis, China National Science Foundation Project
- Extracted elevation data and estimated ice thickness and snow depth in the West Antarctic Seas (ArcGIS, ENVI, ERDAS, Statistical Analysis).
- GIS Intern, Guangzhou Urban Planning and Design Survey Research Institute
- Integrated national economic, urban planning, and land-use datasets, supported city-level planning workflows and organized the final planning report (ArcGIS).