isprs society · by m. orhan altan, isprs 2004 congress director istanbul isprs 2004 figure...

8 VOL. 8, NO 3SEPTEMBER 2003 ISPRS Society

Turkey is one of the most ancient settlement areas of theworld as four seasons are encountered on the fruitful landon which thousands of plant grows.

It is possible to find the traces of the Glacier Period inAnatolia. The Karain, Beldibi and Belba ›sı caves which are

located in the vicinity of Antalya, were used by mankindduring the end of this period (BC 20.000 – 8000).

During the Neolithic Age ( 8000 – 5000 BC) mankind hadattained the status of what can be called civilised by found-ing permanent settlements.The two most advanced settle-ments were the Hacılar and Catalhoyuk settlements locat-

ed in Central Anatolia. In Catalhoyuk settlement, mankindwas accommodating abode huts whose walls were deco-rated by illustrations and colourfully embossed designs.

The Hattis, Hittites, Frigs, Urartus, Phrygians, Lydians, Kar-ians, Ionians, Hellens, Persians, Romans. Byzantines, Seljuks

and Ottomans which settled inAnatolia all left the marks oftheir civilisations on this land. Inmany ways the art works whichis found all over Anatolia can beconsidered as a mosaic of the artof many nations which settled onthis land.

Turkish architecture can roughlybe divided into three main cate-gories: religious, formal or stateand folk. Numerous fine exam-ples of religious architecture i.e.mosques, tombs of the sultansand their families can best beseen in Istanbul, Bursa andEdirne, former capitals of theOttoman Empire. Similarly formalor state architecture can also beseen in these cities, particularly inIstanbul where the three surviv-ing imperial palaces,Topkapı,Yıldızand Dolmabahce (Figure 1) are allwell maintained and are open tothe public. All three are com-pletely different in period charac-ter reflecting the architecturaltrends of the period.

The Turkish houses can bedefined as those in which Turkshave lived throughout their histo-ry. Since they first appeared onthe stage of history, their settle-

ments have been greatly diversified. In our definition of theTurkish house (Figure 2), we can include houses that wereinherited from the Ottoman Empire, some remainingexamples of which can be traced back to the 17th century.

Taking a closer look at what we call "folk architecture" orarchitecture for the people by the people : First the loca-

XX Congress - A Glance at TurkishArchitectureBy M. Orhan Altan, ISPRS 2004 Congress Director

ISTANBUL ISPRS2004

Figure 1: Dolmabahce Palace.

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9VOL. 8, NO 3SEPTEMBER 2003ISPRS Society

tion of the house is of great importance and must be nearthe source of livelihood (Figure 3).The ground must be onstable ground and unlikely to be flooded. It should nottake up valuable farming land.

Privacy must be respected and a reasonable distancebetween each homestead must be kept. It should be with-in easy reach of the water source.Houses are nearly always built facing south for warmth andlight during the winter months.The door however shouldface east toward Mecca.

There are two types of such houses. Those only used insummer by the herders in summer in the high pastures,simple seasonal and those of more permanent construc-tion in the valleys.The latter consist of two rooms upstairswith stables for the animals below. The material useddepends on local availability and the design tends to changelittle since no trained architect is involved. Roofing varieswith the climatic variations, flat where it is hot and dry orsloping steeply where snows and rains are prevalent.

Urban houses of the Ottoman period are the most rep-resentatives of what is here known as a typical "TurkishHouse".Those are always two floors with the upper floorjutting out over the street, the ground floor being sur-rounded by a high wall and a courtyard.The frame would

Figure 3: Folk architecture.

Figure 5: A more modern decoration.

Figure 4: A typical room decoration.

Figure 2: An old Turkish house.

10 VOL. 8, NO 3SEPTEMBER 2003

be of timber filled in with local materials such as brick,plaster, stone or wood.The eaves would be wide to pro-vide shade and shelter from the elements.The timber jut-ting from the house provides an opportunity for carving

and decoration reflecting the artistic trends over theyears. The inside of the house is primarily based on theconcept of the nomadic way of life, the centre room ordivan with other rooms leading of it as would the tents ofthe nomads (Figure 4). Rooms would be sparsely fur-nished with sofas around the walls and fitted cupboardscontaining mattresses, yorgan and pillows. Windowswould be latticed, open to provide a cool breeze. In thisway privacy would be maintained.

A large tray or sini would be brought into the divan atmeal times and the food carried from the kitchen usuallysituated outside the main house.Sadly, this typical type of Ottoman house is fast disap-pearing but can still be seen in isolated packets. Thoughfortunately there are a few restorations.

During the nineteenth century, the architectural trendshifted to baroque and neo-classical style. Especially in thePera section of Istanbul it is possible to see buildings builtin this style (Figure 5).

Today the architectural style tends to be ultra modern andskyscrapers are built in the big cities like Istanbul,Ankaraand Izmir. However the Turkish people believe in traditionand they try to protect their heritage by restoring andpreserving the old (Figure 6).

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Figure 6: A modern business centre, Istanbul.


ISPRS Homepage: Educational Material AvailableBy Fabio Remondino, ISPRS Webmaster, E-mail: [email protected]

The ISPRS website (www.isprs.org) has turned out to beone of the most important components of ISPRS commu-nications, providing information about the society and link-ing its various activities.Between the 620 HTML pages available, the educationalmaterial occupies a great part and it consists of:- Education-related documents (various documentation

divided in ISPRS fields of interest): we try to collect thewide gamma of educational material, software, tutorials,courses, glossaries and codes related to Photogramme-try, Remote Sensing and GIS (www.isprs. org/links/tutor-ial.html). More educational links can also be found in thewebpages of ISPRS WG VI/1 (www.commission6.isprs.org/wg1/).

- Online proceedings from ISPRS events, EuroSDR/OEEPEworkshops, CIPA, etc. (www.isprs.org/publications/online_proceedings.html).

- Proceedings of ISPRS mid-term symposia 2002 as well astutorials and keynotes (www.isprs.org/specials/symposium.html).

- Archive of job opportunities in the field of to Pho-togrammetry, Remote Sensing and GIS (www.isprs.org/job_opportunities/index.html)

Moreover, to keep the users informed about new andupdated events, call for papers or recent announcements, amailing list has been activated: it contains already more than220 users and you can subscribe at this newsletter atwww.isprs.org/feedback.html.

During the year 2003 the International Policy AdvisoryCommittee (IPAC) has been examining several policy issuesconcerned with remote sensing, in particular sustainabledevelopment, the benefits of remote sensing and access toremote sensing data. Papers on these subjects have beensubmitted to the ISPRS Council for discussion and furtheraction.

This article presents the reports from IPAC on thesethree issues in ISPRS Highlights as a means of interactingwith a wider audience. Comments on the issuesraised here are invited to ISPRS Highlights as let-ters to the editor.

The members of the International Policy Advisory Com-mittee in early 2003 were:Ade Abiodun (Nigeria), Raul Colomb (Argentina) JoanneGabrynowicz (USA),Ray Harris (chair,UK),Yukio Haruyama(Japan), John Neer (USA), D P Rao (India), Gunter Schreier(Germany) and Frans von der Dunk (The Netherlands).

Sustainable DevelopmentIndicators and Their LimitationsWhile there has been some examination of using indicatorsto measure sustainable development, the role of remotesensing so far may be only partial. A pure remote sensingapproach,which just measures geophysical parameters,prob-

ably cannot capture the full information required, and thereneeds to be an interaction or fusing between the physical sci-ences and the social and political sciences. Remote sensinghas been used to measure indirectly some social sciencevariables, for example population and Gross Domestic Prod-uct (GDP) estimated using the DMSP city lights data set.

A good example of a focus for sustainable developmentthat combines geoscience and social science is wateravailability, particularly drinking water availability.This sub-ject contributes to the main UN conventions related tosustainability, namely those on climate change and oncombating desertification.

The perspectives of different nations do have a bearing onthe potential of remote sensing data for sustainable devel-opment.The concerns of the less developed countries areoften more practical than those of western nations, andthe practical contributions of remote sensing data shouldbe stressed.

Access to DataAccess to remote sensing and related geographical dataremains a difficulty, particularly for the less developedcountries. In many countries there are restrictions onaccess to remote sensing data of high spatial resolutionand to map data of a useful spatial scale. For example in

International Policy Advisory Committee of ISPRSBy Ray Harris, Department of Geography, University College London, UK, E-mail: [email protected]


some countries the national mapping agency providesmaps openly to the public, and international scientists onlyat a maximum spatial scale of 1 : 1 million, even thoughmaps exist at (say) 1 : 10,000 scale.

The legal basis of remote sensing is becoming firmer andguiding the data suppliers to provide data on a more openbasis.A starting point is to be found in general internation-al legal principles on access to data (for example the 1986UN Principles and WMO Resolution 40), where for exam-ple UN Principles X and XI call upon states to discloseinformation promoting "protection of the Earth's naturalenvironment" and "protection of mankind from natural dis-asters", which in an abstract sense could well be argued toinclude sustainable development. Such principles are notformally legally binding as such, and moreover contain toomany loopholes and leave too much room for individualinterpretation to be really effective.As data policy analyseshave shown, there is still a lot to be achieved in tighteningthe international law parameters for such purposes.Thereis though a presumption of openness that supports greateravailability of remote sensing data for the following reasons.

