content

Main featuresISPRS Cie VII Mid-term Symposium 2Interview GEM MSc graduateLilian Busingye 4School for Land Administration Studies 7

Education newsJoint course RECTAS 9GIM students visit Denmark 10Graduation GINREM Wuhan,China 11

Research newsEAGLE project 12

Project newsNUM-ITC-UNESCO labfor RS/GIS 14Geoinformatics training forHLJBSM China 15BRIDGE project 16

AnnouncementsSDI Implementation Guide inFrench 18Expert Group Meeting inBangkok 18International conference inDelhi 19Award for Talat Munshi 19

Life after ITCITC Alumni India meet 20Song Aihong 20Refresher course Rwanda 21Refresher course Kenya 22Elena Vilches Quezon 23ITC Alumni meet DutchParliamentarians 24

Has something been missing in your life over the past month or two? Youcan’t quite put your finger on it but it’s been niggling away. Now you haveit! Where’s the newsletter? What’s been going on at ITC this year? Thiscombined issue ITC News 2006-1/2 will rectify matters. Not only that but asthe last two issues of 2005 were special issues - with 2005-3 devoted to ouralumni and 2005-4 to the lustrum conference - you’ll find some “old” newslurking among the articles. So in one fell swoop we’re updating our readersand clearing our doorstep of disgruntled authors.

As you can imagine, our offering this time round is mixed and various. Youcan make the acquaintenance of BRIDGE (page 16) and EAGLE (page 12),and read all about the ISPRS symposium held at ITC in May (page 2). And al-though English is the language of ITC News, French-speakers - in particularSDI enthusiasts - will find an item of interest on page 18. While we’re onthe subject, some ITC students recently managed to combine business withpleasure, investigating good practices in SDI development in Denmark andtaking time out to explore the lively city of Copenhagen (page 10).

On 23 March 2006 ITC and the Netherlands Cadastre signed an agreementto cooperate in establishing a School for Land Administration Studies at ITC.This initiative is covered on page 7 and you can be sure that you will be keptup to date on its progress. Not in Enschede this time, not even in theNetherlands, but definitely a new venture: the NUM-ITC-UNESCOLaboratory for Remote Sensing/GIS was opened on 9 December 2005 at theNational University of Mongolia. More on this topic on page 14.

So ITC News 2006 1/2 brings you insights into the past, present and future:recent events, current courses, new undertakings, as well as experiences ofthose released from studies in Enschede and elsewhere into the wide worldoutside. We hope you approve of our “shot selection” - terminology thatgives a clear indication that, in addition to the World Cup, there’s been agreat deal of tennis on television over the past few weeks - and we look for-ward to hearing from you with your reactions and contributions. Perhapsthe resolution to submit an article to ITC News 2006-3 has also been nig-gling away? May it niggle no longer!

Janneke KalfManaging Editor

1ITC News 2006-1/2

I N T R O

introduction

Managing Editor: Janneke Kalf

Editing: Janice CollinsDesign&PrePress: Henk Scharrenborg

(Composer DTP service)Andries Menning

Printing: PlantijnCasparie Zwolle

Correspondence to: Managing EditorITC NEWSP.O.Box 6

7500 AA EnschedePhone: +31 (0)53 487 44 11Fax: +31 (0)53 487 45 54E-mail: itcnews@itc.nl

colofonITC NEWS is published quarterly, by ITC, Enschede, the Netherlands

The views expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect those of ITC2006number 1/2

Scientists met other

scientists, listened

to one another’s

presentations,

and exchanged

knowledge on

remote sensing and

satellite images.

Setting:

the International

Institute for Geo-

Information Science

and Earth Observa-

tion (ITC) in sunny

Enschede,

the Netherlands,

from 8 to 11 May.

The International Society for Photogrammetryand Remote Sensing (ISPRS, www.isprs.org) isa non-governmental organisation whose aimis to enhance international cooperation be-tween worldwide organisations with inter-ests in photogrammetry, remote sensing andspatial information sciences. It consists ofnearly 100 national and 10 regional societiesand organisations, and its scientific andtechnical programmes are organised by eighttechnical commissions. Each commissionholds its own mid-term symposium within itscountry once every four years. CommissionVII concentrates on thematic processing,modelling and analyses of remotely senseddata. This commission, led by President Johnvan Genderen, is based in the Netherlandsand from 8 to 11 May they organised theirsymposium “Remote Sensing: From Pixels toProcesses” at ITC. All the commissions cometogether in the Olympic years, and the nextsuch congress will be held in Beijing in 2008,one month before the start of the Games.

Pre-symposium EventsFor some of the 500 attendees - mostly sci-entists from all over the world - the mid-term May symposium was a chance to meetold friends again and reminisce on their daysas students at ITC. Although the meeting of-ficially started on 8 May, pre-symposiumevents took place on the 6th, and a visit tothe Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse was also onthe programme another day.

Naturally the technical sessions on such top-ics as “Advanced classification techniques”,“Information extraction from hyperspectraldata” and “OpenDragon: free geoinformat-ics software for education in developingcountries” dominated the four official sym-posium days. According to John vanGenderen, the calibration and validation ofdata, as well as data fusion and data mining,are hot topics and he spoke about the proj-ect undertaken by one of the several TC VIIworking groups on data fusion. “One typeof data is not sufficient to solve a problem.Besides doing optical observations, you cando radar or thermal measurements in orderto observe the Earth. This means you have tofuse optical, radar, thermal but also hyper-spectral, statistical or perhaps even historicaldata of high quality.”

2 ITC News 2006-1/2

International Scientific Symposium onRemote Sensing in the Netherlands:

“Not Just aScientific Topic

Anymore”Sonja de Bruijn sdebruijn@geoinformatics.com

M A I N F E A T U R E S

For some of the 500 attendees - mostly scientistsfrom all over the world - the mid-term May sympo-sium was a chance to meet old friends again andreminisce on their days as students at ITC

Precise ComparisonTurning to the topic of data mining, VanGenderen said: “It means being able to ex-tract a specific type of information from datathat are stored in some place and possibly30 years old. Software is currently being de-veloped that is capable of extracting certainvalues of certain areas over time. This en-ables a precise comparison of data from thepast and the present.”

Van Genderen was quite enthusiastic aboutone working group that deals with innova-tive methods for less developed countries.He explained why he liked this project somuch: “These people often don’t have allthe fantastic devices we have but show a lotof creativity in solving problems in theircountry by using remote sensing data. Thenice thing is that you see a transfer of tech-nology and knowledge between theWestern world and these less developedcountries. We learn from them, which accel-erates solutions.”

RelationPrices of satellite images are going down,but in particular high-resolution images canstill be quite expensive. Van Genderen, how-ever, thinks that cost is not a real issue. “It’sall about the relation between overall costsand the costs of the images needed. If youcan retrieve a lot of information from thesedata, like the localisation of new energy re-sources, costs are not really the issue any-more.” He continued: “When looking at aninfrastructural project the costs might be

negligible; however, for a municipality thatneeds high-resolution images on a monthlybasis, for example to detect changes in infra-structure or vegetation, it might still be tooexpensive. An IKONOS stereopair image of,let’s say, 11 km square size will cost $12,000to $15,000, and then there’s additional costsfor things like the software needed to workwith these data. In Europe a satellite imagewill cost you about b 100. Now that ORBIM-AGE (Quickbird) has taken over SpaceImaging (IKONOS) to form GeoEye, thus cov-ering the larger part of the market, there isnot that much competition at the moment.But I guess new players will enter the marketsoon, and this might bring the price furtherdown.”

3ITC News 2006-1/2

Sonja deBruijn

is editorial managerof GeoInformatics.

GeoInformatics, a magazine for

surveying, mappingand GIS professionals,

provides coverage,analysis and commen-

tary with respect tothe international

surveying, mappingand GIS industry.Recognising the

integrated nature ofthe geospatial

information industry,GeoInformatics

presents thought-provoking and useful

information.

