mag_reporter50_en

REPORTER

50

The Magazine of Leica Geosystems Geosystems

2 CEO Message

The 2004 productivity offensive

Contact You can find Leica Geosystems at numerous exhibitions, congresses and roadshows in your region.

In addition, you can find information and documentation on our national websites or on www.leicageosystems.com. Here you will also find previous Reporter issues in different languages. Please visit us.

When competitive pressures are building up on our customers around the world, and tasks are getting bigger, there is only one way to gain an advantage: by increasing productivity! In the last two years our researchers and engineers have been examining the operating sequences and added value chains of our biggest customer groups in various key tasks. They have been examining the latest technologies with regard to their suitability for surveying, remote reconnaissance and geomatics, and have incorporated them where appropriate. They have also continued to develop existing methods and processes – such as the patented laser beam in our range of TPS stations. As its measuring field at the target point is only one tenth of the area in relation to other systems, it measures considerably more precisely. Our experts have also removed numerous barriers that once impeded the interoperability of data between previously isolated systems.

In my last editorial, I introduced you to one of these new developments, our HDS3000 and HDS4500 high-definition surveying systems, together with our world-beating Cyclone Software, which enables even the most complex properties to be scanned rapidly, in three dimensions, and subsequently measured and transformed into 3D models in comfort back in the office.

In this 50th issue of the Reporter, our customer magazine, you will find the presentation of our revolutionary Universal System 1200, which for the first time in the world, merges data from GPS and TPS sensors. With its standardized method of operation and power supply, it exploits the strengths of both technologies, and is capable of delivering productivity gains of 25 percent and more.

Any of our readers who want to enrich and speed up the added value chain by means of products from the areas of photogrammetry and remote reconnaissance, will greet the new ALS50 83 kHz laser scanner with just as much enthusiasm as the new Leica Photogrammetry Suite – a well-rounded range of software for digital photogrammetry and integrated remote image reconnaissance.

IMPRINT Published by: Leica Geosystems AG CH-9435 Heerbrugg CEO Hans Hess Editorial Office: Leica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 Heerbrugg, Switzerland Fax +44 1908 246 259 Email: Teresa.Belcher@leicageosystems.com Editors: Fritz Staudacher (Stfi); Teresa Belcher (Bt); Desktop and Publishing: Teresa Belcher, Niklaus Frei

In addition, anyone who wants to be quicker and more accurate in the transportation industries, such as aircraft, automobile and ship building, can now secure a considerable lead on the basis of laser-scanning technology, using our T-Probe, the world's first coordinate measuring machine, including Horizon, the CAD-based application software.

Also, our new DISTO Plus hand-held laser model, with Bluetooth data transfer and versatile application software offers previously unknown solutions for a large number of measuring and plan preparation tasks.

With all these new developments, Leica Geosystems is still setting the technological standards in our industry. But most of all they are helping our customers to gain an advantage. So launch your 2004 product offensive now, with these revolutionary new solutions! It will start to pay off right away in terms of time saved, but above all in increased productivity and improved positioning in the medium to long term.

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

Reprints and translations, including excerpts, are subject to the Editor's prior permission in writing.

The publication is printed on chlorine-free paper made by environmentally compatible processes. © Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg, April 2004, Printed in Switzerland Editorial deadline for next issue: 31 May, 2004

Hans Hess CEO Leica Geosystems

Contents

4 7

World-famous airplane model created with Leica Axyz software

Gotthard Base Tunnel: Tunnel technology for the future

4 Gotthard Base Tunnel: Tunnel technology for the future

11

7 World-famous airplane model created with Leica Axyz software

Improving Cellular Coverage in Rio de Janeiro

8 High-Definition survey provides accurate DTM and cross sections of busy highway

14

Dealers' new addiction: The Leica Geosystems Partners' Store

10 Geographic imaging helps endangered birds find a new home 11 Improving cellular coverage in Rio de Janeiro 12 Surveyors charged with tall order

18

14 Dealers' new addiction: The Leica Geosystems Partners' Store

Leica's Universal System 1200

15 Leica's latest top model in the DISTO™ family: Leica DISTO™ plus

22

18 Leica's Universal System 1200

Laser trackers revolutionize industrial measurement procedures at Eurocopter

26

World first in precision paving at Heathrow

20 Emerging permanent reference station networks

28

T16 #178277: a life of travel and tacheometry

22 Laser trackers revolutionize industrial measurement procedures at Eurocopter 24 News in Brief 26 World first in precision paving at Heathrow 27 Gradestar in New Zealand 28 T16 #178277: a life of travel and tacheometry 30 Recording movements on Mt Everest using GPS

3

4 Tunnel Surveying

Gotthard Base Tunnel: Tunnel technology for the future

The Alp Transit Gotthard is an ambitious railway construction project, which will incorporate the world's longest railway tunnel of 57 km travelling through the Swiss Alps and under the St. Gotthard massif. Future passenger trains will journey at speeds of up to 250 km/h, adding further to the highly successful European high-speed network and bringing a huge reduction in travelling time. The combined surveying systems of Leica Geosystems and Amberg Measuring Technique Ltd are greatly assisting the tunnel workers in their dayto-day work - not only reducing time needed to ensure that excavation is correctly undertaken, but also making the whole construction process much more efficient and accurate.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel has been divided into five sections: Erstfeld, Amsteg, Sedrun, Faido and Bodio

In order to integrate Switzerland into the modern rail network, lines must be prepared which can be travelled at high speed. The Gotthard Base Tunnel, which will cost around seven billion francs, is thus the foundation stone of the Swiss railway of the future. The connections in international transport, built up around the nodes of Zurich and Milan, will become considerably faster, thus presenting a real alternative to travelling by car or by air. It is anticipated that between 200-220 goods trains will run daily following its completion.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel consists of two single-track tunnels that lie approximately 40m apart and these are linked by a series of

connecting galleries every 325m. The entire tunnel construction has been divided into five sections, each with its own separate access point: · Erstfeld - northern portal · Amsteg - horizontal access tunnel, 1.2km long · Sedrun - two blind shafts, 800m deep and 8 m in diameter accessed through a horizontal tunnel about 1km long · Faido - a 2.7km long inclined access tunnel (adit) with a 12% gradient and a height difference of 300m · Bodio - southern portal The Gotthard Base Tunnel will pave the way in quality and safety with an extremely comprehensive safety system. By using two tunnels the possibility of head

on collisions is eliminated and the two pairs of crossover tunnels allow the trains to move from one tunnel to the other, which is particularly important during maintenance work. The Sedrun and Faido sections each include a Multi-functional Station that, in the event of an accident, provides safe rooms for passengers and emergency train stations. Connecting galleries provide track cross-over tunnels, a ventilation system and a quick route to the outside in the event of an evacuation.

These intermediate access headings not only allow these safety features to be incorporated, but also allow up to four Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) to operate at the same time thus reducing the overall con-

Tunnel Surveying struction time of the tunnel by almost half to nine years.

The geology and rock type of the area determines the method of tunnelling and therefore engineers must create different tunnelling profiles according to the rock encountered. Nearly 90% of the Gotthard Base Tunnel has rock that is suitable for mining using TMBs, with the remaining areas the Sedrun section and the multi-function station at Faido - having to be excavated by drill and blast.

Over major sections of the tunnel, the overburden will be extremely high, including 5km with more than 2000m where rock temperatures can be as high as 45oC. These conditions all affect the methods and complexity of the tunnelling operation.

Tunnel Measurement System It is in the depths of the tunnel at Faido that Leica Geosystems and Amberg Measuring Technique Ltd are providing an integrated surveying solution for the drill and blast method. Over 300m of this section has been excavated so far, and due to the immense pressure from the rock, the tunnel in this section is being excavated in two sections firstly the upper part of the face and then the lower part, known as the heading and the bench. Approximately 450kg of explosive is required to advance each round and the tunnel advances at around one to three metres per day.

The LEICA TMS (Tunnel Measurement System) offers automatic profile surveying and setting out using total stations from the LEICA TPS 1100 Professional series. The concept behind this was to identify the production tasks required for the job and to automate them so that a non-surveyor, such as the tunnel foreman, could carry out the setting out.

Previously, in order to position the arches accurately in a tunnel, the excavation crew would finish a tunnel to the approximate profile required within which to fit the arches. The site surveyors would then be called back on site to examine the work, place the arches in the face and then direct further work. If the face had not been excavated to a large enough profile, then the arches had to be removed and the excavation continued. Alternatively, if the profile was too large, the quantity of shotcrete required in between the arches would be increased considerably.

Both activities significantly increase the costs of the tunnel construction.

In the tunnels, Leica TCRA1105 total stations are mounted high on the walls and are controlled by the Leica TMS which automatically performs the surveying and monitoring work such as alignment, excavated profile, position of arches, or thickness of shotcrete required. Each Leica total station contains the powerful onboard LEICA TMS SETout PLUS software. The surveyor prepares and enters all the project data and geometry using the Leica TMS OFFICE on an office based computer and then transfers this information to the total station via a PCMCIA card prior to job commencement.

Kurt Weidner, Senior Surveyor from Amberg Measuring Techniques, is one of the contracting surveyors on-site at Faido.

"We are using completely Leica tools here at this site," he said. "TMS, the combination of the Leica total stations and the Amberg software, is currently being used in four tunnel sections.

The total stations are used directly for the controlling of the arc position and the profile situation after we drill and blast and to ensure that the surface of our gauge is in the right form."

Setout made easy Obviously in the construction industry, time is money and as such the Gotthard Base Tunnel is a 24-hours a day operation with eight-hour shifts for each six-person tunnelling crew. Every four days there is also an eight-hour period when the machines undergo maintenance. Handover between shifts only takes a couple of minutes and one or two people per crew are trained in using the TMS and are responsible for passing on information to the next shift. The Leica TMS greatly assists in a smooth handover and the continuation of work because all the project data is already there on the machine.

"The principle is very simple: the installation is undertaken by the surveyor and then we can explain and train people so they know what points need to be entered into the program," Kurt said. "We prepare the information plate describing what the section is and what the points are. These people can then use the instrument alone without any more support from the surveyor."

Leica TCR1105 total stations are mounted high on the walls where they undertake surveying and monitoring work

Senior Surveyor from Amburg Measuring Techniques, Kurt Weidner

Once installed, the operation of the system is carried out by the construction site personnel, who do not need to have any specific knowledge about surveying. The key benefit of this approach is that there is no delay waiting for the surveyor and the work carried out by the excavation crew is more accurate and productive, thereby improving the process and saving costs.

"During any one shift there are six surveyors available on-site. The new system saves a lot of time and the surveyors are freed-up to continue with design work and solving other problems."

Surveyor Elke Fischer prepares and enters all the project data and geometry using the Leica TMS OFFICE

5

6 Tunnel Surveying

About Amberg The highly specialised companies of the Amberg Group cover a wide spectrum of underground construction tasks, developing solutions in order to advance into new dimensions of underground construction. Amberg Engineering Ltd. plans and designs new structures and refurbishment projects, provides site management, delivers expert opinions and carries out damage and state assessments. Amberg Measuring Technique Ltd. develops systems and instruments that address measurement problems in underground construction and the rail industry, which includes initial reconnaissance, site supervision and surveying.

The tunnelling foreman can do routine production surveying tasks using the TMS SETout PLUS in production mode, including: · Drill and blast · Conventional advance · Roadheader advance · Jetting and pipe umbrella · Alignment laser · Position arches "It's very easy to use, people are working with it and they are happy with its performance. The remote control can be held in your hand, directly in front of you or you can control it over a wireless system," Kurt said. "We also have a special place for the computer that is set back 100-150 metres away from the work, for safety distance."

The Sedrun section and the multi-function station at Faido have to be excavated by drill and blast

Adverse conditions at Faido Although geological sampling and assessment can be carried out prior to the commencement of tunnelling, it is not until the excavators actually begin work that they know for certain what type of rock is to be encountered. This has been the case at Faido where, in April of 2002, a partial collapse occurred in the cross cavern vault, leaving a cavity about eight metres high. Despite the prediction of exploratory drill cores, a fault zone containing a very poor rock layer of silty Lucomagno geniss was encountered.

This meant implementation of modified work methods and strengthening of the excavation support was necessary with deformable steel arches and a dense anchoring system.

"Deformations required some re-design of the tunnelling," Kurt said. "We prepare the theoretical profile based on the design drawings and change the profile according to the rock conditions. With the LEICA TMS, to prepare only a few coordinates of the profile, is no longer a problem.

Previously, this all had to be done manually and took a lot of time."

Profile measurement Another program available as part of the LEICA TMS is the LEICA TMS PROFILE which enables profile measurement and monitoring, providing a comprehensive comparison of design vs actual measurement and project data.

"We can also now monitor our precise position in the tunnel. We can establish if we are in exactly the right position for the profile, by comparing the measured tunnel meter with the theoretical one and we can adjust this immediately if it is wrong," Kurt said.

"Before we were never able to have this control and had to use a tape."

"Electronic Distance Measurements (EDM) defined on the integrated software of the total station allows us to have each point measured precisely after 10 seconds," Kurt said.

"Alternatively we can use a special function of the program when we want exact control so that we can also select individual points.

This is the part that is new in surveying."

Monitoring As the tunnel progresses, it is necessary to monitor the tunnel profile for deformation. A lot of pressure is built up using the drill and blast method, and as such there is normally a difference between the powerpoint direction and the control point at the front. A Leica TCA2003 is used for this type of monitoring as it is more precise when millimetre accuracy is needed.

Yellow targets with a white faces are used for reflection, and these are placed in the heading (at three points) and the bench (two points) of the tunnel.

"Over 300-400 targets have been installed so far for deformation monitoring," Kurt said. "These points are controlled one to two times a week in order to provide a record of the movement.

The highest deformation measured so far has been 50 cm. Using the software you can see the calculation and check the points from 50-100 metres being the current head. Over a fourmonth period, the control points are checked twice, and the control brackets are checked once every four months.

Bt

3D Measuring Systems

World-famous airplane model created with Leica Axyz software The world-famous airplane, Junkers W33, has been measured with extreme 3D precision and modelled using Leica's Axyz software. Leica Axyz is the world's only integrated, intelligent industrial 3D measuring system, which measures industrial objects, on an electro-optical non contact basis. Under the supervision of Professor Günther Stegner, Stefan Brüser undertook this work as part of his Engineering masters thesis, which involved data acquisition for modelling. Approximately 3000 object points of the areoplane’s outerskin were recorded, evaluated, and then realistically copied in a CAD system. The resulting model is an 'extremely realistic' copy of the airplane. Originally built in Dresden, 198 planes still exist worldwide.

The Junkers W33 was developed from the passenger aircraft F13 as a single-engined freight transport, lowwinged monoplane. The first flight of the prototype took place on 17 June, 1926 on the Elbe at Leopoldshafen near Dessau, Germany. It was subsequently massproduced, with different versions, in the following period up to the year 1934, and became well known as an airplane with landing capabilities on the sea as well as the land. Besides the simple use as freight transport, and due to its collapsible (opening) floor, the plane was used as a passenger aircraft for aerial flights, as well as for the delivery of pesticides in pest control.

The W33 was generally regarded as a multi-purpose airplane. Initially, however, it was designed for the air goods traffic, and the view windows were missing. In newer versions, and in this model example, windows were refitted for composite freight passenger. Entry to the machine could be gained by a lateral door or by a hatch in the cubical roof.

(above): photo of the Junker W33 ‘Bremen’ in flight

The W33 'Bremen' became world-famous (Work number 2504, Signal 1167) on the 12-13 April, 1928 when it carried out the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight from east to west. The machine, crewed by German Kühl and Irishman Fritzmaurice, began the flight in Dublin, crossing Iceland, and reaching the island of Grennly, located between Labrador and Newfoundland after approximately 26 hours.

(below): wire netting model

An attempt to continue the flight to New York was not possible, after a makeshift repair failed. Following this, the 'Bremen' was recovered by ship and returned to Germany, where it was repaired and exhibited in Berlin at ILA (International Aeronautics Exhibition) in the same year (1928). However, since no German museum showed an interest following this, the 'Bremen' was given to America.

In America, the plane was displayed at various different museums, including the Edison Institute Museum in Dearborn, Detroit, and the 'Bremen' has remained in this museum of contemporary history since then. There have been several unsuccessful efforts from the Germans to have the machine returned to Germany, and an initiative of interested and enthusiastic Bremen citizens achieved it as a gift for one year. In March 2003, the Junkers W33 was taken to pieces and transported to Detroit. During the dismantling, additional measuring documentation was done.

Gunter Stegner

(bottom): phororealistic representation

7

8 High Definition Surveying

High-Definition Survey provides accurate DTM and cross sections of busy highway “The Cyra scanning system saved us $24,000 in lane closure costs, cut our field surveying crew hours in half and allowed us to give our customer more than they expected without a return visit to the site. And since we worked on the side of the road, our crew was safe and drivers weren't aggravated by lane closures.”

Ken Moscetti, Project Surveyor, Medina Consultants, P.C. Background

From the side of the roadway, Cyrax® 2500 laser scanner captures detailed road surface geometry

Scope: Digital terrain model of 6,500 feet of a busy four and six lane roadway and railroad bridge overpass; ASCII file of cross sections Owner: New Jersey Department of Transport (DOT) Date: July - August 2002 Project Facts Field: 5 days; twoperson Cyrax crew plus two-person survey crew; 46 scans Office: 15 days; one person Deliverables: Digital Terrain Model of roadway and adjacent area ASCII list of points on cross sections at 25 ft intervals

New Jersey Department of Transport (DOT) is replacing a traffic circle at a heavy traffic intersection of State routes 30 and 130. A professional engineering design and consulting firm hired Medina Consultants, P.C. to provide accurate crosssections and a digital terrain model (DTM) of the existing four and six-lane roadway.

The contract was awarded based on conventional and aerial survey techniques.

After winning the bid, Medina Consultants agreed to use their Cyrax® 2500 (since rebranded as HDS2500) for the project.

The Cyrax system could save $24,000 budgeted for lane closure costs and halve survey labor to five days with a four-person crew from 20 days with a two-person crew. In addition, operators would not be at risk in traffic lanes and drivers would not be aggravated by closing lanes.

Project Workflow A four-person crew worked on the project for five nights, from 7pm to about 6am, when traffic was at its lightest. Two members of the crew moved and surveyed the targets with a Leica TCR 1101 reflectorless total station to tie them into the control system.

The Cyrax scanner was mounted on a CST-Berger heavy duty, 42 ft tripod. A

cable connected the scanner to a laptop controller at ground level. The crew moved the Cyrax system to positions at 150 ft intervals along each side of the roadway. The scanner was elevated about 11-1/2 ft to obtain scans with a wider and longer field of view with more detail of the shoulder and sidewalks.

They obtained 46 scans, with the range typically between 160 and 170 ft. The roadway was scanned with a minimum 3.5 inch point density, each point better than 6mm accuracy. Each scan included a minimum of four hemispherical targets. Targets were scanned with a very high density point spacing to allow accurate extraction of the target center.

In the office, one operator processed the field data in about 15 days using Cyclone™, CloudWorx™, Bentley MicroStation and InRoads software.

Point clouds were registered and referenced to the control system in Cyclone™ software. Customers were shown the registered point clouds of the roadway, railroad bridge and surrounding features. They gained confidence in the accuracy and completeness of the scan data. They also realized they could obtain more data in the future - wire heights, railroad bridge clearances, pole size/locations, and information to settle potential encroachment disputes. After discus-

High Definition Surveying sion, Medina Consultants agreed to provide cross sections at 25 ft (instead of 50 ft) intervals and define 3D elevation points randomly at 7-1/2 to 12 ft intervals between cross sections at no additional cost.

Cyclone™ software was used to extract the crosssections and define 3D elevation points for the DTM. Some cross-sections were also created using CloudWorx™ in MicroStation. They matched the Cyclone™ cross-sections accurately.

The cross-sections and 3D points were imported to InRoads to create a DTM with contour lines at 1/2 ft intervals. The DTM data was imported to Cyclone™ and checked with the point cloud for errors.

By using Leica's 3D laser scanning system instead of conventional equipment, Medina Consultants eliminated $24,000 in road closure fees, cut their field labor and per diem by 50 percent, and gave their customer more accurate and complete information than specified in the contract. In addition, the scan data could be used in the future to provide more information.

Laslo Vespremi

Benefits: * Saved $24,000 in road closure fees and cut field labor cost by 50 percent * More detailed scan provided accurate DTM with contour lines and elevation points * 3D scan provided more cross sections at closer intervals, 3D elevations, other information needed in the future * Off-road operation kept operators safe and didn't interfere with traffic flow * Scan cloud gave customer confidence in data and showed information for future use

Laser scans of roadway in Microstation

High-Definition Surveying™: Laser Scanning Re(de)fined Leica Geosystems has coined a new name for laser scanning technology: High-Definition Surveying or HDS. Why? First, HighDefinition better describes its single most distinguishing feature high density data and rich images - compared to point-by-point surveying. Second, by describing it as High-Definition Surveying, Leica is stating that its new family of hardware and software products is fully fit and friendly for surveying and engineering.

For example, the new Leica HDS3000 not only has the look and feel of a surveying instrument, now you can geo-reference to local or assumed coordinates more efficiently by setting up over a survey point. Other survey-friendly features include a standard tribrach mount, H.I. measurement capability, efficient battery swapping, and improved weight/portability. In addition, Leica's Cyclone™ and CloudWorx™ are feature-rich software products that make creating surveying and engineering deliverables easier than ever before. Welcome to the world of HDS! Learn more about the HDS family of products at www.cyra.com.

The HDS family of products (left-to-right clockwise): The super-fast HDS4000, the all-new HDS3000, world's best selling HDS2500 and the Cyclone and CloudWorx software products.

9

10 GIS and Mapping

Geographic imaging helps endangered birds find a new home Researchers at New Mexico State University (NMSU) have employed Leica Geosystems' remote sensing and GIS applications to evaluate the Chihuahuan Desert region in Mexico in order to identify habitat features most likely to sustain a population of the endangered Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis). The final products, a documented predictive model and a map depicting habitat suitability across a large portion of the species' range, are aiding in prioritizing areas for conservation consideration and making land use decisions that benefit falcon habitat restoration.

The Transformed Divergence (TD) tool in ERDAS IMAGINE's Signature Editor tool was used to reduce the number of land cover classes produced from unsupervised classification to those with distinct spectral signatures. The distinct spectral signatures were then applied to the image to perform a supervised classification. Using this process, the number of spectral classes was reduced to 26 for the fall (wet season) image and 33 for the spring (dry season) image.

The Aplomado Falcon, once a common raptorial (predatory) bird in the coastal and interior grasslands of the American southwest, was declared an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1986.

Increased sightings during the 1990s renewed recovery effort interests in New Mexico to evaluate the Chihuahuan Desert region that stretches from the Rio Grande Valley in southern New Mexico far into Mexico. A thriving ecosystem of other large birds and small prey is needed to sustain the Falcon's population because rather than building its own nests, it takes over the abandoned nests of other large birds.

Researchers needed to better understand the Aplomado Falcon's natural history by describing falcon use areas in northern Chihuahua, Mexico. The GIS predictive modeling section was part of a five-year

research endeavor that consisted of three phases. The first and second phases involved surveying the Aplomado Falcon habitat in Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert to locate and describe the physical features of the landscape where the birds exist.

During the third phase, researchers analyzed satellite imagery as well as terrain data derived from digital elevation models (DEMs) of the Chihuahuan Desert to digitally locate the features identified as indicators of possible falcon habitat.

The NMSU research results will help government agencies make informed decisions about the allocation of federal resources as well as environmental and development planning.

Analyses were conducted using Leica Geosystems GIS & Mapping's ERDAS IMAGINE速, ESRI's ArcGIS and FRAGSTATS public domain software packages.

Falcon Facts: Population: Extirpated in U.S., extremely rare and endangered throughout Northern Mexico and reduced to remnant population in Southern Mexico.

Range: Formerly ranged throughout the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. It has rarely been seen in the U.S. and northern Mexico since the 1940s.

Description: A medium-sized, steel grey falcon (aplomado is Spanish for dark grey). It is characterized by a long tail, a black cummerbund, contrasting with a white upper body. A distinguishing field characteristic of this falcon is the white dash above each eye and along the tailing edge of their secondary feathers.

Habitat: Open grasslands and savannahs where tall cacti, tree yuccas and taller pines and oaks grow in open stands. Uses old stick nests of hawks and other species which share the same range and habitat.

The three components were key to the project's success, as they produced the accurate results needed.

ArcGIS interacted with both ERDAS IMAGINE (provided under an educational agreement) and FRAGSTATS applications; and ArcGIS was familiar to most end users of the final model, a critical factor in the project.

To visually identify the land cover patterns that corresponded to those found in the Aplomado Falcon habitat, imagery was collected for spring and fall seasons that produce different vegetation responses found in the Chihuahuan Desert. The falcons require a combination of vegetation types: grasslands (for their prey base) with shrublands (where they perch and nest). Because of cloud cover conditions, each set of 15 LANDSAT 7 ETM+ data imagery was collected over a five-week span.

ERDAS IMAGINE software was used to import, reconcile, and analyze the two sets of data images covering the study area of 246,848 km2. After the multispectral data was imported, the digital values were converted to spectral reflectance values to describe the vegetation around the habitat. Using the histogram bias technique, the images were standardized to a single date for each season while maintaining the true shape and distribution of the data in the image. When both data sets were standardized

GIS and Mapping (each roughly 20 gigabytes), the imagery was evaluated for spectrally distinct classes contained within the entire study area for both seasons. The distribution of falcon use sites among the land cover classes was examined to identify classes that corresponded with falcon presence.

Once converted to ArcGrid, FRAGSTATS software was used on the classified images to calculate landscape metrics around falcon use sites using the thematic grids as input. This information, coupled with that of the configuration and composition of land cover classes within a larger landscape, was used in the habitat modeling process.

Five predictor variables were converted to binary

grids and added to create an output map representing ranges of Aplomado Falcon habitat suitability. Higher values in the map represent areas where a greater number of qualifying criteria were met, and lower values represent areas where fewer criteria were met. The binary input layer and final predictive model grids were converted to images in ERDAS IMAGINE; then all files were combined into one.

Accuracy assessment analyses determined that the resulting model was highly effective in predicting "places of promise" for Aplomado Falcon conservation. At least 67 percent agreement was found between the field assessed and predictive model

rankings at evaluated field sites. (Errors were largely attributed to differences in assigning like predictive values between field biologists and predictive model values.) Each of the 21 prospective or known falcon habitat assessment areas that were identified independent of spatial modeling, contained habitat with high predictive ranking. Cartographic production was performed using the ArcMap tool within ArcGIS Desktop. The resulting predictive model and map of suitable Aplomado Falcon habitat now serves as an effective tool for identifying areas similar to falcon use areas in Chihuahua.

For more information about NMCFWRU, visit: http://leopold.nmsu.edu/fws coop/.

For more information about Peregrine Fund falcon conservation initiatives, visit: http://www.peregrinefund.org.

Improving cellular coverage in Rio de Janeiro Telefonica Celular, one of the largest mobile telephone companies in Brazil, contracted IMAGEM, a GIS solutions company, to help them build a GIS database in order to plan and improve their cellular network. The goal was to simulate the actual cellular network coverage of Telefonica Celular in Rio de Janeiro.

As IMAGEM was originally hired by Telefonica Celular to provide all the data they needed to deploy their cellular network, they contracted IMAGEM once again to help them improve their network.

IMAGEM contracted a local aerial surveying company to obtain aerial photographs of Rio de Janeiro. With IMAGINE OrthoBASE, IMAGEM created orthophotos, and conducted aerial triangulation with OrthoBASE Pro to define the relationship between the project imagery, the sensor model and the ground. IMAGINE OrthoBASE Pro determined the position, rotation and internal geometry of the aerial sensor as they existed at the time of image capture for each exposure station, along with the X, Y and Z positions of any tie points.

IMAGEM also produced Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) of the area with IMAGINE OrthoBASE Pro. The accuracy of each DTM was determined and verified. Multiple images were then orthorectified using the DTMs. With the help of Stereo Analyst, IMAGEM restored individual buildings, and aligned street and curb vectors within the orthophotos, and applied the result to the Base Building Heights.

Image visualization was used with ERDAS IMAGINE V8.6.

Throughout this process, analysts categorized the results and display them in the IMAGINE Viewer. Once they had enough accurate data, IMAGEM produced Base Building Heights, a detailed 3D model of Rio de Janeiro depicting its topographic terrain, including each individual building.

The Base Building Heights were used in conjunction with third-party prediction software to simulate Telefonica Celular's network coverage.

With the help of ERDAS IMAGINE software, IMAGEM was able to provide Telefonica Celular a GIS database that allows them to generate better maps depicting wireless coverage in their area, as well as conduct simulations of wireless coverage in the city. As a result of these accurate simulations, Telefonica Celular employees have a better idea of their current coverage and can plan the best ways to optimize wireless service to their customers. In return, their customers can enjoy improved coverage and services.

Andrea Yegros

Base building heights of Rio de Janeiro. IMAGEM used ERDAS IMAGINE, IMAGINE OrthoBASE and Stereo Analyst to create base building heights of the city to help Telefonica Celular analyze their cellular network coverage.

11

12 Construction Surveying

Surveyors charged with tall order

Gold Coast surveyors, Treasure and Associates have been charged with a tall order - the surveying and monitoring of the world's soon-to-be tallest residential building - "The Q1 Tower". Currently being constructed in the heart of Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast of Australia and planned for completion in 2005, the architecturally stunning tower will soar to a massive 80 storeys (323m / 1,058 ft).

By March 2004, construction of the complex had reached level 30 and just 46 apartments remain for sale.

(below from left): Brian Rogers and Rod Stead from Treasure and Associates together with Lawrie Watson from Leica Geosystems’ Australian distributors, C.R.Kennedy and Company Pty Ltd.

Developers, Sunland Group Ltd have designed the Q1 Tower to offer five-star resort living, with 527 apartments comprising of penthouses, as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The fastest lifts in Australia travelling at 9.0 m/s (1772 ft/min) will take visitors and residents to the

observation deck at the top of the tower where they will enjoy the breathtaking views that encompass the crystal clear waters of the Pacific Ocean; the 42 kilometres of pristine sandy beaches of the Gold Coast; the green hills of the hinterland; as well as the extensive waterways and the Broadwater. A ten-storey Sky Garden from level 60 upwards will showcase tropical Queensland's unique flora and fauna.

Engineering innovation Despite its lavish features and impressive grandeur, it is the engineering behind its construction where Q1 achieves real innovation.

Construction challenges were encountered due to the sandy soil and proximity to the ocean, which meant that it was necessary for foundations to stretch almost 17 storeys underground. After boring through the ancient seabed, drillers eventually struck rock that was seven times harder than concrete and literally drilled the 26 building plings 5 metres into it.

The six largest of these span 2.4m in diameter.

During construction, a polymer liquid was used prior to pouring of the concrete to prevent the sand falling in.

The aboveground construction wasn't easy either, with the outside building columns needing to be linked to the central core to minimise wind movement and to strengthen the structure. Although concrete performs exceptionally well under compression, it does not perform so well under tension, so it was necessary to reinforce the concrete with steel bars (rebars).

Monitoring of the construction Brian Rogers and Rod Stead, Project Managers of surveying consultants Treasure and Associates, have been working closely on the logistics involved in monitoring the construction of the massive building.

A significant problem in monitoring is the wind movement. "We prefer to do the surveying work during times of low wind," Rod Stead said. "The sea breeze can cause the buildings to move up to 20mm."

Plumbing of the lift shafts is undertaken by the builders

Construction Surveying

World record holder The Q1 tower will hold a number of world records.

When completed it will become the tallest residential tower in the world and will eclipse world famous structures such as New York's 319m Chrysler building and the 321m Eiffel Tower in Paris. Its ovalshaped spire, which starts at level 50 (146m high) and extends 47m above the glass fin, will be the world's longest at 176m in length. It also boasts the highest swimming pool in Australia (15m x 6m), which will be located in the penthouse on level 74, 217m above ground level. Q1 will be the 16th building on the Gold Coast to hold the "tallest title" since the first highrise was built in 1957. for verticality. Surveyors then check the walls and columns using external control. This determines how straight the structure is and whether there is a twist.

Brian Rogers said: "When plumbing, you get accumulative errors, and these errors are exacerbated when the cranes and hoist are working. Crane hours are paramount on these sites, and everything is scheduled around the crane so it's not ideal for this type of monitoring most of the time during the construction."

'Radiation' surveying In an attempt to overcome this problem, the so-called 'radiation' surveying method was used. This involves re-section with a free-standing total station from the control network (some are ground marks and others are on surround-

ing buildings).

"Prisms are permanently attached to surrounding buildings," Brian Rogers said. "These are checked using a Leica TCR1101 with Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) both day and night if required."

"This method means we work from the whole to part and it allows us to establish our stations at the most convenient position," said Rod Stead.

"Using a one-second machine with ATR means we can get results down to a 10mm accuracy."

Bt

The Gold Coast is not only Australia's sixth largest city, it is also the tourist mecca for the country with over four million domestic and international tourists visiting the city every year.

(above): aerial view of the construction of Q1 in July 2003. (below): aerial view of the construction in December 2003.

Photos courtesy of Sunland Group (above): Surveyor, Brian Rogers of Treasure & Associates uses a Leica TCR1101 for monitoring on the Q1 construction site.

(below): an artist’s view of the Gold Coast landscape when Q1 construction is completed.

Image courtesy of Sunland Group

13

14 E-Commerce

Dealers' new addiction: The Leica Geosystems Partners' Store http://store.leica-geosystems.com is the entry to the Partners' Store, also known as B2B (Business to Business) Store - a new ordering channel established in November 2002 with the aim of making it easier and more valuable for our partners to do business with us. It aims to increase the productivity of ourselves and that of our dealers, as well as improving the value of our service to our partners by automating order entry and providing more control and information prior to and following the placement of an order.

Curtis Finn of US dealer FLT Geosystems and Jeff Felker, Director of Sales US SE Region

"I thought I would never use the store, but it is so easy to place an order, I use it now all the time."

Bob Fintak, FLT Geosystems, USA

Miren Kauer (front) with the team of Gradtek in Montreal, Canada. Gene Maynard, Director of Sales is taking the picture

Before ordering, our dealers are able to quickly find products and bundles by part number, search by keyword or browse categories, obtain real-time quotations with product pricing, discover availability and shipment dates, choose whether to ship complete or not, select the shipping location and freight option, order on credit and pay by invoice as with fax orders.

After ordering, an Order Confirmation is automatically emailed and a Shipping Confirmation is emailed once the goods have been dispatched. Dealers can subsequently check the order status online and track each shipment status, including a link to FedEx or UPS tracking system. In the order status our partners can also track the orders sent by fax.

The B2B Store saves an enormous amount of time for our dealers, reducing phone calls to our busy Customer Service team who can be gradually freed up from part of the routine order entry tasks, thus enabling them to evolve into a proactive, problem-preventing, mistake-free and valueadding Customer Care.

Because of the higher accuracy and controllability of online orders, failures and returns are being dramatically reduced.

Current Store activities and the team The Store is currently open to our partners in the USA and Canada. In countries of Europe, Africa and Asia where we do not have a

“The answer you get back from the website is instant and 99.99 percent accurate.

Since I have started using the Leica Store the amount of purchase orders that have to be reprinted or changed due to in-accurate information has been cut drastically.”

Steve Crane, Surveyors Service Company, USA Leica Geosystems Selling Unit, the store offers Spare Parts only for the time being. In 2004, our European countries' partners will also start to experience its benefits.

The Store is driven globally

by Miren Kauer, Business Manager E-commerce, and developed by Martin Brockmann from IT Heerbrugg.

Our experience with the two previous Stores has helped us build up know-how and a small, but solid E-commerce team, which resulted in a speedy four-month initial Store set up project with a minimal investment.

Of course it all came to life thanks to the enthusiastic, excellent job of our Customer Service and Sales teams in the USA and Canada. The Customer Care and Support and Service teams in Heerbrugg also proudly launched the Spare Parts B2B Store in non-Selling Unit areas in January 2004.

All works smoothly and reliably thanks to our Logistics teams at the warehouse

facilities in our Customization Centers in Lawrenceville, USA and in Widnau, Switzerland.

“18,300 products, about 120 users to date, over 1000 quotation or status checks per month… dealers ordering nearly 50% online and growing” The Partners' Store was opened for three pilot dealers in November 2002.

Today, about 100 users from 40 dealers are regularly using the Store to check availability, and easily place and track their orders. A large proportion of the products purchased are Spare Parts but there is also a growing request for Construction lasers, TPS, DISTO and all kind of accessories.

Trust and acceptance is already proven: most Service dealers are set up and have placed 60 to 100% of their orders via the Store and the largest full-line dealers are submitting nearly 50% of their total orders of all Divisions online!!

The Store product offer opened end of 2002 with a select catalog of 100 topselling Construction lasers and Surveying Accessories.

Today, it comprises about 18,300 items including the full range of Spare Parts and is being constantly improved and expanded.

Additionally, about 600 items are browseable by navigation categories and include product pictures, texts and downloadable PDF brochures.

Miren Kauer

New Product

Leica’s latest top model in the DISTO™ family: Leica DISTO™ plus A model that provides everything you could wish for and that ideally equips you and your customers for the future. The highest level of precision, the integrated BLUETOOTH® technology combined with elegant design: is the best equipment for every situation. The measuring process on the Leica DISTO™ plus isn’t over with the display of the results, as can be seen by the free software programs supplied.

Creating automatic sketches and transmitting wireless recorded values - Leica Geosystems offers you a global solution for your measuring applications!

The Leica DISTO™ plus is the only device in the world that offers the highest accuracy, attractive design and wireless data transfer by means of BLUETOOTH® in one package. Even if you are currently still working with paper and pencil, integrated BLUETOOTH® technology allows you to make the change at any time and to record your values electronically. The data can be transferred on site wireless to a PDA (Pocket PC) or directly to a laptop and easily used for other purposes.

The free software programs help to ease your workload.

"PlusDraw" allows you to create simple sketches with the values on the pocket PC. The sketches can be transferred as a graphic file (bmp-file) to the PC while your recorded data is stored in a dedicated Excel file.

"PlusXL" enables you to record the recorded values immediately and directly into an Excel table and to edit them on the PC. Naturally you can also send the recorded results directly from your Leica DISTO™ plus to your laptop – wireless.

Experience for yourself the comfortable interaction between Leica DISTO™ plus, PDA and PC! Petra Ammann

In its basic functions the Leica DISTO™ plus is identical with the tried-and-tested Leica DISTO™ classic5, and is based on its simple user navigation. The Leica DISTO™ plus, however, offers quite a bit more: · The highest precision ± 1.5 mm · Range of 0.2 - 200 m (use target plate from approx.

70 m) · Integrated BLUETOOTH® technology for the wireless transfer of recorded values · Two free software programs (PlusDraw and PlusXL) for the electronic processing of recorded data and to create sketches · Direct navigation of the software via the Leica DISTO™ plus · Attractive, stylish design · Enhanced key comfort

Peter Reed (Architect) “Along with the accuracy and efficiency of laser measurement, for me the ability to further process the measurement was crucial. The resulting increase in productivity is enormous.”

(Above): Leica DISTO™ plus: providing high accuracy, attractive design, and wireless data tranfer

Fritz Becker (Craftsman): “Since I have been using a Leica DISTO™, I need only half the time for taking measurements.

The investment has paid for itself in a very short time.”

Lisa Miles (Real Estate Agent): “The Leica DISTO™ is child’s play to use - it makes taking measurements fun. I also now have more time for my customers. I recommend this instrument to anybody.”

15

ERDAS IMAGINE® Comprehensive toolbox of software designed to process and exploit imagery data.

Leica Photogrammetry Suite Seamlessly integrated suite of digital photogrammetry software that empowers users to transform raw imagery into reliable data.

LEICA ADS40 Airborne Digital Sensor High-performance digital sensor delivers digital panchromatic and multispectral data and initiates the first all digital flowline.

ArcGIS Extensions ArcGIS-compatible software enables GIS professionals to use imagery to collect, analyze and manage data in a GIS.

The large aerial picture shows the “Earthman” of the LandArte project in Switzerland. The image documentation was made with Leica ADS40 digital aerial sensor, Leica RC30 aerial camera, and Leica Erdas IMAGINE ® software.

Visit us at our exhibition booth at the ISPRS Congress in Istanbul (19-23 July 2004)

Discover your Partners in Productivity LEICA SYSTEM 1200 The world’s first universal surveying system. GPS and TPS working together with uniform software, identical controls, and a common database.

LEICA GPS Reference Networks Multi-purpose networked frameworks that deliver enhanced GPS positioning data across large sites and territories.

LEICA DNA 03 Digital Level The second generation of digital levels with the largest LC-display on the market.

Created by Leica Geosystems, the inventors of digital levels worldwide.

LEICA HDS™ 2500/3000/4500 High-Definition Surveying product family with Cyclone™ and CloudWorx™ software.

Powerful partners providing high productivity. In the new range of technologies and products from Leica Geosystems there are a lot of productivity drivers to discover. Leica Geosystems provides the most comprehensive program of products and systems for capturing, modelling and presenting spatial reality world-wide in the fields of surveying, mapping, metrology and monitoring. As a customer you are able to take advantage

of the easy integration of data and the extension of the value chain into new growing areas. Visit us at our website, or contact a Leica Geosystems representative directly to learn more about these new possibilities.

www.leica-geosystems.com

18 New Product

Leica Geosystems introduces System 1200: Working Together TPS1200 – Setting the Standard in Total Stations More flexibility with new improved ATR Improved range with accuracy New patented precision and reliability PinPoint R300 Improved ergonomics and flexible configurations RX1200 Meets all your requirements with the most comprehensive range in the industry

The Harmonisation One Learning Curve Learn one, use both Common graphical user interface Same display and keys Common applications Highly configurable

One Database Two sensors – one database One common database – simplified data management Complete data storage to database Storage on CompactFlash cards Seamless data transfer between sensors User-definable output formats

One office package - Leica GEO Office One Office package for all sensors User-friendly Windows interface Visualisation and management of survey data Simplify data management with common tools for all sensors One Battery and Charger

New Product

GPS Innovations – System1200 More productivity and confidence in hostile environments New improved AX1200 antenna Improved ruggedness Improved ergonomics and flexible configurations Works with complimentary technology Future proofing your GPS investment

n of GPS and TPS High performance Lithium-Ion batteries The most advanced battery technonogy today Work all day – 15 to 16 hours battery life Carry less and be more comfortable One charger for all batteries Backwards compatibility

One onboard application suite Identical applications on GPS/TPS Autopoints – automatic logging Stakeout with Active Map DTM Stakeout Road Runner Quality Assurance with user defineable log files

XFunction Represents the convergence of GPS & TPS By using System 1200, your staff will become more productive, more efficient and more skilled Making your business more efficient and more profitable

Setting new standards in Quality, Performance, Robustness & Flexibility

19

20 Reference Station Networks

Emerging permanent reference station networks (right): members of the CTC Positioning and Navigation Group (from left): Stephan Seeger, Dejan Seatovic, Frank Takac, Benedikt Zebhauser, Hans-Juergen Euler and Oliver Zelzer

Over the last few years, permanent reference station installations have emerged in several countries.

These installations allow for roving GPS users in the field to achieve instant centimetre accuracies without the need of setting up a GPS reference station on a known station. This is quite appealing, since in areas with considerable GPS surveying activity, a number of users might share the infrastructure and the associated costs. Some of the installations are operated by companies and provide a service to the surveying community.

Background

Group leader Hans-JĂźrgen Euler: “Researchers in CTC are observing the upcoming opportunities and are investigating the modern approaches for our products for the future.â€?

Installations can be just single reference stations, a number of single reference stations, or networking reference stations. A single reference station set-up within up to 20-30 km is required if a user is operating in baseline mode.

Otherwise the performance, accuracy, and with some systems the reliability of user's RTK is degraded.

The integration of several reference stations into a combined network is providing benefits for the user by increasing distances to reference stations and overall user system performance. These permanent reference station networks are requiring real-time communication to a networking computation center and real-time estimation

of biases between reference stations. Leica Geosystems is actively participating worldwide in setting up and maintaining all kinds of installations.

A key factor of success is the distribution of the information generated within the networking computation center to the roving user in the field. Some of the installations are relying on proprietary formats and restricting themselves with the field equipment.

However, in general it is in the interest of service providers to supply the service for more than a single type of RTK field equipment. Therefore, the detailed understanding of the supplied information such as applied corrections or the way of processing is absolutely mandatory.

Two approaches Today, installations are supplying the information basically in two ways: the so-called FKP-approach (FKP stands for the German word of spatial correction parameter) and the VRS approach (Virtual Reference Station). Both approaches

deliver observations that are supposed to be operational with modern RTK equipment. However, as noted above, the way the computational algorithms running at the networking computation center are proprietary. The optimal interoperability is not guaranteed, since the definition and an interface mechanism is missing. While the roving user equipment might work optimally with one vendor's networking SW providing a service, it might have degraded performance with another vendor's software.

Independent RTCM format Traditionally, the communication interface between different manufacturer's equipment is the manufacturer independent RTCM format, which is jointly defined in a committee and all manufacturers have the possibility to participate in the definition discussions.

Networking services based on either FKP or VRS approaches are providing the observations via the RTCM standard, but are basically operating in a mode not defined in the

Reference Station Networks standard document.

Figure 1 shows the schematic sequence of operations and calculations required until a rover's position has been calculated. Several steps are distinguishable and are realized in one way or another in all environments where several permanent reference stations are providing their observation for a combined rover solution. In principle, the best approach would be to run the full calculations for the rover's position in one place, either the networking SW or the rover's firmware, since than the whole process can be optimized for performance and reliability. Only when all computations are completed in one location do the programmers have the full knowledge of applied models and bias estimations within the software. However, the current networking approaches are distributing the principle calculations over the software of the network and the rover. The arrows, 1 through 5, indicate possible interfaces that could be utilized for the information transmission from the reference station network to the roving user system. It should be mentioned that as long as calculation steps are performed within the same software, these steps can be combined into one step. This is actually done in some approaches.

Interfaces for information transmission Some of the interfaces are easily described while others are quite sophisticated and need a detailed description of the manipulations completed, since all these manipulations are affecting the remainder of the processing chain. The first two interfaces, 1 and 2, marked in green are quite easily described. Through the first, the raw observations of all reference stations are transferred. Within the second schematic box

the main calculations for fixing and removing are the so-called integer ambiguities are summarized.

Through the interface afterwards basically the raw observations leveled to a common integer ambiguity level transferred to the next calculation step.

The next three interfaces are carrying information modified by algorithms of the previous boxes and need detailed descriptions.

In order to keep the computational burden low on the roving user system the most logical is interface 2, since the network has already resolved the integer ambiguities between reference stations. The remainder of the calculations can be optimized within one software, the roving user's firmware.

The future: a standardised way of interfacing In the RTCM committee, a Network RTK working group is working on the future standardized way of interfacing between networking reference stations and roving field users. Leica is actively participating in the definition of the standard messages. Interface 2 as described above has been identified and proposed by Leica as the most common ground between all vendors. After the initial proposal in 2001, the Network RTK messages of RTCM are being jointly discussed with other vendors and reached in the meantime conclusion. After some testing the RTCM standard for Network RTK should be released soon.

tages in comparison to the currently used approaches.

The focus is on the interface itself. More recent publications by the same authors are focusing on methods used at the roving equipment.

During the ION GPS/GNSS 2003 symposium in Oregon held in September 2003, Hans-Juergen Euler, Oliver Zelzer, Frank Takac, and Benedikt Zebhauser published their research results of approaches for RTK field equipment utilizing Network RTK information. The significance of the publication was recognized by the selection for a Best Presentation Award in its session. The paper investigates two different approaches for required calculations within a roving platform for optimal performance of the system. It proves the functionality of the interface definition for interoperability and provides a first stepping-stone for further investigations in that area.

Detailed statistics show the improvement of observation quality for the final steps of positioning calculations. By using these methods, remaining geometry and ionospheric biases have been greatly reduced.

Continuing research

Another session’s Best Presentation Award was given to Leica Geosystems’ second publication during ION GPS/GNSS 2003. The team consisting of Holger Kotthoff, Christian Hilker and Christian Ziegler was awarded for their paper “Strategy of Reliable Ambiguity Resolution for Static and Kinematic Applications”.

Several publications were prepared and published by researchers of Leica's Corporate Technology Center (CTC) in Heerbrugg, Switzerland for detailing the basis of the Network RTK. These publications define and describe the advan-

Within this decade the European Community is establishing the new satellite positioning system Galileo. The system will be interoperable with the American GPS. In the future both systems will help to provide better performance

Figure 1, Schematic Sequence of Processing

for Leica Geosystems' rover equipment. Researchers in CTC are observing the upcoming opportunities and are investigating the modern approaches for our products for the future.

Hans-Jürgen Euler

21

22 Metrology

Mobile Lasers Trackers optimize the measuring technique at Eurocopter

Laser Trackers are commonly used primarily in the automobile and aerospace industries and are gaining increasingly greater popularity due to their flexibility and high measuring precision. Eurocopter, the world's leading helicopter manufacturer, has improved production line efficiency by up to 70% in just a few years - thanks to two new state-of-the-art Laser Tracker measurement systems from Leica Geosystems.

Metrological testing in helicopter and airbus manufacture

The laser tracker is an easily transportable coordinate measuring system

Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH in DonauwĂśrth not only produce helicopters, but are also the main supplier for the airbus industry.

Around 95 percent of passenger doors, emergencyexit doors and freight gates for the A-380 airbus come from the manufacturers. For each door type there is a different specification that must be controlled and checked regularly. In order to be examined, the devices must be taken from the regular production and transported to the device-making department.

Reinhold Grosskopf, head of FEMI development, said: "The pressure is great. With regard to the manufacture of doors and doorways for the Airbus assembly operations, our employees have to cope with a huge work and maintenance turnover.

These problems can only be solved in a goal-oriented way with a flexible meas-

urement system such as the Leica Laser Tracker."

Until only a few years ago theodolite systems were used for these metrological tasks. The large assembly devices for helicopter components were physically checked, however, using these measuring tools proved quite inflexible.

Eurocopter's ultimate aim was to perform direct measurements during manufacture, rather than having to temporarily remove the item from the production line and move it to the fixed examination point. The time was ideal for a new measuring technique.

Reinhold Grosskopf did not make his decision lightly: after an intensive market study, two technologies represented the solution: photogrammetry and the mobile Laser Tracker. Three companies: Leica Geosystems, another Laser Tracker manufacturer, as well as a supplier of a Photogrammetry system, began to demonstrate their knowledge on a test assem-

bly device. After an assessment a following detailed criterion catalog, the choice to use the mobile Laser Tracker of Leica Geosystems was finally made, based on its high precision, long-term stability and proven customer support.

A mobile coordinatemeasuring system The Laser Tracker is an easily transportable, mobile coordinate-measuring system. Thanks to the builtin laser interferometer, fast measurements with high precision can be carried out. Whether measuring an individual point or surface, the tracker can capture objects with a precision of +/- 10ppm (Âľm/m), from one single position in a measurement range of up to 80 m diameter. "Trackers are very exact engineering tools used for geometrical examination applications, especially in the automobile and air-plane industries," Christian Hellwig, Leica

Metrology Geosystems' Sales Engineer and Eurocopter Key Account Manager said.

