Langezijds

prof.dr. M. Kuffer (Monika)

ITC-SCI-PLAN
BMS-TPS-CSTM
Langezijds 1301
m.kuffer@utwente.nl
+31534874301
Business card

Monika Kuffer is working as a Professor at the Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS) as well as at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC, University of Twente). My research focuses on sustainable development (SDGs), in particular poverty (deprivation), living quality, and economic development in urban/rural environments using remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and AI-based methods. I co-chair an international network on deprivation area mapping IDEAMAPS and (co) lead several research projects on urban deprivation and environment, e.g., IDEAtlas,  SPACE4ALL, IDEAMAPS Ecosystem, and ONEKANA. I am the project director of two NUFFIC-funded training grants (IDeAMapSudan - Capacity strengthening for gender-responsive and sustainable urban development and DATA4HUMANRIGHTS, Nigeria). I am a Steering Committee Member of the Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE), the Dutch representative of the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL), SIG chair for Developing Countries, and a member of the Steering Committee: EO for Sustainable Cities and Communities Toolkit.

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Expertise

  • Earth and Planetary Sciences

    • Metropolitan Area
    • Datum
    • Area
    • Cartography
    • Earth
    • Observation
    • Image

  • Social Sciences

    • Slums

Organisations

Ancillary activities

  • University of LiverpoolAdvisoy Board Member Imago

Monika Kuffer received her PhD from the University of Twente (NL) and one MSc in Human Geographer (TU Munich), and a second MSc in Geographic Information Science (University of London). She is working as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC, University of Twente). Her main research foci are urban remote sensing, monitoring deprived areas (e.g., slums), and analyzing urban form and dynamics with remote sensing, spatial statistics, and spatial metrics. Her research is driven by providing spatial information to support planning and decision-making processes in complex cities, toward inclusive, livable, and sustainable cities.

Publications

Jump to: 2025 | 2024

2025

Diagnostic of urban flooding and livability in Ghana (2025)[Book/Report › Report]. Zenodo. Trento Oliveira, L., Campomanes V, F., Kuffer, M., Belgiu, M. & Dijkstra, A. M.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17403979Predicting Household Income with Sentinel and Street View Imagery: A Comparative Study across Amsterdam, Sydney, and New York (2025)International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (JAG), 143. Article 104828. Karasov, O., Uuemaa, E., Järv, O., Kuffer, M. & Tammaru, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2025.104828Exploring the Influence of Building Morphology on Surface Temperatures: A Multi-City Analysis in Europe (2025)Building and environment, 282. Article 113274. Roy, S. D., Kuffer, M. & Wang, J.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113274Comparative analysis of manual slum identification using satellite data: A case study of Medellin, Colombia (2025)In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) (pp. 1-4) (Proceedings Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE); Vol. 2025). IEEE. Friesen, J., Kraff, N., Kuffer, M., Georganos, S., Debray, H., Taubenböck, H. & Samper, J.https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075970Evaluating the ability to map the degree of informality within a city using a scalable, machine learning methodology in Nairobi, Kenya (2025)In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) (pp. 1-4). IEEE. Engstrom, R., Bharadwaj, A., Owusu, M., Zhao, Q., Hafner, S., Kuffer, M., Onyambu, F. C., Kabaria, C., Elias, P., Odulana, O., Tregonning, G., Alugbin, B., Baruwa, K., Thomson, D. R. & De Albuquerque, J. P.https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11076080Mapping Deprived Urban Areas with an Optimized Loss-weight Feature-guided Deep Learning Model (2025)In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) (pp. 1-4) (Proceedings Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE); Vol. 2025). IEEE. Filho, P. S., Tareke, B., Persello, C., Maretto, R. V., Machado, R., Kuffer, M., Abascal, A. & Wang, J.https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11075980Mapping indicators for morphological informality in Nairobi, Kenya using satellite imagery (2025)In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) (pp. 1-4) (Proceedings Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE); Vol. 2025). IEEE. Hafner, S., Comerio De Paulo, M., Zhao, Q., Kuffer, M., Engstrom, R., Thomson, D. R., Onyambu, F. C., Kabaria, C., Elias, P., Abascal, A., Tregonning, G., Odulana, O., Shonowo, A., Alugbin, B., Baruwa, K., Middleton, A. & de Albuquerque, J. P.https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11076042Measuring change and location of informal settlements at a national level: The Argentinian case (2025)In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) (pp. 1-4) (Proceedings Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE); Vol. 2025). IEEE. Samper, J., Pedrassoli, J., Boanada-Fuchs, A., Kuffer, M., Espinosa, M. J. & D’Attoli, J. M.https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11076027The SPACE4ALL Project: Accounting for the hazard exposure of the urban poor: Combining remote sensing and citizen science (2025)In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) (pp. 1-4). IEEE. Trento Oliveira, L., Campomanes, E., Belgiu, M., Dijkstra, A., Abascal, A. & Kuffer, M.https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11076002Towards a spatial measure of SDG 11.1.1: Open data for urban deprivation mapping (2025)In 2025 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) (pp. 1-4) (Proceedings Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE); Vol. 2025). IEEE. Veeravalli, S. G., Campomanes, F., Hafner, S., Georganos, S., Kuffer, M., Friesen, J., Thomson, D. R., Ndugwa, R., Mwaniki, D., Abascal, A., Elias, P., Morakinyo, T. E., Pedrassoli, J., de Oliveira, G., Boanada-Fuchs, A., Zerjav, B. & D’Attoli, J. M.https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE60372.2025.11076033Exploring the relation of livability mapping and flood exposure analysis by combining remote sensing and citizen science (2025)In Proceedings of the 44th EARSeL Symposium (pp. 215-220) (International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences). Copernicus. Campomanes, F., Trento Oliveira, L., Belgiu, M., Abascal, A., Dijkstra, A. & Kuffer, M.https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-7-2025-215-2025Innovative data solutions for inclusive cities: The IDEAtlas User Portal (2025)In The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences: 44th EARSeL Symposium (pp. 237-243) (International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences). Copernicus. Tareke, B., Silva Filho, P., Persello, C., Kuffer, M., Maretto, R. V., Wang, J., Abascal, A., Pillai, P., Singh, B., D'Attoli, J. M., Kabaria, C., Pedrassoli, J., Brito, P., Elias, P., Villaseñor, E. A., Ramírez Santiago, A., Mulyana, W., Pratomo, J., Leska, R., … Thomson, D. R.https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-7-2025-237-2025Towards an indicator-based morphological informality model for Sub-Saharan Africa using open building footprint and road data (Version 1) (2025)In International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences: 44th EARSeL Symposium (pp. 221-228) (International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences). Copernicus. Hafner, S., Zhao, Q., Abascal, A., Comerio de Paulo, M., Tregonning, G., Middleton, A., Shonowo, A., Kuffer, M., Engstrom, R., Thomson, D. R., Onyambu, F. C., Kabaria, C., Elias, P., Odulana, O., Alugbin, B., Baruwa, K. & Porto de Albuquerque, J.https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-7-2025-221-2025Using low-cost sensors and citizen science: Assessing thermal inequality in African slums (2025)In Proceedings of the 44th EARSeL Symposium (pp. 229-236) (International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences). Copernicus. Sampson, S. A., Abascal, A., Wang, J., Vanhuysse, S., Rodríguez Carreño, I., Garcia Ruiz, I. & Kuffer, M.https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-7-2025-229-2025Using comparative approaches to model deprivation in Antananarivo, Madagascar: A multidimensional analysis using principal components analysis and weighting system across meso and macro scales (2025)Habitat International, 159. Article 103359. Ramiaramanana, F. N., Teller, J., Sliuzas, R. & Kuffer, M.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103359FRAME-PRO: Framework for the responsible and accountable mapping of deprived urban areas (2025)[Thesis › PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT]. University of Twente. Oluoch, I. O.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036565974Earth Observation in support of EU policies for urban climate adaptation (2025)[Book/Report › Report]. Publications Office of the European Union. Dowell, M., Bernard, S., Kilsedar, C., Gianinetto, M., Speyer, O., Kuffer, M., Grecchi, R., Gliottone, I. & Melchiorri, M.https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC140369Data Are Power: Addressing the Power Imbalance Around Community Data with the Open-Access Data4HumanRights Curriculum (2025)Societies, 15(2). Article 29. Kuffer, M., Thomson, D. R., Wakonyo, D., Kimani, N. W., Kohli-Poll Jonker, D., Okoko, E., Toheeb, R., Akinmuyiwa, B., Zanna, M., Imole, D. & Maki, A.https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15020029Toward 3D hedonic price model for vertically developed cities using street view images and machine learning methods (2025)Habitat International, 156. Article 103288. Ying, Y., Dai, S., Koeva, M., Kuffer, M., Persello, C., Zhou, W. & Zevenbergen, J.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103288Foreword to the Special Issue“Exploring the Potential of Urban Remote Sensing” (2025)IEEE Journal of selected topics in applied earth observations and remote sensing, 18, 11323-11329. Chrysoulakis, N., Somarakis, G., Kuffer, M., Mallet, C. & Taubenböck, H.https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2025.3559018

