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Cumulative Issue #137 December 2005 ISSN 0161-7869 http://www.grss-ieee.org/menu.taf?menu=Publications&detail=newsletter Editor: Adriano Camps

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Cumulative Issue #137 December 2005 ISSN 0161-7869

http://www.grss-ieee.org/menu.taf?menu=Publications&detail=newsletter Editor: Adriano Camps

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2 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

Table of Contents

IEEE GRS-S ADCom, Officers and Committee Chairs ............................2

Editor’s Comments ..................................3

President’s Message................................3

Editorial Board Members ........................4

AdCom Members...................................5

Chapters and Contact Information...........6

PACE PIECEIs It Time to Update Your Resume?...............7

GRS-S MEMBERS HIGHLIGHTSNational Science Foundation Awards Grantto Renew National Center for AirbourneLaser Mapping ...........................................8

UNIVERSITY PROFILERochester Institute of Technology DigitalImaging and Remote Sensing Laboratory .9

EDUCATIONAL TUTORIALRemote Sensing with Passive Radar at theUniversity of Washington......................16

IGARSS 2005......................................22

GRS-S Awards Presented at IGARSS 2005...................................................23

Upcoming Conferences.............................36

Notice to PotentialAdvertisers The IEEE GRS-S Newsletter publishes paidadvertisements for job openings, shortcourses, products, and services which are ofinterest to the GRS-S membership. The ratesfor advertisements published in theNewsletter are:

PerSize Dimensions InsertionFull page 7” x 10” $500.00Half page $400.00Vertical 3.375” x 10”Horizontal 7” x 4.875”

Quarter page 3.375” x 4.875” $300.00

The Editor reserves the right to reject adver-tisements. Please address all enquires to:

Ms. Susan SchneidermanAdvertising Sales ManagerIEEE Magazines/Newsletters445 Hoes LanePiscataway, NJ 08855-1331Tel: +1 732-562-3946Fax: +1 732-981-1855

Postal Information and Copyright NoticeIEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Newsletter (ISSN 0161-7869) is published quarterly by theGeoscience and Remote Sensing Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.,Headquarters: 3 Park Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10016-5997. $1.00 per member per year(included in Society fee) for each member of the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Soc.. Printed inU.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Sendaddress changes to IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter, IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane,Piscataway, NJ 08854.© 2005 IEEE. Permission to copy without fee all or part of any material without a copyright notice isgranted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, and thetitle of the publication and its date appear on each copy. To copy material with a copyright noticerequires special permission. Please direct all inquiries or requests to the IEEE Copyrights Manager.IEEE Customer Service Phone: +1 732 981 1393, Fax:+1 732 981 9667.

IEEE GRS-S AdCom, Officers and CommitteeChairs – 2005 GRS-29 (Division IX)

Newsletter Input and Deadlines The following is the schedule for the GRS-S Newsletter. If you would like to con-tribute an article, please submit your input according to this schedule. Input ispreferred in Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or ASCII for IBM format (please senddisk and hard copy) as IEEE now uses electronic publishing. Other word process-ing formats, including those for Macintosh, are also acceptable, however, pleasebe sure to identify the format on the disk and include the hard copy.

GRS-S Newsletter ScheduleMonth June Sept Dec MarchInput April 15 July 15 Oct 15 Jan 15

PresidentAlbin J. GasiewskiExecutive Vice PresidentLeung TsangVice President for TechnicalActivitiesPaul SmitsVice President for Meetingsand SymposiaMelba M. CrawfordVice President for Operationsand FinanceKaren M. St. Germain Vice President forProfessional ActivitiesKamal SarabandiSecretaryThomas J. JacksonDirector of FinanceJames A. GatlinDirector of EducationGranville E. Paules IIIAwardsWerner WiesbeckChapter ActivitiesSteven C. Reising Conference CoordinationMelba Crawford, Paul SmitsConstitution and BylawsLeung Tsang, Kiyo Tomiyasu

Fellow EvaluationDavid GoodenoughFellow SearchD. M. LeVineMembershipAnthony MilneNominationsMartti Hallikainen Public Relations/PublicityDavid WeissmanStandards and MetricJon A. BenediktssonStrategic PlanningAndrew J. BlanchardTechnical ActivitiesPaul SmitsTransactions EditorJon A. BenediktssonGRS Letters Editor William EmeryNewsletter EditorAdriano CampsPast PresidentCharles LutherIGARSS 2005Wooil M. MoonIGARSS 2006V. ChandrasekarA. J. GasiewskiIGARSS 2007Ignasi Corbella

PACEPaul RacetteSociety on SocialImplications of TechnologyKeith Raney2005 AdCom MembersMelba M. CrawfordWilliam GailDavid G. GoodenoughKaren M. St. GermainSteven C. ReisingPaul Smits2006 AdCom MembersMartti T. HallikainenEllsworth LeDrew David M. LeVine Alberto Moreira Kamal Sarabandi Leung Tsang2007 AdCom MembersAndrew J. Blanchard Albin J. Gasiewski Thomas J. Jackson Nahid Khazenie Anthony K. Milne Jay PearlmanHonorary Life MembersKeith R. CarverKiyo TomiyasuFawwaz T. UlabyWerner Wiesbeck

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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 3

President’s Message

Environmental disasters and their resulting social impacts aredifficult to foresee with any degree of precision. Who would haveimagined that as the result of weather the modern western city ofNew Orleans could become as devastated as Banda Aceh,Indonesia? That nearly as many people as those who were dis-placed by the Andaman Sea tsunami would be forced to seekrefuge across the United States, and with similarly dim prospectsof rebuilding their former lives? That major systems for floodprevention, evacuation, emergency support, and police and fireprotection for a first-world population of over a million peoplewould disintegrate overnight? That the event would cause ripplesacross the globe in fuel and raw material prices? Our socioeco-nomic systems are inherently complex, and severe natural eventscan trigger a cascade of unpredictable ensuing events.

Although no one accurately predicted the events that unfold-ed in New Orleans, substantial telltale warnings of problemsthat lay ahead were published far in advance, including studiesof subsidence, the possibility of a levee breach inundation, andhurricane evacuation capabilities. A visit to New Orleans priorto August 29 could not help but conjure up concerns about thenumber of people and amount of critical civic infrastructurethat lay below the level of an immense, warm gulf that regular-ly fuels the atmosphere’s most powerful class of convectiveengine. In the light of the various scientific risk studies it is dif-ficult to imagine how any cognizant and involved person couldsuggest that no one anticipated the breach of the levees.Notwithstanding the evidence, the socio-environmental risksaccumulated to the point of being what one might liken to pow-der in the breach of a loaded gun.

Of course, if natural events and their outcomes were morepredictable then governments would take steps to discourageor limit habitation in regions prone to extreme weather, geo-logic instability, regular flooding, the presence of toxins, andthe like. Alternately, they would encourage or support theengineering of effective systems to minimize the conse-quences of sporadic natural trigger events. Unfortunately, itseems that governments regularly fail to empty the breach. Abuildup of socio-environmental risk comparable to that ofNew Orleans is ongoing in many areas of the world, and espe-cially those that are home to dense populations with limitedresources upon which to fall back. Since the time that this

Dr. Albin J. GasiewskiPresident, IEEE GRSSNOAA EnvironmentalTechnology Lab325 Broadway R/ET1Boulder, CO 80305-3328,USAPhone: 303-497-7275E-Mail:[email protected]

continued on page 4

Cover Information: Students and staff from the Rochester Institute of Technology involved in a recent fieldcampaign. See University Profile for more details.

Editor’s Comments

First of all, from these lines I want to express our pain for all thathave suffered the catastrophic effects of the recent natural disas-ters, but at the same time, our relief when we find out that ourfriends and their relatives are safe. We hope a quick normaliza-tion of the situation to Sonia Gallegos, our A.E. for LatinAmerican Affairs, who suffered to consequences of the Katrinahurricane, and all those in a similar situation.

This is a full issue where you will find a number of interest-ing articles:

• In the University Profile Section, John R. Schott and John P.Kerekes describe the research activities that are carried out atthe Rochester Institute of Technology - Digital Imaging andRemote Sensing Laboratory,

• In the Education Tutorial Section, John D. Sahr will explainhow “passive radars” work, and their activities in this field atthe University of Washington, and

• As in the issue that follows IGARSS, Werner Wiesbeck, R. KeithRaney, Kamal Sarabandi, Kiyo Tomiyasu, Vincent Salomonson,and Yoshio Yamaguchi feature the GRS-S awards that were pre-sented at IGARSS 2005. Congratulations to all the awardees!I will continue serving as Editor of this Newsletter during

2006, so please feel free to contact me, or any of the AssociateEditors, if you have any input to be published, or any commentsthat will help to make the Newsletter more yours. And let meinsist on the need to get more inputs from students, your stu-dents, who are the future of our society.

Finally, since this is the final issue during which AlbinGasiewski will be our Society President, on behalf of theGRS-S membership, I would like to thank him for his dedica-tion to the Society and for his hard work to make it progress.Thank you, Al!

Adriano Camps, EditorDepartment of Signal Theortyand CommunicationsPolytechnic University ofCataloniaUPC Campus Nord, D4-016E-08034 Barcelona, SPAINTEL: (34)-934.054.153FAX: (34)-934.017.232

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4 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

Adriano Camps, EditorDepartment of Signal Theory andCommunicationsPolytechnic University of CataloniaUPC Campus Nord, D4-016E-08034 Barcelona, SPAINTEL: (34)-934.054.153FAX: (34)-934.017.232E-mail: [email protected]

David B. Kunkee, Associate Editor forOrganizational and Industrial ProfilesRadar and Signal Systems Department The Aerospace CorporationPO Box 92957 MS M4-927Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957TEL: 310-336-1125FAX: 310-563-1132E-mail: [email protected]

Sandra Cruz-Pol, Associate EditorUniversity ProfilesElectrical and Computer Engineering Dept.University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, PR.00681-9042TEL: (787) 832-4040 x2444 x3090 FAX: (787) 831-7564E-mail: [email protected]

Yoshio Yamaguchi, Associate Editor for Asian AffairsDept. of Information EngineeringFaculty of Engineering, Niigata University2-8050, Ikarashi, Niigata 950-2181 JAPANTEL: (81) 25-262-6752FAX: (81) 25-262-6752E-mail: [email protected]

Sonia C. Gallegos, Associate Editor for LatinAmerican AffairsNaval Research LaboratoryOcean Sciences Branch, OceanographyDivisionStennis Space Center, MS 39529, USATEL: 228-688-4867FAX: 228-688-4149E-mail: [email protected]

Tariro Charakupa-Chingono, Associate Editorfor African AffairsInstitute for Environmental Studies, Universityof ZimbabweBox 1438, Kwekwe, ZimbabweTEL: 263 04 860321/33FAX: 263 4 860350/1 E-mail: [email protected]

Newsletter Editorial Board Members:message was first drafted until its final version (not even twomonths) such risk has become manifested yet again as wide-spread human casualty and suffering in Pakistan and NorthernIndia. The socio-environmental gun is fired again.

Sometimes, when the socio-environmental gun goes off thereis no loud bang and muzzle flash, but only a slow degradation instandard of living that almost passes for a normal state of affairs.Such are the long-term risks posed by anthropogenic alterationof atmospheric composition, for example, as has occurred onboth global and local scales. One can hope that the civic leadersresponsible for the well-being of populations that could beaffected by environmental change are paying close attention tothe scientific assessments of socio-environmental risk. It is pre-cisely the sporadic and cascading nature of an environmentaldisaster that demands that responsible leaders to do their utmostto plan ahead by scrutinizing all of the available data as keenlyas resources and technology permit, and by envisioning theworst physically-plausible outcome of ensuing events.

Such preparatory activity is usually not glamorous, butevery now and then the true practitioners of environmentalsecurity gain their due. In the prelude to August 29, 2005 ateam of forecasters within the U.S. National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration had been keeping a watchful eyeon hurricane Katrina - much as they had the many previoustropical depressions and depressions-turned-hurricanes thatdeveloped during this most unusual of seasons. Their eyes,however, were none-other than the very sensors and sensor-based systems which our Society has engendered the develop-ment of over the past few decades. These include both airborneand satellite-based sensors that provided data on temperatureand humidity structure, ocean surface temperature and currents,rain rates, ocean surface winds and waves, and large-scale airmass and moisture fluxes. Had this data, the associated modelsdeveloped by virtue of previously observed data, and the keeninterpretive capabilities of those at the National HurricaneCenter in Miami not been available a repeat of the tragedy thatoccurred during 1900 in Galveston, Texas would more thanlikely have been the outcome. Given the current amount ofpowder in the breach it might have been far worse. We can takegreat pride in knowing that our Society’s members along withthe members of our many national and international sister orga-nizations such as the AMS, AGU, EGU, and several others havecontributed substantially to such life saving technology.

Notwithstanding the above, a subtle danger lurks behind oursuccess. Given the proven utility in our current sensor-basedhurricane intensity and track forecasts, the budget consciousdevil’s advocate naturally asks ‘Aren’t our capabilities ade-quate? What more capabilities do we possibly need?’ Thequandary that often we face in technology research and devel-opment – the one that this devil poses – is that we often do notknow what more we need until we develop it, after which timewe can’t imagine living without it. I can confidently retort thatafter several years of underfunded and oversubscribed calls of

continued on page 8

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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 5

