CPGIS Newsletter
Volume 3 Number 3, June 1995
PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
CPGIS ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS NEWS BRIEFFOR YOUR INFO FORTHCOMING EVENTS
CPGIS organized three activities in Asia in the early summer as you have seen from the summaries I presented to you in CPGIS-L. This issue of the newsletter also carries the summaries for you to review. CPGIS Exploratory Trip to Taiwan, Geoinformatics '95 and CPGIS Urban GIS Advanced Workshop raised three waves in GIS communities in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Beijing. These successful activities have taken us to a higher level. Now we are facing more challenges and have more opportunities to enhance the influence of the association in the GIS community in these regions. We are now working on new proposals and plans to organize more activities and establish branches in these regions.
During the Hong Kong conference, we have seen the sample of CPGIS Journal, Geographic Information Sciences, which is going to be published in this summer. This is our own journal, one of our original dreams for the association is going to come true. The journal needs all members' support to keep it in high quality.
To continue the theme of the fourth annual conference in Hong Kong this year, we will have Geoinformatics '96, the fifth annual conference, in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, from April 26 to 28, 1996. The organizing committee for Geoinformatics '96 designed a very nice poster for the conference and distributed it in Hong Kong conference. You should find a copy of the poster with this issue of newsletter. We will try hard to make this conference another successful one.
Your continuing support and participation are always appreciated. If you have any suggestions, comments and proposals, please submit them to the BOD net.
Have a great summer!
(Have a nice winter for members in the Pacific Continent)
DING Yuemin
President, CPGIS
Back to Contents
1) About the Trip
The following CPGIS members were invited by the GIS Research Center at Feng Chia
University in Taichung, and formed the first CPGIS delegation to Taiwan:
Prof. Chou Tien-Yin in Feng Chia University was the official contact person for
the trip. This trip was arranged by the Chinese Geographic Information Society
(CGIS) in Taiwan and the accommodation was provided by the several host
organizations. The trip went through Taipei, Chung-Li, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan
and left from Kaohsiung during May 20-25. CPGIS delegation received very warm
welcome and receptions in the different places. CPGIS delegation visited 10 GIS
related universities, government agency, research institute, and private
industries. The members in the delegation delivered the presentations and
discussions in four cities and held a formal discussion seminar with GIS
industrial representatives in Taipei.
The delegation arrived at Taipei on May 20 and was hosted by the Department of
Geography, Taiwan University. During May 21-22, CPGIS delegation visited the
Department of Geography, GIS Research Center, and the Graduate Institute of
Building and Planning in Taiwan University, Department of Geography in Taiwan
Normal University, EPA's Bureau of Environmental Monitoring and Data Processing,
Hitron Technology Inc., and GAIA GIS Consultant Co. The delegation delivered
presentations of their recent work on GIS and Remote Sensing in Taiwan
University and held a discussion seminar in Hitron Tech. Inc. with
representatives from most of private GIS companies in Taipei. The delegation had
a half day for sightseeing in Taipei City.
On May 23, the CPGIS delegation made a short visit to the Center for Space and
Remote Sensing Research at National Central University in Chung-Li. This center
has a Satellite Receiving Station for Landsat, Spot and ERS-1 images. Then the
delegation went to Hsinchu, a well-known 'Silicon Valley' in Taiwan and was
hosted by the Industrial Technology Research Institute. The delegation visited
Energy & Resources Laboratories (ERL) of Industrial Technology Research
Institute in the morning, and delivered their presentations and had a discussion
with colleagues from local area in the afternoon.
On May 24, the delegation went to Feng Chia University in Taichung and hosted by
the GIS Research Center. All members chaired one Master thesis defense,
respectively, in the Department of Land Management. In the afternoon, delegation
delivered the presentations in the College of Management in the University and
had a very active and fruitful discussion with colleagues from local area.
On May 25, the delegation went to Cheng Kung University in Tainan for
presentations in the morning and visited Department of Surveying Engineering in
the early afternoon. Then half of the delegation flew back to Hong Kong through
Kaohsiung.
2) Major Achievement:
A. CPGIS has established a good relationship with CGIS and other GIS related
organizations in Taiwan. Both sides has expressed interests for the further
cooperation in promoting GIS development and application in the mainland, Hong
Kong and Taiwan regions..
B. This trip has promoted CPGIS role in that region. Based on the local support,
CPGIS will establish a branch station in Taipei.
C. CPGIS has an initial knowledge of the GIS development in Taiwan (see next
section).
D. CPGIS has obtained strong support from colleagues in Taiwan to organize some
CPGIS activities in Taiwan in the near future. The proposal to organize CPGIS
'97 annual conference in Taiwan has gained a lot of positive supports. It will
not only enhance CPGIS role in that region, but also promote academic and
technical exchanges between mainland and Taiwan.
3) Initial Impression on GIS Development in Taiwan
GIS Development in Taiwan was initialized around 1986. Prof. Sun Chin-Hong and
Prof. Chu Tzu How, who received Ph.D. degrees from universities in the United
States of America, are the representatives of the early GIS developers in
Taiwan. A lot of efforts have been put to convince high officials in its
government to accept the GIS technology. GIS was first initialized in a national
land survey and management in its governement. Since then GIS development and
applications have been widely spread in the region. Personal computers and
Chinese software are very popular in Taiwan. These factors have helped to spread
GIS technology in different applications.
