October 30 - November 1, 2002  at Ahmedabad

• Acquisition and processing of high-resolution space imagery
• Large scale topographic mapping
• Mapping for micro level planning
• Coastal Mapping and Marine Charts
• Mapping for disaster management
• Mapping for utility and infrastructure planning
• Spatial data infrastructure
• Mathematical and quantitative cartography
• Cartographic history and education

The Congress aims to address the potential of bringing together the technologies of cartography, GIS, GPS and high resolution imagery through lead papers by eminent professionals in academia, industry and government and provide participants an opportunity to present, view and debate on these advances.

For the last twenty-one years, INCA Congresses have been providing a forum for exchange of ideas and a platform for discussing achievements between professionals from scientific departments, academia and industry. A large number of professionals working in areas of surveying, photogrammetry, GIS, GPS and mapping in research institutions, service departments of central and state governments, universities and industry are expected to participate in the Congress. It is also a unique opportunity for industry providing systems and services in the field of geospatial information collection, interpretation, dissemination and utilisation to showcase their products for mutual benefit.

Thanks to concerted efforts put by a number of space agencies over last ten years, the user community is today seeing the world through the eyes of spaceborne cameras having resolution of the order of 1 m. These imagery have opened new areas in the traditional fields of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS) and mapping. Photogrammetry, as the technology dealing with precise modelling of imaging geometry with respect to earth’s topography and transfer of measurements on images to metric measures like distances, angles and areas on earth’s surface, has to cater to new image acquisition modes like step and stare, time delay integration (TDI) and spot light apart from by now classical pushbroom and opto-mechanical scanner modes. With the availability of very high-resolution imagery, the remote sensing user community is finding both new ways of interpreting this data and new themes, which were not possible upto now. Thus scientists are exploring ways of generating city CAD (computer aided design) models and automatic extraction of topographic features from the imagery.

Today it is possible to store the interpreted features in a GIS compatible format for subsequent editing and querying. Information from space imagery and other sources like data from GPS (global positioning system) surveys, total station and aerial surveys can be pooled together for making engineering decisions in management of natural resources at planning and implementation levels. Topographic maps, being a very important planning tool, on one hand contribute to interpretation and registration of thematic layers to earth's surface, on the other hand benefit from new spaceborne survey technologies for timely updating. Topographic mapping at scales larger than 1:25,000 is seen as a major outcome of very high-resolution imaging. It is expected that the process of topographic mapping will get significantly speeded up with the availability of high resolution spaceborne imagery and technology for utilizing it together with GPS surveys and other sources of data like aerial surveys and ground truth.

Considering the fact that today the availability of (i) very high-resolution space imagery, (ii) the technology of information extraction and editing and (iii) technologies of digital and paper map preparation are showing a convergence, the theme for the 22^nd INCA International Congress has been chosen as

Convergence of Imagery, Information & Maps

The main theme of the Congress aims to address the potential of bringing together the technologies of cartography, GIS, GPS and high resolution imagery through lead papers by eminent professional in academia, industry and government and provide participants an opportunity to present, view and debate on these advances.

From the Organisers

The organizing committee acknowledges with gratitude the enthusiastic response that the first announcement of the XXII INCA International Congress has generated among prospective authors and delegates. The organising committee is now gearing up to meet the high expectations, associated with INCA congresses and with the hosts Space Applications Centre (ISRO). The overwhelming response from prospective authors, Government and academic institutions as well as from industry is testimony to the choice of the Congress theme. With the choice of the congress theme as ‘Convergence of Imagery, Information & Maps’ Ahmedabad is also going to witness the convergence of professionals drawn from divergent fields and from all over India and abroad. There has been steady flow of papers and enquiries for advertisements in the souvenir and exhibition opportunities from industry houses and government organizations. Response to our request for sponsorships for certain events of the Congress has been very encouraging. While congress secretariat is busy handling the technical papers and inquiries, preparatory work to assure that the stay of delegates is both stimulating and enjoyable has been keeping the LOC and its sub-committees active.

