The Magazine of Leica Geosystems

REPORTER 4020 4030 50

M A D E T O M E A S U R E

As an example, theTPS1100 ProfessionalSeries: mass pointrecording with 50% gain intime, choice of fiveinstrument versions of differing stages of auto-matic operation, fourclasses of accuracybetween 1.5” and 5”, fullstation operation and datatransfer without connectingcable with the RCS1100remote control unit, etc –and all this with the world’sfirst total station with coaxial integrated distancemeasuring device withoutreflector. Please open thisissue of the Reporter atpages 15 and 16 if youwould like to know moreabout the Leica TPS1100Professional Series and theTPS300 Basic Series.

We will keep our policy ofexpansion by concentratingon innovative totalsolutions which provide ourcustomers with the decisivecompetitive advantage. I am pleased to invite youto join us on our path intothe next millennium.

Sincerely yours

Hans HessPresident & CEO Leica Geosystems

basis, created for itself themeans for new technologies,product developments andmarket initiatives as well asfurther extending its after-sales services.

In the financial year 1997/98Leica Geosystems increasedits sales by ten percent to460 million Swiss francs andhas positively continued thisdevelopment in the currentyear in exactly the sameway. Despite (or thanks to)our annual investments inresearch and developmentin the region of about fiftymillion Swiss francs, ourprofits rose in parallel withit. I am confident that thistendency will continuefurther. Why?

In this respect, look moreclosely with a specialist’s critical eye at, for example,our new Leica Professional

Series TPS1100 andthe TPS300 BasicSeries total stations.No other manufactu-rer on the world market offers yousuch a package ofadvantages.

2

With this Reporter Issue

No 40, Leica Geosystems

opens up a new chapter in

its company history.

Because of the change of

principal shareholder we

have acquired a new capital

basis which allows us to

guarantee an even better

service to our customers in

the future. At the same

time we are launching a

new generation of total

stations for demanding

professional use and with a

particularly attractive price:

performance ratio.

Ready for the new millennium

Published by

Leica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 HeerbruggPresident & CEO: Hans Hess

Editorial officeLeica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 HeerbruggPeter Bumbacher, VP Strategic MarketingFax: +41 71 727 46 89Internet: Peter.Bumbacher@email.leica-geosystems.com

EditorsPeter Bumbacher, Waltraud Strobl, Fritz Staudacher (Stf)

Layout and productionNiklaus Frei

TranslationDogrel AG, St. Margrethen

Cover photo: Øresund bridgePhoto: Scandia Photopress, Jesper Arvidsson

Publication detailsThe Reporter is published in German,English, French, Spanish and Japanesethree times a year.

Reprints and translations, includingexcerpts, are subject to the Editor’s priorpermission in writing.

The Reporter is printed on chlorine-freepaper made by environmentallycompatible processes.

© Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg, November 1998, Printed in Switzerland

Editorial deadline for next issue:7th January 1999

I M P R I N T

Our way into the newmillennium has thereforefirm foundations and isclearly staked out for thefuture. Investcorp, London,our new principal share-holder, in a transactionworth 450 million Swissfrancs, has taken over LeicaGeosystems from LancetInvestments BV. Theinternational managementteam based in Heerbrugg,Switzerland, as well as theworkforce of a good 2200 employees remainunchanged. But by beingquoted on the stock exchange, our strong position in the world-widesurveying market, with amarket share of 20%,should in the medium termadd a further dynamism to the future. For you as aLeica customer, this meansthat Leica Geosystems has,with this additional capital

The brochure “Ready for the new millennium“ provides youwith a good overall view of Leica Geosystems, a copy maybe obtained from your Leica Representative or by returningthe order card enclosed.

“Measure, record and monitor our environment, its infrastructure and resour-ces” – what is embodied inLeica Geosystems’ businessaims as the area of activity,also moulds many of ourreaders in their professionalactivities. With theincreasing integration of amultiplicity of qualitativedata in position referencedGIS or LIS new responsi-bilities arise for many Leica Geosystems’customers, which theyaccept willingly. The experts in the Republicof Belarus have to concernthemselves with one of themost serious cases ofenvironmental documenta-tion world-wide. You willalso find in this issue of theReporter an article on thetechnically demanding workof bridge building andtunnelling over and underthe Øresund. The preventionof possible damage to natureproject work must be takeninto account when building.Time and again it is provedthat without surveyingengineers using the mostmodern equipment availablefor these tasks, such challen-ges cannot be mastered.

