GeosystemsThe Magazine of Leica Geosystems

REPORTER 49

In an interview published in this Reporter issue, a surveyorsaid: “Our use of the 3D laser scanning technology for thisproject was accurate and extremely timely. It far outweighedthe usual conventional manual methods normally used today.By utilizing this technology, we can push our clients’ projectsinto the future – what will be mainstream in maybe five or tenyears time”. Frank North’s surveying teams had just finished a project where a network of 141km of railway including 13railway stations, 25 bridges and two tunnels were completelymapped in just under two months (see page 14). The opencountry surveying was undertaken using Leica GPS/RTK, butall buildings were documented by the Cyrax 2500 laserscanner.

Leica Geosystems is again the pioneer of a new technology insurveying. This was also the case two decades ago, whenLeica Geosystems decided to profit from the Navstar GPS sig-nals by developing software supported equipment (WM102)useable in the surveying field. It was also so three decadesago, when Erdas developed remote sensing software whichmade it possible to handle such imagery on small computersand PC. Also 45 years ago, when the electronic infra-red rangemeasuring technology device (Leica DI10) worked for the firsttime together with a total station. And eight decades agowhen the founder of our company developed the world’s firstsmall optical theodolite (Wild T2) which revolutionized theworking conditions for surveyors.

This decade offers new opportunities with laser scanningtechnologies named High-Definition Surveying™ (HDS™). We have chosen this new terminology partly in recognition ofthe increasing significance of this technology to surveying,engineering and other measurement professionals. High-Definition Surveying™ represents another major advance forprofessionals by providing increased productivity for variousapplications. HDS™ offers clients significant added value inaccuracy, detail and completeness. All these benefits can beeasily recognized in the new product family (Leica HDS 2500 /3000 / 4500). For example, the new flagship Leica HDS3000time-of-flight scanner, not only has the look and feel of asurvey instrument, but it also supports many standard surveying procedures for instrument setup and operation. Italso features advanced capabilities that will significantly reduce both field and office procedures for laser scanningprojects, thus making the HDS3000 a cost-effective tool for abroader range of as-built, detail, and engineering surveys. Inthe model Leica HDS 4500, the ultra-high-speed scanningrates (>100,000 points/sec) of phase-based ranging systemsare particularly beneficial for quickly capturing interiors ofplants, tunnels, and buildings, when only very brief time windows may be available for collecting field data.

I am convinced that current and future users of this techno-logy will continue to report favourably on their experienceswith these instruments in their application fields and projects.The whole spectrum of 3D solutions offered by LeicaGeosystems are becoming further connected to optimize itsvalue chain of “Capture . . . Model . . . Present”.

Hans HessCEO Leica Geosystems

2

HDS™ - A Key Technology of this Decade

I M P R I N TPublished by: Leica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 HeerbruggCEO: Hans Hess

Editorial office: Leica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Fax: +44 1908 246259 E-Mail: Teresa.Belcher@leica-geosystems.com

Editors: Fritz Staudacher (Stfi); Teresa Belcher (Bt); Desk-Top and production: Niklaus Frei

Publication details: The Reporter is published in English, German, French,Spanish and Japanese four times a year.

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

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

© Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg, December 2003, Printed in Switzerland

Editorial deadline for next issue: 31st December, 2003

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3

Contents

Italy: GPS and mobile telephony84World Record

Bridge at Millau

13

243D-Visualisation for

World Orienteering

Championships

4World-record-breaking 343m-high bridge8Italy: Leica Geosystems in theuniverse of mobile telephony13Production soars followingimplementation of GPS in Map revision14Laser scanning makes quick job of rail survey18Comfortable measuring forarchitects is announced19The Very Large TelescopeLeica Geosystems with highest sustainability rating20Leica raises functionality oflaser tracking23WorldSkills Gold Medal withLeica NA 720 automatic level24Fast Orienteering World Championships with 3D visualization26Intergeo: A World of SolutionAward for Leica Geosystemsresearchers at ION GPS/GNSS 2003FIG World Survey andMapping Colloquium27Novel solutions in machineautomation Micro-optic technology fromLeica Geosystems wins SwissTechnology Award Video on surveying the City of Zurich28LandArte: Giant Art inSwitzerland’s Rhine Valley

14

28

27

23

Page

42% productivity

gains at

Ordnance Survey

Rail survey in Australia

Gold medal at

WorldSkills

... and cover:

“Earthman” with

an arm span of

350 metres

belonging to the

LandArte project.

4

The highway bridge currently being constructed over the

Tarn River in Southern France will be 19 meters higher than

the Eiffel Tower. At the time of publication of this Reporter

issue, the highest of a total of seven bridge piers will have

reached a height of 244m – merely 70% of its full height of

343m together with its steel pylon. The deck of this world’s

tallest bridge, which is under construction one hundred

kilometers north of Montpellier, will span the Tarn River

valley at a height of 270m.

World-record-breaking 343m-high

Automated Leica TCA2003 andTC1103 total stations are used tocontinuously monitor theprogress of construction. Castinto the concrete piers are small,optical precision reflectors usedto monitor the construction workalso after its completion.

The bridge and the towers bear the aesthetic hallmark of

the famous architect Lord Norman Foster and bridge

construction engineer Michel Virlogeux. Another top name

in civil engineering, responsible for the construction of the

2460m-long and 343m-high bridge is Eiffage TP and Eiffel.

These civil engineering specialists were famous for their

top-notch engineering feats even prior to erecting the Eiffel

Tower for the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889. As for most of

the great engineering feats of the world, all of the

construction measurements and controls are carried out

using surveying systems from Leica Geosystems.

The “Viaduc de Millau”, near the small town ofMillau, will shorten thedistance between Clermont-Ferrant and Montpellier/Béziers by one hundred kilo-meters. It will eliminate thecurrent traffic problems onthe highway section, whichin the peak travel season canstretch as long as 50km andinvolve up to four hourswaiting time.

Bridge production takingplace at nine major sites

The completed constructionproject will not only be thehighest bridge in the world,but its seven piers also make“Viaduc de Millau“ theworld’s longest cable-stayedbridge with several centralsuspension pylons. However,a lot of hard work must stillbe done before the historicmoment in January 2005,when the bridge is openedfor traffic. Each of the sevenbridge piers has its ownmajor construction site,together with two 12-personteams working two shifts.Added to that are the twoconstruction sites on eitherside of the sloped valley forthe lateral ramps, withwelding teams for the deck’ssteel sections. Two produc-

5

tion mills were built in themiddle of the valley, one forsteel fittings and one forconcrete, as well as officetrailers for the site manage-ment. The elements for thesteel roadway profile platesare being produced andassembled in Eiffel’s Lauter-bourg and Fos plants andwelded together directly atthe two ramp construction

sites. The nine large con-struction sites are beingcoordinated by the overallsite management for “Com-pagnie Eiffage du Viaduc deMillau“, and the surveying isdirected by Pierre Nottin ofService Topographique Eiffage TP.

Surveying pioneers for topperformance in constructionalengineering

As is common on construc-tion sites, the surveyingengineer was the first experton the grasslands scene,arriving in the Tarn Valleyback in August 2001. PierreNottin from Eiffage TPessentially established thefront line of over 400 specia-lists employed at the con-struction site. Besides thefive-member surveyingteam, they are mostly madeup of metal and engineeringexperts and concrete teams.According to the instructionsand drawings of the civilengineers and the architect,Pierre Nottin established alocal observation grid todetermine coordinates in theGPS global positioningsystem WGS84 as well as

bridge

for simultaneous contact-free measurements usingterrestrial surveyinginstruments. A Leica GPS530 RTK reference stationwas installed in a surveyingpier anchored in the naturalrock of the mountain slopeand integrated into the localcoordinate network. Usingmobile Leica GPS 530systems, the coordinates ofthe pier foundations werethen determined, and allsubsequent steps in the con-struction experts’ workprocess tracked and calibra-ted. The main task of the fivesurveying specialists duringthe initial two years hasbeen to determine the form-work positions with variouscross-sections of the entirefour meters of the slipform’sheight. The raising andfitting of the formworksmust be determined with theutmost precision andcontinuously monitored at atotal of 256 levels.

Built-in precision reflectors

According to the individualform of the pier cross-sections, which taperupwards and diverge fromeach other once they havereached a certain height, the

The Millau highway viaductrests on seven piers of differingheights with a lateral distancebetween them of 343m. In thesmall picture from April 2003,the highest pier (second fromleft) had reached half of its fullheight. The large illustration isan artistic view of the finalisedviaduct, where this pier willstand 343m tall, dwarfing theEiffel Tower by 19m. This bridgerepresents the most importantsection of the A75 highway fromClermont-Ferrant in the north(running to the left) to Béziers/Montpellier in the south.

Chief surveyor Pierre Nottin wasthe first expert on the grasslandsscene, arriving in the TarnValley back in August 2001. Herehe points to the point ofbeginning.

To monitor the constructionproject, twelve conjointlysecured fixed reference-pointpiers were installed along thebridge axis at well-accessiblepoints, allowing survey measure-ments using forced-centeringLeica total stations and reflectorprisms as well as GPS antennae.

Precision andreliability of Leica GPS andTPS at highest-possible level!”

Pierre Nottin

“

6

Compared with the 324m-tall Eiffel Tower with its 7,500-ton steelstructure, 36,000 tons of steel and 206,000 tons of concrete will beneeded for this 343m-high and 2.5km-long, world-record-breakingengineering construction. All in all, seven piers of differing heightswill be erected for the “Viaduc de Millau”. With a distance of 343mbetween them, their eastward alignment forms a slight curve andcauses a continuous north-south downward deck gradient of threepercent. The uppermost 90m of the concrete piers are divided intwo, with the appearance of a tuning fork. That means that thelowest pier (P1), which is 77m in height and built directly into thenorthern slope edge, was encased straight from the base in thisbasic split-filigree form.

