News and Resources

By a unanimous vote of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Board of Directors the Society has issued a third resolution calling for immediate support and funding for the continuation of the Nation’s moderate resolution imaging program.  Due to a technical failure in the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument on-board the Landsat 7 spacecraft in May 2003 and the recent decline of the Landsat 5 spacecraft the continued collection of useful moderate-resolution multispectral remote sensing data is now jeopardized. 

Kari J. Craun and Herbert W. Stoughton have been named the 2012 ASPRS Fellow Award winners.  The ASPRS designation of Fellow is conferred on active Society members who have performed excep¬tional service in advancing the science and use of the mapping sciences (photogrammetry remote sensing surveying geographic information systems and related disciplines).  The designation of Fellow is awarded for pro¬fessional excellence and for service to the Society. Candidates are nominated by other active members recommended to the Fellows Committee and elected by the ASPRS Board of Directors. Up to 0.3 percent of the Society’s active members may be elected as Fellows in any one year.  The nominees must have made outstanding contributions in a recognized Society specialization whether in practice research development administration or education in the mapping sciences. Members of the Fellows Committee and the Executive Committee are ineligible for nomination.  This year’s awards will be given in March at the ASPRS 2012 Annual Conference in Sacramento California.

Russell G. Congalton a Professor of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems at the University of New Hampshire has been named as the recipient of the 2012 SAIC Estes Memorial Teaching Award.

The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) announced today that Dr. Franz Leberl will be the first recipient of the newly created ASPRS Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (OTAA).   Leberl founder of Vexcel Corporation in Boulder (Colorado 1985) and Vexcel Imaging GmbH (Austria 1993 manufacturer of the UltraCam Digital Large Format Aerial Camera) was selected in recognition of his contribution to the development of the UltraCam large format digital aerial camera.

Despite an 8.6% unemployment rate in the U.S. it has been determined that at least 57% of the Sustaining Member organizations of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) are currently hiring for jobs within the geospatial industry.

ASPRS recently conducted a survey of 129 ASPRS Sustaining Member career websites and determined that in the month of November at least 73 ASPRS Sustaining Member companies/agencies had job postings on their websites that consisted of positions ranging from entry-level jobs to high-level executive positions.

The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) is pleased to announce LAS 1.4 a new release of the open file format for lidar data storage and delivery. ASPRS has been maintaining and updating this widely used specification since its inception in 2001.

The LAS Working Group (LWG) of the ASPRS Lidar Division is pleased to submit the draft proposal for version 1.4 of the LAS specification for comment. An annotated version of the LAS 1.4 proposal showing changes from the LAS 1.3 specification is also available.

Individuals are invited to review the draft specification and submit comments to LAS@asprs.org. The review cycle lasts for 60 calendar days and will expire October 22 2011. During the cycle the LWG will consider all input received and incorporate changes that impact the intent of the revision.

ASPRS SERVERS WILL BE OFFLINE FOR MAINTANANCE The ASPRS servers will be temporarily offline for maintenance for 24-36 hours beginning at 3:30 pm Eastern Time on Friday October 21st.  This …

The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) is requesting nominations for the newly created ASPRS Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (OTAA).  The purpose of this Award is to recognize developers of breakthrough technology which causes major advances in the practice of photogrammetry remote sensing or geographic information systems in the United States.

STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS
PLEASE NOTE THE DEADLINE FOR ALL ASPRS SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS

TBA

All applications for scholarships and awards must be received at ASPRS headquarters by the announced deadline.

A complete description of the awards offered and an application (in PDF format) can be obtained at https://www.asprs.org/Awards-and-Scholarships/

ASPRS has released draft “Guidelines for Procurement of Commercial Geospatial Mapping Products”. The material is considered DRAFT FOR REVIEW and is being published at this time to encourage wide dissemination and comment.

A draft copy of the “Guidelines for Procurement of Commercial Geospatial Products” is available online at https://www.asprs.org/a/society/divisions/ppd/products/CGPG_public_review_draft_1.doc and appears in the June 2011 issue of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS).  Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments by email to guidelines@asprs.org no later than January 15 2012. The current plan is to review all comments and finalize the document for ASPRS Board approval at its March 23 2012 meeting.

ASPRS is working actively to support establishment of the National Land Imaging Program (NLIP) a long-range operational moderate resolution imaging program.  For the past several years ASPRS has strongly supported the NLIP strategy through continuing communication with the Administration and Congress and fully endorses its immediate implementation.

It is important that all ASPRS members speak up on this issue.  Therefore we are encouraging you as a member of ASPRS to contact your congressional representatives in order to inform and educate them on the need to assure the continuous long-term operation of the Nation’s moderate resolution land remote sensing satellites. 

ASPRS has released a second draft of the “Guidelines for Procurement of Commercial Geospatial Mapping Products.” The material is updated from the April 2011 version.  The document is considered DRAFT FOR REVIEW and is being published at this time to encourage wide dissemination and comment.

A draft copy of the “Guidelines for Procurement of Commercial Geospatial Products” is available online at: https://www.asprs.org/a/society/divisions/ppd/products/CGPG_public_review_draft_2.doc.  Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments by email to Product_Guidelines@asprs.org no later than February 20 2012. The current plan is to review all comments and finalize the document for ASPRS Board approval at its March 23 2012 meeting.

As a result of considerable discussion at the recent American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) 2011 Annual Conference in Milwaukee Wisconsin the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has reversed its original decision to discontinue film camera calibration.

The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Board of Directors approved the formation of a Lidar Division at its Board meeting in Milwaukee Wisconsin on Thursday May 5. Lewis Graham CEO of GeoCue Group was appointed Interim Division Director until a national election for this position is held in late 2011. The new division would subsume the current ASPRS Airborne and Mobile Lidar subcommittees (retaining them as subcommittees within the Lidar Division) and have a top level link on the ASPRS web site.

The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) launched a new version of its website last week during the 2011 Annual Conference in Milwaukee Wisconsin. The site has been completely overhauled and now uses an Open Source Content Management System (CMS) along with an iMIS membership database to serve materials on the site. The new site was streamlined to cut down on repetition and tested to ensure that popular information was well labeled and easy to find.

Paul D. Brooks and Kass Green have been named the 2011 ASPRS Fellow Award winners.  The ASPRS designation of Fellow is conferred on active Society members who have performed excep­tional service in advancing the science and use of the mapping sciences (photogrammetry remote sensing surveying geographic information systems and related disciplines).

Alan R. Stevens and Jack Dangermond have been selected as the next Honorary Members of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).  Their nominations were recently approved by the ASPRS Board of Directors. This is the highest award bestowed by ASPRS and there can be only 25 living Honorary Members of the Society at any given time.