The Magazine of Leica Geosystems

REPORTER 4320 4030 50

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

International activities arebecoming increasinglyimportant, not onlyeconomically and politically,but also geographically andfrom a surveying viewpoint.National borders arebecoming less and less of anobstruction.

The microwave signals emitted by Navstar and Glonass GPS satellites ignore political boundariesand provide us with a moreexact picture of the Earth’sthree-dimensional shape(the geoid). When thissurvey data is combinedwith gravity-field measure-ments that, for the first time,also take account of density

Publication detailsThe Reporter is published in English, German, 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 1999, Printed in Switzerland

Editorial deadline for next issue:January 7, 2000

anomalies beyond territorialboundaries, topographic co-ordinates can be deter-mined more precisely. Thisleads to appreciably moreaccurate triangulation andlevelling points, so the derived data is of higherquality. A territorial geoid ofthis nature, accurate to twoor five centimetres, has beenrecently created and isdescribed in this magazineby Urs Marti, who was involved with the project.One of the Swiss GPSground points lies inZermatt's high basin, surrounded by peaks morethan 4000 metres high.When Giorgio Poretti startedto survey the Matterhornfrom the Cervinio area (Italy)on the southern flank of theAlps and from the summit,we were standing here inthe high valley with our GPSand total stations.

Waltraud Strobl

2

How will future generations

look back to that threshold

at which the first digit of the

year changed from a one to

a two, there to remain for a

thousand years?

Never before have so manypeople been alive on thisEarth, nor has the grossinternational product everbeen so large. Never beforehave people from allcountries and cultures beenable to communicate socheaply and so easily. Once, Eratosthenes used the Sun to determine the circumference of the Earth.Today, we use GPS satellitesto determine the exact shapeof the geoid.

Science and technology have given us these newopportunities. Our under-standing has been finelyhoned by fundamental new technologies. Theseencompass the fields ofhigh-performance optics,electronics, semiconductorsand lasers, along withsoftware engineering, spacetravel, satellite technologyand telecommunications.They have triggered a quan-tum leap in the manufactureof survey instruments and inthe integration of surveysystems.

Interaction between thesetechnologies has given usthe Leica Geosystems lasertotal stations, so that thedream of tracking targetsautomatically without usinga reflector has now cometrue. It has also given us GPSsystems having millimetreaccuracy in real time, and

Welcome to the New Millennium!

GIS databases with inter-active data exchangebetween field and office. Tokeep up this momentum inthe next millennium, overten percent of our outlay isinvested in research anddevelopment projects and inco-operation with ourtechnology partners. WithLeica instruments andsystems you, our customer,will continue to solveproblems faster, better andcheaper, all round the world.

When the dateline in thePacific heralds the first dayof the new millennium, andthen later there are celebra-tions in London’s newMillennium Dome near Greenwich; when the oldHatteras lighthouse thenflashes on the coast of NorthCarolina, and the new dayfinally closes in Polynesia,survey specialists on all continents will have made adecisive contribution to thisincreasingly co-ordinatedworld – and they willcontinue to do so. You cancount on our continued partnership. In the 21st cen-tury, as in the 20th, we willapply the latest technologiesto our goal of making yoursurvey procedures easierand your work yet more pro-ductive. Our distribution andsupport teams across theglobe will be increasingly atyour side, and even moreaccessible.

Welcome to the threshold ofthe third millennium!

Sincerely

Hans HessPresident & CEOLeica Geosystems

Editorial

Dear Reader,

I M P R I N TPublished byLeica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 HeerbruggPresident & CEO: Hans Hess

Editorial officeLeica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 Heerbrugg,Switzerland, Fax: +41 71 727 46 89 – Inter-net: Waltraud.Strobl@leica-geosystems.com

EditorWaltraud Strobl, Fritz Staudacher (Stf)

Layout and productionNiklaus Frei

TranslationDogrel AG, St. Margrethen

In Zermatt, at 1687.566 m. a.s.l. is a precisely defined point for nationallevelling systems using the GPSCHGEO98 and LV95 networks. It wasused by professor Giorgio Poretti of theUniversity of Trieste in autumn 1999 fora new measurement of the Matterhorn,using GPS and tachymeter triangulation.Leica GPS 500 systems weresimultaneously positioned at the peak,while reflectors on Leica T2002/DI3002tachymeter systems were trained on the Italian and Swiss peak stations from the valleys flanking the border.Look out for a comprehensive report inour next issue.

Summary of contents

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Leica TCA1103 measures a world

record hammer-throw

GPS

monitors a

bridge in

Japan

A world first

north of the

Arctic Circle

ArcSurvey embraces the ESRI GIS

community

Cover:

Surveying professionals

the world over greet the new millennium.

Photograph: Arthur Stock

Page4The new geoid

of Switzerland

4

CHGEO98 – The new Geoid for Switzerland

The Swiss geoid is influenced by the Lake of Geneva and the Lake of Constance (photo) – central Europe’s largest lakes.