Generally speaking, there are now four different types of organizations involved
in GIS (and remote sensing) development and applications in Taiwan:
universities, governmental agencies, government-fund research institutes and
private industries. This type of structure has promoted the competition and fast
development in GIS business and GIS applications. The roles of each players and
their relationship are described as follows:
A. Universities:
Universities take leading roles in GIS development and applications.
Universities have very close relationship with both governmental agencies and
private industries. They have a unique role to play in the GIS development and
applications in Taiwan. They are the consultants to the government, the
competitors of private companies and the quality evaluators for both
governmental and private industries. All levels need universities and compete
with universities as well. Universities normally have good equipment and all
kinds of software on the market. Their research and application projects cover a
wide range of fields, such as aerial photogrammetry, forest, land and
environmental monitoring using remote sensing, real property mapping and land
management using GIS, subway engineering design using GIS, and GPS positioning
in transportation, etc.
B. Governmental Agencies:
EPA's Bureau of Environmental Monitoring and Data Processing is a good example
of GIS applications in the government. The general feeling is that the
government agencies have realized the importance of GIS technology in spatial
data management and spatial information applications. The successful
applications include storm/flood loss estimation in agriculture, environmental
assessment, and land management. Now the building of large scale of spatial data
for nationwide applications is about to start. Most of GIS projects in
government were actually completed by other three forces through opening
bidding.
C. Government Funded Institutes:
The representative is the Industrial Technology Research Institute. They have
strong research and production team/experience/capabilities. Half of their fund
comes from the central government. They also join the competition of open
bidding projects with universities and private firms. Their role is between
universities and private industries. From both man power and technology aspects,
they are one of the major forces in GIS industries in Taiwan. GIS development in
the institute has focused on deeper and more complex applications than outside.
The GIS development in Water & Ocean Resources Division in ERL, for example,
include 2-D and 3-D hydrodynamic modeling for ocean flows, morphodynamic
modeling for coastal changes, storm surge modeling for predicting and estimating
flood damages, and water quality modeling for environmental monitoring.
D. Private Industries:
They are new task forces in Taiwan. Currently most are still in small size. The
average size of GIS force in each company is around 20 people. Totally there are
about 8 to 10 companies play active roles. They have expressed that they are the
people in GIS industry working hardest but worrying the survival most. Due to
high competition in bidding, most projects are normally under bidding, which has
caused some difficulties to the private firms. To compete in any bidding,
investment in preparing usually can not get reward. However, this kind of
competition has promoted the fast development of GIS technology and applications
in that area. Other problem is associated with the use and produce of base data
which was controlled by the central government. Recently, the situation got
improved.
It is the first impression of GIS development in Taiwan from the short
exploratory trip. It may not be accurate and completed. Any comments and
critiques are welcome.
(DING Yuemin)
Back to Contents
1) Conference Briefs
CPGIS has successfully organized the Geoinformatics' 95 Hong Kong with the
Department of Geography, Chinese University of Hong Kong last month. The
pre-conference workshops were held on May 25, 1995, then followed by the two and
half days conference on May 26-28. About 300 scholars, professionals, government
officials, and graduate students from over 20 countries attended the conference.
This conference not only provided the forum for academic and technical
exchanges, but also created a very nice environment for social activities. CPGIS
members and officers had a unique opportunity to contact many people including
scholars, officials and other professionals from the United Nations (UN), China
and other regions and countries, and established/renewed good relationship with
those organizations.
There were 5 workshops in the first day. These workshops cover the topics on
GPS, Softcopy Photogrammetry, GIS and Expert Systems, and the integration of
those Systems. There were 28 technical sessions, three panel discussions and
exhibitions in the conference. Dr. Lin Hui, co-chair of the Organizing
Committee, hosted the opening ceremony. President of CUHK, Head of Chung Chi
College of CUHK, Chairman of the Department of Geography of CUHK, and CPGIS
President, Dr. Yuemin Ding, addressed in the opening ceremony in the morning of
May 26, 1995. Prof. Michael Goodchild delivered keynote speech on the Future
Directions of Geographic Information Science. The 28 technical sessions covered
various topics related to GIS, remote sensing, and GPS, and their applications
on sustainable development and environmental monitoring.
During the first panel discussion on Strategy for GIS Industrial Development in
China, Prof. Yang Kai, vice president of CAGIS (China Association for Geographic
Information System), presented the outline of the CAGIS Strategy for GIS
Industrial Development in China. Prof. Gong Peng, Chair of CPGIS Business
Development Committee on behalf of CPGIS, presented the proposal on CPGIS's
active involvement in the GIS Industrial Development in China. More than ten
attendees addressed their opinions on the development strategy. The discussion
was very active in the one hour panel and had to be extended to the second
panel. There were about 80 people attended this panel.
The second panel was focused on the discussion on GIS-Link network among
colleagues in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. Prof. Chu Tzu How, Director
of Geographic Information Research Center, Taiwan University, present a proposal
how to use the GIS-Link effectively to promote exchanges and cooperation among
the colleagues on the net. Currently the GIS-Link has been set up in the
Department of Geography, Chinese University of Hong Kong. There are now 39
e-mail addresses on the net linked from Northwest of China to Taiwan in the
southeast.
