KHEOBS LAB
Where Science Meets
Action for Cambodia’s Future
Advancing Cambodia’s capacity to observe and understand the environment from space through satellite imagery, cutting-edge processing, and collaborative research.
Develop expertise
KHEOBS is committed to developing expertise in remote sensing through the training and supervision of master’s and doctoral students and ad hoc training for partners or professionals.
Research & collaboration
KHEOBS is not just a data lab: it develops research projects and collaborations with ministries, institutions, and international partners, in various fields (ecology, hydrology, climate and health).
KHEOBS Infrastructure
KHEOBS has it own infrastructure, with servers and large storage at ITC. It produces spatial information and hosts web applications related to Earth observation for Cambodia.
Background
The Khmer Earth Observation Laboratory (KHEOBS) is a Earth-observation research centre based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was established in November 2022 through a collaboration between the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) to showcase the capabilities of satellite and aerial Earth-observation data and strengthen their use in Cambodia and the wider ASEAN region.
KHEOBS functions as Cambodia’s hub for Earth-observation science, combining data access, analytical tools, training, research collaboration, and applied monitoring to support sustainable development and environmental management.
📡 Research and operational activities
Research activities related to Earth observation: Wetlands and water monitoring (Detection of flooded areas, water turbidity, monitoring of water dynamics), Environmental changes (Land Use / Land Cover mapping, changes detection), environment and climate monitoring for health surveillance, in near realtime, for forecasting or for future predictions.
Training and capacity building – KHEOBS offers training in remote sensing methods and analytical techniques to Cambodian scientists, students, and institutional partners.
- An infrastructure to monitor climate and environment – The lab develops cutting-edge tools and methodologies for environmental monitoring and analysis using satellite technology. It facilitates the use of satellite imagery (e.g., Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and other optical/SAR data) and historical aerial photos for environmental and land-use monitoring in Cambodia and the region. KHEOBS infrastructure, with powerful servers and large storage, hosts processing tools like Sen2Chain and Sen2Extract to automatically generate time-series spatial indicators from satellite data, enabling regular monitoring of environmental changes.
🎓 Vision and Impact
The long-term goal of KHEOBS is to build national and regional expertise in remote sensing, foster research networks, and apply satellite-derived information to real-world environmental and societal challenges, particularly in Cambodia’s context of climate change, land use change, and public health.
Our Journey
Key milestones in KHEOBS’ mission to advance Earth observation research in Cambodia.
December 8, 2021
KHEOBS Founding meeting
Founding meeting of KHEOBS at ITC, during the IRD Scientific and Strategic Steering Committee (CP2S), with Cambodian and French research institutions involved or interested by Earth Observation.
November 17, 2022
Opening of KHEOBS
Official opening of KHEOBS Laboratory with H.E. Jacques Peillet, French Ambassador to Cambodia, Dr. Po Kimtho, Director of ITC, and Prof. Valérie Verdier President of IRD France.
February 21, 2023
Visit of French high level delegation
Visit of Mrs Barbara Pompili (Member of Parliament for the Somme Department and former Minister for the Ecological Transition in 2020), Mrs Anne Genetet (Member of Parliament for the French abroad), high representatives of AFD, IRD, French Embassy in Cambodia, and Dr Po Kimtho (Director of the Institute of Technology of Cambodia).
November 15, 2023
Meeting between Espace-Dev and ITC Directors
Carmen Gervet, Director of Espace-Dev Research Unit and Sylvie Laleu, Espace-Dev Administrative Manager, came to ITC for an official meeting with ITC Direction Team to discuss the implementation of the joint ITC-IRD KHEOBS Laboratory.
February 26 – March 1, 2024
Remote sensing workshop to strengthen capacities in using time series of satellite images
Given by Pascal Mouquet (IRD – UMR Espace-Dev)
Support from Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF)
May 31, 2024
Short training on flood water extent mapping and mangrove mapping
- Given by Renaud Hostache and Thibault Catry (IRD – UMR Espace-Dev)
- 15 participants from ITC and Royal University of Agriculture (RUA).
May 5-9, 2025
R-Spatial training for One-Health studies
- Training for the use of R software for mapping and spatial analyses for One-Health studies
- Organized in the frame of the PREACTS AfriCam Project, co-funded by IRD Espace-dev
- 27 participants from Ministry of Health (CDC and NIPH), Ministry of Environment, University of Health Sciences, Institute of Technology of Cambodia, Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Wildlife Conservation Society, Open Development Cambodia, Shoklo Malaria Research Unit.
June 22-24, 2022
Training on Earth Observation for hydrology and land cover mapping
- Given by Thibault Catry et Renaud Hostache from IRD – UMR Espace-Dev, with 24 participants (researchers, doctoral students, master’s students)
- Co-funded by the French Embassy the FSPI OHSEA project (One Health in practices in South-East Asia)
December 7-9, 2022
Training on monitoring environmental dynamics by remote sensing
- Given by Pascal Mouquet (IRD – UMR Espace-Dev) et Christophe Révillion (Univ. Réunion – UMR Espace-Dev), with 20 participants (researchers, geomaticians from Cambodian institutions, doctoral and master’s students)
- Co-funded by the FSPI OHSEA project (One Health in practices in South-East Asia) + EASIMES project (Global Fund)
October 30 - November 10, 2023
Trainings on photogrammetry and processing of aerial pictures
- Given by Vincent Bousquet (IGNFI)
- Funded by the FSPI-R KAPA project.
February 23, 2024
High-Level visit of KHEOBS
Visit of H.E. Dr. HANG CHUON Naron, Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS), H.E. Dr. OM Romny Secretary of State and their delegation, and H.E. Prof. PO Kimtho, Director of ITC.
May 28, 2024
Khmer Earth Observation Day 2024
KHEOBS Team organized the first Khmer Earth Observation Day 2024
- 60 participants, 16 oral presentations, 7 posters
- Booklet of abstracts and sharing of presentations on the conference website
More info: https://kheobsday2024.sciencesconf.org/
June 6, 2024
ITC Scientific Days
The KHEOBS Team animated a booth and received a second visit of H.E. Dr. HANG CHUON Naron, Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) and H.E. Prof. PO Kimtho, Director of ITC
November 28, 2025
Cambodia GeoSpatial Day
KHEOBS Team organized the Cambodia GeoSpatial Day 2025 at ITC (following the Khmer Earth Observation Day 2024)
- 80 participants, 16 oral presentations, 6 posters
- Booklet of abstracts and sharing of presentations on the conference website https://khmgeoday2025.sciencesconf.org/data/Cambodia_GeoSpatial_Day_2025_Abstracts.pdf
- Conference followed by training sessions
More info: https://khmgeoday2025.sciencesconf.org/