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Report on

“National Symposium on Recent Advances in Remote Sensing and GIS

with Special Emphasis on Mountain Ecosystems”

&

“Annual Conventions of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing

&the Indian Society of Geomatics”

A National Symposium on “Recent Advances in Remote Sensing and GIS with Special

Emphasis on Mountain Ecosystems” and Annual Conventions of the Indian Society of

Remote Sensing (ISRS) & the Indian Society of Geomatics was organised jointly by ISRS and

ISG at Dehradun during December 7 - 9, 2016 at Dehradun. The event was hosted by the

Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) and the ISRS - Dehradun Chapter. Pre-Symposium

Tutorials on advanced on contemporary topics were also organised during December 5 - 6,

2016. The event provided an excellent platform and opportunity to scientists, researchers,

practitioners, entrepreneurs and students to exchange their research ideas, discuss

formulation and implementation of policies, update knowledge base, and interact with

experts and peers on various issues related to remote sensing and GIS with special

reference to mountain ecosystems. The highlights of different activities are provided here

under.

The Symposium received an overwhelming response from researchers, professionals,

academia, students and geospatial industry from across the country. About 540 delegates

from across the country attended the symposium and participated in the deliberations. The

salient points of the symposium are highlighted here.

Inaugural Session

The symposium was inaugurated on December 7, 2016 by Padma Bhushan Shri Chandi

Prasad Bhatt, a noted environmentalist and social activist, who founded Dasholi Gram

Swarjaya Sangh in Gopeshwar (Uttarakhand) in 1964 which later became a mother

organisation to the Chipko Andolan (Hug the Trees Movement). Dr. A. Senthil Kumar, Chair,

ISRS - Dehradun Chapter and Director, IIRS welcomed distinguished delegates, invitees,

representatives of sponsoring organisations and geospatial industry and ISRS/ISG awardees.

Dr. Shailesh Nayak, President, ISRS and Distinguished Scientist, ESSO, Ministry of Earth

Sciences delivered the Presidential Address and also welcomed all the delegates and

invitees to the symposium. Dr. Pramod K. Verma, Vice President, ISG and Professor of

Applied Geology, Vikram University, Ujjain also addressed the gathering. Shri Chandi Prasad

Bhatt, the chief guest, in his inaugural address highlighted about the issues and challenges

being faced by humankind living in the mountains and urged the scientists and researchers

to find scientific means and methods to appropriately address them. He particularly

emphasised on taking steps for reducing the vulnerabilities and risks due to natural hazards

and climate change.

During the inaugural function and as a part of the annual conventions of ISRS and ISG,

awards were also conferred to eminent scientists and researchers working in the field of

remote sensing and geomatics. ISRS especially felicitated Padma Bhushan Prof. (Dr.) George

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Joseph for his life-time contributions in the development as well as popularising remote

sensing technology in India, outstanding scientific leadership and international acclaim.

ISRS Awards:

� ISRS Fellows:Shri Tapan Mishra, Dr. P. G. Diwakar, Dr. S. S. Ray

� Bhaskara Award: Dr. V. S. Hegde

� Satish Dhawan Award: Dr. A. Senthil Kumar, Dr. S. K. Saha

� National Geospatial Award for Excellence: Dr. Sarnam Singh

� P. R. Pisharoty Memorial Award: Dr. Abha Chhabra

� Indian National Geospatial Award: Dr. Harish Chandra Karnatak

� President’s Appreciation Medal for Contribution to the Society: Dr. Shiv Prasad Aggarwal

� Best Paper Publication Awards:

- Hocine, F., Fekir, M., Haddoud, A., Belhadj-aissa S. and Belhadj-aissa A. (2015). A new

2D/3D phase unwrapping strategy of differential interferogram SAR. JISRS, 43(2): 199-212.

(Technology)

- Wu, T., Luo, J., Xia, L., Shen, Z. and Hu, X. (2015). Prior knowledge-based automatic object

oriented hierarchical classification for updating detailed land cover maps. JISRS, 43(4):

653-669. (Technology)

- Desai, S., Chander, S., Ganguly, D., Chauhan, P., Lele, P. D. and James, M. E. (2015).

Waveform classification and water-land transition over the Brahmaputra river using

SARAL/AltiKa and Jason-2 Altimeter. JISRS, 43(3): 475-485. (Applications)

- Panda, J., Singh, H., Wang, P. K., Giri, R. K. and Routray, A. (2015). A qualitative study of

some meteorological features during tropical cyclone PHET using satellite observations

and WRF modeling system. JISRS, 43(1): 45-56. (Applications)

ISG Awards:

� ISG Fellows: Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Prof. I. V. Muralikrishna

� National Geomatics Award for Excellence: Dr. A. R. Dasgupta

� National Geomatics Award - Application: Shri P. L. N. Raju

� National Geomatics Award - Technology: Shri Ashish Kumar Shukla

� Young Achiever Award: Dr. K. C. V. Naga Kumar

� President’s Appreciation Medal for Contribution to the ISG: Prof. G. Sandhya Kiran

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Inaugural session (December 7, 2016)

Invited Plenary Talks

Following invited talks by eminent scientists were organised, especially focusing on

mountain issues and challenges.