More than 80 papers have been received from India and abroad for consideration under various themes. The Screening Committee had all the abstracts peer reviewed and the decisions have been communicated to the corresponding authors. It is proposed to discuss the main theme of the Congress through keynote addresses by eminent speakers and through various subthemes in a number of technical sessions. It is proposed to expose sub themes through invited keynote papers and through contributed technical papers.

The Organising committee extends a warm welcome to you to attend the congress and seeks your cooperation in making this event a professionally stimulating experience. It solicits your active participation in oral and poster presentations and in panel discussions. It invites you to directly interact with leading industry houses in the exhibition halls. Providing opportunities for social and cultural interaction among the delegates coming from all corners of India and five continents is high on the agenda of Organisers. The Organisers are very hopeful that your participation in XXII INCA International Congress will prove to be scientifically and socially a highly rewarding experience.

Being major beneficiaries of the very high-resolution imagery and relevant technologies, the following fields are chosen as sub themes for the Congress.

• Acquisition and processing of high-resolution space imagery
• Large scale topographic mapping
• Mapping for micro level planning
• Coastal Mapping and Marine Charts
• Mapping for disaster management
• Mapping for utility and infrastructure planning
• Spatial data infrastructure
• Mathematical and quantitative cartography
• Cartographic history and education

• Acquisition and processing of high-resolution space imagery

Thanks to concerted efforts put by a number of space agencies over last ten years, the user community is today seeing the world through the eyes of spaceborne cameras having resolution of the order of 1 m.  With the availability of very high-resolution imagery, the remote sensing user community is finding new ways of interpreting this data and new themes. Thus scientists are exploring ways of generating city CAD (computer aided design) models and automatic extraction of topographic features from the imagery.

High-resolution imagery from several satellites has opened new areas in the traditional fields of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS) and mapping. Photogrammetry, as the technology dealing with precise modeling of imaging geometry with respect to earth’s topography and transfer of measurements on images to metric measures like distances, angles and areas on earth’s surface, has to cater to new image acquisition modes like step and stare, time delay integration (TDI) and spot light apart from by now classical pushbroom and opto-mechanical scanner modes. Processing of high-resolution imagery involves data acquisition methods, complex image-ground relation using orbit/attitude models, image understanding procedures using image motion etc to generate data products of high geometric quality for cartographic applications. These and related issues will be discussed in this session.

Lead speakers in this session include Mr. M Krishnaswamy, Project Director, CARTOSAT,  ISAC, Bangalore and Dr. V Kesava Raju, Mission Director, CARTOSAT, ISAC, Bangalore.

• Large scale topographic mapping

Topographic maps, being a very important planning tool, on one hand contribute to interpretation and registration of thematic layers to earth's surface, on the other hand benefit from new spaceborne survey technologies for timely updating. The availability of data in open market has provided great help and opportunity to the application scientist, resource planner, surveyors and research scientist to prepare maps of higher scale with better geometric and information accuracy. Topographic maps at scales larger than 1:25000 are seen as a major outcome of very high-resolution imaging. These maps are very useful for city/town planners, surveyors etc. It is expected that the process of topographic mapping will get significantly speeded up with the availability of high resolution spaceborne imagery and technology for utilizing it together with GPS surveys and other sources of data like aerial surveys and ground truth. High-resolutions offer a great perspective for mapping and GIS applications especially for large scale topographic mapping. Issues related to large scale topographic mapping will be highlighted in this technical session.

Keynote speakers in this session include Prof. (Dr.) K. Jacobsen, IPI, Technical University of Hannover, Germany and Mr. K Kalyanaraman, General Manager, Aerial Services & Digital Mapping, NRSA, Hyderabad.  

Using one-meter resolution spatial data, now it is possible to generate cartographic/thematic quality maps on 1:5000 and topographic mapping on 1:10 000 scales in various natural resources mapping and civilian applications like, Urban, cadastral, utilities/facilities, infrastructure etc. Planning at micro level such as rural development schemes, irrigation, ground water development etc involves ground study and evaluation of data of a specific area of interest and needs data from various available sources to be integrated. This session will address various aspects of mapping at micro level.

The emerging technologies available in the area of high-resolution imagery, information extraction and maps can be effectively utilized for preparing maps for coastal areas. Details on mapping related to coastal zone and navigation will be addressed in this technical session.

Keynote speakers in this session include Rear Admiral R Srinivasan, Chief Hydrographer, National Hydrographic Office, Dehra Dun and Dr. Shailesh Naik, Group Director, RESA, SAC, Ahmedabad.

Today it is possible to store the interpreted features in a GIS compatible format for subsequent editing and querying. Information from space imagery and other sources like data from GPS (global positioning system) surveys, total station and aerial surveys can be pooled together for making engineering decisions in management of natural resources at planning and implementation levels. It is necessary for scientists and decision-makers to study/evaluate the impact of the disaster arising out of environmental factors including soil, water, air, climate, landscape, cultural heritage. It is also necessary to assess the damage caused by natural disasters (flood, drought, snow avalanche, forest-fire etc.) using near real-time data processing for preparation of thematic maps, These elements will be discussed in this technical session. 

Keynote speakers in this session include Prof. Dr. Bengt Rystedt, President, ICA and Director, GIG, Gavle University, Sweden, Mr. K V Venkatachary, Advisor, Disaster Management System, ISRO HQs, Bangalore, Dr. Anil Sinha, Director, National Centre for Disaster Management, Indian Institute for Public Administration, New Delhi and Dr. PK Mishra, Chief Executive Officer, Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority & Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Govt. of Gujarat, Gandhinagar.

Today’s technologies permit fusion of imagery, information and maps using GIS so that proper planning and development for infrastructure elements like roads, water, drainage, transportation, health care is easily made possible. Detailed discussion in this area will take place in this technical session.

Keynote speakers in this session include Mr. BR Balachandran, Executive Director, Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad.  

• Spatial data infrastructure

Creation of spatial data infrastructure is a very innovative use of Information Technology (IT) in the domain of geo-spatial data archival and mining. Its implementation requires co-ordination between a number of agencies concerned with spatial data.  Its wide spread use requires that all relevant geo-spatial data be standardized and that the information about them be made available to the users via networking at any place in the country.  This field has huge potential in (i) management of natural resources, (ii) business & marketing, and (iii) general management in many fields. India is introducing a major initiative in organising and disseminating geospatial data through public network called National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Major data sources in NSDI will be space borne imagery and digital maps. In order to effectively use this infrastructure for the information generated from high-resolution imaging there is a need to discuss relevant aspects of NSDI. This will be done in this  technical session.

Keynote speakers in this session include Prof. Menno-Jan Kraak, International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC),  Enschede, The Netherlands and Mr. Mukund K Rao, Dy. Director, Earth Observation Systems, ISRO Hqs, Bangalore.

• Mathematical and quantitative cartography

Spaceborne image data acquisition and its processing requires development of algorithms and mathematical models related to its mapping. These aspects will be discussed in this technical session.

Keynote speakers in this session include Prof. Harold Moellering, Chairman, Commission on Spatial Data Standards, ICA, Ohio State University, USA and Mr. R. Ramachandran, Dy. Director, ADRIN, Secunderabad.

• Cartographic history and education

The use of satellites for earth observation and mapping has by now acquired a rich history. It is necessary that the techniques required for mapping from space be incorporated in school and university curriculum and detailed training material be prepared for various levels of professionals. This technical session will take stock of status and discuss historical and educational aspects of spaceborne mapping and to look at the evolution of cartography and its changing needs.

Keynote speakers in this session include Prof. B. Arunachalam, Retd. Professor, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Mr. Amitabha Pande, Jt. Secretary, Dept. of Science & Technology, New Delhi and Dr. PS Roy, Dean, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun.