Cumulative Issue #147 June 2008 ISSN 0274-6338

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

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Table of Contents

IEEE GRS-S AdCom, Officers Newsletter Input and Deadlines and Committee Chairs ...... 2 The following is the schedule for the GRS-S Newsletter. If you would like to contribute an article, please submit your input according to this schedule. Input is Editor’s Comments ...... 3 preferred in Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or ASCII for IBM format (please send disk and hard copy) as IEEE now uses electronic publishing. Other word process- President’s Message ...... 3 ing formats, including those for Macintosh, are also acceptable, however, please be sure to identify the format on the disk and include the hard copy. AdCom Members ...... 5 GRS-S Newsletter Schedule Chapters and Contact Information ...... 6 Month June Sept Dec March Input April 15 July 15 Oct 15 Jan 15 GRS-S MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS GRS-S Member Profile: Siri Jodha Singh Khalsa...... 7 IEEE GRS-S AdCom, Officers and Committee Chairs – 2008 GRS-29 (Division IX) In Memoriam: Professor Jin Au Kong...... 7 President Fellow Evaluation IGARSS 2013 Anthony K. Milne Wooil M. Moon Peter Woodgate GRS-S Members Elevated to Senior ...... 9 Executive Vice President Fellow Search PACE Alberto Moreira David M. LeVine Paul Racette From the Chapter Activities Chair...... 9 Vice President for Technical Membership Social Implications of Activities Steven C. Reising Technology Nominations FEATURE Steve Reising Keith Raney Vice President for Meetings C. Luther, D. Goodenough Multisensor Study of Soil and Wetland 2008 AdCom Members and Symposia Public Relations/Publicity Melba Crawford Degradation in Semi-Arid Mediterrean Melba M. Crawford David Weissman Diane Evans Ecosystems...... 10 Vice President for Operations Standards and Metric Karen St. Germain and Finance Jon A. Benediktsson David G. Goodenough REPORTS Karen M. St. Germain Strategic Planning Steven Reising FARS Technical Committee Report...... 18 Vice President for Alberto Moreira Paul Smits Professional Activities Technical Activities 2009 AdCom Members Jon Benediktsson Paul Smits CALL FOR PAPERS...... 19 Adriano Camps Vice President for Transactions Editor Roger King Information Resources Jon A. Benediktsson David M. LeVine UPCOMING CONFERENCES...... 24 Jay Pearlman GRS Letters Editor Wooil M. Moon Secretary William Emery Alberto Moreira Thomas J. Jackson J-STARS Editor Anthony K. Milne Director of Finance Ellsworth LeDrew 2010 AdCom Members Notice to Potential James A. Gatlin Newsletter Editor Advertisers Director of Education David Kunkee Jon Benediktsson Granville E. Paules III IGARSS 2007 William J. Emery The IEEE GRS-S Newsletter publishes paid Director Corporate Relations Ignasi Corbella Thomas J. Jackson advertisements for job openings, short William Gail IGARSS 2008 Jay Pearlman courses, products, and services which are of Awards John Kerekes Kamal Sarbandi interest to the GRS-S membership. The rates Werner Wiesbeck Eric Miller Motoyuki Sato for advertisements published in the Martti Hallikainen IGARSS 2009 Honorary Life Members Newsletter are: Chapter Activities Harold Annegarn Andrew Blanchard Per Diane Evans IGARSS 2010 Keith R. Carver Size Dimensions Insertion Conference Coordination Paul Smits Martti Hallikainen Full page 7” x 10” $500.00 Melba Crawford, Paul Smits Karen M. St. Germain Kiyo Tomiyasu Half page $400.00 Constitution and Bylaws IGARSS 2011 Fawwaz T. Ulaby Vertical 3.375” x 10” Alberto Moreira Motoyuki Sato Werner Wiesbeck Horizontal 7” x 4.875” Quarter page 3.375” x 4.875” $300.00 Postal Information and Copyright Notice IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Newsletter (ISSN 0274-6338) is published quarterly by the The Editor reserves the right to reject adver- Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., tisements. Please address all enquires to: Headquarters: 3 Park Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10016-5997. $1.00 per member per year Ms. Susan Schneiderman (included in Society fee) for each member of the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Soc.. Printed in Advertising Sales Manager U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter, IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane, IEEE Magazines/Newsletters Piscataway, NJ 08854. 445 Hoes Lane © 2008 IEEE. Permission to copy without fee all or part of any material without a copyright notice is Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, and the Tel: +1 732-562-3946 title of the publication and its date appear on each copy. To copy material with a copyright notice Fax: +1 732-981-1855 requires 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.

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Editor’s Comments spectral and multi-spectral measurements can be combined with field measurements to assess the impact of human induced changes to fragile ecosystems. The Newsletter also David B. Kunkee, Editor contains a brief report from the Frequency Allocations in The Aerospace Corporation Remote Sensing Technical Committee. The topic is focused NPOESS Space Systems on work the committee is doing to bring attention to potential PO Box 92957 MS M4-922 threats in the 57- to 59.3-GHz region from high density wire- Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957 Phone: 310-336-1125 less systems. Fax: 310-563-1132 In the Member Highlights Section you will find a profile E-mail: [email protected] of Dr. Siri Jodha Singh Khalsa. Siri Jodha has been very active in the area of establishing standards for GEOSS and he encourages more of us to make contributions in this area. Many of you may remember that Earth day was April 22 – On page 7 you will find an obituary for Prof. Jin Au Tuesday this year. Wikipedia suggests that the April 22 Earth Kong. It is difficult to work within electromagnetics or Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern envi- remote sensing and not take note of Prof. Kong’s extensive ronmental movement from 1970 when on that day ‘20 million contributions. My first meeting of him, at μrad in 1992 in Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to Boulder, included a discussion on microwave polarimetry as demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment’. The arti- he carefully annotated my poster with an alternate descrip- cle goes on to relate the increasing scope of environmental tion of the third Stokes parameter. It is with sadness that we awareness over the decades. Clearly, the awareness of global report his passing. environment is growing and with it, the value of remotely Feature articles and member highlights tend to define this sensed geophysical data for gaining accurate perspectives and Newsletter. The December issue featured an article on multi- effective policy related decisions. spectral thematic mapping and analysis. This issue’s feature This edition of the Newsletter features an article on mea- addresses measurements of soil and wetland degradation suring Soil and Wetland degradation using satellite and ancillary data. The paper describes how remotely sensed hyper- (continued on page 17)

President’s Message Atlanta, on February 28th. Over 2300 abstracts have been submitted for the Conference which is shaping up to be one of our best yet. The Administrative Committee of GRSS (AdCom) also Anthony K. Milne University of New South Wales met in Atlanta to conduct the on-going business of the School of Biological, Earth, and Env. Society. At this meeting AdCom approved two President’s Sciences Initiatives. These involved the establishment of Advisory Sydney, NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA Sub-Committees tasked with reporting back to the AdCom Phone: 61-2-9385-8097; within 18 months. The first-Sub Committee will concentrate 61-2-9451-4628 Fax: 61-2-9451-4628 on identifying new developments in the “Science, Technology E-mail: [email protected] and Applications” areas of remote sensing that are likely to have an impact on the nature and scope of GRSS activities into the immediate future. The Sub-Committee will report back on opportunities for GRSS to sponsor, nurture and accel- Dear Colleagues, erate innovative research in remote sensing science technology and applications. A very successful Technical Program Committee (TPC) The second Sub-Committee established is the “Global meeting for selecting papers and organizing the program for the Boston, July 2008 IGARSS Conference, was held in (continued on page 4)

Cover Information: Images from the playa lakes area in Los Monegros, a semi-arid karstic environment in northern Spain: False color composite (bands 3, 2, 1) of the ASTER image (top) and the corresponding Spectral Angle Mapper classification output (bottom). The images cover an area of 8.5 km x 6 km (see page 10).