� ISG Millenium Lecture: Changes in regional and global hydrological cycle - by Dr. M.

Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences

� Urbanisation issues and challenges in the mountains - by Dr. Sudhir Krishna, Former

Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development

� Geospatial technology for urban planning - by Dr. A. Senthil Kumar, Director, IIRS

� Mountain disasters: strategies for risk reduction - by Shri Kamal Kishore, Member,

National Disaster Management Authority

� Space Inputs for carbon, climate and food security in mountain regions - by Dr. V. K.

Dadhwal, Director, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

� Remote sensing of active faults, Himalayan tectonics and earthquakes - by Dr. V. C.

Thakur, Former Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology

� National database for emergency management - by Shri V. Bhanumurthy, Associate

Director, National Remote Sensing Centre

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Invited speakers during plenary sessions (December 7 - 8, 2016)

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Technical Sessions

Total 261 technical papers were presented in the symposium by the researchers, 113

papers in 19 parallel technical sessions (PTS, oral) and 148 papers in 4 interactive poster

sessions. The papers were organised in the following 12 themes:

- Advances in EO Sensors & Processing Technology and UAV Remote Sensing

- Advances in GIS, Health GIS and Satellite Positioning & Navigation

- Atmosphere, Weather and Climate

- Agriculture, Soils and Sustainable Land Management

- Capacity Building

- Coastal and Ocean Applications

- Disaster and Risk Reduction

- Forestry and Environment

- Geosciences and Mineral Exploration

- Infrastructure & Developmental Planning and Energy

- Planetary Exploration

- Water Resources, Snow and Glaciers

Technical (oral and poster) sessions (December 7 - 9, 2016)

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Special Sessions

One Special Session each for geospatial industry and ISRS/ISG awardees were also

organised on December 7 and December 8, 2016, respectively. While six leading geospatial

companies viz., Association of Geospatial Industries, DigitalGlobe, ESRI India Technologies

Ltd., Hexagon Geospatial, SkyMap Global and Trimble made presentations and showcased

their products and services in the industry session; five senior awardees shared their

experiences in the awardees session. Besides these sessions, a special parallel technical

session on 'Space Sciences and Planetary Exploration' was also organised by ISG.

Exhibition

An exhibition was organised as a part of the symposium. It was inaugurated by the Chief

Guest on the first day i.e., December 7, 2016. Twelve (12) Central and State government

organisations and six (6) geospatial companies participated in the exhibition and showcased

their geospatial products, services and research outcomes. These include: Andhra Pradesh

State Applications Centre (APSAC); Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in

Asia and the Pacific (CSSTEAP); Forest Survey of India (FSI); Haryana Space Applications

Centre (HARSAC); Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS); ESSO-Indian National Centre for

Ocean Information Services (INCOIS); Madhya Pradesh Council of Science and Technology

(MPCOST); Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC); National Remote Sensing

Centre (NRSC); Punjab Remote Sensing Centre; North eastern Space Applications Centre

(NESAC); Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC); ESRI India Technologies Ltd.,

Geospatial Media and Communications Pvt. Ltd.; Hexagon Geospatial, SkyMap Global;

Trimble and; 36th International Geological Congress.

Inauguration of exhibition (December 7, 2016)

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Pre-Symposium Tutorials

The following pre-symposium tutorials on advanced and contemporary topics were

organised during December 5 - 6, 2016 which was participated by 190 young professionals,

researchers and students:

Date Tutorial Participants

Attended

December 5, 2016 � Pol-SAR and Pol-InSAR data processing and applications 37

� Urban planning for development of smart cities 19

December 5 - 6, 2016 � Watershed management in mountainous landscape 25

December 6, 2016 � Hyperspectral remote sensing and applications 43

� Close-range photogrammetry and terrestrial laser

scanning

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� Health GIS 20

� UAV remote sensing and applications 23

Total 190

While the ‘UAV Remote Sensing and Applications’ tutorial was organised jointly by the IIRS,

the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) and the Indian Agricultural Research

Institute (IARI), the remaining tutorials were organised by the IIRS. The tutorial contents

were covered through lectures, hands-on exercises, demonstrations of equipment and

tools, and field visit as per the requirement. The soft copy of the lecture notes/ hand-outs

were given to the participants at the end.

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Pre-symposium tutorials (December 5 - 6, 2016)

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Concluding Session

This session included remarks by the President ISRS, the Chair ISRS - Dehradun Chapter

and the Secretary ISG; presentation on symposium summary by the Organising Secretary;

presentation on Symposium Resolutions by the Secretary ISRS followed by discussion;

presentation of awards by the President ISRS to the authors of best papers presented during

the symposium, as adjudged by a committee. The symposium ended with vote of thanks,

presented by the Secretary, ISRS - Dehradun Chapter.