The third panel was the member meeting. Dr. Yuemin Ding, President of CPGIS,
gave a brief report on the CPGIS Exploratory Trip to Taiwan, and presented the
sample of the first issue of the CPGIS Journal, Geographic Information Sciences,
which prepared by Prof. Gong Peng, Editor of the journal. Geographic Information
Sciences will be published in this summer and has obtained a lot of supports.
Ms. Nancy Lin, co-chair of the Organizing Committee for Geoinformatics '96,
reported the preparation of the conference and presented a well designed poster
for the coming conference. The journal samples, journal author instruction and
the Geoinformatics '96 poster were also distributed during the conference. All
of these works had got a very good appraisals from the conference attendees.
During this member meeting, how to improve the member services and member
obligations were also discussed.
This conference was also supported by K.C. Wang Education Fund, National Natural
Science Foundation of China, Beijing Hong Kong Exchange Centre, Hong Kong
Research Grant Council, The British Council, the Faculty of Social Science and
the Chung Chi College of CUHK, and Sun MicroSystems.
2) Major achievement
A. CPGIS has concretely enhanced its role and influence in the GIS community in
Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China and other regions in Asia through this
conference. CPGIS is again known as an international association to promote GIS
development, applications, and exchanges. The observers from UN ESCAP and ITTP,
Dr. He Changchui and Mr. Shen Chi-Kuo, were very impressed by this successful
international symposium organized by CPGIS and CUHK.
B. CPGIS members and officers used this unique opportunity for extending exiting
relations, establishing new links, and getting feedback from members and
colleagues. On May 25, CPGIS officials had a meeting with officials of CAGIS and
discussed the further cooperation issues. The CAGIS officials in the meeting
included Prof. Yang Kai, Mr. Li Guanyuan, and Mr. Wu Dengzhou.
C. CPGIS presented the proposals in the conference about organizing an advanced
GIS training class inside and outside of China to training more high level of
GIS managers for China, establishing a CPGIS working station or laboratory as a
legal entity in China, creating opportunities for CPGIS member to do short term
research and/or participate in GIS projects in China., etc. These proposals has
obtained a lot of supports from different organizations in China, and also from
representatives of China National Natural Science Foundation (NNSF). Dr. Li Bin,
Vice President of CPGIS and Dr. Gong Peng would discuss these proposals with
officials from China NNSF in Beijing when they were in Beijing for Urban GIS
Advanced Workshop.
D. It is the biggest event CPGIS ever organized. It is also the first time for
CPGIS to distribute the next annual conference information in its any annual
conference. It has shown that CPGIS has grown healthily and is becoming more
mature. CPGIS will continue the theme of Geoinformatics as its annual
conferences.
E. It was also a very friendly environment for CPGIS members meeting each other.
Many members knew each other very well on CPGIS-L or BOD networks, but never
actually met each other until this conference. Nine BOD members of this term
fortunately had the first chance sitting together in the same room for the BOD
meeting in the night of May 26. They discussed several short term and long term
issues freely until the early morning of May 27.
It was a successful event in the CPGIS history. CPGIS with support from all its
members and friends is working hard to make their dreams come true.
Thanks to Dr. Fung Tung and Dr. Lin Hui and the Organizing Committee for
organizing such a successful conference.
(DING Yuemin)
Back to Contents
There were about 70 people attended the workshop. They came from 27
universities, institutes, government agencies and companies in China. During the
workshop, the presentations and demos deeply caught the attention of the
attendees. The contents of the workshop and the presentations were highly
appreciated.
The lectures were well prepared, and well presented through detailed discussions
in the workshop. Lecturers and attendees had a great deal of exchange during the
workshop using their native language. This workshop effectively introduced to
the colleagues in China with the new theory, technology, applications, software
development and practical experience of Urban GIS in other regions of the world.
The organization, contents and presentations in the workshop and the knowledge
of each lecturer were recognized to represent the frontier in their field in the
world. Each lecturer made a great effort during their preparation to make the
workshop so successful.
During and after the workshop, some members visited the Institute of Remote
Sensing Applications and the National Laboratory of Resources and Environmental
Information Systems of Chinese Academy of Science, College of Resource and
Environment of Beijing Normal University, State Ministry of Construction, State
Bureau of Land Management, The Chinese Association of GIS, Peking University,
Jie Tong Company, State Bureau of Foreign Experts, State Commission on Science
and Technology, the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NNSFC), etc.
Some of them have been invited to join ongoing or upcoming scientific and
engineering projects. Three of them have gone to Shanghai, Yantai for more
lectures. It is the first time that Chinese overseas students organized such
large scale, well focused and planned, well organized advanced workshop to meet
the economic development needs in China. This workshop has achieved the three
original goals:
1) Introduced key technology and experience, that were lacking in the area of
urban GIS development in China, to the attendees through lectures, presentations
and free discussions.
2) Established a trust and friendly relationship for future cooperation among
those CPGIS members and other colleagues in China.
3) Prepared to publish a book on Urban GIS in Chinese based on this workshop to
introduce the contents in more detail and preparing a video tape on this topic
to spread the technology and experience to more colleagues in China.
