About Us > What's EARSeL

What is EARSeL?

EARSeL is a scientific network of European remote sensing institutes, coming from both academia and the commercial/industrial sector. EARSeL is unique in that it represents the interests of these institutes rather than individuals, although individual membership is possible (see membership fees). Currently, there are about 250 member laboratories (see EARSeL Directory of Members).

EARSeL was founded in 1977 under the auspices of the European Space Agency, the Council of Europe and the European Commission. These agencies as well as others, are supporting its activities (supporting agencies). EARSeL is run by a Council of elected national representatives from each country where there are member laboratories and an executive Bureau, elected by the Council.

The statutes of the Association, ratified at General Assembly on 1 June 2011, can be found here in English and in French.

The principal activities are:

• stimulating and promoting education and training related to remote sensing and Earth observation,
• initiating and co-ordinating application-oriented research,
• forming a bridge between technology and applications of interest to the wide user community,
• assisting the sponsoring agencies in the development of new sensors and systems and in any technical matters of relevance,
• providing a network of experts for the agencies in Europe,
• carrying out joint research projects on the use of remote sensing for research, monitoring and education,
• promoting co-operation between remote sensing experts and the environmental managers and decision-makers.

The main scientific efforts of EARSeL are concentrated in Special Interest Groups (SIGs). These SIGs form the foundation of the activities of EARSeL and its 'raison d'être'. They encourage co-operation and foster innovative applications of remote sensing. The science is at its highest level, the state-of-the-art is well established and advances are being made and are foreseen.

The SIGs organise workshops and specialist meetings. Papers presented at these meetings are published as proceedings on CD-Rom. Conclusions and specific recommendations are presented to the sponsoring agencies and other relevant institutions.

Cooperation:

EARSeL cooperates and organises joint meetings whenever possible with other societies, including

• International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS)
• European Umbrella Organisation for Geographic Information (EUROGI)
• Eurogeographics
• European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC)
• EURISY

In June 2010 a Cooperation Agreement was signed with regional remote sensing associations in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America:

• Sociedad de Especialistas Latinoamericanos en Percepcion Remota (SELPER)
• Asian Association on Remote Sensing (AARS)
• African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE)

All enquiries should be addressed to:

EARSeL Secretariat
Mrs. Gesine Böttcher
Nienburger Straße 1
D-30167 Hannover
Germany
Fax: +49 511 762 2483
E-mail: secretariat@earsel.org    URL: www.earsel.org

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