ISPRS Joint Meeting: Council and Commission Presidents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 1997

MINUTES OF JOINT MEETING
COUNCIL AND TECHNICAL COMMISSION PRESIDENTS (TCPs)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
8-9 SEPTEMBER 1997


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 R�ther (HR)

Commission President Attendees

Commission  II:  Ian Dowman (ID)
Commission III:  Toni Schenk (TS)
Commission  IV:  Dieter Fritsch (DT)
Commission   V:  Hirofumi Chikatsu (HC)
Commission VII:  G�bor Remetey F�l�pp (GR)

In attendance
    
Representing Commission I President:    
                       George Joseph (GJ)
                       Shailesh Nayar (SN)
Secretary Commission:  Ray Harris (RH)
Bulletin Editor:       Mauricio Araya (MA)
Journal Editor:        Emmanuel Baltsavias (EB)
Honorary Member:       Gottfried Konecny

AGENDA

  1. Opening Remarks (LF)
  2. Review of Agenda and Minutes of C & TCP Meeting in Japan (JT)
  3. Commission Reports (TCPs)
    • Status of each Working Group
    • Planned meetings, workshops and tutorials
    • Event approval guidelines
  4. Symposium planning responsibilities (TCPs)
    • TCP Responsibilities
    • International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (IAPRS) - Volume XXXII
    • Publication of IAPRS for Symposia and workshops
    • Announcements/Scheduling of Symposium
    • Registration fees
    • Board Meetings at Symposia
    • Areas of concern
  5. Review of Plans for Amsterdam Congress (KB)
  6. ISPRS Publications
    • Annual Report (JT)
    • Journal (LF/EB)
    • ISPRS Highlights (JT/MA)
    • Web and Home Page status (KV/JT)
  7. Inter-Organisation Relationships(LF/JT)
    • UN Organisations (COPUOS, UATI/ICET, ICSU)
    • CIPA
    • Standards (ISO and OGC)
    • Other Societies
  8. Initiatives
    • Educational Program (MB)
    • Data Policy (Ray Harris)
  9. Next Meeting of Council and Technical Commission Presidents (JT)
    • Stuttgart, September 1998
  10. Other Business

MINUTES


1. Opening Remarks

President Lawrence Fritz thanked Second Vice President Marcio Barbosa for the arrangements for the meeting. He also thanked the TCPs for their cooperation in attending the meeting and the good work they have done in their Commissions.

He indicated that the main goals of the meeting were:

  1. Review of Technical Commission activities to ensure a unified approach for the Society, particularly in regard to:
    • 1998 Commission Symposia
    • Annual Reports
    • Communications with Council
    • Increased international participation in WGs
  2. Discuss Technical Commission role with Society Publications
    • Journal
    • Highlights
    • ISPRS Web Page
    • International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
  3. Develop stronger relationships with relevant international organisations
    • Advance development and appropriate use of our sciences and technologies
    • Coordination and collaboration on activities of mutual interest (eg UNISPACE III)
    • Identify and advocate photogrammetry, remote sensing and GIS policies

2. Review of Agenda and Minutes of C & TCP Meeting in Japan

Matters arising from the Minutes were:

2.1 (Item 3, Japan Agenda)) There has been no communication to TCPs on the availability of funds for Commission activities, because of the major financial commitment to ISPRS Highlights. However, Council will still consider requests for funding of worthwhile Commission activities.

2.2 (Item 6, Japan Agenda) Some corrections have been made to the contents of the Silver Book and placed on the ISPRS Home Page

2.3 (Item 8.1, Japan Agenda) All Guidelines for Publications have now been placed in the newly published 'Orange Book' that has been distributed to Commission Presidents and WG officers.

2.4 There were minor corrections to the Table of Responsibilities in Attachment 4.


3. and 4. Commission Reports from Technical Commission Presidents

Commission I (Dr Shailesh Nayar for Dr George Joseph)

Working Group Activities

WG I/1 is active. It will participate in a joint workshop with WG I/3 and IV/4 in Hannover from 29 September to 2 October 1997. The WG is working closely with CEOS.

WG I/2 is active. It will participate in a joint workshop with WG II/3 from 7-9 October 1997 in Boulder Colorado USA.

