Air- and space borne remote sensing systems for traffic data collection -European contributions

The increasing volume of traffic and transport rates in Europe and in other continents require new methods of traffic data recording as well as an intelligent traffic management, which fits the intermodal and cross-boarder traffic. Simultaneously it has to take in account that the EU enlargement in particular into Eastern European economic areas corresponds with an expandability of trans-national traffic management in Europe. The air and space borne remote sensing technologies have the highest potential to solve the sustainable traffic problems. With this it is merely possible to open up potentials of traffic route infrastructure identified by scientific research and to transfer the results of present rural approaches to European scale. It will result in a standardization of traffic data in terms of quality and quantity which is the key point for an integrated and sustainable traffic management in Europe for the future. A special session for the European contributions on this new ITS-topic gives the possibility for a better cooperation in international research.