30
January 2014
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
ASPRS
NEWS
and the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment (US/AID). These all have been aimed at inserting
evolving spectral and spatial analysis techniques into
the decision-making apparatus of developing countries.
He has assisted in program design, implementation, and
evaluation in many countries of Asia, Africa, and Central
America, usually in the role of project team leader, chief-
of-party, or chief technical advisor. Between 1983 and
1986, he served UN/FAO and UNDP as the Chief Techni-
cal Advisor on remote sensing projects to introduce crop
monitoring and crop production estimation in four Chi-
nese agricultural universities in Beijing, Harbin, Nanjing,
and Chengdu. In the 1980s he established the visiting
scientist program at EDAC to provide remote sensing
training to scientists from many of these countries.
More recently, Dr. Morain’s expertise in remote sens-
ing has been directed toward sustainable transportation,
public health, and archeological studies of early agricul-
tural systems. He led a consortium of three universities,
a federal lab, and several industry partners to insert
remote sensing and geospatial technologies into proj-
ects aimed at assessing transportation safety/hazards/
disasters/ and security in the US, China and India.
He organized and participated in several workshops
dedicated to these topics in both the U.S. and abroad.
He was instrumental also in developing a bi-national
agreement focusing on remote sensing and geospatial
technologies for transportation cooperation between
US/DOT and the China Academy for Transportation
Sciences, signed by both parties in January 2005.
Understanding Earth’s systems in context of public
health is an emerging science in which Dr. Morain devel-
oped a keen interest. Global dust and atmospheric fine
particulates contribute to respiratory health problems
in populations around the world. To better understand
these mechanisms and to forecast severe dust events,
he led a team of research and application scientists at
UNM and the University of Arizona to develop a pro-
totype dust forecasting model to forewarn local health
organizations of pending air quality episodes. Output
data from the model are inserted into decision support
tools for use by public health authorities. This work
also contributed to plans by the International Council
for Science (ICSU) to better understand health issues
in emerging urban areas of Africa; the World Meteoro-
logical Organization’s (WMO’s) quest to establish an
International Sand and Dust Storm Warning System;
and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO’s) efforts to
address issues in the human health societal benefit area.
A large part of Dr. Morain’s career has been as a Pro-
fessor in the Department of Geography at UNM. During
his tenure, he served twice as Chair of the Department
(1983–1992) and (2003–2006). His courses focused on
theory and applications of remote sensing, and biogeogra-
phy. As an educator, he influenced the careers of over 50
students who have been gainfully employed in geospatial
technologies. He authored, edited, and/or contributed to
numerous publications on applications of remote sensing
in agriculture, natural resources, and vegetation mapping.
In addition to these contributions, Dr. Morain has
served this community through his involvement in
ASPRS and the International Society for Photogram-
metry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS). He is a Certified
Photogrammetrist, an elected “Fellow”, past editor of
PE&RS
, and past president of ASPRS. In ISPRS he is
a past president of Commission I (Platforms, Sensors,
and Imagery), served as a council member and trea-
surer, and as technical secretary in Commission VIII,
Working Group 2 (health). He also has been active in
the International Council for Science (ICSU), and the
intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations/ User
Interface Committee (GEO/UIC). He is an elected Fellow
in the Geology/Geography Section of the American Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). During
his career, he has been recognized by the community
through numerous awards and citations for his service.
Publisher
James R. Plasker,
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Russell G. Congalton,
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Contributing Editors
Grids & Datums Column
Clifford J. Mugnier,
Book Reviews
John Iiames,
Mapping Matters Column
Qassim Abdullah,
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