International cooperation in remote sensing for global change research: political and economic considerations

Activities concerning international cooperation in space-based remote sensing for global change research have for the most part focused on technical/functional aspects such as data harmonization, research project coordination, and sensor selection and deployment. Until fairly recently, little attention has been directed towards the various political and economic constraints which may act as ‘stumbling blocks’. A review of the contemporary international remote sensing milieu as it relates to the global change research agenda is presented. Several important political and economic conditions affecting this area are identified: (1) data access and pricing policies; (2) national security concerns; (3) developed/developing nation relations; and (4) inconsistent political/financial commitments. A set of recommendations is offered to enhance international cooperation in the use of space-based remote sensing data for global change research.     

Vague Reference and Approximating Judgments

"Mount Everest" is a vague name. That is (on the account here defended) there are many portions of reality all of which have equal claims to serve as its referent. We propose a new account of such vagueness in terms of a theory of what we shall call granular partitions. We distinguish different kinds of crisp and non-crisp granular partitions and we describe the relations between them, concentrating especially on spatial examples. In addition, we describe the practice whereby subjects use systems of reference grids as a means for tempering the vagueness of their judgments for example when they say that Libya straddles the Equator or that the meeting will take place between 2 and 3pm. We then demonstrate how the theory of reference partitions can yield a natural account of this practice, which is referred to in the literature as 'approximation'.