content

Main featuresOpening Academic Year 2EO for improving water

management in Africa 13Compensating for CO2

emissions 15

Research newsCycling-inclusive planning 18

Highlights student introduction week 20

EventsESRI user conference 22

Staff newsITC Professor appointedAcademician 23Welcome to and staff leaving ITC 24

In memoriam Prof. Jerie 25

AnnouncementsProf. Verstappen awarded IGU Lauréat d’Honneur 26Papers sought 27EARSeL special interest groupthermal remote sensing 28High impact factor for former ITC Journal 29

Life after ITCAlumni gathering Canada 29Alumni gathering Cuba 30Alumni gathering Mongolia 31Alumni gathering Nepal 31

1ITC News 2008-3

I N T R O

2008number 3

September is a significant month in the ITC calendar: it marks the openingof the academic year, a time when the Institute sees many new studentsfrom all over the world passing through its portals. The official opening cer-emony (see page 2) also gave Professor Martien Molenaar, as master of cer-emonies, the opportunity to welcome many distinguished guests to the cityof Enschede, in particular Dr Gilberto Câmaro, whose name now appears onthe impressive roll of ITC Fellows and who delivered this year’sSchermerhorn Lecture, tackling the issue of deforestation in Amazonia. Dr Anne Flierman, chairman of the Executive Board of the University ofTwente, was also among the afternoon’s speakers, and there was no lack ofaudience attention as he outlined the progress made in the move towardsfull ITC integration in January 2010, incidentally the year of the Institute’s60th anniversary. Sixty years old - a venerable age but no question of restingon laurels: there’s ground-breaking history to be made!

From deforestation in Amazonia to tree planting in Twente, this issue of ITC News brings you details of some interesting research into compensationfor the CO2 emitted by ITC activities (page 15). The results may surprise you.And still on the subject of combating emissions (unless you include theblood, toil, tears and sweat of the academics involved in the social event),page 18 reports on the first CAN scientific workshop on cycling-inclusiveplanning.

Unfortunately, page 25 strikes a sombre note, bringing you the sad news ofthe death of Professor Hans Jerie. He will be remembered with great affec-tion, not only for his energy and enthusiasm in the field of photogrammetrybut also for his integrity and fine qualities as a teacher and a man.

We opened by referring to the arrival of many new students. The day willcome when they too will graduate and join ITC’s worldwide network ofalumni, so let’s close by directing their (and your) attention to such pages as29, 30 and 31, which show that worldwide ITC alumni are extremely activein making their presence felt. In fact, you may recognise the names of anumber of former fellow students as you read this issue. And who knows,perhaps you even sampled traditional Dutch fare (with potatoes, of course)together in the ITC restaurant.

Hoping you will find plenty to catch your eye on the following pages,

Janneke KalfManaging Editor

introduction

Managing Editor: Janneke Kalf

Editing: Janice CollinsDesign&PrePress: Henk Scharrenborg

(Composer DTP service)

Printing: PlantijnCasparie Zwolle

Correspondence to: Managing EditorITC NEWSP.O.Box 6

7500 AA EnschedePhone: +31 (0)53 487 44 11Fax: +31 (0)53 487 45 54E-mail: itcnews@itc.nl

colofonITC NEWS is published quarterly, by ITC, Enschede, the Netherlands

The views expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect those of ITC

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Deforestation: an

event or a process?

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Opening of the

Academic Year: an

event or a process?

An event, no doubt about it, but if we wereto trace the history of this event over theyears, with particular attention to the sub-jects selected by the distinguished guest lec-turers, we may well be able to identify aprocess that mirrors the changing interestsand priorities in the world about us.

Be that as it may, the colourful Opening ofthe Academic Year 2008-2009 held onThursday, 25 September, marked yet anotherstep in the history of ITC. It also marked areturn to the Grote Kerk in the old marketsquare, which was shown off to advantageby the bright autumn sunshine. Surely thoseterrible tales of the Dutch climate that seemto circulate among students from abroad arenothing but a myth? The guests, studentsand staff took their places to the musicplayed once again by Gijs van Schoonhovenon the mighty organ of 1892.

Addressing the audience from the podium,Rector Martien Molenaar welcomed themembers of the ITC Board of Supervisors; DrAnne Flierman, president of the University ofTwente; their excellencies the ambassadorsof Rwanda and Kenya; Mr Jelmer van derZee of the municipal government ofEnschede; the participants of theInternational Executive Seminar on EarthObservation for Improving WaterManagement in Africa; and Mr Laarakker ofthe Netherlands Cadastre. Naturally, an es-pecially warm welcome went to Dr GilbertoCâmara, who was to deliver theSchermerhorn Lecture that afternoon, andto the 250 new students who had arrivedjust that week from nearly 60 countries.“They join the more than 200 students whocame last year and earlier this year, as well asthe 120 PhD students engaged on researchfor their doctor’s degree.”

In his opening speech, Professor Molenaarcharted some of the changes that had comethick and fast over the last two or threedecades, changes affecting both society andthe professional community of which ITC ispart - moreover, changes that demanded anintrepid response. Dr Flierman also took upthis theme, as he related the progress madeconcerning the coming integration of ITCinto the University of Twente. Next it was theturn of Mr Marco Rusmini, general secretaryof the Student Association Board, to takethe stand. As he warmly welcomed his newstudent colleagues, the nervous ones amongthem could take heart from his words andreflect on what a difference a year makes. Itwas then the pleasant duty of ProfessorMolenaar to present two awards: first theITC MSc Award for best MSc thesis and thenthe ITC Research Award for the best scien-tific paper by a PhD student.

Now came the time to enjoy a brief interludeamid the business of the day and appreciatethe place of the Arts in this technologicalage. Gijs van Schoonhoven forsook his seatat the organ in favour of one at the piano toaccompany his son Frans (on violin) in a ren-dition of Hejre Kati by Jenö Hubay (1858-1937). A strategically placed screen and thezoom functionality allowed the intricate fin-gerwork to be admired, and this fluent per-formance charming ear and eye was duly re-warded with a well-deserved round ofapplause.

Running a finger down the programmeshowed the next item to be the official in-stallation of Dr Gilberto Câmara as Fellow ofITC. No routine occurrence this, so the newFellow is assured of being in illustrious com-pany. But after the congratulations and theapplause had died away, it was down towork as it was Dr Câmara’s happy task to

Opening Academic Year2008-2009

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deliver the first lecture of the new academicyear: the Schermerhorn Lecture.

Opening Speech Rector Martien Molenaar Rapid change characterises the times we livein and Professor Molenaar opened by chart-ing its effects both in the world about usand in the world of science. “Only 20 yearsago, we witnessed the collapse of the com-munist societies in Eastern Europe, andtoday we are seeing the signals of the col-lapse of the fundamentalist free-marketthinking - or maybe the end of the absolutefreedom of greed. The rapid changes experi-enced in society at large are also being expe-rienced in the narrower context of our pro-fessional community.” He explained that,when he had graduated from university witha degree in geodesy 36 years ago, pho-togrammetric instruments, although requir-ing an immense investment, were expectedto operate for at least 25 to 30 years; pri-mary and secondary triangulations of a smallcountry such as the Netherlands would takeseveral years, with the maintenance of suchnetworks being a 10-year programme; andthe lifetime of data was 15 years or more(even 50 years was quite normal). Indeed,the basic concepts and methods of geodesyand surveying had hardly changed over thepast century. But computers had just madetheir entry into the arena. What would theymean for the profession? Well, as it turnedout, quite a lot - along with the spirallingtechnologies they unleashed.

“Through the rapid development of ICT,”said Professor Molenaar, “the emphasis inour field has shifted from data capture todata management. The technical lifetime ofequipment has been reduced to about threeyears, and technical innovations force us torenew software every five to seven years andthe underlying theoretical concepts everyeight to 12 years. With the development oftechnology, there are new opportunities forthe development of new geo-informationproducts and services.” Consequently, oldprofessions and disciplines are fading, newones are being born, and those in the tech-nical domain are changing radically over thecourse of a mere 15 years.

Many more developments are also having amajor impact within the scientific domain ofthe Institute. In specific, Professor Molenaarmentioned the development of the Web andinternet over the past decade, which hadstimulated new concepts of data access anddissemination. Furthermore, old distributionsystems and traditional organisations formap provision were being supplanted bynew spatial data infrastructures, while mapproduction lines formerly managed by or-ganisations once pillars of the mapping pro-fession have now been replaced by decen-tralised global product and service supplychains. “Presently, we are seeing the devel-opment of sensor webs that continuouslymonitor and measure our living environ-ment. Will we still need maps of our livingenvironment if we can permanently observeit?”

The proliferation of new tools has helped tocreate the present sense of emergency con-cerning climate change and its possible ef-fects, with the importance of earth observa-tion being expressed in the declarationissued by the leaders of the Kokkaido ToyakoSummit. “Equally interesting,” continuedProfessor Molenaar, “is the fact that there isa direct link to the need for capacity build-ing. ITC has been active in this field for al-most 60 years and, in our experience, de-spite the numbers of scientists andprofessionals we have trained or educated,there has always been a growing need formore.” And the current demand for educa-tion and re-education, training and retrain-ing, in geo-information and earth observa-

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tion is escalating, as rapidly developing tech-nology leads to twists and turns over the ca-reer span of technical professionals in thishighly innovative sector.

