Mailing address Address Tel: 003592 987 58 52; 003592 870 04 06

P.O.Box 431 108 Rakovski St. Fax: 003592 9879 360

1000 Sofia 1000 Sofia Bank Account: 110 0124115, Code 62173339,

FNTS e-mail: milev@bas.bg SGZB, Bulbank –Aksakov, Sofia 1000

UNION OF SURVEYORS AND LAND MANAGERS

IN BULGARIA

UNION DES GEODESIENS ET DES INGENIEURS

D’AMENAGEMENT FONCIER EN BULGARIE

VEREIN DER VERMESSUNGSINGENIEURE UND

LANDEINRICHTER IN BULGARIEN

__________________________________________________________________

http://geodesy.fnts-bg.org/

NATIONAL REPORT

FOR THE PERIOD 2007-2010

Editor: Assoc. Prof. D.Sc. Eng. Stanislav Vasilev, Chairman of the Cartography Department of

USLMB, stanvasilev@abv.bg and with the cooperation of Eng. Nikolay Nikolov, expert, Eng.

Ivanka Koleva, Secretary of USLMB and Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Milev, Chairman of USLMB,

milev@bas.bg

1. Information about the national representative of Bulgaria

Since 1968 the national representative of Bulgaria in the International

Cartographic Association (ICA) is the Union of Surveyors and Land Managers in

Bulgaria (USLMB). The Union is a public, professional, non-party organization.

The range of its members is from students to pensioners, from technicians to

professors, employees of state and private companies, enterprises, universities,

employers and contractors of geodetic activities.

The Union was founded 89 years ago. Together with 19 Scientific

Engineering Unions (NTS) and 36 territorial organizations in Bulgaria, the Union

is constitutor, and in pursuance of the decision of its Congress, it is a member of

the Federation of the Scientific Engineering Unions (FNTS) with headquarters in

Sofia – 108 Rakovski St., having regional structures in almost all of the 28 districts

in the country. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of its foundation, the Union

was awarded in 1999 with one of the highest distinctions of FNTS – the honorary

sign of the founder of FNTS “Simeon Vankov”.

In conformity with its statute, the Union structure comprises associations

and regional organizations. Its managing bodies, which are elected by the Union

Congress, are: Managing Committee (MC) of 35 people (22 from Sofia and 13

from the country), Chairman, Control Commission of 3 persons, Executive Bureau

– 12 members, 3 deputy chairmen, organization secretary and secretary. The

Congress elects 7 commissions on basic problems and activities, affiliated to it.

The Congress determines the trends of the activities during its mandate, the budget

of the organization and the membership dues amount.

The Union has 13 scientific-technical sections. Ten of the sections

correspond to the commissions of FIG and the rest 3 – to the International Society

of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), the International Cartographic

Association (ICA) and the International Association of Geodesy (IAG).

2. Internal activity of the Union

The Union has a permanent office in the building of the Federation of the

Scientific Engineering Unions in the center of Sofia, with permanently and not

regularly appointed staff.

Recently, the morally ethical aspects have acquired special importance and

hence the activities of the Union and the broad cooperation, as well as the

development of relevant documentation, have to be focused on these problems.

The establishment of optimal prices for geodetic works and the adherence to them

on behalf of the geodetic community plays a certain role in this respect. However,

it is expedient to try to find the broader attitude of the college on important

problems affecting it directly. This would be useful for the decision making

authorities and should not be realized only by a limited group of colleagues,

regardless of the fact whether their motives are correct or not. The problems will

be reflected on the entire college for many years in future.

The defense of the professional interests before the state and other non-

geodetic institutions and the state administration, where decisions concerning

geodesy are made, has to be the cause of the entire geodetic college. We consider

that in this respect an important role belongs to the Union and its Commission for

Protection of Professional Interests, as well as to the Chamber of Engineers-

geodesists, the Association of Geodetic Companies, the Section of Geodesy of the

Chamber of Architects and Engineers in Investment Design, so that their activity

and efforts should be enhanced and coordinated by the Union. To this end,

continuous persistence and efforts for finding effective solutions have to be

applied.

The activity of the Union is also focused on improving the qualification and

training of the specialists. The multisided scientific technical works, publishing

activities, international forums, where young specialists and students find place for

their contributions, are especially important in this respect. It has to be noted that

to a great extent the journal and international conference proceedings are the only

possibilities for publication, contribution and qualification of young specialists.

The experts of the Union prepare reviews for defense of PhD theses.

In pursuance to the decisions of the last Congress of USLMB, the Union

should work to:

1. strengthen the Union and unite its members; to enroll companies and

associations as corporate members.

2. enhance the role of the Union for the defense of professional interests and

social protection of geodesists and land surveyors; to build a relevant structure,

section or unit in the Union for that purpose; to introduce the licensing as one of

the methods for professional protection of the colleagues – geodesists and land

surveyors.