1. The UN Principles have achieved customary statusbecause they have been negotiated and accepted formore than 25 years.

2. Non-discriminatory access policies have been adopt-ed by major remote sensing nations, e.g. Japan, USA,Canada.

3. The data policies of some remote sensing missions(e.g. Envisat, Radarsat) specifically incorporate non-discriminatory access.

Although there is pressure from some quarters to reducenon-discriminatory access, the need to have open avail-ability of remote sensing data to support sustainabledevelopment should continue to be stressed.

Institutional FrameworkISPRS can usefully provide an independent forum for mak-ing progress with the ideas of remote sensing, geoscienceand social science data in aid of sustainable development.The institutional context is essential, and ISPRS shouldcontinue to work with UNEP, UNDP, CEOS and IGBP tofind the most suitable and practical way forward. Themeeting planned for September 2003 in Graz,Austria onthe subject of the ‘Use of Space Technology in Support ofthe Plan of Implementation of the Outcome of the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development’ may prove a fruitfulavenue for ISPRS to act as an independent authority tocontribute to the theme of the meeting.

Conclusions on Sustainable DevelopmentSustainable development issues should be tackled usingboth geoscience and social science. ISPRS is in a strongposition to promote this theme, and to emphasise thevariety of perspectives from countries at different stagesof economic development.The subject of water availabili-

ty provides a potentially useful focus in this area.ISPRS is in a strong position to continue to press for eas-ier and more open access to remote sensing data in sup-port of sustainable development.

ISPRS should continue to act within an international insti-tutional context to ensure that the role of remote sens-ing in sustainable development is given its full recognition.

Benefits of Satellite Remote SensingBalance of BenefitsIt has been clearly recognised by many that the benefits ofsatellite remote sensing and wide and varied. However,when we try to capture the benefits against the costs ofremote sensing, the strictly economic benefits are (1) rel-atively small and (2) are typically not appropriated bythose organisations that carry the costs.

There are many services, which depend on Earth Observa-tion data, that government establishments are expected toprovide to the society. In many of these instances while thecost of data may be quantifiable, aspects of the economicand social benefits may not be amenable to such quantifica-tion monetarily. For example, how much monetary valuedoes one want to place on the life of a human being res-cued from a natural disaster that benefited from the use ofEarth Observation data? On the other hand, particularly inareas such as property management, business applications,development and management of utilities, tourism and agri-cultural production, the application of monetary cost/bene-fit ratios is practicable. In the case of geostationary meteo-rological satellite data, for example, the benefits are esti-mated at more than one billion US$, although meteorolog-ical data are essentially provided free of charge.

The economic return on information (ROI) for satelliteremote sensing is in direct proportion to the users’ abilityto address specific natural and manmade issues.The valueof remote sensing systems is in the value added exploita-tion of the data, not in the creation of it via satellites.With-in the US government there is a historical rule of thumbthat suggests there is an economic force multiplier effectthat comes from information such as that provided bysatellite remote sensing: spend US$1 on information and itleverages 5-10 times the investment. Investing in informa-tion leverages the economic strength of a nation.

Tangible and Intangible BenefitsThe benefits of remote sensing are both tangible and intan-gible. The intangible benefits are far more numerous thanthe tangible ones and typically are long term social benefits,not easy to convert to monetary values. In Indian, for exam-ple, satellite remote sensing data have been extensivelyused in many fields of development such as mapping, envi-ronmental impact assessment, disaster management, pollu-tion control, communications, environmental forecasting,urban planning, source-finding for drinking water and asso-ciated water conservation planning, in addition to research

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applications including global change. All of these applica-tions are helping immensely in the Indian national efforttoward sustainable development. The Indian experienceindicates that when compared to conventional methods,satellite remote sensing methods are cheaper and faster atleast by a factor of 2 to 3, and more in some cases.

The social benefits are intangible. Depending on the areaof application, some benefits could be immediate, someshort term and many are long term. For example, duringthe 1970s, coastal cyclones on the Indian east coastresulted in thousands of deaths. Since the 1970s very fewdeaths have been reported because of improved meteo-rological forecasting combined with early warning sys-tems that help in evacuating the people of the area toshelter homes. This is an example of immediate benefit,here saving human lives, which cannot be equated withmonetary benefit. Locating drinking water sources for vil-lages (with no existing source) is a short term benefit.Arresting land degradation and restoring its past produc-tive status is a long term benefit.

The Wealth of NationsBenefits are often expressed as economic benefits. How-ever, a pure GDP approach only recognises the "kineticenergy" of a nation to produce wealth, it does not prop-erly value the "potential energy", i.e. the wealth stored inits people and natural resources. If there were a way tovalue this potential energy (like oil in the ground) andapply remote sensing information as an "economic multi-plier" more investment could be made or at the least jus-tified. There is a role for international organisations todevelop improved means of estimating the wealth ofnations. Satellite remote sensing data can be seen as aninformation raw material on which wealth can be built.

In order to achieve benefits from remote sensing, it is notmerely enough to acquire satellite data. Countries needthe necessary infrastructure facilities integrated intonational actions and manned by trained personnel whoare capable of converting data into information. The useof such information for decision making requires institu-tional support and, for implementation and follow up, nec-essary budgetary support.This also means political com-mitment supported by approved policies and effectiveimplementation of the policies. Any shortfall in theserequirements results in a failure to show visibility of thebenefits of remote sensing. Perhaps this may be the rea-son why in many developing countries we do not see thebenefits of remote sensing on a scale that makes it visible.If the developing countries need to develop fast, the useof remote sensing is an imperative and not a choice.

Access to Satellite Remote Sensing DataEconomic IssuesSatellite remote sensing data that are not free of chargeare often regarded as expensive.This is in part because ofthe difficulty of capturing the benefits as discussed above.

However, most if not all satellite remote sensing data aresold at a loss in a commercial sense. Landsat data cost theUS government about US$2000-3000 per scene, where ascene is a 1deg x 1deg latitude/longitude cell or about3600 sq. nautical miles.This is a simple calculation basedon total capitalisation and operations costs over the life-time of the Landsat satellites.The US government sells aLandsat scene at a price of about US$600. A cost of$2500 and a sales price of $600 does not make a com-mercial business case. SPOT data sales recover the costsof the ground segment of the SPOT system but not theinvestment costs in the SPOT satellites.

This mismatch of a perception of high prices yet a fact oflow prices is hampering the development of a matureremote sensing sector. One solution is for an organisationto buy satellite remote sensing data in bulk and then makethe data available to a selected community. This has thepotential to satisfy the data providers on the one handbecause commercial prices can be established, and theusers on the other hand because data could be madeavailable at (say) the marginal cost or even for free.A ver-sion of this approach is under active consideration in theLandsat Data Continuity Mission, and has been discussedin Europe in the context of the Global Monitoring forEnvironment and Security (GMES) initiative. For the lessdeveloped countries, particularly in Africa, the UN couldplay an active and fruitful role here.

The global picture of satellite remote sensing is changing. Inthe past there were only a few suppliers of data, and thesewere located in western nations, but now there is a dra-matic increase in the number of remote sensing satellitelaunches by less developed nations, for example Algeria andNigeria in the Disaster Management Constellation (DMC).This change in the number and the type of nations launch-ing their own missions could help to promote data sharingin specific geographical regions, in a sense a further form ofbulk buying of data.This in turn places more emphasis onthe needs for infrastructure and for trained manpower toturn data into information and information into knowledge.

Downlink AccessCommercial operators are concerned that the resourcesof their satellites are used by paying customers, i.e. costlydata recording time is reserved for paying customers. Ifthese resources are not used and their use would notmean additional costs and/or technical problems, com-mercial satellite operators might not be concerned howthey are used. In other words, when a high resolutioncommercial satellite is imaging parts of (say) Africa anddirectly downlinking the data to an African station, thecommercial operator of this satellite may not be con-cerned to lose precious resources over Europe (wherethey might have paying customers).

It can be helpful that sensed countries should have theright that the satellite operator allows them (and makes

technical provisions on the satellite system) to receivethe data directly from the satellite. Remote sensing satel-lites should have direct downlink capabilities in order toallow (subject to technology and to costs) reception ofthe raw data. If not for the very high resolution satellites,this should be considered for the Landsat-class of medi-um resolution satellites.

Non-discriminatory AccessThe first sentence of Principle XII of the United NationsPrinciples on Remote Sensing of the Earth from OuterSpace (Resolution 41/65) states:

As soon as the primary data and the processed data con-cerning the territory under its jurisdiction are produced,the sensed State shall have access to them on a non-dis-criminatory basis and on reasonable cost terms.

This principle appears now to be accepted as customarylaw.A number of interesting issues about access are raisedby the principle.- 'Non-discrimination' provides for a basis or point of

departure from which in appropriate cases (the corequestion is then of course: what would be an 'appropri-ate' case) deviation would certainly be possible, for exam-ple when it would be reasonable from a cost perspective.