Summing up, Professor Molenaar said thatthese considerations showed that therewould be a substantial and sustainable mar-ket for ITC education and training servicesfor a long time to come. In addition, “thedevelopment of our academic domain re-quires the intimate connection of our owndisciplines with other disciplines available atuniversities” and therefore, alongside thecontinuing and intensive cooperation withthe universities of Delft, Utrecht andWageningen and many abroad, it is increas-ingly urgent for the Institute to become afull member of the university community. Hesaid that good progress was being madeconcerning the integration of ITC into theUniversity of Twente, and this would be re-alised, as planned, by January 2010, the yearthat ITC will celebrate its 60th anniversary.“In fact, the newly arrived students who willjoin our MSc programme, as well as themany new PhD students, come here todayas students of ITC but will leave as graduatesof the University of Twente. I would likeonce more to welcome our new studentsand wish them good luck with their studieshere at ITC.”

Dr Anne Flierman,Chairman Executive Board University of TwenteAfter thanking Professor Molenaar for theopportunity to speak on this occasion, DrFlierman felt it appropriate to say a fewwords on the process of integrating ITC intothe University of Twente - a process that hasbeen going on for more than a year now, aprocess that is going well. “We are currentlyworking on many practical issues, and wehope that during the first half of 2009 wewill be able to submit our final agreement tothe boards of ITC and the University for ap-proval, and then initiate the process of im-plementation in the second half of the year.In this way, by January 2010 everything willbe settled and we can start the new yearwith the fresh situation.”

In the meantime, the university has been dis-cussing its future strategy, and Dr Fliermanconsidered this to be a good time to sharesome of the strategic thinking with his audi-ence - “on the one hand, because it’s impor-tant for you to know what’s going on at theUniversity, on the other, because an Institutelike ITC fits very well into that strategy. Letme explain. As Board of the University, wehave realised over the last two or three yearsthat the world around us is changing rapidly.This is nothing new, of course, but it meansthat we have had to formulate an answer tochanging conditions in terms of fundingfrom government, in terms of being attrac-tive to students and staff, and in terms ofour international position. This led to a de-bate about where we as a university should

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Hokkaido Toyako SummitDeclaration: Paragraph 31

To respond to the growing demand forearth observation data, we will accel-erate efforts within the Global EarthObservation System of Systems(GEOSS), which builds on the work ofUN specialized agencies and programs,in priority areas, inter alia, climatechange and water resources manage-ment, by strengthening observation,prediction and data sharing. We alsosupport capacity building for develop-ing countries in earth observation andpromote interoperability and linkagewith other partners.

5ITC News 2008-3

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stand in 2014, and even in 2020, and theroad we should travel to achieve our objec-tives.” Reiterating his opinion that ITC fittedwonderfully well into this perspective, DrFlierman said that, whereas formerly wetalked of technology and social sciences astwo components, “in future we will talkabout only one university of technology,meaning that we put technology in a centralplace in the university - but always technol-ogy in context. We are well aware that tech-nology in itself has no meaning. Technologybecomes meaningful when it is applied insociety, in businesses, and by people. Andthis leads to the notion of a modern univer-sity of technology, a university where the so-cial sciences are just as important as mathe-matics and mechanical engineering.”

So what will this new profile mean for re-search and education? With regard to re-search, “it means that we have to be excel-lent in a number of disciplines andtechnologies - and of course we are veryhappy that the three major converging tech-nologies of the 21st century, biotechnology,nanotechnology, and information and com-munication technology, are well-establisheddisciplines within our University. However,from these disciplines you will work in multi-disciplinary mode, cooperating across theborders of your institutions to look at appli-cations too. That’s where social sciencescomes into the picture. If we talk abouthealth, it’s a matter not only of technologybut also of application for the benefit ofpeople. Water purification, river manage-ment, coastal area development, disastermanagement, all these disciplinary compo-nents are present within the University andITC and will enable us to help governmentto formulate answers to actual developmentand social problems.”

It is this profile that will give the new-styleUniversity of Twente including ITC a fore-most position in the Netherlands, in Europeand in the world. Cooperation between thetwo parties is already well underway in anumber of fields: water, management, geo-information, the development of sensor net-works, land management and disaster man-agement - all fields where the education andresearch of the University and the Instituteconverge.

Turning specifically to education, Dr Fliermansaid, “We have the same profile; we want totrain and educate people not only in theknowledge of technology but also in the ap-plication of technology in society. This meansthat we as a university will develop a gradu-ate school (in a sense ITC is already workingas a graduate school), as well as a school ofsocial sciences, a school of engineering, anda number of undergraduate programmes. Itis our hope that we can combine ITC activi-ties and UT know-how in developing severalnew graduate and undergraduate pro-grammes for students from the Netherlandsand Europe and from more distant parts ofthe globe.” So while the practical work un-derpinning the integration goes on behindthe scenes, dealing not only with issues ofresearch and educational content but alsowith those essential components of person-nel, finance and organisation, the prospectsfor the future look decidedly interesting, notto say exciting.

Finally, drawing to a close, Dr Flierman tookthe opportunity to wish “a very successfulyear” first to the students, who had comefrom all over the world and would enrichboth Enschede and the University of Twenteby creating the desired international climate,and then to the staff of ITC in preparing forthis integration and working on issues thatare so important for present-day society herein Europe and worldwide.

Student Association BoardSpeaking on behalf of the StudentAssociation Board, General Secretary MrMarco Rusmini said that this occasion gavehim the opportunity to express his gratitudeto the ITC community and, at the same time,welcome its newest members. “As students,we have the honour to be part of an inter-nationally recognised centre of excellence inscientific education. In the last 55 years orso, more than 19,000 participants from over170 countries have followed ITC courses,and over these years ITC has developed awide selection of courses in such disciplinesas earth sciences, water resources, land ad-ministration, urban planning and manage-ment, natural resources and the environ-ment, and geoinformatics.”St

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He went on to say that the high level of edu-cation was guaranteed by the solidity of theInstitute’s research - research to which some120 PhD students were currently contribut-ing their scientific knowledge gained fromcountless fieldwork activities around theworld.

He reserved a special mention for the teach-ing body: “They are women and men whodedicate their entire personal career to edu-cating the scientists of tomorrow. Is thereanything more satisfying than giving immor-tality to science? Behind the desk, I havefound them to be unreachable examples ofprofessional rigour. But that superiority dis-appears when the lectures end and in therestaurant they ask, ‘May I sit at your table?’There you discover the humanity and senseof respect that makes them teachers at thishonourable Institute.”

Addressing the students who had alreadybeen at ITC for quite some time, Mr Rusminisaid that they had great responsibilities to-wards their fellow countrymen. “In a fewmonths, they will have to carry back newknowledge representing the life blood of sci-entific development in their countries.During last year’s ceremony, I was sittinghere confused and frightened in a foreigncountry, with unknown neighbours, but nowI see the same people hugging each otherand holding hands. I see new friendshipsand even love blossoming in this wonderfulcommunity.”

“Be like children!” That was Mr Rusmini’sadvice to the new students in the audience.“Children are like empty vases, ready to befilled. Be prepared to understand and makeyour own the vast amount of knowledgeyou are going to receive. The high educa-tional standards at ITC are not stumblingblocks but rather a challenging opportunityto demonstrate your value. Children are curi-ous. Take advantage of every single sunnyweekend and travel as much as you can.Children are pure and call each other friend.Erase any prejudice and cultural barriers.Exchange your heritage and experiences inthe name of brotherhood and equality.”

Bringing his speech to a close, Mr Rusminihad a few more words of encouragement:

“Always bear in mind that somebody bet onyou: your organisations, your parents oryourselves. And you are here to demonstratethat they were right to do so. It’s your turnnow! And may I wish you every success inyour study, your career and your personal lifein the coming year.”

ITC MSc Awardfor Best MSc Thesis 2008It was now the pleasant duty of ProfessorMolenaar to announce the winner of theMSc Thesis Award, consisting of a certificateand €1,000 - an award made possiblethrough the Schermerhorn Fund of ITC. Thisyear the award went to Mr Juan Pablo ArdilaLopez from Colombia for his thesis entitledAssessment and modelling of angularbackscattering variation in ALOS ScanSARimages over tropical forest areas.

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Winner of the MSc Thesis Award Juan Pablo Ardila Lopez

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Introducing the winner and his work to theaudience, Professor Molenaar said: “MrArdila Lopez joined the GFM MSc pro-gramme in September 2007 and is now aPhD student at ITC. The overall object of histhesis was to study the influence of the inci-dence angle on radar backscattering in ALOSScanSAR images and to develop a model forits correction in tropical forest regions. ALOSScanSAR products became available in 2005and cover 350km-wide strips with L bandradar in 100m resolution. This makes theseimages excellent for monitoring land coveron a regional scale. However, the wideswath comes at a cost: a variation in inci-dence angle of 25°, with an effect onbackscatter that cannot be ignored and forwhich no correction models have existed.The work of Mr Ardila Lopez brings opera-tional monitoring based on ScanSAR imagesanother step closer.”

“Mr Ardila Lopez had very clear ideas aboutthe topic of his MSc research and the area ofapplication - to use his own words: ‘ourever-sacred tropical forests in Colombia’. Heconducted his research in a very enthusiasticand independent manner. He was able to es-tablish contacts with organisations and re-searchers in the field, discuss artefacts foundwith the image provider, and be a constantand positive challenge to his supervisors tokeep up with his rapidly developing ideas.”

Having painted a clear picture, ProfessorMolenaar invited Mr Ardila Lopez to comeforward to receive his award and, on behalfof the jury and the ITC Scientific Council,heartily congratulated him on his achieve-ment. The resounding applause from thefloor that accompanied the winner’sprogress to the podium echoed these senti-ments.

