President’s Message
National Director’s Report
A belated happy new year to everyone. As I write
this message, our families (both at work and at
home) are slowly moving back to some semblance
of normalcy from what, in retrospect, was a
grueling, but satisfying event. A fortunate team of
researchers in Rochester (NY), Buffalo (NY), and
Columbus (OH) accepted the challenge to fly,
acquire, and process imagery over Haiti shortly
after the devastating earthquake. The mission was
to supply high resolution imagery to the World
Bank to help assess the structural and human
damage on the ground. It has been both a personal
trial and a test of the skills and concepts our
professional society practices. In concept, handling
such a monumental task was in everyone's mind is a
very possible undertaking. The probability of
success, however, was always in question as anyone
who has been involved in these types of mission can
attest.
This was truly a team effort between
academia, industry, and government which against
all odds of timing, weather, logistics, and politics
culminated in the delivery of invaluable information
products - a result of integrating decades of practice
and techniques developed by our profession.
These recent events clearly underscores the
multidisciplinary nature of our business and how
tenuous links in personal/electronic communication,
incompatible technologies, and just plain luck (or
lack thereof) can easily tilt the outcome to either
success or failure. I am particularly impressed by
the students involved in this project as they
harnessed their youthful energy to process data
through several day/night shifts. They did not know
what the limits of what could and could not be
done, so they pushed the limits outside of what
seasoned practitioners would have deemed prudent
practices. This was refreshing (see President, pg 2)
I am looking forward to the ASPRS 2010 Annual
Conference in San Diego this April. This year’s
program is exciting with 13 User Groups being
offered in addition to the always excellent
workshops and technical sessions. Oh - and there is
going to be a special event at the USS Midway
Aircraft Museum. Years ago, I had a tour of an
operational aircraft carrier and still really haven’t
gotten over it. You should go.
If you can’t make it to San Diego you may want to
check out ASPRS Webinar Series, which provide
access to workshops without leaving your office or
home. I just signed for the session on Hyperspectral
Remote Sensing. Please consider asking nonmembers to sign up. Due to the member’s discount,
a friend can join ASPRS for a year and attend the
webinar for less than the non-discounted price. Two
people from my office are doing just that.
Online Journal - Starting with the January 2010
issue of Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote
Sensing (PE&RS), ASPRS members will have
access to the full digital version of the journal
online at www.asprs.org. This digital edition is
complete with peer-reviewed articles, just as they
appear in the printed version. Members of ASPRS
have exclusive assess to the peer-reviewed articles
for 24 months from publication.
You can now follow ASPRS on Twitter. Check it
out.
If you see me in San Diego, ask me about how I got
lost on the way to the Alamo and on the way back.
On foot! Yes, I looked at a map.
John T. Boland, CP
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provide objective information to help make
decisions on how to allocate limited resources. In
this case to save lives as best as we can.
This story is still unfolding, additional players
getting involved, experiences still being rewritten
and the data reprocessed. We hope, however, that
we will able to to tell you later in the year the
complete story (both technical and human) of how
our unified disciplines of [fill in your discipline]
provided the critical information needed to rescue
people, avert pending disaster, and understand how
to rebuild from adversity.
(President, from pg 1) since their gambles were
sometimes successful making the doubters rethink
their preconceived processing wisdom. In cases
where the gambles did not work out, several
experienced individuals blurted out obscure
commands from their memory to save the mission
from failure. They were the ASPRS versions of the
legendary NASA engineer and flight controller,
John Aaron, whose obscure command "try SCE to
'AUX'" (a mere "flip" of a switch) kept the Apollo
12 mission from aborting.
We tend to classify ourselves as surveyors, civil
engineers, photogrammetrists, GIS specialists,
imaging scientists, information technologists, or
whatever title you care to put on your business card
to impress your colleagues in the congenial game of
"my-discipline-is-more-important-than-yours" oneupsmanship. But when the chips are down, how
well we listen and communicate through our three
letter acronyms to work towards a common goal is
what really matters. That goal and big picture is to
To preview the imagery and a PR point of view,
visit the following pages.
http://ipler.cis.rit.edu/projects/haiti
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/haiti3d-flyover/all/1
Rolando Raqueno
Central New York Region News
activities assigned to others in the Region. The
Secretary/Treasurer also submits interim and annual
fiscal reports to the Region and coordinates the
submittal of an annual Region Report to National
ASPRS.