Symposium Resolutions

� Resolution-1: Appreciation of the IIRS and ISRS Dehradun Chapter

The symposium appreciates the efforts made by the Local Organising Committee, the

hosts (Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun and ISRS - Dehradun Chapter), the

sponsors (ISRO, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Defense Research & Development Organisation,

Department of Science & Technology, DigitalGlobe, Antrix Corporation Limited, Centre

for Space Science & Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific, Forest Survey of

India, ESRI India Technologies Limited, Hexagon Geospatial), the partners (Association

of Geospatial Industries, Geospatial Media and Communications Pvt. Ltd.), the

exhibitors and industry for their excellent work and support, which made this

symposium successful.

� Resolution-2: Inventory of natural resources, infrastructure, assets and events

(disasters) in mountains for better planning and sustainable development

The inventory of all the resources, infrastructure, assets and events (disasters) in

mountain regions should be created at large-scale by utilizing appropriate satellite,

aerial and ground-based sensors and data. This inventory needs to be updated from

time to time depending upon the requirement. Crowdsourcing using mobile applications

by involving local people may be used as an effective means of collecting local, ground-

based information, particularly for inventory of assets and infrastructure.

� Resolution-3: Optimal land-use planning and conservation of natural resources and

mountain environment

Optimal land-use planning and conservation and sustainable management of natural

resources (soil, water, forest, biodiversity, etc.) and mountain environment are of

paramount importance. Geospatial data, information and services along with

appropriate tools should be employed as an effective means for land and water

resource development planning, eco-tourism and resource conservation planning.

Participatory approach needs to be promoted to implement and sustain the

developmental programmes and schemes of the government and for sustainable

management of natural resources, e.g. Integrated Watershed Management Programme

(IWMP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS),

etc.

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� Resolution-4: Sustainable urban development in mountainous region

With increasing pressure on urban areas, sustainable urban development through

geospatial technology based urban planning is the need of the hour. Remote Sensing

and GIS techniques along with ground information can be used to generate the city

based information and update the land records in an efficient and transparent manner.

Integrated efforts by all Departments working towards urban development are required

for realising the Master Plan of cities. Further, the Master Plans should be dynamic to

take care of the temporal changes happening in the urban fringes. The capacity of urban

planners and managers in Urban Local Bodies (ULB) also needs to be enhanced to adopt

the technological advancements and innovations in planning mechanism.

� Resolution-5: Vulnerability and risk assessment and early warning systems for natural

hazards in mountains

Baseline information on Vulnerability and Risk to natural hazards (earthquakes,

landslides, forest fires, flashfloods, etc.) in the mountain regions covering the inhabited

areas needs to be developed at large-scale and updated from time to time. Mountains

being prone to various hazards, multi-hazard risk zoning should be taken up on priority.

Enhanced research efforts towards developing early warning systems for disasters need

to be made through collaborative ventures of concerned departments and stakeholders.

Models with improved forecasting capabilities of extreme events should be linked with

extensive ground observation network and impact analysis modeling framework to

provide disaster forecast as location-based service over geospatial platform. Use of

satellite based communication and navigation systems in the event of disasters should

become part of all standard response procedures/protocols. Synergy of remote sensing,

GIS, GNSS, IT, satellite communication and ground-based systems is recognised as the

key for supporting disaster management. Constellation of satellites and ensuring the

continuity of satellite system are needed to address this important issue.

� Resolution-6: Understanding impact of changing climate on mountain ecosystems

Realising that climate change may seriously affect the natural mountain ecosystems and

their services besides increase in the frequency of natural hazards, concerted and

coordinated research efforts among the concerned Departments and stakeholders for

understanding such effects are needed today. Strengthening of ground observation

network, long-term measurement and monitoring of essential climate variables though

satellite remote sensing and modeling are identified as the key areas. Long-term studies

on carbon fluxes from vegetation and soil pools; effect of climate variability/change on

snow/ glacier dynamics, water and energy potential, and on natural hazards viz. floods

including glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), landslides, soil erosion, etc. should be

taken up for improved understanding of cause and effect of climate variability/ change

and for suggesting appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures.

� Resolution-7: Improved access to geospatial data and services

Mountain-specific geospatial data, information and services should be created, regularly

updated and shared to all stakeholders and citizens through Geoportals for better

planning and development at local and regional scales and sustainable management of

resources.

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� Resolution-8: Capacity building and outreach

Capacity building at different levels in the government functionaries, including

generating awareness among the public and students is identified as an important

agenda to have far reaching benefits. Distance learning using e-learning approach could

be used as an effective means for enhancing the outreach. The regional chapters of ISRS

and ISG, other professional societies and capacity building institutions should be

encouraged to take up this activity. More chapters of ISRS and ISG may also be formed

in the mountainous regions.

� Resolution-9: Networking of institutions

Networking of government departments/ institutions and stakeholders needs to be

strengthened to share data/information, expertise and infrastructure for development,

conservation and response activities.

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