Chor-Pang (C.P.) Lo (1939-2007)
by Xiaojun Yang, PhD

On December 30, 2007, Professor Chor-Pang (C.P.) Lo (68) died of lung cancer in Athens, Georgia. Born in Hong Kong in 1939, Lo studied geography at the University of Hong Kong, where he received BA (First Honors; 1963) and MA (1966) degrees. From 1968-1971, he was a Commonwealth Scholar pursuing his PhD in Geography and Photogrammetry at the University of Glasgow in the UK. Before joining the faculty at the University of Georgia in 1984, he was a Reader at the University of Hong Kong. He was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 1988.

Lo was an internationally known geographer who made seminal contributions to urban remote sensing and the development of geographic information system approaches for examining human-environment interactions. He pioneered the use of Landsat data for land cover mapping in China, in particular, the Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta Region. He conducted research on population estimation using aerial photography, Large Format Camera photography, MSS, TM, SPOT, DMSP-OLS, and Shuttle Imaging Radar images for the city of Hong Kong, as well as settlements in China and the US. His recent NASA-funded work on land use and heat island effect in Atlanta, Georgia, attracted considerable attention from the news media. He demonstrated how remote sensing, in conjunction with geographic information systems and census statistics, can be used to reveal the spatial impact of human societies on the environment and to facilitate our understanding of social processes. Lo’s research was regarded as a major effort to bridge physical, social, and remote sensing sciences.

A prolific scholar and author, Lo wrote numerous publications that appeared in some premier remote sensing, geographic information science, and geography journals. He also authored or co-authored 11 books including three major textbooks on remote sensing or geographic information systems (Applied Remote Sensing, Longman, 1986; Concepts and Techniques in Geographic Information Systems, Prentice Hall, 2002, 2007) that have been adopted by many universities in the United States and other countries. At the time of his death he was co-authoring a chapter entitled, “Using a Cellular Automaton Model and GIS to Simulate the Spatial Consequences of Different Growth Scenarios in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area” for the ASPRS Manual of GIS. Lo also made signifi cant contributions to remote sensing, geographic information science, and geographic education. He taught remote sensing and GIS courses at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Georgia for nearly 40 years. At the University of Georgia, Lo directed nearly 30 PhD and master’s degree students, who themselves became successful academics. His dedication to urban remote sensing and human-environment interactions inspired a new generation of scholars working to better understand the complex, dynamic urban environment.

His honors included the William A. Owen Award in Creative Research given by the University of Georgia (2001), the Medal of Outstanding Contributions to the science of Remote Sensing and the discipline of Geography given by the Remote Sensing Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (2001), Research Honors Award (2002) and the Lifetime Achievement Award (2005) given by the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers, and the Distinguished Service Award given by the China Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (2005).

Lo was a member of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, the Association of American Geographers, the Remote Sensing Society, the British Photogrammetric Society, and the Society of Sigma Xi.

Ernest “Lyn” Henry
1942-2007

Ernest “Lyn” Henry, 65, of Branson West, Missouri, died Sunday, November 11, 2007, from complications due to an automobile accident on October 29. Henry was born in Salem, Arkansas on October 8, 1942, then moved with his family to Kansas City in 1950. Following high school, he served four years in the Army, then made his professional career in the aerial mapping industry as a Certified Photogrammetrist. He began his career with Western Air Maps in Olathe, Kansas. Henry joined ASPRS in 1979 and remained a member for 27 years.

From 1988 until his retirement in 2004, Henry worked at Aerial Data Service (ADS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ending his ADS profession as Vice President and General Manager. Henry and his wife, Jane, enjoyed their few retirement years together first at Beaver Lake, Arkansas, then at Table Rock Lake, Missouri, working outdoors, traveling, and enjoying their seven children and 21 grandchildren.

Henry is survived by numerous family members including: his loving wife, Jane, of more than 15 years; his father Ernest Henry of Salem, Arkansas; one son, Brian Henry and daughter-inlaw Kristina of Camdenton, Missouri, and four granddaughters, Morgan, Madison, Mollie and Mary Henry; brother Randy Henry and wife Mary; sisters, Leatrice Ramler and husband Chuck, and Peggy Puckett and husband Jerry; numerous nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews; six stepdaughters, Bridget Barney and husband Marshall, Kathy Hagen and husband Bill, Laura Prather and husband Brant, Nancy Rogge and husband Craig, Amy Prather and husband Michael, and Mary Gastner and husband Shawn; and 17 step-grandchildren.