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Newsletter Editorial Board Members: (President’s Message continued from page 3)

Membership Task Force” whose job it is to recommend policies David B. Kunkee, Editor The Aerospace Corporation and procedures that will help GRSS extend its scientific, tech- NPOESS Space Systems nical and professional services more effectively into third world PO Box 92957 MS M4-922 and developing countries, with the objectives of enabling Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957 Phone: 310-336-1125 GRSS to more ably support and nurture its global membership Fax: 310-563-1132 as well as contribute to societal benefits in these regions. E-mail: [email protected] Please contact the conveners of these committees, Kamal Sarabandi [email protected] and Bill Emery [email protected] respectively if you would like to contribute William J. Blackwell, Sc.D., Associate Editor ideas or information that would help in their deliberations. for Organizational and Industrial Profiles In mid April on behalf of GRSS I attended the Second MIT Lincoln Laboratory 244 Wood St., Room S3-237 GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium, held in Tokyo, Japan. The Lexington, MA 02420-9108 topic of the Symposium was “The Role of Earth Observations Phone: 781-981-5324 in Tackling Climate Change”. The aim of the meeting was to Fax: 781-981-7271 E-mail: [email protected] discuss the role of remote sensing in tackling climate change and its induced effects. A major recommendation from this Symposium to the Sandra Cruz-Pol, Associate Editor GEO Secretariat was that a new task be added to the GEO-10- University Profiles Year Implementation Plan involving the use of synthetic aper- Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. ture radar. It was recognized that forest carbon mapping and University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, PR. 00681-9042 tracking by satellite especially radar has the potential to pro- TEL: (787) 832-4040 x2444 x3090 vide essential information for predicting climate change and FAX: (787) 831-7564 taking measures for climate change mitigation, and that esti- E-mail: [email protected] mates of carbon emissions from deforestation, degradation and other land-cover changes can be improved by integrating such measurements with in-situ observations and carbon Yoshio Yamaguchi, Associate Editor models. In particular, GEO needs to initiate GEOSS activities for Asian Affairs Dept. of Information Engineering on coordinating systematic observation strategies for existing Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University and future SAR instruments. 2-8050, Ikarashi, Niigata 950-2181 JAPAN GRSS is already heavily involved in the work of GEO and TEL: (81) 25-262-6752 FAX: (81) 25-262-6752 GEOSS through its participation in the IEEE Committee on E-mail: [email protected] Earth Observation (ICEO) and the co-sponsorship with ICEO of our new journal J-STARS, the first edition of which will be published later in the year. Please contact Jay Pearlman Sonia C. Gallegos, Associate Editor [email protected] for more details on ICEO and for Latin American Affairs Ellsworth LeDrew [email protected] for information Naval Research Laboratory about J-STARS. Ocean Sciences Branch, Oceanography Division It is will deep regret that we learnt of the death of Dr. Jin Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA Au Kong from MIT, who passed away unexpectedly on TEL: 228-688-4867 March 12, 2008. Professor Kong was friend, supporter and FAX: 228-688-4149 outstanding contributor to GRSS and IGARSS. He will be E-mail: [email protected] sadly missed from our activities. A special Memorial Session at Boston IGARRS is being planned in his honor. I have writ- Tsehaie Woldai, Associate Editor ten to his wife and family expressing condolences on behalf for African Affairs Department of Earth Systems Analysis of GRSS and its members. International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) Sincerely, Hengelosestraat 99 PO Box 6, 7500 AA Enschede, The Tony Milne Netherlands President TEL: +31-(0)53 4874 279 FAX: +31-(0)53 4874 336 E-mail: [email protected]

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2008 ADCOM MEMBERS’ NAMES AND ADDRESSES Dr. Anthony K. Milne Dr. Albin J. Gasiewski Dr. Werner Wiesbeck Dr. Paolo Gamba President, IEEE-GRSS Past President and ICEO Co-Chair, IEEE GRSS Honorary Life Member and Data Fusion Technical Committee Chair University of New South Wales Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Awards Committee Chair, IEEE-GRSS University of Pavia School of Biological, Earth University of Colorado at Boulder University of Karlsruhe Dept. Of Electronics and Env. Sciences 0425 UCB/ ECOT 257 Institute for High Frequency and Electronics Via Ferrata 1 Sydney, NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA Boulder, CO 80309-0425 USA Kaiserstrasse 12 27100 Pavia ITALY E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected] 76131 Karlsruhe GERMANY E-Mail: [email protected] (AdCom 2007-2009) E-Mail: [email protected] Dr. James A. Gatlin Dr. Joel T. Johnson Frequency Allocations in Remote Sensing Dr. Alberto Moreira Director of Finance, IEEE-GRSS Dr. Kiyo Tomiyasu Technical Committee Chair Exec. VP, IEEE-GRSS Goddard Space Flight Center (Retired) Honorary Life Member, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA IEEE-GRSS The ElectroScience Laboratory German Aerospace Center (DLR) The Ohio State University E-Mail: [email protected] Retired Microwaves and Radar Institute 1320 Kinnear Rd. 890 East Harrison Ave., #30 P.O. Box 1116 Columbus, OH 43212 USA Dr. David G. Goodenough Pomona, CA 91767 USA 82230 Wessling/Oberpfaffenhofen Nominations Committee Co Chair, IEEE-GRSS Email: [email protected] GERMANY E-Mail: [email protected]; Pacific Forestry Centre or [email protected] Email: [email protected] Natural Resources Canada Dr. Siri Jodha Singh Khalsa (AdCom 2007-2009) IEEE Standards Committee 506 West Burnside Road Dr. Keith R. Carver Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5 CANADA and ISO TC-211 Representative Dr. Thomas J. Jackson Honorary Life Member, IEEE-GRSS UCB 449 E-Mail: [email protected] University of Massachusetts Secretary, IEEE-GRSS (AdCom 2006-2008) Boulder CO 80309-0449 USA USDA-ARS Hydrology Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering Email: [email protected] Amherst, MA 01003 USA and Remote Sensing Lab Dr. Nahid Khazenie E-Mail: [email protected] 104 Bldg 007 BARC-West 8509 Capo Ct. Dr. David B. Kunkee Newsletter Editor, IEEE-GRSS Beltsville, MD 20705 USA Vienna, VA 22182 USA Dr. Fawwaz T. Ulaby GRSS Communications and Info Policy Rep. E-Mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Honorary Life Member, IEEE-GRSS The Aerospace Corp. (AdCom 2008-2010) (AdCom 2005-2007) The University of Michigan NPOESS Space Systems P.O. Box 92957, MS M4-922 Dr. Roger King 4080 Fleming Building Dr. Melba M. Crawford Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957 USA Mississippi State University Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340 USA VP for Meetings and Symposia, IEEE-GRSS E-Mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] LARS/Lilly Hall Box 9544 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9544 USA Purdue University Dr. Kuan Shan Chen Martinus (Max) Meerman 915 W. State Street E-Mail: [email protected] Instrumentation and Future Technologies (AdCom 2007-2009) J-STARS Deputy Editor, IEEE-GRSS W. Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 USA National Central University Technical Committee Chair E-Mail: [email protected] MDA Dr. Ellsworth LeDrew Center for Space Remote Sensing (AdCom 2006-2008) Chungli, TAIWAN 13800 Commerce Parkway J-STARS Editor, IEEE-GRSS Richmond, BC, V6V 2J3 CANADA University of Waterloo E-Mail: [email protected] Dr. Jon A. Benediktsson E-Mail: [email protected] Dept. of Geography VP for Professional Activities, IEEE-GRSS Dr. Paul Racette 200 University Ave. West Dr. William B. Gail Transactions Editor, IEEE-GRSS Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 CANADA GRSS PACE Rep. Department of Electrical and Computer Director of Corporate Relations, IEEE GRSS E-Mail: [email protected] NASA/GSFC Code 555 Microsoft Corporation Engineering Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA 1690 38th St. University of Iceland Dr. David M. Le Vine E-Mail: Paul. E. [email protected] Boulder, CO 80301 USA Rector’s Office NASA Goddard Space Flight Center E-Mail: [email protected] Main Building, Sudurgata Code 614.6 Dr. Ignasi Corbella 107 Reykjavik ICELAND Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA IGARSS07 General Chairman Mr. Granville E. Paules III E-Mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] UPC - TSC Despatx: 208 Campus Nord - Director of Education, IEEE GRSS (AdCom 2008-2010) (AdCom 2007-2009) Edif. D3 Kelly, Anderson, and Associates Inc. C. Jordi Girona, 1-3 424 North Washington St. Dr. Jay Pearlman Dr. Wooil M. Moon 08034 Barcelona SPAIN Alexandris, VA 22314 USA VP for Information Resources, IEEE-GRSS Fellow Evaluations, IEEE-GRSS E-Mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] The Boeing Company University of Manitoba PO Box 3707 MS 8R-24 Geophysics Dept. Dr. John Kerekes Dr. Laurent Phalippou Seattle, WA 98124 USA Winnipeg, MD R3T 2NT, CANADA IGARSS08 General Co-chair IFT Technical Committee Co-Chair E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected] Rochester Institute of Technology BU-SOR (AdCom 2005-2007) (AdCom 2007-2009) 54 Lomb Memorial Dr. Alcatel Alenia Space France Rochester, NY 14623 USA 26 Av. Champollion Dr. Karen M. St. Germain Dr. Kamal Sarabandi E-Mail: [email protected] BP 1187, 31037 Toulouse Cedex 1 FRANCE E-Mail: VP for Operations and Finance, IEEE-GRSS IEEE Remote Sensing Series Book Editor [email protected] NPOESS Integrated Program Office Dept. of Electrical Eng. & Computer Science Dr. Eric Miller Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122 USA 8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1450 IGARSS08 General Co-chair E-Mail: [email protected] Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. R. Keith Raney Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA GRSS Rep. Social Implications of Technology (AdCom 2008-2010) Tufts University E-Mail: [email protected] Johns Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Lab 161 College Ave. (AdCom 2006-2008) Space Dept. Dr. Paul Smits Medford, MA 02155 USA Johns Hopkins Rd. Joint Research Centre Institute for E-Mail: [email protected] Dr. Steven C. Reising Env. and Sustainability Laurel, MD 20723-6099 USA VP for Technical Activities E-Mail: [email protected] TP262 Dr. Harold Annegarn Electrical and Computer Engineering I-21020 Ispara ITALY Department IGARSS09 General Chairman Dr. H. (Rama) Ramapriyan E-Mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Department of Geog., 1373 Campus Delivery (AdCom 2006-2008) DAD Technical Committee Co-Chair Colorado State University Environmental Management & Energy Studies NASA Goddard Space Flight Center University of Johannesburg Fort Collins, CO 80523-1373 USA Dr. Motoyuki Sato Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA P O Box 524 Email: [email protected]; Center for Northeast Asian Studies E-Mail: [email protected] Auckland Park 2006 Johannesburg [email protected] Tohoku University REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA (AdCom 2006-2008) 980-8576 Sendai JAPAN Dr. Jim Stiles E-Mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] GRSS Rep. IEEE Sensors Council University of Kansas Dr. Adriano Camps (AdCom 2008-2010) Dr. Wolfgang-Martin Boerner Dept. of EECS 2001 Eaton Hall Dept. of Signal Theory and Communication 1520 W. 15th St. Dr. Leung Tsang GRSS Representative for Asian Affairs Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Lawrence, KS 66045-7621 USA Past President, IEEE GRSS UIC-ECE/CSN, m/c154 Campus Nord, D4-016 E-mail: [email protected] University of Washington 900W Taylor St., SEL.W 4210 08034 Barcelona SPAIN Chicago, IL 60607-7018 USA E-Mail: [email protected] Box 352500 Dr. David Weissman Seattle, WA 98195 USA Email: [email protected], (AdCom 2007-2009) [email protected] Publicity Chairman, IEEE GRSS E-Mail: [email protected] Hofstra University, Dept. of Engineering Dr. William J. Emery 104 Weed Hall Dr. Martti T. Hallikainen Dr. Liping Di Letters Editor, IEEE-GRSS Hempstead, NY 11549 USA Awards Committee Co-Chair, IEEE-GRSS Data Archiving and Distribution CCAR Box 431 Email: [email protected] Helsinki University of Technology Committee Chair University of Colorado Dept. Earth System and Laboratory of Space Technology Dr. Jocelyn Chanussot Boulder, CO 80309-0431 USA Geoinformational Science P. O. Box 3000 Data Fusion Technical Committee Co-Chair E-Mail: [email protected] FIN-02015 TKK FINLAND George Mason University (AdCom 2008 – 2010) GIPSA Lab, INP Grenoble E-Mail: [email protected] Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444 USA BP-46, 38402 S. Rankin d’Heres FRANCE (Ex-Officio Member ) E-Mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Dr. Diane L. Evans NASA JPL Mr. Charles A. Luther Dr. Sonia C. Gallegos Dr. Lixin Wu 4800 Oak Grove Drive Representative for African Affairs and GRSS Rep. On Latin American Affars UARS Technical Committee Co-Chair M/S 180-404 Nomination Committee Chair, IEEE-GRSS Naval Research Lab China Univ. of Mining and Technology Pasadena, CA 91109 USA 1113 Villamay Blvd. Code 7333 Beijing Campus email: [email protected] Alexandria, VA 22307 USA Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 USA Norteastern University (AdCom 2006-2008) E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail : [email protected] Beijing CHINA (Ex-Officio Member)

