graduate students in the surveying program. A native of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He then began his 27-year career with NOAA. During this time, Bossler earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in geodetic science from Ohio State and rose to the position of director of Charting and Geodetic Services. He has been active in many scientific and professional societies. Currently, he is president of AM/FM International and a member of the board of directors for the National Center for Geographic Information Analysis. He is past president of the Geodesy Section of the American Geophysical Union and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.

DAVID J.COWEN

Dr. Cowen is a professor of geography and the director of the Humanities and Social Sciences Computer Laboratory at the University of South Carolina. He has been actively involved in spatial data handling for more than 20 years. He currently directs the GIS program at the University of South Carolina. He has served as chairman of the Association of American Geographers’ GIS Specialty Group and the South Carolina Mapping Advisory Committee. He is currently a member of the editorial board of The American Cartographer and The International Journal of Geographical Information Systems. He also is the United States delegate to the International Geographical Union’s Commission on GIS. Dr. Cowen earned his BA (1966) and MA (1968) degrees at the State University of New York at Buffalo and his PhD (1971) at Ohio State University.

JOHN E.ESTES

Dr. Estes is a professor of geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on remote sensing, image analysis, applications of geographic information systems, and the design of knowledge-based systems utilizing artificial intelligence concepts. He has conducted research for NASA, NOAA, DOD, USGS, and USDA in these areas. He has consulted widely for public agencies, international organizations, and private industry. He has recently been assisting NASA in the design of the data systems for the proposed Earth Observing System (Eos). Dr. Estes has co-authored and edited chapters 14–19 in Manual of Remote Sensing, He also edited Remote Sensing Techniques for Environmental Analysis; and co-authored a textbook on Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction. Dr. Estes received an AB from San Diego State College in 1962 and a PhD from UCLA in 1969.

THOMAS C.FINNIE

During many years as a full-time civilian employee with the Department of Defense, Mr. Finnie helped organize the Defense Mapping Agency and then worked as its deputy director for management and technology from 1972 to 1974. From 1953 to 1962, he was chief of the production and distribution plant of the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC); from 1962 to 1972, he was the technical director of ACIC. Since 1974, Mr. Finnie has provided consulting services in system engineering and management for several organizations involved with large defense programs. He has a BS in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky and an MS in business administra-