ITC Research Award 2008The ITC Research Award is made annually toan ITC graduate student (a PhD student oran AiO) for the authorship or co-authorshipof an outstanding scientific paper dealingwith geo-information science and/or earthobservation within the context of the ITCResearch Programme. The award consists ofa certificate and €1,000. The award waspresented for the first time last year and

went to Dr Wu Guofeng for his paper ondredging impact assessment in Poyang Lake,China, which was published in WaterResearch.

So much for the brief history of the award,but now it was time to turn the page. It wasProfessor Molenaar’s happy task to chart thisyear’s proceedings and of course, most im-portant, announce the outcome. “While fivepapers were submitted for the ResearchAward this year, only two nominations wereshortlisted because the others had not yetbeen accepted for publication. Publishing aninnovative paper in a high-ranking journal isno easy matter. It is therefore with greatpleasure that I can announce that the ITCResearch Award 2008 goes to Ms Xia Li.”

“This year’s jury was composed of ProfessorFreek van der Meer, Professor Alfred Steinand Professor Bob Su, as well as last year’swinner, Dr Wu Guofeng. The three most im-portant criteria applying to the award arescientific level, innovation and practical sig-nificance, and, as last year, a telling consider-ation was that the winning paper presenteda new concept that triggers research in anew direction. After elaborate electroniccommunication and discussion, the jury de-cided to present the Research Award 2008to Ms Xia Li for the paper The time wave: anew method of visual exploration of geo-data in time-space, published this year in theCartographic Journal.”

Professor Molenaar went on to say that thejury had commented that it would be inter-

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The ITC Research Award 2008 goes to Ms Xia Li

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esting to see how the conceptual modelcould be further developed in greater depth,for example, by linking the time wave to amathematical function. Furthermore, itwould be interesting to see fully worked-outcase studies showing a comparison betweenthe newly presented concept and existingways of visualisation. That it triggers manynew research questions illustrates the re-markable merit of this paper.

Professor Molenaar then called on Ms Xia Lito step up and receive the ITC ResearchAward 2008 - which she did to enthusiasticapplause and quite a barrage of flash pho-tography.

Fellow of ITCOfficial Installation of Dr Gilberto CâmaraArticle 24 of the ITC statutes governs the ap-pointment of Fellows of ITC and reads as fol-lows:Persons who have distinguished them-selves through their outstanding contri-butions to the development of theInstitute and more specifically to the re-alisation of its objectives and/or the de-velopment of the scientific domain ofthe Institute can be appointed by theBoard of ITC as Fellow of the Institute.According to the rules, such an appointmentrequires the positive advice of the ScientificCouncil and the approval of ITC’s Board ofSupervisors. Consequently, the threshold ishigh and installations are few, but today wasone such special occasion.

“It is now my honour to announce a newFellow of the Institute,” declared ProfessorMolenaar. “Dr Gilberto Câmara is presentlydirector-general of the National Institute forSpace Research in Brazil and an outspokenchampion of open data policies for the civiland scientific use of earth observation inBrazil and abroad. In this position, he canclaim some important achievements: • he was responsible for specifying the first

supercomputer installed in INPE’s Centerfor Weather Forecasts and Climate Studies

• he was responsible for creating INPE’sRemote Sensing Data Center, which hasput 30 years of imagery on line

• he has been one of the important driversof the further development of the China-

Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS)• he is responsible for setting up data poli-

cies for CBERS images in Brazil andabroad

• and under his leadership, INPE togetherwith the Chinese Academy of SpaceTechnology developed a programme forCBERS to make these data freely availablefor users in Africa.”

“That he has a great personal interest in theuse of earth observation data in civil society,particularly for the protection of our livingenvironment, is evident from his involvementin various instances, both now and in thepast: • he is deputy coordinator of the GEOMA

research network for environmental mod-elling of Amazonia

• he is the principal investigator of spatialdatabases and spatial environmental mod-els in GEOMA

• he was responsible for setting up a systemfor the real-time detection of deforesta-tion in Amazonia and for making defor-estation maps available on the internet.

Dr Gilberto Câmara has long been a leaderin GIS and image processing technology inBrazil, being responsible for the develop-ment of the SPRING and TerraLib systems -systems now freely available on the internet.Furthermore, the aim of the CBERS data pol-icy for Africa is to increase the access ofAfrican governments and organisations tosatellite imagery, thereby increasing their ca-pacity to use such imagery to help to moni-tor natural disasters, drought, desertifica-tion, deforestation, and threats toagricultural production and public health.”

“Despite his heavy administrative and man-agement duties, Dr Câmara is still very activein science and research (with more than 120published papers to his credit) and in inter-national research cooperation with leadinggroups and scientists in his field of expert-ise.”

Summarising, Professor Molenaar said thatDr Câmara had made major contributions togeo-information and earth observation, theacademic and professional domain of ITC,which included:• the scientific development of this field

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through his research and publications• the operational use of the technology

through the development of software sys-tems that are freely available on the Web

• the application of earth observation datain important domains such as environ-mental modelling and the monitoring ofdeforestation

• making remote sensing data freely avail-able through the satellite programmesand related data policy of INPE

• and last but not least the advocacy andrealisation of free access to data, espe-cially for countries with weak economies.”

With that, Professor Molenaar said it was agreat honour to announce the appointmentof Dr Gilberto Câmara as Fellow of ITC, andhe invited Professor Jaap Besemer, chairmanof the ITC Board of Supervisors, to presentthe diploma. “After hearing the laudationjust read by the rector,” said ProfessorBesemer, “it is my privilege to hand over thisdiploma and congratulate Dr Câmara on be-half of the Board of Supervisors.” And thoseattending the ceremony were not slow inadding their own congratulations in the cus-

tomary manner. Then Professor Molenaar duly declared theITC academic year officially open and invitedthe young Fellow of the Institute, noblesseoblige, to give the first lecture of the year.

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Schermerhorn LectureDr Gilberto Câmara“Monitoring and modelling deforestationin Amazonia”In a presentation liberally illustrated withstriking photographs, graphs and statistics,Dr Gilberto Câmara shared with his audiencesome experiences in monitoring deforesta-tion in Amazonia. “Of course, we know thatour tropical forests play an extremely impor-tant part not only in the whole climate bal-ance but also in the livelihood and futurelivelihood of the world’s generations.” Hewent on to say that the last 30 years hadseen an enormous change in the planet’stropical forests and that this had led to sci-entists being confronted with five mainquestions: 1. How much land change is happening?2. Where are land changes taking place?3. Who is causing the change?4. What are the impacts of public policies?5. What will happen in the future?Whereas Dr Câmara felt that the earth ob-servation and geoinformatics communitiescould already provide immediate answers toquestions 1 and 2, he proposed that theskills of the research community be har-nessed to help in dealing with the three re-maining questions. Furthermore, when mov-ing in political circles, it was more or lesscertain that a scientist would be faced with aquestion to which the answer was still lack-ing (an observation with which many in theaudience could identify).

“Now we know that part of the land changeworldwide is being caused by a positivething in general: the growth of the Southerneconomies. And Brazil is a case in point. Wehave had an enormous growth in agricultureand it is now a major agricultural power.Moreover, Brazil is currently one of theworld’s largest exporters of beef, with cattleclaiming an increasing area of Amazonia. In1992 Amazonia accounted for a fifth of theBrazilian production in this sector; in 2007this had jumped to a third. And of courseyou don’t have changes of such magnitudewithout causing an imbalance in the envi-ronment.”

“But,” continued Dr Câmara, “the first thingis to recognise that deforestation is not a sin-gle beast. There are different types that take

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different forms.” However, for the purposesof this lecture and for the sake of simplicity,he dealt with just two: • slash and burn, a method typical of Brazil

in the 1980s and favoured at new fron-tiers, where there are plenty of trees andlittle concern for ecological preservation.Within a three- to four-month season, anextensive area of forest could be wipedout.

• progressive degradation, a more system-atic method that runs from selective log-ging (marketable trees), to wood extrac-tion and burning, to further burning andpasture, and finally to clear cut. Unlike theAfrican savanna, which burns each yearbut grows back, tropical forests are unac-customed to fire and can easily be wipedout.

From the remote sensing point of view, slashand burn can be easily identified “becausethe contrast between what existed as pris-tine forest and what is left is far too great toignore in a remote sensing image.”However, progressive degradation is verybad news because the changing “signaturesare subtle and difficult to distinguish. Butdistinguish we must, because if we want tofight deforestation we should not wait. Weneed to intervene as early as possible.”

Still, technology is advancing rapidly, bring-ing vast improvements to the two key ele-ments of remote sensing: resolution in me-tres and revisit time in days. MODIS, forexample, now provides 250m images everyday. “Whereas earth observation and remote

sensing used to be a tool for producingmaps,” explained Dr Câmara, “it is now atool for measuring processes. And deforesta-tion is not an event, it is a process - some-thing that happens step by step, each signifi-cant step requiring an alert. ”Such gianttechnological strides combined with the un-precedented open access to data “will pro-vide ways of examining our planet that weresimply not possible before.”

And this availability of data is increasinglybringing a national response. For example,the major television network in Brazil has aninteractive website, enabling viewers to keepa watch on Amazonia and protest against itsdestruction. Millions of people look at thisevery day, flagging events in their own“backyard”. The power of earth observationis being brought to the people. But, of

10 ITC News 2008-3

M A I N F E A T U R E S

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The first lecture of the year given by Dr Gilberto Câmara

Gilberto Câmara

Gilberto Câmara is general director of Brazil’s NationalInstitute for Space Research (INPE), his term of officerunning from 2006 to 2010. He is responsible for theadministration of INPE’s research and developmentgroups in space science, space engineering, earth ob-servation, and weather and climate studies. Previously,he was head of INPE’s Image Processing Division (1991-1996) and director for earth observation (2001-2005).

