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was given a set of operational photos of a representative portion 
of the Tropical Pacific Area within which were to be found some 
of the most complex vegetation associations that might be en- 
countered anywhere in the world. The students were asked (1) with 
the aid of the key to identify the type of vegetation, area-by- 
area, and (2) with the aid of supplementary statements which 
accompanied the key and which dealt with the "trafficability 
conditions" known to be associated with each vegetation type 
(i.e., statements describing the ease or difficulty with which 
either personnel or various kinds of mechanized equipment could 
traverse the area) to delineate on the photographs the best 
route of travel from point-to-point. Fully one-third of the 
students identified the many vegetation types with nearly 100 
percent accuracy and selected point-to-point routes of travel 
that were known to be among the most favorable, based on 
"dround-truth*. 
Despite encouraging findings such as these, photo interpretation 
keys seem to be less used today than 25 years ago, and certainly 
to command less interest as topics for discussion at a symposium 
such as this one. 
The Probable Future of Remote Sensing Technology and Training 
  
It is deemed quite appropriate to conclude any historical review, 
(as this purports to be) with a look to the future. What then 
will be the probable future of remote sensing technology and 
training? For one to provide a reliable answer to that question 
with respect to a field that is as dynamic as remote sensing 
requires that he haS something more than mere 20/20 vision 
while gazing into a crystal ball. Realization of that fact 
does not deter me, however, from making some dogmatic predictions. 
Instead, I feel much like my timber simple friend from the back- 
woods must have felt when he was asked a similar brow-furrowing 
question recently. His confident answer, after some careful 
reflection, was as follows: "Well, I don't know - but I'll tell 
ya!" Here then are some probable developments of the next few 
years with respect to remote sensing technology and training: 
A. There will be Very Substantial Progress Toward the Development 
of a Globally Uniform Information System, Based Primarily Upon 
Remote Sensing-Derived Data. 
We all are well aware that the rapid increase in both the world's 
population and the per capita demand for natural resources is 
occurring at the very time when the supply of many of these re- 
sources is rapidly dwindling and the quality of others is rapidly 
deteriorating. Consistent with the "one world" concept, this 
combination of factors creates an urgent need for the wisest 
possible management of such resources on a global basis. An im- 
portant first step leading to such management is that of ob- 
taining globally uniform inventories of resources. This step can 
best be taken if a globally uniform look at these resources can 
be obtained at suitably high resolution, as with an earth-orbiting 
satellite, and at suitably frequent intervals. Herein lies a 
remarkably accurate description of the look that is provided 
by remote sensing devices that are on board the present Landsat