The IGARSS conference is less than a month away. The plenary will focus on the community remote sensing (CRS) theme, 149 of the technical papers have self-identified as being CRS-related, and theeducation and outreach activities have been designed to highlight the theme. As mentioned in a prior email, the keynote will be given by two leaders of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): Aneesh Chopra, President Obama’s Chief Technology Officer, and Shere Abbott, Associate Director for Environment. They are quite interested in the CRS theme and I am working with them to build a broader OSTP-led program around the theme. This will be followed by a panel session with representatives from NASA (Dr. Michael Freilich), ESA (Dr. Volker Liebig invited), and JAXA (Dr. Masanobu Shimada) discussing future plans for their agencies and reflecting on the impact of CRS to their activities. Dr. Shelby Tilford, a key figure in the development of systematic Earth monitoring going back two decades, has agreed to moderate both sessions. He brings a great combination of historical perspective and future vision. Read More