WG I/3 is active. It will participate in the meeting in Hannover mentioned above and another meeting is planned for Fall 1999.

WG I/4 has been inactive so far and the Commission officers with the assistance of the President will seek more active involvement by the Chair, or a replacement Chair.

Action 97/64: GJ to work with WG I/4 officers to stimulate activities of WG I/4

WG I/5 is active. Several business meetings have been planned in Japan and a date for a workshop will be determined shortly.

Symposium

Plans are well underway for the Symposium on 25-27 February 1998. There have been 35 papers submitted so far, most from Europe and Japan. The date for submission of abstracts has been extended to 30 September. There was discussion on ways of improving participation in Symposium, since it appears that the announcement did not reach most potential participants in USA. Two tutorials will be held prior to the Symposium, on Electro-Optical Sensors and Image Pre-Processing.

Commission II (Professor Ian Dowman)

Working Group Activities

WG II/1 is active. It co-sponsored a session at the KIS '97 meeting in Banff 3-6 June 1997 and will co-sponsor a workshop in Columbus May 1998. It will also hold a workshop in 1999.

WG II/2 is active. It participated in a joint workshop with IWG IV/III, and WGs IV/1 and IV/3 on dynamic and multiple dimension GIS in Hong Kong on 25-26 August 1997. A further workshop is planned for 1999, possibly in Australia.

WG II/3 is active. It is participating in the joint workshop with WG I/2 in Boulder USA on 7-9 October 1997. A second workshop is planned for 1999.

WG II/4 is active. It plans to communicate primarily through the Web Page on the basic principles of SAR, and will give a tutorial on SAR at the 1998 Symposium in Cambridge.

WG II/5 has a newly appointed Secretary Dr Nick Veck. The WG is only now becoming established.

WG II/6 is very active. It held a conference in the SPIE Aerosense Symposium in Orlando USA in April 1997 and is planning a European meeting, probably in Spring 1998. The WG Home Page is [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~MAPSLab/isprs.html]

WG II/7 is active. It held a meeting in Seattle in April 1997 and is planning seminar in December 1997 and Summer 1999.

WG II/8 is active. It participated in the SPIE Aerosense Symposium in Orlando USA in April 1997 with WG II/6, and will participate in the joint workshop in Haifa in September 1997, with WGs III/1 and III/3. A business meeting will be held in Stuttgart in September 1997 during the Photogrammetric Week. It has established a WWW Home Page [http:///www.photo.verm.tu-munchen.de/isprs/wgII8/wgII8.html].

Symposium

The first announcement has been distributed, and the second will be sent out in October. Submission of abstracts will be required by December 1997. A decision on acceptance of papers will be notified to authors by March 1998 and papers will be required by May 1998. No decision has been made on whether papers will be published on CDROM. A Web Page for the Commission and the Symposium is being established. Tutorials on SAR and Data Integration will be held on Monday 13 July 1998, prior to the Symposium.

Commission III (Professor Toni Schenk)

Working Group Activities

A large scale multi-sensor data set is available in the area of Ocean City USA, covering coastal regions and urban areas with the following (see also Web Page):

  • large scale photography, from RC 30 aerial camera
  • laser altimetry
  • Daedulus scanner data
  • DTM measured on analytical plotter

WG III/1 active. A Web Page has been established, two circular letters have been distributed and a member list will be determined by the end of September.

WG III/2 is very active. Circular letters have been distributed, and a joint workshop is being held in Israel from 9-11 September 1997 with about 40 participants.

WG III/3 is very active. It is one of the working groups involved in the workshop in Stuttgart from 17-19 September 1997. A large joint workshop is being planned for September 1999 in Munich.

WG III/4 active. It is also participating in the joint meeting in Stuttgart workshop and is planning a workshop in Munich 1999.

WG III/5 is active. It combines researchers from the fields of photogrammetry and remote sensing. Standardised datasets are being developed for its research activities. A workshop is being planned for 1999, but not yet finalised. It may involve other Commissions.

WG III/6 is active. One circular letter has been distributed and a workshop is being planned in France. Business meetings have also been held. Possible collaboration with Commission VII will be pursued.

Professor Schenk recommends that attempts should be made to coordinate experts in SAR in 4 Commissions in a meeting in 1999.

