National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and
Soil Conservation Service; and, for image-based GIS
applications in the commercial arena. The flavors for
some of these applications are described as Techni-
cal Achievements in the National Report.
An imaginative and exciting program called Mission
to Planet Earth (MTPE) will launch NASA's Earth
Observing System (EOS) during the second half of
this decade. It is designed as a multinational,
interdisciplinary, 15-year data collection and analysis
effort for global change research. The system will
consist of polar and equatorial orbiting satellites in
both low and high-Earth orbits with imaging and
nonimaging systems sensitive to atmospheric,
oceanic, geological, hydrological and biological
phenomena. Products and data from the various
systems will be available on a nondiscriminatory
basis, worldwide, through a network of processing
and archival facilities, collectively known as the EOS
Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
4.3 Academia
The institutional contributions in the National Report
are a cross-section of large and small programs.
Some of the contributions focus on degree-granting
curricula while others feature their research; but the
message is clear that Earth observing technology and
the mapping sciences are expanding areas of study
in the United States. There still seems to be a
predominance of activity in Geography Departments,
although there are growing indications that spatial
analysis, environmental monitoring, and natural
resource applications will necessitate a gradual
redefinition of academic programs to accommodate
these trends. We can imagine that continued growth
in GIS applications within state and local government
units, and within the private sector; the adoption and
use of digital terrain data sets; the massive influx of
EOS data; and the continued rise of global change
monitoring will stimulate new academic formulae for
training the next generation of mapping scientists.
In this regard, National Science Foundation (NSF)
sponsorship of the National Center for Geographic
Information and Analysis (NCGIA) is perhaps the
most profound addition to our national university-
based assets. This multi-institutional and interdisci-
plinary Center has acquired a leadership role for
technology development, curriculum development,
basic research, and transfer of GIS technology on a
global scale. Though headquartered in the Geogra-
phy Department at the University of California at
Santa Barbara, the results of this research and
development function are being incorporated into
schools of engineering, business and management,
multidisciplinary Arts & Sciences programs, and
other appropriate academic units.
5.0 Future
The Society has several items on its current agenda
that will modernize the look and feel of its programs
and services when implemented by the Board of
Directors. Among these items are:
1. The initiation of a strategic planning
process in 1992 to take full advantage of the
mission, vision, and niche focus groups, and the
trends unveiled by our Long Range Planning
Committee;
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2. Adoption of a periodic recertification
process for our Certified Photogrammetrists, and
the expansion of our certification program to
specifically recognize remote sensing and GIS
specialists to better enable the Society to moni-
tor the achievements of its Certified members,
as well perhaps, as to stimulate new members
to the expanded program;
3. Redefinition of the Region boundaries
based on membership concentrations and inter-
est profiles to enhance the operation of the
regions and provide a means for reviewing the
structure of the Board to best represent its
members;
4. Creation of a national "committee on the
Environment" to signify to our members, pro-
spective members, and all whose careers are
dedicated to environmental improvement and
sustained resource use, that ASPRS is a partner
in these endeavors, and that it brings immense
technological expertise and capability to the
table;
5. Completion of our Headquarters' office
automation to better enable Society staff and
committees to provide member services, econo-
mize by avoiding duplication of effort, and
respond to questions posed from outside the
Society and its members; and,
6. Continuation of our "building fund" drive
to reduce Headquarters office costs, thereby
diverting needed funds to increased member
services (especially, publications).
It would be presumptuous here to describe the future
of the mapping sciences, or of Earth observing tech-
nology in general. We can be certain that commer-
cial applications in remote sensing and GIS will
expand, and at probably very fast rates. We can be
certain also that continued advances in computing
science, software utility, and dissemination mecha-
nisms will intersect with expanding user communities
in the mapping sciences; and that, as a result of this
intersection, whole new applications will emerge.
Finally, we can be certain that cartography, and
what began with the Columbian era 500 years ago
as a human imperative to discover the Earth, will
flourish well into the coming century.