THE MERGER OF THE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SOCIETY AND THE REMOTE SENSING SOCIETY

The attempts by A. S. Macdonald in the late 1980s and by J. A. Allan in the mid-1990s to integrate the UK societies and professional organisations within the spatial science field are described. The Photogrammetric Society, noting a long-term decline in its membership, set up an internal working group in 1997 to consider the future of the Society. A lengthy questionnaire to all individual members produced a 57% response and mandatory support for renewed action on greater inter-society cooperation.
A further effort to produce a wide amalgamation of bodies in the UK spatial science field on the Macdonald/Allan models failed for lack of support nationally. As a smaller step, perhaps to be extended later, a merger with the Remote Sensing Society was eventually agreed. The subsequent lengthy and delicate negotiations necessary to bring about a successful merger between these two mature, independently minded learned societies are described. The two societies were formally merged on 1st April 2001.
The author was a member of both the Photogrammetric and the Remote Sensing Societies and chaired the External Affairs Committee of the Photogrammetric Society preceding the merger.     

HISTORY OF THE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SOCIETY

The Photogrammetric Society was formed in 1952. The Council of the Society considered that the twentieth anniversary was a good point at which to record the events which led to its formation and the significant occasions and decisions which have taken place since 1952. Consequently, Paul Lamboit was invited to compile this History. He has placed the birth and development of the Society within the national and international photogrammetric context and his record of the deliberations which took place between 1947 and 1952 will be of particular interest to historians of our subject. This account was first published in a limited edition in 1971. Sufficient interest has since been expressed to prompt a wider circulation through publication in the Photogrammetric Record. The author served the Society continuously in several official capacities from 1953 to 1969 and he was elected to Honorary Membership in 1969.     

THE USE OF POLYNOMIALS FOR ADJUSTING STRIPS TO CONTROL

The following article and correspondence have been reproduced from 'The Photogrammetric Review,' the journal of the Ordnance Survey Photogrammetric Society, by permission of the editor, as it is relevant to the paper by Professor Thompson, published in 'The Photogrammetric Record,' Vol. 1, No. 1, of March , 1953.     

THE OTTAWA CONGRESS

The International Society for Photogrammetry held the XIIth International Congress at Ottawa during July and August 1972. The authors comprised a panel which engaged in discussion upon the Congress at a meeting of the Photogrammetric Society on 17th October, 1972.     

THE NEW DECADE: DIGITS AND DIVERSITY

The President of the Photogrammetric Society, Mr. I Newton, chaired a panel discussion concerned with those developments in photogrammetry which may take place during the 1990s.     

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES AND PRESENT RESEARCH OBJECTS IN THE FIELD OF ANALYTICAL BLOCK TRIANGULATION WITH THE BUNDLE ADJUSTMENT METHOD IN FINLAND

The Photogrammetric Society was honoured to be addressed by the Congress Director of the International Society for Photogrammetry during March 1974. Professor Halonen's lecture covered several aspects of current photogrammetric research in Finland. The following account contains contributions by two of his colleagues, J. Hakkarainen and H. Salmenperä, on specific aspects of lens distortion and block adjustment.     

THE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SOCIETY ANALOGUE INSTRUMENT PROJECT: A SECOND EXTRACT

The paper entitled The Photogrammetric Society Analogue Instrument Project was published in The Photogrammetric Record, 14(82): 565-582 (October 1993). It contained, as Appendix A, the entry from the Archive that dealt with the Zeiss Stereoplanigraph. This paper provides a second extract from the Archive concerned with the entries relating to the Barr & Stroud ZA1 plotter, the Williamson Multiplex equipment and the Thompson pinhole plotter.     

The Photogrammetric Society: 1952–2001

A scholarly account of the formative discussions, the founding and the first 20 years of the Photogrammetric Society was published in 1971 and republished in 1974. This present review concentrates on the latter years of the life of the Photogrammetric Society prior to its merger with the Remote Sensing Society in 2001.
The authors joined the Photogrammetric Society in 1960 and were conspicuous in its affairs for many years. Although both occupied the Society's presidential chair, they also fulfilled several other roles in its efficient management. Atkinson's first contribution to the Photogrammetric Record was published in 1968 and Newton's in 1971.     

XVth INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING

The XVth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, organised by the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, was held at Rio Centro. Rio de Janeiro from 17th to 29th June, 1984. Reports on the activities of the seven technical Commissions as well as on the Exhibition and the General Assembly were given to a meeting of the Photogrammetric Society on 16th October, 1984. Papers were published in the International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 25.     

History of the Photogrammetric Society

The Photogrammetric Society was formed in 1952. The Council of the Society considered that the twentieth anniversary was a good point at which to record the events which led to its formation and the significant occasions and decisions which have taken place since 1952. Consequently, Paul Lamboit was invited to compile this History. He has placed the birth and development of the society within the national and international photogrammetric context and his record of the deliberations which took place between 1947 and 1952 will be of particular interest to historians of our subject.
This account was first published in a limited edition in 1971. Sufficient interest has since been expressed to prompt a wider circulation through publication in the Photogrammetric Record .
The author served the Society continuously in several official capacities from 1953 to 1969 and he was elected to Honorary Membership in 1969.     

XVIth INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING

The XVIth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, organised by the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, was held in the Kyoto International Conference Hall from 1st to 10th July, 1988. The activities of the seven technical commissions of ISPRS were described at a meeting of the Photogrammetric Society on 18th October, 1988. The meeting also heard about the Congress Exhibition and the deliberations of the General Assembly during the Congress. Papers from the Congress were published in the International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 27.     