Alden P. Colvocoresses
1919-2007

Alden P. Colvocoresses, 88, one of 25 ASPRS Honorary Members and a Past President (1988) of the Society, died March 27 after a stroke. Colvocoresses was a native of Humboldt, Arizona, and a 1941 mining engineering graduate of the University of Arizona. During his military career, he received master’s degrees in geology and civil engineering and a doctorate in geodetic sciences from Ohio State University. A decorated Army colonel and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mapmaker who unsuccessfully challenged the federal government for ownership of a duck-hunting island in the Potomac River, Dr. Colvocoresses, known by many as Colvo, served in the Army Corps of Engineers from 1941 to 1968. During World War II, he received two Silver Stars, one for capturing and destroying a German Mark IV tank in Tunisia and another for escaping from Italian captors in North Africa. He also served in the Korean War and retired after playing a large role in mapping operations during the Vietnam War. His other decorations included the Bronze Star Medal and two Purple Hearts.

He spent the rest of his career working for the USGS national mapping division, retiring in 1990. He was a research cartographer on the Landsat satellite program and received two patents for models of remote sensing systems. He also discovered a reef in the Indian Ocean that was subsequently named for him.

Dr. Colvocoresses’s interest in duck hunting and bass fishing led him to an unnamed 3.7-acre island in the Potomac just south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. From his reading of USGS maps, he thought “Colvo’s Island” was outside National Park Service wildlife refuge boundaries. After he was spotted shooting from the island in the mid-1980s, he fought a long battle with the Park Service over ownership. He filed a claim for the island in the Fairfax County assessor’s office and began paying taxes on the land, which was largely overrun with water during heavy rains. But an old USGS map was shown to be wrong in not noting the Park Service’s ownership of the island when it acquired Dyke Marsh, a wetlands area, decades earlier. In 1990, a U.S. District judge fined Dr. Colvocoresses $100 for carrying a firearm in national parkland.

He was a recipient of the Interior Department’s Distinguished Service Award and five times received the ASPRS Presidential Citation for Meritorious Service. In addition, he was a former president of Fairfax Bassbusters, a fishing group now called Fairfax Bass.

He was a Fairfax resident before moving to Falcons Landing, a retirement community in Sterling, about a decade ago. His marriage to June Caldwell Colvocoresses ended in divorce. His second wife, Katherine Rose Colvocoresses, whom he married in 1949, died in 1974.

Survivors include a daughter from his first marriage, Colette Wales of Canterbury, England; three children from his second marriage, Jim Colvocoresses of Little Torch Key, Florida, Janet Clampitt of Sterling, Virginia and Judy Brescia of Lovettsville, Virginia; nine grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

Excerpts from The Washington Post, Tuesday, April 3, 2007; Page B07.

James L. Clapp
1933-2007

James L. Clapp (74) passed away on Saturday, March 31 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Clapp was born on March 14, 1933 in Madison, Wisconsin to Don and Estelle (Anderson) Clapp. He graduated from West High School in 1950, where he excelled in sports and academics. In 1961, he married Susan Randolph with whom he raised three sons, Lee (Judith), Len (Jennifer), and Don. He received a BS in Naval Science and BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering (1956-64), all from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps as an Engineering Company Commander (1956-59), Instructor and Research Assistant at UW-Madison (1959-63), and Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor of Civil Engineering at the UW (1964-78). Clapp conducted ice-flow studies in Antarctica (1961-62 and 1967-68), for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal for Antarctic Service. He became an Emeritus Professor in 1995.

He and his family moved to Maine in 1978 when he was appointed Dean of the College of Engineering & Science at the University of Maine at Orono (UMO). Following his return to UW-Madison in 1984, he served in a broad range of capacities. He chaired the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1986-90), and also served as the Director of the Center for Land Information Studies.

Clapp engaged in numerous professional service activities during his career. Among these was his appointment by the Governor as Chair of the Wisconsin Land Records Committee (1985-87), whose work became a national model for land information modernization. He also served as President of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) during 1988-89.

Clapp had a vision and passion for interdisciplinary research and teaching activities during his career at UW and UMO and was a pioneer in remote sensing education and research. He was a member of the first Executive Committee of the interdisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies (IES today is the Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies). He served as Director of the Environmental Monitoring and Data Acquisition Group, Institute for Environmental Studies at the UW (1970-78).

An ASPRS Emeritus Member (he joined ASPRS in 1960), Clapp received numerous awards for teaching and research excellence, including the Steiger Award for Outstanding Teaching (1968), Polygon Outstanding Teacher, UW College of Engineering (1972, 1973, 1975, 1985), New England Section ACSM Outstanding Educator (1977), ACSM National Fennel Award for Outstanding Educator (1981), and ACSM Presidential Citation for Meritorious Service (1987, 1989). He also received the “Friends of Land Records” Award from the Wisconsin Land Information Association. Many of the students he taught and mentored have gone on to be highly successful professionals in the area of geospatial information science and engineering.

Clapp was an avid fan of traditional jazz and played “tub bass” and banjo (but would “stop playing for a dollar”). He was also a master garden-composter and wood chopper. He is survived and will be missed by his wife Sue, sons, sister Jo-Ann Sivley and many nephews and nieces.

Teaching always remained Clapp’s primary love and he has chosen to continue to teach even after death by contributing his body to the UW Medical School.