PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Xiuping Jia

Xiuping Jia is a remote-sensing researcher whose work connects spectral classification with AI for hyperspectral imagery. She earned a bachelor of engineering degree in 1982, joined UNSW Canberra in 1988, and completed a part-time PhD in electrical engineering in 1996. With John Alan Richards, she published a 1993 paper on fast spectral matching and classification and coauthored a 1999 remote-sensing textbook. She gave a 2017 report on spatial resolution, became an IEEE Fellow in 2021, and coauthored SpectralGPT, a 3D generative foundation model for spectral remote sensing. As of October 2026, she is an associate professor at UNSW Canberra and editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing; her coauthored 2026 primer on hyperspectral imaging surveys AI methods.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1982–1996

    Degrees and UNSW Canberra

    She earns a B.Eng. from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 1982 and a part-time PhD in electrical engineering from UNSW in 1996. She joins UNSW Canberra's School of Engineering and Information Technology in 1988.

  2. 1993

    Binary coding for spectral matching

    With J. A. Richards, she publishes a paper in 1993 on binary coding of imaging-spectrometer data for fast spectral matching and classification.

  3. 1999

    A remote-sensing textbook

    With John A. Richards, she publishes the third edition of Remote Sensing Digital Image Analysis in 1999. It introduces non-specialists to quantitative evaluation of remotely retrieved satellite and aircraft data.

  4. 2017

    From subpixels to superpixels

    At China University of Mining and Technology's School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, she gives a 2017 academic report titled On remote sensing spatial resolution: from subpixels to superpixels.

  5. 2021

    IEEE fellowship and top 250 researchers

    IEEE elevates her to Fellow in 2021. Research Magazine lists her among Australia's top 250 researchers in 2021.

  6. 2022–2024

    A field guide and SpectralGPT

    She publishes Field Guide to Hyperspectral/Multispectral Image Processing in 2022. In 2023, she coauthors the SpectralGPT preprint, a foundation model using a 3D generative pretrained transformer for spectral remote-sensing images; IEEE publishes its journal article in 2024.

  7. 2025–2026

    A primer on hyperspectral imaging

    She coauthors the Hyperspectral imaging primer, posted on arXiv in 2025; its abstract surveys AI-driven methods such as deep learning. Nature Reviews Methods Primers publishes the work in 2026.

  8. As of October 2026

    Associate professor and journal editor

    She is an associate professor at UNSW Canberra and editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

Career

  1. Since 1988UNSW CanberraAssociate professor

Education

  1. 1996UNSW SydneyPhD
  2. 1982Beijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsB.Eng.

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes UNSW Sydney. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes UNSW Sydney. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes UNSW Sydney. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes UNSW Sydney. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Xiuping Jia yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Associate Professor Xiuping Jia unsw.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Face-to-Face Dialogue with the Editor-in-Chief: IEEE GRSS Journal events.vtools.ieee.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Remote Sensing Digital Image Analysis: An Introduction books.google.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Dr. Jia Xiuping, from the University of New South Wales, Australia, was invited to make an academic report cesien.cumt.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. SpectralGPT: Spectral Remote Sensing Foundation Model arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Hyperspectral Imaging arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.