MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETING
BANGALORE, INDIA
28 February - 1 March 1998
Council Attendees
President: Lawrence Fritz (LF)
Secretary General: John Trinder (JT)
First Vice President: Shunji Murai (SM)
Second Vice President: Marcio Barbosa (MB)
Congress Director: Klaas Beek (KB)
Treasurer: Heinz Ruether (HR)
In attendance
President of Commission VI: Lukman Aziz (LA)
Journal Editor: Emmanuel Baltsavias (EB)(Item 5.1, 7.2)
Honorary Member: Gottfried Konecny (GK)
Education Task Force representatives: Thelma Krug (TK) (Item 10.1) Assistant to MB
Tania Sausen (TS) (Item 10.1) Chair of WG VI/1
AGENDA
- Opening (LF)
- Approval of Agenda (LF)
- Review of previous Council meetings in Brazil (JT)
- Actions of Council (JT)
- ISPRS Publications
- Journal (LF/EB)
- Editorial Board Approval (EB)
- Bulletin (JT)
- Home Page (JT)
- 5.5 Archives
- Amsterdam Congress (KB)
- Plans
- ISPRS display
- Awards
- Policy
- Helava Award
- Cassinis Award
- Fagundes Award
- Review of Technical Commissions (LF/JT)
- Annual Report
- Working Groups
- Symposia, tutorials and other meetings
- ISPRS Membership (JT)
- Ordinary Members
- Associate Members
- Sustaining Members
- Regional Members
- Policy Discussions
- Educational Opportunities Program (MB)
- Communications Task Force
- Other
- Financial Commission report
- Financial Affairs (HR)
- Treasurer's report
- Council Activities Reports (Council)
(Council to provide reports in writing at the meeting)
- Inter-Organizational Activities (LF/JT)
- COPUOS - UNISPACE III
- CIPA
- CEOS
- ICSU
- ICET/UATI
- Standards
- Others
- Plans for Strategic Planning Meeting
- Other Business
- Next Meeting (JT)
- Adjournment
MINUTES
1. Opening
President Fritz welcomed all Council to the Meeting
and thanked them for attending. He also thanked the
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for
hosting the meeting and providing the excellent
facilities.
2. Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved.
3. Review of previous Council meetings in Brazil
Several items of information were added to the agenda books
following completion of the following actions:
- Response from Professor Ray Harris to the letter from ICSU on
the policies on access to data (Action 97/107)
- New Terms of Reference for Sustaining Members (Action: 97/96) -
now added to the Home Page.
- New brochure on Benefits of ISPRS Membership (Action: 97/28)
4. Actions of Council
29 actions items were completed, 4 were overcome by events (OBE).
Results of discussions on action items:
Action 98/120: LA to contact UN ESCAP in Bangkok to propose
a UN related meeting at the Commission VI Symposium.
Young authors awards and CATCOM:
SM has guaranteed to provide funds for 5 Young Authors Awards and
also for CATCOM, while KB will provide free registration for these
award winners. ISPRS will also guarantee funds for an additional 5
Young Authors Awards if additional donors are not forthcoming.
Action 98/121: SM to write letter to TCPs requesting
contributions for funding Young Authors awards from proceeds of
Symposia or similar events.
5. ISPRS Publications
5.1 Journal
Council met for several hours with the Editor-in-Chief during 26-27
February. Discussions indicated that the Journal is operating well.
Proposed topics for special Journal issues were discussed and it was
decided by Council that ISPRS Highlights and not the Journal is the
appropriate forum for papers about social issues. Theme issues have
been identified by five Commissions. Commissions I and IV have yet to
submit their proposals. The gratis exchange of advertisements between
the Journal and ISPRS Highlights is a problem. The search for a new
Journal cover is being assigned by the Editor to an Editorial Board
member. A new brochure has been prepared for publishing
the Journal. A report has been prepared for the Annual Report and will
be printed in ISPRS Highlights.
5.2 Editorial Board Approval
All except one member of the Editorial Board have been confirmed.
Council approved these appointments.
Action 98/122: JT to contact EB on the outstanding member
of the Editorial Board
5.3 Bulletin
A report on the progress of publication of ISPRS Highlights was
given by JT.
An editor should be appointed to collect timely news items and edit
the information to be published in ISPRS Highlights.
Action 98/123: HR to draft advertisement for an
'International News Editor' for ISPRS Highlights
5.4 Home Page
A report on the Home Page was included in the agenda books and will
be published in ISPRS Highlights as part of the Annual Report. It was
agreed that a job exchange should be incorporated into the Home Page
for advertising international job opportunities.