In the last few years the

geoid and quasigeoid of

Switzerland was developed

in a joint project by the

Federal Institute of Techno-

logy (ETH Zurich), the

Federal Office of Topography

(L+T, SWISSTOPO) and the

University of Bern (AIUB).

The aim was to determine a

highly accurate reference

for height determination

with GPS, and provide a

base for the new national

height system (LHN95).

Around 600 deflections ofthe vertical, 70 GPS/levellingstations and 20,000 gravityvalues were used in the calculation. A 25-metre DTMand some geological densityinformation were used toreduce the observations.Residuals were interpolatedby least square collocationand the geoid and quasi-geoid were obtained bysumming the influences ofthe mass models.Solution of CHGEO98 wascompleted in 1998 and includes only the deflectionsand the GPS/levellingmeasurements, becausemany of the gravity

measurements are yet to bevalidated and contain grosserrors.CHGEO98 accuracy is in theorder of 3 cm in the flatterareas, and around 5 cm inthe Alps over the wholecountry. This could beverified by comparison withthe EGG97 Europeanquasigeoid.

GPS has made it possible todetermine co-ordinate differences between widelyspaced stations with a relative accuracy in theorder of 10-7 to 10-8. However,this holds true only for thehorizontal components, not

for height. This is partly caused by asymmetric measurements (no satellitesavailable below the horizon)and by troposphericrefraction effects. The mainproblem is due to the factthat GPS-derived heights arereferred to the referenceellipsoid, not to the geoid, asis usually the case forterrestrial surveying.Differences can reach up to100 metres on a globalscale, but even on a regionalscale like the alpine area the differences exceed 10 metres. The objective ofthis work is to determine the geoid and quasigeoid of Switzerland at the cmlevel and to discuss thevarious components to beconsidered in the error budget. Furthermore, weaim to analyse data densityand accuracy requirementsfor achieving geoidalundulations at this high level of accuracy, even inmountainous regions suchas the Swiss Alps.

Geoid of Switzerland in ETRF93.

5

Fig. 1: Observed deflections of the vertical (only stations with both components).

Past attempts to determinethe geoid of Switzerlandincluded application of theremove-restore technique(Elmiger, 1969), collocation(Gurtner, 1978) and inte-grating Stokes’ Integral (Geiger, 1990).Astrogeodetic observationsin the Ivrea area (Bürki,1989) were used by Marti(1988) to examine the possibility of obtaining acm-level accurate geoid ofsouthern Switzerland. Wigetet al. (1986) and Marti (1990)were the first to considerspace geodetic data in thegeoid determination of Switzerland. Wirth (1990)performed initial geoiddeterminations in Switzer-land using combinedterrestrial and satellite datasets. This report – firstpublished at the IAGconference in Budapest inMarch 1998 – marks a conti-nuation of these efforts.

In order to incorporatedeflections of the vertical,gravity anomalies, GPS/levelling data, as well asmass models, we first deve-loped a software packagethat enables calculation of:- gravitational effects of

mass models (griddedDTMs or irregularlyformed polyhedrons) interms of potential and thegravity vector,

- reduction of the observedgravity field informationfor effects of mass models,

- interpolation of residualfields and calculation ofthe reduced co-geoid,

- predicted deflections ofthe vertical, gravityanomalies, and geoidalundulations in surveyedregions betweenmeasured points,

- height calculations forvarious height systems,

- transformation of thegeoid and gravity vectorinto various referencesystems.

Data used

About 600 astrogeodetic stations with at least onecomponent of the deflectionof the vertical could be usedin the calculation (fig. 1).Most have been recompiledand referred to an identicalreference system. In general,accuracy is in the order of0.5". The oldest measure-ments included date fromthe last century, whereassome 100 stations havebeen observed between1990 and 1992 for theexpress purpose of a newgeoid determination. Aftercross-validation, around 520stations could be included inthe final calculations.

Data for most of Switzer-land’s 2,500 gravity stationsare publicly available (andare included in the EGG97European quasigeoid). Thedata stems from works bythe geophysical commissionof Switzerland (SGPK) forthe gravity map of Switzer-land (Klingelé, Olivier 1980).A new SGPK project to compile a gravity atlas ofSwitzerland is currently inprogress. About 20,000 stations in the western partof Switzerland could beincluded into the geoiddetermination (fig. 2) As well as deflections of thevertical and the gravity data,some 80 GPS stationsconnected to the first-orderlevelling lines could also beincluded as 'observed' geoidundulations. These observa-tions are part of the newnational GPS base network(LV95) and have beenintroduced with an accuracyof 2 to 5 cm. (fig. 3)

Mass models of Switzerland

In order to perform a downward continuation andfacilitate interpolation of thegravity field, it is necessaryto model the distribution of the attracting masses. A high-resolution digital terrain model is of primaryimportance, but othermodels such as densityanomalies in the interior ofthe earth also need to beconsidered.