Serving as a Region officer is a very practical and
rewarding way to become actively involved in
ASPRS. It is also a chance to shape the direction of
what is, after all, your professional organization.
Nominations for consideration by the committee
will be accepted through March 31, 2010.
Additional nominations may be made by a written
petition signed by five (5) members in good
standing forwarded to the Secretary-Treasurer by
April 11. Nominees will be asked to submit short
statements explaining their background and why
they wish to serve. Please consider it!
For further details on these offices and the other
Region offices and activities, contact the
Nominations Committee Chair, (518) 402-8259, or
rxlopez@gw.dec.state.ny.us.
Nominations for
2010 Region Officers
The year has gone by so fast! It is that time again.
The CNY Region of ASPRS is soliciting
nominations for the Region offices of VicePresident and Secretary/Treasurer. Nominations
may be submitted on behalf of others or by the
nominees themselves.
The Vice-President serves a one-year term and then
automatically succeeds to the offices of President
and Immediate Past President in the following
years. Candidates for Vice-President are drawn in
consecutive years from the private, public and
academic sectors. The candidates for 2010 will
come from the government sector. The primary
duties of the Vice-President include overseeing the
Region’s annual Students of the Year Awards,
serving as Chair of the Region Membership
Committee, and acting on behalf of the President in
that person’s absence.
The Secretary/Treasurer serves for one year, but is
eligible to run again for an indefinite number of
terms. There is no requirement that this person be
drawn from any particular sector. The primary
duties of the Secretary/Treasurer are to maintain
records for the Region, including minutes of
meetings and financial records. This person receives
and disburses Region funds and supervises fiscal
Ricardo Lopez-Torrijos
Chair, ASPRS CNY Region
2010-2011 Nominating
Committee
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If you have an interest in serving on the Region
Council, now or down the road, contact any current
Council member. We are always eager to get new
people engaged in the society. Getting involved
with the Region Council is a great way to become
actively involved in ASPRS and help shape the
direction of this organization.
Region Council
The CNY ASPRS Region Council is comprised of a
President,
Vice-President,
Past-President,
Secretary-Treasurer, and National Director. In
addition, there are several board members on the
Council who are appointed by the current President.
ASPRS Central New York Region
Financial Statement
1 Jan 2009 - 31 December 2009
INCOME
Dues
Region Rebate
Region Conferences
Interest
Dinner Meeting
Student of the Year Award
Gifts
Future Dates
2010 Region Program
Winter Meeting: March 12, 2010.
RIT Rochester, NY
CNY Region Annual Meeting: May, 2010.
$20.00
$868.00
$0.00
$161.80
$648.12
$0.00
$0.00
TOTAL
The New York State Geographic Information
Systems Conference:
October 25 - 27, 2010, Saratoga Springs, NY.
http://www.esf.edu/nysgisconf/
GIS Day 2010: Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010.
www.gisday.com
2010 ASPRS Annual Conference
April 26-30, 2010 Town and Country Hotel,
San Diego, California
$1,697.92
EXPENDITURE
Region Conferences
Dinner Meeting
Student of the Year Award
Postage
Office Exp
Contributions
$200.00
$1,153.26
$1,450.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
TOTAL
$2,803.26
GRADE POINTS
Student Travel Assistance for Upcoming San Diego Conference If you know of a student who is interested in
attending the upcoming San Diego conference, but
needs funds to attend, please send a message to
Treasurer@CNY-ASPRS.org to send a proposal.
ASSETS
Base Shares (Savings Account)
12 Month Certificate
Share Draft (Checking Account)
Petty Cash
TOTAL
$8,552.53
$4,733.70
$789.55
$4.00
Student of the Year Award $14,079.78
If any of our professional members are interested in
participating as a judge for this event, please send a
message to StudentOfTheYear@CNY-ASPRS.org.
This is a great way to keep track of upcoming talent
that you may be able to recruit for your company or
your graduate program.
LIABILITIES
None
$0.00
TOTAL
$0.00
TOTAL AVAILABLE FUNDS
Assets - Liabilities
$14,079.78
3
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Theme:
This technical meeting will bring together regional scientists that have had an impact locally, regionally, and
internationally with regard to natural resources management by identifying the fundamental problems and
bringing technology to address these problems at many levels.