Dr. Albin J. GasiewskiPresident, IEEE GRS-SNOAA Environmental Technology Lab325 Broadway R/ET1Boulder, CO 80305-3328, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Leung TsangExecutive VP, IEEE GRS-SUniversity of WashingtonBox 352500Seattle, WA 98195, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Thomas J. JacksonSecretary, IEEE GRS-SUSDA-ARS Hydrology and RemoteSensing Lab104 Bldg 007 BARC-WestBeltsville, MD 20705, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Karen M. St. GermainVP for Operations and Finance, IEEEGRS-SNPOESS Integrated Program Office8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1450Silver Spring, MD 20910, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Kamal SarabandiVP for Professional Activities, IEEE GRS-SDept. of Electrical Eng. & ComputerScienceAnn Arbor, MI 48109-2122, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Paul SmitsVP for Technical Activities, IEEE GRS-S Joint Research Centre Institute for Env. AndSustainabilityTP262I-21020 Ispra, ITALYE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Melba M. CrawfordVP for Meetings & Symposia, IEEE GRS-SCenter for Space Research3925 W. Braker La., Suite 200The University of Texas at AustinAustin, TX 78712-5321, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Jon A. BenediktssonTransactions Editor, IEEE GRS-SDepartment of Electrical and ComputerEngineering University of Iceland Hjardarhaga 2-6 107 Reykjavik, ICELAND E-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Andrew J. BlanchardUniversity of Texas DallasJohnson SchoolP. O. Box 830688EC32Richardson, TX 75083, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. William J. EmeryLetters Editor, IEEE GRS-SCCAR Box 431University of ColoradoBoulder, CO 80309-0431, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. William B. GailVexcel Corporation1690 38th St.Boulder, CO 80301, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. James A. GatlinDirector of Finance, IEEE GRS-SCode 922 (Emeritus)Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbelt, MD 20771, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. David G. GoodenoughPacific Forestry CentreNatural Resources Canada506 West Burnside RoadVictoria, BC V8Z 1M5, CANADAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Martti T. HallikainenHelsinki University of TechnologyLaboratory of Space TechnologyP. O. Box 3000FIN-02015 HUT, FINLANDE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Nahid KhazenieNASA HeadquatersEarth Science Enterprise8509 Capo Ct.Vienna, VA 22182, USAE Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Ellsworth LeDrewUniversity of WaterlooFaculty of Environmental Studies200 University Ave. WestWaterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, CANADAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. David M. Le VineNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Code 975.0Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Mr. Charles A. LutherPast President, IEEE GRS-SOffice of Naval Research800 N. Quincy StreetArlington, VA 22217, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Anthony K. MilneUniversity of New South WalesSchool of Biological, Earth and Env.SciencesSydney, NSW 2052, AUSTRALIAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Alberto MoreiraGerman Aerospace Center (DLR)Microwaves and Radar InstituteP.O. Box 111682230 Wessling/Oberpfaffenhofen, GER-MANYE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Jay PearlmanThe Boeing CompanyPO Box 3707 MS 84-24Seattle, WA 98124, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Steven C. ReisingElectrical and Computer Engineering Dept. Colorado State University 1373 Campus Delivery Fort Collins, CO 80523-1373, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Werner WiesbeckPast President, IEEE GRS-S; IEEE GRS-SAwards Committee ChairUniversity of KarlsruheInstitute for High Frequency andElectronicsKaiserstrasse 1276128 Karlsruhe, GERMANYE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Kiyo Tomiyasu, IEEE GRS-SHonorary Life MemberLockheed Martin Corp.366 Hilltop RoadPaoli, PA 19301-1211, USAE-Mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Dr. Keith R. CarverHonorary Life Member, IEEE GRS-SUniversity of MassachusettsDept. of Electrical & ComputerEngineeringAmherst, MA 01003, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Fawwaz T. UlabyHonorary Life Member, IEEE GRS-SThe University of Michigan4080 Fleming BuildingAnn Arbor, MI 48109-1340, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Ms. Lisa OstendorfDirector of Conferences, IEEE GRS-SIEEE Geoscience and Remote SensingSociety63 Live Oak LaneStafford, VA 22554, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Ms. Kimberley Jacques Director of Information Services, IEEEGRS-S8521 Trail View DriveEllicott City, MD 21043, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Mr. Granville E. Paules IIIEducation DirectorMission Infrastructure ManagementDivisionScience Mission DirectorateNASA Headquarters Code SMDWashington, DC 20546, USAE-Mail: granville,[email protected]

Dr. David WeissmanPublicity and Public RelationsHofstra University, Dept. of Engineering104 Weed HallHempstead, NY 11549, USAEmail: [email protected]

Dr. Adriano CampsGRS-S Newsletter EditorDept. of Signal Theory andCommunicationTechnical University of Catalonia (UPC),Campus Nord, D4-016E-08034 Barcelona, SPAINE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. R. Keith RaneyGRS-S Rep. on Social Implications ofTechnologyJohns Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics LabSpace Dept.Johns Hopkins Rd.Laurel, MD 20723-6099, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Paul RacetteGRS-S PACE Rep.NASA/GSFC Code 555Greenbelt, MD 20771, USAE-Mail: Paul. [email protected]

Dr. Wooil M. MoonIGARSS05 General ChairmanSeoul National UniversityDept. of Earth System ScienceKwanak-gu Shilim-dong San 56-1Seoul, 151-742, KOREAE-Mail: [email protected] of ManitobaGeophysics Dept.Winnipeg, MD R3T 2NT, CANADAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. V. ChandrasekharIGARSS06 General Co-ChairmanColorado State UniversityElectrical and Computer Engineering Dept. Fort Collins, CO 80523-1373, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Ignasi CorbellaIGARSS07 General ChairmanDept. of Signal Theory andCommunicationTechnical University of Catalonia (UPC),Campus Nord, D3-208E-08034 Barcelona, SPAINE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. John KerekesIGARSS08 General Co-chairmanChester F. Carlson Center for ImagingScience Rochester Institute of Technology54 Lomb Memorial Drive RochesterNew York 14623-5604E-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Eric MillerIGARSS08 General Co-chairmanElectrical and Computer Engineering315 Sterns CenterNortheastern UniversityBoston, MA 02116, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Harold AnnegarnIGARSS09 General ChairmanDepartment of Geography andEnvironmental Management Rand Afrikaans University P O Box 524 Auckland Park 2006 Johannesburg,REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Roger KingData Archiving and DistributionCommittee ChairMississippi State UniversityBox 9571Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Lori Mann Bruce Data Fusion Technical Committee ChairMississippi State UniversityElectrical and Computer Engineering Dept.Box 9571 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Jeffrey PiepmeierInstrumentation and Future TechnologiesTechnical Committee ChairNASA Goddard Space Flight CenterCode 555Greenbelt, MD 20771, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. David B. KunkeeFrequency Allocations in Remote SensingCommittee ChairThe Aerospace Corp.Sensing and Exploitation DepartmentP.O. Box 92957, MS M4-927Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Venkat LakshmiUser Applications in Remote SensingCommitteeDepartment of Geological SciencesUniversity of South CarolinaColumbia SC 29208 USA E-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Robert A. ShuchmanGRS-S Ad Hoc Industry Liaison CommitteeAltarum InstituteP.O. Box 134001Ann Arbor, MI, USAE-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Sonia GallegosSouth American LiasonNaval Reserach Laboratory, Code 7333Stennis Space CenterMS 39529, USAE-mail: [email protected]

2005 ADCOM MEMBERS’ NAMES AND ADDRESSES

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GRS-S Chapters and Contact InformationChapter Location Joint with

(Societies)Chapter Chair E-mail Address

Region 1: Northeastern USA

Boston Section, MA GRS William Blackwell [email protected]

Springfield Section, MA AP, MTT, ED, GRS, LEO Paul Siqueira [email protected]

Region 2: Eastern USA

Washington / Northern VA GRS James Tilton

Region 3: Southeastern USA

Atlanta Section, GA AES, GRS Greg Showman [email protected]

Eastern North Carolina Section, NC GRS Linda Hayden [email protected]

Region 4: Central USA

Southeastern Michigan Section GRS Mahta Moghaddam [email protected]

Region 5: Southwestern USA

Denver Section, CO AP, MTT, GRS Karl Bois [email protected]

Houston Section, TX AP, MTT, GRS, LEO Christi Madsen [email protected],edu

Region 7: Canada

Toronto, Ontario SP, VT, AES, UFF, OE, GRS Sri Krishnan [email protected]

Vancouver Section, BC AES, GRS Jerry Lim [email protected]

Region 8: Europe and Middle East

Central and South Italy 1 GRS Nazzareno Pierdicca [email protected]

Central and South Italy 2 GRS Maurizio Migliaccio [email protected]

Germany GRS Alberto Moreira [email protected]

Russia Section GRS Anatolij Shutko [email protected]

Spain Section GRS Adriano Camps [email protected]

Ukraine AP, NPS, AES, ED, MTT, GRSEMB

Anatoly Kirilenko [email protected]

Region 10: Asia and Pacific

Beijing Section, China GRS Chao Wang [email protected]

Seoul Section, Korea GRS Wooil Moon [email protected]

Taipei Section, Taiwan GRS Kun-Shan Chen [email protected]

Japan Council GRS Masanobu Shimada [email protected]

UKRI Section GRS, OE Yong Xue [email protected]

Quebec Section, Quebec AES, OE, GRS Xavier Maldague [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Region 9: Latin America

Student Branch, Columbia Section GRS Leyini Parra Espitia [email protected]

6 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 7

The motto “Be prepared,” isn’t just great advice for BoyScouts; it’s also great career advice. You never know when theperfect career opportunity will present itself. If a recruitercalled you today with your dream job, would you be preparedto send out an up-to-date resume right away?

There are four critical times to update your resume:• At least once a year• Any time your career focus changes• When you anticipate layoffs with your company• When you begin to feel dissatisfied with your current position

1. Update your resume every year.This is where many people fall short. When that recruiter callswith the perfect job, you may suddenly find your resume isyears out of date, and you’ll have to scramble to catch up.

Keep your resume current by including your best accom-plishments each year. Don’t count on your memory to recalleverything you achieved in years past! You are likely to over-look critical achievements and contributions. If you need assis-tance, a resume coach may be able to help you through theprocess with some targeted questions on your most recent jobs.

2. Update your resume when your career focus changes.If you want to change your career path, then you also need tochange your resume. There are several ways to shift the focusaway from your current job and toward your new career.

By focusing on the skills that will be useful in your newcareer, you can position yourself as a stronger candidate forthe job. Highlight those transferable skills in your newresume, bringing them front and center.

In addition to highlighting your transferable skills, shiftyour list of accomplishments to support those skills.Accomplishment statements give credibility to transferableskills and prove your ability to cross industry or occupationallines. Well-crafted accomplishments make a big difference inwhether you win the interview or are passed over.

Finally, be sure you understand your audience. As youshift career focus, it is critical to understand the hiringmotives of your target market. Use your resume as an effec-tive selling tool by correctly anticipating the recruiter’s “wishlist” for great job candidates.

3. Update your resume when you anticipate layoffs withinyour company.A harsh reality of today’s economy is the need for corporatedownsizing. Layoffs and losses are becoming more and more

common. But you can prepare for any worst-case scenario bykeeping your resume up-to-date.

Don’t make the mistake of being overly optimistic. It’ssafer to assume that you are on the “out” list. Most peoplewho get caught unexpectedly in a layoff thought they wereindispensable to their employers. You might be important orwell-liked, but remember that the bottom line always has alouder voice than you do. Get your resume ready as soon asyou see any indications that downsizing is on the way.

Don’t mistake company loyalty for a fear of change. Oftenemployees would rather take their chances with a potential lay-off than make proactive steps toward finding a new job. Oncethey’re laid off, it’s already too late. Remember, as a candidate,you are always more marketable while still employed. Avoidthis trap and start your job search early with self-marketing tools(resume and cover letter) that are up-to-date and top quality.

4. Update your resume when you are dissatisfied with yourcurrent position.Job dissatisfaction leads to feelings of frustration, worthless-ness, and often hopelessness. But there is no reason to stay ina job you hate. Being prepared with an updated resume canhelp you feel better in your current job. When you have a real-ly terrible day at work, you can respond to job opportunitiesthat same evening with confidence in your up-to-the-minuteresume. Taking proactive steps toward a new career will giveyou back your optimism and self worth.

If it’s time for you to update your resume, first decide whetheryour resume requires a simple update or a complete rewrite. Ifyou have been using the same resume format throughout yourcareer, it’s possible that you have outgrown the old look. Whatyour resume promoted ten years ago may not be appropriate orsignificant for your career choices today. And if you’ve simplybeen “tacking on” to your old resume, it may start to resemble ahouse with too many additions, with little sense or direction.

A professional resume critique can help you decide exact-ly what you need to move forward. A well-written resume canmake an incredible difference in:• The length of time it takes to make your career move• The quality of your next position• The income potential of your next position

Your resume is your best sales tool in finding a new job,and it deserves the investment of your time and commitment.With a little extra effort now, you’ll be prepared for anythingthat comes your way—and be well on the path to your nextgreat job.

IS IT TIME TO UPDATE YOUR RESUME?

Deborah Walker, CCMCCareer Coach ~ Resume WriterFind more job-search tips and resume samples at: www.AlphaAdvantage.comEmail: [email protected]

PACE PIECE

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8 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded renewalsupport for the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping(NCALM). NCALM was established by NSF in 2003 as aresearch center to support the use of airborne laser mappingtechnology for the Earth science community. The NSF award-ed $2.4M to the University of Florida (UF), the University ofCalifornia-Berkeley (UCB), and Florida InternationalUniversity (FIU) in August 2005 to expand NCALM capabil-ities and services for a three year period. NCALM is operatedjointly by the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering,UF and the Department of Earth and Planetary Science, UCB.Several scientific discoveries in geomorphology and tectonicshave already resulted from NSF investigators using dataacquired, processed, and analyzed by NCALM.

The Center’s foremost goals are to provide state-of-the-arthigh-resolution mapping of surface topography and landcov-

er structure to the Earth science community, to train studentsand professionals to process and analyze ALSM data, and tofoster graduate student education through an annual seedgrant research solicitation.

Ramesh Shrestha, professor of Civil and CoastalEngineering at UF serves as the principle investigator. BillDietrich, professor of Earth and Planetary Science at UCB;Bill Carter, adjunct professor of Civil and CoastalEngineering at UF; Clint Slatton, assistant professor ofElectrical and Computer Engineering at UF; and Keqi Zhang,assistant professor of Environmental Studies and co-directorof the International Hurricane Research Center at FIU serveas co-investigators.

NSF’s Division of Earth Sciences, Instrumentation andFacilities Program, provides funding for the center.

Web URL http://www.ncalm.ufl.edu/.

GRS-S MEMBERS HIGHLIGHTS

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AWARDS GRANT TO RENEWNATIONAL CENTER FOR AIRBORNE LASER MAPPINGProf. K. Clint Slatton, University of Florida E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Kiyo Tomiyasu retires from Lockheed-MartinOur best wishes go to GRS-S Life Member Dr. Kiyo Tomiyasu’s, who has recently retired from the Lockheed-MartinCompany after years of employment.

Prof. Werner Wiesbeck elected as honorary life memberCongratulations are due to GRS Past President Professsor Werner Wiesbeck, who has was elected as the fourth life mem-ber of the GRS-S. The election was made at the July 2005 AdCom meeting in Seoul, Korea.

Prof. Martti Hallikainen elected as a Vice President of the URSIOur Society’s congratulations go out to AdCom member and GRS-S Past President Professor Martti Hallikainen, whowas elected as a Vice President of the International Union of Radio Scientists (URSI) for the upcoming triennium. Theelection was held at the October, 2005 General Assembly of URSI in New Delhi, India.

opportunity we now know of a host of new capabilities that weare sure would improve our ability to forecast track and inten-sity and whose development has been shelved. A brief laundrylist of technology includes: unmanned hurricane-tracking air-craft with passive and active sensors, state-of-the-art super-computers for improved modeling and prediction, advancedSAR and hyperspectral imagers for post-event reconnaissance,rescue, and recovery, and lightweight expendable sensors forin-situ measurements. One can add many more broad initiativesto this list, too, for example, systems and studies that could pro-vide improved measurements of weather and climate variablesso as to facilitate better understanding and elucidation of thetrue nature and impact of climate change, or systems that mightfacilitate advanced warning of seismic activity. Even simple

initiatives that contribute to the general scientific edification ofthe public help provide the critical assessment skills thatdemocracies and non-democracies alike need to implementsound environmental policy. I am sure that our members cansuggest many, many more ideas to add to this list.

Naturally, the tenacious devil now asks, ‘But what is the priceof such technology and science? How can governments affordit?’ Thanks partly to the unprecedented level of scrutiny provid-ed by the media over the past year, we can now confidently saythat the cost of such studies and development efforts – perhapsbillions of $U.S. – is miniscule compared to the costs – estimat-ed at hundreds of billions of $U.S. – of paying insubstantialadvance attention to the socio-environmental consequences of an

President’s Message continued from page 4

continued on page 34

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1. IntroductionThe Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing (DIRS) Laboratorywas formed 25 years ago at the Rochester Institute ofTechnology to serve as a focal point for remote sensingresearch and education at RIT. The DIRS Lab is one of theresearch laboratories within RIT’s Chester F. Carlson Centerfor Imaging Science, an academic unit within the College ofScience.