- What is '(non-)discrimination'? Discrimination refers totreating equal cases unequally, but what is an equalcase? To give a very obvious example: if EUMETSATtreats requests for data from member states funda-mentally differently from requests from non-memberstates this is not considered discrimination becausethose member states have contributed millions todevelop, launch and operate the satellite system. Itshould by no means be concluded that 'non-discrimina-tion' simply means treating all states equally (apart fromthe fact that Principle XII predominantly focuses on(non)discrimination of the sensed state).

Conclusions on Benefits and Access to DataThe ISPRS community and the United Nations family cancontribute to the issues raised in this paper by the fol-lowing.- Pay greater attention to measures of estimating the

wealth of nations and the contribution that satelliteremote sensing data can play in measuring that wealth.

- Promote the opportunities for bulk buying of remotesensing data followed by controlled distribution.

- Use regional associations, collaborations and groups todevelop better means of sharing remote sensing dataand expertise, always in the frame of turning data intoinformation and information into knowledge.


The International Council for Science (ICSU)Review of Scientific Data and InformationBy Professor Ray Harris, Department of Geography, University College London, UK, E-mail: [email protected]

Following a nomination by the Council of ISPRS, Ray Har-ris has been invited to be a panel member of a PriorityArea Assessment (PAA) of Scientific Data and Informationset up by the International Council for Science, ICSU. Rayis the chair of the International Policy Advisory Council(IPAC) which reports to the ISPRS Council on policy mat-ters of interest to ISPRS.

The following paragraph, taken from the Priority AreaAssessment’s context document sets the scene for theimportance of data and information in ICSU. The pointsmade by ICSU seem especially relevant to remote sensingand photogrammetry, particularly given the mix ofresearch, operational and commercial organisationsinvolved in these disciplines.

All scientific disciplines are dependent on the productionand use of data and the integration of data and informationfrom different disciplines and across national boundaries iscentral to ICSU’s role in supporting international sciencefor the benefit of society. New information technologiesoffer tremendous opportunities for the improved commu-

nication, exploitation, storage and processing of scientificdata and information.At the same time new challenges areappearing, relating to the commercial value, accessibility,security, standardisation and validation of scientific data.New mechanisms and models are being developed for thepublication and dissemination of scientific information.Thefield is moving incredibly quickly due to both the ‘pull’ ofnew technological developments and the ‘push’ of scienceneeds. Despite its rapid evolution, technology itself is still alimiting factor in many areas of science and major paradigmshifts are appearing, e.g. the development of the distributedGRID as opposed to the building of even bigger super-com-puters. Moreover, the necessary institutional structures andlegislative frameworks are not always in place to ensurethat the optimum benefit can be derived from scientificdata and information for the benefit of science and societyas a whole. These problems are exacerbated in the leastdeveloped countries (or in certain regions of the so calleddeveloped countries) where infrastructure and necessaryhuman resources are lacking.The phrase ‘digital divide’ hasbeen coined to describe this situation at a societal level butthere are also expanding ‘digital divides’ within the interna-


tional science community. The Universality of science,including access to data and information for all scientists iscentral to ICSU’s mission.

With this dynamic context in mind the following terms ofreference have been established to guide the work of thePAA.

1. Define an overarching mission and role for ICSU inthe area of scientific data and information, taking intoaccount relevant activities outside of ICSU.

2. Propose a strategic framework for ICSU to take thisarea forward for the next 5-10 years.

3. Examine current activities within the ICSU family,identify gaps, overlaps and synergies of existing activi-ties, and propose responsibilities for individual bodies.

4. Propose modalities for promoting collaboration andco-ordination within the ICSU family when necessaryand propose potential partnerships with bodies out-side ICSU.

5. Examine and propose, if appropriate, changes either inthe future direction of individual bodies or the waythey operate including relationships with other bod-ies/organisations.

6. Consider the ethical issues related to scientific data andinformation and, where necessary, propose how ICSUmight develop policies in response to these issues.

7. Identify policy issues of particular importance to sci-ence and society, which should be highlighted in theWorld Summit on the Information Society.

The panel for the assessment will consist of about a dozenmembers.The meetings of the assessment panel will startin September 2003, and the review report produced at theend of the process will be published and circulated withinthe ICSU membership (101 national science bodies and 27international Unions) and beyond.There will certainly be anopportunity to discuss the report within ISPRS.

The idea for a joint ISPRS/WGCV task force originatedfrom a resolution from the CEOS Working group on Cal-ibration and Validation (WGCV) Terrain Mapping SubGroup that a standard format for sensor parametersshould be established. A resolution was subsequentlypassed by the CEOS Plenary:

Noting the disparate way in which Earthobserving sensor parameters are speci-fied and quoted, and that the extra ter-restrial community adopts a standardformat, and

Recognising that proper use, understanding andintercomparison of sensor parametersdepends on clear unambiguous defini-tion,WGCV

Recommends that a task force be established withISPRS to formulate a plan for standardi-sation of radiometric and geometricparameters of sensors.

WGCV turned this into Draft Terms of reference:1. Collect and collate lists of parameters used to

describe Earth observing sensors.2. Make an analysis of these and recommend a standard

list of parameters for presenting descriptions of EOsatellites.

3. Identify ambiguity and confusion within these termsand recommend methods and means of clarifyingthese issues

4. Prepare a document which sets out standard methodsof describing EO sensors

5. Communicate and consult widely with the user com-munity

There was some delay is putting this into action becauseof the difficulty of finding someone to lead the initiative,however Dr Manfred Schroeder and Professor StanMorain undertook to arrange a kick-off meeting at theISPRS Commission II Symposium in Denver in November2002. At this meeting discussion focused on the scope andcontent of the task force. It was expected that the outputfrom the Task Force would be a document that definessensor parameters that can be used by the user commu-nity. The goal is to work with colleagues at a technicallevel to develop a framework and detail to assist CEOS inunderstanding the calibration/validation needs of thecommunity, and to agree on a standard set of terms. It washoped that a working document could be presented atthe ISPRS Congress in 2004. It was noted that the ISO

Joint ISPRS/WGCV Task Force on Radiometric and Geometric StandardsBy Ian Dowman, Secretary General, ISPRS Council 2000 - 2004, E-mail: [email protected]


19130 Standard for Geographic Information – Sensor andData Models for Imagery and Gridded Data could serveas a model for the goals of the Task Force. It was also sug-gested that the standard addressed by JACIE in the USAcould be used, and to also look at commercial standards.

The kick-off meeting concluded with representatives ofthe cal/val team at Stennis Space Center (Bruce Davis,Vicki Zanoni) agreeing to approach NASA managementabout a possible SSC leadership role. It has subsequentlybeen confirmed that Bruce Davis with chair the task forceand that Veljko Jovanovic, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, wouldbe co-chair.

NASA has subsequently agreed to host an InternationalWorkshop on Radiometric and Geometric Calibration.This

will form a spring board for the Task Force deliberations,and the workshop will include discussion on the work onthe Task Force,which will meet immediately after the work-shop. The workshop will be held at Gulfport, Mississippinear Stennis Space Center, from 2-5 December 2003.Thecurrent plan calls for 2-days of invited technical presenta-tions focusing on state-of-the-art techniques and best prac-tices for calibrating infrared and visible optical sensors, bothorbital and sub-orbital. One day will be devoted to tours ofStennis Space Center laboratory and field calibration testsites. On 5 December 2003, the Joint CEOS-WGCV/ISPRSTask Force will follow the workshop with a one-day meet-ing to discuss recommendations for standardising ‘bestpractices’ of radiometric and geometric calibration.

ISPRS Society

Obituary Gilbert HobroughWinner of the 1980 ISPRS Brock Gold Medal Award

Although he lost count after the first couple of dozen,Gilbert Hobrough was the inventor or co-inventor of atleast forty seven patents in fields as diverse as phonographturntables, phonograph pickups, radar altimetry, baromet-ric altimetry, three generations of 3-D machine vision,laser interferometers hi-fi loudspeaker design.Born in Toronto, Canada in 1918, he dropped out of day-time high school and completed his diploma at night. Hestudied what interested him by correspondence with theUniversity of London. Fifty years later he admitted that lifemight have been easier if he had just enrolled in a regulardegree program.Although he called himself an engineer and was fullyimmersed in all the physical sciences, Mr. Hobrough’sinterests included a deep appreciation of the arts. In the1930s, he studied under Group of Seven artist Arthur Lis-mer, becoming a weekend painter himself 20 years later.His interest in music and radio led to a lifelong interest inhi-fi audio. He was an original "techno nerd" from 1930onward.He was a dedicated radio hobbyist through childhood andduring World War II he worked for Rogers Radio Tubesfirst making and then developing radar tubes.Toward the end of the war he moved to the village of Luc-know, north west of Toronto, to work for an airplane partscompany that was converting to civilian production.That’swhere he worked out his first patent (on a phonographturntable drive) and opened his own first business – asmall foundry and machine shop – in an old mill. He alsobecame the village studio photographer and made theprinting plates for pictures in the local newspaper.He spent a couple of years working on industrial processcontrols for the production of uranium for Eldorado Min-ing in Port Hope on Lake Ontario.

