This conference represents the combination of the four meetings described below. Registrants may attend the technical sessions of any part. Workshops and the Friday Technical Tours and Classified Session require separate registrations and fees.

Pecora/Land Satellite Information Conference

The first combined Pecora/Land Satellite Information Conference was held in 1999. This year will be the 15th in a series of William T. Pecora Memorial Symposia on remote sensing, begun in 1975. This will be the fourth Land Satellite Information Conference, which started in 1995. The focus of these conferences has been the application of remote sensing, to transfer knowledge about the use of satellite data from successful innovators to potential users in natural resources, forestry, agriculture, environment, national security, transportation and disasters, hazards, and emergency response.

ISPRS Commission I Mid-Term Symposium

Commission I is one of seven Commissions in the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS). Its focus is on platforms, sensors, and imaging systems for Earth observations. This symposium features workshops, tutorials, and technical sessions that focus on its Working Group topics. These include: defining sensor parameters; sensor calibration and validation; active sensor systems; advanced sensor systems; platform and sensor integration; and airborne optical sensor systems. Where appropriate, these subjects have been integrated with the Pecora/Land Satellite tracks to extend the Commission's topics into Earth processes and space policy issues. The mid-term symposium in 2002 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Landsat Program, and the United States is pleased once again to host this very important Commission. For more complete technical program information see www.commission1.isprs.org.

Remote Sensing for Transportation Conferences

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) organized successful remote sensing conferences in 2000 and 2001. Their objectives were to enhance communication between the transportation and remote sensing communities, to highlight the joint US DOT/NASA Remote Sensing for Transportation Program, to develop an understanding of current successful remote sensing applications in transportation, and to craft strategies for its implementation in transportation organizations. This year the conference merges the third event as a track in the Pecora Conference. The components of the track reflect the topical focus of the Research and Special Programs Administration funded university consortia: traffic flows, expediting environmental assessment, lifeline vulnerability and incident management, and infrastructure management. Papers will be highlighted in the Applications Showcase and Posters, while breakout sessions will serve to evaluate current research and examine further initiatives. The committee developing the program has been appointed by the National Research Council and will be publishing a post-conference report that will include recommendations for improving the implementation of remote sensing within the transportation community.

FIEOS

Through a generous collaboration between Commission I and the organizers of an independently conceived symposium titled Future Intelligent Earth Observing Satellites (FIEOS), a substantial effort has been made to combine the two into a single program for this conference. By combining FIEOS into Commission I/WG 4, the organizers of both symposia are able to enhance the overall conference experience for all participants.

The future of Earth observations lies with incorporating "intelligence" into the systems. The needs for acquiring timely information about Earth system processes and for early warning of natural and human disasters, coupled with a need to control costs and for coping with increased system complexity, suggest that intelligent satellites are appropriate for deriving information quickly and in near real-time for dissemination to non-science user communities. Such intelligent systems could include space-based architectures capable of dynamic and comprehensive onboard integration of sensors, data processors, and communications. This symposium brings together private sector, government, and university experts to discuss the possibility and feasibility of such intelligent systems for 2010 and beyond. It will also facilitate interactions between international planning and data user communities to arrive at the needs and requirements for future intelligent systems for global applications. For more complete technical program information see http://www.fieos.gmu.edu.