ISPRS
2000
tion of Image Data” and Il/3 “Spatial Data Handling Tech-
nologies” from Oct. 7th-9th, 1997 at Boulder, Colorado,
USA. The workshop discussed aspects such as Future
requirements on data archival and preprocessing technol-
ogy, Preprocessing algorithms, Future role of preprocess-
ing and archival organisations, Requirements on data dis-
semination — products, media, delivery, speed, archive
maintenance, The needs of the data users - expressed by
themselves, etc. There was also a panel discussion on
user requirements.
The workshop “Sensors and Mapping from Space 1999”,
held jointly with WGs 1/1, 1/3 and IV/4, from September
27th up to 30th 1999, again at the University of Hannover,
was visited by 69 participants from 19 countries. The 54
presented papers are published in the “Publication of the
Institute for Photogrammetry and Engineering Surveys of
the University of Hannover” on CD as number 18. The top-
ics covered were the same as during the first workshop.
New results with the new sensors were presented, the first
commercial digital airborne camera was announced and
the new area of the INSAR was included. The major rec-
ommendation of the workshop was the use of a larger vari-
ety of space- and airborne sensors. With their new possi-
bilities, new fields of applications have been opened up.
2.3 Meetings
A special session on ISPRS Technical Commission-l was
organised at the Annual Convention of the Indian Society
of Remote Sensing at the University of Pune on December
4th, 1996, Pune, India. Five papers were presented.
The TC-1 President participated in the Cal-Val Working
Group meeting on 24th Feb. 2000 and presented the
paper ‘EO Sensor specifications — issues of standardisa-
tion and understanding’.
A Workshop on ‘In-orbit geometric characterisation of
optical imaging systems’, held in Bordeaux, France from
November 2nd-5th, 1999, was jointly organised by CNES,
IGN, SFTP in co-operation with ISPRS. 49 participants
attended. Proceedings are available at CNES - Délégation
a la Communication, 18, avenue, Edouard Belin, F-31401
Toulouse, Cedex 4, France.
The WG-5 regular domestic meeting was held in June and
Sept. 1998 in Tokyo, with Seven WG-I members. The
meeting was focused on the current status and technical
trends in the POS/DG (Positioning and Orientation System
for Direct Georeferencing). The group have been investi-
gating small satellites for earth observation. The advanced
sensor, such as the “smart sensor”, is being investigated.
The report entitled ‘Survey of Small Earth Observation
Satellites’ was published and distributed to the ISPRS
COM-I members. Additional surveys have been done by
WG 1/5 members by attending related international /
domestic conferences and symposia.
Under WG I/IV review, studies were carried out on ‘Data
needs for the geosphere-biosphere programme and satel-
lite sensors for the required observation’ and on ‘An
overview of spaceborne SAR systems, their techniques
and technologies’.
2.4 Congress
The Commission was actively involved in the planning of
Congress-related activities. Theme sessions under TC-1
are as follows:
(I) Perspective of platforms and sensors for Geoinforma-
tion needs
(I) Space systems for disaster management.
Apart from this, TC-1 members are conveners for the fol-
lowing Inter-Technical Commission Theme sessions:
(a) Advances in synthetic aperture radar development
(b) Recent development in SAR applications
(c) High Resolution satellites
(d) Sensor calibration
(e) Data standards
Input has also been provided for the following Inter-Tech-
nical Commission:
(I) Sensor orientation
(I) DTM generation and ortho-images
(Il) Interoperability of GIS
(IV) Sustainable resource management
3. Trends in Science and Technology
There is a paradigm shift in earth observation systems the
world over. From massive multi sensor satellites, the trend
is towards having many small spacecrafts, which have a
faster response to mission needs to fly in formation and
gather concurrent data from different sensors on a 'virtual
platform'. Another shift in the earth observation scenario
is the increasing role of commercial operators in the
space sector. The authorisation to own and operate satel-
lites giving 1 meter resolution has stimulated a number of
companies to develop high resolution earth observation
systems. Dedicated sensors with fixed fore and aft imag-
ing capability for DEM generation (ALOS, Japan, Car-
tosat, India) and interferometric SAR along with airborne
Laser altimetry have given a new dimension to Carto-
graphic mapping. Spectrometric observation has gained
in importance, with a number of systems being planned
for the same. The platform capabilities and preprocessing
techniques have to be improved to meet the demands
posed by the improved sensor quality and observation
techniques.
The first successful high resolution imaging system is
IKONOS-2, launched in Sept. 1999, providing 1 meter res-
olution in panchromatic and 4 meter in multispectral. A
number of similar systems are planned in the near future.
A medium resolution (- 10 meter in VNIR and 20 meter in
SWIR) system is being planned by Boeing, GDE, called
Resource-21. Resource-21 will be a constellation of four
satellites providing a temporal resolution of twice weekly
for nadir viewing. In addition to these commercial ven-
tures, the Governments of USA (Landsat), France (SPOT),
India (IRS) and Russia have their own programme of earth
observation systems giving improved continuity to the
existing data, as well as new observational capability. Sim-
ilarly, in the microwave area, the Canadian Government's
RADARSAT and ESA's ERS have made Radar images
available for many applications.
International Archives of Photogrammerty and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part A. Amsterdam 2000.
