ASPRS & ISPRS Session: What’s Now & and What’s Next in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
ISPRS Council took part in the ASPRS Annual Conference during Geo Week in Denver, USA, 13-15 February 2023. The conference is combined with a very large exhibition of Geospatial technologies which are using hardware and software for an increasingly wider range of practical applications, and thus greatly enlarging the group of users in the world.
Jack Dangermond, keynote speaker of the conference, stressed the importance of GIS and geospatial technologies, not only for us but also for the following generations. These technologies enable us to better understand and adapt our behaviour to sustainably maintain our world. This requires cooperation among all of us.
The ASPRS & ISPRS session, What’s Now & and What’s Next in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, also held on the opening day, was moderated by Karen Schuckman, the ASPRS Executive Director. Chris Parrish, ASPRS President, highlighted important ASPRS achievements and ASPRS member benefits. ISPRS President Lena Halounová continued, informing about various aspects of ISPRS such as membership types, the Society structure, the ISPRS Foundation, the ISPRS Student Consortium, the ISPRS journals and proceedings, and future ISPRS events, the most important being the Congress in 2026.
A significant portion of Lena’s talk was dedicated to ASPRS activities and achievements within ISPRS. Since its foundation in 1934, ASPRS has hosted one ISP (International Society for Photogrammetry) Congress in 1952 and one ISPRS Congress in Washington in 1992. Three ISPRS Presidents were nominated by ASPRS, and four ASPRS members have been recognized as ISPRS Fellows over the years for their achievements. With only two four-year period exceptions, ASPRS has always been represented in the ISPRS Council. Furthermore, it has hosted 17 Technical Commissions over the last 24 quadrennial Congress periods.
ASPRS sponsors several important ISPRS awards including the Brock Gold Medal, the most valuable ISPRS award which is presented at the Congress. There are two ISPRS additional awards, the Frederik J. Doyle Award and the Jack Dangermond Award, which are also handed over to significant personalities at each ISPRS Congress.
The last session speaker was Congress Director Derek Lichti, who gave a brief presentation about the next ISPRS Congress which will take place in Toronto, Canada, 4-11 July 2026. This event will mark the return of the Congress to North America after a long absence (Ottawa 1972; Washington 1992).