(Above: the Talbert Abrams Award)
Prof. Vincent Tao, right, Canada Research Chair in Geomatics, and Yong Hu, below, left, York PhD candidate, are the grand prize winners of the prestigious Talbert Abrams Award, given by the American Imaging and Geospatial Information Society (ASPRS), for their paper on “A Comprehensive Study of the Rational Function Model for Photogrammetric Processing” (published in the journal Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing: Vol 67 No 12 pp 1347-1357).
Presentation of the award, which consists of a plaque and $5,000 USD, will take place during the ASPRS 2003 Annual Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, May 5-9.
Tao, professor of geomatics engineering in the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Science, Faculty of Pure & Applied Science, and Hu, who is studying under Tao”s supervision, are considered pioneers in their field. They have researched and developed a unique rational sensor model for exploring high resolution satellite images. Their work has been recognized internationally and is widely cited by their peers.
The Talbert Abrams Award is the highest paper award offered by the ASPRS. This is the second time that Tao has received this honour. He is the only Canadian who has received this award to date.
Talbert “Ted” Abrams, below, right, (1895-1990), was a pioneer in the field of aerial photography and mapping. He had life-long interests in aviation, centering around experimental aircraft, commercial airline service and aerial photography. He served in the United States Air Corps during and after World War I and started the ABC (Always Be Careful) Airline in 1922.
The following year, Abrams left the airline industry and founded Abrams Aerial Survey Corporation in 1923. Developing his own aerial survey cameras, he made his first aerial survey for the Michigan State Highway Department in September 1925.
In 1937 Ted Abrams formed the Abrams Aircraft Corporation. The purpose of this company was to design and build a better aircraft for aerial photography. This led to the design and construction of the Abrams Model P-1 Explorer, the first aircraft created for the sole purpose of aerial photography. The plane saw extensive use up to World War II.
Ted Abrams is noted for his long and illustrious career in developing the state-of-the-art aerial photography adopted and used around the world today.