The highest pier (P2) begins at the foot of a foundation that is 16mdeep, has an area of 200m2 and is anchored in the natural rock. Ittapers increasingly towards the top to a height of 165m where itforks upwards from a further 90m. At the upper end, the pier’s

bearing area still has a cross section of 30m2. The precast steelroadway profile plates will be connected to this uniquely designedbearing area using a special system. An 87m-high steel pylon isaffixed in the center of each concrete pier, to which 22 steel staycables are fastened. These lead to the strong center support of thesteel roadway profile plates and transfer the force from the piersto the construction as a whole. A total of fourteen 171m-long andtwo 204m-long trapezoidal steel roadway profile plates, each32.05m wide and 4.20m high, are being joined together on thelateral ramps, maneuvered towards the middle of the bridge byhydraulic presses, connected to the piers and anchored to theseven steel pylons with a total of 154 steel stay cables. The32.05m-wide roadway profile plates offer enough room for two,two-lane decks of opposing traffic with emergency shoulders, areinforced, load-supporting center section and three-meter-highprotective sidewall wind barriers.

Filigree cement-steel construction weighs in at a massive 242,000 tons

Like all bridge piers at Millau also the highest in the world (P2) is characterised by different sections. All positions are being defined from thebasements on by the surveying team with Leica GPS530 rovers and monitored permanently. At P2 from a pier height of 165m, the profile forksupwards for a further 90m, before the 87m high steel tower is fastened to the roadway plates with the 22 stay cables. This pier will extend 343mup into the sky. In the right-hand picture the first steel roadway profile plate is pushed towards pylon P7. The Leica GPS 530 RTK reference station showed on the right-hand picture below, has been permanently installed prior to the start of the construction work, and transmitscorrection data 24 hours a day for the differential measurement of the entire construction site.

self-climbing form had to becontinuously adapted to thehorizontal angles and gradi-ents each time another fourmeters of pier concrete arepoured, as well as having tobe precisely positioned towithin just a few millimeters.It took three working days toconcrete a four-meter-highform feed, meaning that apier could “grow” as muchas eight meters each week.

To monitor the constructionproject, twelve conjointlysecured fixed reference-point piers were installedalong the bridge axis at well-accessible points, allowingsurvey measurements usingforced-centering Leica totalstations and reflector prismsas well as GPS antennae.During construction, 150survey reflector prisms havebeen cast into the outerencasement of the concretepiers and fixed in naturalrock. Additional precisionreflectors will be fixed onother important structuralelements of the bridge.These can be automaticallytargeted and monitored witha high level of precisionfrom the fixed referencepoints. The slightest of chan-ges in the bridge piers –such as those due to tempe-rature fluctuations and stres-ses – can thus be recognizedimmediately, benefiting notonly the construction sur-veying team, but also theindependently contractedgeometrician M. Morin. Taking in consideration theengineering challenges ofthese bridge, the most precise instruments on theglobal market are beingdeployed in constructionand monitoring. PierreNottin’s surveying team

relies on the precision totalstations Leica TCA 2003 andLeica TC 1103 in addition toits Leica GPS 500 system,whereas certified geometri-cian expert M. Morin uses a

Leica TDA 5005 industrialtotal station to determine hiscoordinates in conducting hiscontrol surveys, ensuringaccuracy to within 0.3 milli-meters. Numerous digitallevels from Leica Geosystemsare also being used. Surveying chief Pierre Nottinhas everything securelyunder control: “What I’velearned from many years ofengineering surveying withclassical terrestrial instru-ments is proving to be thecase here, too. The precisionand reliability of the GPS andTPS systems from Leica Geo-systems are helping us to ful-fil complex surveying tasks atthe highest-possible level onthe Viaduc de Millau as well.The consulting and serviceprovided by Leica regionalsales engineer OlivierTruttmann, as well as theLeica Geosystems office inToulouse leave nothing at allto be desired.“

Privately financed by the Eiffage Group

The 400-million-euro “Viaducde Millau“ is being privately

7

financed by the EiffageGroup. Belonging to France’sfifth-largest constructiongroup with a turnover ofseven billion Euro, are thebiggest French metalconstruction and engineer-ing firm Eiffel, the generalcontractor Eiffage Construc-tion and its subsidiary Eiffage TP as well as the“Compagnie Eiffage du Via-duc de Millau“, founded justfor this project. Whoevercompares the 120-year gua-rantee of the Millau viaductwith the life of the EiffelTower – constructed by com-pany founder Gustave Eiffelin 1889 – has no doubt thatthis civil engineering workwill also serve generationsto come. The “CompagnieEiffage du Viaduc de Millau“was awarded usage rightsfor 75 years, at which pointthe Millau viaduct will betransferred to state owners-hip. More information:

www.viaducdemillaueiffage.com.

120-year bridge guarantee

The “Viaduc de Millau” is atechnical masterpiece of thehighest order and a hallmarkof state-of-the-art technolo-gy. Its functionality is gua-ranteed for 120 years by theFrench Eiffage Group. Intotal three hundred small,precision optical reflectorswill be embedded into theconcrete encasement andwill be fixed in the naturalrock and on other elementsof the bridge structure overthe three-and-a-quarter yearconstruction period. Thesedurable and eternal gold-coated “diamonds” will helpregister even the slightestoscillations in this masterfulstructure of the “Viaduc deMillau” and will providesecurity for generations.

Stfi

Consulting andservice providedby Leica Geo-systems leavenothing at all tobe desired.”

Pierre Nottin

“

8

Italy: Leica

Geosystems in the

universe ofmobile

telephony

A new partnership between Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) and Leica Geosystems Italia means

that a national GPS network now exists throughout Italy, able to support professional

GPS users with precision positioning for various applications and in numerous market

segments. As well as providing a DGPS differential correction over a mobile telephone

network, TIM's network is used to optimise the use of its antennas and is able to monitor

the network for radio frequency leakages, supporting scientific documentation regarding

the extent and disposition radio frequency electromagnetic fields – an important issue with

health and environmental implications.

The TIM Group (Telecom Italia Mobile), which is pre-sent not only in the Italianmarket but also in LatinAmerica and within theMediterranean basin, is amarket leader in Europe particularly with regards tothe number of lines. The TIMGroup had 24.2 million lineson the national market on30th September 2002. If wealso consider the Group’sforeign customers, TIM reaches an overall total of37.3 million lines.

TIM has adopted the custo-mized technology and solutions offered by LeicaGeosystems Italia for all itsrequirements regardingmeasurement, checking andpositioning of the antennasfor the diffusion of the GSMand UMTS signals. TIM andLeica Geosystems Italia have

developed a collaborationthat goes far beyond that ofa simple customer / supplierrelationship. Together theyhave devised a series ofsolutions that are beingintroduced to the markettoday, with innovative servi-ces such as the transmissionof the DGPS differential correction on a mobile tele-phone network. A professio-nal operator may receivesuch corrections in real timeon his mobile phone, andwith just one GPS receiver,he can carry out precisepositioning, or download thedata required for Post Processing differentialcorrection from thewww.business.tim.it

website.

The GEOTIM Network

In Italy, the implementationof the law regarding thedefinition of radio frequencyelectromagnetic field limitsthat are compatible withhuman health, represents astrategic opportunity forTIM. By adopting a networkinfrastructure and suitabletools for the correct georefe-rencing of mobile telephonyinstallations, the impact ofradio frequency electro-magnetic fields can be

Distribution of the GeoTIMnetwork

9

monitored. This opportunityresulted in the need for aproject aimed at the realiza-tion of a network of GPSreference stations (whichcurrently number 34), calledGeoTIM, the first of its kindamong mobile telephonyoperators in Italy. By meansof this network, TIM hasdeveloped an instrumentthat is essential for meetinginstitutional requirements(Local Health Care Services,Regional Agencies forPrevention and the Environ-ment, Ministry of Communi-cations, and other public

administration agencies), inthat it provides scientificdocumentation regardingthe extent and disposition ofvolumes in reference to theirown radio stations, as wellas the distances betweenthese same stations andpublic buildings (schools,hospitals, etc.).

During its construction, inaddition to acquiring know-how in an uncommonlylarge sector for a mobiletelephony operator, thecompany began to realizethe inherent value of the

resource at hand, whichcould focus its interest onwhat is now a maturemarket. The availability of aGPS network for precisionpositioning, is an excellentform of support forperformance optimization invarious market sectors.These inlcude areas such asGIS mapping, topographicand cadastral surveys, technological networkmanagement, the manage-ment of natural and environ-mental resources, intelligenttransport, and precisionnavigation.

The reference stationscurrently consist of a GPSgeodetic, double frequency,12 channel L1/L2, C/A and P code, RTCM and RTKreceiver and a local serverthat manages the station it-self and interfaces with thebusiness intranet network.This allows connection tothe management platformfor the entire system (LMP)as well as to the alarm monitoring system.

The antenna is a choke-ringtype. This guarantees phasecenter stability, effectivemultipath protection, andalso ensures the possibilityof tracking satellites even atlow-level elevations.

The Geodata Service

The TIM GeoData service,which was conceived withthe aim of making GeoTIMnetwork data available toexternal clientele, was

commercially launched inSeptember 2002. The availa-bility of a national infrastruc-ture for precision position-ing allows for the expansionof new market segments inmultiple sectors. As alreadymentioned, GPS differentialcorrection data is availableaccording to the two classicaccess modes already usedby professionals withdifferential GPS instrumen-tation, post-processing andreal-time.

Post Processing Service

The GPS stations periodical-ly send time files containingdata for differential correc-tion, formatted according tothe RINEX (Receiver Inde-pendent Exchange format)international standard.

The GeoData Post Pro-cessing service assumesthat the customer carries outhis GPS survey with a roverunit, which records the mea-suring session. Subsequent-ly, he connects to the website www.business.tim.itfrom his Internet station.

Following the login phase(insertion of the User-ID andPassword), he will access apage from which he can:· select the desired GPS

station;· select the data sampling

rate (1, 5, 15 or 30seconds)

- insert the desired date andtime slot

The strong points of the GeoTIM network can be

summarized as follows:

• Uniform distribution over the entire national territory:

The fact that TIM has a considerable number of radiostations distributed throughout the territory (urban,interurban, rural, mountainous regions) has simplifiedthe identification of sites suitable for the installation of apermanent GPS station (maximum visibility, absence ofinterference, structural stability, etc.), which hasrendered GeoTIM the only network with uniformnational coverage.

• organization within the IGM95 national geodetic

network

• ASI (Italian Space Agency) certification: certain GeoTIMstations will become part of a group of stationsmanaged by ASI within the European Reference Frame(EUREF); ASI will issue a weekly data certification forthe differential correction produced by the GeoTIM network, therefore offering national and internationalsignificance and credibility, even in scientific circles.

• easy network interconnection: GPS data travels withinan intranet business network (equipped with a high-capacity backbone and an elevated number of POPaddresses), which allows for the integration of individu-al GPS stations and the creation of a truly integratedGPS network. A management platform for the entiresystem (LMP) allows for the concentration of datawithin a single collection center, which also functions as the customer’s service access point.

• Network-monitoring system: GeoTIM monitoring ismanaged in a similar manner to other TIM networkinfrastructures.

• reliability of service and timely maintenance interv-

entions: TIM’s presence within the territory and theiron-site intervention capacity allows for the optimizationof station restore times, guaranteeing high service reliability.

Selection of the desired GPS Station

10

Architecture of the GeoData inPost Processing Service

Selection of the frequency, dataand time slot

In response to the query, the LMP supplies a list ofexisting files (maximum 30-days old), the possibilityof downloading those required and, through theuse of specific software,post-processing of the fieldmeasurements to refine theaccuracy of results.

Real Time Search

The GPS stations continuallytransmit differential correc-tion data to the LMP, inaccordance with the RTCMSC-104 (Radio TechnicalCommission on MaritimeCommunication, SpecialCommittee 104) internatio-nal protocol standard, Relea-se 2.2.

The GeoData Real Time ser-vice requires the customerto activate a telephoneconnection with the LMP bydialing a TIM radiomobilenumber for the desired GPSstation, from a GSM mobilephone (with active SIMcard), that is connected to aGPS rover receiver.When the connection ismade, the GPS measure-ment session begins andcontinually receives therequested data at a speed of9.6 Kbits/s, performing differential correction direct-ly on the field and obtaininghighly accurate data.

The GeoTIM network consti-tutes the first homogeneousand certified national systemnucleus for georeferencing.The related GeoData serviceallows customers to use thenetwork across the entirenational territory.

The “APOGEO” Procedure

With the development ofradiomobile technologiesfrom 2G (GSM) systems to3G (UMTS) systems andvalue added services basedon localization, the need hasalso arisen to add an ever-increasing number of radiostations to the network, withlimited and controlled radiocoverage. In order to do this,it is necessary to havefrequency planning andradio coverage simulationtools that use highly reliabledatabases for networkdesign. TIM has thereforeapplied stricter accuracystandards concerning thecorrect positioning of sitesand the precision with whichantenna design parametersare practiced, obtaining notonly a network of permanentGPS stations but alsoprofessional instrumentationkits. Following numeroustests carried out on productsfrom various companies thatoperate in the sector landsurvey instruments, TIM’stechnical staff selected Leica

Geosystems Italia as theirsupplier. Leica was chosenbecause it allowed TIM toobtain a wide range ofperfectly reliable instru-ments, and with considerati-on of the extreme variabilityof environmental situationsin which they must operate.Each kit consists of a GPSSR530 receiver with all theaccessories necessary toperform both Fast Static andReal Time analyses, and afully motorized TCRM1102laser station for topographicsurveys. Undoubtedly, thestrongpoint of the kit is thetopographic instrument, thetechnical characteristics ofwhich distinguish it fromthose of other companies.Such characteristics includeprecision distance (3mm)and angle (2”) measure-ments, a reflectorless range(>150 m), and maximumlaser divergence of 100 m(1.5mm x 3mm). In parti-cular, the maximum laserdivergence is very importantfor distinguishing two pointsvery close together whenmeasuring across longdistances. The use of thePCMCIA card both inside theGPS receiver and thetopographic instrument isalso a highly useful form ofsupport for customizingother potential functions (forexample: direct calculationof the tilt and the azimuth).

In order to increase theaccuracy of the businessdatabases, on which all theactivities related to thedesign, construction,maintenance, and optimiza-tion of the network arebased, the APOGEO (Antennas Procedures OnGeographic Enhanced Orientation) operatingprocedures were developedand patented by TIM both inItaly and abroad. These pro-cedures define the operatingmethods for the accuratemeasurement of geographiccoordinates (latitude,

Selection of the frequency, dataand time slot

Time files available forcustomer download

11

longitude, and altitude), orientation with respect togeographic north (azimuth),inclination with respect tothe vertical (tilt) and altitudefrom the ground, of radiostation antennas using theabove-mentioned professio-nal instrumentation. TheAPOGEO procedures havebecome an integral part ofthe technical testingstandards and contracts withsupply and installation companies that operate forTIM. In this way, TIM acceptsthe facilities only when theirconformity to the designspecifications has been verified by applying theseprocedures.

In general, each radiomobileinstallation irradiates thesignal from multiple cells(directions) installed on atowering structure (pylon,pole, building) by means ofappropriate supports. Eachcell is made up of multipleantennas (fixed electromag-netic sources) the supportstructures of which mayvary from one installation toanother. The element towhich all topographic surveyoperations required by theAPOGEO procedure there-fore refer, is a singleantenna.

The identification of the geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the antennas inthe WGS84 system and oftheir tracking angle on thehorizontal plane (azimuth),with respect to geographicnorth, generally requires thecompletion of a mixedsurvey. These are based onsimultaneous GPS instru-mental surveys (eg. LeicaSR530) and topographic sur-veys (eg. Leica TCRM1102).In fact, bearing in mind thatthe points to be surveyedare inaccessible, it becomesnecessary to record two ormore reciprocally visiblepoints in the vicinity of the

The use of the following instrumentation and, subsequently, the APOGEO procedure,

is intended to promote:

• increased accuracy in the installation, maintenance, and optimization processes by thecompanies that operate for TIM, through the verification of the conformity of equipmentto project specifications. With these instruments, errors that could occur with the use ofconventional instruments normally employed by installers of mobile telephone systems(inclinometers, compasses, altimeters, etc.) are eliminated.

• qualitative improvement of the network in terms of coverage and protection frominterference, thanks to increased precision in the calibrating of antenna tracking.Furthermore, given the greater sophistication of future UMTS systems, this will be anincreasingly important consideration.

• greater reliability of the business databases necessary for the design of the network, forthe supply of added-value services (eg. services based on localization), and for theprocessing of impact area data necessary in order to conform to the electrosmog regulations now in force.

• performing necessary remote verification of the antennas, while guaranteeing the safety of personnel (TIM or suppliers’) directly involved in the actual surveying activities.

Frontal view of Antenna

Coordinates and Azimuthmeasurement

Rear view of Antenna

Antenna points

12

antennas by means of GPS,from which the points on theantennas are visible, and assuch detectable by a topo-graphic instrument, which in turn are capable of recor-ding angular measurements(azimuth directions andzenith angles) as well asdistance. For the coordinates(determined in WGS84), thepoint at the base of theantenna is measured, whilethe two points on the samehorizontal plane are measu-red for the azimuth.

The position of GPS verticesin relation to points on theantenna to be measuredmust planimetrically definetriangles, preferably equila-teral triangles, in order tooptimize planimetric preci-sion.

The calculation of the anten-na tracking angles of the onthe vertical plane (tilt) andthe height of the antennafrom the ground may beperformed by using thetopographic instrumentonly, positioned on opportu-ne vertices (not GPS), fromwhich the points to be measured are visible. Morespecifically, the calculationof height in relation to theground is performed bydetermining the differencebased on the measurementsof the incline distance andthe zenith angle. Therefore,calculation of the trackingangle on the vertical plane(tilt) is always determined bymeasuring the azimuthdirections, the zenith angles,and the distances to boththe identified points, lyingon the same vertical.

It is important to emphasizethat a higher or lower levelof complexity in performingan on-site survey, even withequal antenna dimensions,is strictly related to locallogistic limitations. It isobvious that a survey of aradio station in the suburbs

with each antenna installedon the same pylon is muchquicker and easier than thatof a radio station in an urbanarea on the roof of abuilding with each antennaon its own pole. It is there-fore always necessary to

adapt such procedures tothe specific conditions ofeach individual site.

TIM Group

Antenna tilt and height measurement

TIM Antenna site

Leica Kit for TIM consists of GPS SR530 and TCRM 1102

13

Production soars following implementationof GPS in map revisionA massive 42% in productivi-

ty gains has been measured

by Great Britain’s national

mapping agency, Ordnance

Survey, following the imple-

mentation of Leica GPS

surveying systems to under-

take their most detailed

mapping. GPS was introdu-

ced to the field from January

2002 and allowed all Ordnan-

ce Survey surveyors to up-

date map data on the spot.

Every year, Ordnance Surveyproduces a wide range ofdigital data business produc-ts, along with millions ofpaper maps. They areresponsible for updating andmaintaining definitive mapdata for the whole of GreatBritain, which is contained ina large computer database.This vast electronic mapcovers the whole of GreatBritain and is so detailed thatit includes the shape of everyindividual building, the pre-cise alignment of roads andpavements and the exactlocation of public telephoneboxes.

Its latest innovation is thecreation of the multi-layeredOS MasterMap – an evenmore sophisticated versionof its most detailed data, inwhich more than 400 millionnatural and man-madefeatures are held as self-con-tained polygons, all with uni-que codes so that third-partydata can be associated withthem quickly and easily.

The total Ordnance Surveyworkforce includes morethan 350 surveyors who con-stantly measure and recordthe changing British land-scape from a network of offi-ces stretching from Invernessto Truro. Previously, themaintenance and updating ofthis massive amount of dataproved an arduous and time-consuming task. Following a strategic partnership withLeica Geosystems at the endof 2001, Ordnance Survey

began the ‘GPS DeploymentProject’, which aimed toadopt GPS as the basis forfield revision. GPS position-ing was to replace wherepossible and economic thetraditional terrestrialmethods used to positionnew detail.

“Following a pilot project, itwas anticipated that therewould be significant efficien-cies through implementingRTK GPS technology to datacollection and manage-ment,” Paul Cruddace, Geo-detic Adviser at OrdnanceSurvey said. “These could beachieved through reducedbacklog, increased produc-tion output or better curren-cy of the data. The predictionwas an increase in the pro-duction rate in the range of25%.”

Equipped with a backpackcontaining the RF530 RTKreceiver, and carrying ahand-held pen com-puterrunning data collection soft-ware, the surveyor is readyto map an area. To obtain aprecise position, the sur-veyor can communicatedirectly with a local base sta-tion (of which there are over60 throughout Britain), or

create a temporary base sta-tion from a receiver connec-ted to their car. By position-ing the receiver pole along-side the feature to be sur-veyed, the position of thenew detail appears on thescreen of the pen computer.The computer contains thedigital mapping data that isto be updated, and thesurveyor is able to add oredit a feature on the touch-sensitive screen.

At the end of the day, all thenew information is sent elec-tronically to a giant masterdatabase held on a centralcomputer at the OrdnanceSurvey’s headquarters inSouthampton. Remote orinaccessible points can bedefined with a Leica DISTO™or a Leica TCR 307 Reflector-less Total Station. An intensi-ve programme of aerial pho-tography, particularly in ruralareas, also supplements datagathered by ground staff.

Not only did the GPSmethod prove to be highlyproductive, the task becamemuch easier and moreefficient – allowing a singleperson to measure pointsand to check the data directlyon the hand-held computer.

The actual increase in pro-duction, however, proved tobe much better than expec-ted. “For example, closeranalysis of the productionmonitor used at OrdnanceSurvey showed that thedifference between theproduction rates at the com-mencement of the project inDecember 2001 and theclosure of the project inMarch 2003, was a massive42.8% increase. Theseimproved results were acombination of using theRTK GPS, allied to substan-tial redesign of the operatingprocedures and productionprocesses used by thesurveyors, Paul Cruddacesaid.

A tremendous achievement

“The GPS Deployment Pro-ject has been judged to be atremendous success by allthose connected with it –through the successfuldelivery of the project objec-tives, the effective supportdelivered through ourpartnership with Leica, andthe commitment and innova-tion shown by our survey-ors,” said Ordnance Survey’sDirector of Data Collectionand Management, NeilAckroyd. “It has allowed usto realise efficiencies in ourbusiness that can be used tomanage costs and re-investin the capture of new typesof information to furtherimprove our customer pro-position.”

Unlike the old paper maps,Ordnance Survey’s electronicmap data can be kept up-to-date constantly – witharound 5,000 changes madeevery day! Extracts of thelatest 'edition' can be acces-sed instantly by the publicthrough a national networkof computer-linked retail outlets in the Ordnance Sur-vey Options network, whileupdates to OS MasterMapdata can be served online.

Bt

14

Laser scanning makes quick job of rail surveyThe use of innovative 3D laser scanning technology from Leica Geosystems meant that

Australian surveying company North Surveys were able to complete the survey of a section

of rail network in record time and with an extremely high level of accuracy.

Brisbane-based, North Sur-veys Pty Ltd, were awarded141 km (two sections) of the390 km (seven sections) ten-der for mapping the existingVictorian rail network for aproposed upgrade of theline – “Regional Fast RailProject – Bendigo Line”. The task, however, became asignificant challenge whenthey were only given 7.5weeks for its completion.

Latest technology to capturedata

Careful not to jeopardisequality of data surveyed,North Surveys decided toutilise a range of methodsand the latest technology tocapture the data and achievethe best and most accurateresults. The open countrysurveying was undertakenusing Leica GPS/RTK andconsisted of one basestation and four rovers. Con-fined spaces were surveyedusing conventional EDM and

the surveying of structureswhich included 13 railwaystations, 25 bridges and twotunnels, were capturedusing the Cyrax 2500 3Dlaser scanner. 3D laser scanning is a newmethod for the spatial recording and visualizationof objects. A laser beamautomatically detects thethree dimensional coordina-tes of an object. Thousandsof points are measured in asingle second to combinemillions of object points inorder to document the entire object with extremeaccuracy.

It was after the job had commenced that North Sur-veys decided to test the 3Dlaser scanning technology.Following the purchase of aCyrax 2500 3D laser scannerfrom Leica’s Australiandistributor, C.R. Kennedyand Company Pty Ltd, theyreceived immediate andthorough training.

“Incorporating this newscanning technology requi-red innovative procedures,methodologies and techni-ques for its use,” said Director of North Surveys,Mr Frank North. “To date,there is no manual or procedures for its use in asurveying environment,except for those that wehave developed.”

The various methods of data capture used achieveddifferent rates of production.The Cyrax scanner was ableto cover 1km each day, whereas the rovers covered12 km a day. With four orfive crews operating similartechnology, there waspressure to achieve a highrate of productivity withouthaving to revisit a site for re-measurement due to invalidrecordings. All surveys werethen processed in proprie-tary software and/or Keays,merged, tidied and then passed into Microstation for

North Surveys’ Ian McDonaldanalyses the scan data usingcyclone software.

Director of North Surveys, MrFrank North with the Excellencein Surveying Award.

Scanning of a railway tunnel for the Bendigo project: thesurveying of structures whichincluded 13 railway stations, 25 bridges and two tunnels, werecaptured using Cyrax 3D laserscanning.

15

final presentation anddelivery.

“Our use of the 3D laserscanning technology for thisproject was accurate andextremely timely,” said Mr North. “It far outweighedthe usual conventionalmanual methods normallyused today.”

“Excellence in Surveying“award

It was due to this innovativeuse of technology that theproject “Regional Fast RailProject – Bendigo Line”,undertaken on behalf of theDepartment of Infrastructurefrom the Victorian Govern-ment, won the Award forOpen Project category of the‘Excellence in SurveyingAward 2002’ from theInstitution of Surveyors Australia, Queensland Division. The Open Projectcategory refers to no restriction of scope, size ornature of entries. Projectsare judged on technicalexcellence, innovation, sen-sitivity to the environment,benefit to the profession andcommunity and quality ofpresentation.

“This award has come aboutthrough great team effortand all the staff are to becongratulated for playing avital part in each and everyrole,” said Mr North.

“Whilst the project in itsown right is not unique, dif-ficult or out of the ordinary,what turns this project into acontender for discussion,review and scrutiny is thesheer logistical exerciserequired to bring together arange of resources and tech-nology to match therequired scope of works,”Mr North said. “We achievedthe required deliverable allin a very short timeframe, inan unfamiliar environment,1,800 km from home, whilst

at the same time developingand training in the use ofnew technology.”

“At the completion of theproject, the client commen-ted they were surprised thatwe were able to finish in thetimeframe allowed given thelarge portion of the projectallocated to us,” Mr Northsaid.

Continued use of 3D laserscanning

Since the purchase of theCyrax laser scanner, NorthSurveys have identified ahuge market for its use.Their scanner is one of onlyseven commercial units cur-rently available in Australia.First used to scan therailway bridges in the Bendigo Line project, it hasnow been mounted onto anextendable mast on a truck,to allow efficient scanning ofobjects from many differentangles and heights. Thescanner has never beenshort of jobs. It has scannedthe draglines at BHP minesites, was used in the $90mrevamp of the AustralianPaper Mill at Petrie, recor-ded the pipeline system atthe Gladstone Power Stationand scanned the collapsedgas tank at Luggage Point inorder to assist in the salvageand determine the cause ofthe collapse.

“The promotion and marketing that has followedas a result of the introduc-

tion and development of thenew 3D Laser Scanner technology will contributetowards cementing thesurveying industry as beingthe ‘owners’ of this techno-logy,” said Mr North.

“By utilising this technology,we can push our clients’ projects into the future –what will be main-stream inmaybe five or ten yearstime,” said Mr North. “Thescanner will save our clientstime and money, and willdeliver an accurate spatialdata sets in a timelymanner.” Bt

Cyra laser scanning technology*, from market leaders Leica Geosystems, has many

fields of applications typically including factory plants with numerous pipes, drilling

platforms, tunnels and other infrastructure building works.

The new measurement technology offers numerous advantages at the same time: the

ability to quickly scan an object without physical contact from up to one hundred

metres away and with a precision of better than 6 millimeters; complex forms are not a

problem; dangerous and hot objects can be documented fast from a safe distance. Every

detail is included automatically, producing an object that is easily recognizable. It is also

possible to gain additional information from the Cyra data set which goes beyond pure

spatial information, for example, determining references to changed material structures

by delivering different laser reflection.

*now described as High Definition Surveying™, the new standard and refined description of what has often been previously referred to as “3D laser scanning”. The Leica HDS2500, is a re-labeled Cyrax® 2500 scanner, Leica Geosystems’ (and the industry’s) most popular scanner to date. More information: http://www.leica-geosystems.com/investor/news/high_definition_surveying.htm

North Surveys have designed aspecial truck where the cyraxlaser scanner is mounted on anextendable mast.

Continued projects for NorthSurveys have included the scanning of pipelines at BP Refinery in Queensland.

The large aerial picture shows the “Earthman” of the LandArte project in Switzerland. This Earthling has an arm span of 350 meters. TheLandArte artworks were staked out with Leica GPS System 500 and Leica GS20 and several of them were transferred into the landscape byguiding the seeding machines with a Leica Dozer GradeStar Indicate system. The image documentation was made with digital LeicaADS40 aerial sensor, Leica RC30 aerial camera, and Leica Erdas Imaginea software .

Find more out at www.leica-geosystems.com

LEICA TPS1100 PowerSearch

Total stations with optionsfor automation and prismrecognition for optimalefficiency.

LEICA Erdas IMAGINE®

Geospatial imaging software

for remote sensing image processing for GISapplications and 2D+3D GISmodels.

LEICA RUGBY™ 100LR

Rotating laser level withmany advantages for theconstruction site.

LEICA ADS40

Airborne digital sensor withunique features for 3D dataacquisition in GIS andmapping.

LEICA HDS™ 2500/3000/4500

High-Definition Surveying

product family withCyclone™ and CloudWorks™software.

LEICA Machine Automation

A diverse range of systemsfor monitoring the positionand production performanceof machinery in mines and construction sites.

LEICA GPS Reference Networks

Multi-purpose networked frameworks that deliverenhanced GPS positioningdata across large sites andterritories.

LEICA DISTO™ 5th Generation

Precise laser distancers

reducing time and costs. Up to 200m.

Discover us!

machine automation, monitoring, GIS creation and industrial measurement. Visit us at www.leica-geosystems.com or contactus or a Leica Geosystems representative directly to learn moreabout these new possibilities.

CAPTURE . . . MODEL . . . PRESENT

Powerful partners providing high productivity. In the new range of tech-nologies and products from Leica Geosystems there are a lot ofproductivity drivers to discover. Leica Geosystems provides themost comprehensive program of products and systems for captu-ring, modelling and presenting spatial reality world-wide in thefields of surveying, mapping, metrology and monitoring. As acustomer you are able to take advantage of the easy integration ofdata and the extension of the value chain into new growing areas.Leica Geosystems develops, markets and supports modernsystems for land and cadastral surveying, environmental analysis,civil and mechanical engineering, building and construction,

Geosystems

LEICA GS20 PDM

Professional data capturing

in your hand. Small and precise GPS data mapper forGIS and mapping.

LEICA TPS110C & TPS410C

Builder Total Stations withunique operation-philosophyespecially suited forcustomers working onconstruction site.

LEICA GeoMoS

Geodetic Monitoring System

and software for monitoringthe movement of land andstructures.

LEICA LTD800

The All-In-One Solution withthe new “Walk-Around-CMM“ based on the fastestand most accurate tracker inthe world.

18

Comfortable measuring for Architects is announcedMore time for planing …

After using a Leica Laser

Distancemeter for four

years, Architect Rainer

Dietz from Lindau,

Germany, would never

swap this valued tool.

Today measuring both shortand long distances fast andaccurately is a “must”. Parti-cularly during renovations, it is essential that measure-ments are correct at thebeginning of construction aslater changes would creategreat problems for tenants.Time is money for all in theconstruction.

Since 1999, the architectureoffice of Rainer Dietz hasrenovated and modernisedmany apartment buildingsof the fifities with over 230flats. All apartments, stair-wells, cellars and attics, aswell as the façades, arenewly measured and allmeasurements and materialdetails are written down on

the existing old plan on thespot. Later in the office, thedata is entered into a CADprogram and the currentstock plans are prepared inthe office.

“Compared with theenormous cost savings, theinitial cost of the DISTOhardly comes into the picture. Using the conventialmethods of measuring (witha tape measure and a metreruler), two people areneeded for just 11/4 standardhours per apartment. However, a saving potentialof appoximately 50-60% lieswith the measurement oflonger distances (façades,cellars, corridors and attics).”“I see great advantages inusing the DISTO laserdistancemeter to recorddetailed measurements inoccupied and furnished buildings. Here, I cancomfortable measure overand around items of furnitu-re without having to moveanything,” said Rainer Dietz.For a building with 20 apart-ments, the Leica DISTO willsave him around a total of30 hours in measuring andrecording time.

Petra Ammann

Right: Rainer Dietz measures inthe house entrance Below: After the renovation...

Tape measure and Metre ruler

2 people measure with a conventional tapemeasure and metre ruler.Items of furniture must be partly moved.

1. Time expenditure per apartment: 11/2 Std2. Time expenditure façades, cellar,

attic, stairwell, per building (approx. 20 apartments): 20 Std

Leica DISTO™

1 person measures with a Leica DISTO. All rooms are exactly measured with laserwithout moving any items of furniture. A colleague still accompanies the measurerbut only.

1. Time expenditure per apartment: 11/2 Std2. Time expenditure façades, cellar,

attic, stairwell, per building (approx. 20 apartments): 10 Std

Complete saving:

at 1. a building with 20 apartmentsAt 2. a complete project

Savings

1. Time-saving per Apartment: 1/2 Std 2. Façades, cellar, attic, stairwell,

per building (approx. 20 apartments): 10 Std

ca. 10 Stdca. 10 Stdca. 20 Std per Building

At

bu

ild

ing

sit

e

Savings at the building site

The Very Large Telescope Since February 2001, mankind has been opening a new eyeinto the universe: with the Very Large Telescope (VTL). TheVTL provides researchers with extremely sharp images –achievable due to the very high positioning accuracy of allelements of this new observatory. To reach these targets,technology from Leica Geosystems was used.

The European Space Agency (ESO) Very large Telescope(VLT) at the Paranal Observatory (Atacama Chile) is theworld’s largest and most advanced optical telescope. It wasconstructed as a joint project, by eight European countries.It comprises four 8.2-m reflecting Unit Telescopes andseveral moving 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes, the light beamsof which can be combined in the VLT Interferometer (VLTI).With is unprecedented optical resolution and unsurpassedsurface area, the VLT produces extremely sharp imagesand can record light from the faintest and most remote places in the Universe. The Paranal Observatory is located on the top of Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert in the northern part of Chile, whichis believed to be the driest area on Earth. Cerro Paranal is a 2,635-m high mountain, about 120 km south of Antofagastatown and 12 km inland from the Pacific Coast. The geographical coordinates are 24o 40' S, 70o 25' W. The Paranal mountain was chosen because of its excellent atmospheric conditions and, not the least, for its remoteness.This will ensure that the astronomical observations to be carried out there, and will not be disturbed by adverse human

activities, e.g. dust and light from roads and mines.

For the astronomical construction of this complex, it wasnecessary to use the highest technology. To guarantee highest quality and precision for this gigantic construction,the most precise and sophisticated laser instruments,TDA5100 and TDA5005 theodolites from Leica Geosystemswere used with the support of Leica Geosystems’ represen-tative in Chile, Cientec Instrumentos Cientificos S.A.,Santiago. Gabriel Garland

Left: The VLT producesextremely sharp images andcan record light from thefaintst and most remote placesin the Universe.

Right: The Paranal Observa-tory is located on the top ofCerro Paranal in the AtacamaDesert.

19

Leica Geosystems with highest sustainability ratingFor Leica Geosystems’ sustainability and environmentalresponsibility represent central factors in its way of doingbusiness. To measure the extent of completion of theseobjectives, neutral and specialised organisations are asked to check them on a regular basis. In 2003, Leica Geosystems received a corporate sustainability rating of“A”, the highest rating possible from Centre Info, amember of the SiRi Group (Sustainable InvestmentResearch International Group). The rating is based uponseven criteria including business ethics, corporategovernance, customer satisfaction and quality, employeerelations, environmental responsibility, community service,and human rights and supply chain.

Last year, no company reached the “A” level in this ratingof Center Info with a scale from A to E. With this “A” ratingLeica Geosystems exceeds last year’s top 10 “B+” rating.

According to the research report issued by Centre Info,Leica Geosystems “shows a very satisfying commitment toits various stakeholders…is constantly aware of itscustomers’ needs…gives great importance to itsemployees…has improved its corporate governancerating…and cares strongly for the environment.” The reportconcludes with the statement: “Globally, the companydemonstrates a very high level of environmental and socialresponsibility and rates among the most sustainablecompanies.”

20

Leica Geosystems raisesfunctionality of laser tracking

Vehicle manufacturers’desire to adhere to themaxim of “get in rightand get it right firsttime” has been furtherenabled with the latestlaser trackertechnology introducedby Leica Geosystems.

A world leader in laser technology and three dimensional

measurement solutions, Leica has combined tracker

technology with photogrammetry techniques, creating a

measurement system that makes it possible not only to

determine the position of a point of measurement, but also

the spatial orientation of any arbitrary object. The process

involves the use of a high-speed camera, installed on the

laser tracker in conjunction with a handheld probing device

(the T-Probe), containing the diode array and a reflector.

While the laser tracker determines the exact position of the

reflector, the camera determines the position of the diode

array in the photogram and, from that, computes the

spatial orientation of the probing device. With six degrees

of freedom the shape and orientation of any arbitrary

object in space can be measured in real-time with a rate of

more than 100 Hz.

The introduction of the newmeasuring process bringstwo decisive functionalenhancements to lasertracking. The first is that itallows measurement of geo-metries to be made with Leica’s ultralight handhelddevice, the armless andwireless T-Probe. Thesecond is that in future thelaser tracker will be com-bined with Leica’s handheldscanner, the T-Scan, toenable objects to be digiti-zed easily and quickly. In this respect Leica’s Tracker

LTD800 and LTD700 lasertrackers have been develo-ped with special attention tothese functional enhance-ments, making it possible tomeasure the six degrees offreedom of the end effectorof a robot, in real-time andduring its motion.

According to Nicholas Bloch,Vice President Global Marke-ting and Communication,Leica Geosystems Metro-logy Division: “The T-Probeis essentially a first-of-a-kindaccessory to the market-

leading Leica laser trackerseries. It will offer engineersand metrologists previouslyunheard-of flexibility andfreedom by allowing themto measure and inspect alsodeep inside components andtools with undiminishedaccuracy.”

Functioning with a Leicalaser tracker, the compact T-Probe can easily inspectand accurately measure virtually anything, any-where. It offers measure-ments accurate up to 0.1 mmin a volume equivalent tothat of a full-size car. Blochbelieves that the T-Probe “isdestined to become a criticalnew success factor for theautomotive and relatedindustries worldwide. Leicaalready has a pre-order logfor a dozen installations,particularly in the auto-motive sector.”

Looking at the applicationsof the new technology,Bloch adds: “In general, thesystems of measurementsare employed for compari-

Measurement of geometries ismade with Leica’s ultralighthandheld device, the armlessand wireless T-Probe.

21

The compact T-Probe can easilyinspect and accurately measurevirtually anything, anywhere.

son of the reality with thedesign (measurement of theform and the position), orfor the translation of the reality into design data(Reverse Engineering).While in the automobileindustry the design data foralmost all the products arenow commonly available inCAD format, it is clearlyrecognizable that this is nowincreasingly becoming thestandard also in the aviationindustry.

“If the design data is avail-able in digital form, for on-site work, the measurementsystems must be in a posi-tion to retrieve or store thenecessary data from the net-work of the firm via intranet.Also, this general trend inthe industry requires thatthe systems of measure-ment be seamlessly linkedwith CAD programs and thatthey have open interfacesthat make them intranet enabled.“In case of laser tracker andlaser radar, these require-ments were given major

priority during development.Both the systems have openprogram interfaces that areintranet enabled via TCP/IP.With Leica's own new appli-cation software, known asHorizon, a complete inte-gration of the measurementsystems is now possiblewith the CAD environment.The analysis of the measure-ments takes place in realtime and the generatedreports are presented in aform compatible with theinternet browsers.”

Laser tracking – not a fixed

asset

In practical terms, theautomotive industry, at bothOEM and key supplier level,is placing ever-greater

reliance upon contemporarymeasuring technology, fromprototyping through to volu-me production. At GeneralMotors’ Opel internationaltechnical developmentcenter (ITEZ), which sets theproduction standards for allof the company’s manufac-turing plants, a state-of-the-art Leica laser tracker is usedto provide precisemeasurement of weldingoperations.

Epitomizing current trends inmeasurement technology, nolonger do Opel’s engineershave to bring the work pieceto a static measuring system(as in the past) but simplymove the measuring deviceto the product, therebysaving time and cost. In fact, there is often noalternative. Part of Opel’sITEZ responsibility is to plan,develop and constructwelding lines for newmodels, prior to them beingbuilt in the actual productionfacilities where the cars willbe made. The problemfacing engineers in such

instances is that the weldinglines can be up to 12 meterslong and fixed immovably inplace. “It is in situations likethis where mobile measuringtechnology really pays itsway,” says Olaf Wienke, theLeica support engineerresponsible for commissio-ning the system at Opel. Headds: “The user places thereflector on the points to bemeasured and triggers aremotely-controlled measu-rement. At the same time,the exact spatial co-ordinatesof the measurement pointare stored in the system.”

With an accuracy of 10 micro-meters per meter, the Leicalaser tracker used by ITEZboasts an additional compo-

nent, known as Nivel20. Thisenables “horizontalised”measurements to be carriedout - which is very importanton welding lines, where twoor three machines often runsimultaneously and, over aperiod of years, it is possiblefor one corner of the frame-work to sink slightly. Thus,before installing a newwelding line into the frame-work (for a new car model),an essential part of theinstallation procedure ischecking to ensure that allfour corners of the frame arestill at the same height andperfectly aligned, a processthat the laser tracker carriesout with guaranteed pre-cision.Generally, with laser trackersit is awkward if the laserbeam is broken, either bymovement or being coveredby an intermediate body, asthe tracker would lose sightof the reflector and thewhole system would thenhave to go back to itsstarting-point. In the past,were this to happen, thelaser beam had to be direc-ted to this reference point,from where the whole pro-cess could be started again.However, were this tohappen today, starting theprocedure from scratch isnot necessary as the Leicatracker features an additio-nal camera that searches forthe reflector entirely inde-

“The T-Probe is essentially a first-of-a-kind

accessory to the market-leading Leica laser

tracker series. It will offer engineers and

metrologists previously unheard-of flexibility

and freedom by allowing them to measure and

inspect also deep inside components and tools

with undiminished accuracy.”

22

Success with carmakers continuesLeica Geosystems leads theindustry with more than 1,300tracker systems installed world-wide in some of the toughest, mostunforgiving industrial environ-ments. The company’s successwith carmakers continues with araft of recently won contracts. The Ford Motor Company haspurchased eight Leica lasertracking systems, which will formthe metrology foundation for avariety of manufacturing applica-tions, from assembly to toolingprocesses. The decision to

standardize on Leica followed a major benchmarking exercise by Ford of the metrologysystems currently available in the marketplace. Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America has also turned to Leica to supply a lasertracking system for high precision inspection and measurement operations at itsproduction facility in Erlanger, Kentucky. Toyota production engineers will use theLTD800 for quality control, to bridge the gap between as-built vehicles and nominaldesign data. The LTD800 delivers the fastest measurement cycle in the industry for highpoint density (3000 points/second), and the longest measurement distance for largevolume work (40 m). In addition to the LTD800, Toyota also plans to utilize Leica’s new T- Probe to provide on-demand inspection and measurement.In Europe, Leica has delivered two LTD800 laser tracker systems to DaimlerChrysler tohelp ensure the quality and precision of industrial inspections and measurements at theMercedes-Benz plant at Rastatt, southern Germany. According to Nicholas Bloch, one ofthe key reasons underlying the decision to purchase the systems was the possibility toupgrade to the portable T-Probe function – which operates with Leica’s LTD800 andLTD700 laser trackers – and to use it for precision measurement and inspection of justabout anything, anywhere. “The DaimlerChrysler decision shows that we are movingmore and more strongly into the automotive sector - thanks largely to the previouslyunheard-of advantages offered by the T-Probe. The new system represents thatincreasing rarity in today’s ever-changing high-tech industries - a genuine technologicalrevolution, which will fundamentally affect the way users do their job and how they per-ceive suppliers’ commitment to innovation.“Based on this technological break-through, we now expect to considerably expand ourmarket share in those sectors that depend on state-of-the-art precision measurementcapability – particularly the automotive industry.”

Toyota production engineerswill use the LTD800 lasertracker for quality control, tobridge the gap between as-builtvehicle and nominal designdata.

pendently and, with the helpof the system’s absolutedistance meter (ADM),allows the measurementprocess to carry on as ifnever interrupted. Wienkeexplains that: “This additio-nal functionality can be veryuseful in a complete weldingfacility, with many movingparts, where it could be relatively easy for the laserbeam to be interrupted.”Marrying the tracker toOpel’s software system crea-ted no problems as Leica

also supplied its Axyzsoftware, a type of operatingsystem for optical measure-ment devices. Wienkedescribes how the packageworks: “This software allowsus to operate the tracker andto check the measurementdata. The user can calibratethe system, perform measu-rements or program com-mands and the programmakes it possible to transferdata to the software systemin use - in this case,Metromec.”

To ensure that operatorsmaximize the potential of itslaser tracker, Leica includesin the cost of the package afive-day basic training cour-se, during which participantsare introduced to the princi-ples of optical co-ordinatemeasurement techniquesand the use of laser trackers.

Rod Harman

23

WorldSkills gold medal with Leica NA 720 automatic level

The world’s best young vocationalprofessionals gather at WorldSkills

Every two years, the best young vocationalprofessionals in the world meet up for theWorldSkills Competition. In 2003 this washeld in St. Gallen, Switzerland and previouslyin Montreal and Seoul. A total of 665 skilledvocational students from 36 countries compe-ted for medals. Before they arrived, all of theparticipants had won difficult qualifying trialsin their home countries. Six hundred expertjurors evaluated achievements in 42 differentvocational fields, including numerous careersin construction.

180,000 visitors and numerous TV teamsfrom all over the world watched as theworld’s best landscape gardeners, amongothers, teamed up in pairs to complete theirassigned task within an area 7m x 7m in fourdays: using lawn, nursery plants, humus,natural and concrete stones, sand, gravel,pond lining and water as well as thesurveyor’s level of their choice. The Swissteam, which was made up of Reto Scheferand Mathis Schnyder, opted to use the LeicaNA 720 automatic level to determine height,evenness and slope – and took home the goldmedal.

There was a tie for the gold medal in brick-laying, which went to the Korean SungWonAn and the Dutchman Arnold Ros. GermanJochen Ströhle and Stefan Schoch of Switzer-land shared the gold medal in cabinetmaking.

The nations winning the most honours atWorldSkills included South Korea,Switzerland, Japan, Austria, Germany andTaiwan. Preparations will soon be underwayfor the 38th WorldSkills Competition in theFinnish capital Helsinki in 2005.

Stfi

Above: High-performance land-scape gardeners with the Leica NA 720 automatic level. 2003 goldmedalists Mathis Schnyder andMartin Schefer together with 2001WorldSkills gold medalistsDominic-Felix Jost and PhilippeHug. Martin Schefer: “This level issturdy and precise. It helped usmaintain the most accurate measu-rements, throughout the difficultfour days of competition.”

Left: SungWon An of Korea workedhis way to a gold medal in brick-laying. He also took home the LeicaDISTO™ 5 from the host country:“This is a very cool device that Ican use in a variety of ways in mywork. It reduces preparation time,offsets and checks and makes thework more precise.”

Carpenter Jochen Ströhle“fashioned” a gold medal for him-self in St. Gallen. Jochen Ströhlereceived a Leica Disto™5 laserdistance meter from the Germancarpentry expert: “It’s a great thing.It lets you make measurements inno time and can even measureheights indirectly. It’s accuratedown to the millimeter.”

24

Real time viewing of World Orienteering Championships possible with fast 3D visualization

The 2003 World Orienteering Championships held this

August in Switzerland marked a milestone in technological

history. For the first time ever, the winning routes were

able to be visualized in near real-time with Erdas IMAGINE®

VirtualGIS software from Leica Geosystems.

A great deal is demandedfrom orienteering runners:in addition to being athletic,they must also have goodspatial visualization ability.Only those runners who areable to analyze the task provided and are the fastestto implement it on theground, can win. The poststhat must be passed are stationed in forests, fieldsand urban areas. How canthis be visualized for a largenumber of spectators and anexcited television audience?

Enthusiastic athletes and

fans

MFB-GeoConsulting in Messen had a solution thatenabled the 3D visualizationof the 2003 World Orien-teering Championships innear real-time with LeicaGeosystems’ Erdas IMAGINE® VirtualGIS. Justminutes after the finish linewas crossed, the routes ofthe three best male andfemale runners were digita-lized, played back virtuallybefore the public and partially televised using ahigh-resolution scale modeland the digital orienteeringmap. Since the three best

male and female runnerswere shown simultaneouslyin the movie, their differentroutes were easy to spot in the strategic post-raceanalysis.

IMAGINE Virtual GIS at the

core

As a basis for realizing the 3D visualization with IMAGINE Virtual GIS, MFB-GeoConsulting (www.mfb-geo.com) used a high-resolution digital elevationmodel (DEM) and the digitalorienteering race map (pixelmap) on the one hand, andvector data of the routestaken by the runners on theother.

It was a particularly techni-cal challenge to achieveoptimum rendering, sincethe geometry of the 3Dscene was constantlychanging and therefore hadto be permanently recalcula-ted. An organizationalchallenge resulted from thefact that precise data on thestarting point, posts andgoal were only announcedshortly prior to the start ofeach of the orienteeringraces.

For that reason, thecorresponding symbols forroutes, posts and runnerswere generated andimported into IMAGINEVirtualGIS and linked within

Left: Simone Luderorients herself duringthe race on the wayto the next post onher map. Her routeled the Swiss athleteto a gold medal.

Above: The posts and the routes chosen by the three bestcompetitors were visualized in the target area for spectatorson the projection screen with the help of Leica Geosystems’Erdas IMAGINE® VirtualGIS.

Below: Posts are interim goals. Here, Marian Davidik from Slovakiachecks in. Center: Thierry Gueorgiou, from France, on the way to agold medal in the classic-distance final.

the system before theevents. That enabled theraces to be visualized asthey were being run –practically in real-time. Theonly data that had to beentered at the time of thestarting signal were the new,effective geographic coordi-nates of the starting point,the individual posts and thefinish. In order to attain thebest possible representa-tions of the terrain and thecourses run, the optimumangles and perspectives forviewing the terrain weredetermined during the racein conjunction with an orien-teering specialist. That letboth athletes and spectatorsfollow the race exactly andanalyze the race after thefact.

Routes of the best three

runners in three dimensions

Just minutes after the finishline was crossed, the routes

of the three best male andfemale runners were digitali-zed as ATL files in ASCII format with geographiccoordinates and chronologi-cal data and then convertedinto shape files. In order forthe race to be compresseddown to a few minutes andplayed back in virtual time,the time base had to becompressed as well. For theroute analysis, DTM, digitalorienteering map and theshape files (routes run andtime information) of thethree best runners were inte-grated and then played backfor the audience on a giant

25

video screen just a fewminutes after the finish linewas crossed, with parts ofthe race being broadcast ontelevision. Since the threemale and female runnerswere shown simultaneouslyin the movie, the differentroutes they selected wereclearly recognizable.

Never before had organi-zers, athletes, spectators andtelevision viewers been treated to such deep insightsinto the runners’ strategiesand the races.

Felix Arnet from the organi-zing committee of the 2003World Orienteering Cham-pionships commented: “Oneparticularly positive aspectworth mentioning was thefact that the 3D visualizationenabled people to really seehow steep the terrain was.The runners’ differentcompetitive strategies werealso clearly visible: youcould see how the athletesleft the post, decided on dif-ferent routes, ran in theirselected directions and thenstarted getting closer and

Above: The terrain, orienteeringsymbols and routes run by thetop three runners werevisualized in three dimensionsusing Imagine VirtualGISsoftware. Spectators in thetarget area were thus able tofollow the final victory run ofworld champion Simone Luderand those of her toughestcompetitors.

Right: He did it – a gold medal! Swiss runner Thomas Bührer

won the long-distance race tobecome world champion.

All photos: swiss-image.ch/Remy Steinegger

closer together as theyapproached the posts. Thatwas really impressive. Ingeneral, it can be said thatthe Leica Imagine animationmade the most importantaspects of the WorldOrienteering Championshipsvisible.” It looks as thoughit’s likely to become astandard at such events.

Michael Baumgartner

Left: An impressive final sprint fromJamie Stevenson in Rapperswil on LakeZurich: the Brit was crowned worldchampion.

Leica’s ImagineVirtualGIS 3Danimation madethe most impor-tant aspects visible.”

Felix Arnet

“

Intergeo:A World of SolutionsThe Intergeo exhibition is one of the leading exhibitionsworldwide for showcasing the latest in surveying and geo-informatics. Over 15,000 visitors attended the fair this year,which was held in Hamburg, Germany. Leica Geosystemsand ESRI Geoinformatik presented in a common booth underthe motto of “World of Solutions” together with 14 applica-tion partners. The stand showcased the complete andcomprehensive solutions of all participants.In the centre of the stand from Leica Geosystems, the newproducts HDS 3000 and HDS 4500 and the Cyclone softwareVersion 5.0 was displayed. The TPS100C and TPS400C builder total stations were also shown for the first time, andnew solutions were presented in the area of tunnel and trackmeasurement. Visitors also showed a great interest in theGPS Reference Station solutions ‘Spider’. Also exhibited forthe first was the photogrammetry and remote-sensingproducts, all together in the new photogrammetry software“Leica Photogrammetry Suite”. Once again, the INTERGEOwas a great success.

Sepp Englberger

26

Researchers of Leica Geosystems' Corporate TechnologyCenter are actively involved in the definition of thestandard and the research of network RTK applicability.

During the ION GPS/GNSS 2003 symposium in Oregonheld in September 2003, Hans-Juergen Euler, OliverZelzer, Frank Takac, and Benedikt Zebhauser presentedtheir research paper entitled “Applicability of standardizednetwork RTK Message for Surveying Rovers”. The signifi-cance of the publication was recognized by the selectionfor a Best Presentation Award in its session. The paper

2003 FIG World Survey and Mapping ColloquiumThe recent FIG colloquiumheld in September 2003 atthe Maritime MuseumDarling Harbour, Sydney,Australia, featured thehistory of surveying andmapping. Sponsored byLeica Geosystems andAustralian distributorsC.R. Kennedy and Company Pty Ltd, it proved to be a greatsuccess with over 140 delegates participating, including manyfrom overseas. The event was organised by Mapping and Surveying History International (MASH) and was held inconjunction with the International Map Collectors Society.The Saturday program included a keynote address on ‘Preserving and Promoting our Surveying Heritage’ given bythe current NSW Surveyor General Warwick Watkins, and apresentation by George Baitch on ‘Exquisite Instruments ofthe NSW Lands Department’. The historical display at thevenue included the Surveyor General John Oxley’s 1811 Mapof the Colony of NSW as well as the Lands DepartmentHistoric Theodolites used for the Survey and Mapping of the

19 Counties of NSW. An excellent paper on Sir George Everestand the Triangulation Survey of Greater India in the 1800s –which ultimately determined the elevation of Mt Everest – waspresented by the secretary of FIG History Jim Smith whotravelled all the way from the UK. FIG History Chairman fromBelgium Jan De Graeve gave a paper on world arc meridiansurveys and the eminenent US Cartographic Expert ProfessorDavid Woodward spoke on “The Naming Of the Americas”.The Morning chairman was ex-head of govt surveys fromHong Kong Gordon Andreassand, and the afternoon chairmanwas the Australian Map Collector’s Society chairman, ProfessorRobert Clancy. On the Sunday delegates also visited BotanyBay viewing the landing place of explorer and surveyor,Captain James Cook in 1770, and visiting the French museumlocated at Frenchman’s Bay, La Perouse honouring the FrenchExplorer and mapmaker who arrived in Botany Bay simul-taneously with the British First Fleet commanded by GovernorArthur Phillip in 1788. Organisers, MASH Chairman John Brockand Secretary George Baitch hoped all who attended enjoyedthe presentations, the historical display and the social events. For more information, visit www.mash.org.au. DVD’s of theday are available from MASH.

Award for Leica Geosystems researchers at ION GPS/GNSS 2003investigates optimal performance of the system byexamining two different approaches for required calcula-tions within a roving platform. It proves the functionality ofthe interface definition for interoperability and provides afirst stepping-stone for further investigations in that area.Detailed statistics show the improvement of observationquality for the final steps of positioning calculations. By using these methods, remaining geometry andionospheric biases have been greatly reduced. In a futurearticle Reporter will provide additional information.

15,000 visitors came to the Inter-geo 2003 at Hamburg visiting theLeica Geosystems’ exhibitionbooth a World of Solutions,which included the brand newLeica HDS 3000 laser scanner(right).

Bob Linke, Les Strzelecki andMASH Chairman John Brock

Novel solutions in machineautomation In October, Leica Geosystems acquired the Australian

company Tritronics, thereby further expanding its line of

solutions for machine automation and construction-site

management.

Tritronics products enable the localization, remote diagnosisand monitoring of strip-mining machines in near real-time(see Reporter Vol. 48, p.28). This is undertaken using GPS-based navigation, wireless telecommunications andinternet-based remote monitoring of machine configura-tions. Automated machine diagnostics and managementsystems from Tritronics result in substantial advantages interms of efficiency and safety in strip mining and at majorconstruction sites.

27

Tritronics systems integrate high-performance diagnostic, analyticaland management software with reliable radio telemetry and 3D surveying sensors for precision monitoring and control of draglines,haul trucks, loaders, shovels, bulldozers and blast hole drills.

Micro-optic technology from LeicaGeosystems wins Swiss Technology AwardA new kind of micro-optic technology from Leica Geosystems,that enables the construction of miniaturized optical systems,has earnt the company the “Swiss Technology Award”. Itinvolves positioning and mounting optical componentssmaller than two millimeters, such as lenses and beam split-ters, down to one thousandth of a millimeter. That not onlyenabled substantial savings in terms of weight and volumeto be achieved with Vector™ laser rangefinder binoculars,but also a doubling of the distance over which the equip-ment is effective, thanks to a 60-fold increase in the efficacyof the laser propagation.

Video on surveying the city of Zurich Zurich regularly vies with Sydney in many studies for top

honors as the city with the highest quality of life.

Innovative geomatic systems from Leica Geosystems

support specialists and residents in both metropolises.

Two twelve-minute videos feature comments from the

responsible surveying experts and the mayors. Please

contact your expert advisor at Leica Geosystems if you

are interested.

Far left: Project head Laurent Staufferat the world’s first TRIMO-SMD (tripodmicro-optic surface-mounted devices)high-precision micro-optic assemblystation of Leica Geosystems.Left: A micro-optic component positio-ned and mounted in six degrees offreedom down to a thousandth of amillimeter (for scale: the head of amatch).

28

LandArte – Giant Art in Switzerland’s Rhine Valley

In Ancient Greece, the concepts of art and technology were

not yet separated. The term “tekhnae” stood for technolo-

gy, art, crafts and handiwork. On another continent, and

long before our epoch, a completely different culture, the

Nazcas, laid down huge lines in the Peruvian highlands, the

true extent of which is only revealed from the air. In

present time, the year 2003 was the bicentennial annivers-

ary of canton of St. Gallen – which includes the Alpine

Rhine Valley where Leica Geosystems’ Swiss headquarters

are located. This was the setting for 13 gigantic crop

images, which sprouted and changed their appearance

with the course of growth: LandArte.

The Leica technologies ofGPS500 and GS20 assistedthe LandArte artists fromSwitzerland, Liechtenstein,Austria and Finland to trans-fer their designs from papersketches onto the landscape.200,000 visitors have walkedalong the slopes of thevalley or travelled to themountains by cable railwaysto view the artworks. Howe-ver, it was only possible tofully appreciate LandArte byascending into the skies, andonly with airborne sensorscould these artworks bemade visible to the broaderpublic, allowing them to beprecisely documented forviewing by future genera-tions. These tasks wereaccomplished with LeicaGeosystems’ digital ADS40aerial imaging sensor, theRC30 aerial photographysystem, Ikonos satellite data,and Erdas Imagine™software.

Nature, Art and Technology

The valley carved by thealpine Rhine glacier hasbeen a cultural landscape for millennia. The river iscanalized just before themouth of Lake Constanceand the flood-ravaged valleyfloor shows diverse patternsof watercourses, trees andhedgerows and fields,making it an imposing

“Earth Signals” in Rüthi by theVorarlberg artist Herbert Fritsch.In its style of the culture of theWalser people this artwork, 1.2kilometers in length, symbolisesan eye, wherein the Moorhoffarm of Bernhard Schneiderrepresents the pupil.

Stake-out made easy: Assisted by the Leica 530 GPS system, surveyorstransferred the artworks into the landscape on the Moorhof farm inRüthi. Based on the 1:10,000-scale project sketch, project managerKuno Bont (right) followed the plotting of the Earth Signal togetherwith artist Herbert Fritsch.

Right: “Mother Earth” in Salez, formed by five inmates of Saxerriet prison

as part of a supplementary individual support program.

29

“tekhnae” work. For the lastfew months, the LandArteproject has added theexpressions of artists to thislandscape. None of the 13LandArte artworks expres-sed this aspect of the RhineValley’s actual cultural land-scape in a more fundamen-tal way than the oeuvre bySpallo Kolb: “Defining theOrientation”: While at firstglance appearing to be minimalist yet profoundlyeffective on a conceptuallevel, he created threeoblong fields facing duenorth and thus cutting deepinto the now familiar “melioration patchwork”.

As part of their thesis work,and in addition to localsurveyor FPK & Partners, thelandscape architect studentsDaniel Baur and UrsHaerden of Professor PeterPetschek from RapperswilUniversity of Applied Scien-ces were particularly activein transferring the artists’drawings to the landscape,using Leica GPS systemsGS20 and GPS 500. Forseveral of these plant pictu-res the seed was sown in thefields by guiding the agricul-tural machines with a LeicaDozer GradeStar Indicatesystem. Social scientists from theUniversity of St. Gallen werealso involved by undertakinga research project in linewith a supplementary individual support programat which five inmates atSaxerriet prison joinedforces to create the work“Mother Earth”.

Earthling, Tiger and SpaceContact

Nearby Bad Ragaz, at thesouthernmost point of the13 LandArte projects,visitors were greeted inVilters by artist SeppAzzola’s giant “Earthling”which had an armspan of350 meters. In June, this

“Humans Leave Tracks –Adam/Eve” in Gams by ErnaReich. The large figure at Gams,more than a kilometer long, sym-bolizes both Adam and Eve. Thefootprints of the figure at Gams(see picture left) extend threekilometers. This picture is remi-niscent of works by the artistsand Bauhaus teachers Paul Kleeand Johannes Itten.

Left: Two LandArte works in oneimage, taken at a distance of 600kilometers by the IKONOS satel-lite. Bottom: “Humans LeaveTracks – Footprints” by ErnaReich between Frümsen andGams. Center: “Mother Earth” inSalez. These satellite imagestransformed by the Erdas-Imagine™ software have aground resolution of 1 meter. © Leica Geosystems / LandArte /www.mfb-geo.com / EuropeanSpace Imaging, 2003

Visualization using the world’s leading high-performance systems

As soon as nature made the LandArte pictures visible,they were documented from planes and satellites usingthe most up-to-date and most powerful systems in usetoday: the Leica RC30, Leica ADS40 and the Ikonos satellite. Over the last few years, Leica Geosystems inHeerbrugg, Switzerland, has developed the Leica ADS40— the world’s first digital aerial image system capable ofhandling tasks in remote sensing and photogrammetry. It simultaneously records the overflown area on ten channels covering various spectral bands including infra-red. In addition, simultaneous frontal, lateral and rearviews are recorded. With the combination of GPS andinertial systems, and the use of the Leica ALS50 Lidarsystem, exact recording position data and precisetopographical data on the earth’s surface can be ascertai-ned. Since this data is immediately available in digitalform, the creation of three-dimensional landscape modelsand remote sensing analyses can be performed quicker and much more simply. With a ground resolution of 15centimeters, the Leica ADS40 produces much more preci-se information than satellites. It is used in agricultural and

forestry documentation for the entire United States, inJapan for tracking maps of large metropolitan areas aswell as in Russia for creating land property documents. In addition, slides measuring 9” x 9” were produced forthe LandArte works by Swisstopo with a “classic” LeicaRC30 aerial imaging system. The slides document high-resolution ground details to the centimeter. The Ikonossatellite sensor also recorded the entire Rhine Valley in St. Gallen with the artworks on July 22, 2003, at 10:25a.m. from a distance of 600 km using a object resolutionof one meter. Leica Geosystems converted the satellitedata into images and animated 3D video sequences usingErdas Imagine 3D remote sensing software – the leadingproduct world-wide in this area – to produce a virtualflight through the Rhine Valley and the LandArte works of art.

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“When the Beetle Seeks theTiger” in St. Margrethen by JonnyMüller. Using strips of green cornand grains, the artist modeled astructure based on a tiger hide inthe fertile Rhine floodplain. The“beetles” were sown as ovalssurrounding three fruit trees in themeadow at the upper right.

Right: “Defining the orientation”in Kriessern by Spallo Kolb. Threefields were aligned along a preci-se north-south axis. The LeicaADS40 image shows the nearinfra-red band captured with thisfirst aerial digital sensor.

Below: “Emergency Exit” inDiepoldsau by Sunhild Wollwage.The globe can’t cope.

Leica Geosystems’ ADS40 is the world’s most powerful digital aerial imaging sensor. It records the landscape and its objects forenvironmental and cartographic purposes with a ground pixel resolution of 15 centimeters. A total of ten channels includeinfrared and forward, lateral and rear views for three-dimensionalinterpretation.

31

Earthman was gazing at theheavens in green, in July heturned wheat yellow, and,during the middle of thisyear’s once-in-a-lifetime heatwave, he gazed heavenward

with blue lupin eyes. Fortykilometers downstream,where the Rhine flows pastSt. Margrethen, is the mostnortherly artwork in this“astronaut’s gallery”. Here,near the Ruderbach rest stopon the A1 highway, JonnyMüller created a fascinatingartwork entitled “When theBeetle Seeks the Tiger”.Oval scarab beetlesappeared poppy-red andcornflower-blue aroundthree fruit trees. Equallyimpressive was the “Emer-gency Exit” symbolism by

Liechtenstein’s Sunhild Wollwage in Diepoldsau.Any passing extraterrestrialobservers would have focu-sed on the floral imagery ofartist Kuspi: he set up hissymmetrical UFO dockingstation “Space Contact” inthe wine-growing village ofBerneck. LandArte wasimpressive in many ways –the largest work “HumansLeave Tracks” by Erna Reich,incorporated the villages ofFrümsen, Sax and Gams andextended over a distance ofmore than three kilometers.Thanks to purchase commit-ments negotiated early on,the plants used for thegrowing images could even-tually be sold, used forpersonal consumption bythe farmers, or used for selective soil fertilization.For example, the marigolds,cultivated for the first time inthe Rhine Valley especiallyfor the LandArte project areused in naturopathy, thecorn is the main ingredientfor the local dish “Ribel-mais”, and the violet andblue Phacelia are ecological-ly stabilizing agents for soil.

“Space contact” in Berneck by Kuspi. The diagonal of this landing sign measures 250 metres.

Setting out made easy

The setting out was easy workfor the landscape gardening students of Professor PeterPetschek from the RapperswilTechnology University. Afterdigitising the artworks andtransferring this data into thelocal grid, students Urs Haerdenand Daniel Baur performed thestaking out together with the

farmers. Student Daniel Baur said: “We had never workedwith a GPS instrument before, but after two hours oftraining we were able to easily stake out all of the LandArte.We especially enjoyed working with the handy and lightLeica GS20 which was able to provide us with accuracies tothe decimeter. It was only for very fine structures in the artworks, where centimeter accuracy was required, did wehave to use the GPS 500, but this was very seldom. Whenwe complete our studies in 2004, we would highlyrecommend to our future employers to have such a deviceavailable – to speed up work and make landscapegardening more accurate. For example, with a Leica GS20 itis possible to design far more precise plans and undertakemore accurate calculations about the quantity of land toremove, ultimately enabling work to be completed in lesstime.“

Coordinated Progress

Artists, farmers, engineers,economists, social scientists,prisoners, the unemployedand students were inconstant communication forLandArte, coordinating theirrequirements and solutionstogether with project initia-tor Bernarda Mattle and project manager Kuno Bont.For example, in Autumn2002, Austrian artist HerbertFritsch set about procuringthe seed for the Winterwheat in Rüthi. The goldenyellows were evident in hiswork of Summer 2003,better contrasting the opticaleffect of his 1.2-kilometerlong Earth Signal from thegreen meadows around it.Following digitalization ofthe artist’s drawing, the sur-face calculation produced amuch larger wheat acreagethan Bernhard Schneider’sfarming family actually nee-ded. Instead of reducing thework’s dimensions, artistHerbert Fritsch “downsized”the line widths of his EarthSignal lines, which is

reminiscent of the oldmaster builders’ signs ofWalser people culture, byover twenty percent.LandArte was the anniver-sary project with the largestnumber of visitors (200,000),its images radiating farbeyond national borders andthe timeframe of itsoccasion.

Stfi

A unique combination ofart, man, nature,and technology!”

LandArte-Besucher Alfred Gächter

“

Geosystems

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HDS3000

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Cyclone & CloudWorx

Learn more about the HDS family of products byattending a free web seminar at www.cyra.com

Leica Geosystems has coined a new namefor laser scanning technology: High-Defini-tion Surveying, or HDS™. Why? First, High-Definition better describes its single mostdistinguishing feature – high density dataand rich images – compared to point-by-point surveying. Second, by describing it asHigh-Definition Surveying, Leica is statingthat its new family of hardware and softwareproducts is fully fit and friendly for survey-ing and engineering. For example, the newLeica HDS3000 not only has the look and feel

of a surveying instrument, but now you cangeo-reference to local or assumed coordi-nates more efficiently by setting up over asurvey point. Other surveyor-friendly fea-tures include a standard tribrach mount, H.I.measurement capability, efficient batteryswapping, and improved weight/portability.In addition, Leica's Cyclone™ and Cloud-Worx™ are feature-richsoftware productsthat make creating surveying and enginee-ring deliverables easier than ever before.Welcome to the world of HDS!