Newsletter June 2021

Dear SilviLaser community!

The Covid situation is improving day by day and several relaxation steps have already come into effect in Austria. For example, events of several hundred people are already allowed again. Therefore, we are very optimistic that we will be able to physically host the SilviLaser conference at the end of September. We would therefore be very pleased to welcome you here in Vienna. Furthermore, there will be a big benchmark where different companies as well as research institutions will demonstrate their equipment. There will be the opportunity to test the latest sensors directly in the forest and to discuss details with the manufacturers.

Apart from that, the conference lives from your contributions. We have already received many contributions, but would also be pleased to receive practical examples from e.g. NFIs. We are planning a dedicated session to discuss the operational use of different LiDAR systems in forest inventories together with users, researchers and sensor manufacturers. If you are still undecided whether to submit an abstract or not, I encourage you to do so. If the extended abstract is too much work for you, you can of course also submit a classic short abstract.

I would also like to announce that the details for the special issue in the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (JAG) are fixed now and that they will be published soon. The special issue primarily aims to publish extended versions of selected papers presented at the SilviLaser 2021 conference, but also new submissions on the related topics may also be considered.
Finally, I would like to point out the following keynote speakers who have already been confirmed:
  • Prof. Juha Hyyppä: Recent developments with mobile laser scanning for forestry applications
  • Prof. Håkan Olsson: Nationwide ALS-forest products supported by NFIs, current status and future trends
  • Dr. Gottfried Mandlburger: The benefits of different LiDAR systems – Full waveform vs. single-photon LiDAR
  • Prof. Guo Qinghua: Developing multiple platform LiDAR systems for scaling forest parameters from plot levels to global levels
  • Dr. Amy Neuenschwander: IceSat-2 for forestry applications
Further keynotes will be fixed in the next days.
Looking forward to read your abstracts and to welcome you at the SilviLaser 2021. Please find details on how to submit at https://silvilaser2021.at/call-for-abstracts/.
Kind regards,
Markus Hollaus
(Chair of the Organizing Committee)

Newsletter May 2021

Dear SilviLaser community!

First of all, I would like to thank all those who have accepted our invitation to be part of the scientific committee and have registered for supporting the reviewing process. The high number of registrations shows the exceeding interest in the SilviLaser 2021.

I would also like to remind you about the deadline for submitting extended abstracts. The deadline is June 14th (extended from May 28th).

We also want to draw your attention to a Special Issue about selected SilviLaser contributions in the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (JAG), published by Elsevier. We will get a reduced paper fee for open access papers.

Furthermore, we would like to give you important updates about the SilviLaser 2021:

1) Change of venue:
Due to Covid19-regulations, the conference venue was changed from TU Wien to
Marriott Imperial Riding School Renaissance Hotel Vienna.
Conference rooms are already blocked.
The hotel offers a special room price for participants and is prepared to accept room bookings.
Compared to the previously planned venue at TU Wien we now have more flexibility in case of changing Covid19 restrictions and you can fully enjoy the hotel convenience.

2) Shifted date:
New conference date: September 28th to 30th, 2021
Pre-conference excursion: September 27th, 2021
Post-conference excursion: October 1st, 2021
UAV LIDAR benchmark either on September 27th or October 1st, depending on weather conditions.
TLS and PLS benchmark data acquisition will take place on both excursion days.

3) Corona situation
The current situation in Europe – decreasing cases of Covid19 infections and increasing percentage of people vaccinated – makes us very confident that we can host a hybrid SilviLaser 2021 in Vienna. So we would like to invite you to take the chance to visit Vienna and meet the community physically.

4) Hybrid conference
The conference is planned to be fully hybrid. Virtual participation will be possible in any case.
Presentations, workshops and meetings with participants and exhibitors will be enabled online as well as on site.

Looking forward to read your abstracts and to welcome you at the SilviLaser 2021!
Kind regards,
Markus Hollaus
(Chair of the Organizing Committee)

Newsletter January 2021

Dear SilviLaser community!

The year 2020 was a huge challenge for all of us due to the Covid-19 pandemic and also 2021 starts very troublesome. Currently, there are still lockdowns in many countries and many international travel restrictions are still in place. How the situation will develop until the end of September 2021 can only be predicted with great uncertainty. We (TU Wien together with the company Umweltdata) as the organizing team of the SilviLaser 2021 have decided to organize and to carry out the SilviLaser 2021. In any case, the SilviLaser 2021 will take place in Vienna.

We will definitely provide the possibility of digital participation for presenters, exhibitors and participants at SilviLaser 2021 in order to enable all those colleagues to participate who cannot come to Vienna in September 29th to October 1st 2021 – no matter if this is due to travel restrictions, avoid a long flight due to climate protection, financial restrictions or other reasons. For virtual participation in SilviLaser 2021, all barriers will be reduced as good as possible. But we do hope, that travel restrictions will be relieved until then and we want to warmly invite the community to gather physically in Vienna.

From the current perspective, we expect to hold SilviLaser 2021 as a hybrid conference. We will comply with all applicable safety regulations on site and also planning an on-site health check, if needed. You can be sure, that all precautionary measures will be provided to keep our guests safe and sane during the conference and the excursions

We will make the final decision on the format of SilviLaser 2021 until the end of April 2021. Apart from that, we are of course very happy to welcome you physically here in Vienna.

In addition to the conference program (live and/or video presentations, exhibition stands), an attractive benchmark will be organized in several field-sites near Vienna where companies and institutions can demonstrate their measurement equipment. The recorded data will be made available to the community as open-access data. In the context of this benchmark you will have the unique opportunity to get in contact with the companies and experience the data acquisition live and thus get a deep understanding of the characteristics of the individual LiDAR systems.

In the next days, the first call for abstracts will be published. We would therefore be very pleased if you already plan your active participation in SilviLaser 2021, be it physically in Vienna or via video. The call for benchmark participants will be published as well.

If you are interested in organized cultural trips on the weekends before or after the conference, please let us know.

On behalf of the organizing team, I wish the entire community to get well through the pandemic. We surely will have an exciting and interesting SilviLaser 2021.

Best regards,

Markus Hollaus
(Chair of the Organizing Committee)

Save the Date!

SilviLaser 2021 will take place

28.–30.9.2021 29.9.–1.10.2021
Vienna, Austria

27.9.+1.10.2021 27.–28.9.2021
Pre- and post-conference events:
Field trips / benchmark of various LiDAR systems

Mark your calendars now! More information will follow here soon.