Back to Toronto in 1951 he went to work for Photo-graphic Survey Corporation, a Canadian subsidiary ofHunting Surveys Ltd of England. He developed an elec-tronic dodging printer for aerial mapping photos. By somemiscalculation, the company let the patent rights slip.He also developed an airborne profile recorder. Thisrequired development of a radar system measuring thedistance to the terrain to an accuracy of about a foot.Forty years before GPS satellites, he needed an instru-ment to measure barometric pressure far more finelythan airplane altimeters. His "hypsometer" measured thedifference in barometric pressure to one foot of differ-ence in altitude in real time. In essence, it measured theboiling temperature of toluene very accurately.One day he was watching a roomful of stereo plotteroperators working away. Years later, reliable sources

Gilbert Hobrough.

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report that he left the room muttering, "There has to bea better way!"There was and he found it. He developed the first suc-cessful "stereo image correlator" for demonstration on aprojection plotter in 1957. It made quite a stir and result-ed in his receiving the Fairchild Award of the AmericanSociety for Photogrammetry in 1960.The technology wasembodied for production in the Wild B8 Stereomat builtby Raytheon Autometric.In 1961 Gil moved Los Angeles where he and long part-ner, George Wood, developed the concept for the ARESmachine to correlate high-resolution reconnaissance pho-tos with high precision mapping photos for more precisemeasurement of changeable conditions on the ground.They sold this project to Itek Corporation, and joined Itekto develop it first in California and then in Massachusetts.At Itek, he patented a method for controlling the shape oftelescope mirrors having large diameter but small thick-ness using a laser interferometer to count interferencerings on the mirror and actuators to flex the mirror intothe desired shape.Gil returned to Canada in 1968 to establish HobroughLimited in Vancouver for developing a very automatedorthophoto system using high-speed stereo image corre-lation.The Gestalt Photo Mapper was successful and upsetmany long accepted ideas about the "uniquely humancapability" of stereopsis.He left Hobrough Limited in 1972 to co-found, with his

son,Ted, several other companies and returned for a whileto the development of high quality audio equipment.Soon he was back at image correlation. He spent a year atthe University of Hanover extending his work in a jointventure between Jumetite Laboratories Ltd of Vancouver,Carl Zeiss, and the German space agency. He enjoyed histime at Hanover because it got him "out of the house" andinto the company of long time friend Uki Helava and new-found colleague Gottfried Konecny.In 1980 he was awarded the Brock Gold Medal of theISPRS at its XIVth Congress in Hamburg. He was cited forhis many outstanding accomplishments in developingmany advanced automated concepts and instruments forthe benefit of the entire photogrammetric community.From that time until his retirement in 1987, he worked inVancouver on image correlation for industrial robotics. Bythen, the field he had been leading for thirty years had anew name – machine vision.He spent much of his retirement years re-examining howthe speed of light varies throughout the Cosmos and howthe forces that cause such variations may also be the bind-ing factor at the cosmic and subatomic levels.One of this profession’s more prolific and recognisedinventors died of congestive heart failure in Vancouver,Canada on 30 January 2002.

Ted Hobrough (Business and technical partner from 1967 on)

ISPRS Society

After the huge success of the 1st IEEE/ISPRS Joint Work-shop on “Remote Sensing and Data Fusion over UrbanAreas (URBAN2001), held in Rome in November 2003, itwas straightforward to keep talking about urban remotesensing and proposing a follow-up for that workshop.Theimportance of such an event comes from the jointly spon-sorship by ISPRS (International Society for Photogramme-try and Remote Sensing) and IEEE (Institute of Electricaland Electronic Engineers), through GRSS (Geoscience andRemote Sensing Society). And in May 2003, after a slightchange in the long title but with the already familiar nick-name of URBAN2003, the second workshop provided usas usual with an overwhelming quantity of good papers,new ideas, contacts and discussions.

The workshop was held in Berlin, Germany, on 22-23rd

May 2003, hosted by the Photogrammetry and Cartogra-phy Department of the Technical University of Berlin.Thesite of the conference, close to the Unter den Lindenboulevard and the most important places of the recent

2ND GRSS/ISPRS Joint Workshop on Remote Sensing and DataFusion over Urban AreasBerlin, Germany from 22-23 May 2003By Paolo Gamba, Technical Chair, URBAN2003, E-mail: [email protected]

Prof. O. Hellwich, URBAN2003 General Chairman, introducing theworkshop.


history of the capital city of Germany made us not forgetthe wide changes that the city of Berlin experienced inthe last years, after the break of the Wall and the reunifi-cation.

The workshop was dedicated to present recent advancesin the topic of urban remote sensing and data fusionissues. In particular, we considered the organisation ofspecial sessions on new sensors, especially very high res-olution satellite, and the results of the evaluation of dif-ferent panchromatic/multi-spectral fusion algorithms forthe future French high resolution constellation. Sadly, athird session, a poster session dedicated to the earlyresults of the Envisat satellite for urban remote sensing,was cancelled due to problem in data delivery in the firstcommissioning phase of this satellite.

The workshop was organised in a two days track, withoutany parallel session, with two poster sessions allowing anextensive interaction among participants. More than 110researchers attended it, from more than 20 differentcountries, traveling to Berlin from all over the world.Thesubmitted abstracts were more than 90.Among them theTechnical Committee faced the hard task of choosing the30 oral papers to be presented in the seven sessions.Thetotal number of papers printed in the conference pro-ceedings (available through the IEEE press service) is 65,for a total of more than 300 pages.The workshop was scientifically co-sponsored by manyscientific institutions: IEEE, ISPRS, the German Society for

Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (DGPF), the Euro-pean Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories(EARSeL) and the American Society for Photogrammetryand Remote Sensing (ASPRS). Moreover, it was financiallysponsored by international institutions, like the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA), and industrial companies, whosework or tools are recognised in the urban remote sens-ing area. We thank therefore Eurimage, PCI Geomatics,Geosystems, FPK, and Pietruska.

The final program consisted of one plenary, 7 oral and 2interactive sessions.The oral sessions were dedicated to1. New observation capabilities for urban areas2. Potential of multispectral/hyperspectral data for urban

application3. SAR data in urban areas4. Building extraction and characterisation5. Data fusion over urban areas6. Urban modeling and reconstruction7. Road network extraction in urban areas

This organisation of the topics reflects the need for urbanarea characterisation at different scales, and exploiting dif-ferent sensors. In particular, the workshop showed thatthere is a remarkable interest in using complex and Inter-

ferometric SAR data for different urbanapplications, from mapping to buildingextraction to subsidence monitoring.Though all the problems coming from itsside-looking nature, radar deserves somemore attention for its potentials in this area,especially considering the availability in thenear future of high resolution data comingfrom TerraSAR-X or Cosmo/SkyMed loworbit satellites. This calls also for advancedSAR simulator suited for urban areas, andsystematic evaluation of the best geometri-cal (position, look angle) and electromagnet-ic (frequency, bandwidth, polarization) con-figuration for the radar system.

A second, extremely interesting topic isrelated to the fusion of panchromatic andmultispectral data from satellite sensors,

with the aim to provide as much as possible “the best ofthe two world”, i.e. high resolution multispectral data.Theneed for such a tool for urban area characterization is ofcourse very urgent, and current methods are now passingfrom the theoretical to the implementation stage.

Finally, we have to stress the increasing importance ofinterpretation techniques well suited for very high resolu-tion data, which means techniques very similar to those

One of the most impressive landmarks in Berlin, the Brandebourg Tor.

The outstanding quality of the organising team was clear from thevery beginning of URBAN2003.


already in use for aerial images, but with the advantages ofreduced revisit time (so, better monitoring capabilities)and more bands (better land cover discrimination). Still, itis questionable at this moment if we will able to reduceproblems in coregistration and vertical and horizontalaccuracy, and this will be one of the open questions in thefuture, mainly requiring data fusion issues at a feature levelfor a better overall result.

So far, the future of the workshop seems bright, as well asstrong is the support that the scientific community is dedi-cating to it.The interest for urban remote sensing has beenincreasing in these years, and this also thanks to the effortsof those that made possible the realization of our work-shop. Therefore, thanks should be given not only to oursponsors, but also to our organizing local committee, head-

ed by Hartmut Lehmann, and especially to Marion Dennert.The workshop dinner especially deserves a comment, sinceit was excellent, but it provided also one more possibility toexchange ideas and experiences for future works.

URBAN2003 was another success, and we think that itslegacy should not be lost.We will surely have an event in2005, since the biennial temporal schedule allows suffi-ciently quick sampling of new techniques and sensors forurban remote sensing and data fusion, Moreover, as wehad in the first workshop, there is a special issue associat-ed with the event. So, please consider the call for theInternational Journal of Information Fusion on “Fusion ofurban remotely sensed features”, available on urban2003web site, at http://tlc.unipv.it/urban_2003/.The deadline is30th September 2003: you should not miss it.