He established the free and open data policy for re-mote sensing images from CBERS (China-Brazil EarthResources Satellite) worldwide, and for creating INPE’sRemote Sensing Data Center, which has put 30 yearsof imagery on line. He was also responsible for setting

up a system for real-time detection of deforestation inAmazonia and for making Amazonia deforestationmaps available on the internet. He also created INPE’sEarth System Science Center.

His research interests lie in geoinformatics and environ-mental modelling. He has published more than 150 fullpeer-reviewed papers in journals and at conferences,and he led the development of SPRING, a free object-oriented GIS, and TerraLib, an open-source GIS library.According to Google Scholar, as of July 2008 his h-indexis 18 and his number of citations is 1900. Based onthese data, he is currently one of the five most cited re-searchers at INPE.

11ITC News 2008-3

M A I N F E A T U R E S

course, not everyone is pleased. Wherewidespread deforestation coincides with sig-nificant agricultural production, commercialinterests are quick to defend their corner.Scientists are not shamans, consequently sci-ence has errors. “But,” said Dr Câmara,speaking more directly to the students in theaudience, “you have to face the fact that allscientific experiments are fraught with errorand you must not be afraid of saying thatthere was an error of so much percent lastmonth and so much percent this month.Publish the data! Moreover, scenarios are apowerful tool for modelling the future. Theyare not predictions, they are scenarios ofwhat might happen if you take the wrongactions, and therefore can be used to exertpressure on the government: if no protec-tion policies are in place, increasing defor-estation can be expected.”

All in all, the world is on the verge of amajor revolution in earth observation and re-mote sensing and “you [the students] arelucky to consider yourselves at a threshold inour profession. How I wish I could be in yourplace! But of course there’s not only regret,there’s also happiness. Norway is giving upto US$ 1 billion in yearly instalments until2015 to protect the Amazon. Now thatmoney will depend on how successful weare in Brazil in reducing deforestation, andNorway will rely on the Brazilian system toprovide the requisite data in this respect. Sothis is the ultimate expression of trust. Andwe will continue to do good science andcontinue to recognise our errors - even more

so with this sort of international recognition- always remembering that we are in it forthe long term. We have an Earth to protectand it’s only good sound sense to do so!”

ConclusionWith the varied official programme now atan end, it only remained for ProfessorMolenaar to invite those present to join himat the reception in the foyer of theMuziekcentrum. Located in Noorderhagen,this venue is just a short walk from the im-posing Grote Kerk. Nevertheless, it is a walkthat can give newcomers both a glimpse ofthe city’s quaint nooks and crannies and apractical lesson in dodging careering cyclists.No unfortunate events to report, no unfortu-nate processes incurred. All guests, studentsand staff arrived safely at theMuziekcentrum to enjoy the refreshmentsand compare notes on the afternoon’s pro-ceedings.

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Gilberto Câmara is a professor in INPE’s graduateprogrammes in remote sensing and computer sci-ence, and in this capacity has advised 21 Master and11 PhD students and is presently advising another 11PhD students. He was a keynote speaker at the con-ference Geographical Information Science 2006 heldin Münster, Germany. He is the main organiser of theBrazilian Symposiums of Geoinformatics, which havebeen held yearly since 1999. He acts as consultant tothe main Brazilian funding agencies, and from 2001to 2004 sat on the national committee for evaluatinggraduate programmes for the multidisciplinary area.

He is a member of the Scientific Steering Committeeof the Global Land Project, a research initiative ofthe International Geosphere-Biosphere Programmeand the International Human DimensionsProgramme. He is a member of the editorial board ofthe Journal of Earth Science Informatics and of theprogramme committee of the most prestigious con-ferences in his area of research, including theConference on Geographical Information Science(GIScience), the Conference on Spatial InformationTheory and the International GeoSemanticsConference

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Opening Academic Year 2008-2009

Water managers in

Africa urgently need

reliable information

on the use and

availability of water.

Data acquired from

space can contribute

to supplying this

need.

To satisfy the demand for information, goodsynchronisation is required between watermanagers, who must indicate their specificinformation needs; developers of the datagathering-monitoring satellite systems; andthe knowledge institutes that must transfertheir knowledge on collection and dissemi-nation to users. During the seminar EarthObservation for Improving WaterManagement in Africa: Developing Human,Technical and Institutional Capacity, scien-tists, water managers from Africa, and stafffrom knowledge centres addressed the ques-tion: “How can the knowledge available inthe area of satellite data use for water man-agement purposes be strengthened inAfrica?” The seminar, which was held from23 to 25 September 2008 at ITC, Enschede,was jointly organised by the Group on EarthObservation (GEO) and ITC’s Department ofWater Resources

The SeminarMany initiatives dealing with earth observa-tion and water management are ongoing inAfrica. All these activities require knowledge-able resource persons for their execution andimplementation. Recurrent issues in theseinitiatives relate to the shortage of existinghuman resources and absorption capacityneeded for the efficient application of earthobservation for improved water manage-ment. To further develop human capacitybuilding activities with partners in Africa, theseminar addressed three themes:• the emerging water resources manage-

ment issues over the coming years andtheir information needs

• developments in earth-observation-baseddata and information systems and the im-pact of water resources management de-cision-making processes that can be ex-pected

• capacity building strategies for earth ob-servation and water in and for Africa.

Senior speakers from African governments,regional and international organisations, ca-pacity building providers, space agencies andpolicy-making bodies elaborated on thesethemes. Emerging water resources manage-ment issues and needs were addressed fromthe perspectives of the Nile Basin Initiative,the Water Resources Management Authorityof Kenya, the Department of Environment ofthe Democratic Republic Congo and theSADC Secretariat, addressing the SouthernAfrican region. Information on earth obser-vation developments for water resources

13ITC News 2008-3

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Executive Seminar on

Earth Observation for

Improving Water Managementin Africa

Arno van Lieshout lieshout@itc.nl

management, the second theme, was pro-vided by representatives from the Europeanand Brazilian space agencies (ESA and INPE),the European Organisation for theExploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EU-METSAT), the Flemish Institute forTechnological Development (VITO), and theGlobal Energy and Water Cycle Experiment(GEWEX), as well as by GEO and ITC.Capacity building strategies for earth obser-vation and water were presented by Africanknowledge centres (e.g. universities andtechnical institutes of Ethiopia, Ghana andSenegal), regional centres (AGRHYMET,Niamey, Niger, and the Regional Centre forMapping and Resource Development,Nairobi, Kenya) and WaterNet (an academicaffiliated regional Southern African watereducation network), supplemented by pre-sentations from UNESCO and ITC. Thesepresentations provided a clear picture of thechallenges ahead for capacity building inearth observation for the water manage-ment sector in Africa from different perspec-tives.

Seminar OutcomeAt the end of each theme, round-table dis-cussions took place, and during the final ses-sion representatives from the three thematicgroups formulated recommendations toGEO, policy makers, space agencies andfunding organisations on capacity building inearth observation for improving water man-agement. Recommendations were made inrelation to providing freeware (open source),improving data availability, developing and

standardising earth observation water curric-ula for universities, building on existingknowledge centres and networks (such asWaterNet) to introduce advances in earthobservation for water resources manage-ment, and the need for concrete actions toinform policy makers in a forum such as theAfrican Ministers’ Council on Water(AMCOW). Initiatives such as Tiger,GEONETCast for and by DevelopingCountries (DevCoCast), the proposed contin-uation of TIGER, and the Europe-Africa-Land-Network (EALNet) are excellent vehiclesfor implementing these recommendations inconjunction with the ongoing developmentswithin the framework of GEO related to theconstruction of the Global Earth ObservationSystem of Systems (GEOSS).

DisseminationThe final report, providing full details of theexecutive seminar and its outcome, is underpreparation and will be available soon. Thisreport will guide the capacity building effortin Africa of ITC’s Water Resources depart-ment. Soft copies of the report and the pre-sentations given during the seminar can bedownloaded from the ITC website(http://www.itc.nl). Requests for hard copiescan be addressed to pr@itc.nl.

14 ITC News 2008-3

M A I N F E A T U R E S

The main cause is sought in the increase ofgreenhouse gases in the atmosphere, partic-ularly carbon dioxide (CO2), largely as a con-sequence of the accelerating use of fossilfuels. These atmospheric greenhouse gasescause the so-called greenhouse effect,where longwave heat radiation from theEarth is reflected back to it. This causes agradual increase in the earth surface temper-ature. The first main step forward was madein 1992, when the United FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)was adopted at the Rio Conference, lateraugmented by the Kyoto Protocol, and theClean Development Mechanism, which ispart of it.

ITC, both as a scientific institute and as anoperational organisation, has been active inaddressing climate change since the earlynineties. The research theme “Carbon cycleand climate change” (C-Cycle) is a case inpoint. Another initiative is the working groupStrategic Environmental Capacity Building,set up to identify ways in which ITC can bestcontribute to implementing environmentalUN conventions such as the UNFCCC.

As an operational organisation, ITC is alsoactive in conserving energy in its everydayactivities: for example (just to mention fewinitiatives in the main building), an energyuse mirror in the entrance hall, energy-sav-ing messages at the light switches, energy-efficient lighting, light sensors that automat-ically dim lights, top cooling rather than fullair-conditioning, and evening checks on un-necessary lighting. Also, ITC is active in recy-cling its waste paper. ITC’s mandate, how-ever, naturally brings with it activities such as

international air travel and extensive com-puter usage in education and research, with-out which the Institute simply could not doits work.