3. find ways for increasing the financial possibilities of the Union.

4. perform activities for enhancing the public prestige, position, role and

importance of geodesy in Bulgaria.

5. ensure further broader contacts and work in the field of geodesy,

cartography, cadastre and land surveying.

6. intensify the scientific technical activity of the Union at all levels for

improving the qualification and excellence of geodesists and land surveyors.

7. continue the publication of the organ of the Union – the journal

“Geodesy, cartography, land surveying”, seeking ways for its financial support

and improvement both in form and content.

8. actively work and promote the development of new normative basis in

geodesy and cadastre.

9. actively work for the development of modern structures of geodesy in

Bulgaria.

10. promote the excellence and updating of geodetic education, especially in

the technical schools, by organizing meetings with representatives of the interested

administrations and ministries, and discussions on educational curricula and

programs, etc.

3. Symposia and scientific conferences

The Union organizes international and national symposia, conferences,

seminars, national and regional meetings, and publishes the proceedings of these

and other events.

For already 20 years the Union organizes annual international symposia in

Sofia. Only the last one was organized in the Albena Black Sea resort on 23rd

to

25th of September, 2010. During the last four years the topic of the international

symposia was “Modern technologies, education and professional practice in

geodesy and related fields”. Accompanying events were organized with each of

the symposia:

Special sessions on cartography, photogrammetry, education,

professional practice, geodesy, spatial planning, GIS, etc.;

Special scientific sessions for young scientists, students and specialists

from practice;

Exhibitions of companies, specialized in the field of geodesy,

photogrammetry and cartography.

2007

An international symposium and a

specialized exhibition INTERGEO EAST

were held from February 28th

to March 2nd

2007 on the theme “Topical problems of

geodesy and related fields of national and

international importance”. The exhibition

was attended by 87 companies from 21

countries. The symposium took place from

February 28th to March 2

nd, and the

exhibition was on March 1st and 2

nd.

Together with USLMB, co-organizers of the forum were the Union of

German Geodesists (DVW), HINTE MESSE – Germany, CongrExpo – Serbia.

The Agency on Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre of the Ministry of Regional

Development and Public Works also supported the event.

The regular symposium was held on

November 8th and 9

th. The organizing committee

included eminent specialists in various fields.

The symposium and the accompanying events

were attended by scientists and specialists from 14

countries: Albania, Austria, Czech Republic, Egypt,

France, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia,

Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Bulgaria.

The total number of participants was about 200

persons. The number of submitted reports was 53, 40

of them belonging to scientists from abroad.

2008

The symposium and its accompanying events in 2008 were attended by

scientists and specialists from 10 countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany,

Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Turkey and Bulgaria.

The reports were grouped in

three thematic areas:

Modern technologies

Education

Professional practice

More than 40 reports on a broad range

of professional problems were

delivered. The total number of

participants exceeded 150 persons,

including 36 scientists from abroad.

The reports were published in

the symposium proceedings and were

delivered to the participants in the

beginning of the event. Since this year the proceedings volume is with a regular

ISBN number and is disseminated in libraries abroad too.

2009

The international symposium was held on November 5th and 6

th 2009. The

delivered reports were 53 and the presented posters – 4. Considerable international

participation was recorded, as well as enhanced activity of young scientists and

students.

The reports were duly published in the Proceedings and submitted to the

participants together with a disk containing the reports in an electronic form.

2010

The jubilee 20th international symposium was not organized in Sofia. It was

held in one of the most often visited resorts at the Black Sea coast from 23rd

to 25th

of September.

In this year the symposium was combined with the General Assembly of the

Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (CLGE).

The symposium and its accompanying events were attended by

representatives from 28 countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic,

Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,

Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia,

Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Bulgaria.

As in the previous years, the symposium was organized by a special

scientific committee with eminent members, including general secretaries of some

international organizations, co-organizers, as well as representatives of the

International Association of Geodesy, the Central European Initiative, etc.

4. Publishing activity

Journal of Geodesy, Cartography and Land Management

The Union publishes its journal since 1960. The journal is issued regularly

with six double numbers annually. It has its own invariable outlook. The quality of

publication is constantly improving and colored version on quality paper is issued

since 2008. Scientific and scientific-applied papers are published in the journal, as

well as information, related to internal union activities, changes in the legislative

basis, affecting the college members. Reports submitted to the International

Symposium after the fixed deadline and not included in the proceedings, are also

published in the journal.

In the last four years the following papers on cartographic topics were

published in the Journal of Geodesy, Cartography and Land Management:

No 1 / 2007

DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL COLORED ORTHO-PHOTO MAP FOR THE

TERRITORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA by Kamen Iliev, Danail

Evtimov, Kalin Stefanov, Kalin Ruskov, Milena Kurteva

APPLICATION OF GIS TECHNOLOGIES IN BULGARIA by Evgenia

Karadzhova, Alexander Lazarov, Ivan Kunhev, Angel Angelov, Ulrich Boes, Ivan

Kalchev

No 2-3 / 2007

BULGARIAN CARTOGRAPHY – COMPANION OF TOURISM by Ivan Petrov

No 4 / 2007

SPATIAL VARIATION OF THE SOIL PARAMETERS FOR MAPS IN

DIFFERENT SCALE by N. Todorova, R. Kuncheva

ON THE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND

TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE PREPARATION OF MODERN SOIL -

ECONOMIC AND OTHER MAPS by Nadezhda Todorova, Radka Kuncheva,

Martin Nenov

No 5 / 2007

DEVELOPMENT OF GIS FOR THE SOIL RESOURCES IN THE REGION OF

SAMOKOV, INCLUDING SOME OF THEIR HYDRO-PHYSICAL

PROPERTIES by Boyko Kolev, Penka Kastreva, Nevena Miteva, Daniela

Stefanova

No 5-6 / 2008

THE 110TH

ANNIVERSARY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGEND

SYMBOLS IN BULGARIAN CARTOGRAPHY by Veneta Kotseva

No 1-2 / 2009

NUMERICAL EXPRESSION AND ANALYSIS OF THE TOPOGRAPHIC

SURFACE by Georgi Valev and Penka Kastreva

A VIEW ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

INFORMATION SYSTEM by Metodi Mazhdrakov and I. Ivanova

No 3-4 / 2009

NEW CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDUCATIONAL ATLAS CARTOGRAPHY

IN THE AREA OF HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION by Veneta Kotseva

No 5-6 / 2009

SPACE AND CARTOGRAPHY by Stanislav Vasilev

No 1-2 / 2010

USING GIS FOR DETERMINATION OF POSITION AND THE ELEMENTS

OF SPATIAL PLANNING OF THE TERRITORY FOR PERENNIAL PLANTS

by Julieta Arnaudova

NEW CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDUCATIONAL ATLAS CARTOGRAPHY

IN THE AREA OF GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY by Veneta Kotseva

No 3-4 / 2010

HALF A CENTURY OF CIVIL CARTOGRAPHY by Yordan Stoyanov

No 5-6 / 2010

USING GOOGLE MAP API FUNCTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF

APPLICATIONS FOR WORK WITH GEOGRAPHIC SPATIAL DATA by

Plamen Maldzhanski

MAPPING OF PROTECTED AREAS OF NATURA 2000 AND COMPLETION

OF DATA FOR THE HABITATS USING GIS by Maria Asenova

CARTOGRAPHY AND CLASSIFICATION OF RURAL REGIONS USING GIS

by Emilia Patarchanova

Issuing of conference proceedings

The reports of the International Conference Modern technologies, education

and professional practice in geodesy and related fields are regularly published in

single volumes. They also include the reports of the accompanying session for

young scientists. The volumes are disseminated both among the participants in the

conference and the Bulgarian scientists. Four volumes of proceedings were

published during the considered period from 2007 to 2011. Since 2008 the

volumes have a regular ISBN number and are disseminated in specialized libraries

all over the world.

Internet web page of the Union

The Union has a permanent Internet web page http://geodesy.fnts-bg.org/. .

The web page in the Internet presents information about the annual international

symposia and other events. The reports,

delivered at the symposia in the recent years

are also posted in it. Information about the

Union is constantly maintained. The Union

is included in the network of FNTS. The

web page is relatively well kept at both

places. However, further efforts are

necessary for its completion and updating.

5. International cooperation,

membership in international

organizations

Bulgaria is represented abroad by the Union in international and other

organizations and institutions. The country is an active member in the International

Federation of Surveyors (FIG), founded 129 years ago in Paris. It is a member of

the International Society on Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS),

founded 94 years ago, of the International Cartographic Association (ICA), the

Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (CLGE) and the European Group of

Surveyors (EGoS). Contacts with other international organizations are also

maintained, as well as bilateral and multilateral connections with the single

countries and unions.

6. Others cartographical activities in the country during the period

2008

Second international conference on cartography and GIS

The Second International Conference on Cartography and GIS was held in the

Borovets mountain resort from 21st to 24

th of February. It was organized by ICA

and the University on Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (UACEG). The

seminars on crises management, organized under the auspices of His Excellence

the Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Bulgaria Martin Klepetko, roused

special interest. These seminars were held with the support of the European Union

and the kind cooperation of JRC – Ispra, Italy, and ICT for sustainable

development – Brussels.