THE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SOCIETY ANALOGUE INSTRUMENT PROJECT

In 1989, the Council of the Photogrammetric Society decided that some record of the use of analogue photogrammetric equipment in Great Britain should be preserved before it was too late. The author agreed to investigate this matter as a research project funded by a number of survey organisations. Work on the project so far has resulted in the completion of two documents. The first is a Catalogue of Analogue Instruments that list some 230 instruments of 30 different types. The second is an Archive that gives further details of the history and use of the 30 different types of instrument. The entry included in his paper, by way of example, is that concerned with the Zeiss Stereoplanigraph. Readers are encouraged to provide corrections and additional information wherever possible.     

THE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM, 1971

Four papers were read during the first symposium to be held by the Photogrammetric Society, at the University of Birmingham on 3rd and 4th April. Major General R. LI. Brown examined the staff structure of the organisations engaged upon the photogrammetric production of maps in the United Kingdom. Mr. J. R. Hollwey outlined the syllabus for a new Higher National Certificate in photogrammetry during a session which was devoted to education and qualifications. Subsequently, Professor A. J. van der Weele explained the evolution of the courses at ITC. By way of contrast, Professor E. H. Thompson attempted a forecast of developments in photogrammetry during the next decade. The papers succeeded in initiating prolonged discussion among the 80 members who attended.     

The Photogrammetric Society Analogue Instrument Project: a Fourth Extract

The paper entitled The Photogrammetric Society Analogue Instrument Project was published in The Photogrammetric Record, 14(82): 565-582 (October 1993) and contained, as Appendix A, an extract from the Archive concerned with the history of the Zeiss Stereoplanigraph in Great Britain. A further two extracts have since been published to provide details of direct optical projection instruments used in this country. This fourth extract now goes on to begin to provide some details of analogue plotters that employed a purely mechanical solution. The first instrument of this type to be described is the Vivian Thompson Stereo-plotter of 1907. It was in fact the very first instrument of this important category ever to be produced but unfortunately it was also the only one produced in Great Britain.     

CONSIDERATIONS OF SPECIFICATIONS FOR SMALL FORMAT AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Following the success of the symposium held by the Photogrammetric Society on 31st March, 1987, a second one-day symposium was convened to give further support to the rapidly growing interest in the development of small format photography for aerial survey. This was held at Burlington House, London on 1st November, 1988. Over 70 people attended. Six of the papers are reproduced here, dealing with a range of topics including specifications for and navigation of small format aerial photography, the creation of digital terrain models from 35 mm photography, wildlife surveys in the Arctic and survey photography from model aircraft and tethered balloons.     

PHOTOGRAPHY FROM SPACE

The Photogrammetric Society and the Remote Sensing Society held a joint symposium at Burlington House, London on 13th March, 1985. A number of papers were presented which related early experience gained with the use of Metric Camera photography taken from Spacelab in December 1983. Their authors described the Metric Camera experiment, the quality of satellite photography and presented and considered results from a number of applications in topographic and hydrographic mapping and land classification. It had been intended to include reports on the use of Large Format Camera photography taken in October 1984 but delays in release of this photography meant that insufficient time had elapsed,for the accomplishment of useful investigations.     

The Photogrammetric Society Analogue Instrument Project: A Fifth Extract

The paper entitled The Photogrammetric Society Analogue Instrument Project was published in The Photogrammetric Record, 14(82): 565-582 and contained, as Appendix A, an extract from the Archive concerned with the history of the Zeiss Stereoplanigraph in Great Britain. A further three extracts have since been published to provide details of direct optical projection instruments used in this country and of the Vivian Thompson Stereo-plotter.
This fifth extract deals with the Wild A5 and A6 instruments. Their introduction into the United Kingdom during and just prior to the Second World War, together with their important contributions to the war effort, make interesting reading. With a grand total of just five such instruments, they were well used throughout the period of hostilities.
This extract also includes a note on the Wild A4 instrument, designed for close range photogrammetry. This was the last instrument in which Wild made use of projector lenses but it has been included at this point so that all of the Wild instruments which are listed in the Catalogue (and therefore included in the Archive) are dealt with in numerical order.     

XVIIIth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

The XVIIIth International Congress of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing was held in the Austria Center, Vienna from 9th to 19th July, 1996. Reports on the Technical Commission Activities, on the Congress Exhibition and on the General Assembly were given at a meeting of the Photogrammetric Society on 7th October, 1996. Papers from the Congress were published in the International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 31.     

Edgar Hynes Thompson: a collection of centenary reminiscences

The idea for this collection of memories of E. H. Thompson began as a suggestion to potential contributors for anything from "a couple of sentences to a couple of paragraphs". Both their willingness to write and the length of some contributions show how influential Thompson has been in the lives of so many of his colleagues and students. Contributors include two past-presidents of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and six past-presidents of the Photogrammetric Society. Three longer essays are published as separate contributions to this feature.     

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC INSTRUMENTATION AND METHODS AT OPERATIONAL LEVEL

Following a successful meeting in 1971, the Photogrammetric Society held a second symposium at the University of Birmingham on 31st March and 1 st April, 1973. Four papers were delivered. The first considered the problems of the instrument operator and the contribution which he was able to make to the development of techniques and instrumentation. The second paper examined the status of the optical transfer function in lens calibration. Participants were able to look back and appreciate the early use of air survey methods, particularly in India, during the third paper and then turn to consider the present position of photogrammetry during the final paper.