A Proposal for Restructuring the ISPRS Commissions Consolidated draft

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1 Headquarters Christian HEIPKE, Secretary General Leibniz Universität Hannover Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation Nienburger Str Hannover Germany Phone: Fax: isprs-sg@ipi.uni-hannover.de October 03, 2014 A Proposal for Restructuring the ISPRS Commissions Consolidated draft Introduction At the beginning of 2014, Council started exploring the potential for a revision of the ISPRS commission struc- ture with the aim of increasing the visibility and impact of our discipline and of our society. The resulting proposal 1 includes a detailed analysis of the current situation and a rationale for change. In a period of consultation lasting approximately four months it was shared with all Ordinary, Associate, Regional and Sustaining ISPRS Members, with all Honorary Members and Fellows, and with all current and many recent ISPRS officers - each time asking for feedback, and in particular for thoughts on how to improve the document. The proposal was also widely discussed in the ISPRS community, notably at Commission Board Meetings at the Midterm Symposia of Commissions IV and VI (May 2014), V (June 2014) as well as III and VII (September 2014). The opinions of the International Science Advisory Committee (ISAC) and the International Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC) were also solicited. Moreover, the ideas for revision of the Commission structure were presented in the ISPRS ebulletin, Issue 2/2014, with a view to obtaining as many comments as possible via a specially installed blog 2. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and included constructive comments from many sides. This docu- and the many com- ment presents a proposal for a new commission structure, based on the original suggestions ments received during the months since the initial proposal. 1 www2.isprs.org/news/blog/detail/items/council-explores-revision-of-isprs-commission-struc cture.html 2 www2.isprs.org/news/blog.html President: CHEN JUN National Geomatics Centre, CHINA chenjun@nsdi.gov.cn Secretary General: CHRISTIAN HEIPKE Leibniz Univ. Hannover, GERMANY isprs-sg@ipi.uni-hannover.de First Vice President: ORHAN ALTAN Istanbul Tech. Univ., TURKEY Second Vice President: MARGUERITE MADDEN The Univ. of Georgia, USA mmadden@uga.edu Treasurer: JON MILLS Newcastle University, UK jon.mills@ncl.ac.uk Congress Director: LENA HALOUNOVÁ Czech Tech. Univ. in Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC lena.halounova@fsv.cvut.cz

2 General guidelines In this proposal Council was led by the following general guidelines: 1. Use the overall goal of better positioning our society as a relevant, vibrant and forward-looking organi- of increasing relevance sation for the 21 st Century as the main guideline. This includes: - providing a clear structure, internally and externally; - ensuring that the scientificc quality of our work is kept and improved in times of our area, and thus also ncreasing competition from others; - improving the impact of ISPRS events by increasing their size and visibility (flagship meetings). 2. In the design of the new commissions, the ISPRS meeting schedule needs to be considered. 3. Reduce overlap and fragmentation between commission areas, while maintaining some well defined re- and outreach. dundancy for the most important areas. 4. Pay special attention to the Commission dealing with education, capacity building 5. Design each new commission such that it consists of both theory and application, as from past experi- ence it has become clear that purely theoretical or purely application-oriented commissions cannot fully exploit the potential of a field. 6. Do not separate commission fields on the basis of the platform used for imaging (ground, air, space), as recent developments in dataa processing and analysis have led to scientific methodologies, algorithmic approaches and commercial solutions common to all platforms. 7. Increase the attractiveness of working for ISPRS to all officers, and in particular to TCPs. 8. Ensure that global participation at the commission level is not hampered. 9. Ensure existing communities within ISPRS are kept on board and intact. 10. Take into account the recommendations of the ISPRS Strategic Plan Strive for a consensus driven process rather than top-down decision making. 12. Design the process to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Proposal In line with the ISPRS Strategic Plan 2010, which calls for a concentration of Society efforts on the most impor- eight). Also, the term tant issues of our field, the proposal calls for five new commissions (instead of the current "Technical" shall be dropped, as the Commission on Education and capacity building is a non-technical one; instead only the term "Commission"" should be used in the future. Whilst the initial proposal had suggested only four commissions, the consultation process resulted in an additional commission. The new suggestion constiand redundancy in strategic tutes a better compromise between a clear subdivision of our field on the one side areas as well as more potential for global participation on the other hand. The five proposed commissions are entitled: Commission I Observation systems and sensors Commission II Photogrammetry and 3D information Commission III Remote sensing and thematic information Commission IV Spatial information science and services Commission V Education and capacity building The new commissions are proposed to comprise the following subject areas: Commission I - Observation systemss and sensors Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, UAV) Mobile mapping systems Innovative designs for industrial metrology (including PMD cameras, systems based on structured light) Design and realisation of digital aerial and spaceborne missions for Earth observation

