Programme

The role of GIS and spatial analysis in Earth System Engineering research

Stuart Barr

School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Earth Systems Engineering research aims to develop a suite of integrated methods for analysis and decision making within complex coupled technological, human and natural systems under conditions of long term change and often severe uncertainty. The focus of such research is to provide a system level understanding of the mitigation and adaption options available to improve the long term robustness of major infrastructure and urban systems. Increasingly GIS and the spatial analytical tools are being employed as a key component in order to understand the spatial configuration of these key properties. This presentation will show how methods and software developed at Newcastle University by the Geospatial Engineering research group is being employed in Earth System Engineering projects ranging from city scale climate impact analysis through to the characterisation of national infrastructure resilience.

The role of geodesy in studying the ocean’s circulation

Rory Bingham

School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Geodesy has a number of roles to play in helping us better understand the ocean’s circulation and how it may respond to a changing climate. In this talk I will present an overview of the ways that geodetic measurements, particularly those from recent satellite gravity missions, can be used to study the ocean’s complex behaviour. First, I consider how the geoid, by providing a level surface against which the ocean’s surface can be measured, can allow us to determine the ocean’s global surface circulation. I will show how the recently launched Gravity and steady state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, by measuring the Earth’s global gravity field with unprecedented accuracy, is providing the clearest picture yet of the ocean’s currents. I will then describe some of the processes in the ocean that can lead to temporal variations in the Earth’s gravity field, from high frequency redistributions of mass between ocean basins, which can shift the Earth’s geocentre, to weaker, longer term changes related to climatically important aspects of the ocean’s circulation. The ability of the Gravity Recover And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, specifically designed to measure the temporal variability of Earth’s gravity, to detect these ocean signals will be examined. Finally, I will show how accurate measurement of the Earth’s gravity is important if we are to fully understand the causes of long-term sea level change, one of the most pressing problems facing society over the coming decades.

Laser Scanning 10 Years On: the Coming of Age

Paul Burrows

Leica Geosystems, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Ever since the Cyrax 2500 laser scanner was launched in 1999 the technology has constantly moved ahead. This seminar illustrates the progression and the latest capabilities of High Definition Surveying and shows the current advanced stage of development.

Antarctica on the way up: measuring Antarctic glacial isostatic adjustment with GPS geodesy

Matt King

School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Since the last glacial maximum about 20k years ago sea level has risen about 120m globally. This is due to the reduction in the large ice sheets - notably the disappearance of the North American, Fennoscandian and British Ice Sheets. The Antarctic Ice Sheet also reduced substantially. However, the total volume lost, and the spatio-temporal history of this loss is very poorly constrained by measurements. GPS geodesy can help solve this problem. This is because the solid Earth is still responding to the changes in ice surface loading in a process known as glacial isostatic adjustment, and this can be measured at the sub-mm/yr level using advanced space geodetic techniques. This talk will discuss research going on at Newcastle University where we are attempting to measuring Antarctica GIA and some of the geodetic and practical challenges in doing that.

Development of the GNSS networks in Bulgaria

Georgi Arnaudov

University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia, Bulgaria

In this presentation we'll present a history of the development of GNSS networks in Bulgaria, the companies that create such networks, their number of permanent stations, coverage, precision and the services they provide.

New international Master program in Cartography

Stefan Peters and Dorota Iwaszczuk

Department of Cartography, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

In this presentation we introduce a new international Master’s program in Cartography. The paper reflects the ongoing technological developments as well as the interactions between the individual disciplines in cartography, geoinformatics and other neighbouring disciplines.

To keep the education and research in cartography at a very high level in Europe, it is necessary to bundle existing competence. The international Master’s program in Cartography is designed as a joint effort of three universities in Germany and Austria which complementarily contribute with teaching modules that are reasonably integrated into a curriculum and holds unique expertise.

Processing of high resolution and multispectral aerial images for forest DSM production and tree classification

Gini Rossana

Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

My master project thesis dealt with two different, but equally essential, aspects. The first is the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for generating a high-resolution DSM, which was proved to be potentially reliable for forestry applications. Nonetheless, some of the problems encountered, outlined the need of further studies, especially for the development of new methodologies and software suitable for the UAVs imagery processing.

The second is the selection’s refining of some “quantities”, characterized by textural, geometrical and spectral information, for improving the classification of seven tree species classes. This objective was only slightly achieved, but different post-processing methods might be applied to ameliorate the outcomes.

Development of GIS / GPS application for mobile devices

Ivan Tomljenović

Faculty of Geodesy, University of Split, Croatia

An application (currently in beta) has been developed to collect point elements with only one attribute added. The full application will have functionality to collect point, line and area elements and up to 6 different attributes along with PC based application for transferring collected data to a local spatial database.

An insight into the current stage of development of my work and theoretical background will be given in the presentation. The developing environment is the Google App Maker cloud application which uses a graphical programming language.

The presentation will have a small introduction to Google and Android, preview of the beta application, how the full application works and short description of graphical programming.

3D reconstruction by dense image matching

Konrad Wenzel

Institute for Photogrammetry, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

Dense image matching enables the derivation of high resolution 3D data, such as pointclouds or surface models. Improved algorithms and cameras with increased sensors sizes, resolution and lower noise not only allow an efficient data acquisition, but also the application in photogrammetry. The Semi-Global Matching algorithm, proposed by Heiko Hirschmüller in 2005, has been implemented and evaluated for aerial imagery during the investigation for a diploma thesis. The results are similar to pointclouds derived by LiDAR concerning the accuracy, but provide a much higher resolution. Within the presentation datasets for different applications are shown and evaluated.

