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Beiträge zur Anwendung der Fern-Erkundung seitens der Provinz werden the g 
überprüft und Hinweise für Verbesserungen vorgebracht. needs 
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INTRODUCTION of na 
The 
Remote sensing has not yet been discovered by the majority estab 
of people in governments, schools and industry. Unfortunately, next 
the term "remote sensing" is not self-explanatory, and most of Canad 
the many definitions available have a scientific overtone that Satel 
scares away the business and production conscious audience. rece 
a hi 
We do indeed have communication difficulties, but interest the 
is growing gradually with the understanding that remote sensing to th 
is a highly practical method of obtaining and interpreting data deput 
for resource, land use and environmental management. However, Commu] 
the popularity of remote sensing will not spread spectacularly goveri 
until the benefits are well demonstrated. And I believe that provi 
it is the interpretation centres, or if you like, regional Once 
centres, which have the best potential to demonstrate maximum chai 
benefits and introduce applied remote sensing into our society. offi 
This is because the centres are to have an accumulating file of, and 
or direct access to, all space and airborne imagery of the acti 
region with a multidisciplinary staff of interpretation special- The 
ists in a well-equipped laboratory. The inevitable result is of I 
an accelerating development of a market for the interpretation of C 
industry. The introductory process is more or less underway 1972 
from coast to coast, and my point in this paper is to analyse 
the regional situations and to offer some hints for improvement. 
NATIONAL PROGRAM 
The national remote sensing program is chiefly administered 
by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) of the federal 
Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) at Ottawa. 
The first step to the formal activities of the federal 
government was made in early 1967, when the potentials of the 
U.S. Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) for Canadian 
users were examined. Related studies and organizational 
activities required the establishment of the Program Planning 
Office within EMR under the directorship of Dr. L. W. Morley in 
1969. Also fourteen discipline-oriented working groups were 
formed in 1970 to study the U.S. resource satellite and high- 
flight programs and to advise on the kind of Canadian partici 
pation and/or adaptation. Their reports resulted in the aggres 
sive continuation of the national program. The working groups 
have become standing subcommittees, each represented by its 
chairman on the Canadian Advisory Committee on Remote Sensing 
(CACRS). The purpose defined for CACRS is to advise and assist 
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