Symposium

The venue of the Symposium is changed to a downtown hotel in Columbus and the agreement is being finalised shortly. A flyer was distributed in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition conference in Puerto Rico in June and the softcopy workshop in July. The first official announcement will be distributed by the end of September. The proceedings issue is not yet clear. Extended abstracts of 700 words will be required and a review process established. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of IEEE PAMI.

Commission IV (Professor Fritsch)

Working Group Activities

Inter-Commission WG IV.III/ 1 is very active. It held a very successful workshop in Hong Kong, which also included WGs II/1, IV/1 and IV/3, with 60 participants. It is also planning a further workshop in 1999, probably in Europe

Inter-Commission WG IV.III/ 2 is very active. It is holding a workshop in Stuttgart from 17-19 September 1997 with WGs III/4 and IV/2 with up to 50 participants. The proceedings are in print as a volume of the International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. A further meeting is planned for 1999.

WG IV/1 is active. It participated in the workshop in Hong Kong in August and another is planned for 1999.

WG IV/2 is active. A workshop is planned for 1999.

WG IV/3 is active. It also participated in the workshop in Hong Kong, and will organise another in spring 1999 in Udine, Italy.

WG IV/4 is very active. It is organising a workshop in Hannover 29 September - 2 October 1997 (with WGs I/1 and I/3), and will organise a further workshop in 1999.

WG IV/5 is active. It will organise a workshop in Spring 1999.

WG IV/6 is active. It will organise a workshop in Tokyo in 1999.

Business meetings of working groups will be held in Stuttgart in September 1997, in Spring 1998 for the Symposium, and in September 1999. All WGs have distributed circular letters and most have WWW pages.

Symposium

The announcement will be distributed by the end of September 1997. A small exhibition will also be held. Costs of printing the Archives are being investigated. They will also be produced on CDROM in PDF format with ADOBE Acrobat Reader V3.0, at a cost of about $10 per copy. The German Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (DGPF) will sponsor the meeting.

Commission V (Dr Hirofumi Chikatsu)

Working Group Activities

WG V/1 is active. It will have a meeting in ETH Zurich during the 4th conference on Optical 3D Measurement Techniques in October 1997. A further workshop will be held in 1999.

WG V/2 is active. A WWW Home Page is planned and a workshop is planned for 1999.

WG V/3 is very active. Two circular letters have been distributed and a WWW Home Page [http://iitsg.nrc.ca/~elhakim/wgv3.html] has been established. A workshop is planned for February 1999

WG V/4 is establishing a mailing database. A workshop is planned for 1998 or 1999.

WG V/5 is active. It has established a WWW home Page [http://photo.topo.auth.gr/wgv5]. A workshop is planned for 1999.

IWG V/III is very active. It has distributed 4 circular newsletters and has established a WWW Home Page [http://www.geod.ethz.ch/p02/wg_isprs/WGV_III.home.html]. It held a session at Videometrics V in San Diego in August 1997, and will meet in ETH Zurich during the 4th conference on Optical 3D Measurement Techniques in October 1997. A further meeting is planned for October 1999.

Special Interest Working Group is active. Its first meeting will be held in ETH Zurich during the 4th conference on Optical 3D Measurement Techniques in October 1997.

Symposium

Plans are well underway. The announcement and call for papers has been distributed. A detailed budget has been established. A young authors awards donation has been secured.

Commission VI

There was no representative from Commission because Mr Klaas Villanueva had indicated that he had handed in his resignation to the Indonesian Surveyors Association. There is therefore no report on Commission VI. However, it is noted that the working groups are generally working well. A report on guidelines for the preparation of WWW Home Pages has been submitted to the meeting.

Commission VII (Dr G�bor Remetey F�l�pp)

Working Group Activities

WGVII/1 is very active. The change of Chair to Karl Staenz in 1998, following the retirement of Gerard Guyot, will be smooth. The biannual Symposium on Spectral Signatures was again successfully held in Courchevel France attended by 200 experts. The proceedings are a valuable source of information on the topic. The Symposium will continue to be held in France because of availability of substantial sponsorship from CNES. The ISSSR conference originally planned for August 1997 was postponed until December 1997, due to lack of support. Dr Remetey, Professor Konecny and Dr Karl Staenz will attend this meeting.