Fig. 2: Gravity data used for the geoid determination.

Fig. 3: The national GPS network LV95 and its connection to the 1st-order levelling network.

Digital Terrain Model

The digital terrain modelused in the geoid calcula-tions is derived from theFederal Office of Topo-graphy’s 25-metre grid(DHM25), which was produ-ced by scanning 1:25,000maps.

To reduce computation time,compatible grids with aresolution of 50, 500 and10,000 metres have been

derived. In neighbouringregions where no (Swiss)1:25,000 maps are available,these grids have beenderived from NIMA’s DTED1data set (original resolution3" x 3"). A global DTM(TUG87, with a resolution of5' x 5'), compiled at theTechnical University of Graz(Wieser, 1987), has beenused outside the 50 km zonesurrounding Switzerland.

6

In general, a density of 2.67 g/cm3 was used for thewhole DTM, except for regions where reliable densi-ty information was available.This is mainly the case forlakes, glaciers andquaternary sediments oflarge rivers, but also for thearea surrounding Ivrea andthe upper regions of the Po plain.

For the calculations, gridvalues were used in prismformulas, or replaced by line or point masses atincreasing distance. Table 1shows the model and formula used for a givendistance.

As we can see, the criticalsimplification appears to bethe boundary of 50 kmbetween the 500 m and the10 km DTM. The problemwith this boundary is that it very much affects the time for terrain effects.Moreover, at a value of 70 km the error still exceeds1 cm, making it necessary tofind a compromise betweenaccuracy and computationtime.

Mass models for the interior

of the earth

The largest effects on thegravity field, other thanthose attributable totopography, are caused bythe density contrast at thecrust-mantle boundary(Moho). Usually this effect isconsidered in an isostaticmodel, but in this project a5-km grid of the Moho-depthwas used. The densitycontrast that proved mostsuitable for our data set was0.37 g/cm3. Other importantdensity models are the

sediments of the Po plainwith a maximum depth of 11 km and a maximum den-sity contrast of -0.8 g/cm3,and a model of the Ivreabody in the Southern Alpswith a maximum densitycontrast of 0.4 g/cm3. As anexample of the influence ofsuch a model, fig. 4 showsthe effect of the Ivrea bodyon geoid undulation.

Calculation of the co-geoid

After all the observationshad been reduced by theinfluences of the massmodels, we obtained asmooth field of residuals.For example, fig. 5 showsthe reduced deflections ofthe vertical, which may becontrasted with the observedfield values included in fig. 1.

These residuals show atrend that cannot beexplained by our massmodels. It is caused mainlyby the choice of referencesystem and by masses thatwere not included in ourmodels. This trend was sub-tracted by means ofharmonic polynomials, tofacilitate the next step ofinterpolating the residuals.Interpolation of the residualshas been performed bymeans of least squares collo-cation. A harmonic 3rd-orderMarkov model was chosenas the covariance function.Its parameters, which mainlydepend on the chosen dataset, the mass models used,and the trend function, havebeen determined empirically.Test calculations revealedthat with astrogeodetic dataonly, the geoid can be deter-mined to an accuracy ofabout 4 cm over the wholecountry. Introducing the

Fig. 4: Influence of the Ivrea body on the geoid.

Fig. 5: Deflections of the vertical after subtraction of the effects of mass models.

Fig. 6: Differences between the quasigeoid and geoid CHGEO98.

Max. simplification error due to

DTM Formula Max. distance Potential Gravity Deflection

25 m prism 100 m 0 0 0

50 m prism 300 m 0 0.09 mgal 0.02"

50 m line 1250 m 0 0.01 mgal 0

500 m prism 5000 m 0.2 mm 0.18 mgal 0.05"

500 m line 20000 m 1.0 mm 0.09 mgal 0.02"

500 m point 50000 m 3.0 mm 0.03 mgal 0.01"

10000 m point Entire model 16.0 mm 0.13 mgal 0.07"

5' point Entire earth ? ? ?

Table 1: DTMs and formulae used for terrain correction, and errors caused by simplification.

7

GPS/levelling stations reduces this value to about2–3 cm. Considering gravity data as well gives improvedlocal accuracy, but whichnevertheless remains atabout 2 cm over the wholecountry.A combination ofastrogeodetic data andGPS/levelling data was cho-sen for the final solution ofthe co-geoid. Integration ofthe gravity measurementscaused inconsistencies ofmore than 10 cm. This needsto be investigated in moredetail before we can presenta complete combined solution of all available data.

The calculation of the geoid

and quasigeoid

The quasigeoid is derivedfrom the co-geoid byrestoring the effects of themass models at terrainelevation. The geoid is obtained by restoring theseeffects at 'sea-level'. Bothreference surfaces havebeen calculated in thereference frames of Switzerland (CH1903, Besselellipsoid) and of Europe(ETRF93, GRS80 ellipsoid).

