The XXI Congress of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing（ISPRS） was Held in Beijing

The XXI Congress of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing（ISPRS）, the greatest conference in the community once every four years, was held in Beijing on July 3 to 11, 2008. With the main topic ＂Silk Road for Information from Imagery＂, this congress attracted researchers, scientists and users from all over the world to meet Beijing to exchange their latest achievement,     

Wuhan University Academic Periodicals of Surveying and Mapping

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The optimal Mercator projection and the optimal polycylindric projection of conformal type – case-study Indonesia

As a conformal mapping of the sphere S ² _R or of the ellipsoid of revolution E ² _A , _B the Mercator projection maps the equator equidistantly while the transverse Mercator projection maps the transverse metaequator, the meridian of reference, with equidistance. Accordingly, the Mercator projection is very well suited to geographic regions which extend east-west along the equator; in contrast, the transverse Mercator projection is appropriate for those regions which have a south-north extension. Like the optimal transverse Mercator projection known as the Universal Transverse Mercator Projection (UTM), which maps the meridian of reference Λ₀ with an optimal dilatation factor &ρcirc;=0.999 578 with respect to the World Geodetic Reference System WGS 84 and a strip [Λ₀−Λ _W ,Λ₀ + Λ _E ]×[Φ _S ,Φ _N ]= [−3.5^∘,+3.5^∘]×[−80^∘,+84^∘], we construct an optimal dilatation factor ρ for the optimal Mercator projection, summarized as the Universal Mercator Projection (UM), and an optimal dilatation factor ρ₀ for the optimal polycylindric projection for various strip widths which maps parallel circles Φ₀ equidistantly except for a dilatation factor ρ₀, summarized as the Universal Polycylindric Projection (UPC). It turns out that the optimal dilatation factors are independent of the longitudinal extension of the strip and depend only on the latitude Φ₀ of the parallel circle of reference and the southern and northern extension, namely the latitudes Φ _S and Φ _N , of the strip. For instance, for a strip [Φ _S ,Φ _N ]= [−1.5^∘,+1.5^∘] along the equator Φ₀=0, the optimal Mercator projection with respect to WGS 84 is characterized by an optimal dilatation factor &ρcirc;=0.999 887 (strip width 3^∘). For other strip widths and different choices of the parallel circle of reference Φ₀, precise optimal dilatation factors are given. Finally the UPC for the geographic region of Indonesia is presented as an example. Received: 17 December 1997 / Accepted: 15 August 1997     

Pinpointing Source of Mekong and Measuring Its Length Through Analysis of Satellite Imagery and Field Investigations

For centuries, explorers and scientists from different countries had made their own conclusions on the source of the Mekong. However, the geographic source of the Mekong is still arguable because of the complexity of the Mekong source water system, inaccessible environment and the varied technologies used by those explorers and scientists. The satellite remote sensing technology has been used to pinpoint the source of the Mekong, associated with the on-the-spot investigations made by the authors in June 1999 and September 2002. The actual length of the Mekong has also been calculated.     

Practical Research of IKONOS-2 Geopositioning and Its Accuracy in Tibet of China

This paper presents the studies of the refining of IKONOS-2 RPC, the transform of the datum, the mode of the control point distribution and the method of IKONOS stereo triangulation, so that IKONOS imagery can be used to collect the precise geospatial data and produce the large scale map. The transform between the IKONOS-2 image space and the national coordinate system based on the RPC have been developed, and the results of block adjustment with various control schemes in a practical project near Himalayas have been examined and analysed. The encouraging results of high positioning accuracy have been obtained.     

Monitoring disasters with a constellation of satellites – type examples from the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’

In the case of a major disaster, information derived from satellite observation is not only highly useful, it may at times be indispensable because of the damage caused by the disaster to ground infrastructure. The International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ (‘the Charter’) has been one of the primary sources of satellite data for the past 11 years to cover events like floods, fires, tsunamis, ocean storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and oil spills. With the growing membership of the Charter, an increasingly large number of sensors are now available, which can be planned with the required temporal frequency and spectral range to cover a disaster event. Some of the type Charter activation cases are reported in this article to demonstrate the innovative use of multi-satellite imagery for disaster response.     

Welcome to Order Wuhan University Academic Periodicals of Surveying and Mapping

1. Geomatics and Information Science of Wuhan University (Monthly), an academic periodical originated from Journal of Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping, aims at extending international academic exchanges of advanced research results in surveying and mapping. It covers the aspects of Photogrammetry, geodesy, physical geodesy, engineering surveying, cartography, Graphics, Geodynamics, GIS, GPS, remote sensing, etc. In addition     

Pinpointing Source of Mekong and Measuring Its Length Through Analys,s of Satellite Imagery and Field Investigations

For centuries, explorers and scientists from different countries had made their own conclusions on the source of the Mekong. However, the geographic source of the Mekong is still arguable because of the complexity of the Mekong source water system, inaccessible environment and the varied technologies used by those explorers and scientists. The satellite remote sensing technology has been used to pinpoint the source of the Mekong, associated with the on-the-spot investigations made by the authors in June 1999 and September 2002. The actual length of the Mekong has also been calculated.     