It is the hope of both CPGIS and the NNSFC that CPGIS will organize such
workshops again in the future, and will try to co-organize such
workshop/training inside and outside of China with the Chinese Association of
Geographic Information Systems (CAGIS). CPGIS is also planning to register and
establish a branch, and gradually establish an open lab as a legal entity in
China. This lab will provide CPGIS members with an easy way to go back to work
and do research at any time, and will also provide more convenient opportunities
for colleagues in China to exchange ideas with others from outside the country.
(DING Yuemin, translated from Dr. Gong Peng's original report in Chinese)
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a) Eligibility of the Award
b) Criteria
c) Procedure:
- The applicant shall send six copies of the paper to the Annual Award Committee
before July 30 of 1995 at the following address:
- A panel of five referees organized by the Annual Award Committee is
responsible for the selection of the submitted papers.
- A certificate of the best papers and a check of the award will be issued by
CPGIS to the applicant of the selected papers. The best papers will be selected
as the first place, second place and the third place. Awards are $100, $50 and
$25 for the first, second and third places, respectively.
If you have any question regarding the award, please contact Drs. Lin Liu and
Shih-lung Shaw, the Co-Chairs of the CPGIS Annual Award Committee.
(LIU Lin)
Back to Contents
Attended: Li Bin, Xia Zongguo, Ding Yuemin, Liu Lin, Zhang Aining, Zheng
Xiaoming, Tang Qin, Lin Hui, Gong Peng, Liu Chuang, Tang Liang, Zhou Qiming
Chair: Zhou Qiming
Decision Made:
a) It is recommended to provide travel awards to CPGIS members who is
attending Geoinformatics'95 conference. The details have been approved by BOD as
follows:
1) A committee is formed including Zhou Qiming, Zheng Xiaoming, Lin Hui and
Tang Liang. The committee members are not eligible to apply for the award.
2) The total award fund will be US$2,000 which will be divided among
successful applicants according to their distance to Hong Kong. Potential
applicants will be classified into the following three groups:
3) Eligibility:
4) The payment of the award will be made after the conference with the
submission of the original of airline ticket of individual successful applicant.
The original may be returned if requested.
BOD Votes
b) It is decided that the date for Geoinformatics'96 conference will be from 26
to 28th April, 1996.
c) It is confirmed that Beijing Urban GIS Workshop will be held on schedule as
planned but workshop locations will be moved outside of campus of Peking
University. Finalized details will be provided in near future.
The following issue has been discussed but no decision can be made:
d) Gong Peng reported the progress of the GIS Journal preparation. Further
discussion is need to the next BOD meeting.
(ZHOU Qiming)
Back to Contents
Participants: Pan Heping, Ding Yuemin, Chang Kuo-Chen, Zhou Qiming, Lin Hui, Yan
Wanglin, Liu Chuang, Li Rongxing, Tang Qin, Zheng Xiaoming, Gong Peng, Liu Lin,
Tang Liang.
1. Approval to the request from Peng, CPGIS journal editor, for the financial
support to the journal editing expense.
Comments:
Votes:
Valid BOD member votes: 11
2. Thoughts and Suggestions to GIS Industry Development
GIS industry is comprehensive and of multiple levels. GIS industry can include
GIS data producers/providers, GIS software/hardware or system vendors, GIS
consulting firms, and GIS applications in different fields.
- GIS spatial data is critical for any GIS research or applications. Spatial
data/database is a big burden for any new GIS applications
- GIS software/hardware or systems are the important tools for GIS applications
- GIS consulting is to use GIS expertise for a successful applications
- GIS applications are the purpose and destiny of the development
3. What CPGIS can do?
- Conduct a comprehensive survey on demands for GIS resources and status of
current situation and market in China
(DING Yuemin)
Back to Contents
The Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) has
developed a new data cross-tabulation engine under the CIESIN Ulysses system. We
invite you to test this new software. The Ulysses cross-tabulation engine
currently processes data from the 1% U.S. Census Public Use Microdata Samples
(PUMS) from 1980 and 1990 (the population 1% Census data of China in 1982 will
be on-line soon, and you can access it via the same tool).
Access to the Ulysses cross-tabulation engine is available by public login.
telnet infoserver.ciesin.org (160.39.8.201)
Immediately after login, you will be prompted to enter your terminal type.
Either press 'enter' if the terminal type identified by Ulysses is correct, or
type in your terminal type (e.g. vt100, xterm, etc.). Next, you will be shown a
disclaimer and conditions of use screen. You'll be asked to read the conditions
of use, and prompted to enter your email address to signify that you agree to
the conditions of use.
You will find online help available on all screens as you develop query
statements in Ulysses. The PUMS data dictionary is also online. We will be
putting the various code lists from Appendix I online as soon as possible. If
you would like to download a copy of the PUMS data dictionaries, they are
available in ftp.ciesin.org:/pub/census/usa/pums/dd; if you would like a
preliminary manual for the cross-tabulation engine, it is available as a
postscript file in ftp.ciesin.org:/pub/data/ulysses. If you need hard copy of
the manual, please contact:
More information about CIESIN's data and information resources, tools,
information cooperative and others, please visit CIESIN's home page.
