National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and 
Soil Conservation Service; and, for image-based GIS 
applications in the commercial arena. The flavors for 
some of these applications are described as Techni- 
cal Achievements in the National Report. 
An imaginative and exciting program called Mission 
to Planet Earth (MTPE) will launch NASA's Earth 
Observing System (EOS) during the second half of 
this decade. It is designed as a multinational, 
interdisciplinary, 15-year data collection and analysis 
effort for global change research. The system will 
consist of polar and equatorial orbiting satellites in 
both low and high-Earth orbits with imaging and 
nonimaging systems sensitive to atmospheric, 
oceanic, geological, hydrological and biological 
phenomena. Products and data from the various 
systems will be available on a nondiscriminatory 
basis, worldwide, through a network of processing 
and archival facilities, collectively known as the EOS 
Data and Information System (EOSDIS). 
4.3 Academia 
The institutional contributions in the National Report 
are a cross-section of large and small programs. 
Some of the contributions focus on degree-granting 
curricula while others feature their research; but the 
message is clear that Earth observing technology and 
the mapping sciences are expanding areas of study 
in the United States. There still seems to be a 
predominance of activity in Geography Departments, 
although there are growing indications that spatial 
analysis, environmental monitoring, and natural 
resource applications will necessitate a gradual 
redefinition of academic programs to accommodate 
these trends. We can imagine that continued growth 
in GIS applications within state and local government 
units, and within the private sector; the adoption and 
use of digital terrain data sets; the massive influx of 
EOS data; and the continued rise of global change 
monitoring will stimulate new academic formulae for 
training the next generation of mapping scientists. 
In this regard, National Science Foundation (NSF) 
sponsorship of the National Center for Geographic 
Information and Analysis (NCGIA) is perhaps the 
most profound addition to our national university- 
based assets. This multi-institutional and interdisci- 
plinary Center has acquired a leadership role for 
technology development, curriculum development, 
basic research, and transfer of GIS technology on a 
global scale. Though headquartered in the Geogra- 
phy Department at the University of California at 
Santa Barbara, the results of this research and 
development function are being incorporated into 
schools of engineering, business and management, 
multidisciplinary Arts & Sciences programs, and 
other appropriate academic units. 
5.0 Future 
The Society has several items on its current agenda 
that will modernize the look and feel of its programs 
and services when implemented by the Board of 
Directors. Among these items are: 
1. The initiation of a strategic planning 
process in 1992 to take full advantage of the 
mission, vision, and niche focus groups, and the 
trends unveiled by our Long Range Planning 
Committee; 
20 
2. Adoption of a periodic recertification 
process for our Certified Photogrammetrists, and 
the expansion of our certification program to 
specifically recognize remote sensing and GIS 
specialists to better enable the Society to moni- 
tor the achievements of its Certified members, 
as well perhaps, as to stimulate new members 
to the expanded program; 
3. Redefinition of the Region boundaries 
based on membership concentrations and inter- 
est profiles to enhance the operation of the 
regions and provide a means for reviewing the 
structure of the Board to best represent its 
members; 
4. Creation of a national "committee on the 
Environment" to signify to our members, pro- 
spective members, and all whose careers are 
dedicated to environmental improvement and 
sustained resource use, that ASPRS is a partner 
in these endeavors, and that it brings immense 
technological expertise and capability to the 
table; 
5. Completion of our Headquarters' office 
automation to better enable Society staff and 
committees to provide member services, econo- 
mize by avoiding duplication of effort, and 
respond to questions posed from outside the 
Society and its members; and, 
6. Continuation of our "building fund" drive 
to reduce Headquarters office costs, thereby 
diverting needed funds to increased member 
services (especially, publications). 
It would be presumptuous here to describe the future 
of the mapping sciences, or of Earth observing tech- 
nology in general. We can be certain that commer- 
cial applications in remote sensing and GIS will 
expand, and at probably very fast rates. We can be 
certain also that continued advances in computing 
science, software utility, and dissemination mecha- 
nisms will intersect with expanding user communities 
in the mapping sciences; and that, as a result of this 
intersection, whole new applications will emerge. 
Finally, we can be certain that cartography, and 
what began with the Columbian era 500 years ago 
as a human imperative to discover the Earth, will 
flourish well into the coming century.