Minutes of ISPRS Joint Meeting
Council and Commission Presidents
Hotel Yamaguchi, Oigami Hot Spring,
Gumma Prefecture
JAPAN
1-3 October 1996
Council Attendees
President: Lawrence Fritz
Secretary General: John Trinder
First Vice President: Shunji Murai
Congress Director: Klaas Beek (from 2.10.96)
Treasurer: Heinz R�ther
Commission President Attendees
Commission I: George Joseph (from 2.10.96)
Commission II: Ian Dowman
Commission III: Toni Schenk
Commission IV: Dieter Fritsch (to 2.10.96)
Commission V: Hirofumi Chikatsu
Commission VI: Klaas Villaneuva
Commission VII: Gabor Remetey-F�l�pp
In attendance
Chair Financial Commission: Armin Gruen
Bulletin Editor: Mauricio Araya
Representing Second Vice President Marcio Barbosa: Thelma Krug
AGENDA
- Opening (LF)
- Review of Minutes C & TCP Meetings (JT)
- Review of material distributed in Vienna (JT)
- Review of communication lists of C & TCP (JT)
- Review of Vienna Resolutions (SM)
- Presentation of Commission Plans for Working Group ToR and
Chairs (TCPs)
- Terms of Reference
- Chair, Co-Chairs, members
- Addresses, phone, fax, E-mail
- Confirmation of Symposium dates, location, theme
- Planned colloquium meetings, tests etc
- Tutorials, contents, timing, place
- Proposed Intercommission and other Working Groups as a result of
discussion and Council Initiative (LF)
- Guidelines and Publications Policy (JT)
- Format, cover, copyright of Archives. Instructions for
Preparation of the Archives of the Symposia
- Authors' Guide
- Presenters' Manual
- RICS Contract for Sale of Archives
- Plans for Congress (KB)
- Location
- Draft Program
- 1996-2000 Program
- ISPRS Publications (LF)
- Journal
- "ISPRS Highlights"
- Relationships with Other Organisations (LF)
- Preview of Council Agenda (JT)
- Future Technical Commission Presidents Meetings (LF)
- Other Business
- Plans for Symposia
- Closing
MINUTES
1. Opening
President Lawrence Fritz thanked Professor Murai
and the Japanese Society for graciously hosting the meetings and for the
generous support to the activities of ISPRS. The excellent facilities
ensured very good working conditions for the meeting.
President Fritz stated that the purpose of the Joint Meeting was to
review and ratify the selection of the Chairs and the Terms of
Reference (ToRs) of the Technical Commission Working Groups (WG), the
Commission Boards and Rapporteurs. Commission Rapporteurs are intended
to assist the Council and Commission Presidents in the operations of
their Commissions. The Technical Commission Presidents (TCPs) must
ensure that the Terms of Reference of their Working Groups comply with
the Congress Resolutions, and Terms of Reference of the Commissions
defined in the Bylaws. TCPs may have plans for modifications of ToRs
of the Commissions, but this will have to be formulated in
coordination with Second Vice President Marcio Barbosa, who has the
responsibility for reviewing the Statutes and Bylaws for the next
Congress. The TCPs must also establish priorities for technical
activities of the Society. The goals of the Society are to establish
good relationships between its members, and to develop new topics of
study that will benefit the Society.
Lawrence Fritz referred to the table in Attachment 1, which
formulates the structure of the management of the Society. The General
Assembly is the supreme body of Society, representing the 97 Ordinary
Members, 5 Associate Members, and 7 Regional Members. One new
Associate Member is likely to be admitted in the near future. There
are 35 Sustaining Members including one new member to be admitted at
the Council Meeting. Technical and scientific activities are the
responsibility of the Technical Commissions and Working Groups.
The Council is the primary decision making body of the Society. It
works with the Technical Commissions to ensure effective operations of
the technical and scientific activities. The Financial Commission
monitors expenditures of the Council in accordance with the Statutes
and Bylaws. Ad hoc Committees are assigned from time to time to
undertake particular tasks for Council: there are none at present. The
Bulletin (henceforth referred to as "ISPRS Highlights" following the
decision of CM on 3 October) and Journal are the publication outlets
of the Society. Two Task Forces will be established by Council to
carry out activities in Commission VI, related to areas of Information
and Communication, and Educational Opportunities.