3 Design, construction, characterization, and installation of imaging and non-imaging sensors (incl. optical, hyperspectral, IR, SAR, IFSAR, LIDAR, etc.) Potential of (ad hoc) sensor networks (from ground-based geosensor networks to satellite constellations and swarms) Real-time imaging and ranging systems and algorithms Potential of small satellites for photogrammetry and remote sensing Standardization of definitions and measurements of sensor parameters Calibration of sensors and systems (geometric, radiometric, time synchronisation) Contact with national and international space agencies, incl. ICORSE Analysis of industry needs and design of systems for acquisition of geospatial data Commission II - Photogrammetry and 3D information Methodological topics Sensor and image orientation, multi-image geometry, multi-sensor bundle adjustment High accuracy 3D coordinate determination and tracking Dense matching, 3D depth reconstruction, Shape from X, structured light approaches Structure from motion SLAM - simultaneous localisation and mapping Geometric computer vision Processing and modelling of 3D point clouds from stereo and lidar Object detection from images and 3D point clouds Image sequence analysis, object detection and tracking, deformable objects Image-based and point cloud rendering Pattern recognition and machine learning in photogrammetry and remote sensing Image and scene understanding Statistical approaches in computer vision Application topics Topographic mapping, image-based generation and update of topographic databases Planetary mapping Cultural heritage, architecture and archaeology Photogrammetric vision metrology Medical imaging Photogrammetric processing for surveillance, safety and security applications Robot and machine vision, image based navigation, obstacle avoidance Analysis of industry needs and design of systems for processing image and lidar data Commission III - Remote sensing and thematic information Methodological topics Image classification, change detection and information fusion Physical modelling and spectral signatures Electromagnetic radiation - propagation, BRDF, surface interaction

4 Atmospheric modelling for radiometric corrections Topics based on specific sensors and/or fields of application Hyperspectral image processing Radar remote sensing - SAR, InSAR, PSI, PolSAR, TomSAR,... Land use, land cover, human impact and ecosystem analysis Vegetation and biodiversity - remote sensing in forestry and agriculture Indicators of change for global modeling, monitoring and sustainable development Disaster monitoring, mitigation and damage assessment Renewable and non-renewable resources Remote sensing for water and ice Analysis of industry needs for systems for remote sensing and image analysis Commission IV - Spatial information science and services Methodological topics Spatio-temporal data models, data structures and analysis Geospatial databases: design, update and maintenance, fast query Big data Data quality Crowd sourcing and volunteered geographic information (VGI) Geosensor networks: distributedd processing and decision making Data mining and geostatistics Semantic and geometric integration of heterogeneous spatial information Visualisation, augmented and virtual reality - visual analytics Aggregation, generalization, abstraction and rendering of image and vector data The Internet of Geospatial Things (Geospatial Semantic Web) Analysis of moving objects Geo-social analysis of location-based social media data Cyberinfrastuctures and national mapping agencies Application oriented topics Web services and service oriented architectures, sensor web Spatial decision support systemss Geospatial Data Infrastructure Location based services Data libraries, data clearinghouses, data warehouses, distributed archives and access to remote data sources, including interoperability, metadata and digital data standards (OGC, ISO) Global environmental databasess and services GIS, CAD and BIM GIS and application domains (health, mobility, traffic, logistics,...) Contact with national mapping agencies Analysis of industry needs for systems for production and update of geoinformation and geospatial DB