At a time when interest in the use of remote sensing forthe study of human settlements is growing overwhelming-ly, the 4th international symposium on remote sensing ofurban areas (URS2003) comes to prove that what wasonce thought of as a "narrow" area in the field of remotesensing is not longer so. More than 120 urban remotesensing researchers and practitioners, representing 36 dif-ferent countries, convened June 27-29, 2003, in Regens-burg, Germany, to take advantage of three days of intensiveprogram that included oral and poster paper presenta-tions, commercial product updates, and social events thatprovided numerous opportunities to network andexchange ideas with other research partners and col-leagues.The beautiful city of Regensburg with its medievalcentre and modern suburbs provided an attractive settingfor the symposium and a reminder of the insights thatremote sensing can add to our understanding of urban sys-tems, when the use of technology is augmented by athrough understanding of urban form and function, as wellas the spatial context within which urban systems develop.

The URS2003 was hosted by the Geography Department atthe University of Regensburg and was scientifically co-spon-sored by many scientific institutions, including: the Interna-tional Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing(ISPRS), the European Association of Remote Sensing Labo-ratories (EARSeL), the German Society for Photogramme-try, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation (DGPF), the Uni-versity of Regensburg, and the Istanbul Technical University.In addition, several scientific publishers and industrial com-panies whose journals or tools are recognised in the urbanremote sensing arena have sponsored the symposium.

The launch of the new generation of very high resolutionimagery and the wide dissemination of a variety of digitaldata sources that can be used to augment detailed satel-lite data have brought together an interesting and excitingperiod in the development of urban remote sensing.This

4th International Symposium Remote Sensing of Urban AreasRegensburg, Germany from 27-29 June 2003Reported by Tarek Rashed, San Diego State University, USA

John Trinder opened the symposium.


has been expressed by increasing published articles andbooks on urban remote sensing, new urban specialtygroups within many national and international remotesensing societies and a growing number of workshopsorganised around topics that relate in a way or another tothe broader field of urban remote sensing. While thistrend is indeed very encouraging to the future of the field,there is also a vital need for those involved in these activ-ities to build ties among themselves to foster progresstoward a common agenda. Therefore, the success of theURS2003 in this regard was spectacular due to its focuson building relationships between different researchersand practitioners toward a unified research agenda for theinternational community of urban remote sensing. Thiswas evidenced by the symposium’s final program thatreflected the different perspectives on the way remotesensing is currently applied to tackle urban problems andvarious ideas on the future trends within the field.Theseperspectives and ideas were covered in 10 oral sessionsand an interactive poster session, organized sequentiallythus allowing an extensive interaction among participants.In addition, the two-day exhibition provided a uniqueopportunity for participants to update their knowledgewith the stat-of-the-art in the technology.The oral sessions were dedicated to the following topics:1. Ecological Aspects/Landscape metrics2. Urban Information and Decision Support Systems3. Change Detection Analysis4. Road Extraction Techniques/Traffic Applications5. Radar and Thermal Applications 6. Special Applications7. Extraction of Height and Density8. Monitoring Urban Land Cover Dynamics and Urban

Growth

9. Vulnerability to Urban Areas to Natural Hazards10. New Information Extraction Strategies

The organisation of these sessions, as implied by theirtopic titles, reflected a balance that the organisers of thesymposium have sought between techniques/data drivenapproaches to urban applications, and thematic/theorydriven ones. This balance between applied and academicrealms is indeed a very important issue to be consideredin the wider agenda of the urban remote sensing commu-nity. Oral papers and poster presentations are included inthe proceedings of the symposium, available through theinternational archives of the ISPRS, Volume No. XXXIV-7/W9 under the following title:

Proceedings of the ISPRS WG VII/4 SymposiumRemote Sensing of Urban Areas

June 27-29, 2003Regensburg, GermanyEditor, Carsten Jurgens

The URS2003 symposium was another success added to aseries of conferences devoted to remote sensing of urbanareas.Thanks are due to Carsten Jurgens, his students, andall who helped with the organisation of the symposium,those who sponsored the symposium, and those who par-ticipated and presented their work.While there is a follow-up session on this symposium planned to take place nextyear during the ISPRS Congressional meeting in Istanbul(August 2004), the 5th international symposium will likelytake place in 2005 in the United States.

ISPRS Society

Joint Workshop of ISPRS Working Groups I/1 and II/2‘Three Dimensional Mapping from InSAR and LIDAR’Portland, Oregon, USA from 17-19 June 2003By Mike Renslow, Chair, WG I/3 (Vice-President, Spencer B. Gross, Inc.), E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Bryan Mercer, Chair, WG II/2 (Chief Scientist, Intermap Technologies Corp.)

This Joint Working Group Workshop was held in Portland,OR, USA at the Doubletree Hotel along the beautifulColumbia River.The meeting had 60 attendees with rep-resentation from the USA, Canada, UK, Italy, and Germany.During the 2-1/2 days, 31 papers were presented coveringa wide range of LIDAR/InSAR topics on instrumentation,calibration, data processing, specialised algorithm for fea-ture extraction, and development of GIS databases. TheWorkshop afforded an opportunity for 6 student volun-teers to provide support and participate in this interna-tional event.

The Keynote address was delivered by Professor IanDowman of University College, London, UK and ISPRSSecretary General. His presentation was titled "The Roleof LIDAR and InSAR in Populating Geospatial Databases",and he set the tone for the next two days with a throughoverview of the technologies and his vision of the future.It is clear that active sensor technologies have become avaluable source for data acquisition and surface modeldevelopment that are a natural match to the demands ofGIS and the types of analysis and modelling required tosupport complex geo-spatial research and applications.


The technical program focused on the following trackssupported by three of four presentations:- Technology Trends- LIDAR Performance- Combining/Contrasting LIDAR and InSAR Data- Spaceborne LIDAR and InSAR- Feature Extraction- Specialised Applications- Forestry ApplicationsA CD of the conference papers, abstracts, slides, andimages is being assembled for distribution to the atten-dees. Details may be found at the Workshop web site:http://www.intermaptechnologies.com/isprs_wgii_2/

The workshop atten-dees enjoyed thedelightful venue alongthe Columbia River.Between sessions theluncheons wereserved on the River-side Dock on theRiver. A special tentwas erected in theevent of wet weather.

On the first eveningan Icebreaker Recep-tion was held, and on the second evening, the WorkshopBanquet attendees were entertained by a jazz trio. Theseactivities provided ample time to exchange ideas and meetnew colleagues.

The Workshop ended with a Slide Show highlighting thetwo days of activities and concluding remarks from IanDowman.

The Workshop Organisers give special thanks to theSponsors: Optech, Inc.,Applanix Corp., Spencer B. Gross,Inc., Intermap Technologies, Inc., and ASPRS-ColumbiaRiver Region.

Professor Ian Dowman.Enjoying lunch in the tent.

CIPA 2001 Proceedingsnow available from GITC bvThe volume is part of The ISPRS International Archives of Pho-togrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information SciencesVolume XXXIV – 5/C7

The CIPA 2001 Proceedings give an excellent overview over thebroad spectrum of CIPA activities. The papers are especially suit-ed to obtain detailed information on surveying and documentationmethods, including laserscanning techniques. Furthermore thebook provides a great variety of practical examples from manycountries and many cultures, from archaeology to industrial her-itage documentation.The price for the volume of 754 pages (more than 230 of them incolor!) is 95.00 Euros plus 7.50 Euros for postage. To place anorder please contact

GITC bvP.O. Box 1128530 AC LemmersThe NetherlandsE-mail: [email protected]


Workshop of Commission V – WG 4‘Vision Techniques for Digital Architectural and Archaeological Archives’Ancona-Portonovo, Italy from 1-3 July 2003By Gabriele Fangi, E-mail: [email protected]

From 1rst to 3rd of July in Ancona-Portonovo, Italy, tookplace an international workshop ISPRS on the survey andarchiving of Cultural Heritage.The title of the workshopwas "Vision Techniques for Digital Architectural andArchaeological Archives". 89 were the participants, comingfrom 12 different countries. Particularly crowded theJapanese group, 12 participants, leaded by Prof. HirofumiChikatzu of Tokyo, chairman of the WG 4 of CommissionV "Image Analysis and Spatial Information System forApplication in Cultural Heritage. Commission V deals withclose-range photogrammetry and WG 4 in particular ofCultural Heritage.The keynote address has been given byProf. Petros Patias, president both of the Commission Vand of CIPA, the international committee dealing with thedocumentation of Cultural Heritage. Also Prof. Dequal,from Politecnico of Turin, director of Cipa Congress in2005, and Mark Pollefeys, chairman of the inter-commis-sion III-V, attended the workshop.The workshop was dedicated to recent advances in thetopics of cultural heritage survey. In these last years,recent innovations regarded the survey, modelling, visuali-sation and archiving of Cultural Heritage.The photogram-metric systems are deeply renewed, converted from theanalogue and analytical photogrammetry to digital pho-togrammetry. For instance, now many automatic opera-tions are possible like the automatic feature extraction,image correlation, formation of Digital Models Surfacesand terrain, and real-time photogrammetry.In order to satisfy the increasing demand of applications, theWG V/4 begun a co-operation with other working groups,such as those derived from Computer Vision, Internet Tech-nology and of the VR, Virtual Reality. Moreover the intro-duction of the Laser scanning for architecture is more andmore a revolutionary instrument. Particularly numerous andinteresting the presented works in this activity.

