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The role of photogrammetria and its relation to photo interpretation
Phologrammetria
Elsevier PublishiTIg (iompany, Amsterdam
Printed it1 rhe Neli~erlands
Editorial T H E R O L E O F P H O T O G R A M M E T R I A A N D ITS R E L A T I O N T O P H O T O INTERPRETATION To-day's world is a paradox in many ways. The different parts of the globe are linked to each other instantaneously by television broadcasting via satellites and soon we will fly from continenl to continent by supersonic aircraft at hitherto unknown speed. On the other hand. in the scientific field, the speed and efficiency of information exchange has not kept pace with technological advances. We are constantly flooded with books, journals, reports, and all of us experience the necessity of sorting and selecting, but how? Book shelves are becoming overloaded and nobody finds time for the tedious work of leafing through card catalogues and bibliographies. In a recent article. I illustrated the information explosion situation in the field of photo interpretation a. Amidst too many publications, there must be a justification for the existence of a journal and. for that matter, it should better be a good one. A quick answer to the question of justification in the case of Photogrammetria is, of course, easy. Photogrammetria is the official journal of the International Society for Photogrammetry and, as such, performs the basic function of making society affairs known, announcing forthcoming meetings and reporting on past conferences. But surely, Photogrammetria is meant to be more than just that. Being a truly international iournal, Photogrammetria has the great opportunity of fulfilling an important role in information exchange on the international platform. With a view to the alarming situation mentioned earlier, it seems to me that this should even be the most important function of Photogrammetria. There are many areas, irt terms of geographical location as well as field of scientific endeavour, within and among which a better sharing of knowledge is badly needed. Geologists, soil scientists, foresters, geographers, planners, to name only a few, all use often similar photo interpretation methods ~ and each could learn from the other, but who can afford to read, in addition, literature from outside his own field regularly? Unnecessary duplications of research and reinventions of technical procedures are the consequence. Also, there are language barriers and differences in technological development between countries. And should we not have more dialogue between photogrammetrists and photo interpreters? Map-making always involves a certain amount of photo interpretation, and photo interpretation very frequently requires basic map-making. With the advent of such things as orthophotomaps and automatic mapping systems, a closer cooperation between photogrammetrists and photo-interpretation seems even more essential, i am con-
1968. Problems of documentation in photo interpretation. Atlas (News Supplement to EarthSci. Reviews) 4 (3): A153-A156. '-' The term "photo interpretation" is meant to include recent developments in sensing methods outside the actual photographic range,
Photogrammetria, 25 (1969/1970) t 13-114
1 14
EDITORIAL
vinced that maps could be produced which are more comprehensive and more efficient. If we acknowledge the need for more information exchange, what we need then are people who are in a position to make valuable contributions to such exchange, and we would like to call on them to take, once in a while, some time to review developments and activities in a particular field or in a particular geographical area. It may be good to remember that, if we want to cross the boundaries between the different scientific fields of theory and application, we should not use a too highly technical language or, if we do, we should explain all technical terms properly. I by no means advocate the exclusive publication of review-type papers. Original articles reporting on new research findings are certainly always welcome. Again, such reporting is an essential part of the process of information exchange. Progress is, of course, impossible without knowledge of the work done at the scientific and technical frontier. However, I think we want to avoid a situation where, as happened in the case of a leading journal in the field, readers started to complain, because, as they said, they knew now all about surveying and mapping the moon's surface, but nobody told them how to cope with the problems of their practical everyday down-to-earth work. What we hope then is that we will obtain a good mix and balance of different kinds of papers. R e m e m b e r that we stress the bridging-over aspect. It is up to you all to contribute to the further success of Photogrammetria. DIETER STEINER (Waterloo, Ont., Canada)
Photogrammetria, 25 (1969/1970) 113-114
Elsevier PublishiTIg (iompany, Amsterdam
Printed it1 rhe Neli~erlands
Editorial T H E R O L E O F P H O T O G R A M M E T R I A A N D ITS R E L A T I O N T O P H O T O INTERPRETATION To-day's world is a paradox in many ways. The different parts of the globe are linked to each other instantaneously by television broadcasting via satellites and soon we will fly from continenl to continent by supersonic aircraft at hitherto unknown speed. On the other hand. in the scientific field, the speed and efficiency of information exchange has not kept pace with technological advances. We are constantly flooded with books, journals, reports, and all of us experience the necessity of sorting and selecting, but how? Book shelves are becoming overloaded and nobody finds time for the tedious work of leafing through card catalogues and bibliographies. In a recent article. I illustrated the information explosion situation in the field of photo interpretation a. Amidst too many publications, there must be a justification for the existence of a journal and. for that matter, it should better be a good one. A quick answer to the question of justification in the case of Photogrammetria is, of course, easy. Photogrammetria is the official journal of the International Society for Photogrammetry and, as such, performs the basic function of making society affairs known, announcing forthcoming meetings and reporting on past conferences. But surely, Photogrammetria is meant to be more than just that. Being a truly international iournal, Photogrammetria has the great opportunity of fulfilling an important role in information exchange on the international platform. With a view to the alarming situation mentioned earlier, it seems to me that this should even be the most important function of Photogrammetria. There are many areas, irt terms of geographical location as well as field of scientific endeavour, within and among which a better sharing of knowledge is badly needed. Geologists, soil scientists, foresters, geographers, planners, to name only a few, all use often similar photo interpretation methods ~ and each could learn from the other, but who can afford to read, in addition, literature from outside his own field regularly? Unnecessary duplications of research and reinventions of technical procedures are the consequence. Also, there are language barriers and differences in technological development between countries. And should we not have more dialogue between photogrammetrists and photo interpreters? Map-making always involves a certain amount of photo interpretation, and photo interpretation very frequently requires basic map-making. With the advent of such things as orthophotomaps and automatic mapping systems, a closer cooperation between photogrammetrists and photo-interpretation seems even more essential, i am con-
1968. Problems of documentation in photo interpretation. Atlas (News Supplement to EarthSci. Reviews) 4 (3): A153-A156. '-' The term "photo interpretation" is meant to include recent developments in sensing methods outside the actual photographic range,
Photogrammetria, 25 (1969/1970) t 13-114
1 14
EDITORIAL
vinced that maps could be produced which are more comprehensive and more efficient. If we acknowledge the need for more information exchange, what we need then are people who are in a position to make valuable contributions to such exchange, and we would like to call on them to take, once in a while, some time to review developments and activities in a particular field or in a particular geographical area. It may be good to remember that, if we want to cross the boundaries between the different scientific fields of theory and application, we should not use a too highly technical language or, if we do, we should explain all technical terms properly. I by no means advocate the exclusive publication of review-type papers. Original articles reporting on new research findings are certainly always welcome. Again, such reporting is an essential part of the process of information exchange. Progress is, of course, impossible without knowledge of the work done at the scientific and technical frontier. However, I think we want to avoid a situation where, as happened in the case of a leading journal in the field, readers started to complain, because, as they said, they knew now all about surveying and mapping the moon's surface, but nobody told them how to cope with the problems of their practical everyday down-to-earth work. What we hope then is that we will obtain a good mix and balance of different kinds of papers. R e m e m b e r that we stress the bridging-over aspect. It is up to you all to contribute to the further success of Photogrammetria. DIETER STEINER (Waterloo, Ont., Canada)
Photogrammetria, 25 (1969/1970) 113-114