Yours,

Waltraud StroblBrand & Image PlanningManager

Editorial

3

Dear Reader

The land connection aboveand below the Øresund

In the year 2000 the permanent land link betweenSweden and Denmark willbecome reality. We talk tothose responsible for surveying this millenniumwork of construction.Page 4

Modern land andenvironment register inBelorussia

One of the most modernland register of our times isbeing created in the middleof central Europe. A combination of photo-grammetry, GPS, surveyingand GIS enables speedyprogress to be made withthe project.Page 8

A new generation of LeicaTotal Stations

With the Leica TPS300 Basic Series and TPS1100Professional Series, Leicalaunches a new generationof total stations havingnumerous advantages.Page 15

Meeting place for surveyors

In the British coastal resort of Brighton, world-renowned specialists metfor the 21st FIG Congressheld under the motto“Developing the Professionin a Developing World”.Page 12

Hydrological studies in Greece

Interpretation on the basisof orthophotos offers numerous advantages. Dr Maria Lasaridou provesthis impressively for hydro-logical tasks.Page 11

Summary of contents

4

Europe grows ever closer

together! This is not only a

political process; large-

scale infrastructure works

are also helping to bring it

about. Often, places that

were once on the periphery

are now turning into new

economic centres. By the

year 2000, Swedes and

Norwegians will at last be

able to get to continental

Europe dry-footed, without

a great detour by way of

Finland and Russia or

having to board ship.

If they wish, they can even

continue their journey as

far as England and Scotland

without getting their feet

wet. The Viking long ships

have had their day, and

more difficult days for the

ferries will come! A new

permanent road and rail

connection across the

Øresund between Denmark

and Sweden is at present

under construction to make

this possible. It will link

the cities of Copenhagen

and Malmö to make this

the largest economic

and trading region in

Scandinavia, with more

than three million

inhabitants.

Permanent and fixed road and rail linkacross the Øresund

In the last couple of decades,two other major infrastruc-ture projects have providedthe conditions for this: theroad and rail link across theGreat Belt, between the continent and the Danishisland of Zealand; and the“Chunnel“, the Channel tunnel linking Britain andFrance. Only quite recently,in June 1998, the new 17-kilometre (10fi-mile) bridgeand tunnel system acrossthe Great Belt was openedto traffic. Earlier, French andBritish surveyors guidedtheir tunnel-drilling teamsduring the construction ofthe 42-kilometre (25-mile)Eurotunnel through the limnic chalk under theEnglish Channel. On theØresund construction sites,as with the Chunnel and theGreat Belt, Leica systemsare again helping to provideprecise coordinates and azimuths for the use of surveyors and constructionteams.

Combined tunnel and bridge link across ten milesof stormy Baltic

The Øresund project will traverse the 16km width ofthe narrow sea between theDanish capital, Copenhagenand Malmö, Sweden’s third-largest city, by a combinedtunnel and bridge link. Near the island of Saltholm, landfill has been used tocreate a man-made islandfor the changeover frombridge to tunnel construc-

tion. Thus the Øresund project, to some extent, mirrors the link across theGreat Belt, but there, anatural island, Sprogoe,was available for thebridge-to-tunnel transition,and the road was built progressively from west toeast, largely separated fromthe railway line.As they leave Denmark forSweden, the four-lane roadlink and the pair of railwaytracks dive undergroundimmediately next to Copen-hagen’s Kastrup airportbuilt on reclaimed land, intoa 3750-metre tunnel underthe Øresund. These two arteries then surface againon the west side of the4210m long man-madeisland. For reasons of nature conservancy andbecause of ocean currents,the island is split east-to-west into two, connected bya 600m long bridge. Fromthe island, a 3.1km shorespan sweeps to the 1.1kmhigh-level bridge across theØresund – the project’s biggest structure andSweden’s tallest, which, inthe flat Baltic landscape, isvisible from afar. The travel-ler will then continue thejourney on the high-levelbridge to the Scandinavianpeninsula and by the 3.6kmlong eastern shore span to

the Malmö suburbLernacken on the Swedishcoast. The three Øresundbridges have a total lengthof 7480m. They aredesigned as two-level combined road and railbridges, made up of 11m high by 120m and140m long enclosed steelgirder trusses. The two railtracks are inside thisstructure. On top, once the23.5m wide transverselyprestressed concrete deck is cast, it will carry thefour-lane road. The high-level bridge clears the seato allow seagoing ships at aheight of 57 metres to passunderneath by the Flinterenchannel – moved sidewaysa little and dredged to agreater depth – through theshallows of the Øresund’sneedle’s eye.

Some swan, that!

Like the western tunnel-building site in Copen-hagen, the Malmö site isalso a very busy place. The 100m tall neck of theSvanen (Swan) floatingcrane rises above MalmöNorth Harbour, flanked bythe bridge’s toweringconcrete piers and caissonscast here in the harbour.This Swan, with its 100mlong by 70m wide pontoon,

The Øresund project connects Copenhagen (on the right) to Malmö. This bird’s-eye view shows how it will look on completion in the year 2000. Illustration by courtesy of Øresund BilledArkiv