WGVII/2 is operating well. Meetings are planned on 24-25 November 1997, (Commission Secretary Peter Winkler will attend), May 1998 (which still requires formalisation with SG) and in 1999. There will be a related EARSeL meeting in Tunisia in October 1998 on UN conventions.
A new Secretary has been added to WG VII/2.

WG VII/3 is active. It will hold a session at the conference of Asian Association of Remote Sensing from 20-25 October 1997 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was noted by President Lawrence Fritz that this meeting was not adequately announced in the ISPRS calendar. Further meetings are planned for USA in 1999.

WG VII/4 is inactive. Dr Remetey will contact the WG Officers to improve the participation of the WG.

Action: 97/65 GR to stimulate more activity in WG VII/4

WGVII/5 is active and the Chair has participated in several meetings. It held a workshop on remote sensing and GIS during the Human Dimensions Program meeting in Laxenburg in Austria in June 1997. There were discussions on the importance of this WG to ensure that ISPRS plays an increasing role in the task of global monitoring. Dr Remetey is requested to monitor the operations of this WG, and ensure that both the Chair and Co-Chair are actively participating in the WG.

WGVII/6 The WG contributed to the 3rd ERS Symposium in Florence in March 1997. It also participated in meetings in JPL in February 1997 and Malaysia in August 1997. Neither of these meetings was given adequate announcement to enable interested members to participate. Adequate prior announcements are requested in future for such meetings.

Action 97/84: WG Officers must provide adequate notice of WG meetings to enable them to be widely advertised

WG VII/7 is progressing well. It participated in meetings in Enschede in February 1997, and in May 1997. Future meetings are planned for 1998 and 1999.

Symposium

Plans are well underway. The second announcement has been distributed recently and a budget has been formulated. By 1 September 1997, 28 registration sheets have been received.

CDROMs

Discussion was held on whether the proceedings should be produced in CDROM. It was agreed that software to read the CDROM must be included. The plans for production of the Archives are as follows: Commissions I and II will print on paper. Commission III is considering printing on CDROM (possibly in html format) and hardcopy, Commission IV will produce on CDROM (PDF Adobe format with Adobe Acrobat Reader software), Commission V will produce abstracts on CDROM (html format), and proceedings on paper and possibly on CDROM on request, Commission VII on paper. It was suggested that template files should be provided to authors for production of papers in electronic form.
Projection of computer displays onto screen for the Symposia should be tested before the commencement of the symposium.

Extended abstracts and full refereeing

Some Commissions will requested extended abstracts. There is no interest from the Commissions in full refereeing of papers. It was noted that if peer-review of extended abstracts is undertaken, then peer-review credits should be annotated in margings of the Archives of the Symposium.

TCPs are requested to provide details to JT as soon as possible:

  • registration fees
  • expected number of attendees
  • whether an exhibition is planned.

Action 97/66: TCPs to send details on Symposia to JT by 31 October 97

It was concluded that students fees should be kept to a minimum, indeed lower than has been planned for some Symposia.

Commission Board Meetings at Symposia

Board meetings of WG officers and Council must be held at each Symposium, and reports of them published in ISPRS Highlights. The Board meetings must be scheduled so that they do not conflict with the sessions of the Technical Programs.

Action 97/67: TCPs to program a Board Meeting of their Commission at the Symposium and prepare reports for ISPRS Highlights

TCP Responsibilities

Corrections to the Manual of Operation of ISPRS Technical Commission and Working Groups, the 'Orange Book' were discussed and will be added to the next edition. Recommendations will include such items as the relative costs of student registration at ISPRS Symposia etc. The 'Orange Book' will be placed on the ISPRS Home Page in the near future.

Policy on clashes in meetings

It was agreed that the current policy on avoiding clashes of events in which ISPRS is a prime sponsor should be changed. If a proposed meeting clashes with an approved meeting, the organisers should be encouraged to change the timing, but if this is not possible, the dates for the event can be approved by Secretary General with the agreement of the TCPs affected. The timing of co-sponsored meetings can normally be approved irrespective of clashes. The guidelines in the Manual of Operation of ISPRS Technical Commissions and Working Groups, the 'Orange Book', will be amended accordingly.