For more information:

www.geoinformatics.nl

Symposia are excellent opportunities to meet and in-teract with fellow scientists (in the middle ProfessorJohn van Genderen)

Technical sessions on such topics as “Advanced classification techniques”, “Information extraction from hyper-spectral data” and “OpenDragon: free geoinformatics software for education in developing countries” domi-nated the four official symposium days

M A I N F E A T U R E S

It’s often pleasant

to report on a

“first”. However,

when the focus is

on a new academic

programme, this

immediately

prompts the

question: But is this

the first of many?

Technical EducationSo if costs are not the bottleneck, what is?“Education” is Van Genderen’s firm reply.“Though working here at ITC I have toadmit that the focus has been too much ontechnical education. People studying at ITCgoing back to their own country usually be-come active on a technical level. Of coursesome of them end up in management orpolitics, and these people are aware of the

possibilities of remote sensing. However, it isreally essential that all decision makers areaware of these possibilities, because unfor-tunately this is not the case. But also munici-pality workers need to know how to workwith things like GPS. They never learnedhow to do this at school. Information onthese techniques should be brought into theopen; it’s not just a scientific topic any-more.”

The select group of six student pioneersthat successfully completed the first coursein Geo-information Science and EarthObservation for Environmental Modellingand Management (GEM) received theirMSc degrees on 9 March 2006. It was a daywhen the wet weather outside failed spec-tacularly to dampen the spirits of the newgraduates and their friends and familywithin ITC. And that niggling question?Well, with 28 participants currently study-ing in Sweden, an intake of 40 planned for2006, and some 500 to 600 applications inthe processing pipeline for a new cohort,the upward line has soared off the graph.In short, the future looks decidedly brightfor the GEM course - no question about it!

This 18-month GEM course, which is sup-ported by the prestigious EU ErasmusMundus programme, is run by a consortiumof four institutes: the University ofSouthampton (UK), Lund University(Sweden), the University of Warsaw (Poland)and ITC (Netherlands). Combining the bestelements of these institutes, and supportedby visiting scholars and guest speakers, thecourse is an attractive proposition to thosewho have recently graduated with aBachelor’s degree in such disciplines as ruraland environmental planning, geography,natural resources, agriculture, forestry, geo-information science, geology and water re-sources. And on that graduation day inMarch, four of the primary movers and shak-

4 ITC News 2006-1/2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Impression of the well-attended exhibitionRector Martien Molenaar (left) and ISPRSPresident Ian Dowman (right)

European OdysseyJanice Collins itcnews@itc.nl

Full-papers will be published at

www.itc.nl/isprsc7/symposium

ers from the four institutes concerned,Professor Peter Atkinson (Southampton),Professor Petter Pilesjo (Lund), ProfessorKatarzyna Dabrowska-Zielinska (Warsaw)and Professor Andrew Skidmore (ITC), wereall present and correct to congratulate theirsuccessful students. Not without some diffi-culty, it has to be said. At the opening of theproceedings, Professor Pilesjo was still some-where betwixt Schiphol and Enschede.Nevertheless, there was no need to resort toa global positioning system, because, over-coming all obstacles, he arrived in time togive an entertaining account of the studiesin Sweden.

And so to the graduates themselves, thepathfinders in this new initiative, six in num-ber - two from Ethiopia, one fromArgentina, one from Kenya, one fromThailand and one from Uganda. What hadattracted them to this particular course?How had they coped with the inevitable hic-cups that attend a new venture? How hadthey enjoyed being the “gypsies” among thestudent community? ITC News was fortu-nate enough to gain an interview with MsLilian Busingye from Uganda and to hearwhat it was like to make this trip throughscience and indeed Europe itself. Perhapsher five travelling companions can identifywith some of her experiences.

A quick scan of her cv reveals that Liliangained her BA (Hons) in social sciences fromMakerere University in 1998 but was work-ing as a researcher at the Institute ofEnvironment and Natural Resources at thesame university in the period 2001-2004.Apparently her career had taken some twistsand turns along the way! And in her ownwords, she can only “look back and won-der”. During her initial steps in the world ofwork in social economics and administration,she discovered the magic of GIS maps and afascination with overlaying techniques.“Although I had no background in GIS, Icould still do some things, but it was UCLASthat filled in that missing background andintroduced me to the scientific environ-ment.” She was awarded the Certificate inGIS and Remote Sensing (application inforestry) at the University of Dar es Salaam(UCLAS) in 2002. And this was followed in2003 by the Certificate in GlobalEnvironment and Development from theGlobal Virtual University (Norway). Enter theScandinavian connection? Well, only to aslight extent - but Lilian’s pioneering streakhad certainly begun to emerge, because thiswas a step into e-learning. “Trial pro-grammes were being run, with supervisorsfrom different countries providing support ata distance. I was lucky though; I was theonly one whose supervisor visited me in mycountry. Naturally, combining work andstudy was a challenge, but the university hadInternet facilities that I could use in theevenings. For people working in offices with-out such facilities or a spare computer, itwould be a difficult proposition.”

Then Europe beckoned. “People had oftensaid: ‘You should do your Master’s degree’,but I have to confess I was a little scared atthe prospect. Still, then I met up with TomLoran, who was involved in a train-the-train-ers course in the geography department,and I heard all about ITC.” And how did shefind out about the GEM course? “Well, ac-tually, the GEM course found me! I appliedfor the NRM course but the NUFFIC fellow-ship proved to be a stumbling block. So Iwas asked if it would be acceptable to sub-mit my name for an Erasmus Mundus schol-arship. Acceptable? I was delighted! Andwhen the letter of acceptance arrived, I im-mediately rushed over to show it to my fam-

5ITC News 2006-1/2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Lilian Busingye afterGEM MSc graduationceremony with (from

left to right) ProfessorAndrew Skidmore, Dr.Dick van der Zee, andAndre Kooiman, MSc

ily - which in the event proved to be a bitdifficult because a power cut suddenlyplunged us into pitch darkness!”

Lilian Busingye had no trouble in obtainingpermission from her employer to attend thecourse as the university is keen to enhancestaff capability. In the first instance, she willreturn to her old job, but with an MSc de-gree in her suitcase the prospects for promo-tion are definitely good. Still, problems didcome from another quarter: the visa authori-ties. In fact, the bureaucratic procedureslinked to a course conducted in four coun-tries caused quite a few headaches all round- not just for the students but also for theorganisers. Flexibility and improvisation skillswere at a premium, and naturally the lessonslearned will benefit those who tread thispath in the future. Despite all this, she is veryhappy with the course, and grateful too. “Itwas tough because we were the first. Thesecond group may well give a different an-swer. At times we did feel low, but ulti-mately decided to be strong and focus onthe light at the end of the tunnel. We sixstudents gained tremendous support fromone another. And we needed it - what withchanging cultures, changing teaching styles,and our hands and heads full of luggage.”When the band of travellers arrived in Lund,the start of the new component coincidedwith the examination on the UK part - andwith three months of snow to boot. Sosnowbound in the house of residence, qui-etly poring over their books? Think again.According to Lilian, “Swedish students arealways partying and, if you don’t go to theparty, the party comes to you, right in yourown room. There’s no escape.”

Life at ITC was somewhat quieter, and thenew arrivals had a great deal of supportfrom the student community, particularlyPhD students from their own countries.Although English is her mother tongue,Lilian even had the opportunity to lapse intoRukiga in this international environment.Then panic set in. No research proposal, notitle, and of course it seemed that everyoneelse had finished theirs. But panic, it seems,concentrates the mind wonderfully and fivedays later her proposal was ready. The titleof her thesis is “Spatial planning and thebalance between agriculture, nature andrecreation areas in Haaksbergen, theNetherlands”. It’s a little difficult to see howthis relates to fieldwork in Poland, but ofcourse the answer is that it doesn’t. Onlyone of the students, Ms Laura Zalazar fromArgentina, was able to do her fieldwork inPoland. Visas were again the root of theproblem, with different rules applying to dif-ferent countries. And the links betweenHaaksbergen and Uganda? “Haaksbergen isa rural area and 80% of Uganda is devotedto rural agriculture. Farming, with its atten-dant pains, is the life-blood of both. Dutchplanners have realised the need for an en-largement of planning scale to meet theproblems of this densely populated countryboth now and in the future. Their advancesin developing administrative structures, in-terregional planning frameworks, and bothallocative and innovative forms of intrare-gional planning offer important lessons ofrelevance to other countries such as Uganda.The system of spatial planning in theNetherlands may therefore have appeal forplanners elsewhere in the world because ithas to a large extent been able to sufficientlybalance the interests of various stakeholders.In Uganda, a situation where one person’scows eat another person’s plants on commu-nal land can all too often escalate into vio-lent conflict. Election campaigns arecurrently highlighting the issue of bound-aries, but it really is a tremendous problem.”

What new skills will Lilian carry home withher to Kampala? “I definitely found what Iwas looking for. I can put a scientific papertogether and have really learned how towrite. And although you can gain practicalon-the-job experience with overlaying tech-niques, Lund taught us why you do what

6 ITC News 2006-1/2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

The GEM MSc graduates,six in number - two from Ethiopia, onefrom Argentina, one fromKenya, one from Thailandand one from Uganda

7ITC News 2006-1/2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

you do. We students came from differentdisciplines (biological genetics was certainlyunexpected) and were equipped with differ-ent skills, so we also learned a lot from oneanother, particularly as we formed a stableelement in our travels together. In addition,this wonderful course has given me im-mense self-confidence: I feel I can go any-where and survive … anywhere!”

On the day of the defence for the first GEMgroup, the second group was also sitting anexamination, so there was a feeling of soli-darity flowing back and forth across cyber-space. Blackboard is proving an excellentmeans of communication, a forum for gath-ering information and investigating the ad-visability or otherwise of certain choices.Does Lilian have any suggestions for future

The issue of land and land administration isincreasingly claiming the attention of the in-ternational community. In a recent interviewin ITC News, Professor Hans van Ginkel, rec-tor of the United Nations University, ofwhich ITC is an associated institution, said:“We have to start work and find solutionsthat are fair and humane to all parties in-volved. Zimbabwe has attracted the atten-tion of the international media, but in many

countries there is a problem as to who ownsthe land and how it is registered.Redistribution is a touchy subject. It is in thecollective interest to reassign functions toland in both urban and rural areas but withadequate government compensation. Andthis is a major issue in Europe too. For exam-ple: once land is known to be eligible forurban expansion, the price rises. It should bepossible to set a price on such plots early onand so reduce the element of speculation.This is a problem shared by developed anddeveloping countries.”

The school will deliver land administrationeducation and research within ITC, and willmanage and execute a joint land administra-tion programme with the United NationsUniversity. This programme consists of a se-

courses? “If it were possible, three catch-upweeks would be a good idea. This wouldgive you a chance to get your breath backand digest the topics. As it is, you’re oftentossing and turning in bed at night, dream-ing about work.”

At the close of the presentation ceremony,Mr Javier Carranza Torres of the StudentAssociation Board, had compared the pere-grinations of the first GEM contingent to thewanderings of Odysseus and had ended bywishing them a safe return to their particular“Ithaca”. But the celebrations were not yetover, and Lilian left the interview to exchangeher colourful tradition dress for a pair ofjeans in readiness for her next engagement -lunch with her brother, who had flown infrom Uganda to share in this special day.

School for Land AdministrationStudies Established

Paul van der Molen molen@itc.nlJanneke Kalf kalf@itc.nl

For more informationvisit the

GEM MSc websitewww.gem-msc.org

On 23 March 2006 the International Institute for Geo-

Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) and the

Netherlands Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency

(Kadaster) signed an agreement to cooperate in establishing

a School for Land Administration Studies at ITC.

ries of seminars, short courses, and network-ing. ITC’s rector, Professor Martien Molenaar,said: “ITC is dedicated to good governanceissues, of which the administration of land isan important part. As ITC students are mid-career professionals, ITC is fully aware thatthey are interested not only in academicknowledge, but also in organisational andinstitutional issues.” Therefore he welcomedthe cooperation with the NetherlandsCadastre as a prerequisite for good educa-tion and research in land administration.Mr Godfried Barnasconi, member of theExecutive Board, represented theNetherlands Cadastre at the signing cere-mony. He said: “The Netherlands Cadastre’sorganisational strategy is to enhance its per-formance by the use of modern manage-ment approaches and by the application ofadvanced information technology. The or-ganisation is aware that, in order to eradi-cate poverty and achieve sustainabledevelopment, knowledge of how to create agood working land registry and cadastre isnecessary, and the organisation is preparedto share its knowledge and expertise withother countries.” Mr Barnasconi is convincedthat the School is a highly appropriate chan-nel to the developing world.

8 ITC News 2006-1/2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Mr Godfried Barnasconi (right), member of theExecutive Board, represented the NetherlandsCadastre at the signing ceremony. At his left ITCrector Martien Molenaar

Kadaster and ITC staff involved in the School for Land Administration Studies

For more information:www.itc.nl/unu.la

9ITC News 2006-1/2

E D U C A T I O N N E W S

The Regional Centre for Training inAerospace Surveys (RECTAS) inNigeria was established in 1972 withthe support of ITC. As one of themany joint activities since then, in2005 ITC and RECTAS organised thethree-week course Digital ImageProcessing and Spatial InformationExtraction for Geo-informationProduction. The course was sup-ported by Leica Geosystems.

Course OverviewNowadays decentralisation of educa-tion is one of ITC’s prominent goalsand it was in this spirit that ITC, REC-TAS and Leica set up the three-weekcourse. The course started on 24October 2005 and was held at REC-TAS in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

The joint course was divided into twoparts: the first covered digital imageprocessing with ERDAS Imagine andthe second dealt with using LeicaPhotogrammetric Suite for informa-tion extraction from aerial images.The course was attended by 15 par-ticipants, of which five were currentRECTAS lecturers and 10 came fromstate offices or private companies inNigeria. ITC was represented by twostaff members, Wan Bakx andStephan Heuel. It was their first mis-sion abroad and it turned out to be apositive and interesting experiencefor both of them.

Course DetailsThe first two weeks were filled withlectures and exercises on digitalimage processing under the supervi-sion of Wan Bakx. The topics rangedfrom geometric and radiometric cali-

bration, image enhancement, map-ping and visualisation, to classifica-tion. The exercises were carried outusing the ERDAS Imagine softwarepackage. The participants regardedthe hands-on experience with thesoftware as very helpful, and enthusi-astically explored the possibilities ofimage processing - even outsideworking hours!

The second part of the course dealtwith information extraction from aer-ial images. This was done using LeicaPhotogrammetric Suite (LPS), which iscompatible with ERDAS Imagine. Incontrast to the first part, the lectureswere now given by RECTAS and onlythe practicals and exercises with LPSwere under the guidance of StephanHeuel. The course covered main is-sues relating to photogrammetrictopics such as stereo viewing, orien-tation, triangulation and orthophoto

generation, and concentrated oncommunicating practical skills.

The cooperation with Leica washighly successful. Including a localLeica representative as a course par-ticipant proved to be an efficient andeffective strategy for RECTAS, forLeica and for the participants, estab-lishing a direct communication chan-nel for better mutual understanding.

Closing CeremonyAt the closing ceremony on the lastday of the course, Wan Bakx gave apresentation on ITC and its missionand Jide Kufoniyi, the director ofRECTAS, described the objective andtasks of RECTAS. Course certificateswere presented to the participants,together with a CD that included allthe presentations and exercise data,as well as pictures taken throughoutthe course. In addition, the partici-

education news

Joint Course on Digital Image Processing and Spatial Information Extraction at RECTAS

Stephan Heuel heuel@itc.nl

Wan Bakx bakx@itc.nl

Not only aerial images can be used for stereo viewing: use your anaglyph glasses and gain anin-depth view of the classroom and the hard-working participants

10 ITC News 2006-1/2

E D U C A T I O N N E W S

pants received complimentaryanaglyph glasses from RECTAS. Theparticipants expressed their gratitudefor being able to attend the course,spontaneously breaking into a“thank-you” song.

