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4. Iconic Informatics-A new 
Branch of Infomation Science 
As mentioned above, photogrammetry , remote 
sensing and spatial information system are very 
closely interrelated with one another and are 
gradually becoming unseparable in their respective 
development. Recently,”  Photogrammetry and 
Remote Sensing” has been heading towards its 
integration with the technology of spatial Information 
Systems. Some of the well - known photogrammetric 
analytical plotters have already changed their designs 
and developed databases or spatial information 
systems, such as P series with PHOCUS form Carl 
Zeiss, DSR series with INFOCAM from Kern and 
BC3 with SYSTEM 9 from Wild. 
What is the right name of our discipline? We cannot 
use Photogrammetry and remote sensing and GIS 
Faced with such a situation, some scholars from 
different countries have proposed a few new names 
for it, and some of them have already been used 
officially in higher educational institutions. For 
example, the " Geoinformatics" is used by the 
International Insitute for Aerospace Survey and 
Earth Science (ITC) in Netherlands, the term " 
Geomatics" is used by Laval University in Canada as 
the name for their relevant speciality, the term " 
Image Informtion Engineering" is used in China as a 
new speciality of Department of Photogrammetry 
and Remote Sensing at WTUSM , among which the 
contents of photogrammetry , remote sensing and GIS 
and some others are included. Prof. Wang Zhizhuo 
has indicated ( Wang, 1991); the terms ^" 
Iconometry" and " Geoiconics" with similar intentions 
as above have appeared in papers written by Berlyant 
of Moscow University. These two words all have the 
root from the Gerrk word ” ikonics” , meaning” 
images". The use of the term" Iconometry" can date 
back to the 18th century long before the invention of 
the photogrammetry , and it denoted at that time a 
method for reconstructing an object by the use of its 
perspective. Since the Wuhan symposium of Comm. 
III of ISPRS in 1990, Professor Wang suggested 
many times to use ” Iconic Informatics” as a new 
name of our discipline which is defined somewhat as 
follows: 
309 
A discipline concerned with the recording, storage, 
measurement, processing, interpretation, analysis, 
administration , presentation and display of the image 
data. and informations of physical objects and their 
environments acquired by non - contact sensor 
systems. 
Such a discipline may include the contents of 
photogrammetry , remote sensing, spatial information 
systems and possible some parts of cartography. 
According to above discussion the components and 
the flow chart of iconic informatics can be described 
in Fig. 1. 
From Fig. 1 we can see that the data acquisition. 
processing analysis, display and application of iconic 
informatics are closely connected with each other, 
and build a circle loop and network. The 
conventional photogrammetry is just along the loop 1 
—2—4—1 in Fig . 1. It means,that we take at first 
photographs from objects and measure them on 
analog instruments = together with visual 
interpretation, and then produce visuable products 
for the user. In order to obtain reliable information 
about Earth and its environment and about other 
physical objects and processes the iconic informatics 
starts from the image data acquisition by non - 
contact sensors , then analyses and processes these 
different kinds of image data by using analytical, 
digital photogrammetry and image processing 
methods to build a spatial information system,and to 
provide both digital and visuable graphic products 
(Loop 1—2—3—4—1) in Fig . 1. As for a real - 
time photogrammetry, it is the loop 1—2—3—1 in 
Fig. 1. In this case all opertions and algorithms 
should be done in real - time. Then through a CAD/ 
CAM system the results will feed back to the physical 
objects. The digital products and visuable products 
can be of course transfered from one to another. The 
subjects, with” * ” in Fig. 1 indicate just the main 
contents of the discipline of informatics. 
Summerized, iconic informtics is a new branch of 
information science, eg. image information 
engineering science and technology which combines 
and integrates photogrammetry and remote sensing