612
July 2014
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
in Melbourne, Australia. While available for everybody, the
Individual Membership was created to ensure individuals in
areas where an active Ordinary Member does not exist, have
the possibility to join ISPRS on an individual basis.
ISPRS was established in 1910 by Professor Eduard Dolezal
from the Vienna University of Technology, Austria and is the
oldest of the umbrella geospatial organizations. Carolyn and I
had the opportunity toparticipate in the 2010 ISPRSCentennial
Celebration in Vienna when she was the ASPRS President and
ISPRS Lead Delegate and I was ISPRS Technical Commission
IV President. We attended the ISPRS General Assembly, gala
dinner and presentation of the first ISPRS Fellows awarded
in recognition of sustained and excellent service to ISPRS
and its aims. Among the 12 Inaugural Fellows were ASPRS
Past Presidents, Dr. Stan Morain, Technical Commission I
President (2000-2004) and Treasurer (2004-2008), and Dr. Roy
Welch, Technical Commission IVPresident (1992-1996). Also in
attendance were Dr. Fred Doyle (then 90 years old) and Larry
Fritz, both having the highest distinctions of being ASPRS
and ISPRS Past Presidents, as well as Honorary Members of
both ASPRS and ISPRS. Dr. Sherman Wu, longtime ASPRS
member and recipient of the ISPRS Gino Cassinis Award,
and Dr. Charles Toth, current ISPRS Technical Commission I
President and ASPRS Vice President, joined Carolyn and me
at the ISPRS Centennial Gala Dinner hosted by then ISPRS
President and ASPRS member, Dr. Orhan Altan.
During the 2012 to 2016 term, eight Technical Commissions
are entrusted to Ordinary Member organizations to carry
out the scientific and technical work of the ISPRS. Every
four years at the ISPRS Congress, Ordinary Members such
as ASPRS bid for the responsibility for a Commission by
submitting a proposal for hosting the Commission. Elected by
the General Assembly held during the Congress, the direction
of a Technical Commission is determined by a President, Vice
President and Secretary with the support of the Ordinary
Member and the guidance of the Council consisting of six
individuals from different countries (President, Secretary
General, First Vice President, SecondVice President, Treasurer
and Congress Director). Within the first few months of a new
term, Technical Commissions write Resolutions that recognize
trends, emerging technologies and societal needs for obtaining
information from imagery. Working Groups are then formed
within each Commission that are based on the Resolutions and
focus scientific work on particular topics within the scope or
Terms of Reference of the Commission. During the odd years of
the four-year term Working Groups conduct activities such as
organize Workshops, hold ISPRS Student Consortium Summer
Schools, share data and perform benchmark tests, carry out
research initiatives, etc. Each Commission is responsible for
arranging a Midterm Symposium between the Congresses
that brings the Working Groups together for a two to three-
day conference that focuses on the topics of the Commission.
The four-year term ends with a week-long Congress that
includes technical, theme and special sessions organized by
all of the Technical Commissions, keynote addresses and the
presentation of ISPRS awards. The ASPRS Foundation funds
the Brock Award medal, the highest honor of ISPRS. Given
in memory of Arthur and Norman Brock who were pioneers
in aerial photography, this award recognizes an outstanding
landmark in the evolution of photogrammetry, remote sensing
and spatial information sciences. Winners of the award from
the U.S. include Drs. Helmut Schmid, Fred Doyle, Duane
Brown and Jack Dangermond. Prof. Franz Leberl, Technical
Commission III President (2000-2004) from Austria received
the most recent Brock Gold Medal at the 2012 Melbourne
Australia Congress. A new ISPRS Frederick J. Doyle Award
was established in 2012 to honor his memory after his death
and Dr. Christian Heipke, ISPRS Secretary General (2012-
2016), was its first recipient. Our next Congress will be held
in Prague, Czech Republic on July 12-19, 2016,
.
isprs2016-prague.com/.
This year, 2014, is the Symposium year and Technical
Commission I, Sensors and Platforms for Remote Sensing, is
being organized by Technical Commission I President and Vice
President, Drs. Charles Toth and Boris Jutzi, in conjunction
with the ASPRS Fall Specialty Conference (PECORA 19) and
the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) Commission
4 Assembly. Scheduled to be held in Denver, Colorado on
November 17-20, 2014, the theme of the PECORA 19-ISPRS
Commission I Symposium-IAG Commission 4 Assembly
is,
Sustaining Land Imaging: UAVs to Satellites
. This is an
excellent opportunity for ASPRS and ISPRS members to
experience a combined event that will bring researchers,
practitioners and exhibitors from around the world to one
venue. Topics of the Symposium, as well as further details
on abstract submission and exhibit space reservation are
available at the ASPRS website, along with information on
Travel Grants funded by The ISPRS Foundation to support
students and young professionals especially from developing
countries,
.
My involvement with ASPRS and ISPRS since the mid
1980s has greatly influenced my academic choices, career
path and research direction. I have traveled to many countries
and gained an appreciation for geospatial developments and
applications beyond those of the U.S. I have had the great
fortune to meet some of the pioneers in our field and I continue
to meet amazing students who share a passion for geospatial
technology and ask spatial questions. Likewise, Dr. Carolyn
Merry touched the lives of many through her active roles in
ASPRS and ISPRS. I encourage all of you to do the same.
Marguerite Madden
ISPRS Second Vice President
Director, Center for Geospatial Research
Professor, Department of Geography
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia
