News in 2019

Report on the 4th Joint International Symposium on Deformation Monitoring (JISDM)

15-17 May 2019, Athens, Greece

The 4th Joint International Symposium on Deformation Monitoring (JISDM) was held on May 15th – 17th in Athens, Greece.  JISDM carries the 40 years long tradition of the FIG and IAG joint symposia in the field of deformation monitoring and more recently the active sponsorship of ISPRS.  The symposium aimed to connect research in deformation measurement / techniques, analysis and interpretation with advanced practice. The School of Rural and Surveying Engineering (SRSE) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) was the host institution of this event.

During the three days of the symposium 95 oral and 37 poster presentations were given originating from 27 countries from 5 continents.  Conference topics were related to core methodological, technical and practical achievements in the field of deformation monitoring.  Technical sessions were organized in 13 thematic areas that include: QC/QA and optimization techniques in deformation analysis; new concepts for GNSS-based monitoring; point cloud-based space-temporal deformations; reference frames and geodynamics; vibration monitoring and dynamics; ground and spaceborne radar; monitoring of cultural heritage; deformation monitoring for construction engineering; bridge monitoring; dam monitoring; multi-sensor systems and new concepts for deformation measurements; UAV for change detection and deformation monitoring; monitoring of geohazards.
The authors had the opportunity to submit their paper for a peer-review process resulting in 44 papers successfully passed the review process.  After the symposium authors of peer and non-peer-review papers will have the opportunity to submit extended versions of their work for a special issue in widely accepted journals.  The organizing committee attached great importance to the active participation of young researchers in the symposium.  In this regard, two awards were offered for the best oral and poster student presentations.

During the conference Professor Carmelo Gentile, (Polytechnico di Milano), Dr. Charalampos (Haris) Kontoes (National Observatory of Athens) and Dorota A. Grejner-Brzezinska (The Ohio State University) introduced the latest tendencies in the field of deformation monitoring and shared their vision on the evolution of technologies and methods for monitoring both natural phenomena and man-made structures.  The highly interesting topics of the symposium have attracted a large number of sponsorships, including contributions from the construction industry; highway, bridge, dam and renewable energy operators; service companies in the field as well as utility companies.  In response, the organizing committee has allocated a special session for technical presentations by the sponsors.

Due to the great success of the conference it was decided to hold the 5th JISDM in two years. The organizers will announce soon the location and time for the next edition.

Prof. VassilisGikas
JISDM2019 Chair

July 2019