Ali Shafqat Akanda

Research

  • Hydrologic Forecasting
  • Water and Health Security
  • Emerging Water and Health Issues
  • Climate-Water-Health Nexus
  • Climate Change Impacts on Water Security
  • Water-Related Disasters
  • Hydroclimatic influences on Cholera
  • Early Warning Systems to Strengthen the Global Health Community

Education

  • Ph.D., Water Resources Engineering, Tufts University, 2011
  • M.Sc., Geo-environmental Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 1998
  • B.Tech, Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, 1996

Selected Publications

Nusrat, Farah, Akanda, Ali S., Islam, Abdullah, Aziz, Sonia, Pakhtigian, Emily L., Boyle, Kevin, Manzoor Ahmed Hanifi, Syed. Satellite-Derived, Smartphone-Delivered Geospatial Cholera Risk Information for Vulnerable Populations GeoHealth November 2024 doi: 10.1029/2024GH001039
Mohammed O. Altayyar, Shoaib Ali, Albert E. Larson, Thomas Boving, Leon Thiem, Ali S. Akanda, Quantifying groundwater depletion in Arabian Peninsula transboundary aquifer systems: Understanding natural and anthropogenic drivers Groundwater for Sustainable Development Vol 26, 2024,101293,ISSN 2352-801X, doi: 10.1016/j.gsd.2024.101293
Emily L. Pakhtigian, Sonia Aziz, Kevin J. Boyle, Ali S. Akanda, S.M.A. Hanifi,
Early warning systems, mobile technology, and cholera aversion: Evidence from rural Bangladesh Journal of Environmental Economics and Management Vol 125, 2024, 102966,ISSN 0095-0696,doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2024.102966.
Palash, Wahid, Akanda Ali. S, & Islam, Shafiqul. A data-driven global flood forecasting system for medium to large rivers. Scientific Reports, April 2024; doi:10.1038/s41598-024-59145-w
Larson A, Hendawi A, Boving T, Pradhanang SM, Akanda AS. Discerning Watershed Response to Hydroclimatic Extremes with a Deep Convolutional. Hydrology, 2023; 10(6); 116. doi: 10.3390/hyrdology10060116
Murray C, Larson A, Goodwill J, Wang Y, Cardace D, Akands AS. Water Quality Observations from Space: A Review of Critical Issues and Challenges. Environments, 2022; 9(10), 125. doi: 10.3390/enviornments9100125
Wagner F, Nusrat F, Thiem L, Akanda AS. Assessment of Urban Water-Energy Interactions and Heat Island Signatures in Rhode Island. Energy Nexus, 2022; 100093. doi: 10.106/j.nexus.2022.100093
Nusrat F, Haque M, Rollend D, Christie G, Akanda AS. A High-Resolution Earth Observations and Machine Learning-Based Approach to Forecast Waterborne Disease Risk in Post-Disaster Settings. Climate, 2022; 10(4), 48. doi: 10.3390/cli10040048
Aziz S, Pakhtigian EL, Akanda AS, et al. Does improved risk information increase the value of cholera prevention? An analysis of stated vaccine demand in slum areas of urban Bangladesh. Social Science & Medicine, 2021; 272, 113716. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113716
Akanda AS, Johnson K, Ginsberg HS, Couret J. Prioritizing Water Security in the Management of Vector-Borne Diseases: Lessons From Oaxaca, Mexico. Geohealth, 2020; 4(3). doi: 10.1029/2019GH000201
Puggioni G, Couret J, Serman E, Akanda AS, Ginsberg HS. Spatiotemporal modeling of dengue fever risk in Puerto Rico. Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, 2020; 35, 100375. doi: 10.1016/j.sste.2020.100375
Palash W, Akanda AS, Islam S. The record 2017 flood in South Asia: State of prediction and performance of a data-driven requisitely simple forecast model. Journal of Hydrology, 2020; 589, 125190. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125190
Reiner RC, Wiens KE, Deshpande A, et al. Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17: analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet, 2020; 395(10239), 1779-1801. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30114-8
Daisy SS, Saiful Islam AKM, Akanda AS, Faruque ASG, Amin N, Jensen PKM. Developing a forecasting model for cholera incidence in Dhaka megacity through time series climate data. Journal of Water and Health, 2020; 18(2), 207-223. doi: 10.2166/wh.2020.133
Akanda AS, Johnson K, Ginsberg HS, Couret J. Prioritizing Water Security in the Management of Vector-Borne Diseases: Lessons from Oaxaca, Mexico. GeoHealth, 2020; 4(3). doi: 10.1029/2019GH000201
Khan R, Aldaach H, McDonald C, et al. Estimating Cholera Risk from an Exploratory Analysis of its Association with Satellite-Derived Land Surface Temperatures. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2019; 1-12. doi: 10.1080/01431161.2019.1577575
Kahn R, Usmani M, Akanda A, et al. Long-Range River Discharge Forecasting Using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 2019; 145(7), 06019005. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001072
Fallatah O, Ahmed M, Akanda A, et al. Assessment of Modern Recharge to Arid Region Aquifers Using an Integrated Geophysical, Geochemical, and Remote Sensing Approach. Journal of Hydrology, 2018; 569. 600-611. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.09.061
Lozano R, Fullman N, Abate D, et al. Measuring Progress from 1990 to 2017 and Projecting Attainment to 2030 of the Health-Related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 Countries and Territories: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet, 2018; 392(10159), 2091-2138. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32281-5
Dicker D, Nguyen G, Abate D, et al. Global, Regional, and National Age-Sex-Specific Mortality and Life Expectancy, 1950-2017: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet, 2018; 392(10159), 1684-1735. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31891-9
Murray CJL, Callender CSKH, Kulikoff XR, et al. Population and Fertility by Age and Sex for 195 Countries and Territories, 1950-2017: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet, 2018; 392(10159), 1995-2051. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32278-5
Hasan MA, Saiful Islam AKM, Akanda AS. Climate Projections and Extremes in Dynamically Downscaled CMIP5 Model Outputs Over the Bengal Delta: A Quartile-Based Bias-Correction Approach with New Gridded Data. Climate Dynamics, 2018; 51(5-6), 2169-2190. doi: 10.1007/s00382-017-4006-1
Akanda AS, Johnson K. Growing Water Insecurity and Dengue Burden in the Americas. The Lancet Planetary Health, 2018; 2(5), e190-e191. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30063-9
Akanda AS, Aziz S, Jutla AS, et al. Satellites and Cell Phones Form a Cholera Early-Warning System. Eos, 2018; 99. doi: 10.1029/2018EO094839
Hasan MA, Mouw C, Jutla A, Akanda AS. Quantification of Rotavirus Diarrheal Risk Due to Hydroclimatic Extremes Over South Asia: Prospects of Satellite-Based Observations in Detecting Outbreaks. GeoHealth, 2018; 2(2), 70-86. doi: 10.1002/2017GH000101
Palash W, Jiang Y, Akanda AS, Small DL, Nozari A, Islam S. A Streamflow and Water Level Forecasting Model for the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers with Requisite Simplicity. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 2018; 19(1), 201-225. doi: 10.1175/JHM-D-16-0202.1

Recent Grants

1/18/2023. PI. University of Florida. “Assimilation of earth observations to improve and enhance global predictive ability of forecasting risk of cholera outbreaks.”
9/9/2022. PI. Brown University. “Improving Radiometer Earth Observations of Soil Moisture using Neural Networks - Graduate Fellowship Grant.”
10/15/2021. PI. Brown University/NASA. “Remote Sensing of Water Quality and Color of Water Bodies in a Changing Climate.”
9/24/2021. PI. United States Geological Survey. “A Geospatial Hydroclimatic Risk Model for Assessing Threats to Rhode Island Water Resources.”
9/17/2021. PI. Brown University. “Building Research Infrastructure in Earth Observations-aided Hydroclimatic Modeling and Dissemination.”
3/1/2021. PI. Tufts University. “A Geospatial Risk Model for Assessing Threats to Rhode Island Water Resources.”
6/30/2020. PI. Moravian College, Resources for the future. “Quantifying Benefits of Using Satellite Derived Early Warning System to Predict Cholera in Bangladesh.”
3/11/2020. PI. John Hopkins University. “Continuum A New Observing Strategy for Disasters and Public Health Emergencies.”
1/3/2019. Co-PI. The Woodward & Curran Foundation. “Designing Sustainable Water Systems for Climate Change: A Case Study in Rural Dominican Republic.”
2/13/2018. Co-PI. The Woodard & Curran Foundation. “Designing Sustainable Water Systems for Climate Change: A Case Study in Rural Dominican Republic.”
6/27/2017. PI. International Maize and Wheat. “Climate Services for Resilient Development.”
5/25/2017. PI. West Virginia University. “A Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing Approach to Predict Cholera.”
3/1/2017. PI. The Woodard & Curran Foundation. “Designing Sustainable Water Systems for Climate Change: A Case Study in Rural Dominican Republic.”

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