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The Lewis Satellite launched on 11:51 p.m. PDT, August 22, 1997 but a few days later the booster rockets used to launch the satellite in its proper orbit, only fired on one side sending the satellite into a tumbling motion from which it never recovered. NASA and TRW engineers worked at contacting the satellite but because the solar panel could not be extended, the satellite did not have any power. Without power, it was a "catch 22" and the satellite soon reached a decay until it reached the Earth's atmosphere on September 28 burning up the satellite. The Lewis Satellite was built by TRW under a NASA contract and named for explorer Merriwether Lewis. The satellite carried two hyperspectral imagers - one that would scan a narrow swathe in 384 spectral bands and a second that would use 256 spectral bands to examine a wider field of view. A third instrument, an extreme ultraviolet spectrometer, would have collected images of the night sky.
We are currently waiting for final word on when an attempt will be made by NASA to fund the building of the next "Lewis" satellite so that researchers will be able to obtain hyperspectral data from a spacecraft. We have heard that a copy of the Lewis hyperspectral sensor is being added to the payload of EO-1. EO-1 is scheduled for launch in May 1999. Since I was one of the Investigators of the Lewis mission, I feel the loss rather sharply. Let's hope it will be a short wait and that all deadlines are made. --CJJ
This was the title of a workshop that I attended in Washington, DC on September 17-18. The workshop was sponsored by the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and brought together social scientists, economists, rural sociologists and geographers to discuss how remotely sensed data can be used in the social sciences. This was really the time that I experienced the "socializing of the pixel" and it gave a new perspective even for the remote sensers in attendance. --CJJ
The Land Satellite Information in the Next Decade II: Sources and Applications will be held on December 2-5, 1997 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC (See contact info in CONFERENCES/WORKSHOP DATES section.) This conference will explore the capabilities of the new satellites with sensors of high resolution (less then 30 meters) and see how well the data suppliers will meet the expectations from applications users. The conference brochures indicated that the conference is designed to determine the answers to the following questions:
What applications are targeted?
What data products will be provided?
How will these data be distributed and/or sold?
What is the long term vision for the enterprise?
What are the obstacles to success?
The conference is organized by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing with cooperating organizations: Association of American Geographers, CIESIN, Federal Data Committee and the National State Geographic Information Council.
The 1st International Conference on Geospatial Information in Agriculture and Forestry is scheduled for June 1-3, 1998 at Disney's Coronado Springs Hotel in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA. If you were thinking about submitting an Abstract and didn't get it done, you have until October 23, 1997 to do it! You can submit a summary via (http://www.erim.org/CONF/ag.html), email (agriculture@erim.org) or Fax (1-313-994-5123). There will also be Workshops prior to the Conference taught on May 31, 1998.
Dean Richard J. Schwartz announced the appointment of Professor Jeff Wright of the School of Civil Engineering as the Assistant Dean of Engineering, effective August 25, 1997. Congratulations, Jeff, we look forward to your administrative contributions to the Purdue engineering program.
Professor David Landgrebe gave the keynote address for the 26th annual Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition workshop. The meeting was held at the Cosmos Club in Washington DC on Oct. 15-17,1997.
We received a recent email from Mario Gomarasca (mario@irrs.mi.cnr.it) who reports that he is trying to reorganize the Italian Remote Sensing Society in his official capacity as Deputy Chairman and Scientific Secretary. He has also completed a book entitled: Introduction to Remote Sensing and GIS for Agricultural and Environmental Resources Management. He says LARS and Purdue even made the Acknowledgments! Mario was here as NATO Scholar in June, 1988 through June, 1989 and assisted in our NASA Applications project at the time.
C. Huang (AGRY), B. A. Engel, K. Haghighi, R.H. Mohtar, (ABE), $191,261, "Soil Erosion Processes and Prediction Technology Processes," USDA.
C.J. Johannsen, AGRY, $5,001, "Remote Sensing Training," Prairie View University.
C.J. Johannsen, AGRY, $17,148, "Evaluating Remotely Sensed Data for Agricultural and Natural Resource Applications," NASA Stennis Space Center.
Jan P. Allebach, E&CE, $10,000, "Improving Bilevel Image Quality", Hewlett Packard.
David A. Landgrebe and L.L. Biehl E&CE, $75,000. "Hyperspectral Feature Analysis for Performance Forecasting", Desert Research Institute.
(* = New listing)
Please note that we are not repeating conferences/ workshops mentioned in previous newsletters except those of Professional Societies/organizations that appear to be of special interest to our faculty/students.
--Chris J. Johannsen, Director Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing (LARS) 1158 ENTM 220, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN 47907-1158, USA (765) 494-6305, Fax: (765) 494-7753 johan@purdue.edu Note: login change! johannsn@ecn.purdue.edu also valid login.