NATIONAL REPORT
OF
AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAMMETRIC
AND REMOTE SENSING SOCIETY
1988-1992
TO
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PHOTOGRAMMETRY
AND REMOTE SENSING, WASHINGTON, AUGUST 1992
INTRODUCTION
The Australian Photogrammetric and Remote Sensing Society
(APRSS) is jointly sponsored by three bodies, the Institution
of Surveyors (Aust), Australian Institute of Cartographers
and Remote Sensing Association of Australasia. The Society
also has two affiliated members comprising the state societies
for photogrammetry and remote sensing in New South Wales
and Victoria. The Society acts as an executive, playing a
coordinating role between the sponsoring bodies and affiliated
members on the one hand, and the International Society on
the other.
This report presents a summary of the significant activities in
photogrammetry and remote sensing in respect of conferences
and developments in acquisition and applications of data in
Australia over the last 4 years. Major advancements have been
made particularly in the development of products for the
acquisition of data for photogrammetry and remote sensing,
analytical stereoplotters for mapping from photography,
including analogue-to-analytical conversions, and software
for image processing. These developments will be discussed
under the relevant Commissions.
CONFERENCES
The Remote Sensing Association of Australasia has held
successful conferences at intervals of 3 years, the most recent
being held in Perth in October 1990. This conference will be
referred to later in this report under Commission VII
activities. The interval for the national remote sensing
conferences will change in 1992 to 2 years with the next
conference being scheduled for 2-6 November 1992 in
Wellington, New Zealand. The First Australian
Photogrammetric Conference (FAPS) was held in Sydney in
November 1991 and proved to be very successful. Sessions
during the conference were devoted to a workshop of ISPRS
Commission V. This Conference attracted some 120
delegates, 11 manufacturers who displayed new product lines
and over 60 abstracts were received. A total of 55 papers
were presented at the Conference which lasted for 3 days.
The main theme of the Conference was close-range
photogrammetry and its theory and applications in Australia
and New Zealand. Some papers on other topics were also
presented. Highlights of the conference were Invited
Lectures by prominent authorities such as Professor Armin
Gruen from Switzerland and Dr Clive Fraser from USA.
Proceedings of both these conferences are available through
the Society address.
COMMISSION I
1. DEVELOPMENTS IN DATA ACQUISITION
EQUIPMENT
(i) Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS)
LADS is a laser airborne sounder which surveys the sea
floor from an elevation of 500m at the rate of 50 square
kilometres per hour, producing digital records for later
processing for hydrographic charting. Ten thousand
soundings are recorded per square kilometre in swaths
of 250 km wide to a resolution of 0.22metres. LADS is
100
installed in purpose-modified Fokker F27-500 aircraft.
Itis a new development that will provide a cost effective
means of acquiring hydrographic data for charting.
Experimental designs for LADS were originally
produced by the Defence Science and Technology
Organisation (DSTO) in South Australia. BHP
Engineering and Vision Systems Limited have
subsequently developed the system for trial by the
Australian Navy. The technology has now reach the
commercialisation stage.
BHP Engineering Pty Ltd
Vision Systems Building
Technology Park
The Levels
South Australia
Telephone: +61 8 343 0447
Facsimile: +61 8 349 7528
Vision Systems Limited
Second Avenue
Technology Park
The Levels
South Australia
Telephone: +61 8 349 5988
Facsimile: +61 8 349 5989
(ii) Airborne Laser Terrain Scanner (ALTS)
ALTS is currently under development by BHP through
its research laboratories. It is a laser based scanner with
a 1 sq. m pixel that scans the terrain in 500m swaths at
right angles to the aircraft, recording elevations with a
resolution of 0.3m. The system will record data for the
production of digital terrain data at the rate of 100
square kilometres per hour in near real time.
(iii) AuSAR
Surveillance
AuSAR is being developed by DSTO for the Australian
Defence Forces as a low cost system for coastal all-
weather surveillance, search and rescue, topographic
mapping, remote sensing and environmental
monitoring. The system is particularly targeting at
mapping scales of 1:50,000 in areas where weather
conditions prohibit the application of optical or electro-
optical systems for data acquisition. Trials are currently
underway.
tic Aperture R. for M
Defence Science & Technology
Microwave Radar Division
PO Box 1500
Salisbury, South Australia
Telephone: 61 8 259 6931
Facsimile: +61 8 259 5200
(iv) Airborne Multi-Spectral Scanner (AMSS MkII)
GEOSCAN Pty Ltd has completed the development of
24 spectral channel scanner, which records electro-
magnetic radiation in the wavelength range from 0.45 to
12.0 micrometres, in 10 visible/near infrared, 8
shortwave infrared and 6 thermal bands. The IFOV is
O-- emt amd PN S 9L T1