The DIRS Lab focuses on the development of tools toextract information about the earth from aerial and satelliteimaging systems. This includes design and development ofimaging instruments, developing algorithms to extract infor-mation from remotely sensed systems and measurement andmodeling of the physical phenomena associated with the for-mation of remotely sensed images. The DIRS Lab worksclosely with RIT’s Laboratory for Imaging Algorithms andSystems (LIAS) which focuses on system integration and pro-totype implementation of many of the tools developed by theDIRS Lab.

The educational and research programs at RIT focus on theapplication of science and engineering to solving end-to-endremote sensing problems using a systems engineeringapproach.

2. Imaging Science Degree ProgramsThe remote sensing academic program at RIT is treated as aconcentration area within the degree programs in ImagingScience. A full range of imaging science degrees (B.S., M.S.,and Ph.D.) with concentrations in remote sensing are avail-able. The imaging science degree programs have been inplace at RIT since the 1950’s (then as Photographic Science)and are well recognized by government and industry. Thedemand for graduates at all levels has been very high through-out this period with salaries and placement comparable toengineering degrees. The bulk of the graduates take positionsin the aerospace industry or work directly at national researchand development centers. Some sample courses included atthe undergraduate level include digital image processing,radiometry, geometric optics, physical optics, linear systemsand environmental remote sensing. Graduate courses include:digital image processing, pattern recognition, linear systems,remote sensing I: radiometric concepts, remote sensing II:sensors and multi-spectral processing, remote sensing III:imaging spectroscopy, principles of SAR, spectroscopicanalysis, principles of solid state detectors, geometrical andphysical optics and optical image formation.

A more complete description of the academic degree pro-grams can be found at www.cis.rit.edu including informationabout our distance learning program which includes remoteaccess to the M.S. degree program.

3. PeopleRemote sensing at RIT is largely conducted by project orient-ed teams usually comprised of faculty, full time research sci-entists and students. The faculty affiliated with remote sens-ing include:

Dr. John R. SchottProfessor and Head DIRS LaboratoryResearch Interests-Hyperspectral data analysis and algorithm development-Multi and hyperspectral instrument development and calibration-Synthetic scene generation

Dr. Anthony VodacekAssociate Professor

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 9

UNIVERSITY PROFILE

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYDIGITAL IMAGING AND REMOTE SENSING LABORATORYJohn R. Schott, Professor and Head of Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing LaboratoryJohn P. Kerekes, Associate Professor Rochester Institute of TechnologyChester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, 54 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, New York, 14623 USA

Figure 1. Image of a portion of the RIT campus collected by theDIRS MISI airborne instrument.

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Research Interests:-Environmental applications of remote sensing-Forest fire detection and monitoring-Active and passive sensing of water quality

Dr. Carl SalvaggioAssociate Professor Research Interests:-Novel techniques and devices for optical properties measure-ments-Applied image processing algorithm development-Image simulation and modeling

Dr. John KerekesAssociate Professor Research Interests:-Remote sensing system modeling and analysis-Statistical pattern recognition and signal processing-Environmental mapping and geographic information systems

Dr. Harvey RhodyProfessor and Head LIAS LaboratoryResearch Interests:-Development of image processing algorithms for remotesensing and design-Implementation of architectures for large scale image storageand processing

In addition to the faculty, there are 14 full time researchscientists and post docs supporting the remote sensing activi-ties. The faculty and staff work with a wide range of studentswhich typically includes 32 graduate students and 15 under-graduates and high school summer interns.

4. Research Areas4.1 OverviewResearch is at the heart of all of the activities in the DIRS Lab.Most research utilizes a team approach with a typical teamcomposed of project specific mix of faculty, full time researchstaff and students. This mix is designed to insure that properattention is given to both the academic and mission orientedaspects of each project (i.e., students publish and get degrees,sponsors get program deliverables). Project specific variationsof this approach are applied to approximately twenty tasks atany given time for a variety of sponsors within the defense andintelligence community and the civil remote sensing communi-ty. The research focuses on development of hardware, algo-rithms and systems aimed at solving the remote sensing aspectsof specific problems. As a result the DIRS Lab emphasizesbuilding tools that can be applied across a wide range of appli-cations. The rest of this section includes short descriptions ofsome of the recent research projects at RIT.

4.2 Physics-based ModelingSince the mid-1980’s, the DIRS Lab has been developing asophisticated synthetic image generation application to pro-duce simulated imagery in the visible through thermalinfrared regions. Coined DIRSIG, for Digital Imaging andRemote Sensing Image Generation, the model is designed toproduce broad-band, multi-spectral, hyperspectral and lidarimagery through the integration of a suite of first principlesbased radiation propagation sub models. These sub modelsare responsible for tasks ranging from the bi-directionalreflectance distribution function (BRDF) predictions of a sur-face to the dynamic scanning geometry of a line scanningimaging instrument. In addition to these DIRS-developed submodels, the code uses several modeling tools used by themulti- and hyperspectral community including MODTRANand FASCODE. All modeled components are combined usinga spectral representation and spectral radiance images can beproduced for an arbitrary number of user defined bandpasses.

When first developed, the model rendered simple 2Dscenes into thermal radiance images using basic material ther-modynamic properties and broad-band emissivity values Thisbasic modeling capability was advanced using 3D scenegeometry with a ray-tracing approach which allowed the vir-tual camera to be placed anywhere within the scene. Themodel was also expanded to include photons directly trans-mitted and scattered by the atmosphere from the Sun.

To accurately model land and material surfaces, techniqueshave been incorporated that introduced spatially and spectral-ly correlated reflectance variations producing the texture vari-ations observed within remotely sensed scenes.

The model also can handle transmissive materials allowingthe model to predict the solar load on objects beneath sceneelements including vegetation. This also allows the tool tomodel the absorption by transmissive volumes includingclouds and man-made gas plumes.

Geometric sensor modeling is another capability whichallows the model to produce imagery that contains the geo-metric distortions that would be produced by scanning imag-ing systems such as line and pushbroom scanners. The opticalmodulation transfer function (MTF) of the sensor is modeledin post processing of the sensor reaching radiance field.

Recently, two technically challenging improvements to theDIRSIG model were initiated. One is the revision of the under-lying spectral radiative transport engine to handle polarizedphoton fluxes. The second is to introduce methods to modelLight Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems. Theseimprovements required substantial restructuring of the under-lying software which has mostly been accomplished and formsthe basis for the latest release of the software, DIRSIG 4.0.

Many scenes of natural and urban areas have been simu-lated with DIRSIG. Figure 2 presents one example. This pro-ject, dubbed MegaScene, involved the simulation of an area

10 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

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northwest of Rochester, New York, bordering on LakeOntario. The underlying geometry of the scene was built at0.15 m resolution allowing realistic point spread functioneffects to be incorporated for meter-class sensors. The scenewas constructed in five tiles, each covering an area just under1.5 sq. km. As indicated in the figure, there are over 25,000discrete objects (houses, buildings, trees, etc.) in the scenewith over 5.5 x 109 facets. The figure shows a natural colorrendition compared to a color image taken by the Ikonossatellite over the same area. Figure 3 presents images simu-lated for an off-nadir viewing sensor showing the three-dimensional character and fine detail included in the synthet-ic imagery. Hyperspectral and thermal IR imagery have alsobeen produced for this scene.

4.3 Physics-based algorithmsSeveral projects are ongoing which take advantage of physics-based modeling in the analysis of spectral imagery. Ratherthan using it for scene simulation, the physical understandingof the forward processes is used to extract information fromremotely sensed scenes.

One project involves the implementation of a sub-pixel tar-get detection algorithm based on the Invariant Method. Thisimplementation utilizes the MaxD basis vector selectionmethod to describe the target and background spaces. The tar-get space is described through a physics-based model incor-porating variability in the atmosphere and the viewing geom-etry of the target.

Another project involves an extension of the initial sub-pixel target detection. Here, the goal is to detect resolved andsub-pixel targets with their surface optical properties alteredin some way. In particular, those surfaces that have been “con-taminated” (e.g., have a coating of dust, or dirt, or have agedin the sun, etc.) or “concealed” (e.g., targets under camou-

flage netting or tree canopy). This variability in the target sig-nature is incorporated into the physics-based model describ-ing the target space (similarly to the atmospheric variability inthe initial algorithms) in an effort to include these “altered”targets in the target detection scheme.

A third project involves gas plume detection and analysis.The focus of the research is to use physical models of thespectral absorption of various gas species in the thermalinfrared and develop techniques to detect and quantify thevarious man-made gases present at high spatial resolutions(meter scale).

4.4 Sparse Aperture ModelingThis project is studying improved ways to model sparse aper-ture telescope designs. These designs are intended to allowvery high resolution imaging by synthesizing large effectiveapertures from many sub aperture samples of the wave front.These samples must then be combined and properly phased toform an initial image. This poor quality image is restored withinverse filters that take advantage of knowledge of the instru-ment point spread function and phasing errors.

Recent efforts have focused on the development of a sen-sor model that allows us to model various telescope designswith full spectral fidelity. Many current models ignore thespectral dependence of the phase errors which can be quitesignificant over the typical 400 to 900 nm bandpass of manypanchromatic sensors. The implementation of polychromaticmodeling will provide improved accuracy over those earliergray-world approaches.

The importance of this improved approach is shown inFigure 4 where results of modeling the imaging process to afully restored image are shown for a 0.25l RMS error in thewave front control of the telescope mirror. With this amountof error, the models significantly differ with the polychromat-ic model showing distortions not apparent using the gray-world model. This illustrates the need for the higher level offidelity model (i.e., the simplified model is too optimistic and

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 11

Figure 2. Ikonos image (left) showing area simulated under theMegaScene project (right).

Figure 3. Perspective views of a small area within MegaScene show-ing 3D geometry and detail in features

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could lead to inadequate image quality if used to control theinstrumentation design.)

4.5 Landsat Thermal CalibrationUnder this project, DIRS monitors the thermal calibration ofboth the Landsat 5 TM and 7 ETM+ sensors. This is per-formed by collecting surface water temperatures and airborneMISI (see section 5) thermal imagery, propagating the surfaceradiances to the satellite using MODTRAN and an interpolat-ed atmospheric profile, and comparing known surface radi-ances to sensor reaching radiances. This calibration is essen-tial to users of this thermal data since the Landsat system ofinstruments is intended for long-term studies of the earth.

This Landsat calibration project has been a multi-yearmonitoring effort since 1995. At this time Landsat 7 ETM+remains stable and no changes to the calibration coefficientsare necessary. A slight bias in Landsat 5 TM has beenobserved but no action is warranted until a better understand-ing of how the TM instrument has performed historically.

4.6 Forest Fire Imaging Experimental System (FIRES)FIRES involves the development of automated algorithms forthe detection of fire in multi- and hyperspectral satellite andairborne images. Algorithm development, modeling of fires,and data collections are all ongoing aspects of this effort.

A hybrid contextual algorithm has been developed that isuseful for analysis of both satellite and airborne images. Thehybrid algorithm can work with multi- or hyperspectralinfrared data and is self-adapting to temperature variation inthe background scene. The fire decision is made using the sta-tistical properties of the spectral images.

The modeling research seeks an effective method forrepresenting the three dimensional structure and the spec-

tral characteristics of fire in RIT’s DIRSIG model. The ren-dering of fire in DIRSIG is being researched using labora-tory measurements of fire spectra made in collaborationwith US Forest Service researchers in Missoula, Montana.Several methods for representing the physical structure offlame in three dimensions have been investigated includingan image processing approach to characterize the spatialscale of fire.

The modeling work is being validated with the analysis ofmulti- or hyperspectral images of fire in conjunction withground sensor measurements such as temperature and winddirection, and the analysis of spectral measurements of con-trolled fires. A set of spectral measurements of controlledfires were made at the US Forest Service Fire ScienceLaboratory. This particular set of experiments was designedto allow estimation of the transmission of light by fire.However, the measurements showed that there was littleattenuation of light by fire up to 3 meters thick. Although itwas not possible to calculate the transmission value of firefrom the measurements, an upper bound for the value can beestablished. This information is useful for the DIRSIG ren-dering of fire. An interesting observation from these measure-ments is that the potassium emission line at 766 nm is inde-pendent of the flame thickness, indicating saturation of theemission. This may have implications for using the potassiumemission for fire detection because the integrated signalstrength in an image can be expected to be proportional to thearea of the fire. Knowledge of fire area can be a very impor-tant for fire management.

DIRS (with LIAS staff) are supporting a larger fire propa-gation model research program by using the WASP sensor(see section 5) to collect multiband airborne and ground sen-sor data. Together with the DIRSIG fire modeling work,these data are being integrated into near real-time fire visual-ization and propagation models.

4.7 Conesus Watershed ExperimentsIn collaboration with the investigators at the State Universityof New York Brockport and Geneseo campuses, DIRSresearchers are studying the hypothesis that improved farm-ing practices in the small watersheds of nearby Conesus Lakecan lessen algae and weed growth in the lake by reducing theamount of nutrients in stream water runoff. The ALGE hydro-dynamic model is being used, along with thermal images ofstream plumes in the lake as a way to assess the fate of nutri-ents flowing into the lake.

The ALGE nutrient flow simulations shown in Figure 5 areconsistent with observations of the distribution of weed beds.The ALGE results are being compared to field data, includingwater temperature measurements at a series of depths fromApril to October and images from over flights by the WASPthermal sensors in the spring and fall.

12 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

Figure 4. Illustration of restored images simulated with the new poly-chromatic model (left) and the traditional gray world approach(right).

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4.8 Fusion ResearchA number of research projects are ongoing in the general areaof using data from multiple sensors for enhanced retrieval ofinformation from remote sensing instruments.

One project that has just been initiated is using data frommultiple sensors in a semi-automated fashion to extract infor-mation to construct a DIRSIG scene of an area. The idea is touse data from a LIDAR system to extract three-dimensionalinformation about the terrain and structures, to use high-reso-lution panchromatic or color imagery to obtain shape details,and then hyperspectral imagery to obtain information aboutthe material characteristics. Thermal infrared imagery andsynthetic aperture radar data may also be used to obtain ther-mal characteristics and to differentiate between metal, andnon-metal objects.

The purpose of this research is to speed up the manualprocess of scene building to allow quick turn-around of simu-lated images over an area as they would be observed under avariety of lighting and observational conditions.

Another related fusion project is the use of multiple highresolution data sources to improve the characterization of ter-rain. Figure 6 below shows four images from different sen-sors that have been geo-registered over a 200m x 400m com-mon area. The goal of this project is to improve terrain char-acterization by combining the retrieval of digital elevationmaps with biogeophysical parameters measured by the spec-tral and SAR sensors.

4.9 MegaCollect 2004In June of 2004, a coordinated field collection was accom-plished for the MegaScene area near Rochester, New Yorkthat was previously modeled in DIRSIG. In addition tomultiple airborne imaging sensors, an extensive ground

truth measurement campaign was conducted to character-ize atmospheric parameters, deploy test targets, and char-acterize backgrounds in the field. Laboratory measure-ments were also made on samples to confirm the field mea-surements. These spectral measurements spanned the visi-ble and thermal region from 0.4 to 20 microns. The mea-surements were in support of research into factors thataffect remote sensing algorithm robustness and areas ofimprovement in the physical modeling of scene and sensorphenomena. Reflectance panels were also deployed as con-trol targets to both quantify sensor characteristics andatmospheric effects. Subsets of these targets were alsodeployed as an independent test suite for testing targetdetection algorithms.

