Earth Observation Applications Summer School (Uydu Yer Gözlem Uygulamaları Yaz Okulu - UYGU 2014) was organized by IEEE GRSS Turkey Chapter and TÜBİTAK BİLGEM, and hosted by TÜBİTAK BİLGEM at its facilities in Gebze, Kocaeli, in the dates of 23-27 June 2014.
The summer school program was intense to cover basic information in different areas of remote sensing. Our lecturers from Turkey, Selim Aksoy, Erhan Alparslan, Arif Çağdaş Aydınoğlu, Sarp Ertürk, Esra Erten, Mehmet Kurum, Ufuk Sakarya, Abdülkadir Şan, Kadim Taşdemir, Gülşen Taşkın Kaya, and Ayşe Tuğçe Mina Yeşilyurt, from various Universities and organizations contributed on a voluntary basis to promote the fields of remote sensing and geosciences among graduate student and researcher attendees.
Additionally, Eric Pottier from the University of Rennes was invited through GRSS Distinguished Lecturer Program, and gave a half-day lecture on SAR Polarimetry. Moreover, we had Christopher Stewart from European Space Agency (ESA) ESRIN/RSAC to present ESA EO Applications and Copernicus program; and Batuhan Osmanoğlu from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to give a lecture on SAR Intereferometry.
As a social event of the summer school, we had a relaxing dinner by the Bosphorus (connecting Europe and Asia Continents) with our invited lecturers. The summer school had an exceptional reception with more than 110 applications in various disciplines. From this large number, only 40 attendees (MS/PhD students) could be accepted, due to space constraints. It was an outstanding summer school (rated 4.7 over 5 by the attendees) thanks to high interest of the attendees combined with the enthusiasm of the lecturers, and excellent local arrangements (accommodation, transportation, meals, refreshments) by TÜBİTAK BİLGEM.