(LIU Chuang)
Back to Contents
1. Internet address in Guangzhou
I received a fax this morning from Professor Li Tiefang, Director of Remote
Sensing Center of Zhongshan University in Guangzhou. You can reach her at
leiy@bepc2.ihep.ac.cn
Now, we can contact our colleagues in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and
Shenyang. I have contacted our colleagues in Wuhan, Chengdu, Xi-an, and Gansu
recently. I will inform you if their email address are available.
2. GISLINK net established
GISLINK net was set up recently with root node in the Department of Geography,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong. This net will contact our colleagues in the
mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, most of them are professors in universities and
research institutes. Representatives from those universities will meet in the
upcoming Hong Kong Symposium to discuss future cooperation
3. China Delegation to Geoinformatics'95 Hong Kong from Surveying & Mapping
universities and organizations.
The Organizing Committee has received confirmation recently that China will send
many scholars and experts in Surveying & Mapping institutions to Hong Kong
meeting at the end of this month. They are from WTUSM
(LIN Hui)
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Dear Netters,
Mr. Xu Guanhua, Vice Minister, and a delegation from the State Science and
Technology Commission of China, visited Berkeley yesterday. They were warmly
welcome by the CPGIS members and a number of young Chinese Professors at
Berkeley. During the meeting between the delegation and the Chinese scholars and
students at Berkeley, Dr. Peng Gong passed CPGIS President, Dr. Yuemin Ding's
greetings to Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu mentioned that the Chinese government expected that
Chinese people abroad could do something for their country and the people. They
discussed the possibility of cooperation between the Chinese scholars and
students abroad and the academic fellows in mainland China.
In addition to other interesting issues discussed, CPGIS members expressed their
concerns and opinions about the development of science and technology in China,
and showed their interests in doing something for their motherland in different
ways. These include running international training programs for our colleagues
in China in the fast developing area of GIS and establishing CPGIS branch and
research lab in China. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Xu expressed his
willingness of helping CPGIS to reach some of the goals.
The delegation were very interested in visiting the new Remote Sensing and GIS
labs at UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. They enjoyed walking
around the beautiful Berkeley campus and a wonderful Mediterranean summer day.
Thank you for your attention!
(CPGIS group at Berkeley)
Back to Contents
So far, at least six Chinese textbooks on GIS have been published. For those of
us who got into GIS after leaving China, they can be useful for learning the
terminology that our colleagues are using. As more and more CPGIS members are
getting involved in the
development and applications of GIS in China, some may find it necessary to pick
up a new common language. Here is the list of Chinese textbooks on GIS:
LI Deren, GONG Jianya, and BIAN Fuling, 1993, An Introduction to Geographic
Information Systems: Surveying and Mapping Publishing House, Beijing, 131 p.
HUANG Xingyuan and TANG Qin, 1990, An Outline of Geographic Information Systems:
Higher Education Press, Beijing, 211 p.
NAN Yunchao, LI Guangmi, and YUAN Zheng, 1991, Principles of Geographic
Information Systems: Guangdong Map Publishing House, Guangzhou, 220 p.
(Translated and Edited from Burrough, 1986)
PENG Wanglu, 1991, Computer Processing of Remotely Sensed Data and Geographic
Information Systems: Publishing House of Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 390
p.
WANG Xuejun and JIA Binyan, 1993, Geographic Information Systems: China
Environmental Science Press, Beijing, 226 p.
WU Lun, REN Fuhu, XIE Kunqing, and CHENG Chengqi, 1994, A Textbook on Geographic
Information Systems: Peking University Press, Beijing, 204 p.
ZHOU, Chengfu, 1993, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems: China
Science and Technology Press, Beijing, 191 p.
(XIA Zong-Guo)
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URBGEOG is a discussion list for Urban Geographers and others interested in
urban life, research on cities, and urban planning. The purpose of the list is
to provide a forum for sharing information and discussing issues relevant to
Urban Geography. URBGEOG also welcomes announcements about job opportunities,
conferences, calls for papers, funding sources, and other topics of interest.
The discussion group is formally linked to the Urban Geography Specialty Group
of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), so the list will also carry
occasional Specialty Group announcements and information. It is not necessary
to be a member of the Urban Geography Specialty Group to be a member of the
list. Questions about the list should be directed to Doreen Mattingly
(dmattingly@vax.clarku.edu).
To subscribe to URBGEOG, send an e-mail message to:
listserv@listserv.arizona.edu
Leave the subject line blank.
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More than 20 billion Japanese yen ($235 million ) will be used to finance the
building of China's State Economic Information System.
Under agreements signed in Beijing June 11 1995, the Overseas Economic
Co-operation Fund of Japan will provide a total of 20.295 billion yen, in the
form of long-term and low-interest loans, for the information system.
China plans to pump an additional 635 million yuan ($76.6 million) in to the
project, according to the State Planning commission.
The system, to be completed in 1998, will be an information network covering 21
provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, and 20 ministries. It will
enhance the collection, handling, dissemination and exchange of economic
information, and help monitor the national economy.
(ZHANG Zhihui)
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GeoSearch, Inc. is recruiting qualified candidates for the following positions.
1. Remote Sensing Manager: Develop marketing strategies, oversee remote sensing
projects, supervise project planning and technical development. Arc/Info, Erdas,
Unix. Masters degree preferred. Salary to: $55K. Bay Area, CA. GeoSearch
contact: Dan Ross.
