USU's Space Dynamics Laboratory Hosts 16th Annual Calibration Conference

The 16th annual CALCON Technical Conference hosted by Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory will be held on the USU campus in the Eccles Conference Center Sept. 10-13.

The conference’s keynote speaker is Alfred Powell, Jr., director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Satellite Applications and Research, or STAR. The keynote address is Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 8:30 a.m. Those interested in attending must be registered conference attendees. Registration information is available online.

 

Under Powell’s leadership, NOAA and STAR are using data from satellites to assess the current conditions of Earth, predict future changes and understand long-term changes in climate.

 

The conference includes a pre-conference workshop and several technical sessions with presentations from all sectors of the calibration community. Accurate calibration of space-based sensors is essential to gathering data to help scientists understand global climate change as well as providing the military the tools necessary for national defense.

 

Sponsored in part by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, the conference brings together members of the international scientific and engineering communities to discuss the increasingly challenging issues of calibrating remote sensing instrumentation. SDL has expertise in sensor calibration, and representatives from SDL will chair several of the technical sessions.

 

SDL has nationally recognized calibration capabilities at its campus in North Logan. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved a spending bill that included Utah Senator Bob Bennett’s request for $500,000 to SDL for continued improvements to its calibration facilities.

 

Other conference sponsors include the Missile Defense Agency, National Institute of Standards and Technology and NOAA’s National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System.

 

For more information on CALCON, including session information and the agenda for technical presentations, visit the Web site.

 

Contact: Sonya Warner [sonya.warner@usurf.usu.edu], 435-797-4783