2024

The interplay between uncertainties, transferability & policymaking in remote sensing-based slum mapping (2024)[Thesis › PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT]. University of Twente. Pratomo, J.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036564168AI perceives like a local: predicting citizen deprivation perception using satellite imagery (2024)npj Urban Sustainability, 4(1). Article 20. Abascal, A., Vanhuysse, S., Grippa, T., Rodriguez-Carreño, I., Georganos, S., Wang, J., Kuffer, M., Martinez-Diez, P., Santamaria-Varas, M. & Wolff, E.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-024-00156-x3D property valuation in vertical cities (2024)[Thesis › PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT]. University of Twente, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC). Ying, Y.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036562515Do informal settlements contribute to sprawl in Sub-Saharan African cities? (2024)Sustainable Cities and Society, 113. Article 105663. Kolowa, T. J., Daams, M. N. & Kuffer, M.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2024.105663Diagnostics of urban flooding in Nairobi (2024)[Book/Report › Report]. Zenodo. Trento Oliveira, L., Kuffer, M., Belgiu, M. & Dijkstra, A. M.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14650088

Research profiles

Ongoing research projects on Earth Observation and mapping deprived urban areas: 

The IDEAMAPS Network is developing and maintaining an Integrated DEprived Area MAPping System (IDEAMAPS) that leverages the strengths of our current silo-ed approaches to “slum” area mapping.
More info: https://ideamapsnetwork.org/

ACCOUNT (Accounting for the unaccounted) is developing a machine-learning based framework for estimating the population of invisible spaces in support of the SDG Slum Indicator.
More info: https://slummap.net/index.php/account/ 

The SLUMAP project (Remote Sensing for Slum Mapping and Characterization in sub-Saharan African Cities) is a two-year research project (2019-2021) funded by the STEREO-III programme of the Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO).
More info: http://slumap.ulb.be/ 

IDEAMAPSUDAN (Integrated Deprivation Area Mapping System for Displacement Durable Solutions and socioeconomic reconstruction in Khartoum, Sudan) is implementing a training project in Sudan on Capacity strengthening for gender-responsive and sustainable urban development.
More info: https://slummap.net/index.php/projects-overview/ 

Address

University of Twente

Langezijds (building no. 19), room 1301
Hallenweg 8
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands

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