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GRS-S Chapters and Contact Information Chapter Location Joint with Chapter Chair E-mail Address (Societies) Region 1: Northeastern USA

Boston Section, MA GRS William Blackwell [email protected] Springfield Section, MA AP, MTT, ED, GRS, LEO Paul Siqueira [email protected] Western New York GRS John Kerekes [email protected] Region 2: Eastern USA

Washington DC / Northern VA GRS James Tilton [email protected] 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 Michael Janezic [email protected]

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

Region 7: Canada Quebec Section, Quebec AES, OE, GRS Xavier Maldague [email protected]

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

Vancouver Section, BC AES, GRS Rob Leitch [email protected]

Ottawa Section OE, GRS Hilmi Dajani [email protected] Region 8: Europe and Middle East France Section GRS Josselyn Chanussot [email protected] Italy Section 1 GRS Nazzareno Pierdicca [email protected]

Italy Section 2 GRS Maurizio Migliaccio [email protected]

Germany Section GRS Alberto Moreira [email protected]

Russia Section GRS Anatolij Shutko [email protected] [email protected]

Spanish Section GRS J. M. Lopez-Sanchez [email protected]

Ukraine Section AP, NPS, AES, ED, MTT, GRS Alexander I. Nosich [email protected] EMB United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Section GRS, OE Yong Xue [email protected] Student Branch, Spain Section GRS Pablo Benedicto [email protected] Islamabad Section GRS/AES M. Umar Khattak [email protected]

Region 9: Latin America

Student Branch, Colombia Section GRS Leyini Parra Espitia [email protected] Region 10: Asia and Pacific

Beijing Section, China GRS Chao Wang [email protected]

Seoul Section, Korea GRS Yisok Oh [email protected]

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

Japan Council GRS Yoshikazu Iikura [email protected]

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GRS-S MEMBERS HIGHLIGHTS

GRS-S Member Profile: Siri Jodha Singh Khalsa

The business of standards collaborator on a project to estimate changes in snow cover within the developing GEOSS and glacier mass balance in Central Asia over the past 50 community requires the commit- years with the aim of forecasting impacts of climate change ment, expertise, and networking on local surface hydrology. In his current position as Science capabilities of a host of individu- Data Coordinator at the NSIDC DAAC he performs science als. Foremost among these is Siri evaluation and algorithm support for the MODerate- Jodha Singh Khalsa of the Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the National Snow and Ice Data Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) and the Center (NSIDC), in Boulder, Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS). These instru- Colorado. Since receiving his ments are all part of NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) B.A. in Physics from the – for which Khalsa played a major role in the development of Siri Jodha Singh Khalsa University of California, Irvine, the EOSDIS science data model. He also leads the passive and his Ph.D. in Atmospheric microwave-based Near-real time Ice and Snow Extent (NISE) Sciences from the University of Washington, Seattle, Khalsa Product team at NSIDC. has been a major contributor to a variety of data programs. But his passion in contributing to GEOSS standards devel- His activity in leading the IEEE effort in standards and inter- opment and related programs is what set him apart from most operability for GEOSS is a natural extension of his work in data scientists. Khalsa is a charter member of NASA’s these programs, albeit on a global scale. Standards Process Group and the IEEE/GRS-S liaison to Since 1993 Khalsa has worked in support of the NASA’s ISO/TC211. He is chair of the IEEE Committee on Earth Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) at the NSIDC. Observations (ICEO) Standards Working Group, and leads sev- Prior to that he worked at the University of Colorado and eral IEEE-initiated activities supporting standards and interop- University of Hawaii leading research programs in air-sea erability for the Global Earth Observing System of Systems interaction, boundary layer turbulence and detection of cli- (GEOSS). He is a founding member of the International Polar mate change in satellite data records. During this time he par- Year (IPY) Knowledge Organization Group, which is working ticipated in the design, planning and execution of nine inter- on semantic interoperability for the IPY. In 2006 Khalsa national fields programs involving satellite-, aircraft-, ship-, formed the Colorado Associates for Science and Technology, a buoy- and land-based sensors. company dedicated to providing high quality scientific and His current job engages him in research on methods of technological consulting in the fields of remote sensing, data remotely sensing glacier change as part of the Global Land management, and geospatial and semantic interoperability. Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) project. He is also a A. J. Gasiewski, reprinted and adapted from Earthzine.org

IN MEMORIAM Professor Jin Au Kong

Jin Au Kong, Professor in the Department of Syracuse University. In 1968, he received the Electrical Engineering and Computer Ph.D. degree with his doctoral thesis on elec- Science at the Massachusetts Institute of tromagnetic wave propagation and radiation Technology (MIT), passed away unexpect- in moving media. His dissertation showed edly on March 12, 2008, of complications that the constitutive relations are bianisotrop- from pneumonia. He was 65. ic in moving media. Such bianisotropic rela- Born in Kiangsu, China, in 1942, tions have become important in current stud- Professor Kong is a seventy-fourth-genera- ies of metamaterials. Professor Kong joined tion descendant of Chinese philosopher the Electrodynamics Group of MIT’s K’ung-Futzu, or Confucius. After receiving Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) in his bachelor’s degree from Taiwan July 1969 to conduct research in quantum University in 1962 and his master’s degree and classical electrodynamics, and was con- from Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung University in 1965, he currently appointed Assistant Professor of Electrical pursued doctoral studies under Professor David K. Cheng at Engineering and Vinton Hayes Postdoctoral Fellow in the