*Seating is limited, so please sign up early for the dinner meeting
Dr. Joseph Makarewicz Biography
SUNY Brockport
Distinguished Professor, Department of Environmental
Science and Biology, The College at Brockport, SUNY,
Brockport, NY
Anthony Vodacek, Associate Professor,
Rochester Institute of Technology
Anthony Vodacek received his B.S. (Chemistry) in 1981 from
the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then received his
M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. His areas of
research lie broadly in environmental remote sensing, with
recent work focusing on the coupling of environmental
imaging with environmental modeling.
Abstract
Federal and state management plans have rightfully and
successfully focused on the large obvious problems – Lake
Ontario and the Niagara River. Under the Niagara River
Toxics Management Plan, 18 persistent toxic chemicals or
“toxics” were identified. As of 1995, the daily loading of the
18 priority toxics has been reduced by 99% in Canada. On the
American side of the River, the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimate a reduction
of 80% of the potential toxic inputs into the Niagara River by
1999.
Dr. Jan van Aardt RIT
Associate Professor; Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging
Science; Laboratory for Imaging Algorithms and Systems
Abstract
Biography
Dr. Joseph C. Makarewicz, a Distinguished
Professor at The State University of New York at
Brockport, NY, received his Ph.D. in limnology
from Cornell University in 1974. He is a former
Senior Fulbright Research Fellow to Germany..
He is the author of more than 150 scientific
manuscripts, book chapters and reports.
Most remote sensing approaches to natural resource
assessment have either focused on spectral or structural
characterization, but rarely include both. The technological
capability and accessibility of these sensing modalities have,
however, increased to the extent where we are now able to
evaluate many biological systems in terms of spectral response
and 3D structure.
Dr. Anthony Vodacek Biography
RIT
Associate Professor; Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging
Science; Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Laboratory
Jan van Aardt, Associate Professor, Rochester Institute of
Technology
Abstract
Jan van Aardt specializes in system state assessment of
forestry and natural resources using spectral (imaging
spectroscopy) and structural (lidar) remote sensing
approaches. He received his B.Sc. and Hons. degrees in
Forestry from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa,.
These were followed by MS and PhD degrees in forestryremote sensing from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg VA. He has published findings
in various peer-reviewed fora and international conferences.
He is the director of the Laboratory for Imaging Algorithms
and Systems (LIAS; http://lias.cis.rit.edu/); this group focuses
on a complete systems approach to remote sensing
applications based on system integration, processing
workflow, and applied algorithm development.
Lake Kivu lies in the Western Branch of the East African Rift
valley bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Rwanda and is one of the African Great Lakes The lake
contains an estimated dissolved carbon dioxide volume of 300
cubic kilometers as well as 60 cubic kilometers of methane,
each at standard temperature and pressure. Should the gas
deep in the lake be suddenly released, the estimated 2 million
inhabitants of its shores would be at risk of suffocation.
Existing gas extraction efforts in Lake Kivu are focused on
exploiting the methane for energy generation, although it is
acknowledged that the extraction of the gas and reinjection of
the waste water must be done with critical attention to the
existing stability of the lake.
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26th Annual New York State Geographic Information Systems Conference SAVE THE DATES
Join us on Sunday, October 24 through Tuesday, October 26, 2010 in historic in historic Saratoga Saratoga Springs, NY at The Saratoga Hilton for New York State’s premier Geographic Information Systems Conference. We are delighted to announce that, for the first time, this year’s Conference will be co‐hosted by the New York State GIS Conference Advisory Council and the NYS GIS Association and we anticipate it being better than ever! Dates to remember for 2010 – Bookmark this year’s website: http://www.esf.edu/nysgisconf/
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Presentation abstracts due by Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Maps and Poster abstracts due Wednesday, September 8, 2010 Hotel room rate cut off on Friday, September 24, 2010 Discount registration rate ends on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 2009 NYS GIS Conference in Lake Placid was a Success! Consider a 2010 sponsorship! http://www.esf.edu/nysgisconf/2010/exhibitor.htm Platinum $2500 Gold sponsors: $2000 Silver sponsor: $1500 Bronze sponsor: $1000 Sponsorhips include: Exhibitors’ booth
Pipe and drape with sign
Advertisements
Registrations
NYS GIS Conference Advisory Council and the NYS GIS Association For more information contact:
Maureen Wakefield
Associate Director
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
One Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210
_______________________________________
:315.470.6888 | :315.470.6890 | :mwakefield@esf.edu
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CNY ASPRS presents the
STUDENT OF THE YEAR AWARD
Undergraduate Student Prize: cash award of $1000.00, a one-year ASPRS
membership, ASPRS manual aligned with your specialty, and a certificate
Graduate Student Prize: cash award of $1000.00, a one-year ASPRS
membership, ASPRS manual aligned with your specialty, and a certificate
Students with an interest in photogrammetry, remote sensing, or geographic
information systems are encouraged to apply. You are not required to be a
student member of the Society at the time of application; however, you must be
matriculated in the Central New York Region: Upstate New York, Vermont, and
North Central Pennsylvania.