New Guidelines for ISPRS Home Pages have been prepared by WG VI/4,
following comments from several persons. Comments by Council are
requested by the end of March before the Guidelines are finalized.
Action 98/124: Council to send comments on Home Page
Guidelines to JT.
Action 98/125: JT to set up an ISPRS Job Exchange on Home
Page at UNSW.
5.5 Archives
Action 98/126: JT to remind TCPs to
follow Guidelines for Printing of Archives
It was agreed that only 10 copies of proceedings of Workshops,
Seminars and Tutorials which are published as a volume of ISPRS
Archives, should be sent to RICS in future.
Action 98/127: JT to change guidelines for Workshop,
Seminars and Tutorials proceedings and notify WG chairs.
Council approves the publication of proceedings of ISPRS sponsored
Workshops on CDROMs only.
Action 98/128: JT to negotiate contract with RICS Books for
the sale of Archives on CDROMs.
Action 98/129: JT and KB to liaise on the design of a cover
for Archives on CDROMs.
The previous decision of Council that hardcopy editions of the
Archives should be printed for the Amsterdam Congress was endorsed. It
was agreed that a common cover design and software access package
should be established.
6. Amsterdam Congress (KB)
6.1 Plans
The first announcement for the Congress has been printed in 40,000
copies and will be distributed widely to Members, and a large mailing
list of interested persons. The Exhibition brochure will be produced
after the Sustaining Members' meeting. Professional organisers have
been appointed to manage the Congress.
Sponsors are being sought to bring participants from developing
countries to the Congress. The structure of the Congress will be based
on general themes with participation from cooperating organisations,
policy and decision makers, and industry representatives. Some
suggestions for theme topics were presented at the meeting. Specific
topics for the WGs will also be planned. The willingness of TCPs to
cooperate with this scheme will be required. A list of proposals for
topics of theme sessions will be distributed to TCPs prior to the JM
in September and discussed with them at the meeting. Suggested topics
of the theme sessions will be circulated to Council by June for
comment. Oral sessions will be selective, while poster sessions will
concentrate on WG activities.
Action 98/130: KB to solicit themes from TCPs and Council
before June 1998
Plans for the sessions at the Congress will be determined in
consultation with TCPs at the JM in Stuttgart, under the direction of
KB.
6.2 ISPRS display
KB will investigate the preparation of a permanent poster for ISPRS
and the Congress, for display at other meetings, with the cost shared
between the Congress and ISPRS.
7. Awards
7.1 Policy
The new policy on ISPRS Awards was approved with minor additions as
given in Attachment A.
'Intrinsic value' of the award was set at Swf 2,500. 'Long term
commitment' was defined to be 12 years.
Action 98/131: JT to write to donors asking for help in
obtaining nominees for awards
The new Awards brochure should include the name of the most recent
winner of each award. The history of the awards is on the Web. New
awards will be added to the brochure as soon as they are approved.
7.2 Helava Award
The conditions of the Helava award were approved. The Editor will
act as secretary for the jury, without voting rights.
7.3 Cassinis Award
The draft conditions of the proposed Cassinis Award were discussed
and modified as appropriate so that they do not overlap with other
awards. The donor of the award, Italian Society for Surveying and
Photogrammetry (SIFET), will be informed of the new guidelines of
ISPRS Awards, Council's suggested amendments to the award conditions
and requested to resubmit.
Action 98/132: JT to inform SIFET of Council's decision on
the proposed Cassinis Award
7.4 Fagundes Award
The donor of the proposed Fagundes Award, INPE, will be informed of
the new guidelines of ISPRS Awards and requested to resubmit. There
will be no further developments to the conditions of the award until
1999. New conditions will be submitted in accordance with ISPRS Policy
by MB, with a short lead time for the determination of award winners.
Action 98/133: MB to resubmit revised ToR for the Fagundes
Award
8. Review of Technical Commissions
8.1 Annual Report
Annual Report submissions have been received from Commissions I, V
and VI. These reports will be published in the Annual Report Part I in
the January edition of ISPRS Highlights, and distributed in
March/April. Reports of Commissions II, III, IV and VII will appear in
the April edition of ISPRS Highlights.
8.2 Working Groups
A list of recent communications on WG activities which has been
received by JT was presented. It will be included in ISPRS Highlights.
8.3 Symposia, tutorials and other meetings
- The brochure and details of the Commission VI Symposium were
presented at the meeting by Technical Commission VI President, Dr
Lukman Aziz. Brochures for the call for papers are being distributed
at present. Comments were made by Council on the proposed program.