5 Commission V - Education and capacity building Promotion of education and training at fundamental, advanced and professional levels Curriculum development and adaptation in ISPRS fields of expertise Innovative techniques for information dissemination on the internet Promotion of technology transfer, considering account regional needs and resources Promotion of capacity building in the areas of interest to ISPRS Promotion of ISPRS Student Consortium Promotion of outreach activities Promotion of ISPRS activities in the regions, incl. support of regional meetings Liasise with other international geospatial societies for education, capacity building and outreach In general, the proposed commissions are larger in scope than the current commissions, and consequently could expect to have more working groups than currently exist in each commission alone. This enlargement is seen to be necessary for at least two reasons: (a) the field of the commissions is widened with respect to the current situation and it is therefore reasonable to increase the number of WGs; and (b) as there is a significant interest in people from our community participating as WG officers, we should accommodate this interest. Meeting schedule As suggested by ISAC, the general ISPRS meeting schedule will be kept intact. It consists of the Congress every four years (always an even year) and Commission Symposia in the remaining even years. In the odd years, an ISPRS Geospatial Week will be convened. The proposed schedule therefore looks as follows: - Year 1: ISPRS Congress - Year 2: ISPRS Geospatial Week - Year 3: ISPRS Commission Symposia - Year 4: ISPRS Geospatial Week - Year 5: ISPRS Congress The concept of the Congress and of the Commission Symposia will be maintained, with the exception of the new Commission V (see below). Besides these larger meetings, working groups are encouraged to hold smaller workshops whenever appropriate. Both the organisers of symposia (the TCPs) and of the ISPRS Geospatial Week will be eligible to apply to Council for a loan in order to facilitate preparation of the meeting. This loan is to be paid back four months after the meeting, at the latest. Each commission should develop a tag line for their symposia, under which the meeting will be known as an ISPRS flagship event. Since 2002, the current Com. III already has such a tag line, and the symposium is known as "PCV - Photogrammetric Computer Vision". As a side effect, such a tag line will render the commission number less important. The ISPRS Geospatial Week was first introduced in Antalya in 2013 and will be held in Montpellier in autumn It is a combination of independent workshops organised by different working groups at the same time and in a common location. The working groups will organise the scientific programme incl. paper review and will thus be responsible for the scientific quality. If suitable, a common keynote presentation will provide a larger picture of the overall meeting. The local organiser will provide the framework of the event, incl. logistics for registration, accommodation and the social programme. Financial arrangements will be decided between the local organiser and the working group officers under the auspices of ISPRS. Details will be determined in a contract between the local organiserr and ISPRS Council, similar to the contract for the symposia. At this point in time, it is not yet clear how a local organiser will be selected. Council is in favour of a bidding process, and the decision could be taken at the General Assembly (similar to deciding for the next Congress).