For example, page 4 showsthe geoid in ETRF93.

Fig. 6 shows the differencesbetween the geoid and thequasigeoid, which are ofcourse highly correlatedwith topography. Whereasdifferences tend to 0 in theflatter regions, they exceed0.5 metres on the highestmountains.

Comparison of the solution

with the European quasi-

geoid EGG97

As a completely indepen-dent quality control of oursolution, we compared itwith the EGG97 Europeanquasigeoid, which wascalculated at the IfE in Hanover (Denker et al.,1998). We did not apply anyoffset or trend function inthis comparison; we simplyinterpolated the EGG97values (1' x 1.5' resolution)to our grid points. The comparison can be seen infig. 7.Differences in the plains aregenerally less than 5 cm, but there are differences of10 cm or more in the south-west, near Lausanne and

Geneva. In the Alps too, differences are normallyunder 10 cm. Only in someparts of central and easternSwitzerland are theredifferences in excess of 15 cm.Comparison of these twototally independentsolutions shows that bothsolutions are accurate to within a few centimetres inthe flatter areas. In mountai-nous regions, we assumethat these differences arelargely caused by the Euro-pean quasigeoid (simplerDTM, less data). We there-fore give our solution anaccuracy of about 5 cm inthe Alpine regions as well.

Conclusions and outlook

In summary, we achievedthe project goal ofdetermining a geoid to anaccuracy of a few centi-metres. This is mainlyproven by comparison withthe EGG97 solution.The CHGEO98 geoid wasdeclared the official geoidfor Switzerland in October1998 and is now widelydistributed to users in formof a 1 km or 0.5' grid. It isnow integrated in most GPSreceivers and GPS softwaresold in Switzerland. Firstresults showed significantlygreater accuracy of thetransformation betweenGPS heights and levelledheights in many regions.Tilts and offsets disappearedalmost completely. However,the full benefits of CHGEO98can only be achieved byintroducing a strictlyorthometric height system(LHN95) as the officialsystem for Switzerland.

Urs Marti

The author can be contacted at: Federal Office of Topography,Seftigenstrasse 264, CH-3084 Wabern,SwitzerlandE-mail: urs.marti@lt.admin.ch

The bibliography for this article is availableat: http://www.leica-geosystems.com/reporter

Fig. 7: Differences between European (EGG97) and Swiss quasigeoid.

The mass of the Swiss alpinerange with its 4000 m peaks andglaciers introduces a significantcorrection factor in geoid calculation.

8

The women’s world recordtakes a hammering!

“The Leica system is the only

way to fly“, said Roar Johansen,

perched on his grader north of

the Arctic Circle. The innovative

Kolo-Veidekke construction

company used a Caterpillar

grader fitted with Moba auto-

mation and controlled by a

Leica measurement system for

fine-planing the takeoff and

landing runways and taxi-ways

at continental Europe’s most

northerly airport. This marked

the system’s world premiere

north of the Arctic Circle.

For the airport at Baatsfjord inNorway to open before the onsetof the long, dark winter, the Kolo-Veidekke SA company hadto use the most efficientconstruction techniques possible.Hence the commission given toEddie Engebredsen, manager ofAbas, Moba’s Norwegianrepresentative, to augment theMoba GS496 system installed inthe Caterpillar grader’s cab. Theadditional equipment included aPC running Leica Geosystems’software, a radio data link, and aLeica omnidirectional prism on atall mast fitted to the graderblade, which would clear thevehicle for permanent visibility to a total station.

3-D millimetre precision at alltimes

The prism is the target forcontinuous tracking by an auto-mated Leica total station, whichtransmits a stream of angle anddistance measurements to theLeica and Moba automation onboard the construction machine.Leica software analyses the datawith an unmatched dynamicheight accuracy of ±5 mm. Thebenefits of such precision includeconsiderably less avoidableremoval of material, and a flatterrunway profile.

At an athletics meeting at Rüdlingen/Switzerland, a massivehammer-throw by the Rumanian Mihaela Milente was measured at 76.07 metres by a Leica TCA 1103 total station.This distance established a new world record for this year’sworld champion hammer-thrower, who had been in actionjust a week earlier at Seville (photo).After rough sighting of the hammer’s landing point, theLeica TCA 1103 automatically took care of the fine aimingand measurement. Leica measuring instruments arefeatures not just of major construction sites and Olympicevents, they are increasingly present at specialised andregional meetings like the “Weltklasse am Rhein“ in the canton of Schaffhausen. Martin Vögele

Below: Construction work on the new airport at Baatsfjord. A Leica TCA 1103 total station automatically tracks the prism attached to the grader blade and transmits height information to the control system in real-time. The equipment performed reliably and with great precision despite poor light conditions, a harsh climate, and very stringent construction site requirements.

A world fir

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EPA

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9

Automatic longitudinal slope compensation

The system, in operation here forthe first time, delivers correctiondata considerably more conveniently, faster, and withgreater reliability than earliermethods. Unlike most othersystems, Leica Geosystems’ 3-Dmachine control also providescontinuous compensation for thelongitudinal slope of the prismmast.

The driver’s cab: a universalcontrol centre

As well as all-round greaterprecision, the Leica equipmentand Moba automation generatesconsiderable time savings and correspondingly greater productivity for a wide range ofmanufacturers’ constructionmachinery. Guide wires andafter-the-fact measurements,with associated work stoppages,are unnecessary and no longerimpede progress. The bi-directio-nal communication link betweenthe construction machine and thetotal station positioned a safedistance away can neverthelessbe overridden by the driver atany time, to cope with special circumstances or obstructions.For example, should a parkedconstruction vehicle interrupt theline-of-sight between the totalstation and the target prism for aprolonged period, the totalstation can be reactivated andoriented directly from the driver’sseat. The PC in the cab alsoallows the driver to continuallyview deviations between storedproject data and the constructionmachine’s cross slope, heightand lateral distance.

Problem-free deployment on alltypes of construction machinery

The Leica measurement and control system is compatiblewith all Moba automationsystems, which in turn interfacewith various manufacturers’ construction machinery. Thisnew and dependable techniqueoffers rapid cost-savings on any

construction site. RoarJohansen, a veteran of othersystems, is adamant: “I’ll only be using the Leicasystem in future“, he says. It does indeed have a considerably edge on othersystems available in theworld market. Moba’sinternationally experiencedautomation specialists choseLeica Geosystems as theirmeasurement technology

Tromsø

FINLANDSWEDEN

NO

RW

AY

Nordpolarmeer

Mo i Rana

Baatsfjord

Hammerfest

partner only after exhaustivesystem comparisons andunambiguously positive test results. If it works in the inhospitable climatenorth-east of Hammerfest in the sparsely-populatedFinmark area, it is certain tobring cost savings and greater reliability toconstruction sites the worldover. Stf

rst north of the Arctic CircleBaatsfjord, on the coast of the Arctic Sea, is the site of continental Europe’s most northerly airport.

The height of the grader blade is controlled automatically. The driver reads control information from the GS496 display (below), and project comparisons on the PC (above). He can also communicate with the total station without leaving his seat.

Below: A Leica TCA 1103 totalstation automatically tracks itstarget to obtain the position ofthe grader blade in real-time.

The mast carrying the omnidirectional target prism is clearly visible,and is attached directly to the grader blade.

10

NEW: Leica GS50 –GPS and GIS converge

Simple GIS-oriented data recording in the field, with flexible data-entry options.

Analysis software with graphical preparation and hassle-free data interchange.

The GS50 is a new GPS/GISdata recording system thatfeatures unmatched receiverprecision, GIS-oriented operation and systemflexibility. The GS50 systemmarks the launch of a furtherLeica Geosystems productbased entirely on the ESRIplatform.

GS50 – the most precise codereceiver

GS50 operates with a single-frequency code receiveroffering a unique perform-ance standard: 30 cm DGPSpoint precision in post-processing, and 40 cm forreal-time measurements.Leica Geosystems’ClearTrak™ technology isone of the factors respon-sible for this precision.

Fully upgradeable

The GS50 is a fully-fledgedmember of the GPS 500system family. It adapts toexpanding requirements,being readily upgradeable to any other model in thefamily – all the way to real-time, dual-frequency technology offeringprecision in the 1 cm range.Accessories and user

software are fully compati-ble with the 500 system.

Simple field measurements

The GS50 system is particu-larly effective at simplifyingfieldwork. Menu-controlledsoftware offers proceduralguidance to users. Most GIS applications requirecomprehensive attribute-entry options, in addition to basic point or object information. The GS50system is exemplary in thisrespect. A regular palmtopcomputer, or the TR500terminal from the GPS 500family, are equally suitablefor operating the GPSsensor. For ultimate userconvenience, the GS50 canalso be controlled by LeicaFieldLink, which typicallyruns on a penpad.

Bi-directional data flowmeans you can take existingGIS data into the field forediting positions orattributes. Points that areinaccessible, or cannot bemeasured with GPS, may beacquired as indirect pointsusing a Leica DISTO™.

Wide-ranging DGPS options

The GS50 can also be usedas a reference station forreal-time or post-processingapplications. As a rover, difference data can be

received by radio (VHF orlong-wave), via GSMmodems, or beacon RTMmodules. This facilitates tapping-in to the high-levelGPS reference network(SAPOS).

Powerful software

GIS Data PRO Office is anew office software packagefor GPS analysis, processingand preparing geographicaldata. It supports a widerange of export formats(ESRI shape files, AutoCAD,MapInfo, Microstation, etc.)for problem-free datainterchange.

Sepp Englberger

110 customers of LH Systemsattend User ClubMeeting

For the first time ever, LH Systems combined itsannual User Club meetingwith its popular AerialCamera Workshop. Forthis event, LH Systems,LLC invited customers toSan Diego, California atthe end of August. Histori-cally, the Aerial CameraWorkshop had alwaysbeen held in Denver, Colorado, headquarters of this renowned photo-grammetry and aerialcamera systems company.Customers interested inaerial cameras, scanners,and analytical and digitalworkstations were able tomeet up, share experien-ces and gather informa-tion on the latest productdevelopments.

The event attracted morethan 110 customers, whoattended a rich mixture ofcustomer presentations,focus groups, clinics,demonstrations and work-shops. The User Groupmeeting was warmly welcomed by attendees.As a result, LH SystemsPresident and CEO, BruceWald, announced the company’s intention torepeat the formula for nextyear’s event. If you areinterested in the newestdevelopments inphotogrammetry, markyour calendar for August,20-25, 2000. Additionalregional versions of theevent are planned for nextyear, held in locallanguages. For dates andlocations, visit the LH Systems web site:www.lh-systems.com.

11

LeicahighlightsWith 12,000 visitors and participants from 16 nations,the INTERGEO trade showand associated convention isthe largest European eventof its kind, and one of theglobal industry’s keymeeting-places. Exhibitingtheir products and servicesat INTERGEO 99 in Hanover,Germany were Leica Geosystems, and 250 othercompanies and associations.Show highlights includedthe new, reflectorless, auto-mated Leica TCRA – theflagship of the TPS1100 totalstation, the Leica GS50GPS/GIS data acquisitionsystem, and Leica FieldLink,the tailor-made GIS systemfor acquiring data in thefield. In addition to theTPS300 and TPS1100 seriestotal stations, products onshow included machine guidance systems, theDISTO™, Leica levellers, andthe 500 GPS system.

On an equal footing with the products were Leica services such as customerconsulting, hotline contacts,service and maintenancecontracts, repair centres,

A network of precise GPS

reference stations, supplied

by Leica Geosystems, has

been installed on the

world’s longest suspension

bridge in Japan to monitor

movements of the bridge’s

structure in real-time, with

millimetre-level accuracy.

The monitoring system consists of three LeicaMC1000 DGPS receivers,connected through anetwork of fibre optic cables.Two of the units aremounted atop the tall towersat either end, and the third is at the midpoint of thebridge. This enablesengineers to determine theprecise extent of the bridge’smovements, includingcritical excursions outsidethe structure’s design speci-fications. The Akashi Strait is110 m deep and has rapidcurrents that reach a speedof up to 4-5 m/sec. Naviga-tion is extremely difficultand there have been manyshipping accidents in thestraits in the past. Theregion is also at risk fromhigh winds and earthquakes.

Below: There was much customer interest in the numerous innova-tions at the Leica Geosystems exhibition stand at INTERGEO 99 in Hanover.

training courses, andtechnology partnershipswith other companies suchas ESRI. These intangibles,allied with the performanceof our instruments andsystems, result in dramaticproductivity increases andoverall customer benefits.

Christiane Claar

Real time 3-D millimetre-

level accuracy

The Leica MC1000 is a 12-channel L1/L2 GPS receiverthat uses real-time kinematic(RTK) processing with on-the-fly (OTF) ambiguityresolution to achievemillimetre-level accuracy inthree dimensions. TheMC1000 provides full-wave-length phase and P-codetracking, even under anti-spoofing (AS) conditions.Installation of the GPS receivers on the Akashi bridge was performed byAkasaka Tec, Leica’s licensedrepresentative in Japan.

Leica provides precise GPSStation to monitor world’s longestsuspension bridge in Japan

12

An award-winning entry to the world of GIS and LIS

With 9,500 delegates, the1999 ESRI User Conferencein San Diego ranks as theworld’s largest GeographicalInformation Systems (GIS)event to date. A lecture programme, workshops, andan expo under the motto“Sharing Geographic Know-ledge“ raised delegates’awareness of just how muchsociety already benefitsfrom GIS solutions.

Realisation of how geo-graphically based solutionsare simplifying life andimproving its quality hasmeanwhile spread beyondthe GIS community and around the globe. ESRI, theEnvironmental SystemsResearch Institute, has madea heavy contribution to thissuccess, with comprehen-sive software solutions andnumerous technologypartnership agreements.

Field surveying and terraindata

Why not give Leica’s surveying customers accessto the groundbreaking worldof GIS? Top management atboth companies understoodthe synergies early on. As Martin Tremp, Leica’sSoftware Business Directorsaid two years ago: “When the market leader insurveying technology andthe top GIS softwarecompany co-ordinate theirdevelopment efforts, bothcommunities can growtogether in a harmoniousand complementary way.“Fine words – which werebacked up by positiveaction. All the Leica productspresented in this issue, likeFieldLink (p. 16) and GS50(p. 10) already include ESRItechnology, or are ESRI-compatible. When develop-ing ArcSurvey, Leica specialists addressed notonly surveying customers,but over seventy thousandESRI GIS users from variousdisciplines as well. The

result is a powerful and highly sophisticated tool forintegrating and utilising survey data acquired fromdiverse sources, from Leica total stations to GPSequipment. ArcInfo 8’suniversality and GIS powerwas also apparent indevelopments by otheraward-winners at San Diego:applications includedmaintenance and fault-management software for autility supply company, amanagement program forfibre-optic and coppertelecommunications cables,and an Oracle relationaldatabase for monitoring ground and drinking water.In future, these types of specialised solutions willalso be accessible byArcSurvey users in conjunc-tion with ArcInfo.

ArcSurvey with integratedsurveying know-how

ArcSurvey provides surveying professionals,land registry officials andplanners with processingfacilities and a visual displayof survey data held in anArcInfo GIS. It augmentsESRI’s ArcInfo 8 withfunctions for recording,saving, editing and maintai-ning spatial survey, terrain,and engineering data.ArcSurvey supersedesArcInfo’s earlier ArcCOGOpackage for acquiring surveydata and integrating it in the GIS. Compared with thepredecessor software,ArcSurvey features exten-

Leica’s ArcSurvey software package was this year’s

“ESRI Geo Challenge“ award winner at the 19th ESRI User

Conference. ArcSurvey is the first of a new series of

state-of-the-art software products that augment ESRI’s

powerful ArcInfo 8® software with surveying know-how and

automated routines for solving GIS and LIS tasks.

It offers surveying customers easy entry to the market

leader’s future-proof GIS and LIS solutions.

Leica builds bridges tothe globalGIS communityat the ESRIconference.

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Solver functions offer optimisation solutions for the field.

Below: Various results can be retrievedfrom the uniform GeoDatabase (physicallayer) and optimised without modifyingthe database contents.

ded surveying task solutionsfor ESRI’s GeoDatabase,field survey data manage-ment and editing, creatingand reconciling surveytraverses and triangulationnetworks, establishingcustom attributes, field/office data interchange, anda wide range of calculations(e.g. property lines, profiles,etc.). ArcSurvey allows usersto create their own arbitrarydata models, and adapt attributes and displaycharacteristics to exactproject needs and commis-sioning requirements.

Highly useful solver and solution functions

ArcSurvey’s “solver“ and“solution“ functions offersome highly specific advantages. The solver permits specialists to assignindividual quality attributesand weightings to everysingle instrument, stationpoint, and/or observer. Oncedata has been acquired, thesystem suggests the mostappropriate reconciliationmethod. ArcSurvey’s solution functions facilitatevarious analyses ofmeasurement datasetsstored in GeoDatabase, inaccordance with individuallyoptimised criteria – e.g. network reconciliation withdisplay of the remainingresidual error ellipses, longitudinal profile, or anarea calculation. All thesespecialised analyses are performed without modi-fying the actual databasecontents.

COM-based MeasurementEngine – the driving force

Leica’s MeasurementEngineand COM technology lie atthe heart of the new solu-tions. The MeasurementEngine co-ordinatesrelationships between measurement values fromdifferent sources, be they

ArcSurvey: the full range of surveying functions in GIS-friendly form for ArcInfo.

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ArcSurvey main modules

COGO constructions

Survey data management

Survey data interchange

Survey calculations

Data model definition

Logical layer –

Solver 2: intersection

Logical layer –

Solver 1: traverse

Physical layer:

- stations- measurements- points

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With simple clicks in the Garcia Editor, the Solver can insert or remove data and calculations for free stationing, for example, with clear user guidance and graphic display at every step. The “calculate“ command recalculates the network and immediately displays results on the report page.

ESRI and Leica Geosystems: successful GIS/LIS Power PartnersIn 1997, ESRI and Leica jointly announced a co-operation agreement for software development activities,which will culminate in fully integrated LIS and GIS solutions. This agreement brings together the respectiveknow-how of Leica Geosystems, with its wealth of cadastral and surveying experience, and ESRI, a companywith solid roots in GIS technology and over 70,000 users of its popular Geographic Information Systems software.

A press release issued at the time explained: “This next-generation LIS/GIS solution will be engineered using object-oriented (COM) technology, and will incorporate existing and emerging ESRI technologies such as SDE, component engines from ARC/INFO and ArcView. COM technology is anticipated as the foundation for the next generation of Leica'sINFOCAM land records application. This will lead to extremely efficient workflow and optimum data movement for anysurveying and land registry organisation. Leica’s software engineering team will be working with ESRI to design anddevelop new LIS/GIS solutions to be marketed and supported jointly world-wide.

