Welcome and Committees

Abstract

I invite you all to attend IGARSS 2007 which will be held in Barcelona, Spain from July 22 to July 27. The theme of IGARSS’07 is “Understanding and Sensing Our Planet”. Understanding and sensing are two closely related topics. We need to understand the basics of earth processes such as climate, ecology and hydrology etc to identify geophysical parameters to be measured in remote sensing. Determination of the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the geophysical parameters will enhance the understanding of earth processes and utilization of natural resources. Thus understanding and sensing our planet need to engage both remote sensing scientists and engineers that work on technological advances and earth science researchers who investigate the earth science processes. It is the goal of IGARSS’07 to provide a forum for reporting such advances. Professors Ignasi Corbella and Adriano Camps, together with the IGARSS ‘07 Organizing and Technical Committees, have done a superior job in the preparation of this Symposium. They have put together a comprehensive program that covers the forefront of remote sensing technology and applications. In recent years, IGARSS attendance has reached almost 1500 and we expect similar large attendance again this year. At the Technical Program Committee meeting in February 2007, the Technical Committee worked hard to make careful selection of the papers and organized them into 11 parallel oral sessions and many interactive sessions. Both oral papers and poster papers are of the highest quality. Poster papers will be displayed the whole day on Monday through Thursday. To facilitate interaction with poster paper authors, all presenters will be requested to be at their posters at designated times during the interactive sessions. We anticipate enlightening and fruitful discussions at the poster sessions. I encourage you also to attend the IEEE GEOSS workshop or one of several tutorials on Sunday July 22. At the plenary session on Monday, you will hear Dr. Lewis Terman, the IEEE President Elect, speaking on the topic of “ the IEEE vision of making societal impact, outreach and earth observations and remote sensing”. You will also hear Dr. Jose Achache, GEO Secretariat Director and Dr. Jay Pearlman, Chair of ICEO, talking about GEOSS and the IEEE impact in GEO, particularly in standards, system engineering, remote sensing, and education. The IEEE-GRSS Society is well known for its transnational composition. At IGARSS, you will be able to meet scientists from all over the world and learn about the state of the art of remote sensing science and technology in many countries. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is the second largest city in Spain. It has 2000 years of history with a rich cultural heritage. The conference venue is at an attractive location near the sea front. Pablo Picasso spent his youth at Barcelona and you can have a chance to visit the Picasso Museum.