Filter Method and Its Consistency of Double-Star Position/SINS Integrated System

According to the characteristic of Beidou Double-star positing system (for short: Double-star position), the optimal predication model of Double-star position/SINS integrated system is put forward, which can make use of the delayed position in-formation from Double-star positioning system to predicate optimally for the integrated system, and then to correct SINS, and af-fords integrated results of some navigation parameters. In order to validate the consistency of the filter, the criteria for consistency of a filter is also studied, and the tested statistics are given, the experiment based on practical measured data shows that the filtering method is consistent with the integrated system.     

The Integration of Cooperation Model and Genetic Algorithm

In the photogrammetry,some researchers have applied genetic algorithms in aerial image texture classification and reducing hyper-spectrum remote sensing data.Genetic algorithm can rapidly find the solutions which are close to the optimal solution.But it is not easy to find the optimal solution.In order to solve the problem,a cooperative evolution idea integrating genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm is presented in this paper.On the basis of the advantages of ant colony algorithm,this paper proposes the method integrating genetic algorithms and ant colony algorithm to overcome the drawback of genetic algorithms.Moreover,the paper takes designing texture classification masks of aerial images as an example to illustrate the integration theory and procedures.     

Celebration on the 50th Anniversary of Establishment of Surveying and Mapping Discipline, Wuhan University

Through 50 years＇ untiring efforts and innovation, the surveying and mapping discipline of Wuhan University has undergone an extraordinary course. In October 2006, she will celebrate her 50th birthday. On this occasion, we would like to pay our great tribute and express our sincere gratitude to officials at different levels, alumni at home and abroad, people and friends of all walks of life, who have been supporting the construction and development of the discipline over the years.     

Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) – The Metamorphosis of a Major FAA Program

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is developing the wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) to supplement the Global Positioning System (GPS) and serve as a single en-route navigation aid. The program traveled a rocky road so far. We compare the original concept of WAAS with its current scaled down version, analyze the changed perspectives with respect to the utility of GPS for air navigation and the concomitant role of WAAS, and explore the future of GPS/WAAS. ? 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The dynamics in the distribution of mangrove forests in Pichavaram,South India – perception by user community and remote sensing

This study aims to monitor the forest cover of Pichavaram mangroves, South India over a period of 40 years using remote sensing, and to record the status of mangroves as perceived by the local community. Out of 1471 ha of total reserved forest area, mangroves occupy 906 ha. The remote sensing maps show that there was a loss of 471 ha from 1970 to 1991 and a gain of 531 ha in 2011. Nearby 20 hamlets depend on mangroves for their livelihood. A village survey conducted at Pichavaram shows that more than 90% of the local community is well aware of the prevailing species, their importance especially after the 2004 tsunami and the impact of management practices, increased rainfall and contribution of local community in the recent increased area of mangroves. The same can be noticed from the high-resolution IKONOS image showing the artificial canal network in the restored region and from rainfall records.     

Visual Encoding of Acoustic Parameters – Framework and Application to Noise Mapping

Abstract

Along with an increasing importance and awareness of sonic phenomena related to the human environment, there is a growing need for a comprehensive communication of sound information. The central goal of this contribution is the development of a systematic and comprehensive framework that considers the particular properties of sound phenomena. This framework is structured according to the acoustic quantities that shall be represented and consists of recommendations for their cartographical encoding. A proof of concept is given through the application to official strategic noise maps in the course of the Environmental Noise Directive. Those maps suffer from several weaknesses from a cartographical point of view (e.g. concerning colour schemes or band-like illustrations) which can be eliminated by applying some of the mentioned recommendations. Finally, it will be possible to derive valuable knowledge from our results for multimodal encoding and value transformation between senses.     

Cartography-Oriented Design of 3D Geospatial Information Visualization – Overview and Techniques

In economy, society and personal life map-based interactive geospatial visualization becomes a natural element of a growing number of applications and systems. The visualization of 3D geospatial information, however, raises the question how to represent the information in an effective way. Considerable research has been done in technology-driven directions in the fields of cartography and computer graphics (e.g., design principles, visualization techniques). Here, non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) represents a promising visualization category – situated between both fields – that offers a large number of degrees for the cartography-oriented visual design of complex 2D and 3D geospatial information for a given application context. Still today, however, specifications and techniques for mapping cartographic design principles to the state-of-the-art rendering pipeline of 3D computer graphics remain to be explored. This paper revisits cartographic design principles for 3D geospatial visualization and introduces an extended 3D semiotic model that complies with the general, interactive visualization pipeline. Based on this model, we propose NPR techniques to interactively synthesize cartographic renditions of basic feature types, such as terrain, water, and buildings. In particular, it includes a novel iconification concept to seamlessly interpolate between photorealistic and cartographic representations of 3D landmarks. Our work concludes with a discussion of open challenges in this field of research, including topics, such as user interaction and evaluation.     

A Fitting Algorithm of the Apparent Moon Center and Its＇ Application on Fast Orientation

基于电子经纬仪对月球明亮区域边沿的观测采样,提出一种月球视圆面中心拟合算法,推导出详细的计算公式。通过实际观测试验验证该算法的可靠性,较好地解决了月面中心的确定问题。在此基础上,探索一种测月快速定向方法。运用此方法进行天文定向,内符合精度和外符合精度均优于±2．0”。测月定向可有效弥补传统天文定向夜间只能依靠观测恒星进行的不足,扩展天文测量的使用范围。由于太阳的视面也是正圆,测月定向方法同样适用于测日定向。