The UNFCCC and particularly the KyotoProtocol have made provisions to compen-sate for CO2 emissions through additionaltree planting, because growing trees absorb(sequester) large quantities of CO2 and storethem for long periods of time in the form ofbiomass, particularly wood.

We used the new Module 14 opportunity toengage MSc students in obtaining a clearpicture of ITC’s main CO2-generating activi-ties and in assessing the options for CO2 se-questering. The students concerned wereFrancis Kwabena Dwomoh, Job ArabasonKarenget, Lelyana Midora, Seleboni Mushi,Maureen Epole Njume and Sigit Rustanto.Their research was linked to the C-Cycle re-search theme. In a two-week group researchproject, they analysed ITC’s principal CO2emission activities for the year 2007, quanti-fied the ensuing CO2 emission, and assessedthe amount of land that must be plantedwith trees to sequester this emitted CO2.This was done for ITC’s main building and in-cluded the following activities: (1) heating ofthe building by burning natural gas, (2) useof electricity by electrical and electronicequipment, (3) air travel and (4) productionof waste materials (paper and garbage). Thenecessary data were kindly supplied by theappropriate ITC offices. All data were con-verted to their equivalent CO2 quantities byusing published conversion values, takinginto consideration the limited life cycle ofmost paper and the abiotic part of garbage.

15ITC News 2008-3

M A I N F E A T U R E S

ITC’s (E)mission:Compensating CO2

Emissions from ITC ActivitiesAlfred de Gier degier@itc.nl

The problem of

climate change is

affecting our life

more and more. We

have come to realise

that the occurrence

of recent extreme

events, such as

flooding and

droughts, and the

almost annual

breaking of weather

records go beyond

normal variability.

The following table shows the calculatedCO2 emission values for ITC’s main activities.

Electricity consumption is by far the most im-portant ITC source of CO2. Natural gas con-sumption comes second, and waste produc-tion comes third. Almost 90% of ITC’s CO2emission is thus related to what happens in-side its main building. Air travel by both staffand students, despite the large total distanceflown, is of relatively minor importance fromthe point of view of CO2 production.Probably this result comes as unexpected tomost ITC staff.

When considering the calculated emissionvalues as unavoidable, a number of treeplanting scenarios were appraised for se-questering the emitted CO2 (see Table 2).The first scenario uses field-measuredgrowth data for the trees in a 16-year-oldwood strip (houtwal) near Enschede onprime agricultural land. The second scenarioassumes tree planting on Dutch non-agricul-tural land, also using field-measured data forsuch land. The third scenario uses the calcu-lation procedure of Trees for Travel. Inmatching emission with sequestration, wefollowed the conventional way of working,in that the CO2 emitted in one year mustalso be sequestered in one year.

The first scenario contrasts strongly with thesecond. The former has a high soil quality,whereas the non-agricultural land in the sec-ond scenario has relatively poor soils. Soilquality apparently has a very important influ-ence on tree growth, and thus on carbon se-questration. The last scenario (Trees forTravel) gives an area that is comparable tothe Dutch non-agricultural land scenario, al-though the values refer to tropical tree plan-tations, which are expected to grow fasterand thus sequester more CO2 per ha andper year. This was not confirmed by our find-ings. All in all, a considerable amount of

16 ITC News 2008-3

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Quantities Tons CO2 %

Natural gas 134,363 m3 202 21.1

Electricity 1,324,590 kWh 662 69.2

Paper waste 14 tons 41 4.3

Garbage 113 tons 45 4.7

Staff air travel 4,171,142 km 3 0.3

Student air travel 6,589,421 km 4 0.4

Total 957 100.0

Table 1 ITC’s CO2 emission in 2007

Tree planting areas required

Dutch prime agricultural

land

Dutch non-agricultural

land

Trees for Travel

Tons CO2 % ha ha ha

Natural gas 202 21.1 6.5 24.2 25.2

Electricity 662 69.2 21.2 79.6 82.8

Paper waste 41 4.3 1.3 4.9 5.1

Kitchen waste 45 4.7 1.4 5.4 5.7

Staff travel 3 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.3

Student travel 4 0.4 0.1 0.5 0.5

957 100.0 30.6 114.9 119.6

Table 2 Matching CO2 emission with tree planting (year 2007)

land is needed. An area of 110 ha, for in-stance, would mean the equivalent of 220football fields, or a distance of some 110km, when planted as one long row.

These findings are interesting in themselves,but also provide a foundation for ITC’s con-tinuing efforts to further reduce CO2 emis-sion and find possible avenues to address se-questration. Besides looking into additionalenergy-saving solutions related to computeruse, lighting and heating, ITC could considerinvolvement in tree planting in theNetherlands. This would have a strong visi-bility element for ITC staff and students, aswell as for the outside world, and wouldgenerate personal involvement where staff

and students would participate in actual treeplanting and maintenance. Tree planting op-portunities in the Netherlands do exist, evennearby in Twente, for instance by integratingtrees in the landscape (e.g. along streams).These opportunities merit exploration.

The above is based on the conventional wayof working, in that the CO2 emitted shouldbe sequestered in the same year. In this way,the areas to be planted were calculated.Because trees continue to grow year afteryear, and thus continue to sequester CO2,the area of land required is a one-time re-quirement only, as long as there is nochange in CO2 emission.

17ITC News 2008-3

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Growth rings indicating annual wood accumulation, of which some 50% is carbon(photo A.de Gier)

Stream banks offer suitable locations for tree growing: thetrees accumulate carbon and the water can flow more freely(ITC CIR aerial photograph)

Plant growth hampering water flow in sunlit conditions (photo A. de Gier) Limited plant growth when tree crowns shade the stream(photo A. de Gier)

The full report can be downloaded from www.itc.nl/news_events/archive/general/compensating_for_co2.asp

As reported in an earlier edition ofITC News, staff of the department ofUrban and Regional Planning andGeo-Information Management, to-gether with colleagues from theCentre for Transport Studies of theUniversity of Twente (UT), are coor-dinating the international CyclingAcademic Network (CAN).CAN is concerned with studying therole of cycling in sustainable urbandevelopment and currently supportssix PhD students from India, Brazil,South Africa and Rwanda. The firstCAN scientific workshop was organ-ised at ITC from 1 to 4 July, and wasattended by the CAN PhD students,their supervisors from India, Braziland South Africa, ITC and UT staff,and professionals from the DutchCycling.nl network and the Interfacefor Cycling Expertise (I-CE).

Being renowned worldwide for itshigh proportion of bicycle transport,its bicycle-train transport integration,and a cycling culture (independent ofpersonal status) and awareness in civiland professional society, theNetherlands is obviously a perfect lo-cation to host an international scien-tific workshop on cycling-inclusiveurban planning. So scientists gath-ered in Enschede in July to discusssuch issues as bicycle infrastructurelevel-of-service, cycling potential indeveloping cities, the role of market-ing cycling, urban form and cycling inmegacities, bicycle–bus integration,bicycle network design, and remotelysensed urban indicators for bicyclestudies. Among the internationalworkshop participants were ProfessorToni Lindau, Professor Suely Sanchezand Professor Milena Bodmer from

Brazil; Dr Marianne Vanderschurenfrom South Africa; and Dr AnvitaArora and Professor Geetam Tiwarifrom India; as well as the six PhD stu-dents, who spend part of their timeat ITC and part at the partner univer-sities.

The workshop was launched with amini-seminar opened by DirectorExternal Affairs Sjaak Beerens, Headof Research Professor Martin Haleand Director I-CE Roelof Wittink.Keynote lectures were then given bythe international visitors. As CAN isstill in its first year, most of the work-shop time was dedicated to present-ing and discussing the initial projectideas (based on peer-reviewed pre-proposals) of all the young re-searchers. The individual PhD projectswere discussed in great detail in 2.5-

hour sessions, while attempts weremade to establish linkages betweenthe projects and project partners inseveral plenary sessions.

Strengthening PartnershipsAn important workshop goal was tostrengthen the network and createfurther partnerships between the pro-fessors, scientists and institutions in-volved in CAN (most of us weremeeting for the first time). For thisreason, an ice-breaker reception opento all those interested, a couple ofdinners, and a social event were or-ganised.

As it was a question of cycling aca-demics, there was no option but tochoose cycling for the social event.On 2 July, one of the warmest days of2008, with temperatures reaching

18 ITC News 2008-3

R E S E A R C H N E W S

research news

CAN Scientific Workshop on Cycling-Inclusive Planning at ITC

Mark Zuidgeest zuidgeest@itc.nl

Flavia de Souza desouza21394@itc.nl

PhD students and their CAN supervisors meet at ITC: (left to right) Professor Martin vanMaarseveen, Dr Anvita Arora, Professor Geetam Tiwari, Dr Mark Zuidgeest, Ms Himani Jain,Professor Milena Bodmer, Mr Alphonse Nkurunziza, Professor Suely Sanchez, Professor ToniLindau, Ms Janice Kirner, Mr Mark Brussel, Ms Flavia de Souza, Mr Eddie Beukes and Dr Marianne Vanderschuren

32°C, all workshop participants wentcycling in the beautiful Twente coun-tryside. Since ITC was organising theevent, it also made sense to mountGPS route navigation systems on thebicycles. A local travel agent rents outspecial route navigation systems forthis purpose. The so-called Abel sys-tem displays a route map, indicatesdirections, and provides tourist infor-mation for points of interest alongthe route. A route of 28.9 km intotal, starting and ending in the cityof Delden and passing throughBoekelo, was covered by bicycle (byalmost everyone).

