Professor Gottfried Konecny, ISPRS Honorary Member and former head of the Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation in Hannover, Germany, passed away peacefully on Thursday 25 July 2024 at the age of 94.
Regarded as the European father of remote sensing, Prof Konecny played a key role in shaping his field worldwide in the second half of the 20th century. From the beginning of his work in Hanover in 1971 until his retirement in 1998, he inspired generations of students with his passion for photogrammetry, remote sensing and GIS, and continued to make his mark on the industry until shortly before his death.
Prof Konecny was the principal investigator in the Metric Camera Experiment, involving the world’s first photogrammetric space camera, which was flown on the NASA Space Shuttle in 1983. Further highlights of his career included the 1980 ISPRS Congress, organized under his leadership in Hamburg, and his ISPRS presidency from 1984 to 1988.
In recognition of his many achievements, Prof Konecny was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class in 1990. He also received honorary doctorates from the National University of Tucaman (Argentina), the University of New Brunswick (Canada), Anna University (India) and the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (Russia).
With his passing, the geospatial community has lost a dedicated scientist and a brilliant mind.