Figure 7 shows a sample comparison between theimagery simulated by DIRSIG and a similar area imagedby the RIT MISI instrument. The cover page figure showssome of the RIT staff and students involved inMegaCollect 2004.

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 13

Figure 5. An ALGE simulation of the fate of dissolved nutrients inConesus Lake.

Figure 6. Co-registered images showing rural area test site for highresolution terrain characterization.

Figure 7. Visible color rendering of DIRSIG simulation of a sectionof MegaScene (left) and a MISI spectrometer image over a section ofMegaCollect (right).

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5. Measurement CapabilitiesThe DIRS lab maintains an extensive array of instruments insupport of the various research projects including both air-borne remote sensing instruments and field/laboratory instru-ments.

5.1 Airborne InstrumentsDIRS, with contributions from staff and students, has assem-bled an airborne imaging spectrometer known as the ModularImaging Spectrometer Instrument (MISI) in support of a vari-ety of remote sensing research projects.

MISI contains two imaging spectrometers collecting 70channels across the visible through near infrared and severalbroadband detectors spanning the shortwave through longwaveinfrared. Table 1 provides specifications of the instrument.

The instrument operates in a line scanning mode with arotating mirror collecting incident light and reflecting it ontothree separate focal planes in the cross-track direction. A±45° field-of-view allows collection of 2 km wide swathsfrom 1 km AGL. During each line scan, the detectors alsoview visible and thermal calibration sources. Figure 8 pre-sents example imagery and Figure 9 shows the instrument.

In conjunction with the LIAS group, DIRS has also field-ed a multi-band high resolution camera system known as theWildfire Airborne Sensor Program (WASP). The mission ofWASP is to detect and monitor wildfires from a light mannedaircraft and produce geo-referenced data products aboard theaircraft in near real time.

The WASP camera system consists of four high perfor-

mance frame cameras mounted on a common structure thatpivots about a single axis to image a 4 mile swath from 10,000ft. AGL. The camera suite provides simultaneous coverage ofthe electromagnetic spectrum from 400 nm to 9200 nm. Table2 summarizes the WASP camera capabilities. The three IRcameras provide high sensitivity detection and the capabilityto discriminate targets day and night on the basis of relativebrightness in the different bands. The visible RGB cameraprovides a very high resolution literal image in the day forbetter interpretation and mapping. It is also notable that the IRcameras are capable of operating at full video rates for truemotion imaging as well as still frame. Figure 10 shows theWASP camera system installed in a light twin engine aircraftand Figure 11 presents example imagery from the four bands.

14 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

Table 1. MISI specifications.

Figure 8. MISI VNIR hypercube (top) and LWIR thermal image (bot-tom) of an area along the shoreline of Lake Ontario.

Figure 9. MISI spectrometer undergoing testing in the lab.

Table 2. WASP camera capabilities.

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5.2 Field and Laboratory InstrumentationThe DIRS Lab maintains a number of laboratory and fieldinstruments for measuring optical parameters of materials.Table 3 provides an overview of the spectroradiometers usedto measure spectral radiance, reflectance, and emittance quan-tities. These instruments are used by students and staff tomeasure spectral ground truth in the field and to provide accu-rate laboratory measurements for use by simulation and mod-eling tools. Figure 12 shows a field measurement being madeon an area of the RIT campus.

In addition to this instrumentation, the Lab also has equip-ment to support the water quality studies including a HOBI

Labs HydroRad-4 and HydroScat-2.

6. SummaryThis paper has provided a brief overview of the ongoingremote sensing activities at RIT. More detailed informationabout the research labs, facilities, personnel, publications andprograms can be found at dirs.cis.rit.edu. Descriptions of theacademic programs can be found at www.cis.rit.edu. If thisarticle has peaked the reader’s interest as a potential studentor collaborator, we encourage you to contact us for furtherdiscussions.

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 15

Figure 10. WASP camera installed on Piper Aztec

Figure 11. Example of multiband WASP imagery from 3 km AGL.

Figure 12. DIRS researchers making field measurements.

Table 3. DIRS Field and Laboratory Instruments

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AbstractIn the 1990s technology developments enabled a new kind ofradar for remote sensing of the environment, namely, the“passive radar” which relies upon uncooperative transmittersto provide illumination. The general technique of observingothers’ transmitters to infer geophysical parameters is a veryold idea. However, most of these prior passive experimentsproduce poor spatial resolution, generally providing somesort of integrated quantity.

In contrast, the modern passive yields high space and timeresolution, so that the resulting data passes the “radar Turingtest:” the data products are the same as those from activeradars, with fine range, time, and Doppler resolution.

Since conventional active radars work well, it is reasonableto ask “why bother making passive radars at all?” Theanswers are manifold and involved cost, safety, spectrumavailability, pedagogical opportunity, and an opportunity toexpose students to geophysical and aerospace applications ina single radar system. Passive radars illuminate a few newtechnological challenges whose solution will advance engi-neering and science practice, too.

1. IntroductionIn the mid 1990s my students and I began developing a newcoherent scatter radar for studying turbulence in the ionos-phere. Existing, dedicated radars [1, 2, 3, 4] worked well, andit would have been reasonable to create a new, conventionalinstrument. There are a variety of logistical and scientificaspects presented by conventional radars, and these include• Transmitter cost: transmitters of several tens of kW peak

power are needed, with a cost of approximately 50,000USD.

• Space: these radars operate in the VHF at meter scalewavelengths, where wire antennas with sufficient gainrequire significant space for their installation.

• Safety: the relatively high RF power presents safety issues.• Regulatory: transmitting significant RF power at VHF

requires license from the appropriate agency.• Spectrum availability: some of the most desirable spec-

trum is unavailable because it is allocated for high powerbroadcast services.As an additional consideration we preferred that a new

radar could be operated on the Seattle campus of theUniversity of Washington. In addition to convenience a cam-pus site would permit student participation. Furthermore, aperception that the expense of coherent radars would be animpediment to their widespread distribution, we desired forvery safe, low cost, low impact technology.

In the late 1980s new waveforms were developed forThompson scatter and planetary radar remote sensing of over-spread targets [5, 6, 7]. These radar waveforms are distin-guished by high duty cycle, and by complexity. The complex-ity of these waveforms leads them to have correlation func-tions which resemble that of white noise (and indeed some ofthese waveforms are, literally, band-limited random process-es). Although initially counterintuitive, noise-like processesare expected to have a good self-ambiguity function [8] in theaverage sense.

A definition of the ambiguity function is as follows:

χuu(r, v) =∫

u(t)u∗(t − r)e2π jvtdt (1)

Here χuu(r, v) represents the amplitude response of amatched filter to a signal u(t) when it has been delayed by r(expressed in time units, but representing range) and Dopplershifted by v. The subscripts uu indicate that a self-ambiguityon u(t) is being performed; in the discussion below we willrefer to cross-ambiguity between two signals u(t) and v(t).

It seemed that commercial FM broadcast signals mighthave good self-ambiguity by virtue of the process of frequen-cy modulation [9], which takes a pair of audio signals withtotal bandwidth of about 30 kHz, and spreads it into an RFbandwidth of approximately 100 kHz. Furthermore, manyFM broadcasts are quite powerful, with 50 kW or more, and100 percent duty cycle. Although the transmit antennas haverelatively low gain (typically 3-6 dB), the average effectiveradiated power is comparable to or exceeding that of conven-tional coherent scatter radars.

16 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

EDUCATIONAL TUTORIAL

REMOTE SENSING WITH PASSIVE RADAR AT THE UNIVERSITY OFWASHINGTON

John D. SahrE-mail: [email protected] of Electrical Engineering University of Washington,Seattle, Washington

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1.1 Initial VHF Passive Radar studies at UWPaul Hall and J. Michael Hansen [10, 11] numerically andexperimentally tested this in their MS theses, and this led to amore rigorous theoretical investigation [12] (see also Ringer,Frazer, and Anderson [13]). Finally, in 1998 Frank Lindobtained “first light” with the Manastash Ridge Radar (MRR)[14, 15], so named for the location of one of the receivers atthe Manastash Ridge Observatory, operated by the AstronomyDepartment at the University of Washington1.

The MRR system was upgraded in 2001, and has provid-ed nearly continuous observation since mid-2001.Subsequently Zhou [16] developed techniques for mitigatingground clutter and multipath, Meyer [17] developedazimuthal interferometry [18] and a statistical study of auro-ral irregularity spectra [19], and Morabito has investigatedmeans of reducing computational burden in the detection andestimation algorithms [20].

Our current efforts are described further below. As therehas been significant passive radar development effort for aero-space applications, we briefly outline some of that work next.

1.2 Aerospace DevelopmentThe passive aspect of such systems had interested the aerospacecommunity well before our efforts; very little aerospace industryefforts appear in open literature before the late 1990s. In theaerospace literature, passive radar technology is frequentlyreferred to as “passive coherent location,” which hints at twoaspects of such systems which are not useful for geophysicsapplications. First, because aircraft are point-like scatterers, theycan be tracked (not merely detected) by coordinating the scatterof several different broadcasts, with detailed tracking informationdeveloped from time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA). TDOA is thecore algorithmic basis of navigation services such as GPS. (It isalso possible to perform aircraft tracking using frequency differ-ence of arrival (FDOA) along with angle of arrival [21]. Second,as aircraft often emit various communications and navigationsignals on their own, multi-site receivers can deduce aircraftlocation by triangulating these signals as well.

There are some academic investigations using television[21, 22] as well as orbiting navigation services (e.g. GPS) [23,24]. Industrial activity became apparent 1998 with descrip-tions of the Silent Sentry™ developed by Lockheed MartinMission Systems [25] detects the scatter of television and FMbroadcasts. Roke Manor Research Ltd2. subsequentlyannounced CELLDAR™, a passive radar technology basedupon cellular telephone signals [26].

Professor Aaron Lanterman has recently begun some

investigation of passive radar systems for aerospace applica-tions at the Georgia Institute of Technology3.

1.3 Bistatic and Multistatic RadarIn a conventional pulsed (or monostatic) radar, the receiver isprotected and isolated from the transmit signal by temporallysharing a single antenna. Some radars nevertheless operateseparately the transmit and receive sites, and such a configu-ration is said to be bistatic (or multistatic, with more receiveand transmit sites).

Because spatial isolation is required for passive radars,they are necessarily bistatic or multistatic, which is to say thatthe transmitter and receiver do not share an antenna, andindeed have significant spatial separation.

There are numerous sources devoted to bistatic and multi-static radar (c.f. [27, 28]). The literature as it exists is strong-ly weighted towards aerospace applications (detection andtracking of point targets) rather than geophysics applications(parameter estimation of deep fluctuating targets).

Although there is a sense bistatic radar is a straightforwardextension of conventional monostatic radar, two generalissues require care: modifications to the scattering cross sec-tion (especially forward scattering), and the logistics of mul-tisite coordination, synchronization, and data transport.

1.4 IlluminatorsThe utility of a transmitter of opportunity for passive radardepends upon the strength and distribution of the illumina-tion, the target scattering cross section, and the ambiguityfunction. In the case of aerospace targets, a compact, unam-biguous ambiguity function may be helpful, but is not strictlynecessary [21]. Griffiths [29] has recently surveyed a numberof waveforms, including VHF FM, VHF and UHF analogtelevision, Digital television, cellular telephones, and GPS.The latter two are limited primarily by their low power, withGPS especially limited.

1.4.1VHF FMIn application to ionospheric turbulence, VHF FM has beendemonstrated to work well. There is sufficient power and the3 m wavelength provides access to the relatively “red” spec-trum of irregularity scattering cross section. At high latitudesthe highly field-aligned nature of ionospheric turbulence [30]presents ionospheric targets toward the pole-ward horizon,and thus is well illuminated by (omnidirectional) broadcastsources.

At lower latitudes, the coherent scattering cross-section iswell illuminated east and west of broadcasters, and less sotoward the zenith (as there is little point in directing broadcastradio energy toward the zenith) [31].

As suggested by Sahr and Lind [12], one expects the ambi-guity function to be good only in the average sense. In peri-

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 17

1 http://www.astro.washington.edu 2 http://www.roke.co.uk/sensors/stealth/celldar.asp 3 http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~lanterm 4 URSI North American Meeting, Boulder Colorado,

January 2005; manuscript in preparation

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ods of low modulation (silence) one expects the ambiguityfunction to be poor, and this is, indeed the case. RecentlySahr has presented4 an analysis of several FM broadcastswhich shows that poor ambiguity is an infrequent occurrence,and is easily mitigated.

2. Scientific ObservationsThe MRR project has been supported primarily by the NationalScience Foundation to investigate ionospheric turbulence. Thelow cost, safety, and high performance make the instrumentvery attractive for continuous surveillance of the ionosphere.The instrument has been in nearly continuous operation fromAutumn 2001 until February 2005. It is presently being upgrad-ed with improved reference oscillators (more about that below)and in anticipation of expanding the two receiver system to afive receiver system during summer 2005.

The radar is operated in such way that it continuously pre-sents new data to the World Wide Web, updating every halfhour with Range-Time-Intensity and Range-Doppler plots5.Also, a complete record of range-Doppler images which con-tain auroral scatter has been retained since early 20026; addi-tional subdirectories retain examples of scatter from meteortrails and aircraft.

2.1 DetectionDetails of the detection algorithms are described in severaldissertations; all are based on the initial development by Sahrand Lind [12]. Without going into great detail, a scattered sig-nal y(t) contains a combination of transmitter signals x(t)delayed by time-of-flight r for each range. We form a new sig-nal z by performing a short coherent integration, or matchedfilter detection,

z(t; r) =T∑

s=0

y(t + s)x∗(t + s − r) (2)

When T < τ , z(t;r) is a noisy, but unbiased time series ofthe scatter at range r. This signal z(t) may then be passed intocompletely conventional power spectrum estimation routines,or interferometric cross spectrum estimation.

In the case of MRR, we sample the receivers at a rate of100 k samples/sec, and then produce a z(t;r) which evolves at2 kHz by integrating as above, 50 consecutive samples. Ithappens that the computation is dominated by eq. (1) ratherthan the subsequent Fourier Transforms.

Finally, in our usual mode, we acquire samples for 10 sec-onds in each four minutes, and produce a single Range-Doppler average for that time. With 256-pt spectra, there aretypically 80 incoherent averages of the power spectrum. Wealso compute 800 ranges (from 0 to 1200 km range) by

changing the range parameter r, in what we term “range first”cross ambiguity, in that we compute the complete power spec-trum at particular ranges, rather the range profile of a partic-ular Doppler component (a possible variation).

2.2 Auroral E-region irregularitiesIn Fig. 1 we show an example of auroral irregularity detec-tion, which reveals the basic features of the passive radar.First, there is tremendous unambiguous range extent. Therange-Doppler computation is halted at 1200 km because theE region lies entirely below the horizon at this distance; how-ever the radar remains completely range unambiguous. In aconventional pulsed radar, with unambiguous velocity of1500 m/s, the aliasing range would be only 75 km.Alternatively, a unaliased range of 1200 km would corre-spond to a Doppler velocity range just less than 100 m/s,which is clearly inadequate for auroral irregularities. The

completely unambiguous range-Doppler profiles are one ofthe most powerful features of MRR.

