The Gottfried Konecny Award

ETH Zurich - Institute of Geodesy & Photogrammetry

Preamble

In 2025, the German Society for Photogrammetry Remote Sensing and Geoinformation (DGPF) established an award in honor of Professor Gottfried Konecny (1930-2024), who made significant contributions to photogrammetry, remote sensing and ISPRS.

Gottfried Konecny studied Surveying Engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. In 1959, after completing his doctorate at TUM, Konecny moved to the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton, Canada, as an Assistant Professor, where he was later promoted to Associate and eventually full Professor. He returned to Germany in 1971 and became Chair of what was then the Institute of Photogrammetry and Engineering Surveys (IPI – now the Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation) at the then University of Hannover (now Leibniz Universität Hannover) until his retirement in 1998.

Prof. Konecny's scientific work in the field of photogrammetry and remote sensing was both wide-ranging and highly influential, and above all, groundbreaking. He realised early on that topographic data acquisition and updating, a cornerstone for sustainable development, could only be achieved from space within an acceptable time and cost framework. This was the background to both Konecny's methodological fields of work and the instrumental developments he promoted. He was the Principal Investigator of the Metric Camera, the world's first photogrammetric space camera, which flew on the NASA Space Shuttle in 1983. With the help of this mission, he was able to demonstrate the value of space images for topographic applications.

Gottfried Konecny served as President of ISPRS from 1984 to 1988, Congress Director of the 14th ISP Congress (Hamburg, 1980) – when, under his leadership, the name of the society was supplemented to include remote sensing, which led to the abbreviation ISPRS – and as Chairman of several ISPRS working groups. Furthermore, he was elected as an Honorary Member of ISPRS in 1992. In addition, Gottfried Konecny was President of the DGPF from 1972 to 1976, and Chairman of the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL) from 1993 to 1997. He is considered by many to be the “Father of Remote Sensing” in Europe.

Regulations

Article 1

The award shall be known as The Gottfried Konecny Award and shall normally be granted at each Congress of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).

Article 2

The Gottfried Konecny Award shall consist of a certificate and a monetary grant of 2500 €, sponsored by the German Society for Photogrammetry Remote Sensing and Geoinformation (DGPF). The presentation of the award shall be made at an appropriate event, preferably a plenary session or General Assembly of the Congress.

Article 3

The recipient shall be a person who, in the spirit of Gottfried Konecny, has made significant long-term contributions to the science, scientific management and international cooperation in remote sensing. All nominations shall be supported by appropriate documentary evidence of the candidate's work.

Article 4

Nominations for The Gottfried Konecny Award shall reach the President of ISPRS not later than 6 months prior to the Congress at which it will be presented. Candidates may not self-nominate.

Article 5

The Jury of The Gottfried Konecny Award shall consist of:

The President of ISPRS (Chair of Jury)
The Secretary General of ISPRS
The President of DGPF
The President of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society - Société canadienne de télédétection (CRSS-SCT)

or their representatives.

The Jury shall reach a decision no later than 4 months before the ISPRS Congress by simple majority. The Chair does not have a vote. The Jury may decide not to present an award. The decision of the Jury shall be final. Legal recourse is excluded.