Development of a spatial model of selected buildings in Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences using SketchUp

Kamil Więcek

Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

The subject of this presentation is to create a 3D model of chosen buildings from Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. The presentation will outline the process of obtaining data necessary for the model as well as a description of the analysis of these data (the measurement was performed using the Leica 407 Power total station).

The presentation will also discuss the software used during the work - "SketchUp" - how the software works and provide a description of the basic functions.

The presentation concludes by describing the creation of a three-dimensional model and shows the final results of a comprehensive model as a short animation.

A comparison of bridge fragment models made from laser scanning and reflectorless measurement

Gabriela Bąk and Tomasz Gerlich

Agricultural University of Cracow, Cracow, Poland

An object of research was the Grunwald Bridge on the Wisla river in Cracow. Firstly, the measurement was executed by the terrestrial laser scanner. The all object consisted of fifteen permanently stabilized positions from which data were connected into one cloud in the local network of the project. Then, chosen elements of this building were measured with the reflectorless method with the reference to the same points of the local network. Surfaces vertical, horizontal and oblique, which were scanned and measured by the total station, they were used to making analyses and creations of differential models.

Seeübergangsnivellement (SN) = Levelling across water areas

Kerstin Binder, Susann Müller, Holm Neumann , Marcel Pabst and Till Sieberth

Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

Levelling is the classical and still valid method of determining heights. The method is based on the linear addition of height differences from one point to another. Usually it is a closed procedure that starts and ends at the same reference point. But some terrain surfaces make this very difficult or even impossible. Aggravating circumstances are for example given when levelling across water areas or valleys. In these situations it is not practical to keep equally long distances between the levelling-rod and the levelling instrument. Therefore another levelling technique is required such as the “Seeübergangsnivellement”.

Technologies for Heritage Documentation of Aboriginal Rock Art

James Carracher

University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Preserving the cultural history of Australia’s indigenous people is essential to all humankind. It is for this reason that finding effective and efficient methods of undertaking documentation is important. This paper covers the case study of the ‘Nawarla Gabarnmung’’ site in Arnhem Land to determine the most viable technology which could be utilised to address such a task. The ease of the data capture, processing time and effort, visualisation quality, accuracy, and the costs of both Close-Range Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning were all taken into consideration when trying to determine the most viable option.

Laser scanning of a surveying laboratory

Sandra Kuszaj, Tomasz Czempas and Robert Gradka

Agricultural University of Cracow, Cracow, Poland

Laser scanning has recently become an increasingly popular measurement technique. The range of applications is developing all the time. Last year, students of the Agricultural University of Kraków surveyed a laboratory in the Academy using a laser scanner. The resulting cloud of points was used to construct 3D models.

Regional Geodetic Students Meeting - Belgrade University

Petar Lojanica and Nenad Visnjevac

University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

The Regional Geodetic Students Meeting is an attempt to improve the connections between students in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. This goal was achieved by gathering students in Belgrade for 4 days of socialising. It was a small "IGSM" with 40 foreign participants and about 15 hosts. During the meeting the participants took part in different activities, including lectures from students and professors, a tour of the city of Belgrade, visits to museums and experienced Belgrade’s night life!

The process of creating a topographic map

Marko Orlović

University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

This poster presents one way of creating a topographic map. This process includes editing vector data (administrative borders) using AutoCAD, reprojection of raster data into an official projection using Grass 6.4.0 and data generalisation using CorelDRAW.

This poster can be used as a useful guide for the development of a topographic map. In addition to the main poster a topographic map generated using the methods outlined in the poster is included.

Cartography Master at three universities: TU Munich, TU Vienna, TU Dresden

Stefan Peters and Dorota Iwaszczuk

Department of Cartography, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

In this poster an overview of the new international Master program in Cartography is given. The contents and as well the structure of the course are illustrated. Furthermore the main objectives and the application requirements are described.

Within the program students will spend their first semester at TU Munich, the second semester at TU Vienna and the third semester at TU Dresden. In the fourth semester, students may choose to finish their Master theses which can be supervised by one participating university or co-supervised by two participating universities. Therefore the students need to be very flexible and mobile.

XXV International Geodetic Student Meeting in Jaén, Spain

Remedios María Sánchez Quirós, Raquel Medina Ramos and Nicolás Rodríguez Lucena

Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Spain

Next year the IGSM will be held in Jaen, Spain. This poster contains information about IGSM 2012 (such as the date, location, web site, e-mail, etc.) and some proposed highlights for the week, including some beautiful pictures!

The detection of displacement and deformation of a cable-stayed bridge

Robert Roszkowiak and Paweł Łata

University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland

This poster presents the application of laser scanning technology in the detection of displacement and deformation of suspension bridges. We aim to show how laser scanning is useful in this kind of problem by making a comparison with precision levelling and how it could be used to model structures of this kind.

Activities of the Scientific Society of Surveyors “Dahlta”

Joachim Więcek, Monika Jarosz, Agata Kiełb and Agnieszka Brachucy

AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow, Poland

The Scientific Society of Surveyors, “Dahlta” is an organization with great potential that brings together students of the Faculty of Mining, Surveying and Environmental Engineering at the University of Science and Technology in Cracow for whom Land Surveying is a passion. Starting this year we are cooperating with companies, such as MGGP SA, MGGP Aero Sp. z.o.o and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, with whom our members will take part in joint projects to develop their knowledge and skills . We have also begun to develop Geoportal AGH and in the summer term we plan to measure a landslide in Kłodne near the city of Limanowa.