5

is a member of a technicalspecies in worldwidedemand. It has alreadygiven proof of its 6700-tonlifting capacity and its accuracy on constructionsites in other waters: first in the Great Belt, thenin eastern Canada in thebuilding of the great bridgeon St Edwards Island.Long before Svanen floatsout into the sea with itsheavy load, the Sundlinksurveying team had definedthe positions of the bridgepiers and pylons in the sea.Later, foundation pads havebeen secured with a heighttolerance of ±5mm in theunderwater excavation.Then, with centimetre precision, the crane lowersthe great pier caissons onto the pads. On the seafloor, underwater mortar isused to grout the caissonsinto place. Then Svanen canbring the made-to-measurepier shafts, varying inheight, into the Øresund,where the caisson and shaftare joined together to formone of the fifty-one piers ofthe two shore spans. Thebridge superstructureconsists of forty-nine 120mand 140m long individualspans. These are prefabri-cated on land, floated outinto position by the floatingcrane, and placed on thepiers in perfect alignment.So are the trusses of thehigh-level bridge, weighingup to 5500 metric tons each.Only the two great caissonsfor the pylons were toomuch even for Svanen andhad to be floated out onspecially built catamaranbarges hauled by five tugs.

Their position was deter-mined by GPS in April 1997with an accuracy of betterthan 75mm. Sliding shuttering is used forconcreting the 203.5m tallpylons of the 490m clear-span cable-stayed bridge.

Self-contained surveyingsystem for positioning

Besides its tremendouspower and high-precisionsteering, Svanen owes itspositional accuracy to thedata it receives in real time from the Sundlink Surveying Section. Twoyears ago, Sundlink’s chiefsurveyor, Uwe Krause, anda small team used the latesthardware and software todevelop further a surveysystem of process-based procedures for the Swan’stasks. This provides all data

necessary for the precisenavigation of the floatingcrane and the exact positioning of the structuralelements in the Øresund.Three monitors continuallydisplay the position and anydeviation from specifiedvalues. In the Øresund bridge project, Leica instruments are in use forall angle and distance measurement, with LeicaAPSWin software tomonitor programmedsettlement. These “waterand field data“ are collatedat the central SurveyingSection, transmittedelectronically by LeicaRCS1000 data terminals orradio link, and integrated asnecessary in the higher-level GPS-supporteddatabase. This DKS networkof six permanent Leica GPS stations in Denmark,

Sweden, and on the man-made island, transmitsreference signals in RTCMSC104 format for GPS positioning in real time, andcan be accessed with theRINEX format. It has a real-time accuracy over thewhole of the project area of better than 30mm.

Steep sights on giant pylons

“Why are you only usingLeica total stations andtheodolites for your surveyson the Øresund?“ we askedthe Head of the SundlinkSurveying Section. UweKrause replied: “Thatdecision was not spontane-ous nor by chance. We arrived at it step by step aswe began to look more closely at the criteria in thesite specifications, and thenit was practically a logicalconsequence. But first wehad to reach a basic decision: what methodshould we use, GPS or conventional tacheometry,or perhaps a combinationof both? For most tasks,GPS was out of thequestion, because it wouldnot be able to ensure theaccuracy needed in bridge-building. But we use GPSstations for checking and toobtain approximate naviga-tional fixes. We therefore limited our choice ofmethod to conventional surveying and its latesttechnologies. For us professionals it was clearfrom the beginning that theonly instruments ofpractical use on the piersand the gigantic (over 200mtall) pylons must allowextremely steep mutualsights. Leica was really theonly supplier of a practical, convincing and standardsolution for that. Not onlyare there steep-angleeyepieces, pentaprisms,and other accessories available for these instru-ments, you can point at

Water above and below, that’s the tough construction-site reality that people and instruments have to cope with.

6

very steep angles. All youneed do is to hinge up theinstrument’s carryinghandle.“

Leica’s man comes at onceand gives reliable service

Besides accuracy and functional reliability, otheraspects of these instrumentsthat are nowhere moreclearly visible and moredecisive than on a majorconstruction site are suchfactors as a uniformoperating system andcompatibility. And there is aspecial criterion: the suppliershould be nearby, able toprovide fast reaction timesand quality service. UweKrause: “Our teams workshifts and must be reachableat all times, practicallyaround the clock. A uniformoperating system withprogrammable proceduresof automatic target location,for example like that of theLeica TCA1800 total stationswith APSWin software, reduces the job’s complexityand increases the reliabilityof results. Our surveyorshave to be out with the construction teams in allweathers; at first, at sea,they stand on floatingcranes; then on scaffoldingand platforms; and now evermore often at dizzyingheights on mighty pylonsand trusses. Malfunctions ininstruments must be limitedto the absolute minimum.And if, despite our own

section’s careful mainte-nance and well-equippedcalibration facilities, aninstrument becomes unser-viceable, we need themanufacturer’s fast back-up.On a construction site likethis, no-one can pay for ortolerate expensivedowntime.“ Before the Sundlink surveyteam finally decided to useonly Leica equipment, itgained on-site experience.Uwe Krause again: “Malmö isn’t my first experience of Leica service. My first positive contactwith this manufacturer’sservice and consultancysystem was on my last construction job, the Athens

underground railwaysystem. At the moment wehave thirty-eight Leicasurvey instruments in use,mainly TCA1800 totalstations, most of themequipped with radiomodems for data transmis-sion to Leica RCS1000 controllers. Some of ourhundred or so prisms andmany more reflector-foil tar-gets are fixed permanentlyin position on particularlycritical structural elements.“

Project on schedule, only asingle blip due to weather

So far, hardly any technicalproblems have arisen,despite the hard use towhich the Leica equipmentis exposed on the Øresund.Sundlink’s survey team canrely on its instruments, justas Sundlink’s entire projectmanagement can dependon Krause’s survey plan andon his team of professio-nals. Although foul weathermade it necessary to fix theposition of the left-handpylon caisson a secondtime in April 1997, theproject as a whole is still onschedule. Thus nothing nowseems to stand in the wayof completion on time ofthis final link in Europe’sdirect north-south trunk-road and mainline railwaysystems.

The next big Europeannorth-south project maywell be a bridge across theStrait of Messina to linkcontinental Italy with Sicily.That may start even beforethe proposed new Gotthardbase tunnel through theSwiss Alps. It would be yetanother challenge forbridge-builders andsurveyors of Uwe Krause’scalibre. The future willshow whether the greatSwan will also follow themto those gentler, more

At the moment, the high-level bridge emerges from the Øresund like a deep-sea oil-drilling rig. The shorespans of the bridge advance from the Swedish coast with a giant’s steps.

The four pylon legs for the Øresund high-level bridge are still rising from the sea. Once the caissons had been grouted into place, a permanent geodetic network was set up with brackets firmly anchored in the concrete. The network was then surveyed by stationary GPS and checked from pylon to pylon with TCA1800 total stations. The coordinates of the control points were determined in the global DKS-GPS system by network adjustment.

7

A certified Leica TCA1800 total station on a stable concrete pillar was used on piers E28-E24 to monitor settlement. The total station was connected to a computer and controlled by Leica APSWin software. Nearby controls in Lernacken were used as reference points for the measuring cycles each 15 minutes. Reflectors have been fixed to the upper sections of the pier shafts, one each on their north and south sides. Excel software is used for the further processing of data prepared by APSWin. All settlement has proved to be within the specified tolerances.

Above: surveying results and optimizing correction values for the construction engineers are presented directly after the fixation of the bridge elements.

Sundlink’s Survey Section, responsible to a consortium of four civil-engineering contractors

Sundlink’s Survey Section is a department of SundlinkContractors (Skanska, Hochtief, Hojgaard & Schultz, andMonberg & Thorsen), who won the design-and-buildturnkey contract for the Øresund bridge, worth over a billion US dollars, when it was put out to tender by theØresund Konsortiet. Uwe Krause, its chief surveyor,reports directly to Sundlink’s Technical Department. In the framework of the consortium’s decentralized management organization and within the limits of thespecifications, he and his team carry out their job as anindependent unit. Krause has organized his SurveyingSection in four areas of responsibility. These main groups are Central Surveys, Onshore, Offshore, andSuperstructure Surveys. At present, these teams runeight survey outstation offices to ensure around-the-clockaccuracy directly on site. During the last two years, instep with increased construction activity, Krause’sSundlink survey team has grown to a total of 37 people.Despite the high degree of automation of their systemsand procedures, the basic survey and a wide variety ofplanning, positioning, setting-out, and control duties keep them fully occupied on this vast construction site.

southerly climes. Mean-while, Svanen is still verymuch in demand up therein the cold, salty, storm-tossed waters of theØresund, the seaway thatØresundkonsortiet and Sundlink Contractors wantto conquer in both direc-tions as soon as possible, inthe interest of all the peopleof Europe.

-Stf-

Base Station

In his office, Uwe Krause, Section Head Survey, explains the transport, assembly, and erection procedures for the bridge’s various structural elements.

information database weretherefore required.

Ground quality and

contamination

Equally clear to thoseresponsible, was that sincethe atomic power stationaccident at Chernobyl, lyingmerely thirty kilometresdistant from the country’sborder, recording and mapping environmentaldamage had to be allotted ahigh degree of importance.Most of the contaminatingsubstances from theUkrainian atomic pile fell onBelorussia. And naturallythe character of the soil and resources had to beclassified. All this was onlyto be properly solved withthe help of a moderninformation system.

8

A land register of the future

In 1995 Belorussian

surveying engineers set

about creating a new

land register for the

Republic of Belarus with

the help of Switzerland.

Driving forces were

mastering environmental

problems, creating free-

market conditions for

providing the opportunity

for personal and company

development, the yearning

for peace following decades

of the cold war and Soviet

domination as well as the

will to do something

positive for West-East

economic equalisation.

In the “Land Registry andLand Management“committee of the FIGCongress 1998, consultantJürg Kaufmann and OlegCrupenin, deputy chairmanof the Belorussian Commit-tee for Land Resource received much approval andapplause from internationalprofessional circles, on their presentation of theBelorussian Land Informa-tion System. In the 2500 km2

large pilot district ofSoligorsk the new ownerscould be presented withland certificates each withindividual plan drawingsafter only 16 months andmultifunctional documenta-tion in various scales couldbe produced. That was onlypossible in such a shorttime because a highly quali-fied project management

team not only coordinatedand applied a multiplicity ofthe most modern technolo-gies and knowledge, butalso because reciprocally,highly humane acceptanceand specialist qualificationsdominated. What exactlyconcerned the experts?

The responsibility of

property

Quickly following thebreaking away of the Republic of Belarus fromthe earlier USSR, the Council of Ministers hadrecognised that the pathaway from the centrallyplanned economy to themarket economy requiredthe creation of a legallyenforceable right ofproperty. A land reformwith a comprehensive newsurvey and land

Above: Jürg Kaufmann (left) inMinskRow of pictures right: (I) Projectdirector Alexander Kovalyov, (II) Oleg Crupenin / SD3000, (III) GPS control point compres-sing, (IV) Assessment of ground:potash mining in Soligorsk.

9

After only 16 months, plans with different scales and content could be created for the 2500 square kilometre large Soligorsk District from the LIS database.Left hand page: Extract from the land register 1:1000 (here shown for printing reduced to 1:2000).Left: Reference map 1:25000 (here shown for printing reduced to 1:50000).

Structure and content of the Belorussian land information system

Ten work stages to the Belorussian LIS1. Compressing the fixed point grid with GPS measuring2. Photogrammetric aerial survey3. Aerial triangulation control point determination4. Determination of parcel boundaries with the future owners5. Digitisation of the boundaries of state-owned and collective

farms6. Interpretation of individual objects and ground features from

aerial photographs7. Photogrammetric evaluation of visible parcel boundaries 8. Addition to the LIS contents with GPS / TC surveying9. Integration of the ground quality assessments in the LIS by

digitisation10. Integration of the environmental information

Integrated data acquisition

with photogrammetry,

GPS and surveying

Based on a multifunctionalland and environment register, as already used inthe Swiss National Survey(AV93) a land informationsystem specially adapted tomeet the special require-ments of Belorussia cameinto existence on therecommendation of JürgKaufmann under the projectdirection of V M Podolyako,A A Kovalyov and O M Crupenin. The latest surveying technologies ofour decade and all fromLeica were employedtogether: a RC30 camerasystem with ASCOT soft-ware for GPS navigation forthe photogrammetry, twoanalytical SD3000 stereoplotting systems, a PATBGPS aero-triangulation soft-ware package, four digitalDVP video plotting systems,a ATP2 stereo interpretationunit and a PUG4 pointtransmission unit, alongwith seven GPS System300’s for terrestrial determi-nation of coordinates andthree TC1010 total stations.Also with Swiss help, twoAdalin GIS workstationsand an aerial survey photograph scanner wereacquired from othersuppliers. In the secondphase of the project afurther six GPS SR9500’s,four GPS SR9400’s, thirteenTC800’s, one PUG4, twoATP2’s, two SD3000’s andeleven DVP’s all from Leica,were added to the list.

High reliability in two shift

operation

120 Belorussian specialistsacquired with this “equip-ment of high precision andreliability in two-shift operation“ (J Kaufmann)the data in phase 1 in thefield, from the air and in theoffice. Further specialistsare being continuously trained on the spot at theirown training and servicecentre in the application ofthese new technologies andin the maintenance of theinstruments. The districts ofDscherschinsk, Minsk andGorki in the meantime arealso comprehensively documented, and with Soligorsk, will soon countwith their land informationas the most modernexamples of their type.worldwide. The conceptualand technical conditions for realising this land information system in theother Belorussian districts,and therefore to furtherdevelopment of the country,have been created.

-Stf-

Radioactive contamination

Meliored grounds

Private real property

State-owned and collective farms, villages

Ground quality

Selected single objects

Soil types

Fixed points

10

“The best combination oftechnology and expertise“

The REPORTER interviewed

Dr. Alexander A. Kovalyov,

the Director of the Science

and Technology Centre for

Remote Sensing RSTC

“ECOMIR“ at the Academy

of Sciences in Minsk,

Belarus.

What did the surveying

situation look like in Belarus

after an independent

republic was created?

Alexander Kovalyov: “A new door opened. Wesuddenly had the oppor-tunity to work with the mostadvanced technological concepts in the world. Themain problem for the development of the countrywas the absence of a land-registration survey andof an ecology database.Remember that a lot of thefallout from Chernobyl finished up in our country.“

How did you proceed?

“To start with, we assessedthe requirements of ourcountry, at the same timelooking in the world marketsfor new partners who couldprovide us with the latesttechnologies for tackling ourproblems. We found thesepartners in Switzerland, andthey met our requirementsnot only technologically butalso governmentally and interms of expertise in

surveying. Switzerland wasthe first country to give us not only moral support,but also to provide verysubstantial help in terms ofcredit. The embassyresponsible for Poland andfor Belarus, the SwissDepartment for OverseasTrade (BAWI), and Mr JürgKaufmann, the Swissconsultant, brought inSwiss companies from theindustry and created a realistic concept to beimplemented in stages.Starting with our maingoals, this conceptcombined aspects relatingto property boundaries withthose concerned with environmental protectionand other subjects. When,in Soligorsk, we printed outeach property owner's ground plan on our LIS andpresented it, there were alot of pleased faces. Foreigncompanies can now invest

here on the basis of this sortof data.“

Belarus has strongly

suffered after the Chernobyl

disaster. How did your

equipment work in the

pollued territories?

“It’s true that 70% of theradionucleides thrown out in the atmosphere by theChernobyl accident fell outon the territory of the Republic of Belarus,resulting in a contaminationwith radionucleides of 22%of the Republic’s territory.During the last five years,when proceeding withecological and radiationinvestigation ofcontaminated territories, wehave used mobile radio-metric laboratories andLeica GPS and Leica TC600total stations. All instru-ments worked very preciselyand were reliable even in themost ‘dirty’ conditions.“

Radiation investigation of contaminated territories by one of the mobile laboratories: Dr. Alexander A. Kovalyov, Director of ECOMIR (left) and scientists Olga Tereshina and Sergey Zuy.

What is the situation today?

“The first two pilot projectshave been completed; Soligorsk is the better-known of the two. Theresults have proved to becompletely in line with therequirements of our population, our governmentand our economy. Now we have to apply thesemethods and systems, andthe experience we have gained, to five additionalregions. We have set up ourown service centre inBelarus for GPS and fortotal stations. We can intensify the training of ourspecialists in this area. Inthe name of all of those responsible in Belarus Iwant to express our thanksfor the great support thatyou have given us. Withoutyour help, we would nothave made as muchprogress. The fact thatmany good friendships havebeen cemented betweenindividuals in our respectivecountries is a typical by-product of our new European cooperation.“

- Stf -Pre-conditions for the success of the project

Drainage and surveying engineer ETH Jürg Kaufmann is alwaysbeing asked why this international land registry project went sowell. These are his eight points:

- political support from the authorities in both countries- an existing and clear legal basis- good preparations and supervision for the project - excellent technical concepts and equipment- qualified specialists operating purposefully - equipment working reliably in two-shift operation- good communications (mutual understanding, translator)- trust and (flowing from that) friendship

11

The art of photointerpretation

The word “technique“, along with much basic knowledge

in this field, has its origins in Greece. How one can

gather and document with photogrammetric techniques

and in particular by using orthophotography, hydraulic-

hydrological conditions, was recently examined and

described by Dr Maria Lasaridou of the Aristotle University

Remote Sensing Laboratory in Thessaloniki in the study

presented in the English and Greek languages

“Contribution to the study of subjects of hydraulics by

means of photo interpretation and photogrammetric

methods“.

Right: Orthophotographic interpretation (original scale 1:6000, reduced reproduction)

main road

secondary road

building

watercourse

cultivated land

tree

vegetation

steep slope

land slip

The maps shown here arethe results of orthophoto-graphic interpretation undera Wild ST4 mirror stereo-scope. In evaluating MariaLasaridou was mainlyconcerned with therecording of drainagebasins, watersheds, confluences, contours,isolated characteristicpoints, courses and landutilisation etc. In the study,Dr M Lasaridou came to the following conclusion:“A photointerpretationstudy is a valuable basis forall further examination(photogrammetry, digitalanalysis, GIS etc.). The steadily developingtechnique of orthophoto-graphy (elevation data, stereo orthophotographs,automatic operation etc.)proves itself to be a veryinteresting method becauseit offers a photographicdocument which combinesthe advantages ofphotography with a map.The orthophotograph wasproduced in an OR1 WildAvioplan. The rectificationmeasuring carried out inthe Wild BC2 analytical stereo plotting instrumentoffers direct or indirect datafor numerous importantparameters for hydrologicalstudies (land inclinations,numerous geometric data,acquiring a digital model ofthe terrain)“.

Right: Aerial photographic interpretation of a drainage basin (original scale 1:15000, reduced reproduction)

watershed

watercourse

road

fold

area boundaries:(1) area of erosion,(2) land slip,(3) vegetation,(4) cultivated land,(5) built-up area.

12

“People from 70 different nationsbut just a single theme“

It is almost impossible to find a better summing up of the

meaning of the FIG Congress for the international exchange

of experience in surveying, than this statement made by

the American Cecilia Whitaker. In ten technical committees

drawn from the 1200 participants of the Fédération

Internationale des Géomètres (FIG) questions were

discussed under the heading “Developing the Profession in

a Developing World“. In almost 500 presentations, top-class

speakers made it clear that the world of the surveyors is in

upheaval and is positioning itself anew.

The diversity in the newchallenges was reflected inthe choice of theme for the21st International FIGCongress 1998 held in theBritish seaside resort ofBrighton. They extend fromcomputer assisted learningthrough land register reformof the OECD countries downto the integration of differentpositioning methods – atechnical session presidedover by Leica Geosystems’Business Director, HolgerSchade. In the adjoining specialistexhibition, it was not instruments which occupiedthe foreground with LeicaGeosystems but concretesolutions to problemslearned from practice, as for example, surveying theØresund land connection,constructing the new HongKong airport, building a newfreeway in Orange County,California, or the photo-grammetric documentationof Brighton’s Royal Pavilion.

Left: Cecilia Whitaker fromMWD in South California, is within the 60-strong surveyingdepartment responsible for survey monitoring and documen-tation of one of the largest andmost important water supplynetworks in the world. Amongher responsibilities is alsodeformation monitoring of largedams in this arid area of activeearth movements. Apart from thesuccessful use of Leica TCA1800total stations and Leica APSWinsoftware, she looks at the basisof the Leica MC1000 for newapproaches to findingpermanent solutions in the fieldof GPS.

As does Mike Fort, senior lectu-rer at the National ConstructionCollege, Bircham Newton, Norfolk, numerous FIG Congressparticipants prepare a newgeneration for the profession ofthe surveyor, and also instructcivil engineers concerned withsurveying. Also belonging to Mike Fort’sresearch and training objectivesis work with the Leica GPSSystem 300, which provides himwith excellent results. Mike Fort: “It is mainly in theconstruction industry that GPSwill gain in importance“.

Father a surveyor, mother a surveyor: what indeed shouldthe children want to become? Mark McDougall attends to allsurveying tasks arising, from hissurveyor’s office in Nelson Bug,Australia. In a syndicate withtwo other firms, in addition toclassical Leica instruments, healso employs a Leica GPS300and to his full satisfaction. MarkMacDougall: “After this FIG conference, it is more than everbefore clear to me, that in thefuture, when working on a landregister project, we shall include, integrate and managemuch more than was the casepreviously. This opens up newopportunities for our branch“.And for his two children too!

13

Next to topics of further educa-tion, “New Public Management“was one of my main spheres ofinterest at this FIG Congress”,said Dr Gert Steinkellner, secretary-general of the Austrian Society for Surveyingand Geo-Information. As the person responsible at theAustrian Office for Weights andMeasures and Surveying fortraining and further education ofthe 1500 people engaged at 60 locations, he could make acomparison at Brighton to seehow other organisations areimproving customer orientationand cost management. “As aresult, the individual is thrustever more to the centre. One ofour main points of emphasis infurther education is thecontinuing training with ourinstruments, software and computer applications. It is onlyin this way that these ‘tools’ canbe used in a customer-friendlyand cost efficient manner“, saidGert Steinkellner. Amongst these‘tools’ are numerous Leicainstruments, and not only out ofa sense of tradition.

Dr Yovanny Arturo Martinez fromIGAC Bogota along with directorDr Santiago Borrero followed theworkshops concerned with landregistry, this time particularlymore intensively. Yovanny Martinez is an assistant directorland register at the Instituto Geografico Agustin Codazziresponsible for one of the mostimportant projects of this type inthe whole of Latin America andwas himself the speaker on thistopic at the ISPRS Congress inVienna in 1996. The most moderninstruments and systems are inuse for new surveying, mappingand land documentation of thiscountry, including GPS and LIS.They were all supplied by LeicaGeosystems, which is alsoresponsible for training thepersonnel.

Right: Professor Dr Fritz Brunner(left) from Graz University, is oneof the pioneers of modern GPSsurveying. Here at the Leica Geosystems stand, he is just discussing with Reporter editorFritz Staudacher the ease of useof the new GPS equipment, asubject that Fritz Brunner hadinfluenced on the industrial side,even at the beginning of the lastdecade.

Right: Marcel Müller of the cantonal Department of Surveying, Fribourg, particularlyappreciated the technicalexcursions arranged by the British FIG specialists for theircolleagues from the wholeworld. M Müller: “I took part in twoexcursions and saw impressiveexamples of modern surveyingwith Leica equipment. When forexample does one otherwisehave the chance to discover thesecrets of London’s water supplysystem?“.

Above: Professor Jean Rüegerfrom Australia emphasised indiscussions with LeicaGeosystems Business DirectorOlaf Katowski, the necessity forpassing on to students profoundknowledge of instruments. Onlyin this way can the specialistrecognise the limits of differentmethods and types ofinstruments, exploit advantagesto the full and avoid mistakes.

Left: Thien-Nyen Wong,president of the Hong KongInstitute of Surveying, passed onprofessional insights from theplanning and building phases ofthe Chek Lap Kok airport withnumerous new road and railaccesses. Hundreds of Leicainstruments were employedhere.

14

You can read on the web site(www.leica-geosystems.com)what FIG participants were say-ing at the exhibition stand abouttheir projects and experienceswith Leica Geosystems andimmediately find thesestatements again in the Internet. Thus reported the AustralianBernie deWitt about his experi-ence with Leica Instruments:“We decided on Leica as farback as 1972 on account of thecompany’s long tradition.Advisory and after-sales serviceare excellent and uncompromi-sing as is the reliability of theinstruments themselves. Wehave had practically all Leicaproducts in action, from the earlier T2 with DI10, down to themodern GPS system”.

Above: “The winners are...”FIG President Professor PeterDale finds the lucky winners ofthe first Leica Geosystems Internet competition by thechance principle of drawingfrom the hat. John Aaron,

Left: Large projects are pendingin Russia. Of particular interestto Professor Sergej Say werethe topics of land registry andGPS. In this, Europe’s largestcountry, Leica Geosystems has a joint-venture production enterprise with Russian partners in Ekaterinburg, St Petersburg and Moscow.

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Left: Thus, also during theCongress, Malcolm Draper, journalist with an internationalsurveying magazine, finds anagreeable way of optaininginformation for his witty “Undercurrents“ column for the“FIG Daily News“ publishedeach day.

2002 INUSAWASHINGTOND.C.

winner of the Leica R8 reflexcamera and Chris Daniel winnerof a Leica Disto were informedjust two minutes later by e-mailfrom Leica Geosystems InternetManager Miren Kauer.

Waltraud Strohl (in the centre ofthe picture), responsible for Leica Geosystems representationat the FIG Congress, thanks customers, visitors, organisersand the local Leica salescompany in Milton Keynes, fortheir participation and support.

15

Great performance at an affordable price

With its TPS300 Basic Series

of total stations, Leica has

established a new price/

performance ratio bench-

mark. The rugged yet light-

weight instruments are

ideal for simple to

sophisticated surveying

assignments on construc-

tion sites. The focus in the

development of these

stations was on user-friend-

liness and efficiency gains.

Many features – some

exclusive to Leica, others

unique in this price class –

massively increase the

user’s productivity. They

include reflectorless measu-

rements, the laser plummet,

an extra trigger, endless

drive on the tangent screw

and a fast electronic

distance measurement hint.

The TPS300 Basic Seriescomprises two total stationcategories with or withoutbuilt-in reflectorless measu-rement capabilities. Despitetheir extremely lightweightdesign these Leicainstruments are robust andwill easily withstand roughhandling and exposure toinclement weather.

Ergonomics for productivityenhancement

Leica’s developmentengineers placed greatemphasis on userconvenience. One exampleis the standard laserplummet which lets the surveyor set up and centerthe instrument much morequickly and with greater precision. The procedure isremarkably simple: on its tripod, the instrument is placed over the groundpoint and can then be cente-red with a clearly visible,intensity-adjustable laserbeam. The endless drive onthe tangent screw is anotherexample: it eliminates theneed to release and reclampthe instrument when morefreedom is required.

Leica TPS300 Basic Series: Designed for productive surveying on construction sites.The TPS300 Basic Series includes not only classical total stations, but also reflectorless total stations (TCR models) – a debut in this class!

A further detail whichboosts productivity is theadditional trigger which isergonomically located nextto the precision horizontaldrive. Thanks to thisfeature, the surveyor cankeep looking through thetelescope while taking measurements – a very welcome convenience parti-cularly when multiple mea-surements are involved!

The display and the alpha-numeric data entry capabili-ty are also ergonomicassets: the TPS300 total stations incorporate best-of-class displays with 8 rowsof 24 characters. At thesame time, the predefinedkeys of the intuitivekeyboard have the samefunction in every menu.This is appreciated particu-larly by users who do notwork with the TPS300 everyday. Additionally, the instru-ments come with built-injob management softwarefor up to eight differentassignments as well as on-screen prompts, a cost-effective feature for basicstation configuration andset-up which preventserrors and eliminates theexpensive repetition ofmeasurements.

Reflectorless measurements:a debut in this class

The TCR models of theTPS300 Basic Series permitreflectorless measurementof distances and determina-tion of points. Leica uses avisible laser beam with avery small diameter Thereflectorless measurement isnot only fast and accuratebut also offers considerablebenefits in situations whereaccess to the object is impeded or preventedaltogether: building corners,high-rise structures, facadesurveys or elevated objects.It is easy to switch betweenreflector and reflectorlessmeasurement modes.

Full connectivity with theLeica system

The TPS300 Basic Series isfully compatible with Leica’sOpen Survey World Platform(OSW). Data interchange ishandled by the Leica SurveyOffice software package, the

shared platform for all ofLeica’s TPS sensors. The fast RS232 interfacesupports Geo Serial Inter-face commands and makesthem downward-compatiblewith numerous GSIperipherals. It allows theuser to upload data formattemplates from officesystems to the total stationand then to download themeasurement records in thedesired format.

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The endless drive and the laterally-situated trigger increase user convenience.

TPS1100 Professional Series. Productive and economic. The new user-friendly Leica total stations

supply goal-oriented data. The large liquid-crystal display shows all the main features at a glance.

The well-structured control panel, with its coloured keys, turns the work into a dialogue between the

user and the instrument. The flexible data-storage system easily adapts to your particular post-

processing system. This is an investment with prospects. Contact

your Leica agency so you can benefit from this innovation in your

daily work. All at a price which, with so much performance, guarantees financial success.

Leica Geosystems AG, Geodesy, CH-9435 Heerbrugg (Switzerland), Phone +41 71 727 31 31, Fax +41 71 727 46 73, www.leica-geosystems.com

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