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Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Europe and Asia since 1989. He was Editor-in-Chief for the (EECS). He served as chairman of the Department of EECS’s Wiley book series on Remote Sensing, the Journal of concentration area on Energy and Electromagnetic Systems Electromagnetic Waves and Applications (JEWA) and the and was the director of RLE’s Center for Electromagnetic book series Progress in Electromagnetics Research (PIER). Theory and Applications. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Professor Kong earned international acclaim for his work Nantes and the University of Paris X-Nanterre, both in 2006. in electromagnetic wave propagation, radiation, scattering, Among his numerous awards are the S.T. Li Prize, the IEEE inverse scattering and their applications in microwave remote Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society's Distinguished sensing, geophysical exploration, and electromagnetic trans- Achievement Award (2000) and the IEEE Electromagnetics mission and coupling in microelectronic integrated circuits. Award (2004). He was also a Fellow of IEEE and the Optical Recent research also included groundbreaking work on meta- Society of America. materials, which show promise for a variety of novel optical Professor Kong was exceptionally devoted to the many and microwave applications. He authored and co-authored generations of MIT students who learned and conducted more than 700 research papers and book chapters, and 30 research in his laboratories. He has supervised over 50 PhD books on electromagnetics (including Electromagnetic Wave theses and 100 MS theses. His graduate students have distin- Theory, Theory of Microwave Remote Sensing, and Applied guished achievements. around the world. Many of the gradu- Electromagnetism). ates have played important roles in GRSS. In 1985 he was Professor Kong’s research is well known in the IEEE awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award by the MIT Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society because of his con- Graduate Student Council. In a faculty profile interview in tributions in microwave remote sensing. He co-authored 1993, when he was asked what advice he had for MIT stu- many pioneering papers including “Theory for passive dents interested in electromagnetism, he answered, “You must microwave remote sensing of near-surface soil moisture”, be able to think on your feet. No one knows better than you “Polarimetric passive remote sensing of a periodic soil sur- about the problem you're working on. Most important of all, face: microwave measurements and analysis,” “Third Stokes do not restrict yourself to a narrow topic. Be prepared and parameter emission from a periodic water surface,” open-minded in making contributions to seemingly unrelated “Branching model for vegetation,” “Effective permittivity of topics. Cross-fertilization is an intellectually rewarding exer- dielectric mixtures,” “Rice crop mapping and monitoring cise.” Many of his former students, like us, testify to his pos- using ERS-1 data based on experiment and modeling itive influence, not only during the student years but also for results,” and “Classification of Earth terrain using polarimet- many years after graduation. Since the founding of the ric synthetic aperture radar images”. Other notable contribu- Electromagetics Academy at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, tions include coherent radiative transfer theories for both China in 2003, Professor Kong has also supervised numerous active and passive microwave remote sensing problems in students at that Academy. propagation and scattering through random continuous and In addition to being a loyal friend, an exceptional col- discrete media. league, a first-class scientist and an effective mentor, Professor Kong was president of the Electromagnetics Professor Kong was also a caring son, a loving father and a Academy and Dean of the Electromagnetics Academy at devoted husband. He is survived by his wife Dr. Wen Kong, Zhejiang University. Over the years, he served as a consultant his daughter Dr. Shing Kong and his son Dr. David Kong, all to many government and private organizations, including the to whom we express our sincere condolences and sympathy. New York Port Authority, the US Army Engineering A Memorial session to honor Professor Kong will be held Topographical Laboratory, Raytheon, Hughes Aircraft, on Tuesday afternoon, July 8, 2008, 3:20pm-6:00pm at Lockheed Missiles and Space, MIT's Lincoln Lab, and IGARSS’08 in Boston Schlumberger-Doll Research. He also served as a visiting sci- On behalf of Professor Kong’s former students, entist at the Lunar Science Institute in Houston, a visiting professor at the University of Houston, and a high-level consul- Leung Tsang ([email protected]) tant to the United Nations Undersecretary General on science Tarek Habashy ([email protected]) and technology. Professor Kong was the founder and the pri- Joel Johnson ([email protected]) mary organizer of the Progress in Electromagnetics Research Soon Poh ([email protected]) Symposium (PIERS), an international conference for electro- Robert Shin ([email protected]) magnetic research. The Symposia have been held in US, Simon Yueh ([email protected])

8 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • June 2008 grsNL0608.qxd 5/7/08 12:40 PM Page 9

GRS-S MEMBERS ELEVATED TO THE GRADE OF SENIOR MEMBER DURING THE PERIOD JANUARY – MARCH 2008

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March: Andreas Colliander Benelux Section Joaquim Fortuny-Guasch Italy Section Jiang Li Houston Section Ramuhalli Pradeep Southeastern Michigan Section David Roberts Atlanta Section

Senior membership has the following distinct benefits: newsletters, newspapers and notices. • The professional recognition of your peers for technical • Eligibility to hold executive IEEE volunteer positions. and professional excellence. • Can serve as Reference for Senior Member applicants. • An attractive fine wood and bronze engraved Senior • Invited to be on the panel to review Senior Member Member plaque to proudly display. applications. • Up to $25.00 gift certificate toward one new Society • Eligible for election to be an IEEE Fellow membership. • A letter of commendation to your employer on the achieve- Applications for senior membership can be obtained from ment of Senior Member grade (upon the request of the IEEE website: http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/senior- newly elected Senior Member). members/index.html • Announcement of elevation in Section/Society and/or local You can also visit the GRS-S website: http://www.grss-ieee.org

FROM THE CHAPTER ACTIVITIES CHAIR

At the Atlanta meeting, the AdCom strongly endorsed an ini- Members interested in this “Chapter Enhancement Initiative” tiative to make Chapters more attractive to new members, and should contact their Chapter Chairs. allocated US$ 30,000 to be directed towards the effort. Diane

ERRATA: In the article “Multispectral Thematic Mapping of Land Areas, Some Fundamentals” in the December 2007 Newsletter the following text appearing on Page 14:

For example, for 10 bit data in 100 spectral bands there are potentially (1024)100 . 10300 discrete locations. That number is so large that, even for a data set of 106 pixels, the probability of any two pixels lying in the same discrete location is vanishing- ly small.

Should read: For example, for 10 bit data in 100 spectral bands there are potentially (1024)100 ≈ 10300 discrete locations. That number is so large that, even for a data set of 106 pixels, the probability of any two pixels lying in the same discrete location is vanish- ingly small.

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FEATURE

MULTISENSOR STUDY OF SOIL AND WETLAND DEGRADATION IN SEMI-ARID MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEMS Magaly Koch1, Thomas Schmid2 and José Gumuzzio3 1Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. [email protected] 2CIEMAT – Avda. Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid, Spain. [email protected] 3Autonomous University of Madrid, Faculty of Sciences, Madrid, Spain. [email protected]

Introduction scope (with affiliations in USA and Spain), and jointly an Mediterranean regions are characterized by their semi-arid integrated methodology has been developed to survey and climate and scarce water resources that make them especially monitor land cover changes in environmentally sensitive and vulnerable to population pressure and climate change. They dynamic ecosystems. This integrated approach has been suc- enclose a variety of ecosystems ranging from steppe plains to cessfully applied to different case studies within Spain, each playa lakes and wetlands and are increasingly being affected with their distinct characteristics and environmental problem- by human activities. As urban sprawl and agricultural produc- atic, and consists of combining remotely sensed data from tion intensifies, semi-natural ecosystems are being trans- hyperspectral (HyMap and Proba 1 CHRIS), multispectral formed into built-up areas and irrigated land for cultivation. (Landsat TM and ETM+, Terra ASTER, and ALOS AVNIR- Assessing the impact of such human induced transformations 2) and field spectrometry (ASD FieldSpec Pro) with field sur- on these ecosystems is an essential task to ensure their sus- veys and laboratory analysis. Three case studies are presented tainable use. here to illustrate our integrated strategy to assess the impact In Spain the area occupied by wetlands has declined rapid- of human induced changes on fragile ecosystems. ly in the last four decades as a result of the draining of wetlands for agriculture and urban growth [1]. The semiarid cli- Study Areas mate and physiographic characteristics of Spanish wetlands In the past eight years, we haven been conducting multi- make these environments particularly susceptible to climatic sensor and multi-scale studies in three semi-arid environ- and hydrologic fluctuations as well as to human-driven land ments where land degradation problems, mainly in the form use changes. Their dependence on groundwater and surface of soil salinization and soil erosion, are acute [3]. All three water collected from the upper drainage basin areas make study areas represent inland ecosystems (Figure 1) and them especially vulnerable to any disturbances occurring to include natural wetlands and steppe plains as well as agri- their natural flow regime such as overexploitation of ground- culturally exploited areas. The study areas are briefly water resources, diversion or damming of river courses, and described below. conversion of surrounding upland areas into agricultural fields or urban areas. The importance of preserving these very fragile ecosystems has been recognized by the Ramsar Convention (Ramsar Convention, Iran, 1971), which currently lists 49 Spanish wetlands as protected sites, as well as the Los Monegros European Framework Directive on Water [2]. Especially endangered wetlands are considered those located in endorhe- ic (closed basin) environments where they depend on local flow systems that are recharged by relatively small watershed Chinchón areas [1]. The main focus of our research work is the application of a multi-sensor and multi-scale approach to study soil and wetland degradation in semi-arid conditions using advanced Earth Observation Systems with the support of field spectro- La Mancha Central radiometry and ancillary field and laboratory data. Our research group is interdisciplinary (with expertise in geology, Figure 1. Location of the three study areas. geography, geochemistry and pedology) and international in