2. VP Sales/Marketing: Requires experience in AM/FM/GIS services sales. Utility
markets. Salary to: $75K + bonus/commission. Texas location. GeoSearch contact:
Rich Serby.
3. GIS Programmer: Arc/Info, AML, C, ArcView2, Avenue, C++. Environmental
science company. Salary to: $57K. Colorado location. GeoSearch contact: Dan
Ross.
4. ArcView2 Specialist: Min. 1 year ArcView2. Avenue programming preferred.
Salary to: $50K. Seattle location. GeoSearch contact: Dan Ross.
5. Remote Sensing Analysts/Specialist: Familiar with E-O panchromatic and
multispectral imaging and product applications. Experience in C/Unix, Sun, and
Silicon Graphics workstations. Familiar with orbit mechanics. BS/MS Physics or
Remote Sensing. Salary to: $90K. Colorado location. GeoSearch contact: Rich
Serby.
6. Photogrammetric System Analyst/Specialist: Familiar with system error sources
associated with production of orthophotos from E-O satellite imagery. Experience
with Kalman Filtering of attitude and position data. C/Unix. COTS SW, Socket
Set. Salary to: $90K. Colorado location. GeoSearch contact:
(DING Yuemin)
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The International Journal of Marine Geodesy will publish the 2nd special issue
on Marine and Coastal Geographical Information Systems (M&CGIS) in December
1996. The guest editor will be Dr. Rongxing Li of The University of Calgary.
This issue will contain both invited and contributed articles. Authors are
especially encouraged to submit manuscripts on the following topics:
. Policy, legal, and economic issues of M&CGIS
All papers should conform to the submission standards in "Instructions to
Authors" that regularly appears in the journal. Papers should be free from
promoting a specific commercial product.
All invited and contributed manuscripts will be peer reviewed. Authors who wish
to contribute papers for this special issue are invited to mail three copies of
their manuscripts to:
A copy of the cover letter should be sent to the Editor-In-Chief:
Dr. Narendra K. Saxena
All manuscripts must be received by February 15, 1996 in order to be considered
for publication in this special issue.
(LI Rongxing)
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The Third International Conference/Workshop on Integrating GIS and Environmental
Modeling will be held under the auspices of the U.S. National Center for
Geographic Information and Analysis in Santa Fe, NM from Sunday January 21 to
Thursday January 25, 1996. The conference follows previous meetings in Boulder,
Colorado in 1991 and Breckenridge, Colorado in 1993, each attended by over 600
participants.
The conference has three interrelated objectives:
1. To review the current status of digital geographic information for
environmental modeling, with particular emphasis on the technical and
institutional issues affecting its usefulness and accessibility.
2. To review progress, with emphasis on the period since the previous
conference, in the development of environmental models, and in the exploitation
of geographic information technologies, particularly GIS, to support modeling.
3. To identify areas where progress in the integration of GIS and environmental
modeling is likely to be made in the next few years, through improvements in
technology, institutional structures, and modeling methods.
The program will be organized around three themes, each addressing one of the
three objectives:
Data Issues: topics include but are not limited to data quality, reports on new
data sources, spatial data infrastructures, new technologies for data access
including digital spatial data libraries, intellectual property issues,
economics of spatial data provision, metadata and format standards, methods of
discretization, data modeling and data structures.
Progress in Modeling: reports and demonstrations of progress in integrating GIS
and environmental modeling in such fields as atmospheric science, ecology,
oceanography, hydrology, spatial decision support, biodiversity, water and air
quality, risk assessment, global environmental change, or integrated modeling.
New Research Frontiers: discussions or demonstrations of research offering
potential for new approaches to environmental modeling with GIS, including such
topics as cellular automata models, modeling languages, computational modeling
systems, new approaches to data modeling, object oriented systems, agent and
event-based programming.
In addition to sessions on each of these themes, the conference will follow the
pattern of previous conferences by including tutorials on significant topics,
informal discussion sessions, poster sessions, demonstrations, and workshops.
Proposals that contribute to these themes and objectives are invited in the
following areas:
Presentations
Points of contact for proposals and further information:
Third International Conference/Workshop on Integrating GIS and Environmental
Modeling
Proposals should include a title and 200 word abstract, and should identify the
type of proposal and the most appropriate of the three conference themes.
Deadlines:
Papers will be available at the conference, and will also be published after the
conference as an edited volume. The edited volume from the first (1991)
conference is available from Oxford University Press (Goodchild, Parks, and
Steyaert, Environmental Modeling with GIS, 1993); the volume from the second
conference (1993) will be published later this year.
Back to Contents
Workshop on New Developments in Geographic Information Systems
The ISPRS commission II Working Group II/2 (Hardware and Software Aspects of
GIS) is sponsoring a workshop entitled "New Developments in Geographic
Information Systems". This workshop will be hosted by the National Research
Council of Italy and the Italian Remote Sensing Association.
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS (300-500 Words): September 1, 1995.
Final Papers will be due at the workshop.
NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE: October 1, l995.
Send or fax (email is acceptable) abstracts to:
Back to Contents
Many of you probably haven't seen the call for papers put out by the
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan for the 11th Thematic Conference
being held in Las Vegas next February. It is reproduced in part below.