The site of the conference is inside a natural park, a pro-tected area, in the so-called Riviera del Conero, a magnif-icent environment, close to the Adriatic sea.We discussedabout these themes, in a useful exchange of experiences.66 works have been presented, published in the workshopproceedings, for more than 300 pages, and a CD. Italyobviously has been always very rich of researchers andexperiences.The participants were not only by experts ofthe sector but also by final users, for a meeting that has

During thesocial dinner.

The opening of the workshop. Prof. Chikatzu greets the participants, Prof. Fangi and Patias are on the table.

Some participants during the social trip to Urbino. Are recognisable Chikatzu, standing of the right, Patias, with sunglasses,Fangi, in front.


been truly interesting. In nine sessions 38 oral presenta-tions in seven sessions:1. Developments and integration of close-range vision

techniques2. Low-cost and rapid photogrammetric systems3. Scene modelling by laser scanning4. Algorithms and process in digital image analysis5. Technologies for VR/VE and animation for internet

connection

6. Developments of spatial information systems forrecording structures and items of cultural heritage

7. Integrated applications in cultural heritage8. Multi-image and multi-sensor systems9. Laser scanning data processing.

The social trip to Urbin concluded the successful mani-festation.

Report of the International Workshop on ‘Global Environmen-tal Databases: Adaptation to Meet Current and Future Needs’United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand, 4-6 June 2003By Ryutaro Tateishi, Chairman, ISPRS WG IV/8, E-mail: [email protected] andDavid Hastings, E-mail: [email protected]

The workshop on "Global Environmental Databases:Adaptation to Meet Current and Future Needs" was heldon 4-6 June 2003 at the United Nations Conference Cen-tre, Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting was organised byISPRS WG IV/8 on global environmental databases, withco-organiser United Nations Economic and Social Com-mission for Asia and the Pacific (UN/ESCAP). Sixteen sci-entists participated, from the six countries of Thailand,USA, Japan, Italy, Kenya, and Nepal. Participants enjoyed adinner on the first day at the Royal Princess Hotel, and onthe second day at Thewes Pier on the Chao Phraya River,with a colourful sunset and evening view of the river. Onthe last day of the meeting, the group paid a technical visitto the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Develop-ment Agency (GISTDA).A presentation and tour showedthat GISTDA is an active satellite/geospatial data andinformation development and distribution centre.

The background of the workshop is the efforts of the for-mer ISPRS WG IV/6 (1996-2000) and the present WG IV/8(2000-2004) by which two books were published; "GlobalEnvironmental Databases" Volumes 1 and 2 (available fromGITC http://www2.profsurv.com/isprsarc.html ). Based ona workshop at the East-West Center in Honolulu, inNovember 1999, these books extensively discuss the pre-sent situation of global environmental databases such astopography, oceanography, land cover, biodiversity, soil,hydrology, climate, livestock, land use, and biophysical data.Problems hindering their optimal development and use, andsuggested directions for moving toward such optimisationare discussed.Common challenges were found to be 1) fre-quent glitches in [or lack of long-term] commitment andfunding, 2) national-global and local-global issues (such asdiffering local/national views/priorities/abilities/approachesthat result in differing legend categories), 3) differences inobjectives of producers and users, as well as differences ingoals of funding agencies from those actually implemented

by database developers under contract to such fundingagencies, 4) other issues of standardisation/ harmonisation,5) validation and ground truth/reference data, 6) dataaccess, 7) the competitive bidding process which often cre-ates a win-lose situation for funders, data developers andusers, and 8) cultural bias of datasets developed by a smallsubset of global scientific thought.

Based on this background,WG IV/8 planned to have thisworkshop to discuss action plans for the next 4-5 yearsfor better development and usage of global environmen-tal databases to meet current and future needs. Consid-ering the concerns of the Regional Space ApplicationsProgramme for Sustainable Development in Asia and thePacific (RESAP), supported by UN ESCAP, for improvedoperational effectiveness, accessibility, and use of geomat-ics data for such activities as planning, food security, anddisaster management, co-operative organisation of thisworkshop was appropriate.

Major focal points of the workshop were (1) how to makeglobal/regional/local environmental data(bases) more use-ful to operational projects, and (2) what strategies foradapting global environmental data(bases) will help themto better meet current and future needs?

Factors discussed at the workshop include: (1) Convenience(Data should be easy to use, with convenient formats andviewers;and with access that is simple and convenient for theuser [which means extra work by producers to harmonisepresentation approaches around user-oriented models, mak-ing data easy for non-space specialists to select and use];per-haps delivered via a portal developed in response to wide-spread interests for convenient data access); (2) Documen-tation (With non-specialist user-oriented [not producer-ori-ented as is often the case at present], non-superfluous, easy-to-read for people who are reading the documentation in

their second language [e.g. low Fogg index, etc.]; convenient,searchable metadata written for the non-specialist user; (3)Case Studies (Describe representative case studies usingmethodology which is simple enough for non-scientific users,but good enough for acceptable quality outputs); (4) UserInteraction ("When a data or instrument provider asks‘what’s next’ the answer comes from the users" is anapproach that helps to avoid systems designed for the dataproducers; improved user feedback mechanisms using theWeb and other media ["Why isn’t this working wellenough?"]; how to get more data brokers and intermediateservice providers active in supporting enriched user com-munities?; How to get data producers to come down fromtheir spacecraft to reach out to non-specialist decision-mak-ers?); (5) Integration (Better thematic and geographic inte-gration [including keeping marine and land data on theirrespective sides of the coast line/zone], tweaking productsfor specific user communities [and sometimes adapting leg-end categories for better (a) universality plus (b) reclassifica-bility for specific user communities], better selection of for-mat and projection [before settling on the Goodes Projec-tion again, see if it’s used as a native projection in any GIS,whether compressed Goodes-projected data are efficient,and whether Goodes-projected data can be conveniently re-projected into any other projection using software that cur-rently commonly transforms data through latitude-longitudecoordinates]; (6) Products (Don’t forget to aim low withsome products – many data providers’ lowest-common-denominator products sell best; provide ready-made whilealso letting high-end users select data and post processingoptions to customise products; develop low-cost sustainablealternatives to ultimate and expensive data to increase mar-kets; extend niche products to broader geographic areas –examples might include fire and famine monitoring products;(7) Public Relations [Visibility,Motivation to use] (How to getusers to WANT to use the data, learn what’s available fromwhat sources, acquire data/products, and use them wisely?)

In the afternoon of the first day, the International SteeringCommittee for Global Mapping (ISCGM) WG4 session on

global land cover data was held. In this session, the trendof global land cover mapping was summarised, and a newplan by US Geological Survey/EROS Data Center was pre-sented by Chandra Giri.A new plan for the ISCGM Glob-al Mapping Project was presented by Ryutaro Tateishi.Theimportance of exchanging land cover ground truth (or ref-erence) data and making them open by the co-operationbetween projects was emphasised.

On the second day, "Using Remote Sensing for Conserva-tion: Increasing Access" and "ASTER: Instrument, Data, andApplications" was presented by Gary Geller. Participantsheld an extensive and fruitful discussion on how to pro-mote operational use of remote sensing for managementof conservation areas.

In summary, the workshop had an intensive discussion onhow to promote operational use of global environmentaldata.The conclusion was that this depended on improveduser interaction aimed at a more user-oriented focus ofspace agencies, data developers and data serviceproviders; better data integration and products; betterdocumentation/metadata, better access to better casestudies; and overall better public relations. In short, spaceagencies and data service providers need to look less likegovernment bureaucracies, and more like the best 21stcentury entrepreneurs. Perhaps we should see more geo-matics products advertised in PC Week and The Econo-mist, and hope that major PC software houses incorpo-rate geomatics software into their office suites. (Whenwill Open Office, GRASS, and MapServer develop inter-faces? When will Microsoft MapPoint enrich its functional-ity and open its data architecture, say by allowing theimportation of multiple SDTS, GEOTiff and Shape Files formulti-layer manipulation of global and international data,to help put geomatics into every home and office?)

The WG IV/8 will continue to contribute to promote thebetter development and usage of global environmentaldatabases.


Call for Papers - NG2I 2003ISPRS WG IV/5 Workshop on Next Generation Geospatial Information in Cambridge (Boston), Massachusetts, USA from 19-21 October 2003 By Prof. Peggy Agouris, Dept. of Spatial Information and Science & Engineering, NationalCenter for Geographic Information & Analysis, University of Maine, E-mail: [email protected]

ScopeThe proliferation of data collection tools, from satellite sen-sors and GPS receivers to camera-equipped mobile phones,and the resulting availability of huge amounts of geospatial

data, together with heightened consumer expectations (e.g.reliable car navigation systems) and recent unforeseengeopolitical events, have created a rapidly increasing demandand need for timely and accurate geospatial information.


