March 25, 2008 - The ASPRS ESRI Award Selection Committee announced the winners of this year’s ESRI Award for Best Scientific Paper in GIS.  

• First Place was awarded to Rongxing Li, Kaichang Di, Jue Wang, Xutong Niu, Sanchit Agarwal, Evgenia Brodyagina, Erik Oberg and Ju Won Hwangbo, for “A WebGIS for Spatial Data Processing, Analysis, and Distribution for the MER 2003 Mission,” PE&RS, 73 (6), 671-680. 
• The Second Place winners were Rifaat Abdalla, C. Vincent Tao, Qiuming Cheng, and Jonathan Li for “A Network-centric Modeling Approach for Infrastructure Interdependency,” PE&RS, 73 (6), 681-690.
• Third Place was given to Pravara Thanapura, Dennis L. Helder, Suzette Burckhard, Eric Warmath, Mary O' Neill, and Dwight Galster for “Mapping Urban Land Cover Using Quickbird NDVI and GIS Spatial Modeling for Runoff Coefficient Determination,” PE&RS, 73 (1), 57-66.

Presentation of the awards will take place in May during the ASPRS 2008 Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon. This Award is presented by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) through the ASPRS Foundation, with funding provided by a grant from ESRI. The purpose of the Award is to encourage and commend those who publish papers of scientific merit in the advancement of knowledge about Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  The First Place winners are awarded a certificate and $500; Second Place winners receive a certificate and $300 and Third Place winners are given a certificate and $200.

Factors considered by the Committee in making its selections are the scientific contributions that the papers make toward the advancement of knowledge about Geographic Information Systems. The Awards are made to individuals whose articles were published in the ASPRS journal, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS), during the calendar year preceding the year of the Award presentation.  The recipients of the Awards are elected by secret ballot of the Committee, with a simple majority determining the result.

About ASPRS
Founded in 1934, ASPRS is an international professional organization of 6,000 geospatial data professionals. ASPRS is devoted to advancing knowledge and improving understanding of the mapping sciences to promote responsible application of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information systems and supporting technologies.

About The ASPRS Foundation
Founded in 1979, The ASPRS Foundation, Inc. is an independent 501 (c) 3 organization established to provide grants, scholarships, loans and other forms of aid to individuals or organizations pursuing knowledge of imaging and geospatial information science and technology, and their applications across the scientific, governmental, and commercial sectors.  The Foundation is the primary funding source for all non-sponsored awards and scholarships recognized by the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.