2. Review of Minutes C & TCP Meetings
John Trinder reviewed
the minutes of Council and TCPs Meeting held on Thursday 18 July 1996 in
Vienna, Austria. Particular items identified were:
(i) The Guidelines for Publication of the International Archives of
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
(ii) The requirements for the 1996 Annual Report, which includes
the summary of the activities of Commissions at the Congress to be
prepared by the Outgoing Technical Commission Presidents. John Trinder
will send Congress reports to TCPs as they become available. TCPs must
liaise with their Outgoing counterpart in preparing their contribution
to the Annual Report, which will be required by the Secretary General
by 15 December.
Action Item 96/6: JT to provide Congress Reports to TCPs
3. Review of material distributed in Vienna
John Trinder
highlighted the document 'Directives for Financial Support of New ISPRS
Initiatives', which provides for the possibility of financial assistance for
the Commissions for particular initiatives identified in the document. The
availability of funds for such initiatives will be determined by the
Treasurer after consideration of the budget for the forthcoming year. The
Treasurer will inform the Technical Commissions of available funds by 1
March each year.
Action 96/7: Tr to inform TCPs of the availability of funds for new
initiatives by 1 March of each year.
4. Review of Communication Lists of C & TCP
Anticipated
changes in Commission VII telephone numbers will be provided to Secretary
General, when available.
John Trinder indicated that he intends to use E-mail as a primary
source of communications between Council and TCPs. He operates on a
Macintosh word processor and Eudora mail software. Messages can be
sent as ASCII text files or formatted files as MacWord or PC Word 6
attachments. Other methods of sending formatted files will also be
investigated. Council and TCPs should inform the Secretary General if
they have any problems in reading E-mail messages.
5. Review of Vienna Resolutions
First Vice President Murai
reviewed the details of the Congress Resolutions. TCPs are expected to
adhere to the Resolutions in forming their Working Groups. It will be the
responsibility of Council to ensure that this requirement has been fulfilled.
The Resolutions attached to the Agenda have been edited for English
expression, and hence are the most up-to-date version.
The Task Force on Information and Communication recommended in
Resolution G.2, will be chaired by Keith Atkinson from UK. Klaas
Villanueva should appoint members to the Task Force, including the
editors of the Journal and "ISPRS Highlights" as ex-officio members,
with the agreement of Keith Atkinson. Marcio Barbosa will chair the
Task Force on Educational Opportunities recommended in Resolution G.3,
with the responsibility of exploring opportunities for scholarships
and grants.
Council will discuss the program for the 2000 Congress with Klaas
Beek in order to satisfy Resolution G.4 and to avoid clashes of
content of the Technical sessions. Council needs to determine the
extent of duplication that exists in the Society's scientific
activities. Marcio Barbosa should review the ToRs of the Commissions,
as part of his duties in Council, to ensure that duplication is
avoided where possible.
6. Presentation of Commission Plans for Working Group ToR and
Chairs
TCPs presented updates on the documentation contained in
the Agenda Books, on the following items:
- Terms of Reference of Working Groups (WG)
- Chairs, Co-Chairs and members
- Relevant addresses, phone, fax, E-mail
- Confirmation of Symposium dates, location, theme
- Planned colloquium meetings, tests, where available
- Tutorials, contents, timing and place
General items arising from the discussions were:
- The Silver Book will contain details of Chairs and Co-Chairs by
first name and family name, the latter being in capitals, without
titles
- All details of telephone, fax numbers, must include country and
city codes
- All meetings proposed by TCPs must be deconflicted by Council
through Secretary General
- An events calendar will be developed and published in the "ISPRS
Highlights".
The meeting discussed in detail, plans for the TCP Working Groups
to ensure that they adhere to the Commission Terms of Reference and
the Resolutions.
The meeting adjourned at 2.45 pm on 2 October and reconvened at
1.30 pm on 3 October. Lawrence Fritz announced the ToRs of the WGs, as
approved by the Council Meeting on the morning of 3 October. TCPs were
instructed to formally establish the WGs according to these plans. The
full details of ToRs of the WGs will be published in the Silver Book .
The updated schedule for the Inter-Congress Symposia is shown in
Attachment 2.
7. Proposed Intercommission and other Working Groups
The
details are covered in the plans for the WGs.