The main topics of the conference were the GIS technologies and related

disciplines, Cartography and GIS in education, crises management, Internet

cartography and electronic atlases, planetary cartography, map development,

visualization, GIS for urban environment, GPS-technologies, remote data

collection. Three of the ICA commissions carried out their meetings within the

framework of the conference – the Commission on Cartography and Children, the

Commission on Planetary Cartography and the Work Group on Cartography and

Early Warning and Management of Crisis Situations.

The main themes of the conference were:

• GIS TECHNOLOGIEES AND RELATED DISCIPLINES

• CARTOGRAPHY AND GIS IN EDUCATION

• EARLY WARNING AND MANAGEMENT OF CRISIS SITUATIONS

• INTERNET CARTOGRAPHY AND ELECTRONIC ATLASES

• PLANETARY CARTOGRAPHY

• DESIGN AND ISSUING OF MAPS

• CARTOGRAPHIC VISUALIZATION

• GIS FOR URBAN TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT

• GPS TECHNOLOGIES

• REMOTE SENSING

• GENDER PROJECTS

Representatives of more than 30 countries from all over the world participated in

the conference.

2009

VI National competition for children’s world map

The VI National Competition for children’s world map on the topic “Living in a

Globalized World” took place in the period October 2008 – May 2009. It was

organized by the National Institute on Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) with the cooperation of the Geological-

Geographic Faculty of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and the University

of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy. The exhibited 54 children’s

drawings were distinguished in three age groups.

Prof. Dr. Milan Konecni (member of the Executive Committee and former ICA

president) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Nikolova (Director of the Geographic

Institute – BAS) delivered the awards to the winners, whose maps represented

Bulgaria in the international exhibition in Chile:

1. Anita Kovacheva, age of 6, Sofia – My friends are all over the world

2. Chavdar Lalov, age of 8, Pleven – Together under the rainbow

3. Ivo Gabrovski, age of 9, Sofia – Let us help each other easier

4. Paula Kircheva, age of 10, Sofia – Children accommodate the world in a

computer

5. Veseleila Yanakieva, age of 11, Sofia – Our world

6. Daniela Karaivanova, age of 15, Burgas – The whole world is open to your

dreams

The maps of the winners in the competition were published in the Journal National

Geographic Kids Bulgaria in June 2009.

Daniela Karaivanova was awarded the I prize for her drawing “The whole world is open to your

dreams” at the International exhibition for children’s world map in Santiago, Chile, 2009

2010

Third international conference on cartography and GIS

The Third international conference on cartography and GIS was held in the

Nesebar Black Sea resort from 15th

to 20th of June. Assoc. Prof. Temenuzhka

Bandrova, chairman of the cartographic section of the Union, was the organizer on

behalf of ICA and UACEG. Six keynote lectures and 110 presentations were

delivered by 190 authors from 32 countries. The highest number of participants

was from Bulgaria – 26. The other reports were as follows: 10 from the Czech

Republic, 9 – from China, 8 from Iran, 7 – from Russia, 6 from Greece and 6 from

Turkey, от Гърция и Турция, 3 – from Albania, Macedonia, Germany, Hungary,

the Netherlands and Spain each, 2 – from Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Croatia and

Romania each, 1 – from Argentina, Austria, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria,

Poland, Switzerland, UAE and Kosovo.

Parallel with the conference, the ICCG3 Digital Earth Submit Workshop was

organized from 12th

to 15th

of July 2010.

VII National competition for children’s world map

The National Institute on Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography of BAS and the

Association of the Bulgarian Schools Abroad organized the VII National

Competition for children’s world map on the topic: “Living in a globalized world”

as part of the International competition for children’s world map “Barbara

Pechenik” 2011 in accordance with the conditions determined by ICA. The theme

of the competition roused high interest and 123 children of the age from 6 to 15

years. Representatives of Bulgarian schools abroad participated also in the

competition and received some of the awards.

The six best maps will take part in the international exhibition during the 25th

International Cartographic Conference in Paris, France, July 3-8, 2011.

Establishment of a cartographic organization in Bulgaria

On April 8th

2011the establishment meeting of the Bulgarian Cartographic

Association was held.

Geographic Atlas of Bulgaria

The Geographic Atlas of Bulgaria was completed

and published by the Tangra TanNakRa Publishing

House in 2010.

This is the first similar publication after the

issuing of the National Atlas of Bulgaria in 1973. The

atlas is richly illustrated with photos with texts in

Bulgarian and English. More than 130 maps, explanatory

texts and rich illustrative materials offer information

about Bulgaria after its accession to the European Union.

The atlas has 9 sections: Geographic situation and

boundaries of Bulgaria; Geology, relief; Climate; Water;

Soils, flora and fauna; Population and demographic

processes; Economy; Tourist resources; Environment.

7. Participation in the bodies of ICA

According to the proposal of USLMB as a co-chairman of the Commission

10 of ICA the assoc. prof. Temenuzhka Bandrova has been approved.