第三次地球观测和遥感应用国际研讨会

Last week, I was pleased to receive a few copies of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters which contain a special stream of EORSA 2012 articles. In addition, seventy-three papers were selected for the inclusion in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library based on the reviews of abstracts and full papers. These publications are not the only legacies of EORSA 2012. During the two and a half days conference in Shanghai, there were over 200 attendees, representing 22 countries in the world. Keynote addresses, pre-conference workshops, special symposium on GEO Global Urban Observation and Information Task, the “Meeting with Editors” session, Huangpu River Cruise, are just a few events that may let the participants remember it for a long time. I, once again, thank all authors, participants, committee members, reviewers, and the student volunteers from all over China. The support of Profs. Guanhua Xu, Qixing Tong, and Yaqiu Jin are highly appreciated.

As I suggested in the closing session of EORSA 2012 in Shanghai, we shall quest for a richer and riper EORSA workshop in 2014. I am pleased to announce that Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT) and Central South University (CSU) have pledged to organize the 3rd International Workshop on Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Applications (EORSA 2014), and colleagues from these two institutes share my view. Changsha is an ideal locality, since there are strong needs and many applications in Earth observation and remote sensing technologies in the central China region and beyond. In Chinese language, “three” means “many”, “numerous”, and “excessive”. In the EORSA 2014, there will be a lot more technical sessions and exciting events, and greater possibility to connect with fellow researchers from all over the world.

We plan to continue with a special symposium on GEO Global Urban Observation and Information Task (SB-04). Furthermore, a special session will be scheduled to focus on remote sensing of forest resources. We welcome all researchers, especially young researchers and students, to join these sessions. It is my great hope that these symposia will lead to more extensive dialogues between the research communities of forest resources and those of sustainable cities. Worldwide urbanization and deforestation are the two main, interconnected ways that human activities are continually changing and reshaping the Earth’s surface. How Earth observation and remote sensing technologies can contribute to improve the knowledge of the productivity and sustainability of natural and human ecosystems is an important theme in the global change community.

The conference venue, Vaya International Hotel, is a deluxe ecological garden hotel with South China Garden and a modern golf course (http://www.vaya-hotel.cn/en-us/index.html). The organizers from CSUFT and CSU have negotiated with the hotel with discounted room rates, and plan to offer all participants with lunches and dinners at the hotel. So, be prepared to come to present your latest research, to learn from internationally renowned researchers, to network with scientists in academia, business and government worldwide, and to meet with tomorrow’s leaders in Earth observation and remote sensing.

Let’s have a nice “stay, play, and say” all together at once. I am looking forward to meet you all in Changsha in June.