The friendliness of both staff and par-ticipants, as well as their enthusiasm,cannot be stressed highly enough.Participants were seen working onexercises late into the evening and atweekends. A course evaluation pro-duced a highly positive response, andboth the participants and the directorexpressed their wish that this coursebe repeated next year, possibly on acommercial basis.

As intergal part of the Geo-Information Management (GIM)programme the GIM students visitedDenmark from June 12th to June16th 2006. Focus of attention wason development of spatial data in-frastructure (SDI) at local, regionaland national level.

During their excursion to Denmark,the GIM students experienced thechallenges in developing and imple-menting SDI. In addition to technicalrequirements it was recognised thatissues as willingness to cooperate, in-stitutional aspects, legal aspects (e.g.copyrights), data quality, and respon-sibilities relating to data maintenanceare highly relevant success factors.

It was confirmed that, in the case ofsharing data from different sources inone product, building SDI meansbuilding comprehensive data modelsto be implemented as base registersin a distributed environment. Here in-

teroperability and standardisation arethe related issues. International stan-dards need to be fully adapted tocomplex, local “dialects”. It was alsolearned that, to improve performanceand government, spatial data have tobe integrated in a more comprehen-sive environment that includes peo-ple, companies, addresses and landrights.

The GIM students received a warm,relaxed and highly informal welcomeat Aalborg University, the DanishCadastre, the municipality ofCopenhagen, the InternationalFederation of Surveyors, and the pri-vate company Blom Info.

Aalburg’s virtual reality laboratoryprovided them with a completely newexperience, and the discussion com-paring an open-source object-ori-ented standard for SDI with theGoogle Earth approach was particu-larly interesting.

The presentation and discussions atthe Danish Cadastre were excellent.The focus was on data accuracy in re-lation to data acquisition and map-ping over many years (relevance ofhistory in datasets), and the mainte-nance of very large spatial datasets inclose cooperation with private survey-ors.

The visit to the municipality ofCopenhagen clarified the efficiencyof centralised responsibilities in themaintenance of spatial data. A localSDI was available for all city employ-ees. The intensive use of oblique aer-ial photographs rather than availableorthophotos was remarkable, and the3D city model was quite fascinating.

At FIG, the focus was on the rules ofsurveying in relation to sustainabledevelopment, while the visit to BlomInfo demonstrated the need for pri-vate companies to be ahead in apply-ing the most sophisticated

The participants, lecturers and staff of RECTAS in front of the main administration building

GIM Students Examine Good Practices in SDI Development

Javier Morales jmorales@itc.nl

Christiaan Lemmen lemmen@itc.nl

11ITC News 2006-1/2

E D U C A T I O N N E W S

technologies if they wished to survivethe fierce competition. Innovationsare important, but so too is coopera-tion with companies in developingcountries, e.g. for purposes of ana-logue-to-digital conversions and pho-togrammetric measurements

The six participants in the first MSccourse in Geographic Informationfor Natural Resource andEnvironmental Management (GIN-REM) graduated on 17 March 2006,having all successfully completedtheir studies. GINREM is an MSc de-gree course run jointly by ITC andthe School of Resources andEnvironmental Sciences of WuhanUniversity, China.

The participants followed the first fivemodules in Wuhan. In January 2005,they travelled to the Netherlands tofollow the remaining taught modulesof the course together with partici-pants in ITC’s regular NaturalResources Management course.

In August 2005 the students returnedto China to carry out their MSc re-search, supervised jointly by staff ofWuhan University and ITC. Four stu-

dents executed their research inPoyang Hu Nature Reserve, applyingremote sensing techniques to studysediments and light penetration in

Naturally there was time left to ex-plore the city of Copenhagen, andthe whole trip was a most refreshingexperience.

GIM students visiting the virtual reality laboratory at AalborgUniversity, Denmark

With its comprehensive system, Denmark leads the field in windmill-produced electricity

MSc Course in Geographic Information for Natural Resource and Environmental Management, China

Michael Weir weir@itc.nl

Jan de Leeuw leeuw@itc.nl

All six participants in the first MSc course in Geographic Information for Natural Resource andEnvironmental Management successfully completed their studies and graduated on 17 March2006

the lake waters, as well as mappingand monitoring the grasslands fring-ing the lake. The first two studieswere related to the PhD of WuGuofeng, who studies the food habi-tat of the Siberian crane. Two otherstudents modelled the distribution ofamphibians and of bamboo. The lat-ter study was undertaken as part ofthe PhD study of Wang Tiejun, whostudies panda habitat.

Professor Alfred de Gier, chairman ofthe NRM Programme Board, chairedthe final thesis examination inWuhan. The external examiner was

From 8 June to 2 July the environsof Cabauw, Garderen and Kootwijkwere the setting for an investiga-tion into the effects of globalchange. More than 80 European sci-entists and students collected dataon the ground and from aerospacefor the purpose of testing and fur-ther developing existing modelsthat chart the effects of globalchange. These scientists had themost advanced measuring equip-ment - on the ground, in measuringmasts, onboard satellites and air-craft - at their disposal.

“Global change” is the collectiveterm for the worldwide changes innature and our living environmentthat are caused by climate change,the greenhouse effect, CO2 emissionsand the like. “Uncontrolled changes

to the Earth bring many risks in theirwake,” says ITC’s Professor Bob Su.“Even before the most obvious con-sequences hit us personally, climatechange, for example, has had a dev-astating effect on our water stocks.”

There are various models that chartthe effects of global change, but thequestion is whether these models areadequate. ITC is working togetherwith Dutch and European partners onEAGLE2006, an ambitious project toinvestigate the effects of CO2 emis-sions and climate change on thewater cycle of agricultural and forestareas. The effects on arable and for-est land in central Netherlands wereinvestigated in June by a large inter-national group of scientists under ITCleadership.

The location was eminently suitablefor conducting research on arableand forest land. The area aroundCabauw consists of grassland, and isdominated by the tower (213 m high)of the Royal Dutch MeteorologicalInstitute, from where various climato-logical measurements could be made.Tall masts (23 m and 46 m respec-tively) of Wageningen University andResearch Centre and the NationalInstitute of Public Health and theEnvironment, with equipment formeasuring heat, water vapour, andCO2 and H2O in the air, are located inthe Loo and Speulder woods atKootwijk and Garderen.

The measuring activities were concen-trated around 14 and 15 June, whenENVISAT and the CHRIS/PROBA satel-lite of the European Space Agency

Dr Liu Xuehua from TsinghuaUniversity, Beijing. At the graduationceremony, the graduates receivedtheir degrees from Professor CongxinHuang, the vice-president of the uni-versity. The ceremony was attendedby about 40 staff and graduate stu-dents and some family members. Theproceedings were filmed for a shortbroadcast on the Wuhan campus TV.

The participants in the second GIN-REM course are presently in Enschedeto complete the taught part of thecourse and to prepare their researchproposals.

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research news

Uncontrolled Changes to the Earth Have Disastrous Consequences

Remco Dost dost@itc.nl

Janneke Kalf kalf@itc.nl

Hyperspectral field measurement (using an ASD)of the Kootwijk sand area used for the calibrationof the hyperspectral air- and space borne images

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R E S E A R C H N E W S

(ESA) - one of ITC’s project partners -was taking photographs of the area.Weighing only 15 kg, theCHRIS/PROBA satellite is capable oftaking photographs from differentangles at a height of 600 km, en-abling vegetation to be examinedfrom a number of perspectives. Atthe moment when the satellitespassed over, three aeroplanes withsophisticated equipment such asradar, lidar (a sensor that measuresgas concentrations), and camerasthat measure several wavelengths(e.g. visible light and infrared) weredeployed to take aerial photographsand make various measurements ofthe same areas. In addition, soil hu-midity and temperature, evapora-tion, and water quality weremeasured on the ground.

