International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXII Part 7C2, UMSPACE III, Vienna, 1999 
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FOREWORD 
The United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the Third United Nations Conference on 
the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) in its resolution 52/56 which was 
adopted on 10 December 1997. In this resolution the General Assembly endorsed the recommendations for 
the theme of the UNISPACE III Conference to be “Space Benefits for Humanity in the Twenty-first 
Century” and for the primary objectives to be: 
to promote effective means of using space technology to assist in the solution of problems of regional 
and global significance 
and to strengthen the capabilities of Member States, in particular developing countries, to use the 
applications of space research for economic, social and cultural development. 
One of the earliest uses of space technology has been Remote Sensing. The first space photograph 
of Earth was transmitted by Explorer-6 in August of 1959 and remote sensing from space began in April 
1960 with the launch of the Television and Infrared Observational Satellite (TIROS-1) as an experimental 
weather satellite. Many significant technologic advancements and applications of remote sensing from space 
have evolved for the benefit of humanity in the forty years since these early launches. Thus remote sensing 
was provided a very prominent role in the deliberations and technical forum of the UNISPACE III 
Conference. 
In the Technical Forum the ISPRS was pleased to partner with the National Aeronautical and Space 
Administration (NASA) of the USA and with the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories 
(EARSeL) to convene a Seminar and Workshop on topics relevant to the objectives of UNISPACE III, 
namely ‘Sustainable Development’ and ‘Disaster Mitigation’ respectively. The ISPRS complemented these 
two activities with a Workshop on ‘Resource Mapping.’ The content, with conclusions and 
recommendations to the UN, from these activities is summarized here. Also included are some relevant 
papers for which the available program time precluded their presentation during the Conference. 
It was my pleasure to coordinate and present the ISPRS contributions to UNISPACE III. However, I 
wish to recognize the efforts of the specialists who contributed paper presentations and to all those who were 
responsible for the successful staging of the program for these three events; for the preparation of this special 
Volume of The International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing; and for preparation of 
remote sensing recommendations for inclusion in the final report of the Conference “The Space Millenium: 
Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development. ” I express our appreciation and thanks to them for 
their support, specifically: 
Coordination Support: NASA - Lynn Cline and Elizabeth Williams 
EARSeL - Dr. Robin Vaughn and Mrs. Madeleine Godfroy 
Event Chairs: ISPRS/NASA Seminar - Dr. Alex Tuyahov, Prof. Ray Harris, and 
Prof. Charles Hutchison 
ISPRS/EARSeL Workshop - Prof. Ian Dowman and Dr. Lucien Wald 
ISPRS Workshop - Prof. John Trinder and Prof. Klaas Jan Beek 
Reports: Prof. Ian Dowman, Prof. Ray Harris and the ISPRS International 
Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC) 
Publication and Distribution: NASA sponsorship by efforts of Dr. Alex Tuyahov 
Preparation and Printing - Dr. Jim Weber, President ICRSE and staff 
members Kim Treadway and Debby Marsteller 
We trust this volume will be helpful to you in preserving some of the benefits of remote sensing 
presented to the July 1999 UNISPACE III Conference. 
Lawrence W. Fritz 
ISPRS President