8. Guidelines and Publications Policy
8.1 Instructions for the Preparation of the Archives of the
Symposia
Instructions for the preparation of the Archives of the
Symposia are given in the 'Guidelines for Publication of the International
Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing'. TCPs must adhere to these
guidelines. The colour for the covers will be orange, according to the
sample included in the Agenda Books. The cover of the Congress Archives will
be green. The Symposia Archives will be numbered Volume XXXII-Commission No.
It was stressed that if the TCPs wish to arrange for publication of the
Archives through a third party, they must adhere to the guidelines in all
respects.
Action 96/8: JT to provide example of front and back covers of
Archives to all TCPs
Discussions on the issue of producing the Archives on CD ROM
revealed that all TCPs were in a position to do so. Some TCPs may only
produce 50 printed copies of the Archives to satisfy the RICS contract
conditions.
8.2 Authors' Guide
The Authors' Guide must be circulated to all
authors of papers in the Symposia Archives to ensure uniformity of
presentation in the Archives.
8.3 Presenters' Manual
The Presenters' Manual should be sent by TCPs to all presenters of papers at
the Symposia, to ensure that the Technical Sessions at the Symposia are of a
professional standard. The Manual will be provided by the Secretary General
at a later date.
Action 96/9: JT to provide Presenters' Manual to all TCPs
8.4 RICS Contract for Sale of Archives
The RICS Books (a division of
the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, UK) contract for the sale of
Archives has not been finalised for the next 4 years, but there will only be
minor changes to the version given in the Agenda Books. The contract
requires RICS to distribute the International Archives of Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing, based on the prices determined by the TCPs and according to
the schedule of discounts defined in the contract. All TCPs must adhere to
the contract, by not selling the Archives after their Symposium. All orders
of the Archives after the Symposia must be forwarded to RICS Books for
fulfilment. While pricing for the Archives is to be determined by the TCPs,
it is recommended that consistent prices be established by the Commissions.
Action 96/10: TCPs to determine the form of publication of the
Archives and approximate costs by JM in Brazil, September 1997
9. Plans for Congress
- Location
- Draft Program
- 1996-2000 Program
The Congress will be held from 14 - 26 July 2000 in Amsterdam. It
will comprise 3 components: tutorials and refresher courses prior to
the Congress; the Congress; and in-depth workshops. Preparations for
the Congress are in their early stages. Klaas Beek presented details
of the Organising Committee and options for planning the Congress, in
terms of the number of papers per session, length of paper
presentation, numbers of days and numbers of poster sessions, and
compared them with the two preceding Congresses. Each day will
comprise 4 x 1.5 hours of technical sessions/poster sessions. Four
General Assemblies will be planned. There was no discussion on the
plans for the Congress at this meeting, but it will be discussed in
detail at future Joint Meetings.
10. ISPRS Publications
10.1 Journal
The Journal is the Society's peer review Journal,
published by Elsevier Scientific Publications (ESP), with David Tait as
Editor-in-Chief. The contract is currently being renegotiated with ESP, and
will be considered in more detail at the CM. TCPs are requested to supply
high quality scientific articles for publication in the Journal. This is
important to maintain the reputation of the Journal.
10.2 "ISPRS Highlights"
The Council determined at its meeting on the
morning of October 3, that the proposed ISPRS Bulletin, will be named "ISPRS
Highlights". The editor, Mauricio Araya, introduced his plans for the
production of "ISPRS Highlights", on a 3 monthly basis. He has signed a
contract with ISPRS for its production in Chile, using his expertise
acquired through the production of SELPER publications. The first edition in
October will be the Congress issue of approximately 64 pages, and will
include photos of incoming TCPs. '"ISPRS Highlights" will be distributed to
Ordinary Members as bulk drop shipments from Chile, for further distribution
to individuals in each country. Revenue from advertisements will partly
defray costs of the production of "ISPRS Highlights". Significant income for
advertisements has already been collected. A page soliciting advertisements
was provided to TCPs.
Typical content of ISPRS Highlights, as detailed in the contract
will be:
- Annual Reports
- General news of ISPRS activities
- Event reports of all ISPRS sponsored conferences. Reports of
other conferences may also be included
- Book reports
- Project reports
- Officers list
- Invited keynote speeches
- Technology reviews
- Minutes of JM and CM
- Calls for papers etc
TCPs are encouraged to provide copy for '"ISPRS Highlights". This
could typically be the content of Commission or Working Group
newsletters, calls for papers, Symposium keynote addresses, reviews,
conference reports etc.