Back at ITC in Enschede, this scientifi-cally unique collection of ground andaerospace data will be used in devel-oping a validation model that willmake a contribution to the new gen-eration of earth observation systemsbeing used to make predictions re-garding the consequences of climatechange, CO2 emissions, and thewater cycle of our planet.

Determination of surface roughness using smallscale photography

The INTA aircraft -carrying the AHS and CASI in-struments- and its crew

EAGLE2006 is part of the project “Exploitation of Angular Effects inLand Surface Observations from Satellites (EAGLE)”, which is financedby the European Union within the context of the Sixth FrameworkProgramme; the project “Modelling Radiation, Heat and Mass (WaterVapour and Carbon) Exchanges at the Land-Atmosphere InterfaceUsing Multi-angular Optical and Thermal Measurements (EcoRTM)”,which is financed by NWO-SRON; and other ESA and national projects.

For more information: www.uv.es/eagle

The NUM-ITC-UNESCO Laboratoryfor Remote Sensing/GIS was openedon 9 December 2005 at the NationalUniversity of Mongolia.

ITC and the National University ofMongolia (NUM)ITC and the NUM have had a closerelationship in education and researchfor many years. Since the first ITCstaff members went to Mongolia inthe early 1990s after the withdrawalof the former Soviet Union and thecollapse of COMECON, there havebeen close ties between the two or-ganisations.

Several NUM staff members havedone their postgraduate studies ingeo-information science, at levelsranging from MSc to post-doctoralresearch, at ITC. Furthermore, threedeans of NUM faculties have visitedthe Institute, and seven ITC staffmembers have given courses in re-mote sensing/GIS at the NUM. In ad-dition, Professor van Genderen of ITChas been an honorary professor atthe NUM since 2000.

ITC and UNESCOThe cooperative relationship betweenITC and UNESCO dates back evenfurther. In the period spanning the1960s to the 1980s, ITC and UNESCOjointly set up the ITC-UNESCO Centrefor Integrated Surveys.

In 1988, the then director-general ofUNESCO, Dr Frederico Mayor, and theDutch minister of education and sci-ence entered into a renewed cooper-ation agreement. Under this four-yearmultimillion dollar project, ITC devel-oped and designed geographical in-formation systems within UNESCO’ssustainable development framework,in particular preparing educationtraining packages for developingcountries.ITC has also hosted the UNESCO-BILKO secretariat for five years, withthe aim of developing distance learn-ing remote sensing software trainingmaterials for coastal zone applica-tions in developing countries.

Hence, ITC took the initiative to re-quest UNESCO’s support in establish-

ing the ITC-UNESCO Laboratory forGeo-Information Processing to serveas a central facility for all faculties,schools and research institutes of theNUM.

Opening of the LaboratoryAt the opening ceremony, NUM hadthe honour of welcoming several dis-tinguished guests, including the minis-ter of education, and representativesfrom ITC (Netherlands), Clark Labs(USA), UNESCO, and various othergovernment ministries, universitiesand organisations.The NUM-ITC-UNESCO laboratory hasbeen equipped with computers andperipherals from the various small de-partments, laboratories and researchcentres around the NUM in order tocentralise the university resources inone modern efficient laboratory. Inthis way, the laboratory will encour-age interdisciplinary cooperation be-tween NUM schools and departmentsin various fields.

The laboratory has been providedwith new professional RS/GIS soft-

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project news

NUM-ITC-UNESCO Laboratory for Remote Sensing/GIS

Janneke Kalf kalf@itc.nl

Dr James Toledano, executive director of ClarkLabs, USA, making aspeech during the opening ceremony of the new NUM-ITC-UNESCO

Laboratory for Remote Sensing/GIS

Professor Gantsog, president of the National University of Mongolia,together with the minister of science, education and culture ofMongolia, cutting the ribbon to mark the official opening of the labo-ratory

15ITC News 2006-1/2

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ware packages, and ITC has provideda site licence for unlimited use of,and access to, the ILWIS RS/GIS soft-ware package. Clark University, via itsClark Labs, has also provided a multi-seat site licence for university-wideuse of the famous IDRISI RS/GIS soft-ware.

Prior to the opening, Dr JamesToledano, executive director of ClarkLabs, gave a one-week trainingcourse on RS/GIS data processing toNUM professors and government of-ficials. The aim of this training coursewas to develop the NUM human re-sources facilities. The long-term train-ing programme will be developed toensure continuous upgrading of theITC-UNESCO lab users.

From 19 September to 9 October2005, staff of the HeilongjiangBureau of Surveying and Mapping(HLJBSM), Harbin, China, attendedthe tailor-made Advanced TrainingCourse in Geoinformatics at ITC. The course has been establishedwithin the framework of theMemorandum of Understandingsigned on 20 February 2001 (see ITC News 2005-2, p.18).

This is the second time in successionthat this advanced training course hasbeen organised by ITC’s Geo-Information Processing (GIP) depart-ment, and the aim was to offer theparticipants (who all hold senior posi-tions in mapping organisations) rele-vant information on the latestdevelopments within the world ofgeoinformatics. Many lectures fromstaff from EOS, GIP and PGM con-tributed to this course, and the topicscovered ranged from mobile/web GIS,

3D cadastre, advanced visualisationmethods, SAR inferometry, advancedremote sensing monitoring/analysis,and marketing geo-information serv-ices, to dataflow management issues.The chosen topics were well appreci-ated by the participants. The eager-ness to acquire information was welldemonstrated by the sharp and con-

crete questions posed by the partici-pants during the various sessions.

A special word of thanks should beaddressed to ITC alumna Mrs TangYanli (MSc EREG.2). She was thecounterpart organiser and was excel-lent when it came to translating thehigh-level scientific lectures fromEnglish into Chinese.

This new NUM-ITC-UNESCOLaboratory for Remote Sensing/GISwill contribute greatly to the humanresources development of Mongolianscientists and professionals. The labo-ratory will provide regular shortcourses on topics of relevance toMongolian development, such as pas-ture and rangeland management,agricultural monitoring, and environ-mental input assessment of mining

activities. These short courses will begeared to the needs of various gov-ernment ministries, of private indus-try, as well as of research institutes.Professor R. Tsolmon of NUM hasbeen appointed as the first director ofthe new laboratory.

Advanced Training Course in Geoinformatics for HLJBSM

Ton Mank mank@itc.nl

For more details on the laboratory and use of its facilities, please contact:Professor R. Tsolmon e-mail: int_rel@num.edu.m

On 14 and 15 November 2005 thekick-off workshop of the BRIDGEproject was held at the premises ofthe Asian Institute of Technology inBangkok, Thailand. BRIDGE is theacronym for the three-year projectentitled “Building Human Resourcesin the Development of AcademicProgrammes in SustainableGeosystem Engineering andExploration”, which falls under theEU Asia-Link Programme. Partners inthe project are the Asian Institute ofTechnology (AIT), the VietnamNational University (VNU), theNational University of Laos (NUOL)and Stockholm University (SU).

BRIDGE ObjectivesThe general objective of the Asia-LinkProgramme is to promote regionaland multilateral networking betweenhigher education institutions inEurope, South and Southeast Asia,and China from the perspective ofmutual interest. BRIDGE aims to builda sustainable academic network be-tween ITC and SU in Europe and AIT,VNU and NUOL in the Mekong regionin order to increase human resourcesin the Mekong region in the field ofgeosystem engineering and explo-ration. On one hand, universities inthe Mekong region need to meet theincreasing demand for multidiscipli-nary experts that are specialised ingeoscience and sustainable geosys-tem exploration for mineral resources.On the other hand, in order to in-crease their attractiveness to studentsfrom Asia, AIT and ITC need to ex-pand and update their knowledge ofspecific geo-engineering problems of

In addition to the theoretical part ofthe course, the programme includedtechnical and social visits, for exam-ple, to organisations that demon-strated Dutch efforts to protect ourcountry from the sea and to awooden shoe factory.