The scope of this intensive workshop is to addressresearch advancements in Digital Image Processing &Analysis, Geographic Information Systems, and SpatioTem-poral Databases that are relevant to geospatial informa-tion. Its main objective is to bring together specialists fromthese overlapping but not necessarily interacting scientificcommunities and provide a high-quality forum for the pre-sentation and discussion of related research activities.

The workshop is sponsored by the U.S. National ScienceFoundation, and in particular the Information and DataManagement Program of the Computer and InformationScience & Engineering Directorate. It is organized byWorking Group IV/5 (Image-Based Geospatial Databases)of the International Society for Photogrammetry andRemote Sensing (ISPRS). NG2I 2003 follows a successfulfirst event on "Integrated Spatial Databases: Digital Images& GIS" that was organised in 1999 in Portland, Maine.

Suggested TopicsHigh quality, original contributions are solicited.Topics ofinterest for potential paper submissions include (but arenot limited to) the following:

- Automated methods of geospatial information extrac-tion and change detection using digital imagery;

- Image sequence analysis and video processing fordynamic events;

- Spatiotemporal knowledge management;- Distributed computing for geospatial applications;- Semantic and geometric integration of heterogeneous

spatial information and sources;- Spatial and spatiotemporal data mining, queries, and

content-based information retrieval methods;- Digital libraries and web-based geospatial environ-

ments;- Mobile computing and location-based services;- Handling data quality and uncertainty in geospatial

information, incl. modelling, propagation, visualisation,and communication.

OrganisationWorkshop Chair: Peggy Agouris, University of Maine, USA

Programme Committee:- Chaitan Baru, University of California - San Diego, USA - Isabel Cruz,The University of Illinois at Chicago, USA - Mike Goodchild, University of California - Santa Bar-

bara, USA - Armin Gruen, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,

Switzerland- Thanassis Hadzilacos, Computer Technology Institute,

Greece- Christian Heipke, University of Hanover, Germany- Marinos Kavouras, National Technical University of

Athens, Greece- Martien Molenaar, ITC,The Netherlands - Dimitris Papadias, Hong Kong University of Science and

Technology, China- Hanan Samet, University of Maryland, College Park,

USA- Timos Sellis, National Technical University of Athens,

Greece- Monika Sester, University of Hanover, Germany- Anthony Stefanidis, University of Maine, USA- Vassilis Tsotras, University of California - Riverside, USA- Marc van Kreveld, Utrecht University,The Netherlands - Mike Worboys, University of Maine, USA

Workshop VenueThe workshop will be held at the innovative"Hotel@MIT", a high-tech hotel of the Hilton Group,which, in addition to award-winning architecture and cos-mopolitan amenities, offers free high-speed Internetaccess in all rooms. The "Hotel@MIT" is located in theheart of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cambridge, oftenreferred to as "Boston's Left bank", is the academically andculturally rich and active side of Boston, and home to therenowned educational institutions MIT and Harvard. Formore details on the "Hotel@MIT" please visit its Web siteat http://www.hotelatmit.com/ and for information onCambridge please visit http://www.cambridge-usa.org/.

A limited number of deluxe rooms have been reserved forthe workshop at the special rate of $159 per night (plusapplicable taxes).The cut-off date for reservations at thisspecial rate is September 19, 2003. Reservations can bemade by contacting the hotel directly at +(617) 577 0200,or by e-mail: [email protected]. Be sure tomention "Next Generation Geospatial Information" toobtain the special workshop rate. Early hotel reservationsare *strongly* encouraged, as the limited number ofrooms that have been reserved for NG2I 2003 partici-pants will be dispersed on a "first-come, first-served"basis, and the hotel may run out of rooms at the specialworkshop rate before the cut-off date.

Mid-October is an excellent time for visiting the Bostonmetropolitan area and New England in general. Theweather is mild, breezy, yet still warm, and foliage coloursare starting to change, adding a spectacular touch to thebeautiful New England scenery.

Information for Prospective AuthorsThe reviewing process for this workshop will be per-formed in two stages. First, 3-page extended abstracts willbe reviewed by the program committee for the selectionof workshop presentations. Subsequently, the authorswho are selected to present during the workshop will beinvited to submit full papers to be reviewed for inclusionin the workshop proceedings, which will be published as abook after the completion of the workshop.

Important Dates- Submission of extended abstracts:August 4, 2003- Notification of abstract acceptance: September 1, 2003


ISPRS WorkshopWG II/5, II/6, IV/1 and IV/2 Joint Workshop on “Spatial, Temporal and Multi-Dimensional DataModelling and Analysis”Québec, Canada from 2-3 October 2003

InvitationYou are cordially invited to participate in the Joint Work-shop of ISPRS Commission II and IV,Working Groups II/5,II/6, IV/1 and IV/2. Originally focused on spatio-temporaldata modelling issues, this workshop has been extended toinclude dynamic and multi-dimensional GIS issues as theworkshop has been merged with the DMGIS workshop1

that had to be cancelled.The objective of this workshop isto provide a platform for scholars and professionals in theareas of spatio-temporal and multi-dimensional data mod-elling and analysis to exchange research ideas and interests,to present their newest research results in theses areas, todefine important areas of application for this technology,and to promote international collaboration in these fields.

OrganisersThe Workshop is organised as a collaboration of fourISPRS Working Groups, spanning two ISPRS Commissions:- ISPRS WG II/5: Design and operation of spatial decision

support systems- ISPRS WG II/6: Spatial analysis and visualisation sys-

tems- ISPRS WG IV/1: Spatial and temporal data modelling and

analysis- ISPRS WG IV/2: Federated databases and interoperabil-

ity

VenueThe workshop will be held at the Hotel Plaza Québecclose to historical Old Québec, which was declared aUNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.At this period ofthe year, the Fall colours of our forests are at their peak.

Workshop Topics (in the context of data model-ling and analysis)- Spatio-temporal relations and reasoning- Multi-dimensional and multi-scale modelling

- Three-dimensional GIS modelling- (Heterogeneous) spatio-temporal database design and

development- Spatial database revision- Multi-source data fusion- Spatio-temporal data mining- Multi-scale and multi-media representation- Multi-dimensional decision support systems- Other related topics

FormatThe workshop will consist of sequential technical ses-sions, being moderated, with 20 minutes allocated to eachpresented paper.There will be space for about 24 papers.

Important Dates- Deadline for short papers:August 25 2003- Notification of acceptance: September 8, 2003- Workshop program: September 15, 2003- Workshop: October, 2-3, 2003

Guidelines for Paper SubmissionShort papers are expected to be about 6 to 8 pages inPDF format and must be sent via e-mail to:[email protected]

PublicationProceedings will be published according to the format ofthe ISPRS archives, and will be included in the registrationpackage as a CD-ROM.We also intend to execute a fur-ther selection of accepted extended abstracts to takeplace.The authors of the selected abstracts will be invitedto submit a full paper for publication in a special issue ofan International Journal (probably the Journal of Appliedearth observation and Geoinformation – JAG), requiring afurther review process for that journal.

- Submission of full papers: October 6, 2003- Notification of paper acceptance: November 3, 2003- Camera-ready papers for post-workshop book:

December 1, 2003

Submission FormatAll submissions should be in Acrobat PDF format. Extend-ed abstracts should not exceed 3 pages, 11-point font, one-inch margins all around. Full papers should be limited to 10pages, 11-point font, with one-inch margins all around.

Submission ProcedureAll submissions must be e-mailed to: [email protected]. Please make sure to observethe above mentioned deadlines.

Questions & Further InformationFor any questions or to request additional informationplease send e-mail to: [email protected] registration, and up-to-date details on all aspects ofthe workshop please check its Web-site regularly athttp://dipa.spatial.maine.edu/NG2I03/


Registration InformationThe registration fee is 150$ CAD and includes access tothe sessions, proceedings of the workshop, coffee breaksand two (2) lunches.The fees can be paid by credit card(Visa and MasterCard) or by cheque (payable to “Univer-sité Laval”). Payment must be made in Canadian dollars.Please use the Registration form.

CommitteesOrganising Committee- Yvan Bédard CRG, Laval University- Eveline Bernier CRG, Laval University- Rolf de By (Co-Chair, WG IV/2) ITC, Enschede, The

Netherlands- Wolfgang Kainz (Chair, WG II/5) University of Vienna,

Austria- Zhilin Li (Chair, WG II/6) H.K. Polytechnic University,

Hong Kong, China- Wenzhong (John) Shi (Chair,WG IV/1) H.K. Polytechnic

University, Hong Kong, China

Local Organising Committee- Yvan Bédard CRG, Laval University- Eveline Bernier CRG, Laval University

Information and inquiriesFor more information, please visit: http://sirs.scg.ulaval.ca/isprs_wg4-1/workshop.aspOr contact Ms. Eveline Bernier at:Centre for Research in Geomatics Pavillon Louis-Jacques-CasaultUniversité LavalQuébec (Québec)G1K 7P4 CanadaPhone: 1 418 656 5355Fax: 1 418 656 3607E-mail : [email protected]

Note1 The 4 th ISPRS Workshop on Dynamic and Multi-

Dimensional GIS was supposed to be held in Enschede,The Netherlands, in August 2003.

