IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021 - 116

deepen their research expertise, and removes barriers for
new partners interested in shifting fields to remote sensing.
Data analysis at a single site removes the requirements
for software purchases or constant Internet connectivity
while also providing uniformity for comparisons of scientific
data from different locations. The selection of aerosol
lidar as remote sensing instrumentation provides a visually
stunning experimental setup and numerous opportunities
to conduct research of personal relevance (health and climate),
thus enhancing student recruitment, interest, and
motivation. Future goals include the expansion of this partnership
model to more institutions.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Nimmi C.P. Sharma (sharmanim@ccsu.edu) is with the
Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Central
Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut,
06050, USA.
Amin Kabir (amin.kabir@ub.edu.bs) is with the Department
of Physics, University of The Bahamas, Oakes Field
Campus, Nassau, 4912, Bahamas.
John E. Barnes (john.e.barnes@noaa.gov) is with the
Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Boulder, Colorado, 80305, USA.
GRSS Summer Schools in 2020
ANDREA MARINONI
T
he extraordinary circumstances brought about by the
worldwide COVID-19 pandemic affected summer
THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN
2020 STRONGLY IMPACTED
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
SPONSORED BY THE GRSS
WORLDWIDE.
schools traditionally organized by IEEE Geoscience and Remote
Sensing Society (GRSS) members. Nevertheless, taking
advantage of GRSS support, it was possible to organize
three summer schools online. In this article, we report the
main details of these schools
and the lessons learned for
future events.
The COVID-19 outbreak in
2020 strongly impacted the
development of the education
activities sponsored by the
GRSS worldwide. Indeed,
because of the extraordinary
circumstances induced by
the COVID-19 pandemic, all
schools were conducted online.
This solution unfortunately limited opportunities to
meet people in person and to participate in social events
connected to the schools. On the other hand, it allowed
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MGRS.2021.3078427
Date of current version: 17 June 2021
116
students from every part of the world (from Japan to Hawaii
and from Norway to South Africa) to attend multiple
lectures and debates, so that educational activities of the
GRSS could be offered to a wider worldwide audience.
GRSS summer schools in 2020 were offered without any
registration fee for the students, and in some cases (taking
advantage of the budget provided by other GRSS initiatives,
such as the GRSS ChapNet program) those students
who attended a majority of the lectures received rewards.
The first GRSS summer school in 2020 was organized
by a group of GRSS members from China, led by a group
at Beijing Normal University. It was held 13-14 July 2020
and focused on modeling in microwave and optical remote
sensing. There were eight lectures on a wide range of topics,
focusing on optical and remote sensing data analysis. Prof.
Yang Du (Zhejiang University, China) and Prof. Qinhuo
Liu [Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese
Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS), Beijing, China] provided
thorough introductions to microwave and optical remote
sensing modeling, respectively (Figure 1). Prof. Lori Mann
Bruce (Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville,
Tennessee, USA) and Prof. Jun Li (Sun Yat-Sen University,
Guangzhou, China) focused on hyperspectral image analysis
with special emphasis on precision agriculture. The
IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE JUNE 2021
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021

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