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Both technical and social visits were organised during the trainingcourse

BRIDGE, an EU-Funded Asia-Link Project

Freek van der Meer vdmeer@itc.nl

Twenty-two participants attended the train-the-trainers workshop in Laos

Fifty-five participants attended the train-the-trainers workshop in Vietnam

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the Mekong region, and tostrengthen their research collabora-tion with those universities in the re-gion that are in the process ofdeveloping their own internationalpostgraduate programmes.

Kick-off WorkshopThe opening session of the kick-offworkshop was attended by EC dele-gate Mr Mads Korn; Professor Vilas,the AIT vice-rector; Dr Noppadol, therepresentative of the dean of AIT’sSchool of Civil Engineering; Dr Manopof the NMR; the BRIDGE core teammembers (Van der Meer/Maresch ofITC, Beckius of SU, Dang Van Luyen/Mai Trong Nhuan of VNU, Bounvillayof NUOL, and Giao of AIT); and otherdistinguished guests.

After the ceremonial start to the proj-ect, the core team embarked on theirdeliberations. The aim was to preparedetailed project planning and imple-mentation, based on a SWOT analysisof the relevant ongoing Mastercourses of each of the partners (ITC,AIT), in relation to the internationaleducation programmes proposed byNUOL and VNU in the field of geosys-tem exploration and engineering.Competences and opportunities, aswell as threats to the success of theprogramme, were discussed, carvingout the details of the BRIDGE activi-ties. During 2006 an assessment oftraining needs and market opportuni-ties will be carried out by AIT, whileITC will take the lead in setting up aBlackboard environment for the proj-ect, as well as a website. In additionan e-newsletter and flyers will be pre-pared, and BRIDGE A-L offices will beset up at both VNU and NUOL.

Train-the-Managers WorkshopsTwo train-the-managers workshopswere organised to run simultaneouslyat the Hanoi University of Science(HUS/VNU) and NUOL from 8 to 13May 2006. The trainers were DrQuang of AIT and Professor SikanderKhan (in Vietnam) and Dr GoranBeckius (in Laos) of SU. The work-

shops were organised for universityadministrative and managerial staffand focused on the skills needed toadministratively set up, manage andmarket an internationally pro-gramme. The topics discussed in-cluded curriculum development,scheduling, and market surveys to es-tablish key competences and content.

Train-the-Trainers WorkshopsDuring the period 26 to 30 June twoworkshops were conducted simulta-neously in Vientiane (Laos) andHanoi. These train-the-trainers work-

shops for NUOL and HUS staff fo-cused on discussion issues related tothe use of geo-information scienceand earth observation in geosystemengineering and petroleum geo-sciences. The workshops were con-ducted jointly by staff members fromITC’s Earth Systems Analysis depart-ment (Chris Hecker lectured in Hanoi,Mark van der Meijde in Vientiane)and staff members from AIT (Dr Giaoand Dr Noppadol). ITC’s ProfessorFreek van der Meer visited bothworkshops and was, as BRIDGE proj-ect leader, responsible for the overall

Group photo of participants in the opening session of the BRIDGEproject (front row: Bountanh Bounvillay (NUOL), Sabine Maresch (ITC),

Pham Huy Giao (AIT), Mads Korn (EC), Freek van der Meer (ITC),Goran Beckius (SU), Phien-Wej Noppadol (AIT), Dang Van Luyen (VNU))

Group photo of the BRIDGE core team members in front of the School ofEngineering at AIT (from left to right: Dang Van Luyen (VNU), Goran Beckius (SU),

Freek van der Meer (ITC), Sabine Maresch (ITC), Mai Trong Nhuan (VNU), Bountanh Bounvillay (NUOL), Pham Huy Giao (AIT))

coordination. In Laos a total of 22participants attended the workshop,while in Vietnam 55 participants at-tended. In Laos the course was con-ducted at the Center for Engineeringand Development Studies headed byDr Bounhtanh Bounvilay. Workshopparticipants came from CEDS andother NUOL faculties, as well as fromthe School of Polytechnic, theMinistry of Energy and Mining, andthe National Geographic Department.In Vietnam the workshop was hostedby HUS and organised by Dr DangVan Luyen of the Geology depart-ment. Participants came from variousfaculties of the university, as well asfrom the Institute of Geography, theVietnam Academy of Science andTechnology, and the VietnamPetroleum Institute. The Laos Times

SDI Africa: An Implementation Guide,originally published in English in 2003, was made available in French in 2005 (see http://geoinfo.uneca.org/sdiafrica).The French translation of the main chapters and key reference material wasmade possible through a fund from the Economic Commission for Africa(ECA). The translation is a work-in-progress and comments and correctionsare most welcome. Mail them to ecageoinfo@uneca.org. The handbook hasbeen compiled as a cooperative effort of the ECA, the Global Spatial Datainfrastructure Association (GSDI) and EIS-Africa, with the collaboration ofthe International Institute for Geo-Information Science and EarthObservation (ITC). The objective of compiling this handbook is to assistAfrican countries to improve the management of their geospatial data re-sources in a way that effectively supports decision making by governmentsand ensures the participation of the entire society in the process.

Source: GSDI Newsletter April 2006, www.gsdi.org

newspaper published an article onthe workshop and Laotian nationaltelevision covered the workshop in itsevening news bulletin.

Future ActivitiesIn August 2006 four staff members(two from NUOL and two from VNU)will enrol in a special version of AIT’sGeosystem Exploration andPetroleum Geo-engineering (GEPG)programme. These participants willfollow courses at AIT during the firstsemester and then move to ITC to at-tend the specialisation modules in theApplied Earth Sciences programmeduring the period January to March2007. On completion of these coursemodules, they will return to theirhome countries for MSc research co-supervised by AIT and ITC. After com-

pleting their thesis work and defend-ing it successfully, they will receive anAIT MSc degree.

This programme serves as a prototypefor a possible joint education pro-gramme between AIT and ITC thatwill lead to an ITC or AIT MSc degreein earth sciences. In subsequent years,course materials will be developed tosupport international programmes ingeosystem exploration and engineer-ing in Laos and Vietnam, seminars willbe organised to reach professional or-ganisations in the region, and a qual-ity assurance plan will be developed.More on BRIDGE will be communi-cated through the various websites(see www.itc.nl/bridge) and throughITC News.

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announcements

SDI Implementation Guide Translated into French Expert Group Meeting Bangkok

Paul van der Molen molen@itc.nl

On 8 and 9 December 2005 KadasterInternational, ITC and FIG, in closecooperation with UN-Habitat, UN-ESCAP and the World Bank, organ-ised an expert group meeting onsecure land tenure, new legalframeworks and tools.

The meeting was strongly supportedby the United Nations University as itcontributed to the university’s missionof enhancing the exchange of knowl-edge between local and internationalexperts. The meeting was by invita-tion only, and the aim was to discussthe innovative approaches and toolsthat are needed to meet the require-ments for land administration in theAsian region. About 50 experts came

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A N N O U N C E M E N T S

together and outlined their views in aseries of presentations. The outcomeswere summarised by the chairmanPaul van der Molen and dealt withsuch innovations as community-driven land adjudication in Aceh, astop shop in the Philippines, simpleprocedures in Vietnam, unlockingWaqf land for squatting inAfghanistan, the Bhoomi approach inIndia, non-judicial conflict resolutionin Cambodia, and the role in generalof high technology in providing low-cost solutions. The papers are pub-lished on www.oicrf.org.

An international conference on en-hancing land registration and cadas-tre for economic growth in Indiatook place in New Delhi on 31January and 1 February.

This conference was organised byITC, Kadaster International, GISDevelopment, the Centre for Science,Development and Media Studies(CSDM), and FIG Commission 7under the flag of the United NationsUniversity. The conference, part ofthe bigger event Map India 2006,

brought together some 40 local andinternational experts, who exchangedviews on how to remove distortionsin the real estate and land market inorder to boost the economic growthof India. Major improvements consid-ered necessary were the better regis-tration of property rights and a bettercadastre. Various proposals for theirdevelopment were discussed. Theoutcomes will be published onInternet and on a CD-ROM in orderto provide many people with easy ac-cess to the presented papers.

