grammetry now makes an orderly sequence of procedure
possible.
For this planning and development, many kinds of sur
veys besides map making are needed in other sciences,
such as geology, soil, vegetation, water resources, in
dustry and air navigation. None of these surveys can be
done without a basic topographic map which shows the
characteristics of the area and gives heights above sea-
level.
Professor Schermerhorn developed a plan for the wide
application of photogrammetry and the training in this
technique as an indispensable tool in development aid.
The UN commission gave a strong support to his ideas
and asked the Dutch government, as a contribution in the
technical assistance for developing countries, to start an
international education institute in aerial survey in the
Netherlands.
In the years 1949 and 1950 Professor Schermerhorn
developed his plans for the foundation of the Internation
al Training Centre for Aerial Survey (ITC) in the Nether
lands. In July 1950 the last formalities were fulfilled and
the first course started in 1951. It was a course in photo
grammetry and aerial photography. In the same year
courses in geology, soil survey and forestry were started.
A special building for the ITC was projected and con
structed in Delft. This building was opened in 1956.
Provisionally between 1951 and 1956 the institute was
housed inthe LaboratoryforGeodesyofthe Universityof
Technology at Delft.
In the beginning the number of staff members and stu
dents was very limited. Already in the first phase of the
ITC the objectives of the institute were fixed. These are
consisting of the three main tasks:
- education
- research
- consulting
The first two need no further explanation. Under consult
ing was conceived the advisory work on all areas in which
the ITC is active.
Fig. 1. Number of ITC Students
The areas of activity of the ITC extended more and more.
All applications of aerial photos were studied and taught.
Also the newer techniques like remote sensing for geo-
morphology, landscape analysis, hydrology, geologic
applications for engineering, urban and rural survey,
ecology, sociology for „integrated survey" and carto
graphy were included in the work programme of the ITC.
First priority in the task of the ITC, then already renamed
into „International Institute for Aerial Survey and Earth
Sciences (ITC)" is to apply all activities in the three tasks
mentioned in and for the developing countries. There
fore by far the largest part of the participants of the
courses exists of students of the developing countries as
is shown in figure 1.
Apart from the courses given in the ITC in the Nether
lands, since 1971 in Enschede and partly still in Delft (the
mining courses), the institute has also a task in the
foundation and the set-up of institutes for education in
some of the branches of the field of exploration of the
institute in the developing countries. As the results of
this, education institutes are working in Asia, South-
America and Africa.
Interpretation of aerial photos is taught now in Dehra-
Dun (India) and in Bogota (Colombia), Photogrammetry
in lle-lfe in Nigeria, Photogrammetry and Cartography in
Bandung (Indonesia).
So the very important initiative of professor Schermer
horn has resulted in a wide field of application of aerial
survey and related techniques. In the following table the
quantitative growth of the institute staff and students is
shown:
Number of Total number of
year
students
student months
staff members
1965
136
1,341
125
1971
160
1,924
175
1978
445
3,723
250
1981
459
3,900
243
1 5 10 25 50 100 200
Number of ITC students
NGT GEODESIA 82 217