Overall, Council were very satisfied with the proposals for
tutorials and technical sessions of the Symposium. An estimated 60
participants from Indonesia and 40 from overseas are expected to
attend. The President of Commission VI was requested to link
information on the Symposium to ISPRS Home Page.
- Commission V President (HC) has asked whether the Commission V
Symposium should include submitted papers which are outside the
terms of reference of Commission V, for presentation at the
Symposium and inclusion in the Archives. Council agreed that such
papers should only be allowed to be included in Symposia organised
by developing countries. This decision will be covered by the
addition of a statement in the guidelines for TCPs.
Action 98/134: JT to prepare new statement in
Guidelines for Symposia in developing countries
LF will request WGs IV/4 and VII/3 to organise an ISPRS
sponsored conference for decision makers in Latin America on
'benefits of new sensor systems', to be held in 1999. Gottfried
Konecny has offered to lead the organisation of the meeting with
co-sponsorship proposed from OOSA, UNDP, CEOS, PAIGH and SELPER. A
proposal for this conference will be presented at a special UN WG
meeting in Mexico in March 1998.
- It was noted that the Commission I Symposium was successful and
noteworthy as the first ISPRS Symposium to be held in India. Over
200 attendees including 80 from overseas participated. Also,
noteworthy was the very impressive session on CEOS activities.
9. ISPRS Membership
9.1 Ordinary Members
Discussion was held on appropriate actions on Ordinary Members that
are non-responsive and are financially in arrears. It was agreed that
6 Ordinary Members should no longer receive ISPRS Highlights. MB will
investigate members in arrears in Latin America; HR will investigate
those in Africa. SM will also attempt to attract a new member
organisation from Vietnam and assess the status in one year.
Action 98/135: JT to inform Council of attendance at the
Vienna Congress of representatives from Ordinary Members in arrears
Council are unable to attend the 100 year conference celebration of
surveying and photogrammetry in Croatia, but will seek an official
representative.
Action 98/136 : JT to ask Karl Kraus to represent ISPRS and
send information to him on ISPRS for distribution at the meeting
Council approved with appreciation, the request from China Taipei
to upgrade their category of membership from 3 to 4. Council also
approved the change of membership of Slovenia from the Ministry of
Environment Protection and Regional Planning (MEPP) to the Section of
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, the Association of Slovenia
Surveyors.
9.2 Associate Members
No matters discussed
9.3 Sustaining Members
Council approved the new Sustaining
Membership of LH Systems LLC.
9.4 Regional Members
No matters discussed
10. Policy Discussions
10.1 Educational Opportunities Program
MB and TK presented the current status of the pilot Educational
Opportunities program. The timetable for the introduction of the
educational opportunities program was given.
Council agreed on proposed members for permanent seats on the
Education Opportunities Task Force.
Action 98/137: MB to draft letter of invitation to the
recommended Task Force Members for transmission by President Fritz.
A lengthy discussion was held on the suitability of training
centres and the manner in which they will be selected. MB will proceed
with the inventory of appropriate training centres according to the
timetable.
Draft sets of charts were provided by MB to LF and JT for
presentations on ISPRS Educational Opportunities at the 1998
Commission Symposia.
Action 98/138: LF and JT to comment charts before they are
finalised.
Chair of WG VI/1 Tania Sausen described the distance education
program on the SELPER Home page, which is in Spanish and Portuguese.
An English version will also be developed. Links should be established
between the SELPER and ISPRS Home Pages.
Action 98/139: JT and TS to ensure links between SELPER and
ISPRS Home Pages
Council agreed to support the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum
(RSCC), being developed in USA and sponsored by ASPRS. It was
recommended that Commission VI (WG VI/1) should cooperate with ASPRS
in this program.
Action 98/140: LA to liaise with WG members to cooperate
with RSCC program
10.2 Communications Task Force
Correspondence from Task Force
Chair Keith Atkinson was tabled. Council is seeking
persons to act as section editors for ISPRS
Highlights to assist JT in its production. It was
agreed to place an advertisement in ISPRS Highlights
to attract editors.
10.3 Other
The US Department of Commerce has expressed an
interest in establishing a formal relationship with
ISPRS. Such a relationship could assist ISPRS in its
aim to take a stronger role in the advocacy of
issues in its areas of interest. The cooperation
could enable ISPRS to provide forums for debates on
such items as long term solutions of
commercialisation, or the preparation of White
Papers on issues related to space remote sensing.
Action 98/141: LF to arrange a meeting with Mr Keith
Calhoun-Senghor of the US Department of Commerce in Washington in May
1998
Action 98/142: LF to prepare a draft MoU between ISPRS and
the US Department of Commerce
11. Financial Commission Report
The Financial Commission
report on the Treasurer's report for FY 1996 has been received and reviewed
by Council.
