ISPRS

The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) is an international non-governmental organization that enhances international cooperation between the worldwide organizations with interests in the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences. Established in 1910, ISPRS is the oldest international umbrella organization in its field, which may be summarized as addressing “information from imagery”. ISPRS achieves its aims by:

The ISPRS scientific and technical programs are organized by five Technical Commissions. Each Commission is sponsored by an ISPRS member organization for the four-year period between Congresses. The five Technical Commissions have established around 60 Working Groups which are responsible for particular topics within the Commissions’ areas of interest. All Technical Commissions hold a Symposium within their country in 2018. Smaller workshops will be organized by the Working Groups before the 2020 Congress is organised from June 28 - July 4, 2020 in Nice, France, by the French Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (http://www.isprs2020-nice.com).

Photogrammetry is used for the derivation of 3D information of points, lines and areas on the terrain from aerial and satellite images for the development of geospatial databases and spatial information systems (SIS). The data can be used in digital, graphical and orthophoto forms as maps, charts and overlays. Photogrammetry is also used for the general measurement and interpretation of objects from images, image sequences, and other non-contact techniques, by providing precise 3D point coordinates and other geometric and semantic object information for populating spatial databases and for creating virtual reality 3D scenes with real-life textured models.

Remotely sensed observations of the Earth from air- and space-borne sensors provide the basis for mapping of human and natural activities; for monitoring change; for assessing and mitigating disasters; for identifying and assessing non-renewable resources; for monitoring temporal changes in weather, land and sea cover; and for many other applications. Spatial and semantic descriptions of objects and features are derived from 3D measurements of imagery, and the interpretation of their spectral and semantic attributes from panchromatic, multispectral and other remotely sensed data.

The description and location of objects and features obtained from images, as well as temporal relationships between physical objects and processes, can be integrated with other data using approaches from Spatial Information Science for analysis, simulation, prediction, visualization purposes. Spatial Information Science is being applied in urban and infrastructure planning, land and resource management, monitoring the environment, and understanding many other natural and man-made processes and phenomena.