Talat Munshi Receives BestTechnical Paper Award

Each year Map India presents a bestpaper award, sponsored by ESRI, inorder to maintain its efforts to promoteand develop the enterprising mappingcommunity in India.

Mr Talat G. Munshi, MSc, lecturer inITC’s Department of Urban and RegionalPlanning and Geo-informationManagement, received this year’s awardfor his paper entitled “Urban planningand use of GIS: the case of AhmedabadCity, India”. Mr Munshi presented hispaper during the Map India 2006 con-ference in New Delhi, in the session heldon urban planning and rural develop-ment.

More than 50 experts from over 20 countries were invited to join the meeting held in the UNConference Centre in Bangkok

International Conference in New Delhi

Paul van der Molen molen@itc.nl

ITC alumna Padmavathy AnuvapuraSeetharamaiah from India during her presen-tation

Ravi Gupta, GIS Development, India Major-General M. Gopal Rao, surveyor-gen-eral of India, giving a welcome address

Song Aihong came to ITC fromWuhan University with degrees ineconomics and law and graduatedwith an MSc in urban applications inFebruary 2000. After her graduation she returned toWuhan, and in October 2000 joinedthe staff of the State Key Laboratoryof Information Engineering inSurveying, Mapping and RemoteSensing (LIESMARS) at WuhanUniversity as an associate professor.She was appointed jointly by LIES-MARS and Geostar. Geostar is a spin-off company set up by the universityin 1999 to promote commercial appli-cations of the research carried out byLIESMARS.

At the time of her appointment,Geostar employed 60 staff. In the lastfew years it has substantially ex-panded its activities and now employs180 people, three times the numberworking for the company in 2000. In2003 it moved from a site close to

the university campus in centralWuchang to rented premises in atechnology incubator building about13 km from the city centre. Its prem-ises are now too small for its presentstaff and the company is moving toits own newer and larger premises atthe end of October 2005. These areabout three times the size of its pres-ent premises (6,000 m2).

Geostar’s operations can be dividedinto three main categories. First andforemost is the GIS software that isdeveloped by the company. This pro-vides vector, raster, DEM, 3D andweb-based capabilities for its growingnumber of users. Second comes itsexpanding portfolio of GIS applica-tions projects. These include 3D visu-alisation in the Virtual Shengzhangproject in Guandong province (10m.yuan or 1.25m. US dollars) andVirtual Nanchang in Jiangxi province(3.5m. yuan), as well as urban plan-ning applications in Nanjing in

Jiangsu province (four projects wortha total of 4m. yuan), Shenyang inLaoning province (1.6m. yuan) andDongguan in Guandong province(3m. yuan). Lastly, Geostar also carriesout a variety of data processing func-tions. To facilitate its operations in thefield, it recently purchased a digitalmapping camera (price 1.4m. US dol-lars) to use for its aerial photography.

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life after itc

The ITC Alumni India Meet

Professor Mahavir association-india@alumni.itc.nl

Expanding Operations

Song Aihong songaihong@GEOSTAR.com.cn

Ian Masser masser@onetel.com

Professor Ian Masser and Song Aihong

The ITC Alumni India Meet was held on Wednesday, 1 February 2006 at New Delhi. About 30 ITC Alumni at-tended the Meet and exchanged pleasantries. The Alumnidiscussed the activities over the previous year and thepreparations for the forthcoming ISPRS Working GroupConference due to be held in Goa, in September 2006. TheMeet was graced by the presence of Mr. J. Hans Schütte,Head – Press, Cultural and Information Section; and Ms.Désirée Bonis, Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Head ofMission at the Royal Netherlands Embassy, New Delhi. ITCstaff Mr. John Horn and Dr. Arbind Tuladhar interacted withthe Alumni.

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The company recently hired a full-time professional manager to handleits operations. As its deputy manager,Aihong devotes 80% of her time toGeostar and 20% to teaching and re-

The refresher course Geoinformaticsfor Hydrological Modelling came toa close on Friday, 14 October 2005.This date marked the end of a two-week training course that broughttogether participants from variouscountries in Africa - participantswho are experts in the fields of geo-graphical information systems andremote sensing applied to water re-sources. They came from variouscountries: Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda,Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Chad,Rwanda, with representatives fromMINITERE, the Nile Basin Initiative,KIST and NUR.

This was the first time that Rwandahad hosted the refresher course ingeo-information, a course that is or-

ganised every year in different coun-tries all over the world. The course isfunded mainly by the NetherlandsFellowship Programme (NFP). It waswith great honour that the CGIS, incollaboration with the NationalUniversity of Rwanda (CGIS-NUR),hosted this prestigious event. Thefocus was on geoinformatics for hy-drological modelling and the objec-tive was to train participants in theefficient use of water resources andprovide the necessary information formanaging these resources. Amongthe topics covered over the twoweeks was geo-information for natu-ral disaster management in EasternAfrica, novel approaches in earth ob-servation, and geo-information sci-ence for earth systems analysis.

search activities at LIESMARS. Overthe next five years she anticipatesthat the company will further expandits present activities and also begin tomove into international marketsthrough joint ventures with European

and Japanese companies. She recallsher time at ITC with great affectionand is glad that she had the opportu-nity to learn the GIS skills there thatare essential for her present job.

Present during the closing ceremonywere the guests of honour ProfessorMunyaganizi Bikoro, minister of statefor land, resettlement and planning,Professor Chrisologue Karangwa, rec-tor of the National University ofRwanda, Dr Michelle Schilling, direc-tor of the Centre for GeographicalInformation Systems (CGIS), andmany others.

In his remarks, Professor MunyaganiziBikoro said that Rwanda was a smallcountry with big problems with re-gard to planning and environment re-source management. He emphasisedthat CGIS was expected to play a sig-nificant role in addressing the issuesof water resource management andenvironmental conservation. He alsostressed the importance of access toinformation regarding the problemsfaced by Rwanda in terms of waterand land use. Consequently, CGIS isopening the doors to knowledge con-cerning these issues and how to dealwith them.

The rector of UNR said that hydrologi-cal modelling was a key element inthe efficient use of water resources inany country, but particularly inRwanda. Therefore, UNR was happyto facilitate the opportunity to con-duct such a refresher course in Butareprovince, as the course objectiveswere highly relevant.

Source: Geographic Information Systems andRemote Sensing Regional Outreach Center(CGIS) website http://www.cgisnur.org/

Closing Ceremony Refresher Course on Geoinformatics for Hydrological Modelling

Rutayomba rutayo@gmail.com

Ben Maathuis maathuis@itc.nl

Refresher course participants with guest of honour

Guests of honourDr Ben Maathuis

Participants’ representative

The NUFFIC-funded refresher courseSoil Spectroscopy and GIS DynamicModelling for Environmental Mod-elling and Nature Conservation heldfrom 12 to 23 September 2005 wasoffered by ITC staff membersProfessor Freek van der Meer and Dr John Carranza, together withProfessor Steven de Jong and Drs Raymond Sluiter of UtrechtUniversity, Dr Patrick Kariuki of theInternational Livestock ResearchInstitute (ILRI), and Dr KeithShepherd of the InternationalCentre for Agroforestry (ICRAF). The venue was the ILRI campus inNairobi. Twenty-two participantsfrom Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda andTanzania, representing various map-ping agencies and universities in theregion, attended the course.

The course centred on the state ofthe art in geological remote sensingin combination with soil engineeringand physics directed towards the sus-tainable use of environment and nat-ural resources. It combined specialistknowledge in the earth science fieldswith the latest insights in the fields ofgeo-information management andearth observation methods. The ob-jectives of the course were to:• create an expert body of earth sci-

entists capable of independentlyfinding and using earth observa-tion methodologies to address is-

sues of managing and monitoringearth processes

• communicate the current state ofthe art in earth observation, soilengineering, degradation studiesand GIS dynamic modelling

• develop a conceptual frameworkfor understanding the potentialnew sources of information fromearth observation techniques andtheir applicability in earth sciences

• assist in developing strategies fordata acquisition directed towardsthe specific needs of earth scientists

• provide insight into where data canbe retrieved and how data (field-based and earth observation) canbe integrated.