19ITC News 2008-3

R E S E A R C H N E W S

A tandem was available for those less comfortable with cycling long distances

Bicycles equipped with the Abel route navi-gation system

The next CAN event (a regular CAN network meeting) will beheld at IIT Delhi in New Delhi in conjunction with the 18thInternational Course on Transportation Planning and Safety (6 to 13 December 2008), which will be attended by the CAN PhDs.

20

International Student Meet EnschedeOn Thursday, 18 September 2008, the four institutesfor higher education in Enschede - Artez, ITC, Saxionand the University of Twente - jointly organised a festive event for the newly arrived international stu-dents. The event was supported by the municipalityof Enschede.

Together, the four institutes welcomed the 1,200 newstudents for the academic year that started thisSeptember. Through this unique event, the newly ar-rived students were given the opportunity to meet fellow students from the other institutes.

Programme highlights included the opening by themayor of Enschede, Peter den Oudsten. A tour throughEnschede with various activities along the way. An infor-mation market and entertainment.

HighlightsHighlightsstudent introduction week 200

ITC News 2008-3

Opening Academic Year 2008-2009The Opening of the Academic Year officially marksthe start of the new academic year. The Grote Kerkin the old market square was scene of this year’s offi-cial ceremony. The article about this year’s openingceremony can be found on page 2.

Dutch DinnerAs indicated in De Aardappeleters (potato eaters), the famouspainting by Vincent van Gogh, the main ingredient in old-fash-ioned Dutch dinners is potatoes, usually accompanied by meatand boiled vegetables. To give them a first impression of Dutchfood and eating habits, traditionally ITC staff help to prepareand serve a Dutch meal to all the new students.

08

ITC News 2008-3 21

The theme of the ESRI InternationalUser Conference of 2008 was “GIS inAction”. The works of GIS usersaround the world were highlightedby ESRI president Jack Dangermondin the opening plenary. Danger-mond talked about the importanceof GIS as part of the solution to thechallenge of living in a sustainableworld.

ITC received a Special AchievementAward during the user conference.This award is given to organisationsthat have made extraordinary contri-butions to society and have set newprecedents throughout the GIS com-munity. ITC’s rector, ProfessorMolenaar, proudly received this awardduring the conference. “At ESRI, weare always deeply impressed by theinnovation of our users,” said JackDangermond. “We want to recognisethe efforts of these individuals withour Special Achievement in GISAward. This recognition is well de-served for how they’ve appliedgeospatial technology to address theneeds of their industries and commu-nities. They are defining GIS bestpractices.”

22 ITC News 2008-3

E V E N T S

@

ITC was present in informationbooths at both the Education Fair andthe Show Case. Two of our alumni,Ms Sibonile Sibanda from Zimbabweand Mr Ron Dalumpines from thePhilippines, who are currently carryingout internships at ESRI Inc., assistedus in the information booths.

We also organised an ITC alumni re-ception, which was enjoyed by some30 alumni attending the conference.During the alumni reception, JackDangermond paid us a visit, whichwas very much appreciated by theITC alumni and staff.

events

ESRI User Conference 2008

Lyande Eelderink eelderink@itc.nl

Rolf de By deby@itc.nl

About ESRISince 1969, ESRI has been givingcustomers around the world thepower to think and plan geo-graphically. Market leader inGIS, ESRI software is used inmore than 300,000 organisa-tions worldwide, including eachof the 200 largest cities in theUnited States, most nationalgovernments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 compa-nies, and more than 7,000 col-leges and universities. ESRIapplications, running on morethan one million desktops andthousands of Web and enter-prise servers, constitute thebackbone of the world’s map-ping and spatial analysis. ESRI isthe only vendor that providescomplete technical solutions fordesktop, mobile, server andInternet platforms. Visitwww.esri.com.

From: Ron DalumpinesTo: Lyande EelderinkDate: 10/2/2008 6:05Subject:RE: ITC news

Hi Lyande,

Defining a new horizon: that’s a simple generalisation of my experienceworking here as part of the local government team under ConsultingServices, part of the Professional Services Division at ESRI. Currently,we’re involved in the development and deployment of a forestry manage-ment system for New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation(DPR). This project employs the latest ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.3, leveragingDPR’s business processes in an enterprise-wide environment and supportfor mobile computing. Projects like this at Professional Services bringESRI’s products to their full potential and help shape future products byworking closely with clients. I’m really lucky to be an intern at ESRI, to beworking at the bleeding edge of GIS software development and deploy-ment. So, I’ve been involved here in software testing and software inte-gration, and have attended training courses in enterprise GIS maintenanceand development. Like ITC, ESRI’s an international community with smart,nice, and committed people from different parts of the globe. It’s great!Now I’m excited to be involved in a new mobile solution project!

Regards, Ron

Professor John van Genderen of ITC’sDepartment of Earth ObservationScience has recently been elected ac-ademician of the InternationalEurasian Academy of Sciences.

This Academy has elected membersfrom both Europe and Asia. In Europe, the Russian Academy ofSciences and the UK Royal Society areparticularly active, while in Asia the

Chinese Academy of Sciences hasmany academicians, as does Japan.

In presenting the award to Professorvan Genderen, Professor Vladimir

23ITC News 2008-3

E V E N T S

Jack Dangermond attending the alumni gathering Alumni reception: Layi Taylor and family enjoying the oc-casion

The ITC booth at the ESRI conference The Convention Center: venue of the 28th Annual ESRIInternational User Conference

The presentation ceremony for the Special AchievementAward (Jack Dangermond and Roger Tomlinson)

At the ESRI party: the ITC team meeting Dr RogerTomlinson, generally recognised as the “father of GIS”

ITC Professor Appointed Academician

Professor Vladimir Tikunov

staff news

Tikunov, vice-president of theAcademy, stressed his unique contri-bution to the development of remotesensing in both Europe and Asia.

On accepting this position as acade-mician, Professor van Genderenstated that, as he is soon to takecompulsory retirement from ITC, hehopes to have more time to con-tribute to the work of the Academyby promoting science to younger stu-dents

24 ITC News 2008-3

S T A F F N E W S

Ms. R.J.M. Spaan Administration Officer Financial and Economic Affairs department 1 July 2008

Ms. A.T.A.M. Holtkamp Administration Officer Lot 7 Bureau Marketing and Project Services 21 July 2008

M.R. Winters Support Officer Information Technology department 1 August 2008

Drs. A.P. Neher Project Officer Bureau Marketing and Project Services 1 August 2008

W.H.J. ter Bekke Project Administration Officer Bureau Marketing and Project Services 1 August 2008

Prof.dr.ir. M.F.A.M. Chairman department of Urban and Regional Planning and van Maarseveen Geo-Information Management and Professor in Management of

Urban-Regional Dynamics 1 September 2008

S.J.T. Engelberts Procesmanager Application Management Information Technology department 1 September 2008

Ms. J.M. Mol Course Secretary Land Administration Bureau Education Affairs 1 September 2008

Ms. H.K. Heenkenda MSc. Lecturer department of Earth Observation Science 8 September 2008

Dr. M. Rutzinger Lecturer department of Earth Observation Science 15 September 2008

Dr.ing. W.H. de Man Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management 1 July 2008

A. Menning Communication department 1 August 2008

Dr. M.K. Hazarika Department of Earth Systems Analyses 25 August 2008

Ms. Ir. H.A. van Aken Department of Water Resources 1 September 2008

Welcometo ITC

Staffleaving

Professor John van Genderen

For more information:IEAS in Europe: Professor Evgeni Shiryaev, IEAS president (evgenelli@mtu-net.ru)

IEAS in Asia: Professor He Jianbang, deputy secretary-general of theChinese Science Centre of IEAS(jbhe@lreis.ac.cn)

Staff

On 30 July 2008, Hans Georg Jeriedied at the age of 79, leaving adaughter Helga and a son Mischa.Hans Jerie was born on 2 July 1929in Bludenz, Austria.

He graduated from the Fakultät fürAngewandte Mathematik und Physik,Abteilung für Vermessungswesen, ofthe Technische Hochschule in Viennain 1951. After graduation, he joinedthe Photogrammetric Division of theFederal Survey Department ofAustria, headed by Professor KarlNeumaier. His first contact with ITCcame when he joined the Institute forthe brief period 1953-1954, duringwhich time he distinguished himselfby writing a brilliant article on numer-ical relative orientation in mountain-ous terrain.

After successfully defending his doc-tor’s thesis at the TechnischeHochschule of Vienna in March 1954,he was assigned in 1955 and 1956 toWild, Heerbrugg, Switzerland, wherehe was involved in the technical train-ing of staff from the survey depart-ments in Egypt and Iran.

He rejoined ITC briefly from 1956 to1958, and then on a permanent basisin 1963. He developed the ITC-Jerieanalogue computer for block adjust-ment and spent two years demon-strating it in various countries. Onestudent, after having used this ana-logue computer, said, “Jerie is a ge-nius but how can I convince my coun-try to spend so much money for whatseems to be nothing else but parts ofa Meccano set and some rubberbands.” In August 1967, he was ap-pointed the first professor of pho-togrammetry and head of ITC’sPhotogrammetry department. His in-

augural address, entitled FromPhotogrammetry to PhotogrammetricSystems, emphasised the necessity ofa systematic approach to the scientificproblems confronting photogramme-try.