It was agreed that the Commission's report in future should be
submitted within a month of receiving the financial report from the
Treasurer.
Action 98/143: JT to thank Financial Commission for its
report
Action 98/144: HR to arrange signatures to finalise the
financial report for FY 1996.
12. Financial Affairs
12.1 Treasurer's report
HR presented his report on the current
status of ISPRS accounts and membership payments. Following discussion on
the method of presentation of reports, it was resolved that a professional
accountant should be sought for advice.
Action 98/145: HR to review the method of presentation of
accounts to Council
In order that the budget can be formulated before the start of the
FY on 1 April, it was agreed that:
Action 98/146: Budget details should be presented by
Council to HR by 31 January of each year.
13. Council Activities Reports (Council)
Council reports were
presented.
14. Inter-Organizational Activities
14.1 COPUOS - UNISPACE III
ISPRS submitted three UNISPACE III
Background papers to OOSA, viz: Background Paper No 2 - Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing in Monitoring, Prediction and Prevention of Environmental
Disasters; Background Paper No 3 - Management of Earth Resources; and
Background Paper No 7 - Commercial Aspects of Space Remote Sensing Including
Spin-off Benefits.
Details received from UN OOSA of the UNISPACE III conference were
presented. ISPRS has indicated that it wishes to participate in the
workshop entitled Environment (and remote sensing). The timetable
indicates that ISPRS must submit requests to make presentations and
present posters at workshops and technical sessions by April/May 1999.
Regional meetings will be held in Asia in Malaysia in May 1998, and
in Latin America in Chile in October 1998.
Action 98/147: MB to provide information on the Chile
meeting to Council
14.2 CIPA
The ISPRS representatives on the CIPA Committee were
selected as follows:
- Peter Waldhauesl (Austria)
- Jozef Jachimski (Poland)
- Antonio Cheli (Argentina)
- Petros Patias (Greece)
- Edel Lundemo (Norway)
- Hiro Chikatsu (Japan) or his nominee (ex-officio member)
Action 98/148: HR to inform the CIPA Secretary General of
ISPRS recommendations
14.3 CEOS
ISPRS has been admitted to CEOS as an Affiliate.
Council considers this to be an excellent development for ISPRS. LF and JT
are to serve as Principal and Contact Points.
Action 98/149: JT to request Alan Belward and Takashi
Moriyama to provide details of WGs of CEOS
CEOS WGs will be asked to participate in ISPRS activities and
sessions at ISPRS Symposia and Congresses, as was the case at the
Commission I Symposium. The ISPRS Congress should be announced in the
CEOS newsletter. Relevant ISPRS WGs will be asked to participate in
CAL/VAL and LISS WGs of CEOS.
Action 98/150: JT to provide CEOS with details for ISPRS
Annual Report.
Action 98/151: KB to place information on the Congress in
CEOS Newsletter
14.4 ICSU
ISPRS membership status of ICSU was discussed. JT
has a submitted documentation on ISPRS activities.
14.5 ICET/UATI
Legal issues on which ISPRS could seek advice
from UATI, should be sent when appropriate to the legal officer of UATI.
Action 98/152: Council to recommend legal matters on which
advice can be sought from UATI
14.6 Standards
Council did not support the proposal, in its
present form, submitted to ISO/TC 211 for a work item (ISO/TC 211 N477) on
Qualification and Certification of Personnel. More information regarding its
intent and effectiveness of its applicability is sought.
It was suggested that a paper on Competency Standards could be
presented at the Commission VI Symposium in August 1998.
14.7 Others
An invitation has been received for ISPRS to
attend the EUROGI meeting in March 1998. DF and GR will be asked to
represent ISPRS.
Action 98/153: JT to request DF and GR to represent ISPRS
at EUROGI meeting
15. Plans for Strategic Planning Meeting
The proposed date for
the postponed Strategy Meeting is 1 to 3 May 1998 in Washington.
Action 98/154: Council to inform LF immediately of
availability
Action 98/155: Council to provide a list of issues,
problems and their solutions that require consideration at the
Strategy Meeting
16. Other Business
Action 98/156: Council to update
contact address, phone and fax numbers and E-mail address to JT
17. Next Meeting
The next CM will be held in Budapest from 5
to 6 September 1998, following the Commission VII Symposium. The JM will be
held in Hotel Kloster Hirsau in Germany from 11-12 September 1998.
18. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4.30 pm on 1
March 1998.
J. C. Trinder
March 1998