In addition, the maximum range of detected echoes isabout 1150 km, which is very close to the line of sight hori-zon. This is approximately 200 km greater range than con-ventional VHF coherent radars, and results primarily from thetransmitter power, and relatively high antenna heights whichprovide illumination very close to the horizon.

2.3 MeteorsWe frequently detect meteors, although our operational modeis not optimized for this purpose. Meteors are, nevertheless,interesting targets in their own right, and in addition for theplasma processes on their trails, and their utility in determin-ing neutral winds in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere(MLT) region. In Fig. 2 the range-Doppler detection of a pairof 2001 Geminid meteors is shown, detected at 96.5 MHz.

It is occasionally possible to detect a meteor signal illumi-

18 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

Figure 1. Example of Auroral E Region Irregularities, Detected 2February 2003, at 0711 UT, using FM station 96.5 MHz. The ver-tical axis is Doppler velocity 1500 m/s; the horizontal axis is slantrange (half the round-trip path). Ground clutter from the CascadeMountains is visible at left, and a complex Auroral scatter regionat right, ranging from 850 to 1120 km. The vertical scale is Signal-to-Clutter ratio, in dB.

5 http://rrsl.ee.washington.edu/Data 6 http://rrsl.ee.washington.edu/Data/Images

7 A report describing this technique is in preparation

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nated by different transmitters. The resulting double-bistaticsystem permits absolute location of the meteors through time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA)7. This is a common techniquefor meteor radar systems, though usually with a single trans-mitter and several receivers.

2.4 InterferometryMelissa Meyer [17] has implemented two element interfer-ometry for observation of irregularities. With a relatively largebaseline (16 λ) the angular resolution is superb, yielding res-olution of about 2 km in azimuth at a range of 1000 km, com-

parable to the range resolution. Of course, with such a largebaseline, the angle is aliased. We are currently developingadditional interferometer antennas and receivers to resolvethis ambiguity.

2.5 Multi-frequency operationThe digital receivers lend themselves very naturally to simul-taneous observation of several transmitters. Dual frequencyobservations have been made for the three cases above. Whentransmitters are located in different places, this yields not onlyslightly different scattering length, but somewhat differentk−vectors, with the possibility of unambiguous vectorDoppler measurements resulting.

2.6 Potential for wider application Recently, we reported on the possibility of extending the tech-nique to the magnetic equator [31]. Rather than observing thepole-ward horizon, one would observe in a slice from east towest, passing through the zenith. At high latitudes, and atVHF frequencies, it is not possible to observe the F-regionfrom the ground (the magnetic geometry does not provide anopportunity for ground-based observations). However, at theequator both the E and F regions would be accessible, and thelarge height of the F-region would permit extremely good TXshielding by using baselines exceeding 1000 km.

3. Passive Radar TechnologyMuch of the technology associated with passive radar is quitenew. We'll summarize some of the high points of develop-ment.

3.1 Two-station topologyWe use a “two-station'” topology, in which one receiver pro-vides a clean copy of the transmitter signal, and a second, dis-tant receiver detects the scatter. In contrast, Lockheed Martin'sefforts have revolved around “one-station” topologies, inwhich the reference and scatter signals are produced at a sin-gle site (but with an elaborate antenna/receiver system).

Chucai Zhou developed techniques for removing groundclutter from the both the reference and scatter signals [16].One of the most powerful techniques is the fractional-spaced-equalizer [32]; although not designed for analog FM wave-forms, it works well in practice, and not only on constantmodulus (CM) waveforms. We expect to spend considerableeffort extending Zhou's work.

3.2 Cross Ambiguity FunctionA direct implementation of the correlation-based detector pre-sented by Sahr and Lind [12] is very expensive, however thecomputation can be reorganized in a number of ways.Currently we are able to process a single range-Doppleranalysis in real time, with low latency. However, we continue

IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 19

Figure 2. Example of Geminid meteor detection by MRR, 14December 2001, at 0941 UT. The axes are labeled the same as Fig.1. In particular, two separate meteors were detected in the 10 sec-ond sampling window, at 490 and 670 km slant range. The actualtime of arrival of each meteor signal can be determined to a few msby examination of the underlying time series. The vertical (Doppler)spread of the signal indicates primarily the imperfection of the FMambiguity function over short intervals.

Figure 3. Passive radar interferometer observations of Auroral irreg-ularities. On the left is the conventional Range (vertical)-Doppler(horizontal) display; on the right is scatter power vs. range (vertical)and azimuth (horizontal) of the same data.

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to investigate the detection algorithm in anticipation of analy-sis of many more antennas and transmitter frequencies. Also,we expect to observe digital television scatter, which willrequire a substantially increased computation. Moribito [20]has performed initial investigation of one technique whichcan be thought of as a filter-bank approach.

3.3 Periodogram-based spectrum estimationCurrently we use an unwindowed periodogram for our powerspectral estimates. There is ample opportunity to investigateother spectrum estimation algorithms. The unwindowed peri-odogram has the significant virtue of speed and simplicity,and has, so far, served well.

3.4 Passive Radar InterferometryAs mentioned above, Meyer [17, 18] has developed a two ele-ment interferometer at a single station. The results are superb,but the large baseline results in ambiguity in angle of arrival.We are developing additional baselines to permit absoluteregistration of the scatter.

3.5 Dynamic Range considerationsThe challenge presented by the “always on” transmitterresults in several challenges to receiver dynamic range. Asmentioned above, the two-station topology addresses themain dynamic range challenge by strongly suppressing thetransmitter signal in the scatter receiver. However, severalissues remain.

First, the TX signal is not entirely eliminated in the scat-tered signal, as the ground clutter in Fig. 1 and Fig 2. clearlyshow. In the case of MRR, the auroral scatter is easily detect-ed, but rarely stronger than the transmitter leakage.

Second, the two-station system carries the implication ofindependent reference oscillators. The mutual errors of sam-pling introduce a subtle but important source of systematicnoise. This is not debilitating for an auroral radar for whichthe signals arrive a full millisecond after the ground clutter,but it is a significant consideration for radars observing tar-gets at nearer ranges (such as equatorial E region scatter,which is only 100 km distant).

Third, the nonlinearities present in RF preamps and downconverters can conspire to mask weak echoes when strongechoes are present. The “third order intercept” [33] parame-ter is especially important.

3.6 Digital ReceiversIn 2001 the MRR was significantly upgraded by exchangingthe direct-conversion receiver with a digital receiver. The cur-rent system has RF preamplifiers but no analog down conver-

sion; the RF signal is directly sampled at either 56 or 72 MHz.These sample frequencies permit the entire FM band to beunambiguously sampled without Nyquist ambiguity. Thedown conversion step is now performed digitally with extra-ordinary precision and balance between the in-phase andquadrature channels. Digital receivers have been developedprimarily to support the wireless communications world, butthey are being employed aggressively in a variety of ionos-pheric radar applications because of their tremendous perfor-mance and extraordinary flexibility.

3.7 Oscillator StabilityThe oscillators which driver the high speed samplers must beof very high quality in order to gain the benefit of the digitalreceiver technology. We use PLL oscillators which are phase-locked to the 10 MHz signals derived from GPS; we willshortly be upgrading to PLL crystal oscillators at fixed fre-quency for improved performance.

Because the range-Doppler information is only extractedupon simultaneous analysis of the raw samples, the data flow ina passive radar system is substantial. In MRR, our maximumdata rate for 100 kHz sampling is of the order 10 MBytes/sec(when several antennas and several transmitters are sampled).Thus, there is some impetus to compress the data from the nat-ural 16 bit samples generated by the digital receiver.

The data seems to survive aggressive truncation fairly well,but we have yet to make a systematic study of compression.

3.8 Networked ArraysThe strength of passive radar will increase at a rate whichgreatly exceeds the number of receivers. The total number ofscattering links increases as the square of the number ofreceivers, and linearly in the number of transmitters.

In order to reach this potential, it is critical that standard soft-ware and hardware protocols be established. A fledgling devel-opment effort has begun among interested parties in the Open

Radar Initiative8. More broadly, several members of theUS aeronomy community have begun to describe a new ini-tiative entitled Distributed Arrays of Scientific Instruments(DASI)9 intended to support a wide array of ground-basedinstruments to remotely sense the upper atmosphere and mag-netosphere.

4. ConclusionPassive Radar has proven to be an effective and intriguing modal-ity for remote sensing of meter-scale field-aligned ionosphericturbulence. Several technologies came together at once to makeit possible: GPS, inexpensive computation, high speed dataacquisition, and the Internet. There are extraordinary opportuni-ties to extend this technology in geographic distribution and infrequency; and to additional applications beyond ionospheric tur-bulence to other geophysics and aerospace applications. As an

20 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

8 http://www.openradar.org 9 personal communication, John Foster

[email protected]

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emerging technology it also serves as an excellent workbench foreducating the next generation of scientists and engineers.

AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to the National Science Foundation (NSF) forits generous support of our investigation of passive radar. Weadditionally acknowledge support from the Air Force Officeof Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO).

Bibliography[1] J. F. Providakes, W. E. Swartz, D. T. Farley, and B. G. Fejer.

First VHF auroral interferometer observations. Geophys. Res.Lett., 10:401, 1983.

[2] R. A. Greenwald, W. Weiss, E. Nielsen, and N. R. Thompson.STARE: A new radar auroral backscatter experiment in north-ern Scandinavia. Radio Sci., 13:1021, 1978.

[3] J. A. Koehler, G. J. Sofko, D. Andre, M. Maguire, R. Osterried,M. McKibben, J. Mu, D. Danskin, and A. Ortlepp. The SAP-PHIRE auroral radar system. Can. J. Phys., 73:211--26, 1995.

[4] R. A. Greenwald, K. B. Baker, R. A. Hutchins, and C.Hanuise. An {HF} phased-array radar for studying small-scalestructure in the high-latitude ionosphere. Radio Sci., 20:63,1985.

[5] M. Lehtinen and I. Haggstrom. A new modulation principle forincoherent scatter, Radio Sci., 22:625--634, 1987.

[6] M. P. Sulzer. A radar technique for high range resolution inco-herent scatter autocorrelation function measurements utilizingthe full average power of klystron radars, Radio Sci., 21:1033--1040, 1986.

[7] T. Hagfors and W. Kofman. Mapping of overspread targets inradar astronomy, Radio Sci., 26:403--416, 1991.

[8] Nadav Levanon and Eli Mozesan. Radar Waveforms. JohnWiley, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2004.

[9] R. E. Ziemer and W. H. Tranter. Principles of Communications: Systems, Modulation, and Noise. Houghton Mifflin, Boston,Mass., 1990.

[10] J. M. Hansen. A new radar technique for remote sensing ofatmospheric irregularities by passive observation of the scat-tering of commercial FM broadcasts. Master's thesis, Univ. ofWash., Seattle, 1994.

[11] P. W. Hall. Correlative range-Doppler detectors and estimatorsin bistatic radar using commercial FM broadcasts. Master'sthesis, Univ. of Wash., Seattle, 1995.

[12] J. D. Sahr and F. D. Lind. The Manastash Ridge Radar: A pas-sive bistatic radar for upper atmospheric radio science. RadioSci., 32:2345--2358, 1997.

[13] M. A. Ringer, G. J. Frazer, and S. J. Anderson. Waveform analy-sis of transmitters of opportunity for passive radar. TechnicalReport DSTO-TR-0809, DSTO Electronics and SurveillanceResearch Laboratory, 1999.

[14] F. D. Lind, J. D. Sahr, and D. M. Gidner. First passive radarobservations of auroral E region irregularities. Geophys. Res.

Lett., 26:2155--58, 1999.[15] Frank D. Lind. Passive radar observations of the aurora. PhD

thesis, Univ. of Wash., Seattle, 1999.[16] Chucai Cliff Zhou. Application and extension of space-time

adaptive processing to passive FM radar. PhD thesis, Univ. ofWash., Seattle, 2003.

[17] Melissa G. Meyer. Passive VHF radar interferometer imple-mentation, observation, and analysis. Master's thesis, Univ. ofWash., Seattle, 2003.

[18] Melissa G. Meyer and John D. Sahr. Passive coherent scatterradar interferometer implementation, observations, and analy-sis. Radio Sci., 39:RS3008, 2004.

[19] Melissa G. Meyer, John D. Sahr, and Andrew Morabito. A sta-tistical study of subauroral e-region coherent backscatterobserved near 100 MHz with passive radar. J. Geophys. Res.,A, 109:A07308, 2004.

[20] Andrew N. Morabito. Improved computational performancefor Manastash ridge radar processing through channelizeddata. Master's thesis, Univ. of Wash., Seattle, 2004.

[21] P. E. Howland. Television Based Bistatic Radar. PhD thesis,University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, 1997.

[22] H. D. Griffiths and N. R. W. Long. Television-based bistaticradar. IEE Proceedings, 133(F, 7):649--657, 1986.

[23] H. D. Griffiths, A. J. Garnett, C. J. Baker, and S. Keaveney.Bistatic radar using satellite-borne illuminators of opportunity.In IEE International Conference Radar 92, pages 276--279,London, 1992.

[24] V. Koch and R. Westphal. New approach to a multistatic pas-sive radar sensor for air/space defense. IEEE Aerosp. Electr.Sys., 10:24--32, 1995.

[25] Bruce D. Nordwall. 'Silent Sentry' a new type of radar.Aviation Week & Space Technology, 149(22):71--2, 1998.

[26] Otis Port. Super-Radar, Done Dirt Cheap. Business Week, 20October, 2003.

[27] Nicholas J. Willis. Bistatic Radar. Artech House, 1991.[28] Victor S. Chernyak. Fundamentals of multisite radar systems.

Gordon and Breach, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1984.[29] H. D. Griffiths, C. J. Baker, H. Ghaleb, R. Ramakrishnam, and

E. Willman. Measurement and analysis of ambiguity functionsof off-air signals for passive coherent location. Electronics Lett.,39(13):1005-1007, 2003.

[30] B. G. Fejer and M. C. Kelley. Ionospheric irregularities. Rev.Geophys., 18:401--454, 1980.

[31] J. D. Sahr and M. G. Meyer. Opportunities for passive VHFradar studies of plasma irregularities in the equatorial E and Fregions. J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., 66(n 17):1675--1681,2004.

[32] C. R. Johnson, Jr., P. Schniter, I. Fijalkow, and L. Tong. Thecore of FSE-CMA behavior theory. In S. Haykin, editor,Unsupervised Adaptive Filtering. Wiley, New York, NY,2000.

[33] John B. Hagen. Radio-Frequency Electronics: Circuits andApplications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.

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The twenty-fifth anniversary of the International GeoscienceAnd Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS ‘05) was held fromJuly 24th to 29th, 2005 at the COEX and COEX IntercontinentalHotel in Seoul, Korea. The conference theme was “HarmonyBetween Man and Nature,” to represent the urgent desire of thepeople from the most populated region of the world. The appli-cations for remote sensing are abundant particularly in Asia,where the economic growth is booming as fast as the population.The conference was attended by 1235 registered delegates, and31 accompanying persons from 50 countries. This year’sIGARSS was the first time for which the most attended countrywas China with 345 delegates, exceeding the United States.Another noticeable figure was the student participation of 506.IGARSS ’05 was also happy to host both a GEOSS (GlobalEarth Observation System of Systems) Workshop and a GEOSSPanel meeting on Sunday July 24th, in addition to the traditionalIGARSS programs and sessions.

