IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021 - 121

REFERENCES
[1] K. Virts et al., " A quantitative analysis on the use of supervised
machine learning in Earth science, " in Proc. IEEE
Geosci. Remote Sens. Symp., Hawaii, 2020.
[2] H. Alemohammad, M. Maskey, R. Ramachandran, and K. Murphy,
" Advancing application of machine learning tools for NASA's
Earth observation data: A workshop report, " NASA, Washington,
D.C., 2020. Accessed: Dec. 20, 2020. [Online]. Available:
https://earthdata.nasa.gov/files/NASA_ML_Workshop_Report.pdf
[3] " Wind-dependent variables: Predict wind speeds of tropical
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JOSE MARQUEZ, DELWYN MOLLER, AND MARWAN YOUNIS
Instrumentation and Future Technologies
Technical Committee Working Groups
I
nstrumentation and Future Technologies (IFT) is a technical
committee (TC) of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote
Sensing Society (GRSS). In the last two years, a profound
renovation of the IFT TC has taken place. In a first step, our
members elected a new TC chair who, in turn, appointed
new TC cochairs. The next step was the design and distribution
of a member survey at the beginning of 2020 to
gather crucial feedback about the IFT TC composition and
evaluate our members' willingness to engage in IFT activities.
The full results of this survey were published in [1]. The
results of the member survey triggered a complete revision
of the IFT TC working groups. This article provides a summary
of the outcome of the survey and its impact on the IFT
TC working groups' composition and objectives.
MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATION
The IFT TC serves as a global, multidisciplinary network to
foster international cooperation in advancing the state of
the art in geoscience remote sensing instrumentation and
technologies that improve knowledge for the betterment
of society and the global environment. The committee actively
promotes and provides insights to institutions and
industry on remote sensing instrument and technology development.
Our main objectives are
◗ to facilitate, engage, and coordinate GRSS members and
the communities at large
◗ to assess the current state of the art in remote sensing
instruments and technology
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MGRS.2021.3078347
Date of current version: 17 June 2021
JUNE 2021 IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE
◗ to identify new instrument concepts and relevant technology
trends
◗ to recognize enabling technologies for future instruments.
The
TC is structured into working groups in such a way
as to encourage the active participation of GRSS and IEEE
Members as well as industry, academia, and scientists.
The organization comprises a committee chair (elected
by committee members every two years), two committee
cochairs, two senior advisors, and seven working groups
with up to two coleaders each. In total, the TC is a multidisciplinary
team of 18 experts, academics, scientists,
and researchers from academia, government, and industry
on four continents.
WORKING GROUPS
The IFT TC consists of seven working groups, each carrying
out the TC mission within its technology area.
Taking advantage of the community members' involvement
and knowledge, all of the working groups plan
and organize
◗ invited and focused sessions at the International Geoscience
and Remote Sensing Symposium
◗ virtual seminars and webinars on relevant technical
topics and missions
◗ panel meetings to bring out the latest developments
◗ other activities to bridge the gap between instrumentation
technologists and remote sensing mission planners.
In the following, each working group is described, and
a brief overview is provided of the activities and disciplines
covered by each.
121
https://earthdata.nasa.gov/files/NASA_ML_Workshop_Report.pdf https://www.drivendata.org/competitions/72/predict-wind-speeds/ https://www.drivendata.org/competitions/72/predict-wind-speeds/
IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2021