He had a quick active mind and akeen interest in models and problemsolving, creating many new ideas. Ashead of Photogrammetry, he estab-lished consulting and research units.In the 1970s, he was an initiator ofthe ITC Journal (now the InternationalJournal of Applied Earth Observationand Geoinformatics). The aim of thisjournal was to keep in touch with ITCalumni and inform them of the latestadvances in their respective fields ofinterest.

Professor Jerie’s interests were notlimited to ITC. They extended toISPRS and the European Organisationof Experimental PhotogrammetricResearch (OEEPE, now calledEuroSDR). He served ISPRS in variousfunctions: he was secretary ofCommission IV from 1968 to 1972;co-organised the committee’s sympo-sium in Delft in 1970; served as theISPRS council treasurer from 1980 to1984; was chairman of the WorkingGroup IV/1 on Cost Models ofMapping Processes; and was chair-man of the financial committee from1984 to 1988. He was also instru-mental in introducing the post-con-gress seminars at the ITC.

Professor Jerie also held various posi-tions within the OEEPE and producedmany reports and proposals. He be-came a member of the ExecutiveBureau of the OEEPE in 1971 andwas involved in the reorganisation ofthe OEEPE itself and its research activ-

ities. He became president of thecommission dealing with fundamen-tal problems in photogrammetry in1979.

After retirement from ITC in August1989, Professor Jerie’s fertile and ac-tive mind enthusiastically pursuedother problems, for example, in-carnavigation systems. (These effortshave since been overtaken, however,by recent commercial developments.)He was also busy in many other fieldsand had patents for many designs.

Professor Jerie will be affectionatelyremembered as a modest man whowas very highly respected internation-ally by his friends and colleagues andby his students at ITC.

25ITC News 2008-3

I N M E M O R I A M

In memoriam

Prof. Dr. Dipl-Ing. Hans Georg Jerie (1929-2008)

The International Geographical Union(IGU) Executive Committee recentlyselected Professor (Emeritus) HermanVerstappen for the highest IGUaward: the Lauréat d’honneur. Cre-ated by the IGU in 1976, this awardhonours those who have achievedparticular distinction or renderedoutstanding service in the world ofthe IGU or in international geogra-phy and environmental research.

In the case of Professor Verstappen,the Lauréat d’honneur was awardedto specifically recognise his tirelessand distinguished work on behalf ofgeography within the IGU and thesolid body of geographical researchconducted over the course of a longand productive career.

Professor Verstappen has played aleading role in promoting the missionand standing of the IGU. He can beregarded as a prominent geographerwho has dedicated his entire careerto geography and to furthering theinterest of the world in general andthe developing world in particular inthis field.

In terms of his dedication to the IGU,his commitment is illustrated by the

range of positions that he has held:• vice-president/president of the

Netherlands Chapter of IGU (1968-1976)

• initiator, member and secretary ofthe IGU Commission of AppliedGeomorphology (1956-1968)

• secretary/chairman of the IGUCommission of GeomorphologicalMapping (1968-1984)

• member of the IGU ExecutiveCommittee (1984-2000)

• vice-president of the IGU (1984-1988)

• first vice-president (1988-1992) • president (1992-1996)• past-president 1996-2000.

Among his major accomplishmentsduring his term as IGU president, thefollowing can mentioned:• IGU involvement in interna-

tional/global research programmes• renaissance of geographical think-

ing: improving the links betweenphysical and human geography

• affiliation with the IGU of theInternational Association ofGeomorphologists (IAG), theInternational PermafrostAssociation (IPA) and theInternational Union for Speleology(UIS)

• improvement of contacts with theInternational CartographicAssociation

• establishment of contacts with re-gional geographical organisationsin various parts of the world

• stimulation of IGU membership innew “countries in transition” incentral and eastern Europe and inother countries in Africa, Asia andLatin America

• revitalisation of the IGU in variousways.

Professor Verstappen was born on 30July 1925 in The Hague. He studied

26 ITC News 2008-3

A N N O U N C E M E N T S

announcements

Professor (Emeritus) Herman Verstappen Awarded IGU Lauréat d’Honneur

Sjaak Beerens beerens@itc.nl

Pofessor Herman Verstappen being congratu-lated by Professor Hans van Ginkel, formerRector Magnificus of Utrecht University, formerrector of the United Nations University and for-mer chair of the ITC Board

Receiving congratulations from Professor HansOttens, former ITC Supervisory Board member

Professor Herman Verstappen, together withhis wife and acting IGU president, Dr JoséLuis Palacio

With Professor Ton Ditez, IGU-Netherlands del-egate

physical geography at the StateUniversity of Utrecht, where he grad-uated in 1949. From 1949 until 1957,he worked as a geomorphologist/cartographer for the GeographicalInstitute of the Indonesian Topo -graph ical Survey in Jakarta. He joinedITC in 1957 as a lecturer, and was afull professor at the Institute from1968 until his retirement in 1989.

He has played a leading role in thedevelopment and application of geo-morphology, with emphasis on the

use of this science in projects in de-veloping countries. During his wholecareer, he has shared his extensiveknowledge in this field with genera-tions of students and colleagues. Hislong list of publications and his openeye for new methods and techniqueshas won him international recogni-tion in the world of geomorphologyand its applications, in the use of re-mote sensing in landform studiesand, in later years, in the study ofnatural hazards and disaster mitiga-tion.

The Lauréat d’honneur was conferredduring the closing ceremony of theInternational Geographical Congresson 15 August 2008 in Tunis, Tunisia,by the acting IGU president and ITCalumnus and former student of Pro -fessor Verstappen, Dr José Luis Palacio.

ITC would like to add its own con-gratulations to Professor HermanVerstappen on this prestigious awardto those he received from the manydignitaries present at the event inAugust.

27ITC News 2008-3

A N N O U N C E M E N T S

A special issue on spatial ecologyhas been approved by the Editorsand Publisher of the InternationalJournal of GIS. You are encouragedto submit relevant and high qualitymanuscripts for this special issue(see details below).

Spatial Ecology is a rapidly developingfield, but remains rather diffuseacross a wide range of internationaljournals, including disciplines devotedto the spatial sciences, as well asecology, forestry, agriculture, environ-mental management, geography,global change, etc. According to datapresented at the last IJGIS Boardmeeting in Beijing (June 2008), thereappears to be an increasing numberof submissions in spatial ecology. Thepublished articles attract high averagecitation rates.

For this special issue, we are seekingthe submission of papers from eco-logical and related environmentalstudies, as well as more technical arti-cles including topics such as spatialdata infrastructure relevant to ecolog-ical applications. We are especially in-terested in special and unusual (new)

ways of thinking about, and process-ing, spatial ecological data.

Key words and topics for this specialissue include scale, forage quality andquantity, trophic layers, visualization,spatial data infrastructure for ecologi-cal (biodiversity) data, methods to de-rive ancillary data required for ecolog-ical modeling (climate, terrain, soilsetc), animal movement includingboth spatial and temporal analysis,phenology, global databases for eco-logical studies (biodiversity, NPP, car-bon etc), fragmentation and connec-tivity, biodiversity hotspots andendemism, physical vegetation struc-ture for biomass assessment, paleo-ecology and reconstructing past envi-ronments with respect to climatechange, innovative methods and al-gorithms for spatial ecological analy-sis such as ES and NN, terrestial ma-rine and atmospheric ecology will be

considered, etc. Relevant cross-overpapers between GIS and remotesensing will also be highly relevant.

A condition of submission and ac-ceptance will be that papers mustpass the usual IJGIS review process,where we expect a 50% rejectionrate. In addition, authors will beasked to link and cross-reference pa-pers from the special issue, and theselinks and cross-references will then besubject to a second review by the edi-tor. Articles which do not adequatelylink and cross-reference with otherarticles from the Special Issue, will berejected.

The special issue will be about 134pages in length, with a minimum andmaximum length respectively of about120 and 145 pages. Each paper willbe about 10 pages in length. Colorwill be available if justified.

Papers sought for a Special Issue in Spatial Ecology for the International Journal of GIS

Special Issue Editor: Prof Andrew Skidmore, ITC, The Netherlands

The deadline for submission of papers is July 1st 2009.

When you submit your special issue paper online to the InternationalJournal of GIS http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijgis, please choose ‘Special Issue Paper’ from the Manuscript Types field.

For more information please contact the special issue editor Prof.Andrew Skidmore of ITC, The Netherlands, email: skidmore@itc.nl.

28 ITC News 2008-3

A N N O U N C E M E N T S

Coal fire area in China: cracked bedrock due tovolume loss underground. Top: normal cameraimage; bottom: thermal camera image reveal-ing distinct hot spots where the fires are ragingunderground (source: DLR-DFD).

The European Association of Re-mote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL)is a scientific network of Europeanremote sensing institutes comingfrom both academia and the com-mercial/industrial sector. ITC, as wellas our partner universities in Utrechtand Wageningen, are among itsmember organisations. The main scientific efforts of EARSeLare concentrated in special interestgroups (SIGs), which form the foun-dation of the EARSeL activities. InJune 2008, EARSeL’s Special InterestGroup on Thermal Remote Sensing(SIG-TRS) was launched. It is jointlychaired by Dr Claudia Kuenzer of theGerman Aerospace Center (DLR-DFD)and Chris Hecker of ITC. This initiativeis part of ITC’s effort to expand its ex-pertise in thermal remote sensing andinvest in this rapidly emerging field ofscience. ITC is also in the process ofacquiring thermal infrared spectrome-ters for field and laboratory, as well asa thermal imaging camera.

