Symposium on remote sensing of the environment

262 geology in an operational setting. A total of 40 technical papers in plenary sessions and 76 posters were presented, covering such topics as basic research, methodology of data collection and image interpretation. The application-oriented themes covered mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, geobotany, geology mapping and advanced sensor systems. Most impressive was the presentation of imaging spectrometers with up to 256 channels. These instruments are already in the state of being field tested. The purpose of the large number of channels is the possibility to detect altera~ tion zones. This procedure requires, however, an expert system with a set of defined spectra. The near future development of spaceborne instruments ( Landsat 6, 7 and SPOT follow up) will lead to higher spatial and spectral resolution and to the possibility of recording preselectable cross and along track stereo pairs. A commercial exhibit featuring recent developments in remote sensing equipment and technology formed an integral part of the conference. The proceedings of the conference are to be published by ERIM and will be available at the end of summer 1987. (P.O. Box 8618, Ann Arbor MI 48107 -USA). The next ERIM conference in the USA is scheduled for 28-31 March 1988 in Houston, Texas. H.D. Schlichter and J. Kuhlmann, Saarbnicken-FR Germany

S y m p o s i u m on R e m o t e S e n s i n g o f the E n v i r o n m e n t 4-10 December 1986 Nairobi ~Kenya The 20th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment was held at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya. The hosting of the symposium in Africa is particularly appropriate as 1986 has been designated by the Organization for African Unity (OAU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) as "The year of Cartography and Remote Sensing for Africa". The symposium was organised and conducted by the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM) USA, in cooperation with US Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Regional Centre for Services in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (RCSSMRS), Nairobi, Kenya; and sponsored, in part, by USAID, NASA, NOAA, US Department of Agriculture, US Geological Survey, UNEP, ERIM and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales. While the symposium focusses essentially of African resource problems and how remote sensing technology can be employed to resolve some of the problems, the programme of activities was organised to reflect the state-of-the-art and the multidisciplinary nature of remote sensing. In order to accommodate the interests of over 500 participants from every part of the world, ~he programme was structured to include: (1) 12 conventional sessions with 57 presentations; ( 2 ) 7 poster sessions each with 28 papers which include most of the papers in (1) and (3) 43 exhibits/displays which include commercial exhibits, the remote sensing programmes and activities of a number of governmental, academic and non-profit organizations. The integration of these symposium activities was achieved by holding the poster sessions and the exhibits/displays in a large hall directly adjacent to the UN Conference centre where all the papers invited for the 12 plenary sessions were presented. Plenary and poster sessions were held during alternating periods, thus permitting greater interaction by the participants. The 57 papers presented during the 12 plenary sessions (with simultaneous translation - - English and French) covered important topics which include: information for decision making; global monitoring and research; information systems for resource management; environmental monitoring and desertification; African famine and early warning system; geological and mineral

263 resources; hydrology and water resources; agricultural and food resources; forestry and land resources; mapping and charting; ocean and coastal resources and earth observation systems for resource and environmental assessment. The 196 papers presented during the seven poster sessions covered, in addition to the above topics, several other subjects ranging from sensor development, methodology for data collection, processing, analysis, interpretation, the development and application of geographic information systems, the increasing use of the micro-computer for data processing and many practical applications in Africa. While 100 of the papers were on Africa, only 32 of the papers were authored by Africans, 8 with combined authors (i.e. at least one of the authors is African) and 60 were authored by experts especially from Europe and North America. Thus, the views expressed by Sogaard and Rasmussen (Poster Session B-21, p. 56) that "...most research on applications of satellite data for environmental monitoring in Africa has been done in Europe and in USA with limited participation from local organisations", is further corroborated by the relatively limited contribution by African nationals to the symposium. Out of the over 500 participants at the symposium, about 150 came from less than 15 countries in Africa. The largest African group of participants came from Kenya (over 100 ) followed by Sudan with 10 participants. The exhibition featured 43 commercial, and non-commercial organizations; 15 from Europe, 14 from North America, 10 from Africa and one from Australia. The exhibits/displays featured various research reports, academic programmes, some remote sensing hardware and software and demonstrations of microcomputer for digital processing and for GIS. Although there was divergency of views on visual versus digital processing on the development and application of GIS in the face of apparent lack of inventory data and on the appropriateness and the affordability of the current and future sensor systems, the symposium has adequately addressed the state-of-the-art of remote sensing as well as its various application areas. Many of the methodologies and practical results reported upon should further encourage African governments, institutions, researchers and resource planners to invest in the development and utilization of remote sensing and related mapping technologies. The summaries of the 196 technical papers were contained in a 222-page document which was made available to all registered participants. The proceedings of the symposium will be published by ERIM (P.O. Box 8618, Ann Arbor MI 48107-USA). They merit the interest of members of The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and Photogrammetria readership. Peter O. Adeniyi, Lagos-Nigeria

Symposium on Remote Sensing in Glaciology 7-12 September, Cambridge-England Over 90 glaciologists from 17 countries gathered in Cambridge-England to attend this Second Symposium on Remote Sensing in Glacioogy. This event was the annual symposium organized by the International Glaciological Society, also headquartered in Cambridge. H. Rothlisberger, President of the Society, gave the opening address. The program supplied the conferees with 67 papers covering a wide range of remote sensing applications to glaciological problems. The first session, Remote Sensing of Glaciers (Imaging Sensors), included papers which discussed the use of Landsat imagery (both Multi-Spectral Scanner and Thematic Mapper) and aerial photography to characterize snow and ice surfaces as well as calculate useful geophysical parameters. From the discussion of these papers came the overriding importance of gathering surface-truth measurements whenever possible; a theme repeated often during the conference. The second session, Remote Sensing of Glaciers ( Radar Altimetry), focused on analysis of radar