The course focused on combiningspectroscopy and GIS dynamic mod-elling to understand the dynamicearth system. Insight is needed intothe interactions of chemical, physical,biological and dynamic processes thatextend over spatial scales rangingfrom microns to the size of planetaryorbits, and over time scales rangingfrom milliseconds to billions of years.In the field of remote sensing, earthobservation strategies are increasinglydeploying a systems approach. Earthobservation in the past was highlymonosensor-based; present and fu-ture earth observation space missionshave a multisensor character. We fo-cused on the many societal issues in

East African countries that relate tosoil properties and thus play a part insoil engineering for construction pur-poses, agriculture and nature conser-vation, and in soil erosion and landdegradation.

In the first week we covered somebasics of remote sensing and devel-opments in sensor systems and infor-mation theory, progressing to thearea of spectroscopy (both field/labo-ratory and imaging). To most of theparticipants, this type of remote sens-ing was new so we gave them ampletime to digest the material. De Jongand Van der Meer dealt with the the-ory, and Kariuki and Shepherd illus-trated this with examples from civilengineering and soil degradationstudies. Several datasets derived fromour joint research projects were used,culminating in a case study usingASTER and DEM data of the LakeNakuru area in Kenya and focusingon mapping degraded areas in vol-canic terrains. In the second week theresults of image processing and the-matic mapping were taken further byDe Jong and Sluiter, who handled dy-namic process-based GIS models, andby Carranza, who handled data inte-gration and predictive GIS models. Aconcluding workshop was held to dis-cuss how the theoretical results couldbe implemented in the day-to-daywork of the course participants.

22 ITC News 2006-1/2

NUFFIC Refresher Course: Soil Spectroscopy and GIS Dynamic Modelling for Environmental Modelling and Nature Conservation

Freek van der Meer vdmeer@itc.nl

Professor Freek van der Meer addressing the participants The course focused on combining spectroscopy and GIS dynamic modellingto understand the dynamic earth system

L I F E A F T E R I T C

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The weekend was used to organisean excursion that coupled remotesensing and GIS to field data and ex-periments, while during the firstweek site visits were organised to theInternational Centre for Agroforestry(ICRAF) and the Regional Center forMapping Resources for Development(RCMRD), both based in Nairobi.These visits allowed participants tosee how remote sensing, GIS and soilspectroscopy are implemented inproject work.

At the onset of autumn in 2000,great possibilities unfolded in thelife of a woman on her passing therigid examinations and interviews tobe admitted as a student to a higherform of learning in a foreign land.She was confronted with mixedemotions. On one side, she wasscared of the intensive study mod-ules she would have to pass, consid-ering she had little background ininformation technology (more so inGIS operations). On the flip side, shewas full of anticipation and excite-ment at the prospect of being ableto see the windmills and tulips andvisit the key cities of Europe.

In September 2000, realities werehaunting her - away from home for18 months and struggling to adapt tothe temperate and windy seasons.She took life in her stride as shemoved forward, making friends andweaving herself into the complex fab-ric of the different cultures of 96 na-tionalities represented by thestudents, professors and staff at ITCin the period 2000 to 2002. She alsohad to learn the norms of her hostcountry, the Netherlands.

However, looking back, all she cansay is that ITC has been very influen-tial in shaping who she is at the mo-ment and who she can becomethrough being linked to the biggerworld through the ITC alumni net-work. The Institute indeed becameher training ground in spatial infor-mation management, and her expo-sure to the mixed culture in ITCprepared her well for dealing withdifferent nationalities in the course ofher work as a junior management in-formation technology consultant on aproject funded by the World Bank.

Understanding the Concept of SpaceBefore she was exposed to the intri-cacies of remote sensing and GIS atITC, she could only appreciate spatialinformation as input data for herphysical planning exercises on townsand provinces, which she used in herwork as a part-time consultant. Sherecalls that she and her team had topay half the contract price to the GISspecialist for map generation. Afterher intensive training in data analysisand thesis writing and almost sixmonths of sleepless nights, her hardwork and perseverance paid off. The

knowledge acquired from specialisa-tion modules and special training inurban development honed her skills inland use and environmental planning.Now she is more confident in evaluat-ing the accuracy of maps producedfor the project in terms of area and in-ternational cartographic standards.

Professional Growth Before she followed further studies atITC, she used to work as a technicalstaff member in one of the nationalgovernment agencies in thePhilippines that is responsible for landdistribution. However, two years aftercompleting her degree programme atITC, she had the opportunity to workas one of the consultants on a ruraldevelopment project funded by theWorld Bank. She is currently a juniorMIS specialist in the monitoring andevaluation unit of the project.

Her working ties with other WorldBank consultants always refresh hermemories of ITC days. Whenever shecomes into contact with foreign na-tionals, she is excited by the hopethat she will meet an ITC alumnus.

From an Islet to the Rest of the World

Elena Vilches Quezon (GIM.2/u, 2002) quezon03798@alumni.itc.nl

Participants (22) from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, representing various mapping agencies and universities in the region, attended the course

Continuing Professional Educationin the Field of Spatial PlanningThree years have passed since she leftITC, yet she always keeps herselfabreast of the activities of her almamater. She attends symposia or con-sultations initiated by ITC in her homecountry. Last year she welcomed thethought of attending a refreshercourse offered to alumni in the Asianregion. In November 2004 she partici-pated in the refresher course inHanoi, Vietnam. Renewed friendshipties, as well as refreshing memories ofthe time in Holland, were more re-warding than the technical expertiseshe gained during the course. Seeingold friends and ITC professors was anecstatic moment for her.Social ResponsibilitiesBefore ITC, she only thought of herrelatives and friends abroad. Thesedays she worries and immediatelysends e-mails to her co-alumni when-ever she reads or hears of calamitiesor adversities where her ITC class-mates reside. One classic examplewas the tsunami in South Asia. Sheimmediately sent e-mails enquiringabout her friends in Indonesia, SriLanka and Thailand. And when therewas chaos in Bolivia and Guatemala,she immediately wrote e-mails to en-quire whether her friends were af-fected. Thus, she has really become acitizen of the world.

Monday, 20 March 2006, was arather great day for the ITC Indianalumni. Quite a few of them, to-gether with alumni from otherDutch institutes, had the opportu-nity to meet Dutch parliamentari-ans, including the Speaker of theDutch House of Representatives andleaders of the main political parties.We met this elite group at the resi-dence of the Dutch ambassador inNew Delhi.

In addition to the Dutch ambassador,the Deputy Head of Mission andMinister Plenipotentiary, and theHead of the Press, Information andCulture, other notable dignitaries in-cluded:• Mr Frans Weisglas, Speaker of the

Dutch House of Representatives• Mr Wouter Bos, chairperson of the

Labour Party (PvdA)

• Mr Maxime Verhagen, chairpersonof the Christian Democratic Party(CDA)

• Mr Willibrord van Beek, chairper-son of the Liberal Party (VVD)

• Ms Lousewies van der Laan, chair-person of the Social Liberal Party(D66)

• Ms Femke Halsema, chairperson ofthe Green party (GroenLinks)

• Mr André Rouvoet, chairperson ofthe Christian Union (ChristenUnie).

The alumni interacted with the parlia-mentarians and shared their happymemories of living and studying inthe Netherlands. Mr Frans Weisglas inparticular made some pleasing re-marks about Indian democracy, gov-ernance and the presence of a largenumber of alumni from Enschede.

24 ITC News 2006-1/2

L I F E A F T E R I T C

ITC Alumni Meet Dutch Parliamentarians

Professor Mahavir association-india@alumni.itc.nl

GIM.2 (2000-2002) before the graduationceremony

Conducting training on database manage-ment (Philippines)

Enjoying the summer breeze at the end of amodule

Presenting a paper at a refresher course inHanoi, Vietnam

With her Asian co-alumni while in Hanoi,Vietnam