Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing (LARS)
Chris J. Johannsen
The Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing (LARS) celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. I am privileged to serve as its Interim Director and more abundantly privileged to be joined on the recently constituted LARS Executive Committee (EC) by the three former directors of LARS, Professors Emeriti David Landgrebe, Marion Baumgardner and Chris Johannsen. Also serving on the EC is Larry Biehl, who has been instrumental in the development of LARS and of MultiSpec for three decades, and who has recently been designated Systems Manager for the Purdue Terrestrial Observatory (PTO). The PTO is a real-time multiple satellite receiving station at Purdue, serving the research and instructional needs of over thirty faculty members, within twenty departments at Purdue University. The combination of the LARS database and the real-time data stream from the PTO will ultimately facilitate both change detection and responsiveness to biogenic and anthropogenic disasters. Additionally, Purdue University played a lead role in establishing the IndianaView Consortium, a collectivity of universities, governmental agencies and multilateral groups within the State of Indiana, which was approved as an affiliate of the USGS-supported AmericaView Program. That status will pave the way for acquisition of the state-wide archive of satellite data. Another recent development includes approval by the National Science Foundation of the connectivity of Purdue University and Indiana University to the Extensible Teragrid Facility (ETF), which will enable near-real-time distribution of remotely sensed data to national partners.