Sponsorship The conference was sponsored by the following:National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, USA),National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA, USA),Office of Naval Research (ONR, USA),Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, Japan),Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST, Korea),Electronics, and Telecommunication Research Institute(ETRI, Korea),Korea Telecom (KT, Korea),Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI, Korea),Brain Korea 21st Century (BK21, Korea),Korea National Tourism Agency (KNTO, Korea),Seoul National University,Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.URSI (International Union of Radio Science).

Opening Ceremony and Plenary Session The Opening Ceremony started with a short 25th AnniversaryIGARSS video film and was chaired by Wooil M. Moon. The

opening and welcome speech was given by Mr. Cleon W.Anderson, President of IEEE, and Dr. Myung Oh, the Vice PrimeMinister & Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) ofKorea. The Plenary Session was chaired by Dr. Melba Crawford,Vice-president, IEEE-GRSS, and the theme of the session wasfocused on the space programs of the East Asian countries,Korea, Japan and China. The keynote speech was given by theHonorable Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) of P.R.China. The Opening Ceremony and Plenary Session was high-lighted by the presentations from the following guest speakers:Mr. Cleon W. Anderson President, IEEEDr. Myung Oh Vice Prime Minster and Minister

of Science and Technology of KoreaDr. Guang-Hua Xu Minister of Science and

Technology (MOST) of P.R. ChinaDr. Yeon-suk Chae President, Korea Aerospace

Research Institute (KARI)Dr. Yasushi Horikawa Executive Director, Japan

Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Tutorials and Technical ToursThere were two technical tours, one to the Samsung SDI andone to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and bothof which were well attended with the numbers 120 and 53respectively. TThere were three full day tutorials and four half-day tutorials and the total number of registered attendee was 53.

Official IGARSS05 Web Site and Wireless InternetAccess throughout the Conference SiteThe official IGARSS 2005 web site (http://www.igarss05.org/)wasopened six months prior to the actual conference and will be main-tained for two years. In addition to the previously planned Internetcafé and the workstations for the press and media, the completescientific session areas and exhibit areas were networked by theKorea Telecom (KT) with wireless Internet and email access forconference participants convenience.

Prof. Wooil M. Moon, IGARSS 2005 General Chair

22 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

OrganizingCommittee

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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 23

The 2005 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing SocietyAwards were presented at IGARSS 2005, the Major Awardsat the Plenary Session in the Seoul Convention Center onMonday, July 25th, and the Publication Awards at the AwardsBanquet on Thursday, July 28th in Seoul, Korea. IGARSS’05was the third IGARSS in Asia, after Tokyo in 1993 andSingapore in 1997. The conference was excellently organized,although the preparation wasn’t always easy. We had promi-nent Guests: the IEEE President Cleon Anderson who joinedus from Monday to Friday and showed interest in all ourresearch results and organizational activities; furthermorehigh ranked Korean politicians joined us for the PlenarySession and Dr. Keun-Mochung, President of the Academy ofScience & Technology participated in the Banquet. TheConvention Center in Seoul is huge, so there were no prob-lems with space especially for the Poster Sessions and theExhibition. Everybody enjoyed the excellent warm atmos-phere and the Korean hospitality.

IGARSS 2005 was the 25th IGARSS, and excellent reasonto celebrate this successful conference series. Seoul was anadequate venue for this extraordinary occasion. The followingawards were presented:

IEEE Awards (Plenary Session):- IEEE Fellow Recognitions (3)

IEEE GRS-S Major Awards (Plenary Session):- GRS-S Distinguished Achievement Award- GRS-S Outstanding Service Award- Education Award

IEEE GRS-S Publication Awards (Banquet):- Transactions Prize Paper Award- Letters Prize Paper Award- Symposium Prize Paper Award- Interactive Session Prize Paper Award- Three Student Prize Paper Awards

The conference stated out on Sunday with an ICE-breaker thatbroke the ice. IGARSS 2005 was opened by the Plenary Sessionwith distinguished guests, including the IEEE President CleonAnderson. This opportunity was chosen for the presentation of therecognitions on IEEE level and the IEEE GRS-S Major Awardsbecause of the outstanding publicity for the 25th anniversary ofour IGARSS. After some welcome addresses the IEEE PresidentCleon Anderson presented the Fellow recognitions:

IEEE Fellow AwardsThe grade of IEEE Fellow recognizes unusual distinction inthe profession and shall be conferred only by invitation of theIEEE Board of Directors upon a person of outstanding andextraordinary qualifications and experience in IEEE-designat-ed fields. The IEEE Bylaws limit the number of memberswho can be advanced to Fellow gradein any one year to oneper mil, i.e., 1 in 1000, of the Institute membership, exclusiveof students and affiliates. To qualify, the candidate must be aSenior Member and be nominated by an individual, familiarwith the achievements made by the candidate. Endorsementsare required from at least five IEEE Fellows, and an IEEESociety best qualified to judge. For IEEE members not regis-tered in North America the requirements are somewhat lessstringent. The IEEE Fellow Committee, comprising 25 IEEEFellows, carefully evaluates all nominations and presents alist of recommended candidates to the IEEE Board ofDirectors for the final election.

The following GRS-S members were elevated to theFellow status in 2005:

- Qing Huo Liu - Steven I. Franke - Glenn Edward Healey

GRS-S AWARDS PRESENTED AT IGARSS 2005Werner Wiesbeck, Chairman, Fellow, IEEE, R. Keith Raney, Fellow, IEEE, Kamal Sarabandi, Fellow, IEEE, Kiyo Tomiyasu,Life Fellow, IEEE, Vincent Salomonson, Fellow, IEEE, and Yoshio Yamaguchi, Fellow IEEE

Sitting on the podium the IGARSS’05 Chairman Wooil M. Moon,GRS-S President Al Gasiewski, Yeonseok Chae (President of KARI(Korean Aerospace Research Institute)), Yasushi Horikawa(Executive President of JAXA), Guanghua Xu (Minister of Scienceand Technology of the P.R. China), Myung Oh (Vice Prime Ministerand Minister of Science and Technology of Korea), Cleon Anderson,IEEE President, Werner Wiesbeck, Sanghoon Lee, listening to Hong-Yul Paik (President of the Korean Society of Remote Sensing) .

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24 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

- Masaharu Fujita *- Ronald Kwok - Gary G. Gimmestad *- Richard Bamler *

Of these new Fellows those present at the Plenary Session (*)were recognized.

The first Fellow to be honored was Prof. Richard Bamlerfrom the German Aerospace Center DLR with the citation:

“For contributions to synthetic aperture radar interfer-ometry and signal processing.”

Richard Bamler received his diploma degree in electricalengineering, his doctor of engineering degree, and his “habil-itation” in the field of signal and systems theory in 1980,1986, and 1988, respectively, from the Technical Universityof Munich (Germany).

He worked at that university during 1981 and 1989 on opti-cal signal processing, holography, wave propagation, andtomography. He joined the German Aerospace Center (DLR),Oberpfaffenhofen, in 1989, where he is currently the directorof the Remote Sensing Technology Institute. Since then he andhis team have been working on SAR signal processing algo-rithms (ERS, SIR-C/X-SAR, Radarsat, SRTM, ASAR,TerraSAR-X), SAR calibration and product validation, SARinterferometry, phase unwrapping, estimation theory andmodel based inversion methods for atmospheric sounding(GOME, SCIAMACHY, MIPAS) and oceanography.

In early 1994 he was a visiting scientist at Jet PropulsionLaboratory (JPL) in preparation of the SIC-C/X-SAR mis-sions, where he worked on algorithms for the SIR-CScanSAR, along-track interferometry, and azimuth trackingmodes. Since 2003 he has held a professorship in remotesensing technology at the Technical University of Munich.

His current research interests are in algorithms for opti-mum information extraction from remote sensing data withemphasis on SAR, SAR interferometry, persistent scattererinterferometry, and GMTI for traffic monitoring. He and histeam are currently developing the processing algorithms forTerraSAR-X.

In 2005 Richard Bamler became an IEEE Fellow. He is theauthor of more than a hundred scientific publications, amongthem over 25 journal papers, a book on multidimensional linearsystems theory, and several patents on SAR signal processing.

The next on to be recognized was Dr. Gary G. Gimmestadfrom the Georgia Institute of Technology with the citation:

“For contributions to atmospheric remote sensingtechnology.”

Gary Gimmestad was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Hereceived his B.A. Degree in physics from St. Olaf College inNorth-field, Minnesota, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees inphysics from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Aftereight years at Michigan Technological University inHoughton, Michigan, he joined the Georgia Tech ResearchInstitute in 1986, where he holds the Glen Robinson Chair inElectro-Optics.

Dr. Gimmestad chaired the Society’s Instrumentationand Future Technologies Committee from 2000 to 2003,and is Program Chair for his local GRS-S chapter inAtlanta, Georgia. He was a Theme Coordinator for IGARSSthis year, Co-Chair for the Optics in the Southeast confer-ence (which he will host at Georgia Tech in November), andTrack Chair for the annual spring SPIE meeting in Orlando,Florida.

Dr. Gimmestad’s research is aimed at improving instru-mentation for optical remote sensing of the atmosphere. Heheads a group of lidar researchers who are developing unat-tended, eye safe lidar systems for air quality monitoring

Prof. Bamler (centre) with IEEE President Cleon Anderson andGRS-S President Al Gasiewski.

Dr. Gary G. Gimmestad (centre) with IEEE President CleonAnderson, GRS-S President Al Gasiewski left), and Awards ChairWerner Wiesbeck (right).

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(ozone and particulate matter), and for undergraduate educa-tion. He authored a chapter on ozone and industrial emissionsfor the latest lidar book published by Springer, and he is cur-rently developing a new type of lidar to measure profiles ofrefractive turbulence.

The next on to be recognized was Prof. Masaharu Fujitafrom the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology withthe citation:

“For contributions to microwave remote sensing.”

Masaharu Fujita received his B.E. degree in electricalengineering, and M.E. and Dr. E. degrees in electronics allfrom Kyoto University, Japan in 1969, 1971, and 1978, respec-tively. He joined the Radio Research Laboratories (renamed asthe Communications Research Laboratory in 1988), Tokyo,Japan in 1975, where he engaged in the research of Earth-satellite propagation, active and passive remote sensing ofrain, SAR calibration and agricultural application, microwavepower transmission and other antenna related technologies.He has been professor of Aerospace Engineering, TokyoMetropolitan Institute of Technology (reorganized as theTokyo Metropolitan University since April 2005), Japan,where he has been teaching satellite com-munications andmicrowave remote sensing. He received the AchievementAward from the Ministry of Science and Technology Agency,Japanese Government in 1996. He is IEICE Fellow, and amember of American Meteorological Society, MeteorologicalSociety of Japan, and Remote Sensing Society of Japan.

IEEE GRS-S Major AwardsThe call for nominations for the GRS-S DistinguishedAchievement Award, GRS-S Outstanding Service Award andthe GRS-S Education Award are published in the GRS-S

Newsletter. Any member, with the exception of GRS-S AdCommembers, can make nominations to recognize deserving indi-viduals. Typically the lists of candidates comprise five to sevennames. An inde-pendent Major Awards Committee makes theselection, which is approved by the GRS AdCom.

IEEE GRS-S Distinguished Achievement AwardThe Distinguished Achievement Award was established torecognize an individual who has made significant technicalcontributions, within the scope of GRS-S, usually over a sus-tained period. In selecting the individual, the factors consid-ered are quality, significance and impact of the contributions;quantity of the contributions; duration of significant activity;papers pub-lished in archival journals; papers presented atconferences and symposia; patents granted; and advancementof the profession. IEEE membership is preferable but notrequired. The award is considered annually and presentedonly if a suitable candidate is identified. The awardee receivesa plaque and a certificate.

The 2005 IEEE GRS-S Distinguished AchievementAward was presented to Kamal Sarabandi with the citation:

“For outstanding research in the advancement of theo-retical and experimental radar remote sensing.”

Kamal Sarabandi (S’87- M’90- SM’92- F’00) is the direc-tor of the Radiation Laboratory and a professor in theDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science atthe University of Michigan. His research areas of interestinclude microwave and millimeter-wave radar remote sensing,electromagnetic wave propagation, and antenna miniaturiza-tion. He received the B.S. degree in EE from Sharif Universityof Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1980. He also received the M.S.degree in EE (1986) and the M.S. degree in Mathematics andthe Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from The Universityof Michigan in 1989. Professor Sarabandi has 20 years of expe-rience with wave propagation in random media, communica-tion channel modeling, microwave sensors, and radar systemsand is leading a large research group including four researchscientists, 12 Ph.D. and 2 M.S. students. Over the past twelveyears he has graduated 21 Ph.D. students and many students atthe Masters level. He has served as the Principal Investigator onmany projects sponsored by NASA, JPL, ARO, ONR, ARL,NSF, DARPA and numerous industries. He has published manybook chapters and more than 120 papers in refereed journals onelectromagnetic scattering, random media modeling, wavepropagation, antennas, microwave measurement techniques,radar calibration, inverse scattering problems, and microwavesensors. He has also had more than 230 papers and invited pre-sentations in many national and international conferences andsymposia on similar subjects.

Prof. Masaharu Fujita (centre) with IEEE President Cleon Andersonand GRS-S President Al Gasiewski.

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26 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

Dr. Sarabandi is a Fellow of IEEE, a vice president of theIEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRS-S), anda past chairman of the Awards Committee of the IEEE GRS-S (98-02) and a member of IEEE Technical Activities BoardAwards Committee (00-02). He served as the Associate Editorof the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (AP)and the IEEE Sensors Journal. He is also a member ofCommission F of URSI and of The ElectromagneticAcademy. Professor Sara-bandi is listed in American Men &Women of Science Who's Who in America and Who’s Who inElectromagnetics. Dr. Sarabandi was the recipient of the pres-tigious Henry Russel Award from the Regent of TheUniversity of Michigan (the highest honor the University ofMichigan bestows on a faculty member at the assistant orassociate level). In 1999 he received a GAAC DistinguishedLecturer Award from the German Federal Ministry forEducation, Science, and Technology given to about ten indi-viduals worldwide in all areas of engineering, science, medi-cine, and law. He was also a recipient of a 1996 TeachingExcellence Award from the EECS Department, and 2004Research Excellence Award from the College of Engineeringof The University of Michigan. In the past several years, jointpapers presented by his students at a number of symposia(IEEE AP’95,’97,’00,’01,’03 IEEE IGARSS’99,’02, IEEEMTTS’01, USNC/URSI’04,’05) have received student prizepaper awards.

IEEE GRS-S Outstanding Service AwardThe Outstanding Service Award was established to recognizean individual who has given outstanding service for the bene-fit and advancement of the Geoscience and Remote SensingSociety. The award shall be considered annually but not bepresented if a suitable candidate is not identified. The follow-ing factors are suggested for consideration: leadership inno-vation, activity, service, duration, breadth of participation andcooperation. GRS-S membership is required. The awardeereceives a certificate.

The 2005 Outstanding Service Award was presented toProf. Wolfgang-Martin Boerner with the citation:

“In recognition of his outstanding service for the benefitand advancement of the IEEE Geoscience and RemoteSensing Society.”

