Welcome from the General Co-Chairs
 |  |
On behalf of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) we would like to warmly welcome you to Munich for IGARSS 2012! This will be the 32nd annual IGARSS symposium at which the excellent tradition of gathering world-class scientists, engineers and educators engaged in the fields of geoscience and remote sensing will be continued. This year, IGARSS' theme is "Remote Sensing for a Dynamic Earth". In an ever-changing and dynamic world, high-resolution and timely geospatial information with global access and coverage becomes increasingly important for our society's needs. We believe that the additional scientific themes of this event, focusing on the characterization of dynamic Earth processes, assimilation, integrated Earth observing systems and current as well as the next generation of satellite missions, has led to the formation of a very interesting technical program.
The Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society was founded 50 years ago. This makes IGARSS 2012 a very special one as GRSS is presenting each participant with a 50-year commemorative book of the GRSS society. We are convinced that you will be delighted to read about the history and development of the GRSS society over the years. We are also sure that you will recognize many personalities and leading scientists who have shaped the state-of-the-art in remote sensing. In fact the first IGARSS in Europe took place in Munich 30 years ago, a time in which remote sensing was just in its infancy!
We cordially invite you to join us in the IGARSS 2012 Plenary Session on Monday morning for the keynote speeches as well as for the awards ceremony. This year's plenary highlight will feature the following high-level keynote speeches: Prof. Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), will speak about this year's symposium theme "Remote Sensing for a Dynamic Earth"; Prof. Volker Liebig, Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the European Space Agency (ESA), will present "The European Earth Observation Program", and Dr. Ghassem Asrar, Director of the World Climate Research Programme, will report on "Recent Progress and Future Opportunities in Earth Observations".
The IGARSS week will also be supported by a variety of technical activities (Tutorials, a Technical Committee and Chapter Luncheon, a Women and Engineering Luncheon, and Technical Tours), by educational activities (a Summer School preceding the IGARSS week, a Young Professionals Luncheon, and a School Lab for groups of secondary school students during the week). In addition we have organized an exhibition with nearly 30 leading companies in remote sensing and a very typical social program (a Reception at "BMW World", a Bavarian Dinner and an Awards Banquet). Thanks to these numerous activities we are confident that you will find at IGARSS 2012 the ideal forum to discuss the recent advances in remote sensing as well as plenty of opportunities to network with groups in your field of expertise.
Our joint and international team has worked very hard and well together in the last four years. With careful planning and organisation, achieving a record in attendance and in all statistics, we anticipate a very interesting and pleasant IGARSS week for all participants. Please enjoy!
We look forward to meeting and talking to you in Munich during IGARSS 2012.
Alberto Moreira and Yves-Louis Desnos
IGARSS 2012 General Co-chairs