The 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium (Pecora 22) will convene in Denver, Colorado, USA from October 23 – 28, 2022. The conference will be hosted by NASA and the USGS, with an overarching theme of Opening the Aperture to Innovation: Expanding Our Collective Understanding of a Changing Earth, which embraces both the innovations and discoveries that resulted from 50 years of Landsat Earth observations, and also current and future innovations in science and technology that are contributing to our ability to improve our understanding and better manage the Earth’s environment.
Pecora 22 is the latest in a series of Symposia named after William T. Pecora, the USGS Director who helped initiate the Landsat program in the 1960s. The Pecora Symposium series was established by the USGS and NASA in the 1970s as a forum to foster the exchange of scientific information and results derived from applications of Earth observing data to a broad range of land-based resources, and to discuss ideas, policies, and strategies concerning land remote sensing. Pecora 22 will play host to a range of remote sensing experts and scientists from federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities and industry.
The Technical Program, while we will be celebrating the remarkable Landsat legacy, Pecora 22 sessions will address the broader spectrum of Earth observation programs, technologies, and investigations. Landsat marks the initial civilian Earth observation step, but since then, the technology, science, and applications of Earth imagery have grown rapidly and there is now a thriving global community with dozens of ongoing governmental and commercial missions that are feeding scientific discovery and operational applications that are aiding our ability to understand critical global issues. The growth of Earth observation missions, improvements in data characteristics, the adoption of data policies that have democratized access to Earth imagery, and advances in computing and data processing algorithms, collectively contribute to the unprecedented innovation and problem solving. The impacts of these have led to more informed natural resources management, policy-relevant decision making, and ultimately objective scientific discourse and understanding.
The William T. Pecora Award, presented annually to individuals or groups that make outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing, will also be presented to the 2022 winners at a special session during the Symposium.
Pecora 22 will afford many unique opportunities for interaction and collaboration among a diverse and international community of remote sensing experts and scientists.