5. Review of Plans for Amsterdam Congress (KB)

The financial and legal foundation for the Congress have been established, and the Congress logo is being prepared. The breakeven point is planned as 1,500 full registrations. The call for papers may be brought forward to an earlier date. The following additional points were summarised:
  • The number of sessions and papers and workshops
  • A timetable of a typical day
  • A tentative time path for the preparation for the Congress
  • The appointment of a Scientific Committee with individuals assigned to each Commission to establish direct contact with each TCP. The names of the Committee members were provided to all TCPs.
  • The Organising Committee
  • The three components of the Congress:
    • Tutorials on Friday 14 July and Saturday 15 July
    • Main body from Sunday 16 July to Sunday 23 July
    • Workshops Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 July

Professor Beek said that the Congress should involve all participants, it should be user orientation and build bridges between stakeholders and Commissions. It needs to address these issues in the speakers' topics in the Congress. It is also necessary to have the Congress exposed in the media. There was considerable discussion on the development of the Technical Program, and whether the topics of the sessions should be planned according to themes.

The subject matter for the workshops was also discussed in detail. It was suggested that they could involve UN support and that they could be directed towards considering the political impact that ISPRS could make, perhaps in a second set of Resolutions for the Congress. Names of possible contacts were suggested by Professor Konecny and Dr Remetey. It was also suggested that Workshop program could also include summaries of the Commission activities at the Congress.


6. ISPRS Publications

6.1 Annual Report

Requests were made by JT to TCPs to submit the Annual Report contributions promptly by the due date of 15 December.

 

6.2 ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

The following details were presented by Dr Emmanuel Baltsavias, the newly appointed Editor of the ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Content
The intention is to improve quality of the Journal and the variety of content. The meeting agreed that papers should cover the range of topics in photogrammetry, remote sensing and GIS, with some examples of case studies. There will be an Editorial Board that is pro-active in attracting high quality papers, contribute to the new Editorial column, etc. Details on content and paper form are listed in the appendix of the Elsevier/Editor.

Schedule
The new Editor has commenced his task in 1 July 1997 and the new Editorial Board will commence from the beginning of 1998. There are currently enough papers in hand, including those for 2 theme issues on computer-aided-teaching and feature extraction (papers from a meeting in Graz in 1997) and a third theme issue is planned on virtual reality (from WG V/3) for late 1998.

Special issues on special events and Theme issues from Commissions or Working Groups
Special and theme issues should be limited to 2 per year. Ideally the papers in the special/theme issue should only occupy 60-70% of papers of the edition, and the remainder on general topics of the Journal.
Each of the TCPs agreed to prepare one theme issue, comprising 6 to 7 papers, during this 4 year period. Currently planned forthcoming theme issues will be on computer-assisted mapping (Commission VI), image understanding (Commission III) and virtual reality (Commission V). Future theme issues over the next 2 years should be on the topics of remote sensing, GIS and mapping (Commissions I, II, IV and VII). Theme issues planned by Commissions III, V, and VI will be required for 1999 and the first half of 2000.

Action 97/68: TCPs to submit to Journal Editor plans for special/theme issues for their Commission by 15 November 1997.

Reviewing
The standard of reviewing must be improved. Better guidelines for reviewing will be prepared that will enable the input from the reviewers to assist the authors in improving the quality of papers.

Subscriptions
See Item 5.1 in the Council Minutes.

Coordination with Technical Commission and Working Groups
Revisions to the Guidelines and Orange Book were suggested to improve the coordination between the Journal and the TC and WGs.

Dr Baltsavias reviewed the details of his planned interaction with TCPs, as E-mailed earlier. These included:

  • The need for Special/Theme Issues
  • Collaboration with TCPs in publicising the Journal at Symposia, workshops etc, participation by the editor in the meetings where possible, and attracting papers to the Journal from such meetings
  • Consultation between the editor and the TCP and WG Chairs
  • Communication with WG members about the Journal and submission of papers from their meetings
  • Commission Web pages hot linked to the Journal Web pages.
  • Dr Baltsavias to attend Joint Meetings with TCPs and Council

Action 97/69: TCPs to cooperate with Journal Editor to improve quality of Journal

