Dreiländer Tagung

Image 1: Participants of the Conference

Once every 3 years; the Austrian, German and Swiss Societies of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing organise joint conferences for their members in rotating places in three countries and this organisation has become a tradition for several years. This year the Swiss Society organised the so called Joint Conference (Dreilaender Tagung) in Muttenz-Basel. The place of the very well organised conference was the University of Applied Sciences North-western Switzerland and the conference was chaired by Prof. Stephan Nebiker from the same university. More than 320 participants most of whom were from organizing societies attended the event. During the conference were 2 plenary sessions, one of which was dedicated to the memorial of Prof. Karl Kraus (at which Prof. O. Altan, Prof. F. Ackermann and Prof. N. Pfeifer spoke) and the centennial of the establishment of the Austrian Society (presented by Prof. P. Waldhäusl). At the other plenary there were very interesting presentations on "Close-Range Photogrammetry at the Operation room" presented by W. Berner, "Real-Time 3D Imaging using Time-of-Flight: Technology, Applications and Trends", by T. Oggier, and "Recent Space Technology Developments at EPFL for Earth Observation" by M. Borgeaud.

Image 2: Ice-breaker Party taken from a photogrammetric model helicopter

At the Technical Sessions there were several interesting papers on the developments of Digital Airborne Cameras, 3D-GIS, use of Remote Sensing Data in Geological and Hazard Mapping etc.
One of the Highlights of the Conference was the Gala Dinner at the Roman Ancient Village Augusta Raurica. It was organised as a Roman Style summer night's festival, with guided tours of the village, followed by a dinner in a tent. There was a very interesting and highly appreciated speech by Dr. h.c. Peter Schmid, President of the High school-council of Universities of Applied Sciences of North-western Switzerland.
During the dinner the "Karl Kraus Award" which is awarded for the support of the Young Generation was also given (See picture 4).
The next Joint Conference will be held in Vienna on July 2010.

By Orhan ALTAN, SG of ISPRS

Image 3: Inside view of the Exhibition Tent.

Image 4: Karl Kraus Award winners and presenters; Gert Steinkellner - President of the Austrian Soc.; Mrs. Kraus; David Novak, ETH Zürich, CH, 2. Award; Sven Oltmer, University Osnabrück, D, 3. Award; Thomas Luhmann - President of the German Soc.; Marieke Dutter, TU Wien, A, 1. Award; Jochen Schiewe- Chair of the Jury; Stephan Nebiker- President of the Swiss Soc.