ISPRS 2016 Summer School Report

The ISPRS 2016 Summer School was held in Telč, Czech Republic from 5 to  11 July 2016 and welcomed participants from five different continents (North and South America, Africa, Asia and Europe). The majority of participants took the bus provided from Prague and arrived in Telč on Tuesday afternoon (the 5^th) just in time for the Icebreaking party at the venue courtyard. Lectures started on Wednesday (the 6th).Participants were divided into 2 groups and joined lectures given by Martin Isenburg (Lidar data processing in the LAStools software) and Martin Landa (Optical and Lidar data in OpenSource GIS), with each group going to the other lecture on the Thursday so no one had to miss anything. Practical aspects and analysis on real data were performed to show the use of the introduced software. The evening programme provided a fine mix of culture (Telč Castle excursion), 2D sports (EURO2016) and 3D sport (friendly soccer matches were played from Thursday to Saturday).

Friday was a free day and the Summer School participants went for a one-day trip to see the town of Třeboň. The journey took about an hour by bus and on arrival our guides were waiting for us. During the morning we had a nice walk around the town with information on the culture, history and nature of South Bohemia. Lunch was provided in a restaurant on the main square where South Bohemian specialties like the “Třeboň Carp” and “Svíčková na smetaně” were served. After lunch we moved to the Regent Brewery for an excursion. We saw how the beer is made, were introduced to the long history of making beer in the South Bohemia region and at the end we tested local beer in the brewery cellar restaurant. Then we had a few hours to spend as we wished.

During the weekend lectures were on again. Norbert Pfeifer gave a very interesting lecture about use of Lidar data and their processing in environmental studies and Arnošt Müller introduced commercial GIS software and performed analyses similar to those shown by Martin Landa in the OpenSource GIS lecture a few days earlier. With this revision the organisers wanted to show young people the difference between commercial and open source software so that they can decide for themselves what suits them and their application best. On Friday, data publishing was the main topic. Arnošt Müller showed how this is done in a commercial software and Jáchym Čepický introduced publishing possibilities in an OpenSource GIS. During weekend evenings participants visited the nearby pond named “Roštějn” and enjoyed a cooling swim in the hot weather and the helpfulness of staff at the local restaurant “U roštěnky” and the fine taste of Czech beer. The organisers would like to thank Martin Isenburg for his off-programme paddleboard lessons ;). The farewell party took place on Sunday evening at the venue courtyard and concluded the event.

The ISPRS Summer School was a great event with fantastic people. Despite the problems caused by the French air traffic control strike at Paris international airport everyone managed to reach the venue and make the most of their stay in Telč. New knowledge was gained as well as new friendships made. And that’s what counts in the end. The organising team would like to thank everyone who joined us!

The ISPRS 2016 Summer School organising team members