An overview of remote sensing activities in Asia is given, with the history of the annual Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS) showing how cooperation between Asian remote sensing scientists and their related organizations has improved remarkably since the first ACRS in 1980
In 1981, the Asian Association on Remote Sensing (AARS) was founded with five member countries As of 1991, there are now 18 ordinary members and 5 associate members.
United Nations organization such as ESCAP, UNDP, UNEP, UNCRD etc. have been and are contributing to developing countries in Asia in the fields of education, training and/or pilot projects in conjunction or in cooperation with AARS activities.
The key Asian countries in remote sensing such as Japan, China, India, Thailand etc. are promoting not only national projects but also regional cooperation through personnel exchange, joint research, international workshops and international training through ACRS.
The following article is a summary of the author's activities for the twelve years since 1980 aimed at fostering regional cooperation in Asia.