With respect to this discussion group, we are looking for submissions of
abstracts/summaries from those working on the joint use of remote sensing and
GIS, particularly in the areas of applying the two technologies to geologic,
environmental, and engineering problems and activities. Integration of remote
sensing with GIS and equal treatment of the two areas, if not outright emphasis
on remote sensing, should dominate the technology end of your paper.
Submissions should be sent to Nancy Wallman (see address at end of note) by July
10 if possible. Although not a "drop-dead" due date, any summaries not received
and logged in by late July probably won't be considered. Papers are submitted
for poster presentation (in the scientific sense, not just display of
unexplained maps), with papers from that overall set being selected by the
planning committee for oral presentation (usually about 15% of overall
submissions), unless directed by the author(s) not to consider them for oral
presentation. Number of submissions rejected will depend on the total number
submitted (versus space available for papers at the conference) and the
appropriateness of the subject matter to the conference topics (see below).
If you have questions on particular topics to be submitted, I may be able to
answer them for you. General questions on the meeting should be directed to Ms.
Wallman.
We look forward to seeing your papers!
Doug Peters
CALL For PAPERS
11th Thematic Conference on Applied Geologic Remote Sensing
Practical Solutions for Real World Problems
February 27-29, 1996
You are invited to attend the Eleventh Thematic Conference and Workshops on
Applied Geologic Remote Sensing. The conference will take place at the
world-famous Tropicana Hotel, in the new Four Corners Center of casinos,
entertainment, hotels, and meeting activities. This international conference
focuses on geologic remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) with
special emphasis on mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and environmental and
engineering applications. The program is designed to benefit both small
independent operators and large corporate users of remote sensing.
The program will be composed of more than 300 technical presentations by experts
from over 30 countries. Plenary (oral) sessions, interactive poster sessions,
hands-on workshops, field trips, an exhibit program, a student program, and an
employment information exchange service will provide an effective learning
experience.
Plenary and interactive poster sessions are being organized by an international
program committee to address topics that include:
You are invited to contribute a paper for presentation at the conference and for
publication in the conference proceedings. Presenters also may have papers peer
reviewed for publication in the International Journal of Remote Sensing.
Interested contributors should submit a one-page (8.5 by 11 in. paper),
single-spaced summary, between 300 and 500 words (no figures or references), on
or before JULY 10, 1995. The summary should include the conference topic
addressed, problem explored, methodology used, results, and conclusions.
Notification of your paper's acceptance/rejection will be mailed in late
August 1995.
Direct your summaries and inquiries to:
Please include your complete mail/delivery address and fax number on all
correspondence.
Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor: LIU Lin
Editor-in-Chief : GUAN Weihe
CPGIS ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
CPGIS Exploratory Trip to Taiwan
Ms. Chen Jun, Hammon, Jensen, Wallen & Associates, Inc., USA
Dr. Ding Yuemin, NYNEX Science & Technology, Inc. USA.
Dr. Gong Peng, University of California at Berkeley, USA.
Dr. He Chansheng, St. Cloud State University, USA
Dr. Lao Yong, Cincinnati University, USA.
Dr. Lin Hui, Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
Summary of GeoInformatics '95 Hong Kong
Summary of CPGIS Urban GIS Advanced Workshop in Beijing '95
The Beijing Urban GIS Advanced Workshop, organized by CPGIS with the Department
of Training, The National Center for Remote Sensing of China, was completed on
June 5th, 1995. Seventeen CPGIS members from sixteen different organizations in
the USA, Canada, UK and Hong Kong delivered 20 lectures in the workshop within 7
days. These members came from universities, government agencies, and consulting
companies overseas. Nine of them are professors in universities and 13 of them
have Ph.D. degrees.
Call for Application to the CPGIS Annual Award for the Best Papers
Starting this year, the Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic
Information Systems (CPGIS) will announce best paper award every year around the
time of the CPGIS annual conference. All CPGIS members are encouraged to submit
their papers to apply for this award. The following describes the eligibility,
criteria and procedure of the award selection.
- The lead author(s) of the paper must be a CPGIS member with annual dues paid.
- The paper has been published in a professional journal or a proceedings of a
professional conference.
- The paper has not been used to apply for other awards.
- Innovative ideas for research paper or successful example of application
paper: 50%
- New methodology: 30%
- Presentation (writing, graphics, figures) 10%
- Others merits 10%
Total: 100%
Dr. Lin Liu
Co-Chair, CPGIS Annual Award Committee
Department of Geography
University of New Orleans
New Orleans, LA 70148
BOD April Meeting Summary
[12] Yes
[0] No
[0] On table
May BOD Meeting Summary
- Most of us appreciate Peng's great contribution to CPGIS Journal.
- The journal is the official journal of CPGIS, CPGIS should cover the
expenditures.
- Before we made decision, we need to have a financial review of current CPGIS
finance. (Yuemin suggested that, after final exams, Xiaoming should send a
financial report to Qiming and I. We will then present it to BOD and members.)
- CPGIS '95 will generate some incomes for CPGIS.
- Need to establish rules regarding the financial relationship between CPGIS and
the journal. Publishing journal may lose money.