Hans Hess, President of Leica Geosystems, announced that he is very happy to have ESRI as a software developmentpartner: “ESRI's software technology will significantly enhance the overall functionality of current Leica products. Wehave always felt committed to providing LIS/GIS solutions for our customers. Users can now look forward to newsolutions that will integrate Leica’s TPS and GPS measurement tools with the GIS world.“

Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI, said: “I am very excited about this relationship because it will enable varioussurveying and traditional mapping communities to work more closely with the database-oriented GIS communities. Furthermore, it will allow the whole world of measurement technology, which Leica does so well, to be integrated into asoftware application. This is in keeping with our vision of surveying as a transaction on a spatial database, for updatingand maintaining integrated sets of geographical measurement information.“ It was not long before these promises weretransformed into real products, as the new Leica FieldLink and GS50 show!

Martin Tremp: “Leica Geosystems and ESRI are now focusing on further products that address surveying and cadastraltasks. These will allow Leica Geosystems to offer comprehensive solutions on a joint platform that closes the gapbetween data acquisition (surveying) and data management (GIS). This will fulfil the vision at the root of this co-operativeventure.“

Leica total stations or GPSsystems, as well as theirpoints or nodes within theGIS geometry and topology.In conjunction with ArcInfo,it guarantees a continuous,logical, water-tight flow ofphysical data between fieldand office, all the way to

publication of finished plansand special reports. TheESRI database and ArcInfosoftware use object-orientedmethodology for storing and managing data andattributes from various sources. COM technology(Microsoft’s ComponentObject Model) offersmaximum reliability,coupled with unique flexibi-lity. ESRI applicationsoftware and Leica systemsoftware work extremelyclosely together.

Leica CadastralOffice – easyentry to GIS and LIS

“Leica Geosystems isplanning the CadastralOfficesoftware package as alogical continuation of ArcInfo for land-registry projects“, says GIS specialistEduard Jericke.“CadastralOffice willsimplify recording, storing

even includes animated and interactive sequencesto illustrate the various products and techniques.Here, you’ll also find detailsand contact information foryour national LeicaGeosystems representative.It’s a good idea to bookmarkwww.leica-geosystems.comand visit the site regularlyfor the latest product deve-lopment news, applicationsand offers!

Miren Kauer

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CadastralOffice build on present ESRI and Leica concepts enabling their integral use for cadastral applications.

and managing survey andcadastral data, with dueattention to legal require-ments and long-termupdating anddocumentation obligations.“Integrating classical surveying tasks in theworld’s most powerful anduniversal GIS will benefitLeica Geosystemscustomers in their everydaywork. Whatever the size ofthe company or organisa-tion, this represents anexceptional opportunity toacquire new markets. With one workstation orhundreds, ESRI/Leicaproducts finally permiteconomical performanceand solving of multidiscipli-nary GIS and LIS tasks.

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1000th GPS500 delivered within just afew monthsThe technology and convenience edge of Leica’s 500 GPS

system comes from ClearTrak™, flexible and modular

design, light weight and ease of use. And that’s translating

into brisk sales: just a few months after the first systems

shipped, Hans Hess (left), president of Leica Geosystems,

was able to “deliver“ the 1000th system on the occasion of

the ESRI User Conference in July 1999. He took evident

pleasure in the personal hand-over to Chad Shields (right),

survey product manager at Baker GeoResearch, Inc. (USA).

Benefit from the new LeicaGeosystems internet web site!Leica Geosystems’ internetpresence has a new look.The site now offers faster-than-ever global navigationand positioning in the worldof Leica Geosystems. Hereyou’ll find not only an over-view of the entire productrange, along with perform-ance figures and applica-tions for every instrumentand system, but interestingapplication examples aswell. Page content isdynamically generated and

Relational database module supported by ESRI

Spatial Database Engine (SDE)

GeoDatabase

MeasurementEngine

ArcSurvey

Cadastral applications

Surveying data set

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lines and thematical data. (You can also select from the stan-

dard forms supplied). Then save your data directly in the ESRI

Shape format. This guarantees against data loss. Or export it

in DXF, Microstation, IDEX or other widely used formats.

LEICA FieldLink – a tailor-

made solution to everyday

problems.

You need geographically referenced data. But how do you

acquire it? How do you edit it? By adapting your work to fit in

with someone else’s software? LEICA FieldLink tailors itself

automatically to suit the way you work. Copy ESRI Shape-files

data directly into FieldLink and all forms and codelists are

automatically created based on that data. Use any Leica Geo-

systems instrument to acquire position data online. Design and

implement your own forms for the input of features, symbols,

Tailor-Made GIS Data Acquisition and Management

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

Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Phone +41 71 727 31 82, Fax +41 71 727 4124USA: Phone +1 770 447 63 61, Fax +1 770 447 07 10, US+Canada: 800 367 94 53www.leica-geosystems.com