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Past experience with aerial photography has set a distinct pattern, whereby 
exploitation of the metric information became the domain of professional 
photogrammetrists, and the application of the semantic (thematic) information 
was mainly done by experts in the various disciplines such as the earth 
Sciences, Attempts to create airphoto interpretation as a separate profession 
met with relatively little Success, although this type of work is still 
continued at a few places, 
to create separate remote Sensing centres for the Servicing of user organization 
The tendency has been Strengthened by the telemetric transmission of 
data from automatic remote sensing satellites, requiring special and expensive 
receiving facilities, many of which are also equiped as image processing 
and user support centres. This new set-up, whereby image processing, 
information extraction and servicing of user organizations are becoming 
functions separated from the end users, is in contrast with the current 
system with aerial photography, where its utilization has been almost 
entirely integrated in those same user organizations, 
This in turn is leading to the establishment of a separate category of 
'remote sensers' (or remote sensing specialists), distinct from the categories 
of geologists, geomorphologists, geographers, soil scientists, civil engineers, 
agricultural engineers, vegetation Specialists, ecologists, environmentalists, 
foresters, etc. who are Specializing in airphoto interpretation applied to 
their discipline. 
This increasing divergènce between the approach to (non-photographic) remote 
sensing - with in addition emphasis on digital image processing - and the 
use of aerial photography with much work done using optical-visual techniques, 
runs counter to the advantage of exploiting the complementarity of all 
airborne and space remote sensing systems in different bands of the electro- 
magnetic spectrum, Hence f.i. the opposition of an outstanding personality 
like Professor Yash Pal (Ref. 1). In addition, it may become a major factor 
in impeding the identification and development of some of the most promising 
and socially beneficial applications of (satellite) remote sensing (Refs. 2, 3). 
Faced with the presence of two rather conflicting schools of thought, one of 
which advocates a Strategy aiming at developing and perfecting remote sensing 
as a separate professional activity, and the other which favours an integration 
to the extent possible of remote sensing applications in the various professions 
themselves, one has to question the usefullness of an endeavour to elaborate 
generally acceptable standards of competence for remote sensers and to 
accomplish appropriate recognition of the remote sensing profession within 
any nation. | 
The author wishes to defend the Second position, that of an integration of 
remote sensing in a wide range of disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and 
multidisciplinary activities as well as integration of image processing and 
information extraction/information handling in the user organizations. He 
is of the firm opinion that this is not only in the best interest of the Third 
World, now and in future, but also that it will in the long run be the most 
promising approach for the industrialized world of today and the 4 
post-industrialized world of the twenty-first century. It will simultaneously 
Strengthen the social position of all those engaged in the use of remote 
sensing techniques, 
The use of remote Sensing. 
The range of proven and potential applications of remote sensing, from aerial 
photography and airborne multispectral Scanning MSS, thermal infrared 
linescanning TIR and side-looking airborne radar SLAR and synthetic aperture 
radar SAR to photography from manned spacecraft and MSS, thermal and microwave 
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