11. Relationships with Other Organisations
Lawrence Fritz
described Open GIS Consortium (OGC), a proposed new Sustaining Member of
ISPRS. TCPs may find considerable benefit in collaborating with OGC.
Commission I should converse with ISO/TC 20 'Aircraft and Space
Vehicles', ISO/TC 42 'Photography', and ISO/TC 172 'Optics and Optical
Systems' , and possibly attend meetings. Commission IV should
communicate with ISO/TC 211 'Geographic Information/Geomatics'.
The updated version of the Table of Responsibilities for Council
and TCPs was discussed and modified as given in Attachment 3
Recommendations were made to include:
- CEN 287, the European standards group for Geomatics.
- EUROGI, which Lawrence Fritz will again approach to become a
Regional Member, with the assistance of Dieter Fritsch. Gabor
Remetey is also prepared to act as a contact.
- IUFRO, of which Thelma Krug is Chair of the Committee of
Tropical Forest data.
- ISSS (International Society for Soil Science) which has a
committee on remote sensing.
ISPRS has been requested by organisers to co-sponsor the Third ERIM
International Airborne Remote Sensing Conference. TCPs were requested
to provide information to Secretary General before the end of 1996, of
any clashes between the ERIM Conference and other ISPRS Commission
events, before Council agrees to participate.
Action 96/11: TCPs to provide information on clashes with ERIM
Conference to JT by end of 1996.
Lawrence Fritz and John Trinder attended the ICSU General Assembly
in Washington from 23 to 27 September. A general description of ICSU
was presented. It is comprised of 22 international unions, 40 national
members and associate members, including ISPRS. It addresses topics
such as global problems and sustainable development, and has a
publication outlet, ICSU Press. Lawrence Fritz's thoughts on the
possible involvement of ISPRS in ICSU were as follows:
Commission I: all earth observation systems
Commission II: the Society's technical capacity for data mapping
Commission III: algorithm development
Commission IV: development of databases for global monitoring
Commission V: applications and exploitation of technology
Commission VI: education options
Commission VII: statistics on land cover, annual data for global
problems
ISPRS has direct relations with the Earth Sciences group of ICSU.
Klaas Beek indicated that ICSU is already using various types of
earth data, but the quality of much of it is poor. ISPRS can play a
significant role in improving the quality of this data. He queried
whether ISPRS should apply for full member, but this would depend on
costs and whether ISPRS satisfies the conditions.
12. Preview of Council Agenda
Secretary General reviewed the
agenda of the CM held on 4th and 5th October.
13. Future Technical Commission Presidents Meetings
The
current plans for JM and CM were reviewed. Offers to host the next JM and CM
in September or October 1997 were received from Hungary and Brazil.
Following further discussions, it was agreed to hold the week long meeting
in Brazil, either during the 1st or 2nd weeks of September or 2nd week
November. The final decision will be determined in consultation with Thelma
Krug, Marcio Barbosa and Council.
14. Other Business
14.1 Plans for Symposia
During the next year, all TCPs will
need to develop their plans for the Symposia. These plans will be reviewed
at the next JM.
At the Symposia, TCPs should arrange for meetings of the Commission
Board, and with Council to review progress of the Commission. They
should also set aside time at a plenary session when Klaas Beek can
present details of the Congress to the Symposium participants.
15. Closing
President Fritz thanked Council and TCPs for their
cooperation in determining the ToRs of the Working Groups, and agreeing to
Council's wishes. The Society is off to a very good start so early in the 4
year term, and therefore it can look forward to a fruitful 4 year period.
LF = Lawrence Fritz GJ = George Joseph
JT = John Trinder ID = Ian Dowman
SM = Shunji Murai TS = Toni Schenk
KB = Klaas Beek DF = Dieter Fritsch
HR = Heinz Ruether HC = Hirofumi Chikatsu
MB = Marcio Barbosa KV = Klaas Villaneuva
AG = Armin Gruen GR = Gabor Remetey-Fueloepp
TK = Thelma Krug
John Trinder
Secretary General
November 1996