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water (sand, mud and clays) or the growth of extensive hygrophilous vegetation, which gives rise to large amounts of accumulated organic matter (peat). Under natural conditions, the wetland is fed from two water sources: (1) flood- waters from the permanent freshwater Guadiana river and the seasonal brackish Cigüela river, and (2) upwelling groundwater from the underlying karstic aquifer. In the past, this wetland was surrounded by dense oak wood and open water bodies supported rich aquatic vegetation. Nowadays, the Tablas de Daimiel wetlands are drying out due to the overexploitation of the underlying aquifer for irrigating large agriculture areas that are rapidly expanding around the wetlands. This has caused the water level of the Figure 2. Study area of the Las Tablas de Daimiel wetland. (ASTER 2 June 2002) aquifer to drop and cease to supply water to the wetland surface [7]. Efforts to restore the wetland area by artificial- Las Tablas de Daimiel ly supplying the area with river water have largely failed to The National Park of Las Tablas de Daimiel is an area of achieve their goal. The wetland’s extent has decreased dra- great value with respect to biodiversity and wildlife habitats matically in the last few decades severely affecting its [4], [5], [6] and consists of a main lake surrounded by sev- palustrine ecosystem. eral shallow pools and associated marshland at the conflu- ence of two rivers in the great plain of La Mancha in Chinchón Central Spain (Figure 2). The area lies in a depressed basin North of Las Tablas de Daimiel lies the Chinchón study area filled with Tertiary sediments, mainly of limestone and cal- (Figure 3), which is an area with undulating topography and careous sediments. The Quaternary materials are associated agricultural influenced plateau areas, known as páramo, with with processes resulting from flooding by underground a maximum height of 780 m above sea level (a.s.l.) and divid-

Figure 3. Study area in Chinchón with HyMap flight line images superposed on DEM and corresponding terrain slopes along transects A1-A2 and B1-B2.

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ed by the Tajo river basin which lies at 520 m (a.s.l.) with subsequent land use changes, may trigger or accelerate land steep escarpments. The lithology is mainly composed of degradation processes, such as water and/or wind erosion, soil Quaternary and Tertiary sediments with marls, gypsum and salinization, soil crust formation, and vegetation loss [11], [12]. clay. The main soil types found within the area are Regosol, Cambisol, Luvisol and Calcisol and the scarce natural vege- Integrated Methodology tation cover consists of calcicole and gypsophile species. Our study approach consists of acquiring data from various The land use is mainly vineyards, olive groves and pasture- sources at different spatial and temporal scales. This includes land. The area within the Tajo river basin is almost entirely high definition spectral data obtained with a field spectrora- taken up by irrigated cultivation and within the last few years diometer (ASD FieldSpec Pro VNIR-SWIR), and comple- the irrigation has expanded to the neighboring more elevated mented with hyperspectral airborne and hyper-/multispectral areas. The soil types found in this region are especially sensi- satellite data. Field campaigns are carried out during specific tive to degradation processes and their degradation stage can times of the year (i.e. wet and/or dry season depending on the often be recognized through changes in soil surface composi- application) to collect spectral data for selected surface cover tion and color, which are due to anthropogenic intervention or types (soil, vegetation and rock outcrops). The spectral infor- the natural removal of the top soil by erosion processes [8], mation is complemented with detailed field observation, and [9]. The effects of an irregular precipitation regime, the pro- physical, chemical and mineralogical characterization of the gressive reduction of an extensive vegetation cover, as well as soil surface samples as well as classification of general soil changes in land use have all caused major damage to the soils. and vegetation types. Hyperspectral airborne data are very valuable but costly information sources and, thus, are Los Monegros acquired with flight campaigns for which data take grants are The Los Monegros area of NE Spain is a further semi-arid obtained. This was the case with the HyEurope program in region that is experiencing significant land use change due to 2003 and 2004 which were jointly organized by the German the implementation of an extensive irrigation system (Figure 4) Aerospace Centre (DLR) and HYVISTA Corporation. that is converting semi-natural vegetated areas into arable land Satellite data from newly developed sensors are also obtained [10], [11]. The landscape is composed of a gently undulating through scientific data user agreements with the correspond- platform that is surrounded by dissected upland hills to the ing space agencies. These agreements include the use of northwest and the Ebro river escarpment to the south and south- multi-angle hyperspectral data from the Proba-1/CHRIS sen- east. A number of small playa lakes (mud flats) are concentrat- sor (ESA Category-1 LBR Project 3782), multispectral data ed in the plateau area. These are small karstic depressions from Terra/ASTER (JAXA ASTER project AP-0072) and formed by the dissolution of evaporitic subsurface layers, recently data from ALOS/AVNIR-2, PRISM and PALSAR mainly gypsum and limestone. Current agricultural policy sensors (JAXA ALOS-RA-81 project) and in the near future encourages farmers to plow semi-natural areas irrespectively of Radarsat-2 (CSA SOAR-Project 2615). their profitability. The effect of plowing, combined with the Digital cartographic data, i.e. topographic maps at a scale of 1:25,000 as well as other ancillary data (geology, vegetation, soil, land use and erosion maps, meteorological data) were obtained from the corresponding national government agencies and are complemented with bibliographical references.

Soil Degradation Study The methodological procedure varies depending on the specific study area characteristics and problem statement. However, in all cases our approach combines field investiga- tion and laboratory analysis with image processing and spatial data integration/analysis at various scales and can be best illustrated with the example from our Chinchón study site. Here we implemented an integrated methodology for determining soil degradation stages in relation to land cover and land use changes. The flowchart in Figure 5 shows the steps (I, II and III) that were used to determine the capacity of the airborne hyperspectral HyMap data for the classification of Figure 4. Landsat TM images of 1984 and 1997 showing the playa lake region soil degradation stages [13], [14]. The steps are summarized (blue areas) in Los Monegros undergoing significant land use changes due to the as follows: implementation of irrigated agriculture (red areas).

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laboratory data as well as the soil survey erosion classes (USLE erosion type) according to USDA [15]. A slope class of < 16% and ≥ 16% was considered a first approximation in order to differentiate two soil degradation classes for each soil type. The soil degradation stages were separated according to the selected soil types and their corresponding characteristics. The spectral characteristics are represented by endmembers of these different soil types obtained from the field spectroradiometer and the HyMap data. Image-derived (HyMap) endmembers and their comparison with the characteristics of field spectra permitted the identification of different soil types as related to specific mineralogical composition.

Figure 5. Methodology implemented for determining soil degradation in the Chinchón study area. The spatial distribution of soil types associated to soil degradation stages in semi-arid environments was obtained satisfactorily by implementing the endmembers into the SAM classification procedure. The soils identified as Calcaric Cambisols and Rhodic Luvisol, within the agricultural influenced plateau area, were determined with a medium to high degradation stage. The Calcaric and Gypsiric Regosol within undulating and escarpment areas were assigned a high to very high degradation stage (Figure 6). A successful identification and extraction of image- derived endmembers from the hyperspectral HyMap data will form the basis to implement selected endmembers in multispectral Landsat and ASTER data in order to increase the spa-