6 For the time being, the decision could be delegated from the General Assembly to Council. In this way the ISPRS Geospatial Week will develop into another scientific flagship meeting of the society. As mentioned, the ISPRS Geospatial Week should be seen as an addition to the regular meeting schedule, not as a substitute for previous working group events. In contrary, a working group can also generate a flagship meet- Image Analy- ing series, as has been done for example by the working group organising PIA - Photogrammetric sis. Regional Meetings With the reduced number of symposia, it is likely that there will be parts of the globe were no larger ISPRS event will be held during any one quadrennial period between congresses. In order to still offer attractive possi- bilities for active participation in ISPRS work and to strengthen the global aspects of the society, regional meet- ings will be held when and where appropriate. They will be organised with support of the new Commission V (see also below). Commission President and Commission Vice-President While ISPRS does not have the financial resources to present monetary incentives to Commission Presidents (CPs) or Ordinary Members to host a commission, a large and successful symposiumm creating significant visibilcommission. Experience has ity for all parties (Ordinary Member, CP, ISPRS) is certainly a benefit of hosting a shown that the overwhelming majority of ISPRS symposia in the last few decades have generated a surplus. Larger symposia will also be more attractive to industry to take part in the exhibitions, which further increases the chances of a financially positive result. The fact that the CP typically also acts as an editor of a high profile scientific set of proceedings is an additional benefit for CPs coming from a scientific background. Thus, the position of the Commission President (CP) carries more prestige and becomes more attractive to possible candi- a Commission Vice- dates in the new structure. At the same time the workload of the CP will likely increase. To balance this development, President (CVP) for each Commission will be incorporated. Although not mandatory, the CVP could come from an Ordinary Member different to that of the CP in order to provide an additional possibility for global participa- of his/her home Ordinary tion in managing commissions. In this case, the CVP would ideally have the support Member. The names of both, CP and CVP, need to be submitted as part of the bid for hosting a commission, and the General Assembly will only take one vote for the commission, (instead of separate votes for CP and CVP), thus ensuring a smooth cooperation between CP and CVP. The CP is ultimately responsible for the commission. The role of the CVP is to support the CP s workload - and to represent him/her in case of absence. Important decisions for the commission need to be taken by the CP after consultation with the CVP. While a strict regime for sharing the workload cannot be formulated by Council (individual cases might just be too different), the CVP could look after some of the WGs of the commission, while the CP will look after the other WGs. The CVP should also have a role in running the symposium, e.g., acting as Programme Director (note that also the Congress has a Programme Director different from the Congress Director), or the CVP could be responsible for web pages and PR of the symposium - of course, a variety of other possibilities to share the work exists. The new Commission V - Education, capacity building and outreach The Commission on education, capacity building and outreach is somewhat special, as it is not a scientific commission. A major task is the cooperation with the ISPRS Student Consortium to ensure that young profes- sionals can learn and be smoothly integrated into ISPRS.

7 In the past, holding a midterm symposium has sometimes proven to be rather difficult for the Commission on education. In order to accommodate this situation, the new Commission will concentrate on organising summer schools, educational workshops and similar events. These events should be held in conjunction with the Sympo- In this way, more people sia of Commissions I to IV or similar meetings, not as a separate midterm symposium. will have the possibility to actively participate in the commission activities and a larger impact can be achieved. If requested, the commission should also strive to support the regional meetings (seee above), particularly if such meetings are aimed at capacity building and geospatial education. In order to carry out these tasks, limited funds from ISPRS and TIF (The ISPRS Foundation) will be available, as was the case for the summer schools in the past. Time schedule As mentioned in the original suggestion for change, the time schedule for restructuring the commissions is as follows (the current paper is the "consolidated draft"): Distribution of the consolidated draft to ISPRS members and officers in early October 2014, with a deadand November (USA); line for comments by end of November 2014; In parallel, further discussion during the ISPRS symposia in October (Canada) Concluding discussion and finalisation of the proposal during the ISPRS symposium and Joint Meeting in December (India) and decision how to proceed; (in case, the decision is in favour of putting the restructuring to vote): postal ballot in the first half of 2015, announcement of the results by June 2015 at the latest (note that the number and the names of Commissions are defined in the Bylaws, which can be changed by postal ballot. Only the term "Technical Commissions" as such is mentioned in the Statutes IV and XIII); this situation can be changed during the Congress in Prague if desired. This schedule provides Ordinary Members interested in hosting one of the (new) commissions for the period sufficient time to formulate their ideas and develop their bids ahead of the XXIII ISPRS Congress and General Assembly in Prague, July Version 0: Aug. 22, 2014 initial draft Version 1, Sept. 23, 2014 based on comments from Council and discussions at Zürich Midterm Symposium Version 2, Oct. 03, 2014 based on further discussion within Council and at the Istanbul Midterm Symposium