American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Name	American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Abbreviation	ASPRS
Formation	1934
Headquarters	Bethesda, Maryland
Region served	United States
Membership	professionals in photogrammetry and remote sensing

American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing is a professional association focused on photogrammetry, remote sensing, and geospatial information sciences. The organization connects practitioners from fields including National Aeronautics and Space Administration, United States Geological Survey, European Space Agency, United Nations Environment Programme, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, promoting standards, education, and technical exchange among members who work with data from platforms such as Landsat, Sentinel-2, WorldView-3, IKONOS, and SPOT.

History

Founded in 1934, the society emerged as practitioners from Warren G. Harding-era mapping programs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology sought coordinated practice in aerial mapping, photogrammetry, and surveying. Early leaders included figures affiliated with National Geographic Society, Royal Geographical Society, Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institution for Science, and American Geographical Society, who responded to advances from Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Royal Aircraft Factory, and Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in aerial platforms. During World War II and the Cold War, collaboration involved Central Intelligence Agency, Royal Air Force, United States Navy, Federal Aviation Administration, and research institutions such as Stanford University and California Institute of Technology, driving growth in photogrammetric methods, stereoscopy, and orthophoto production. Postwar expansion linked the society to initiatives at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, Colorado School of Mines, University of California, Berkeley, and international partners including China National Space Administration and Indian Space Research Organisation.

Mission and Activities

The society’s mission emphasizes technical excellence and professional practice, aligning with stakeholders like World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, International Civil Aviation Organization, and International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing on standards, policy, and capacity building. Core activities involve fostering links among practitioners from Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, European Commission, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Korea Aerospace Research Institute, and facilitating technology transfer for products derived from sensors by Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Airbus Defence and Space, and Maxar Technologies.

Publications and Conferences

The society publishes peer-reviewed journals and technical reports that attract contributions from researchers at Columbia University, Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and Pennsylvania State University as well as agencies like NOAA and USGS. Flagship publications reach audiences alongside periodicals produced by IEEE, American Geophysical Union, Royal Society, Elsevier, and Springer Nature, and proceedings are presented at conferences that collaborate with events hosted by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Esri User Conference, International Conference on Pattern Recognition, SPIE, and AGU Fall Meeting.

Organizational Structure and Membership

Governance is executed by a board and elected officers drawn from academia, industry, and government including professionals affiliated with University of Maryland, Texas A&M University, University of Arizona, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and federal labs such as Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Membership categories mirror career stages represented at societies like Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, Association for Computing Machinery, Royal Geographical Society, and Geological Society of America, and include student, professional, fellow, and corporate classes with regional chapters that coordinate with organizations such as American Association of Geographers and Canadian Remote Sensing Society.

Awards and Certifications

The society confers awards and honors comparable to recognitions from National Medal of Science, Prix Galabert, International Map Trade Association prizes, and medals similar to those administered by Royal Geographical Society and Geological Society of London, and it administers professional certifications that align with credentialing models used by Project Management Institute, American Institute of Certified Planners, Board of Certification for Geologists, and Certified Professional Land Surveyor programs. Named awards recognize contributions from individuals associated with USGS, NASA, JPL, NOAA, and leading universities, and encourage collaboration with standards bodies like International Organization for Standardization and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association.

Education, Standards, and Technical Committees

Technical committees develop standards, guidance documents, and best practices in partnership with ISO, ASTM International, Open Geospatial Consortium, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Federal Geographic Data Committee, addressing topics from photogrammetric calibration and sensor modeling to geospatial metadata, lidar, and unmanned aerial systems used by DJI, 3DR, Parrot SA, and research platforms from University of Tokyo. Education programs and workshops engage educators and students from University of Colorado Boulder, University of Florida, University of Texas at Austin, Imperial College London, and ETH Zurich and coordinate curricular guidance similar to initiatives by ABET and Council of Europe while interfacing with international training efforts by World Health Organization and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Category:Scientific societies based in the United States