(a) (b) tial and temporal coverage for the study area. A further step Figure 6. Spatial distribution of (a) Calcaric Regosol and (b) Gypsiric Regosol with corresponding will be the extrapolation of endmembers to areas in similar degradation stages. semi-arid conditions as illustrated below in another case study I. The field component consists of obtaining field spectra (Los Monegros). and collecting and analyzing soil and vegetation samples in order to construct a spectral library with reference spec- Wetland Degradation Study tra of representative surface covers. Fresh Water Wetlands II. The in-situ spectral library is used as a reference in the In our research work in Las Tablas de Daimiel we apply a next step where hyperspectral airborne (HyMap) data somewhat similar approach to the Chinchón study in that we (flight lines A and B in Figure 3) were processed to deter- use multi-sensor and multi-scale data to determine and moni- mine spectral endmembers. Identification and labelling of tor characteristics of this semi-arid wetland area in central the endmembers was carried out by comparing them with Spain [16]. We are specifically interested in assessing the key field spectra from the spectral library and verifying capacity of multi-angle hyperspectral data from the Proba- them in the field. 1/CHRIS sensor to determine complex wetland characteris- III. Selected image-derived (HyMap) endmembers corre- tics (shallow water bodies, hygrophytic vegetation, soil con- sponding to soil surface covers with soil degradation ditions and characteristics) and determining the anthro- stages were introduced into the Spectral Angle Mapper pogenic influences (agricultural management). Multispectral (SAM) classifier. The threshold was based on field knowl- data from Terra/ASTER and Landsat/ETM+ were used to edge and the spectral library database. Cartographic and carry out a monitoring of wetland areas. ancillary data were used to further determine the distribu- Data were obtained during different periods in the year tion of the degradation stages. Based on a digital terrain when the anthropogenic influences change the conditions of model the slope was calculated and integrated with the the wetlands for both spaceborne hyperspectral and multi- SAM classification results in a GIS to obtain a final dis- spectral sensors. The hyperspectral data of the study site was tribution of the degradation stages for selected soil types. acquired by the Proba-1/CHRIS sensor at five different nom- In this case study the assessment of the degradation stages inal viewing angles (+55º, +36º, 0º, -36º and -55º) and the for selected soil types were determined based on field and multi-angle scenes were co-registered to the nadir scene

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different upland soils could be distinguished using field and cartographic information as well as associated soil database containing laboratory analyses. In a second step, a mask was created and applied to limit the following processing steps to the main area of the wetland. Selected regions of interest were determined in the field and used as reference areas. These areas were overlaid on the hyperspectral and multispectral data in order to extract the spectral information. The spectra were obtained and com- pared for the different viewing angles of the CHRIS data and the multispectral data, and in the case of soil the spectral information was matched to a spectral library created within Figure 7. Geometric correction of the five multi-angle scenes of CHRIS the area of La Mancha where the wetland lies. obtained on 3 July 2006 for the Tablas de Daimiel wetland. The selected areas of interest were then used to extract reference spectra to carry out a supervised classification within the wetland area with the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classifier. The results obtained with the SAM (Figure 9), and applying a maximum angle of 0.1 radians, show the distribution of principal wetland characteristics which include palustrine vegetation, sediments, wetland soils and invasive vegetation. Furthermore they show that the different surface covers can be well represented throughout the wetland area. This is especially true for the palustrine and invasive vegetation and the wetland soil. The invasive vegetation normally occupies the area of open shallow water when the wetland area is dry. Therefore, palustrine sediments are also identified in the areas of the wetland where flooding only occurs occasionally. The spectral characteristics for these sediments are similar to those of certain wetland soil areas where a sparse vegetation cover is identified. This is ongoing work, where further data analysis as well as future field campaigns are planned in order to carry out a more detailed classification of these important Figure 8. Unsupervised classification with post classification of CHRIS nadir wetland characteristics. scene from the 3 July 2006. Analyses of the spectral characteristics at the individual viewing angles and from different acquisition dates show that (Figure 7). The CHRIS images in mode 1 contain 62 channels detailed wetland information on palustrine vegetation, sedi- within a spectral range of 406-1003 nm, bandwidth between ments and wetland soils can be obtained. Supervised classi- 8-20 nm and a ground sampling distance of 34 m. The acqui- fication has provided an overall distribution of these wetland sitions were obtained for 3 July 2006 and 6 October 2006 characteristics and is a major support for the ongoing work under cloud free conditions. [17]. The distribution of general surface land covers encoun- tered in and around the wetland areas were first identified Saline Wetlands using an unsupervised classifier ISODATA on the CHRIS A multisensor and multitemporal approach was also applied in data at nadir for the 3 July 2006 (Figure 8). Post-classification this study with the aim of characterizing changes occurring to ground assessment of the resulting classes was conducted in the soils and water regime of playa lakes in Los Monegros, a order to label these classes and assess the spectral information semi-arid karstic environment in northern Spain [18], [19]. content of the data. Palustrine and invasive vegetation within Figure 4 shows the significant impact that changing agricul- the wetland area were identified and the results show that the tural activities are having on the playa lakes area between 1984 invasive vegetation actually occupies the area of the shallow and 1997. A geological map of the area confirms the close water with aquatic plants when there is no water present (as a relationship between surface terrain features (agricultural consequence of drying out the wetland). In this case, the inva- fields, playa lakes, dolines or sink holes, and escarpments) and sive vegetation forms on the dry lake sediments. A number of subsurface conditions (rock/sediment and soil composition).

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Figure 9. Supervised classification applying the SAM classifier with a) selected reference spectra to the nominal viewing angles b) nadir, c) +36, d) -36, e) +55 and f) -55.

The results presented in this study were derived from the enlarged image and its classification result in Figure 10 analysis of ASTER images (VNIR and SWIR bands, resam- confirm the close relationship that exists between soil char- pled to 15m using the nearest neighbor method) and field acteristics, landforms, and geology. Here the playa lakes spectroradiometry by following a similar methodological are covered by the salt crust endmember (shown in yellow), approach as outlined in Figure 5. However, this time a spec- which has a very high content of soluble salts and some tral library from another saline wetland area in La Mancha gypsum. The salt affected soils (in green) appear as salt (Central Spain) [20] containing a pool of soil endmembers efflorescence mainly in karstic depressions and around the was utilized to select five endmembers with various levels of playa lakes. This endmember is also found in the upland salt content. The selection was based on the similarity soils overlaying the gypsiferous mudstone unit of the geo- between the reference spectra (e.g., spectral library end- logical map. And finally, concentrations of the gypsiferous members) and the image spectra (e.g., ASTER spectra). The soils (gypsiric regosols shown in red) occur as expected in SAM classification procedure was used to produce a final the gypsiferous mudstone unit with some isolated patches classified image of the playa lakes and surrounding agricul- in the playa lake area. It is possible that the effects of tural areas. The use of the La Mancha spectral library end- changing agricultural activities in this area have triggered members in this region is justified by the similarities found an increased appearance of salt precipitations on the land between the soil compositions in the seasonal hypersaline surface. The introduction of irrigation water in this karstic playa lake area of La Mancha with those in Los Monegros. environment has mobilized soluble salts from the underly- Similar features that can be found in both playa lake envi- ing evaporates which are subsequently deposited on the ronments are the salt crust that develops in the summer surface by capillary rise of the subsurface water. In con- months when the lakes dry up, the playa soils in the fringes trast, salt crusts in the playa lakes are formed by evapora- of the wetland areas, and the soils with high concentrations tion of the lake water leaving a thin layer of precipitated of salt efflorescence that are mainly found in the surrounding salt on the surface during the hot and dry summer months. upland areas. To determine the causes of surface salt accumulations The interpretation of the results was aided by the use of (whether natural or human induced) a change detection a geological map that was overlaid on the SAM classifica- analysis will be undertaken in the next phase of this project, tion result of the five soil endmembers. The comparison where we intend to use multitemporal images of hyper- shows an interesting spatial relationship between salt spectral (HyMap) and multispectral (ASTER) resolution to affected soils, playa lakes and subsurface geology. An detect and evaluate land degradation processes.

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in the application of a multi-sensor and multi-scale approach

to the study of semiarid wetlands in Spain by using advanced Earth Observation Systems with the support of field spectroradiometry and ancillary field and laboratory data. Combining traditional and well-established research methods with cutting-edge technology will: 1) advance our knowledge in detecting, understanding and monitoring environmental changes occurring to semiarid wetlands that represent fragile and dynamic ecosystems; and 2) develop new methods for extracting environmentally relevant indicators from multisensor data to determine their degradation status and trend in a timely and spatial manner.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank and gratefully acknowledge the support of the following centres: the UK Natural Environment Research Council Equipment Pool for Field Spectroscopy (NERC EPFS) for the loan of the ASD FieldSpec Pro spectrometer and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) for providing the DAIS 7915 data, collected during the EU Framework HySens Programme 2000-2003 (HS-2000ES2), and the corresponding pre-processing of the data. Furthermore, we would like to thank DLR and HYVISTA Corporation with respect to the HyMap data and the HyEurope program that was carried out during 2004, as well as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for Figure 10. Enlargement of the playa lakes area as shown by a false color com- providing the ASTER image as part of the user proposal AP- posite (bands 3, 2, 1) of the ASTER image (top) and the corresponding SAM 0072. The authors would also like to thank ESA for providing classification output (bottom). The images cover an area of 8.5 km x 6 km. the Proba-1/CHRIS data through the Category-1 LBR Project (3782) and in particular to Peter Fletscher and Bianca Höersch involved in the management and data acquisition.

Future Outlook References Wetland ecosystems are worldwide threatened environments [1] M. Álvarez Cobelas, J. Catalán, and García de Jalón, “Impacts due to mainly human activities that are contributing substan- on inland aquatic ecosystems.” In: A preliminary assessment tially to their degradation and disappearance. In spite of their of the impacts in Spain due to the effects of climate change, recognized beneficial services they contribute to the human ECCE Project, Final Report, Ministry of Environment, Spain, well-being (Ramsar Convention, Iran, 1971), wetlands are the pp. 109-141. most rapidly deteriorating ecosystems on earth as recently [2] Directive 2000/60/EC of the European parliament and of the reported by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment on wet- council, Official Journal of the European Communities, pp. L lands [21]. 327/1-L 327/72, 2000. (http://www.mma.es/secciones/cam- Responding to an increased awareness of the ecological bio_climatico/areas_tematicas/impactos_cc/pdf/03_ecosis- and economic value of wetlands around the world, important temas_acuaticos_2.pdf). efforts are currently underway to map, inventory, and monitor [3] T. Schmid, M. Koch, and J. Gumuzzio, “Application of hyper- these precious ecosystems. One such effort was the launched spectral imagery to map soil salinity,” In: Remote Sensing of “Globwetland” project (www.globwetland.org) by the Soil Salinization: Impact and Land Management, Chapter 8, European Space Agency (ESA). Space technology is being Metternicht, G. and Zinck, A. (eds.), CRC Press, Taylor and used to generate satellite-derived information about the loca- Francis Publisher (in press), 2008. tion and conditions of wetlands in order to assist governmen- [4] S. Casado, M. Florin, S. Molla, and C. Montes, “Current sta- tal agencies in their effort to preserve and manage them as tus of Spanish Wetlands, An Ecological and Conservation established by the Ramsar Convention. Overview,” In: Managing Mediterranean wetlands and their In this context, the main contribution of our research lies birds for the year 2000 and beyond, Special publication nº 20,

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M. Finlayson, Ed. Slimbridge: IWRB-ICBN, pp 56-57. Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 23-27 July 2007, [5] G. Oliver and M. Florín, “The Wetlands of La Mancha, Barcelona, Spain, 2007. Central Spain: Opportunities and Problems Concerning [15] USDA Soil Survey Manual. Soil Surv. Div. Staff. United Restoration,” In: Bases Ecológicos para la restauración de States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. humedales en la Cuenca Mediterránea, (Eds. C. Montes, G. Handbook 18, 1993. Oliver, F. Molines, and J. Cobos), Consejería de [16] T. Schmid, J. Gumuzzio, M. Koch, and P. M. Mather, “Semi- Medioambiente, Junta de Andalucía, pp.197-216, 1995. arid wetlands: Assessment of their degradation status and [6] S. Cirujano, “Flora y vegetación,” In: Humedales de Ciudad monitoring by multi-sensor remote sensing,” 4th ESA CHRIS Real, (Ed. S. L. Esfagos), Talavera de la Reina, Toledo: Proba Workshop, ESA-ESRIN, Frascati, Italy, 19-21 Esfagos, pp. 124-131, 2000. September 2006. [7] R. M. Llamas, “Conflicts between wetland conservation and [17] T. Schmid, J. A. Domínguez, J. Solana, J. Gumuzzio, and M. groundwater exploitation: two case histories in Spain,” Koch, “Applying multi-angle hyperspectral data to detect Environmental Geology and Water Sciences, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. human-induced changes causing wetland degradation in 241-251, 1988. semi-arid areas (National Park Las Tablas de Daimiel, [8] ICONA, Mapas de estados erosivos. Cuenca hidrográfica del Spain),” International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Tajo. Servicio de Publicaciones M.A.P.A, Spain, 1990. Symposium (IGARSS), Boston, USA, 6 – 11 July 2008. [9] J. Gumuzzio, Mapas temáticos de la Comunidad de Madrid. [18] M. Koch, T. Schmid, J. Gumuzzio, and P. M. Mather, “Use of Agencia de Medio Ambiente. CAM, Internal report, Spain, imaging spectroscopy to assess the impact of land use 1996. changes in a semi-arid karstic landscape: Los Monegros, [10] F. J. Samper-Calvete, and M. A. García-Vera, “Inverse mod- Spain,” Proceedings of the 4th EARSeL Workshop on Imaging eling of groundwater flow in the semiarid evaporitic closed Spectroscopy, Warsaw, Poland, 27-29 April, 2005, pp.147- basin on Los Monegros, Spain,” Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 155, 2005. 6, pp. 33-49, 1998. [19] M. Koch, T. Schmid, J. Gumuzzio and P. M. Mather, [11] M. Koch, “Geological controls of land degradation as detect- “Wetland feature extraction and change detection study of a ed by remote sensing: a case study in Los Monegros, north- playa lake environment in NE Spain using hyperspectral and east Spain,” International Journal of Remote Sensing, vol. 21, multispectral images,” Proceedings of the 2nd International pp. 457-473, 2000. Symposium of Recent Advances in Quantitative Remote [12] C. Castañeda and J. Herrero, “Assessing the degradation of Sensing, J.A. Sobrino (ed.), Torrent (Valencia), Spain, pp. saline wetlands in an arid agricultural region in Spain,” 284-288, 25-29 September, 2006 Catena, vol. 72, pp. 205-213, 2008. [20] T. Schmid, M. Koch, J. Gumuzzio, and P. M. Mather, “A spec- [13] T. Schmid, J. Gumuzzio, M. Koch and I. Medel, “Field tral library for a semi-arid wetland and its application to stud- and imaging spectroscopy to determine soil degrada- ies of wetland degradation using hyperspectral and multi- tion stages in semi-arid terrestial ecosystems,” spectral data,” International Journal of Remote Sensing, vol. Proceedings of the 4th EARSeL Workshop on Imaging 25, no. 13, pp. 2485-2496, 2004. Spectroscopy, Warsaw, Poland, pp. 175-183, 27-29 [21] Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), 2005. April 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Wetlands and [14] J. Gumuzzio, T. Schmid, and M. Koch, “Multisensor Water, Synthesis. World Resources Institute, approach to assess soil degradation stages in semi-arid Washington, DC, USA, 68 pp., 2005 (http://www.millen- soils (Spain),” International Geoscience and Remote niumassessment.org/en/index.aspx).

Editor’s Comments (continued from page 3)

using satellite hyper- and multi-spectral data. Both contribu- like to encourage technical contributions with general appeal tions are thorough and have general appeal however; exposure and reports from the technical committees. The path of grow- of the material beyond GRSS may be somewhat limited ing the technical content eventually leads to evolving the because the Newsletter is not included within IEEE Xplore. Newsletter in to a Society Magazine with regular peer- The inclusion of Society Newsletter publications in Xplore reviewed articles and columns which would be included in has been a topic of discussions at the IEEE publications meet- IEEE online Xplore – in the meantime keep the highlights and ings but it is unlikely to occur due to the need for a more for- reports coming! mal peer-review process. For the GRSS Newsletter I would I hope to see you at IGARSS in Boston!

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REPORTS

FARS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPORT

The Frequency Allocation for Remote Sensing (FARS) tech- documents at [3]) confirmed that a sufficient density of trans- nical committee of GRSS has been conducting an analysis of mitters could be problematic. The committee has written a the potential for future interference to remote sensing obser- response to a request for public comment from the US FCC on vations in the 57-64 GHz band of frequencies. There is a great a related issue in this band (also available at [3]), and a letter deal of interest in these frequencies for future commercial to the editor of IEEE spectrum was also published in an edit- devices [1]-[2] due to the wide bandwidths that are available ed version in the April 2008 issue. The full version of the orig- and small device sizes that can be achieved. However, this inally submitted letter is reproduced below. The committee is band is also used for passive microwave sensing observations currently pursuing discussions with the IEEE 802.15.3c work- of atmospheric temperature profiles and other environmental ing group [4] that is establishing standards for communication information, and is critical for this purpose due to the proper- systems at these frequencies. The FARS committee will con- ties of oxygen absorption in Earth's atmosphere. tinue to work to publicize the importance of remote sensing in International frequency allocations give a shared "prima- this frequency band, and to work as possible in the regulatory ry" status to the Earth exploration satellite service in the 57- arena, primarily through the Space-Frequency Coordinating 59.3 GHz range, and these frequencies are currently used by Group [5]. GRSS members interested in supporting these several spaceborne radiometers including the Advanced efforts are encouraged to contact the FARS chairman. Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) and the Special Sensor [1] Bosco, B. et al, "Emerging commercial applications using Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS). While attenuation due the 60 GHz band," IEEE Wireless and Microwave to oxygen absorption is very strong at these frequencies, it is Technology conference (WAMICON) 2006, proceedings. not infinite, and in particular is reduced greatly for ground [2] Razavi, B., "Gadgets Gab at 60 GHz," IEEE Spectrum, transmitters at higher altitudes above sea level. A sufficient February 2008. density of even low power commercial transmitters could [3] FARS website, http://www.ece.osu.edu/~johnson/fars. have the potential to cause uncorrectable errors in microwave [4] http://www.ieee802.org/15/pub/TG3c.html radiometer observations. [5] Space Frequency Coordination Group website, An initial technical analysis by the FARS committee (see http://www.sfcgonline.org.

Dear IEEE Spectrum, tion is not possible, the attenuation is finite, and a sufficient density of low power transmitters (as envisioned in the article) Your article on wireless devices using the 60 GHz portion of can cause corruption of passive microwave sensing in this the spectrum ('Gadgets Gab at 60 GHz' Feb 2008) was very band. I am disturbed that no mention of this issue was made at informative regarding the transceiver technologies that are all in the article, and hope with this letter to raise awareness of under development at these frequencies. However the article's the potential problems that may occur for vital remote sensing implication that 57-64 GHz is not currently used is mislead- measurements if the 802.15.3 committee does not plan their ing. Both the US frequency allocation chart and the regula- standards carefully. tions of the International Telecommunication Union show Joel T. Johnson, Professor allocations in this frequency range for several important ser- The Ohio State University vices, including satellite communications (59.3-64 GHz) and Dept. of Electrical Eng. the Earth Exploration Satellite Service (57-59.3 GHz). The 205 Dreese Laboratories latter service is particularly sensitive to interference given the 2015 Neil Ave use of passive microwave sensing at these frequencies for Columbus, OH 43210 measuring atmospheric temperature information. Voice: (614) 292-1593 or 1606 Such measurements are enabled by the strong absorption of FAX: (614) 292-7297 atmospheric oxygen in this frequency range. While it is often E-mail: [email protected] assumed that this attenuation is so large that long range recep- URL:http://www.ece.osu.edu/~johnson

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CALL FOR PAPERS

TGARS SPECIAL ISSUE ON CALIBRATION & VALIDATION OF ALOS SENSORS (PALSAR, AVNIR-2, AND PRISM), AND THEIR USE FOR BIO- AND GEOPHYSICAL PARAMETER RETRIEVALS

The Advanced Land Observing Satellite “Daichi” (ALOS) has been on-orbit more than two years viewing the Earth surface using three high resolution optical and radar imaging sensors. These include the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2), and the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM). The objectives of ALOS are to provide for the generation of digital elevation models, obtaining regional observations for sustainable development, disaster monitoring, exploration for natural resources, and technology development for future Earth observing satellites.. The technologies covered by this Special Issue include calibration and validation as well as geophysical parameter retrieval. Papers for this issue should deal with theory and its verification, accuracy measurement, demonstration of geophysical parameter retrieval, or technology development. Topics of interest include Interferometry, Polarimetry, Polarimetric SAR interferometry, cartography including digital elevation model con- struction, disaster mitigation, forest monitoring and its relationship to the Kyoto and Carbon initiatives, land use and land cover monitoring, sea ice monitoring related to the IPY (International Polar Year), soil moisture retrieval, ionospheric research, and other applications in agriculture, geology, or related areas. Prospective authors should follow the regular guidelines of the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, as listed in the back cover of the Transactions. Authors should submit their manuscripts electronically to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tgrs. Instructions for creating new accounts, if necessary, are available on the login screen. Please indicate in your submission that the paper is intended for Special Issue by selecting “ALOS Special Issue” from the pull-down menu for manuscript type. Questions concerning the submission process should be addressed to [email protected]. Inquiries concerning the Special Issue should be directed to the Guest Editors:

Dr. Masanobu Shimada Earth Observation Research Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sengen 2-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8505, [email protected] Dr. Ridha Touzi Canada Centre for Remote Sensing,Natural Resources Canada 588 Booth St., Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0Y7, [email protected]

Dr. Take Tadono Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Earth Observation Research Center Sengen2-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8505, [email protected]

Dr. James A. Smith Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Greenbelt, MD 20771, [email protected]

Submission Deadline: November 30, 2008

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CALL FOR PAPERS

‘IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING’ (IEEE J-STARS)

Ellsworth LeDrew, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

and Kun-Shan Chen, Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research National Central University Chung-Li, Taiwan, Republic of China.

The ‘IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth We have received several proposals for future special issues Observations and Remote Sensing’ (JSTARS) is a new quar- based upon workshops and emerging themes in Applied terly publication jointly sponsored by the Geoscience and Earth Observations and Remote Sensing that have been Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) and the IEEE Committee on approved. Earth Observations (ICEO). The scope of and background for this new journal were presented in a previous article in the Paper submission will be handled through the JSTARS September, 2007, issue of this newsletter (pp 19-20). This is Manuscript Central site (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ a formal call for papers and proposals for “Special Topics” JSTARS) which will be operational in June 2008 and the work flow issues. The editorial scope of the journal is as follows: for submission and review will be the same as that for TGRS.

“Papers should address current issues and techniques in applied We welcome individual articles and proposals for theme remote and in situ sensing, their integration, and applied model- issues or special issues on topics relevant to JSTARS. Further ing and information creation for understanding the Earth. information and guidance is available by contacting either the Applications are for the Earth, oceans and atmosphere. Topics Editor-in-Chief or the Deputy Editor-in-Chief. We look for- can include observations, derived information such as forecast ward to collaborating with the membership on an important data, simulated information, data assimilation and Earth infor- and exciting new chapter in the evolution of both the GRSS mation techniques to address science and engineering issues of and ICEO. the Earth system. The technical content of papers must be both new and significant.” Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Ellsworth LeDrew, FIEEE, FCASI The first volume of JSTARS will appear in 2008. The first Faculty of Environmental Studies, issue will be on “Earth Observations and Renewable University of Waterloo, Energy”. The Guest Editors are Thierry Ranchin and Ontario, Canada Marion Schroedter-homscheidt. [email protected]

The following issues are also planned: Deputy Editor-in-Chief : 1) “Special Issue on Remote Sensing of Human Settlements: Dr. Kun-Shan Chen, FIEEE Status and Challenges”. The Guest Editors are Paolo Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research Gamba, Florence Tupin and Qihao Weng. National Central University 2) “ Special Issue on Wildland Fires and Biomass Burning”. Chung-Li, Taiwan, Republic of China The Guest Editors are Emilio Chuvieco, Chris Justice, and [email protected] Ioannis Gitas.

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UPCOMING CONFERENCES See also http://www.techexpo.com/events or http://www.papersinvited.com for more conference listings Name: Third International Conference on System of Systems Name: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Engineering Symposium (IGARSS’08) Location: Portola Plaza Hotel, Monterey, California, USA Location: Boston, MA Dates: June 2 – 4, 2008 Dates: July 6 - 11, 2008 URL: http://www.ieeesose2008.org/index.html Contact: John Kerekes, Eric Miller URL: http://www.IGARSS2008.org Name: Seventh Annual European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar (EUSAR) Name: The 11th International Conference on Information Location: Graf-Zeppelin-Haus, Friedrichshafen, Germany Fusion Dates: June 2 – 5, 2008 Location: Cologne, Germany URL: http://www.eusar.de Dates: June 30 – July 3, 2008 URL: http://www.fusion2008.org/ Name: Review of Atmospheric Transmission Models Location: National Heritage Museum, Lexington, MA Name: Oceans 2008 Dates: June 10-12, 2008 Location: Quebec City, QC Email: [email protected] Dates: September 14 – 19, 2008 URL: http://www.grss-ieee.org/ Email: [email protected]

Name: International Microwave Conference (IMS) Name: The 2nd International Symposium on Microwaves, Location: Atlanta, GA Radar and Remote Sensing Dates: June 15 – 20, 2008 Location: Kiev, Ukraine URL: http://www.ims2008.org Dates: September 22 – 24, 2008 URL: http://congress.nau.edu.ua/mrrs08/ Name: The 12th International Conference on Ground Email: [email protected]; [email protected] Penetrating Radar Location: University of Birmingham, UK Name: The Seventh IEEE Conference on Sensors (Sensors Dates: June 16 – 19, 2008 2008) Contact: Christopher Rogers, Univ. of Birmingham, UK Location: Lecce, Italy Email: [email protected] Dates: October 26 – 29, 2008 URL: http://www.GPR2008.org.uk URL: http://www.ieee-sensors2008.org/

Name: The 24th International Laser Radar Conference Name: 2008 International Workshop on: Microwave Remote Location: Boulder, CO Sensing for Land Hydrology Research & Applications Dates: June 23 – 27, 2008 Location: Oxnard, CA Contact: Mike Hardesty Dates: October 20 – 22, 2008 URL: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/ilrc URL: http://microwave-workshop.jpl.nasa.gov Email: [email protected] Name: Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium Location: Cambridge, MA Name: Seventh African Association of Remote Sensing of the Dates: July 2 – 6, 2008 Environment Conference Email: [email protected] Location: Accra, Ghana Dates: October 27 – 31, 2008 URL: http://www.aarse2008.org/

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

24 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter • June 2008