ISPRS Highlights will noISPRS Highlights will now be aw be availabvailable frle from GITC bom GITC bv atv at

US$ 28 per year (for individuals who belong to an ISPRS member organisation)

US$ 35 per year (for non-members)

Please contact GITC’s subscription department for more details or e-mail:[email protected]

To receive ISPRS Highlights you only have to send us the complete address (personal name, organisation name,address, city + postcode, country, phone, fax, e-mail, date, signature) together with the (details of) payment.You canpay by credit card (number, expiry date, signature) or by mailing to GITC by separate post (cheque, postal order,international money order, evidence of bankdraft).The delivery of the magazine will start after receipt of payment


Dear international colleagues,

As you may know by now, the ISPRS Working Group VII/6and Japan Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sens-ing are going to organise the international workshop onMonitoring and Modelling of Global EnvironmentalChange at Kyoto International Community House, Kyoto,Japan on 21-22 October, 2003.This is to remind you that deadline for the abstracts is 20July 2003.If you are planning to submit a paper to the workshop pleasedo not forget about the abstract submission.The details aboutthe workshop is written on the homepage of the workshop:http://jsprs.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/jsprs/isprs/top.html

The ADEOS-2 satellite was successfully launched on 14December 2002 by NASDA from the Tanegashima SpaceCenter, Japan.The workshop would be a good opportunityfor exchanging information on the latest outcome of variousremote sensing activities including the ADEOS-2 Program.

Moreover, this year is the 15 years anniversary of theexciting ISPRS Congress held in Kyoto in 1988.Autumn isthe best sightseeing season in Kyoto.We look forward toseeing you in the beautiful city of Kyoto in coming Octo-ber.

Best regards,

Yoshifumi YasuokaChairmanISPRS Working Group VII/6Institute of Industrial ScienceUniversity of Tokyo4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro,TokyoJapanTel. +81-3-5452-6409 ( or 6411)Fax. [email protected]

ISPRS Working Group VII/6By Yoshifumi Yasuoka, Chairman ISPRS Working Group VII/6

The Photogrammetric Recordan international journal of photogrammetry

New Developments in 2003The Photogrammetric Record is an o≤cial journal of the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc), dedicated to international photogrammetry. It contains articles which reflect current photogrammetric practice throughout the world and provides a record of original research, thus contributing to theadvancement of photogrammetric knowledge and the application of photogrammetry in thediverse fields in which it is used. The Record was first published in 1953 and in 2003 an exciting newphase of the journal’s life begins, as it enters its first year of joint publication by the RSPSoc andBlackwell Publishing Ltd. Key initiatives include:

Û Frequency increased from 2 to 4 issues per yearAllowing more rapid publication and disseminationof the independently refereed original articles contained in each issue of the journal.

Û Available onlineThe Photogrammetric Record is available online at:www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/toc/phorTables of contents and abstracts are free to all.Libraries and RSPSoc members who subscribe to the journal may access the full text of papers online, from issues dating back to 1995.For further information regarding how to subscribe, or submitan article for consideration to The Photogrammetric Record,visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/PhotRec

Further details concerning the Remote Sensing andPhotogrammetry Society may be found at www.rspsoc.org


One of the Brazilian Government requirements to takedecisions for an effective monitoring and control of itsecosystems as well as the planning of the sustainable useof its natural resources is to get updated informationabout land cover.It allows to know the description, location of the maincharacteristics of a landscape and information related tothe human settlement of the interest area.

INPE/MCT has been working on thematic cartography ofdeforested areas in the Amazon region (~5 million km2) inorder to make this information available to the public. Itmakes possible to know about the extension and the esti-mate of the annual deforestation rate.All this information isavailable in the database at http://www.obt.inpe. br/prodes/.This work is very important for scientists that analysescauses and effects of human settlement through investi-

gation models in issues like: biodiversity, global changes,dynamics of agriculture/cattle raising frontier, amongother aspects of interest for the population.In this frame, the community of researchers and techniciansinvolved in the Program "Environmental Monitoring of theAmazon Region" is performing a methodological break-through to characterise and estimate the extent and rate ofgross deforestation in the Amazon. In addition, using newprocedures to accomplish this large task and computertechniques for the interpretation of TM-Landsat digitalimages and, preparing the so-called PRODES Digital Project.The procedure for the deforestation analysis of the TM-Landsat data takes into account the following steps:

a) the generation of synthetic images technique througha linear spectral mixture model whose aims is to esti-mate the proportion of the Soil,Vegetation and Shade

The Brazilian Amazon Forest Monitoring by SatelliteThe Forest Degradation Cartography Using Image Processing and Classification TechniquesBy João Roberto dos Santos, National Institute for Space Research – INPE, Ministry ofScience and Technology – MCT, São José dos Campos, São Paulo State, Brazil, E-mail: [email protected]

Figure 1, Spatial representation of deforested areas in Brazilian Amazon obtained by digital processing of TM/Landsat images. Source:(http://www.obt.inpe.br/ prodes/).


components for each pixel from the spectral responsein different bands;

b) due to the complexity of landscapes and/or land use, thesegmentation technique for the region growth, definedby similarity thresholds and the area established previ-ously is used only for those regions which are spatiallyadjacent and have similar spectral characteristics thatcan be grouped.Also, this technique of grouping data hasbeen applied only for the fraction images "shade" or"soil", considered as ideal for studies in the Amazon.

c) the non-supervised classification technique for assem-bly data (ISOSEG) that is used for the class discrimi-nation based on statistical attributes of the region,within pre-defined acceptance thresholds above 90%;

d) a complementary procedure of editing and auditing,made by and experienced photointerpreter. Oncethe edition is made, each thematic image chart(theme chart) is placed in a specific database accord-ing to its orbits/points of reference from the satel-lite, to compose the mosaic of the "Brazilian Amazo-nia" (composed by 229 TM scenes). Due to the largeamount of information generated in the original scaleof the work, during this mosaic composition process,the Information Plans (IP) of data input, namely thetheme charts, have their spatial resolution trans-formed to 120 meters, for a final presentation of the

entire Brazilian Amazon at 1:250.000 scale (Figure 1).As for each Brazilian State mosaic that composes theBrazilian Amazonia, the IPs of the theme charts havea resolution of 60 meters, the scale of presentationis 1:500.000. The PRODES Digital Project has beendone through the SPRING computational system(SPRING is under public domain). It can be down-loaded at http://www.dpi.inpe.br. And it was con-ceived to process satellite images and to integratedata from both thematic and basic cartography.

The use of digital processing techniques, such as they areused in this project, minimises problems like geometricdistortions and the consequent failure of cartographicadjustment of polygons with annual deforested areas.Thisoccurred very often when the work methodology wasvisual interpretation of images in photographic format(colour composites at 1:250.000 scale, with the identifica-tion of minimum deforested sections of 6.25 ha).This procedure allowed a higher precision in geo-referenc-ing of deforestation polygons which compose a multi-tem-poral information base.

All these comments and summarised information showthe capacity of the PRODES Digital Project to manage atime series of data/information and contribute strongly

Figure 2, Section of ASTER/ Terra image (colour composite, 2R3G1B) in recent selective timber logging areas.


This CBERS image isused in an education-al program in PortoAlegre, Rio Grandedo Sul, South Regionin Brazil.This image isfrom October 2001,from CCD sensor inCBERS.In the right side youcan see part of PatosLagoon, in the top oflagoon you can seethe Guaiba river andjust beside the riveris the Porto Alegremetropolitan area.

for the process of annual monitoring of the amazon For-est, exclusively to targets of deforestation.

The spatial representation of this type of forest degrada-tion, besides the values of extension and deforestationgross rate, is a very important subsidy because indicatesthe size and the direction taken by land occupation, per-forming an adequate territorial planning based on sustain-able development.

The discussions raised by representatives of public and pri-vate organisations (NGOs) from this database, producedrecently a Decree by the Brazilian Government (on 3 July2003 from the Brazilian President, according to the Article84, item VI, point "a" of the Constitution) creating the Min-isterial Permanent Working Group whose aims is to pro-pose actions to reduce deforestation indices in the Brazil-ian Amazon, using resources such as: cadaster of lands inthose municipalities which make up the so-called "Defor-estation Arch"(the region designation with the highest

deforestation rates in the Amazon), fiscal incentives toincrease the economic efficiency and sustainability of defor-ested areas, generation of jobs and income about activitiesrelated to the recovery of deforested areas, incorporationin the production process of deforested and abandonedareas, management of forested areas and so on.

The Brazilian scientific community has been stronglyadvancing on its research and spatial applications relatedto the forest studies, here referred to both monitoringforest clear cut and the detection and monitoring of burn-ing and timber exploration (Figure 2) in the Amazon.Studies made with sensors images from CBERS, MODIS,ASTER (using among others, the Change Vector Analysistechnique and/or information extraction based on FuzzyArtificial Neural network) have been an important datasource for the analysis of environmental degradation ofthese large tropical forest area. In some cases, it is alsoused high resolution satellite data (IKONOS) and airborneand spaceborne radar.

CBERS Image

isprs society · by m. orhan altan, isprs 2004 congress director istanbul isprs 2004 figure...

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