User requirement identification process. Ultimately, the primary benefactors of safer and more reliable infrastructures with higher capacity and lower operating costs will be travelers, shippers, and consumers. However, primary end-users of the resulting remote sensing technology include government policy makers and planners, construction and engineering firms, and utility providers. Additionally, organizations whose purpose is the development of remote sensing technologies and software products are key to bringing the technology down to a usable form for the end-user. Because this is a new research area it is proposed that a strong initial emphasis be placed on identifying and bringing together those benefactors, organizations and individuals that have the requisite background and vision to advise, promote, and assist actively the transportation focus area. Consistent with the general objectives of RSTC, three highly focused roundtable discussions among experts will be conducted to identify:

• Potential remote sensing applications in transportation and the utility industry.
• Technical, economic, and social factors limiting the application of remote sensing to transportation and the utility industry.
• Potential solutions to overcome the factors limiting the application of remote sensing to transportation and the utility industry.

Relationship to cross-cutting areas. Frequent meetings are scheduled with the Workforce Development group to collaborate on needs assessment, formal education, and outreach activities. The Computational Modeling group will be relied upon for assistance in developing appropriate decision systems and visualization technologies that effectively analyze data and convey information that has been collected via remote sensing.