Wolfgang-Martin Boerner (SM’75-F’84) received theLaurea degree from the August von Platen Gymnasium,Ansbach, Germany, the M.S. degree from the TechnicalUniversity of Munich, Munich, Germany, and the Ph.D.degree from the Moore School of Electrical Engineering,University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1958, 1963, and1967, respectively.

From 1967 to 1968, he was a Research Assistant Engineerat the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,Radiation laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.From 1968 to 1978, he was with the Electrical EngineeringDepartment, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.In 1978, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineeringand Computer Science, University of Illinois, Chicago, wherehe is now a Professor Emeritus and Director ofCommunications and Sensing Laboratory. He is currentlyinvolved actively in international outreach programs inEurope, Oceania and Pacific Asia, where he currently holdsthe Distinguished Visiting Chair 2004 position of the NationalCentral University of Taiwan in Chung-Li, Taiwan.

Dr. Boerner is a Life Fellow of IEEE and Fellow of theOSA, SPIE, and AAAS. He has been awarded the Alexandervon Humboldt U.S. Senior Scientist, the Japan Society for thePromotion of Science Senior U.S. Scientist, and the U.S.Navy Distinguished Senior Professor. He is the University ofIllinois Senior Scholar, member of the Sächsische Akademieder Wissen-schaften zu Leipzig, the Akademie-Forum ofScience and Technology of Germany, and he was awarded theDoctor Honoris Causa of the Tomsk State University Clusterin Tomsk; an Honorary Doctorate, Dr. h.c., from the

GRS-S President Al Gasiewski (from left), Prof. Kamal Sarabandiholding the Distinguished Achievements Award plaque with IEEEPresident Cleon Anderson and the Awards Chair Werner Wiesbeck.

GRS-S President Al Gasiewski, Prof. Wolfgang Boerner with IEEEPresident Cleon Anderson and the Awards Chair Werner Wiesbeck.

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University of Rennes 1 in Rennes, Brittany, France; andanother Honorary Doctorate, Dr.-Ing. E-h., from theFriedrich-Alexander University of Erlan-gen-Nürnberg inErlangen, Frankonia, Germany.

IEEE GRS-S Education AwardThe Education Award was established to recognize an indi-vidual who has made significant educational contributions tothe field of GRS-S. In selecting the individual, the factorsconsidered are significance of the educational contribution interms of innovation and the extent of its overall impact. Thecontribution can be at any level, including K-12, undergradu-ate and graduate teaching, professional development, andpublic outreach. It can also be in any form (e.g. textbooks,curriculum development, educational program initiatives).IEEE GRS-S membership or affiliation is required. Theawardee receives a certificate.

The 2005 Education Award was presented to Prof.Domenico Solimini with the citation:

“In recognition of his significant educational contribu-tions to Geoscience and Remote Sensing.”

Domenico Solimini was born near Naples, Italy in 1938.He obtained the “Laurea” in Electronics Engineering from theUniversity of Rome (presently “La Sapienza”), Italy in 1963,the MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the Universityof California at Berkeley in 1966 and the “Libera Docenza”in Electromagnetic Fields at the University or Rome in 1969.His Thesis, entitled “Design of an Optical Mixer” was award-ed a Gold Medal by the Rome Electronics and NuclearExhibition in 1963 and the Associazione ElettrotecnicaItaliana prize in 1964.

He was Assistant Professor at the University of Rome from1963 to 1964, and was a Research Assistant at the Universityof California at Berkeley from 1964 to 1966. He becameAssistant Professor with tenure and course lecturing from1966 to 1980 at the University of Rome La Sapienza andbecame a Full Professor in 1980 at the same university. Since1981 he has been associated with the Tor Vergata University,Rome, Italy, where he has acted as Dean of the Faculties ofElectronics Engineering, of Environmental Engineering, ofthe GeoInformation PhD Programme, and of the Departmentof Computer, Systems and Industrial Engineering. He hasgiven courses on Antennas and Propagation (since 1966),Remote Sensing (since 1975) and Electromagnetic Fields(since 1979). His Remote Sensing course was the first of itskind in the Italian universities. It is estimated that more than3,000 students have taken these courses under Prof. Soliminiand many of these students have assumed important roles inthe Italian and International scientific communities. Several

of his former students are now tenured faculty members ofmajor Italian universities. In addition, he has written anItalian language textbook “Campi Elettromagnetici“ for hiscourse in Electromagnetic Fields.

His research activity has been concerned with nonlinearelectromagnetics, microwave antennas, microwave and mil-limetre-wave propagation, microwave medical imaging andpassive and active remote sensing of both the atmosphere andthe solid land surface. He has been principal investigator andco-investigator of several international remote sensing pro-jects and has coordinated the Concerted Action namedEuropean Radar-Optical Research Assemblage (ERA-ORA)within the European Fourth Framework Programme, involv-ing institutions from eight European Countries and theEuropean Space Agency.

He has authored and co-authored over 150 papers in refer-eed international journals, books and conference proceedings.In addition, he has given numerous invited and keynotespeeches at Italian, European, and International conferences.In particular, he was the Plenary Session lecturer atIGARSS’95 in Florence, Italy. He has been a member of theItalian International Union of Radio Science (URSI)Commission F and of AEI (Italian Electrotechnical andElectronic Association) and is a member of the IEEE. He isthe current chairman of the Central Italy Section of theGeoscience and Remote Sensing Chapter.

Prof. Domenico Solimini with IEEE President Cleon Anderson.

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28 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

IEEE GRS-S Publication AwardsThe publication Awards were presented like in previous yearsat the IGARSS banquet. The banquet was accompanied byKorean dances and Pantomime. These performances were sooutstanding that some guests forgot to eat.

IEEE GRS-S Transactions Prize Paper AwardThe GRS-S established the Transaction Prize Paper Award torecognize the authors who have published an exceptionalpaper in the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and RemoteSensing during the past calendar year. In selecting the paper,other factors considered are originality and clarity of thepaper. IEEE membership is preferable. Prize: $2000, equallydivided for the authors and a certificate.

The 2005 Transaction Prize Paper Award was presentedto David W. Draper and David G. Long with the citation:

For a very significant contribution to the field of endeav-or of the IEEE GRS Society in the paper entitled“Simultaneous Wind and Rain Retrieval Using Sea WindsData,” coauthored by David W. Draper and David G. Long,and published in the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience andRemote Sensing, vol. 42, no. 7, pp. 1411 –1423, July 2004.

Dr. David Draper received the Ph.D. degree in ElectricalEngineering from Brigham Young University (BYU), Provo,Utah, in 2003, and is currently employed as a system’s engi-neer at Ball. While at BYU, Dr. Draper was a Tau Beta Pi fel-low (2000-2001) and performed research with the MicrowaveEarth Remote Sensing (MERS) group where he utilized vari-ous estimation techniques to evaluate and correct errors insatellite scatterometer wind retrieval. His work includedadvanced methods of scatterometer ambiguity removal, andmodeling effects of rain on SeaWinds scatterometer data. Hisresearch demonstrated that SeaWinds could be used for value-added rain measurement, which resulted in several publica-tions in the scatterometry field. At Ball, Dr. Draper’s interestsinclude interferometry as well as optical and microwaveremote sensing systems.

David Long received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering fromthe University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 1989.From 1983 to 1990 he worked for NASA's Jet PropulsionLaboratory (JPL) as a Radar Systems Engineer. He was theProject Engineer (senior technical manager) for the NASAScatterometer (NSCAT) project and responsible for the high-level design, analysis, and technical management of the over-all NSCAT Project. NSCAT was successfully launched in1996. As a Group Leader he was responsible for system per-formance analysis, high-level design, development and main-tenance of system requirements, and supervision of systemengineers working on a number of JPL flight projects. He

was the Experiment Manager and Project Engineer for theSCANSCAT scatterometer project (now known asSeaWinds), which had successful launches in 1999 and 2002.

Since 1990 he has been a faculty member in the Electricaland Computer Engineering Department at Brigham YoungUniversity where he teaches upper-division and graduatecourses and conducts research in microwave remote sensing.He is a member of a number of NASA Science Teams and PIon a number of NASA-funded projects. He is Head of theBYU Microwave Earth Remote Sensing Laboratory and theDirector of the BYU Center for Remote Sensing.

His research interests include scatterometry, microwaveremote sensing, synthetic aperture radar, polar ice, signal pro-cessing, estimation theory, and mesoscale atmosphericdynamics. He has over 280 conference publications and hasreceived the NASA Certificate of Recognition several times.He is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Geoscience andRemote Sensing Letters.

IEEE GRS-S Letters Prize Paper Award The IEEE GRS-S Letters Prize Paper Award is this year pre-sented for the first time.

The GRS-S established the Letters Prize Paper Award to recog-nize the author(s) who has published in the IEEE Geoscience andRemote Sensing Letters during the calendar year an exceptionalpaper in terms of content and impact on the GRS-Society. If a suit-able paper cannot be identified from among those published dur-ing the calendar year, papers published in prior years and subse-quently recognized as being meritorious may be considered. Inselecting the paper, originality, impact, scientific value and clarityare factors considered. IEEE membership is preferable. Prize:$1000, equally divided for the authors and a certificate.

For the authors, who were not able to be present, Prof. Bill Emeryreceives the Transactions Prize Paper Award 2005.

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The 2005 Letters Prize Paper Award was presented toLuciano Alparone, Stefano Baronti, Andrea Garzelli, andFilippo Nencini with the citation:

For a very significant contribution to the field of endeav-or of the IEEE GRS Society in the paper entitled “A globalquality measurement of pan-sharpened multispectralimagery,” coauthored by Luciano Alparone, StefanoBaronti, Andrea Garzelli, and Filippo Nencini, and pub-lished in the IEEE Letters on Geoscience and RemoteSensing, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 313 –317, October 2004.

Luciano Alparone received the laurea degree “summa cumlaude” in electronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree in tele-com-munications engineering from the University of Florence,Florence, Italy, in 1985 and 1990, respectively. In 1992, hejoined the Department of Electronics and Telecommunicationsof the University of Florence as an Assistant Professor. Since2002 he is an Associate Professor of electrical communications.In 1989, he was a Postgraduate Research Fellow with the SignalProc-essing Division, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, U.K.During the spring 2000 and summer 2001, he was a VisitingProfessor at the Tampere International Centre for SignalProcessing (TICSP), Tampere, Finland. His main research inter-ests are compression of still images and video, especially loss-less and near-lossless compression for remote sensing and med-ical applications, multiresolution image analysis and process-ing, nonlinear filtering, multisensor data fusion, and processingand analysis of SAR images. Dr. Alparone has served as review-er for IEEE Transactions on: Geoscience and Remote Sensing,Signal Processing, Image Processing, Systems Man andCybernetics - B, and IEEE Geoscience and Remote SensingLetters and Signal Processing Letters. He coauthored over 50papers published in international peer-reviewed journals.

Stefano Baronti was born in Florence, Italy, in 1954. Hereceived the laurea degree in electronic engineering from theUniversity of Florence, Florence, Italy, in 1980. After a periodspent with the Italian Highway Company working on data col-lection and analysis, he joined the National Research Councilof Italy (CNR) in 1985 as a Researcher of the “Nello Carrara”IFAC-CNR (formerly IROE-CNR), Florence, Italy. From 1985to 1989, he was involved in an ESPRIT Project of the EuropeanUn-ion aimed at the development of an automated system forquality control of composite materials through analysis ofinfrared image sequences. Later he moved toward remote sens-ing by participating in and as the head of several projects fund-ed by the Italian, French, and European Space Agencies. Hisresearch topics are in digital image processing and analysisaimed at com-puter vision applications, data compression andimage communication, optical and microwave remote sensingby synthetic aperture radar. He has coauthored about 40 paperspublished in international peer-reviewed journals. He is a mem-ber of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society and

of the IEEE Signal Processing Society and participates toGRSS Technical Committees on Data Fusion and on DataArchiving and Distribution.

Andrea Garzelli received the “Laurea” degree, summa cumlaude, in Electronic Engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Informa-tion and Telecommunication Engineering from the University ofFlorence, Italy, in 1991 and 1995, respectively. In 1995 he joinedthe Department of Information Engineering of the University ofSiena as an Assistant Professor. Since 2001 he has been AssociateProfessor of Telecommunications at the same Department, wherehe holds the courses of Digital Signal Processing and RemoteSensing Systems. He has participated to several projects fundedby the European Commission, the Italian Ministry for ScientificResearch (MIUR), the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and the ItalianResearch Council (CNR). He has served as a reviewer for manyscientific journals including IEEE Transactions on ImageProcessing, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and RemoteSensing, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters,International Journal of Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing ofEnvironment, Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing.His research interests are in signal and image analysis, processing,and communication: nonlinear filtering, fractal analysis of SARsignals, and image fusion for optical and SAR remote sensingapplications. He is a Member of the IEEE Geoscience andRemote Sensing Society - Data Fusion Committee.

Filippo Nencini received the laurea degree (summa cumlaude) in telecommunication engineering from the Universityof Siena, Siena, Italy, in 2002. He is currently pursuing thePh.D. degree in information science at the University ofSiena. His research interests are in wavelet theory and appli-cations to remote sensing: SAR image processing, fractalanalysis, multiresolution image fusion, and quality assess-ment of multispectral image data.

IEEE GRS-S Symposium Prize Paper AwardThe GRS-S established the Symposium Prize Paper Award torecognize the author(s) who presented at the past GRSSymposium (IGARSS), an exceptional paper in terms of con-

Prof. Alparone (middle) with the GRS-S Awards Chair and the IEEEPresident.

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tent and impact on the GRS-S. In selecting the paper, otherfactors con-sidered are originality, clarity and timeliness ofthe paper. Prize: $1000, equally divided among the authors,and a certificate.

The 2005 Symposium Prize Paper Award was presentedto Richard Bamler and Michael Eineder with the citation:

For a very significant contribution to the field of endeav-or of the IEEE GRS Society in the paper entitled “SplitBand Interfer-ometry Versus Absolute Ranging withWideband SAR,” coauthored by Richard Bamler andMichael Eineder, and presented at the 2004 InternationalGeoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, September2004 in Anchorage/Alaska, IGARSS´04 Proceedings.

For the biography of Richard Bamler see the Fellowrecognition above.

Michael Eineder received the Diploma degree in electri-cal engineering and telecommunication science from theTechnical University of Munich in 1990 and the Dr. rer. nat.degree from the University of Innsbruck in 2004.

In 1990, he joined the German Aerospace Center (DLR)for the development of SAR signal processing algorithms forthe SIR-C/X-SAR mission. Later, he was responsible for thedevelopment of the interferometric processing system forSRTM X-SAR. He is currently leading a team working onalgorithms and systems for SAR and interferometric SARwith focus on the future German SAR satellite TerraSAR-X.

IEEE GRS-S Interactive Session Prize Paper AwardThe Interactive Session Prize Paper Award is presented for anexceptional paper posted in and Interactive Session of the pastInternational Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium(IGARSS). The award is a companion to the SymposiumPrize Award. A special committee designated by eachIGARSS assesses all papers posted in the InteractiveSessions. The special committee scores papers on readabilityease, comprehension ease, clarity, background adequacy,originality, significance, impact, etc. Those papers with thehigh scores are screened by the GRS-S Awards Committee to

select the prize paper. Prize: $750, equally divided among theauthors, and a certificate.