- Need to find a way to deal with the long term financial problem for the
publication of the journal.
[10] YES
[ 0] NO
[ 1] On Table
- Provide some strategic suggestions based on the survey
- Provide GIS expertise in GIS research, development and applications in China
- Provide training, education, and other services to fellows in China
- For a long term, CPGIS can establish its entity or partners in China for
developing GIS systems and applications
NEWS BRIEF
Access Population Data via CIESIN's New Tool
login: ulysses
Rich Robinson
CIESIN User Service
rich.robinson@ciesin.org
phone: 517-797-2727
fax: 517-797-2622
HKIES News
Professor Wang Zhizhou, Honourary President of WTUSM
Professor Zhang Zuxun, Vice President of WTUSM
Professor Li Deren, Academician of CAS and CAE
Professor Bian Fuling, WTUSM
Professor Chen Jun, Deputy Director of State Key Lab LIESMARS
Professor Gong Jianya, WTUSM
and 7 other scholars and graduate students
from NBSM
Professor Yang Kai, Deputy Director General
Professor Chen Junyong, General Engineer, former Director
and two officers
from CASM
Professor Zhang Qingpu, Deputy Director
Professor Zhang Jiaqing
Several professors from Zhengzhou Institute and S & M also planed to
attend the meeting.
Xu Guanhua Visited UC Berkeley
FOR YOUR INFO
Chinese GIS Textbooks
New List Announcement: URBGEOG (Urban Geography List)
The text of the message should read:
SUB URBGEOG Your full name
H3>
China's State Economic Information System
GIS Job Open at GeoSearch, Inc.
Rich Serby
Resumes/Inquiries: GeoSearch, Inc. PO Box 62129 Colorado Springs CO 80962. FAX:
719-260-7389. Tel: 719-260-7087.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
CALL FOR PAPERS: Special Issue on Marine and Coastal Geographical Information
Systems, International Journal of Marine Geodesy
. Case studies of GIS in marine and coastal environment
. Spatial and temporal issues
. Electronic charting / navigation systems
. GPS integration and real time processing systems
. Processing of data from multiple sources
. Modeling and visualization of marine spatial data
Dr. Rongxing Li
Department of Geomatics Engineering
The University Drive N.W
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2N 1N4
Tel. (403) 220-4112, Fax (403) 284-1980
E-mail: rli@acs.ucalgary.ca
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Hawaii at Manoa
2540 Dole Street, Holmes 383
Honolulu, HI 96822
USA
CALL FOR PAPERS - GIS/Environmental Modeling Conference, Santa Fe, January 1996
Posters
Demonstrations
Tutorials
Workshops
Paper Sessions
National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis
Phelps Hall 3510
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4060, USA
Phone: +1 805 893 8224
FAX: +1 805 893 8617
Email: santa_fe@ncgia.ucsb.edu
WWW: http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/santa_fe.html
Proposals by 30 June 1995
Notification by 31 August 1995
Full papers for conference proceedings by 30 November 1995
Call for Papers: ISPRS Com. II, WG II/2
March 6-8, 1996
Milan, Italy
Workshop topics include:
INTEGRATED GIS
-Integrated Modelling
-Integration with Remote Sensing
-Multi-Media/Virtual Reality in GIS
-GPS/GIS Integration
ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY
-System Design
-Expert Systems
-GIS & Decision Support
-Object-Orientation in GIS
STANDARDS
-Data Transfer Standards
-Interoperability Standards
-Benchmarking Standards
-Meta-Data Standards
ENVIRONMENTAL GIS
-Multi-scale Monitoring Techniques
-3D/4D GIS
-GIS & Sustainability
-Landscape Analysis
USER REQUIREMENTS
-User Interface
-Functional Requirements
-Cost/Benefit Analysis
JAMES B. JOHNSTON
NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL SERVICE
700 CAJUNDOME BLVD.
LAFAYETTE, LA 70506 USA
TEL: (318)266-8556
FAX: (318)266-8616
E-MAIL: johnstonj@nwrc.gov
ESRI: Call for papers, remote sensing and GIS applications
U.S. Bureau of Mines
petersd@drc.usbm.gov
Las Vegas, NV, USA
1) Mineral Exploration and Mining Applications
2) Petroleum Exploration, Domestic and International
3) Hazards Monitoring, Assessment, and Response
4) Hydrogeology/Hydrology
5) Environmental Applications
6) Geobotany
7) Logistic Operations
8) Case Histories
9) Remote Sensing in the Great Basin
10) Geophysical and Geochemical Data Integration
11) Photogeology
12) Hyperspectral Analysis and Quantitative Remote Sensing
13) Radar Applications
14) Low-Cost Remote Sensing
15) Image Processing and Visualization
16) Multiple Sensors and Data Integration
17) Remote Sensing and GIS Applications
18) Desktop Systems
19) New and Future Technologies
ERIM/Geologic Conference
P.O. Box 134001
Ann Arbor, MI 48113-4001, USA
Phone: 313-994-1200 ext. 3382
Fax: 313-994-5123
Internet: wallman@vaxc.erim.org
or rrogers@erim.org
ERIM WWW URL: http://www.erim.org/
-- CPGIS Newsletter Editorial Board
Editors:
Editor of this issue:
Last Update: Oct 18, 1995