IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2014 - 4

from the editor
by Lorenzo bruzzone

Dear Reader,

t is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the first
issue of the second year of publication of the IEEE
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine. After the initial
phase of the magazine, in the second year we plan to
enrich the content of this publication by establishing
new columns containing many new contributions of
interest to the geoscience and remote sensing community at large.
As one can observe in the four issues of GRSM during
2013, the magazine contains tutorial papers, technical
papers on geoscience and remote sensing topics, and
papers that describe relevant applications of and projects based on topics addressed by our society. All technical papers undergo blind review by multiple reviewers.
The review process is managed on the IEEE Manuscript
Central web site, as is done for the three GRSS journals.
The magazine also contains regular columns on education in remote sensing, remote sensing systems, standard data sets, women in geoscience and remote sensing, and book reviews. Other topics will appear in the
future. Starting with the June issue, we will publish an
extensive column in which space agencies will report
on their recent news and major achievements. This will
keep readers up-to-date on the latest developments of
space agencies and the most interesting news on novel
satellites and Earth Observation programs.
As already announced in December 2013, IEEE
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Administrative Committee decided to distribute both digital and electronic
versions of the magazine to all GRSS members free of
charge during 2014 (one more good reason to be a GRSS
member). This will allow all GRSS members to access
the magazine contents and to become familiar with the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MGRS.2014.2303414
Date of publication: 8 April 2014

digital format of the magazine. The digital format is different from the electronic format used by the IEEE Xplore
web site. The digital format allows readers to navigate
and explore the technical content of the magazine with
a look and feel similar to that of a printed magazine.
The electronic version provided on the IEEE Xplore web
site does not have a magazine layout and allows readers
to access individual articles only as separate PDF files.
Moreover, the June issue will be also provided in a more
traditional printed format and widely distributed during our major IGARSS 2014 conference in Quebec City
as well.
This issue includes one article in the Features section.
This article focuses on a recently developed Unmanned
Aircraft System (UAS) equipped with a dual-frequency
radar to sound and image ice sheets in both Greenland
and Antarctica. This system is designed to help monitor the mass loss of ice sheets and its effect on global
sea level rise. To predict the response of ice sheets to a
warming climate, ice-sheet models need to be improved
by incorporating information on the bed topography
and basal conditions of fast-flowing glaciers near their
grounding lines. High-sensitivity, low-frequency radars
with 2-D aperture synthesis capability are needed to
sound and image fast-flowing glaciers with very rough
surfaces and ice that contains inclusions. The article presents a brief overview of the need for radar soundings of
fast-flowing glaciers at low-frequencies and a description
of the system. It also discusses field operations and provides sample results of data collected in Antarctica.
The Technical Committees column describes the activities of the International Spaceborne Imaging Spectroscopy (ISIS) Technical Committee of the IEEE GRSS. The
article presents the principal scope of the committee,
including an interesting overview of the past, current
and planned activities.
ieee Geoscience and remote sensing magazine

march 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - March 2014