The main objectives of the new SIG-TRS are manifold. It is envisaged thatSIG-TRS will bring together Europeanthermal remote sensing scientistsfrom different disciplines; that it willencourage the international exchangeof knowledge and data common toall thermal research groups, inde-pendent of application; and that itwill lead to an overall increased

awareness of the thermal remotesensing community. A strategic long-term benefit of the joining of forcesunder SIG-TRS should be increasedvisibility, with a view to positioningTRS higher on the agenda for newsensor development in Europe. Eventhough EARSeL’s target group is or-ganisations within Europe, this SIG isalso open to interested individualsand contributions from other parts ofthe world.

As a first technical event, SIG-TRS isorganising a dedicated one-day ses-sion on thermal remote sensing atthe June 2009 EARSeL Symposium inChania, Crete. It will be followed by ahalf-day trip into the Chania country-side to give SIG-TRS participants pos-sibilities for hands-on experiments

with a thermal camera, thermal ra-diometers, and possibly a thermalfield spectrometer. Part of ITC’s newthermal equipment will be availablefor hands-on training as well. To reg-ister for this symposium and submitabstracts for the thermal remotesensing session, please visit http://earsel29.maich.gr/. The deadline forabstract submission for the Chaniaconference is 14 November 2008.

Apart from organising events andworkshops, SIG-TRS also maintains amailing list to keep its members up todate on relevant developments. Tosign up for the mailing list or formore information on the SIG, pleasevisit www.itc.nl/sigtrs or send an e-mail to hecker@itc.nl

ITC Co-founds EARSeL Special Interest Group on Thermal Remote Sensing

Chris Hecker hecker@itc.nl

The International Journal of AppliedEarth Observation and Geoinforma-tion (JAG for short) has been pub-lished by Elsevier since 2002 andis the successor of the former ITCJournal. Editor-in-chief is ProfessorAlfred Stein, head of the Earth Ob-servation Science department.

It publishes original papers that applyearth observation data to the inven-tarisation and management of natu-ral resources and the environment.Since the scope is large, contributionsmust be of the highest quality. Papersaddressing these topics within thecontext of the social fabric and eco-nomic constraints of developing

countries are particularly welcome.The aim to include contributions ofthe highest quality has resulted in animpact factor of 1.534 (2007, ©Journal Citation Reports 2008, pub-lished by Thomson Reuters). The im-pact factor is a measure of how oftenan arbitrary article in a journal iscited, not by the same author. It is ageneral global measure of the qualityof the papers published by the jour-nal. This figure puts the journal im-

mediately at fourth position amongthe remote sensing journals. Plans forthe next year include an extensionfrom four to six issues, a new cover,and a larger page size so that manymore papers can be published.

Presently a supplement is being pre-pared entitled Remote Sensing forAfrica, with Dr Tsehaie Woldai asmanaging guest editor and ProfessorHarold Annegarn as guest editor.

29ITC News 2008-3

A N N O U N C E M E N T S - L I F E A F T E R I T C

The ITC Alumni Canada organised areunion-cum-meeting with fellowmembers throughout Canada viasatellite venues of Woodbine Park,Toronto (Ontario), Stanley Park,Vancouver (British Columbia), andWeaselhead Park, Calgary (Alberta),areas where alumni members havemostly increased in numbers overthe years. The Toronto and Calgarygroups staged their gathering on 20July 2008, while the Vancouvergroup held theirs on 3 August 2008.

This reunion-cum-meeting at thestrategic core venues mentionedabove was necessary to attract theparticipation of fellow alumni as theyare accessible to other Canadian

provinces (e.g. Manitoba,Saskatchewan, Quebec). The weatherin Canada on the two days con-cerned was generally warm andsunny, but the Toronto group, un-daunted, braved isolated rain show-ers in the late afternoon.

The reunion-cum-meeting was mainlyto discuss and establish plans for reg-istering the ITC Alumni Association(IAA) of Canada, once and for all,with the national/federal-basedCanadian corporations. The initialdrafting of the charter and bylaws iscurrently being reviewed by the mem-bers in preparation for its final sub-mission. Using electronic voting, thegeneral membership (active voting

Yahoo group members initially to-talling 13) recently selected the fol-lowing interim members to serve onthe IAA of Canada’s executive com-mittee:• Mr Rex Camit (Geological Survey

Course, Postgraduate DiplomaGeo3-1997 and MSc Geo2-1998)was elected president

• Mr Mosharef Ali Mir (AppliedGeomorphology Course,Postgraduate Diploma AGS3-1997)was elected vice-president

• Ms Sumana Indrasiri (Geo-informa-tion for Urban Application Course,Postgraduate Diploma GIU-1997)was elected general secretary

• Ms Mercy Mandanas (WaterResources Management Course,

life after itc

Alumni Gatherings in Canada

Rex Camit association-canada@alumni.itc.nl

Former ITC Journal Achieves High Impact Factor

Alfred Stein stein@itc.nl

For more information on the journal:http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622741/description#descriptionFor online submissions, please see http://ees.elsevier.com/jag/default.asp

Postgraduate Diploma WRS3-1997)was elected treasurer

• Mr Nicola Nur (PhotogrammetryCourse, Postgraduate Diploma P1-1968) was appointed executive ad-viser/consultant.

The above members have expressedtheir full commitment, interest andsupport in establishing and organisingthe IAA of Canada, where Canadianalumni, ITC and the Netherlands willeventually develop a binding relation-ship promoting academe, profession-alism, multiculturalism and camaraderieamong alumni locally and abroad.

If you would like to express your in-terest and support, please feel free tocontact the IAA of Canada generalsecretary (Sumana Indrasiri, IAA ofCanada: association-canada@alumni.itc.nl)

30 ITC News 2008-3

L I F E A F T E R I T C

Reminders of the recent hurricanes that had devastated partsof Cuba only a few days before the conference

Some of the ITC alumni that gathered at the Hotel Nacional

Dr C. Eloy Perez Garcia, director Agencia deTeledetección, Geocuba, and president ofSELPER, visiting John Horn at the ITC exhibi-tion stand

During the week of 22-26 Septem-ber, the XIII SELPER conference (Sim-posio Internacional de la SociedadLatinoamericana en Percepcion Re-mota y Sistemas de Informacion Es-pacial) was held in Havana, Cuba.

ITC, represented by John Horn, wasdelighted to host an alumni gatheringon Wednesday, 22 September, at theHotel Nacional, Havana. In a very largeturnout, nearly 50 ITC alumni fromCuba and other Latin American coun-tries gathered together to renew oldacquaintances and to hear of the recentdevelopments and trends at ITC. Thiswas thought to be the first time thatsuch a gathering had taken place inCuba, and the possibility of establishingan alumni association was discussed.

After a short break over the last fewyears due to political “differences”,there are now signs that the relation-ship between Cuba and the EuropeanUnion is returning to normal, and it ishoped that shortly Cuban studentswill once again be able to accept andreceive study fellowships from theNetherlands Fellowship Programme.

Despite the difficulties caused by therecent hurricanes that had devastatedparts of Cuba, the SELPER conferencewas well attended and ITC’s exhibi-tion stand attracted a lot of interest,not surprisingly in topics related todisaster management. Plans were dis-cussed to investigate the possibilitiesof closer links between Cuban disas-ter programmes and the UnitedNations University School for DisasterGeo-Information Management at ITC.

Alumni Meet in Cuba

John Horn horn@itc.nl

Hotel Nacional, Havana, venue of the alumnigathering

31ITC News 2008-3

L I F E A F T E R I T C

On the evening of 27 June 2008, analumni gathering was hosted by ITCat Seoul restaurant, Ulaanbaatar, onthe occasion of the visit of the ITCrector, Professor Martien Molenaar.The gathering was officially openedby Professor John van Genderen,and this was followed by a speechby Ms Mongontsetseg, executive di-rector of the ITC Alumni Associa-tion, an NGO formally established inMongolia.

Over 40 ITC alumni enjoyed a pleas-ant meal together. They were happyto meet Martien Molenaar and hiswife Juleke, and to talk to their oldfriend John. This party was valuableto all alumni as an opportunity to getto know one another better, refresh

contacts, and exchange news and ex-periences.

During his trip to Mongolia, ProfessorMolenaar paid visits to several organi-sations and institutes, including theNational University of Mongolia; theInstitute of Geography; the Forestand Water Research Center; theMineral Resources and PetroleumAuthority of Mongolia; the Agencyfor Land Administration, Geodesyand Cartography; the MongolianMinistry of Nature and Environment;and the Dutch-funded projectNational Geo-Information Center forNatural Resources Management,which is implemented by the Ministryof Nature and Environment.

On 30 July, the ITC Alumni Associa-tion Nepal organised an alumnigathering in Kathmandu.

Basically, the agenda was to make theassociation a proactive body promot-ing geo-information and earth obser-vation science in Nepal. We had avery successful meeting, with about80 alumni present. The new executive

committee, with Anish Joshi as gen-eral secretary and Dr ChudamaniJoshi as president, has already startedworking.

ITC Alumni Party, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

D. Narantuya davaa01276@alumni.itc.nl

Rector Martien Molenaar paid visits to severalorganisations

ITC Alumni Nepal: A Proactive Body Promoting Geo-Information and Earth Observation Science in Nepal

Anish Joshi joshi07950@alumni.itc.nl

ITC develops and transfers knowl edge on geo-informationscience and earth observation

ITC is the largest institute for internationalhigher education in the Netherlands, providinginterna tional education, research and projectservices. The aim of ITC's activities is the inter-national exchange of knowledge, focusing on ca-pacity building and institutional development indeveloping countries and countries in transition.

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