Editorial Board
Editorial Board will be separate from reviewers. Reviewers will be acknowledged in the Journal each year. Editorial Board must have time to be pro-active in determining policy for the Journal and attracting good quality papers, thus improving the overall quality. A list of names was determined following the request by Council to limit it to 23. These people are to be contacted to determine their willingness to fulfil the role of an Editorial Board member

Electronic Form
See Item 5.1 Council Minutes

Miscellaneous
The new cover was discussed.
The availability of free advertisements for symposia in the Journal has been negotiated (1/2 page in 2 issues for each Commission) with Elsevier by EB. TCPs need to act quickly to take advantage of the offer. Elsevier will need the advertisements 1 month in advance of the publication date.

Action 97/70: TCPs to submit advertisements for Symposia in Journal

 

6.2 ISPRS Highlights

Treasurer R�ther presented details of costs of publication of ISPRS Highlights to date, which is currently running at a significant loss.

Mauricio Araya said that first year is always difficult to finance, because it is difficult to attract sponsors. They have little information on what the publication is about.

He expects to reduce the deficit to $12,000 to $15,000 within 2 years. Representatives from UK expressed an interest in more copies and India has established a system of distribution. There appears to be is significant interest in ISPRS Highlights. New items could be included, such as new products, tests and other news.

 

6.3 Web Page

Details of the status of the Web Page were presented. Requests were made to the TCPs to comment on the draft of the guidelines for Home Pages, prepared by WG VI/4.

Action 97/71: TCPs to provide comments on the Web Page Guidelines by 31 October 1997


7. Inter-Organisation Relationships

7.1 COPUOS

ISPRS is prepared to support the UNISPACE III Congress in July 1999 with Tutorials/Workshops and presentations. In preparation for this, the OOSA request for Background Papers for UNISPACE III was discussed and the following actions were agreed regarding topics and authors:

Background Paper No. 2 - Disaster prediction, warning and mitigation.

Action 97/72: GR to coordinate and prepare within Commission VII, a draft of UNISPACE III Background Paper No. 2 by 31 October 1997.

Background Paper No 3 - Management of Earth Resources. Professor Forster (Commission VII) and Dr George Joseph (Commission I). Mr Edson Terecine (INPE) should provide information to Dr Joseph.

Action 97/73: GJ to coordinate a draft of UNISPACE III Background Paper No.3 by 31 October.

Background Paper No 7 - Commercial aspects of space exploration including spin-off benefits.

Action 97/74: LF and RH to liaise in preparation of UNISPACE III Background Paper No. 7 by 31 October.

Background Paper No 8 - Information systems for research and applications.

Action 97/75: DF to coordinate with Com IV to prepare a draft of UNISPACE III Background Paper No.8 by 31 October.

Background Paper No 11- Economic and societal benefits.

Action 97/76: GR to coordinate preparation of UNISPACE III Background Paper No. 11 by 31 October.

Background Paper No 12 - Promotion of international cooperation. WG VI/3 Chair, Professor Mussio, should also be asked to contribute.

Action 97/77: KB to preparation a first draft to Council of UNISPACE III Background Paper No. 12 by 31 October.

Professor Waldhauesl will be asked to assist in preparing an exhibit, during UNISPACE III.

Action 97/78: JT to contact Professor Waldhauesl about an exhibit for ISPRS at UNISPACE III

As a demonstration of ISPRS commitment to UN activities, the 1998 Commission Symposia could include UN related sessions, particularly Commissions I, IV and VII. Also some ISPRS workshops, some of which are already listed in the Calendar could be involved in the UN preparatory regional meetings leading up to UNISPACE III.

Action 97/79: TCPs to consider how UN activities can be included in their Symposia and workshops

Memorandum of Understanding between ISPRS and OOSA should be circulated to TCPs and Council.

Action 97/80: JT to send MoU with OOSA to TCPs and Council

 

7.2 UATI/ICET

UATI has requested submissions for proposals for the UNESCO funding of projects.

The following actions were agreed. Documents must be submitted to Lawrence Fritz by E-mail by close of business 19 September 1997.