Application Procedure: Prepare and submit the following items:
1) A cover letter.
2) A resume.
3) A one page statement detailing any experience and participation the student has had in
photogrammetry, remote sensing, or geographic information systems e.g. coursework,
projects, research, or work experience. The statement should also relate the expected role of
photogrammetry, remote sensing, or geographic information systems in the applicant’s career.
4) A current course transcript. Note that the transcript does not need to be certified and should
be submitted with the application.
5) A completed ASPRS Year 2010 Individual Membership Application form with appropriate
documentation included (http://www.asprs.org/membership/application.pdf).
Notes:
Please include a phone number and e-mail address where you can be reached.
Past winners of a category may not apply for the same category.
In addition to the prize for each division described above, the first ten applicants
(by postmark date) will receive a one-year ASPRS student membership
Submit to: Joan A. Mondello, - SSD
Center of Excellence
Manager Systems Engineering Group,
ITT Geospatial Systems
1447 St. Paul St.
Rochester, N.Y. 14606-0488
585.269.7422 (Office)
joan.mondello@itt.com
Application materials may be
e-mailed to:
StudentOfTheYear@CNY-ASPRS.org
Application Deadline: Friday, April 15, 2010 (postmarked)
Award winners will be informed of the results during the week of May 10, 2010 and will be honored at
the Central New York Region Annual Spring Meeting.
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Officers of the Central New York Region
President:
National Director:
Rolando Raqueno
Remote Sensing Scientist
RIT, 54 Lomb Memorial
Drive
Rochester, NY 14623
(585) 475-6907 voice
(585) 475-5988 fax
rolando@cis.rit.edu
Vice President:
Joan A. Mondello, - SSD
Center of Excellence
Manager Systems
Engineering Group,
ITT Geospatial Systems
1447 St. Paul St.
Rochester, N.Y. 146060488
585.269.7422 (Office)
585.205.0280 (Cell)
joan.mondello@itt.com
Council Members:
Immediate Past
President:
John T. Boland, CP
Senior Technical
Associate
ITT Geospatial Systems
1447 St. Paul Street
P.O. Box 60488
Rochester, NY 146060488
585.269.5057
john.boland@itt.com
Ron Frederiks
New York State
Department of
Transportation
(NYSDOT),
88 Dumbarton Drive
Delmar, NY 12054-4406
(518) 439-7109 voice
r.frederiks@verizon.net
(315) 470-6633 (Work)
Ricardo Lopez-Torrijos,
IAGT, Chief, Watershed GIT
Support Group
Division of Water, NYS DEC
625 Broadway, 4th floor
Albany, NY 12233-3500
(518) 402-8259
rxlopez@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Newsletter Editor:
Secretary/Treasurer:
William M. Stiteler IV
Scientist / Statistician
ARCADIS
6723 Towpath Road,
PO Box 66,
Syracuse, NY 13214
(315) 671-9337 voice
(315) 449-4111 fax
william.stiteler@arcadis-us.com
Central New York Region's Home Page:
Paul Szemkow
Environmental
Resources & Forest
Engineering,
402 Baker Lab
SUNY-College of Env.
Science & Forestry
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 132102778
(315) 470-6635 voice
(315) 470-6958 fax
pszemkow@syr.edu
Lindi Quackenbush
SUNY-ESF, 402 Baker
Lab
1 Forestry Drive,
Syracuse, NY
(315) 470-4727 voice
(315) 470-6958 fax:
ljquack@esf.edu
Student Representative:
DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE:
http://www.esf.edu/asprs
April 15, 2010
A SPR S-C NY R EGION
SUN Y-College of Env. Sci & Forestry
1 Fore stry Dr ive, 402 Baker Lab
Environm ental Resources & Forest Engi neer ing
Syracuse, Ne w York 13210-2778
FIRST CLASS
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