IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - December 2017 - 7

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processing, and calibration. Codes are reviewed within
two to three weeks, and, when published, they are assigned a digital object identifier so they can be cited.
The GRSS webinar series was inaugurated with a lecture
by Prof. Akira Hirose on 14 June 2017. This and other
talks are posted online, together with other educational
resources in our new resource center, which is available
at http://resourcecenter.grss.ieee.org/.
The new IEEE GRSS DataPort is available for all GRSS
members free of charge (free for IEEE members as well)
during 2017 and 2018. In the coming years, the GRSS
will be subsidizing the fee for each of its members. The
GRSS is the first IEEE Society to offer this service to its
members. It is analogous to IEEE Xplore, but for data sets
up to 2 TB, and is accessible at https://ieee-dataport.org/
topic-tags/geoscience-and-remote-sensing.
The database of Frequency Allocations for Microwave
Remote Sensing and Observed Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is available at http://www.grss-ieee.org/
microwave-interferers/. The tool is available to all members,
and the focus during the upcoming months will include
populating it with more mission data. Any help is welcome, because RFI is an increasing problem not only for
the passive microwave community but also for the SAR
and navigation communities.
Currently, we are working with the University of New
South Wales, Sydney, Australia, on the creation of a massive open online course (or MOOC).

SOME ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Without going on at too great a length, I would like to offer
a few more announcements:
◗◗ The number of GRSS Chapters has increased to 62,
with the addition of two new ones-the most recent
being the Algeria Chapter in July 2017-and one more

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in formation. In addition, a new one is forthcoming in
the United Kingdom with the division of a current Joint
Chapter. Welcome aboard! This is tangible proof of the
vitality of our members and the benefits that are perceived from the initiatives in which the GRSS invests.
◗◗ In 2017-2018, it is the GRSS's turn to assume the presidency of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management Committee (http://ggim.un.org/), and I
am happy to announce that Prof. Tony Milne has been
appointed as its chair. This nomination should help improve the GRSS's visibility and globalization efforts.
◗◗ During the July 2017 AdCom meeting, after carefully
listening to presentations from the two IGARSS finalist
teams, the committee decided that IGARSS 2021 will
take place in Brussels, Belgium. Congratulations to the
IGARSS 2021 teams! There are many things to be learned
in preparing to organize an outstanding IGARSS, but the
GRSS AdCom is here to help.
◗◗ The number of followers of the GRSS Facebook page
is currently 4,627, and there are 8,439 members in the
GRSS LinkedIn group, which is more than 2.3 times the
number of GRSS members! Thanks to Prof. Steven Reising and Dr. Leland Pierce for your support for these active online communities.
Last but not least, I would like to congratulate and welcome aboard the newly elected chairs of the technical
committees (http://www.grss-ieee.org/community/technicalcommittees/), as well as the three recently elected GRSS AdCom members, Prof. Antonio Plaza, Prof. Lorenzo Bruzzone,
and Prof. Steven C. Reising. Three more are to be elected during the November 2017 AdCom meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
And, since this message will be printed and mailed in
December, it is a good time to say thanks to all, happy holidays, and all the best for 2018!
GRS

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - December 2017