Topic                           Person Responsible for Preparation

ISPRS Highlights                Lawrence Fritz 

Database on  educational        Professor R�ther
institutions around the world 

Educational Opportunities       Mr Marcio Barbosa

Tutorials on remote sensing,    Professor H�hle to be requested by Professor Konecny 
photogrammetry and GIS. 

Tutorial on photogrammetry,     Professor Fritsch, University of Stuttgart 
INS and GPS on the Web  

CIPA activities                 Professor Waldhauesl

The proposals are to be 1 page and to include the following - description of project objectives, outcomes, persons involved and brief background, total value of the project and justification of the budget.

 

7.3 ICSU/ IGBP

The importance of ISPRS involvement in IGBP was agreed. To assist ISPRS in establishing closer links with IGBP, and to determine typical data requirements, Professor Dowman and Dr Harris will seek the preparation of a document on IGBP spatial information requirements, possibly by March/April 1998. Such details could be presented as a paper at the Commission II Symposium in Cambridge.

 

7.4 CIPA

Names of ISPRS representatives on the CIPA Committee were requested. It was recognised that there is a need to expand the membership beyond Europe. The final membership will be determined by Council.

 

7.5 Standards (ISO and OGC)

Details of contacts with ISO TC 211 as well as CEN 287 were given. ID and RH will contact the WGs II/2 and II/7 about the development of the ISO TC/211 standards.

An Open GIS Consortium (OGC) document was distributed at the meeting. A pixel manipulation group in OGC has been established. WGs especially those in Commission I should participate. There will be a Symposium on this topic in France in November 1997 that will be attended by President Fritz.

 

7.6 Other Societies

1. The status of ISPRS membership of IUSM was presented.
2. Details of the ISO Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems (CCSDS) was handed to Commissions I and II to determine who should be the ISPRS representative.

Action 97/81: TCPs I and II to liaise on the selection of an ISPRS representative on the ISO CCSDS.


8. Initiatives

8.1 Educational Opportunities Program

Second Vice President Barbosa presented details of the updated document on Educational Opportunities that will be reviewed by Council and distributed to TCPs after finalisation. The meeting considered the proposals for the roles of the parties in the program.

The specific role of the Task Force is to stimulate and facilitate educational opportunities in the Ordinary Members and Associate Members, so that they act to improve the level of education and training in photogrammetry and remote sensing and GIS in their region. Institutions in member countries must also plan for the introduction of newly trained staff.

Functions of training centres, and demands for training, in such UN sponsored programs as India and Latin America, are significantly different. There is an urgent requirement for training in Africa. A culture of self help is needed.

It was suggested that a presentation at the Symposia on the ISPRS education program would be appropriate.

Action 97/116: TCPs to invite Council to present details of the Educational Opportunities Program at their Symposia

 

8.2 Data Policy

Dr Ray Harris (Secretary Commission II) presented his views on the remote sensing data policy and its effects on the provision of data to users. Issues discussed were:
  • Item 12 of UN Principles on accessed to data by the sensed state will become more important.
  • Programs such as IGBP will require full and open access to data. There are increasing restrictions on the availability of data, which will impact on global scale projects.
  • Public domain data, and the variations in costs of data in various countries
  • Data distribution
  • Archiving data. Who takes responsibility of data for long term projects eg climate change etc?
  • Pricing policy should be related to mission objectives
  • There is no ISPRS TC that deals with data policy

Discussion followed on the need for involvement of the Technical Commissions, and possible actions that ISPRS can take with CEOS. A Strategic Task Force could be established in ISPRS on data policy and its requirements for the future. Also a position paper could be submitted to CEOS on ISPRS view on data policy. An association with the CERCO policy was also suggested. In addition, there is a need for a policy of free data for disaster monitoring.

President Fritz seeks volunteers to help in developing advocacy policies for ISPRS from all Council and TCPs. ISPRS needs to determine its own policies on a range of issues affecting its members.

Action 97/82: TCPs to assist Council when requested in providing input on advocacy policies for ISPRS submissions to related international organisations


9. Next Meeting of Council and Technical Commission Presidents

The next Joint Meeting will be held in Stuttgart from 11-12 September 1998.

Action 97/83: DF to coordinate arrangements for next JM with SG


10. Other Business


J. C. Trinder
Secretary General , September 1997

 

 
 
 
 
 
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