The 2005 Interactive Session Prize Paper Award waspresented to Jeong Woo Kim, Dong-Cheon Lee, Jae-HongYom and Jeong-Ki Pack with the citation:

For an exceptional paper posted in the Interactive Session ofthe International Geoscience and Remote Sensing SymposiumIGARSS'04 entitled “Telecommunication Modeling byIntegration of Geophysical and Geospatial Information,” coau-thored by Jeong Woo Kim, Dong-Cheon Lee, Jae-Hong Yomand Jeong-Ki Pack, and presented at the 2004 InternationalGeoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, September 2004in Anchorage/Alaska, IGARSS´04 Proceedings.

Jeong Woo Kim received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees inGeophysics from Yonsei University in Korea. He earned thePh.D. degree in Geological Sciences from The Ohio StateUniversity in 1996 with a dissertation in satellite geopotentialfields. He was a Post-doctoral Research Scientist in theDepartment of Geological Sciences at The Ohio State University,and Research Scientist at the State University of New York atAlbany and the Korea Ocean Research and DevelopmentInstitute. In 1998, he joined the faculty of the Department ofGeoinformation Engineering at Sejong University in Seoul,Korea, where he is an Associate Professor. He currently is doingsabbatical research as an International Scholar at The Ohio StateUniversity. This summer, he will continue his sabbatical researchat NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center under a US NationalResearch Council Senior Research Award.

Dong-Cheon Lee received his B.E. and M.E. degrees inCivil Engineering from Yonsei University in Korea. He earnedthe Ph.D. degree in Geodetic Science & Surveying from TheOhio State University in 1997, specializing in digital pho-togrammetry. He was a systems specialist and research scien-tist in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. Eineder and Prof. Bamler discussing their Symposium PrizePaper Award.

Prof. Kim receives his and his co-authors Interactive Session PrizePaper Awards from the IEEE President and GRS-S President AlGasiewski (right).

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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 31

and Geodetic Science at The Ohio State University. Hereceived both Duane C. Brown Student and Senior Awards, in1998 and 2000, respectively. In 2000, he became a facultywith the Department of Geoinformation Engineering atSejong University in Seoul, Korea.

Jeong Ki Pack received the B.E. degree in ElectronicsEngineering from Seoul National University, Korea in 1978.He earned the M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in ElectricalEngineering from Virginia Tech in 1985 and 1988, respec-tively, majoring in wave propagation. From 1978 to 1983, heworked at the Agency for Defense Development. After work-ing at the Electronics and Telecommunications ResearchInstitute for a short period from 1988 to 1989, he joined thefaculty of the Department of Elec-tronics Engineering inDong-A University, Korea. In 1995, he joined the faculty ofthe Department of Radio Science and Engineering inChungnam National, Korea. He is currently working as a pro-fessor in the department and in charge of “ElectromagneticEnvironment Research Center” as a director, which is spon-sored by Korean government. His current research interestsinclude wave propagation and bioelectromagnetics.

Jae-Hong Yom is an Associate Professor in the Departmentof Geoinformation Engineering at Sejong University in Seoul,Korea. He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees inPhotogrammetry from Yonsei University in Korea, and thePh.D. degree in Topographic Science from The University ofGlasgow in 2000 with a dissertation in Automated MappingSystem. He was the Director of the GIS Research Institute ofHanjin Information Systems and Telecommunications Co. andwas involved in vari-ous research and development activitieswith regard to the field of Geomatics.

2005 Student Prize Paper AwardsThe GRS-S Student Prize Paper Awards were establishedin 1998. The three Awards are intended to recognize the beststu-dent papers presented at the IEEE InternationalGeoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). It isbelieved that early recognition of an outstanding paper willencourage the student to strive for greater and continued con-tributions to the geoscience and remote sensing profession.

Ten excellent papers were pre-selected by the AwardsCommittee in cooperation with the Technical ProgramCommittee. At IGARSS '05 in Seoul nine of the students pre-sented their papers in a special session on Tuesday morningand a jury, nominated by the GRS-S Awards Chair, evaluatedthe papers and ranked them for the awards.

The Third Prize went to Cao Fang for her paper entitled:“A New Classification Method Based on Cloude-PottierEigen-value/Eigenvector Decomposition”. Her Advisor isProf. Hong Wen from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Cao Fang was born in Hunan, P.R. China, on January 20th,1980. She received her B.S. degree in Measurement Technologyand Instruments from the Xiang Tan University, Hunan, P.R.

China, in 2002. Then she continued her graduate study in theGraduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).After one year’s course study, she joined the Institute of Elec-tronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS) as a Ph.D. can-didate. Her thesis work is focused on polarimetric SAR dataprocessing. While attending the Graduate School of CAS, shewas a Teaching Assistant on ‘Digital Signal Processing’. She isnow also a Research Assistant in SAR data products formatanalysis and data archiving in IECAS.

The Second Prize went to Chinnawat Surussavadee forhis paper entitled: “Statistical Agreement between ObservedMicrowave Satellite Radiances and NWP HydrometeorsIncluding Hexagonal Plates and Rosettes”. His Advisor isProf. David Staelin from the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology.

Chinnawat Surussavadee (S’04) received the B.Eng. degreein electrical engineering from the King Mongkut’s Institute ofTechnology at Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand in 1999 and theM.S. degree in electric power engineering from the RensselaerPolytechnic Institute, Troy, NY in 2001. He is currently pursuingthe Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the Massachu-settsInstitute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA.

He has been a Research Assistant for the Remote Sensing andEstimation Group, MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics,where he is studying passive millimeter wave retrieval of globalprecipitation utilizing satellite and NWP model.

Mr. Surussavadee received the second prize in the StudentPrize Paper Competition at IGARSS 2005.

The First Prize went to Pau Prats for his paper entitled:

Ms. Cao Fang with the IEEE President, the GRS-S President and theAwards Chair.

Chinnawat Surussavadee receiveshis Student Prize Paper Awardfrom the IEEE President CleonAnderson.

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32 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

“Topography Accommodation During Motion Compensationin Interferometric Repeat-pass SAR Images”. His Advisor isProf. Jordi Mallorquí from the Universitat Politècnica deCatalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

Pau Prats was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1977. He receivedthe Diploma degree in electrical engineering in 2001 from theUniversitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain.In 2001 he was with the Institute of Geomatics (IG), Barcelona,as a research assistant, developing an airborne sub-apertureSAR processor. In 2002 he received a pre-doctoral grant fromthe Department of Universities, Research, and InformationSociety (DURSI) from the Generalitat de Catalunya to makethe Ph.D. at UPC. Since December 2002, he is assistant pro-fessor in the Department of Telecommunications andEngineering Systems at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona(UAB), Bellaterra, Spain. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D.degree in SAR processing and interferometry focused onmotion compensation, airborne repeat-pass interferometry, and

airborne differential interfer-ometry, at the Electromagneticsand Photonics Engineering Group, Department of SignalTheory and Communications (TSC), UPC.

Over the years the GRS-S awards became more and moreand all recipients together fill the stage.Congratulations to all 2005 Award RecipientsWe, the GRS-S Awards Committee, would like to take thisopportunity to encourage more active participation of the GRS-Smembers in the nomination process of the GRS-S Awards, espe-

cially the Distinguished Achievement Award, the OutstandingService Award and the Education Award. The nominationrequires only an endorsement from the nominator, a candidatebiog-raphy, a curriculum vitae and a proposal for the citation tobe mailed or sent to the Awards Committee Chairperson. We arelooking forward to seeing excellent technical and service contri-butions from Society members during this current awards cycle.

The IGARSS’05 banquet was not only the venue for theawards presentation. The Local Organizing Committee of theIGARSS’05 received applause and the congratulations for theexcellent conference with outstanding organization and numer-ous highlights in science and social functions. Because of the 25thIGARSS anniversary the Korean Team organized the awards ban-quet as an outstanding professional and social event. With a fewphotos it is attempted to give an impression of these high-lights.

In keeping with tradition, the banquet was concluded whenthe IGARSS’05 Chairman Wooil Moon turned over responsi-bility for the International Geoscience and Remote SensingSymposium to the IGARSS’06 Chairman V. Chandrasekhar,with best wishes for the conference in Denver, Colorado,United States of America.

See you next year in Denver, Colorado,

Werner Wiesbeck

Pau Prats with the IEEE President Cleon Anderson, presenting hisCertificate.

All Publication Award recipients with the IEEE President CleonAnderson (center), the GRS-S President Al Gasiewski (left) and theGRS-S Awards Chair Werner Wiesbeck (right).

The tremendous work for the conference preparation was wellinvested, the IGARSS05 team smiles, success lets them forget thesleepless nights.

Groups of dancers in a varietyof colorful fantasy dressestransformed the stage towaves and winds.

IGARSS’05 Chairman Wooil Moonhas gathered the secrets of a goodIGARSS in a box and hands it forthe upcoming Inter-nationalGeoscience and Remote SensingSymposium IGARSS’06 to theIGARSS’06 Chairman Professor V.Chandrasekhar.

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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 33

The purpose of this conference is to bring togetherleading experts in waveform diversity and designrepresenting both the communications and sensingcommunities, thereby facilitating the exchange andcross-fertilization of ideas and research.

Additional information is available at: http://www.waveformdiversity.org.

Dates to Remember:

Abstracts Due 15 July 2005

Notification of Acceptance of Papers 09 Sept 2005

Final Papers Due 11 Nov 2005

11th

International Conferenceon Ground Penetration Radars

June 19 - 22, 2006

The Ohio State University

Columbus, Ohio, USA

General Chair:

Jeffrey J. Daniels (The Ohio State University)

Technical Chairs:

Chi-Chih Chen (The Ohio State University)

Barry J. Allred (USDA -Agricultural Research

Service)

Paper Submission:

Before January 13, 2006

4-page Minimum

Web Address: www.gpr.osu.edu

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34 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

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IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005 35

ill-informed and ill-prepared populace. Based upon the events of August29 and thereafter, the devil’s financial argument - which aims to fill thebreach with gunpowder - fails by about two orders of magnitude in cost!To preclude the advances in science and technology for which we are nowon the verge would be a penny-wise but pound-foolish strategy. Stated inthe words of the late Gaylord Nelson, a three-term U.S. Senator, governorof the state of Wisconsin, and founder of Earth Day (April 22), ‘The econ-omy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, and not the otherway around.’ Governments cannot afford not to observe, understand, andanticipate environmental behavior. Advanced measurement, modeling,and prediction are central to this endeavor.

While the above hypothetical argument with the devil seems to be alltoo commonly played out among our members, their governments, andtheir government’s constituents, I am pleased to report one small butimportant victory in the effort to maintain our Earth system scienceresources. You may recall that in my December 2004 message I voicedthe GRS-S’s concern over the proposed de-orbiting of the TropicalRainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite long before its effec-tive end of life. Although there are some minor de-orbiting risks involvedin maintaining operation of this valuable and well-functioning sensor arecent decision by the U.S. NASA and Japanese JAXA has been madeto extend operations until at least 2009, and possibly until 2012. Theextension of the mission provides the potential to use TRMM datatoward and perhaps into the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) era. Onbehalf of our Society my gratitude is extended to those GRSS membersand non-members who have worked to help secure the TRMM exten-sion. I am confident that the continued availability of the TRMM datawill facilitate improved prediction of events such as Katrina.

It is especially gratifying to be able to report successes such as theextension of TRMM operation and the accuracy of Katrina’s forecast inmy last message as President of the Geoscience and Remote SensingSociety. I am immensely encouraged by our members’ contributions tothese and many other internationally-recognized programs that useremote sensing. I am also proud of the progress that we have made as anorganization over the past two years, including our launch of the GRSLetters, development of a new web page, support of the Global EarthObservation System of Systems (GEOSS), formation of three new GRSSchapters, participation as a co-sponsoring entity in several specialty sym-posia, strong growth in number of IEEE fellows and senior members,exceptionally strong Society membership growth, flourishing technicalcommittees, vibrant Newsletter, sound financial condition, continuedstrategic planning, sound governance, high citation rate of TGARS, andincreasing international and intersociety involvement. These and othermeasures of progress have enhanced our standing as the leading globalscientific and technical entity in the area of remote sensing.

Our progress would not have occurred without a dedicated and capa-ble AdCom. To these members of our Society and the extended group oftheir associates who serve as committee and conference chairs, technicalcommittee members, advisors, reviewers, directors, and meeting orga-nizers I am deeply indebted. They have provided the ideas, leadership,and hard work necessary for GRSS growth. Having witnessed much ofthe first quarter-century of GRSS members’ progress in remote sensing,I am confident that the Society is well-poised to continue engenderingprogress throughout the next.

President’s Message continued from page 8

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36 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • December 2005

Name: AGU Fall MeetingDates: December 5-9, 2005Location: San Francisco, CA, USAContact: E. Terry, AGU Meetings Department Fax: 202/328-0566E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm05/

Name: 2006 International Waveform Diversity & Design Conference

Dates: January 22 - 27, 2006Location: Lihue, Hawaii, USAContact: Dr. Vinny AmusoFax: -E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.waveformdiversity.org

Name: International Lidar Map Forum 2006Dates: February 13-14, 2006Location: Denver, Colorado, USAContact: Roland MangoldFax: 303/292-9279E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.lidarmap.org/ilmf2006.html

Name: Imaging, Photonics And Optical Technology Machine Vision and Dispalys Technology

Dates: February 15-16, 2006Location: Birmingham, UKContact: -Fax: +44 (0)1822 614818,E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.ipot.co.uk/index.htm

Name: 9th Specialist Meeting on Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing Applications

Location: San Juan, Puerto RicoDates: 28 February - 03 March 2006Contact: Steven C. Reising (Colorado State University)E-mail: [email protected]: -URL: www.microrad06.org

Name: 6th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture RadarLocation: Dresden, Germany Dates: May 16-18, 2006,Contact: Rudolf Schmid, DLRFax: -E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.dlr.de/hr/eusar2006

Name: 2006 Southwest Symposium on Image Analysis and Interpretation (SSIAI)

Location: Denver, Colorado, USADates: March 26-28, 2006Contact: Phil Mlsna, General ChairFax: (928) 523-2300E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.cet.nau.edu/Research/SSIAI/

Name: 11th International Conference on Ground Penetration Radars

Location: Columbus, Ohio, USADates: June 19 - 22, 2006Contact: Mark Cramer, ExpoMasters, Inc.Fax: +1-303-843-6232E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.gpr.osu.edu/

Name: 2006 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium & 27th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing

Location: Denver, Colorado, USADates: July 31 – August 4, 2006Contact: V. Chandrasekar, A. J. Gasiewski, general

co-chairs.Fax: -E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.igarss06.org/

Name: The 2nd International Symposium On Recent Advances In Quantitative Remote Sensing (Raqrs'ii)

Location: Torrent, València, SpainDates: September 25-29, 2006Contact: José A. SobrinoFax: -E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.uv.es/raqrs/index.htm

Name: XII Simposio Internacional SELPERSIG y Percepción Remota aplicados a “Riesgos Naturales y Gestión del Territorio”

Location: Cartagena, ColombiaDates: September 24 – 29, 2006Contact: [email protected] Fax: 571- 3694096URL: www.selper.org.co

UPCOMING CONFERENCESSee also http://www.techexpo.com/events or http://www.papersinvited.com for more conference listings

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc.445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854

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