"Periodical checks, repetition tests and additional tasks can be undertaken fully automatically. The Laser Trackers can adapt the list to the object size or the restricted location conditions well."

These can simply be added to the existing systems, without the need to involve the construction department again. This application of the Laser Tracker at Donauwรถrth has resulted in time savings of at least 70 percent.

Revolutionising the metrological process

One other application worth mentioning is the new robot facility at Eurocopter.

With the help of the Laser Tracker, the quality of error compensation can be measured precisely. The Kuka robot has the task of undertaking very exact drilling on the door and gate assembly and carrying out milling work to precise distances in the process line. This application is novel because it is the first worldwide use of robots on a flying device.

The robot-worker must work to a precision of 0.05 mm, something that it is not usually achieveable.

The specialists from Donauwรถrth have collaborated with a special software company to teach the robot the necessary precision. With the help of the Laser Tracker, the quality of the error compensation and safety is metrologically documented. The Laser Tracker checks whether the robot really has drilled and milled with the same precision as a NC machine. These applications can continue running later without the Laser Tracker, however, the mobile measuring device from Leica Geosystems has the central controlling function for the installation of the robot into the operation.

The first of two Laser Trackers was delivered to Eurocopter in 1999. Since then, this tracker technology has virtually revolutionalised the metrological processes in Donauwรถrth. In the past, the examination process involved dismantling of the devices with a crane, transportation to the measuring machine and rebuilding again with the forklift truck. Following measurement, the devices were then returned to the production line. Employees were busy undertaking this task for at least six hours during a whole working day.

"Today we drive the Laser Tracker system directly to the unit that requires measurement and build up the instrument right there. This takes about a quarter of an hour - the ease of mobility of the trackers is a significant advantage to us," Reinhold Grosskopf said.

The Laser Tracker is used most frequently for the construction of large assembly devices. Whereas slipways previously had to be built in modular fashion within the coordinate measurement machine prior to subsequent assembly, this can now be done completely during the building process - in other words, right in the place where they will later be needed. Examples are the large devices built for the transport helicopter NH-90, which are 7m long, 3m wide and 4m high. As even the base frame is measured with the Laser Tracker, the technicians have few problems with retrospective changes.

New robot facility

Examination of Airbus doors The Laser Tracker also plays a key role during the examination of Airbus doors, as virtually every door has different specifications. For example, spherical doors for the left or right sides, and cylindrical doors in four variants. In the past there was a special gauge

for each door type, which had its own place in the hall, and the space cost according to the area. In the meantime, with the help of the Laser Tracker, Eurocopter had started moving to the future too.

"We have one gauge for all doors now, and this universal gauge allows us to simulate the processes of measuring for all types of doors," Project Manager Florian Brix said.

If the door in the fixture is closed, the positions of socalled doorstops have to be measured, an additional criterion for interchangeability and a further quality requirement for Eurocopter's French partners.

The positioning of the doorstops are carried out with the Laser Tracker. For this application, Florian Brix uses the newest model of Leica, the LTD800, in combination with the optional T-Probe (Tracker-Probe), which allows users to reach test points that are concealed or deep within the fixture. Brix himself can freely move the wireless and armless T-Probe equipped with Renishaw sensors.

The Tracker has about 5 m distant from the universal gauge its fixed and measured place. Because the doorstops are located behind the door lining, they can't be directly reached by the laser beam. Using the T-Probe, this problem can be solved easily and economically.

Eurocopter, the world's leading helicopter manufacturer, has improved production line efficiency by up to 70% in just a few years

The Laser Tracker system is driven directly to the unit that requires measurement.

Eurocopter's ultimate aim was to perform direct measurements during manufacture, rather than having to temporarily remove the item from the production line and move it to the fixed examination point.

23

24 News in Brief

Leica Geosystems establishes a direct presence in Belgium

Leica DISTO makes movie debut in "The Italian Job"

Leica Geosystems has signed an agreement to acquire the Geodesy business of Van Hopplynus Instruments SA in Belgium.

This will further develop and strengthen the high level of service and support provided in the region and will bring direct benefits to both customers and company.

DISTO™, the first name in portable laser measuring tools, recently made its motion picture debut in the hit movie "The Italian Job."

Van Hopplynus Instruments has been known as the preferred partner for the supply of quality instrumentation in Belgium for over 60 years, and has been the main distributor of Leica Geosystems products since 1946. During this time it has created a reputation for offering a comprehensive product range, as well as high level support and service facilities.

Van Hopplynus has established and maintained close relationships with leading customers in the survey, construction and associated markets. The integration of the Van Hopplynus Geodesy team into Leica Geosystems' global organization will enhance the local professional presence valued by the market.

The new business will be consolidated into Leica Geosystems' Surveying and Engineering Division together with the GIS and Mapping Division, operating from the Van Hopplynus offices in Brussels. Direct customer contacts are a strong advantage of Leica Geosystems and will be important for the future development of the business.

Mark Concannon, Leica Geosystems' Surveying and Engineering Vice President for Europe and Africa said: "The acquisition of Van Hopplynus Geodesy business is an exciting development for both parties. It is also a great opportunity for Leica Geosystems' business in Europe, particularly given Brussels' role in the European Union. We envisage that this will enable us to offer an exceptional service to our customers and partners in the region, as well as realising immediate sales growth through more formal sales and marketing management".

The DISTO™ product played an important role in one of the movie's opening scenes, when a band of burglars used the handheld device to make critical measurements for the placement of explosive charges when stealing a safe. The cameo appearance included a close-up of the product, in which the DISTO™ name clearly appeared on camera.

"The movie appearance showed the capabilities of DISTO™ to good effect," said Matt Miles, Marketing Manager for DISTO™. "It is the ideal tool for making measurements in places where it is impractical to use a steel tape. With DISTO™, you can measure with an accuracy of 1/8 inch or better, at distances up to 300 ft., with simple point-and-click operation."

Now in their fifth generation of technology, DISTO™ products provide unprecedented speed and convenience for measuring distances, areas and volumes. "With DISTO™, one person can take literally hundreds of measurements in a matter of minutes," said Miles. "DISTO™ measuring tools have become indispensable tools for a wide variety of users, such as architects, builders, flooring and carpet layers, plumbers, air conditioning contractors, painters, real estate agents, insurance adjusters and law enforcement agencies."

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

News in Brief

New Shanghai Bridge takes title of largest arch bridge in the world

Leica GS20 helps measure tropical glacial recession in Ecuador

From June 2003, the Shanghai Lu Pu Suspension Bridge, became the "No.1 Arch Bridge in the World". The central 550 meter-long steel arch, which spans the new 3,900 meter-long bridge over the Huang Pu River, is 32 meters longer than the previous world record holder - the 518 meter-long New River Gorge Bridge, West Virginia, United States. To place the steel arch elements with the highest accuracy, the most precise surveying methods required the use of an automated laser Total Station Leica TCA2003.

When gathering geospatial data in a remote and hostile location like a mountain glacier 16,000 feet above sea level, it pays to have a rugged, reliable mapping instrument that's easy to use. That's why the International Non-Traditional Teaching Initiative 2003 Expedition (INTI 2003) chose a new GPS/GIS receiver from Leica Geosystems for their recent expedition to Ecuador's Nevado Cayembe to study glacial recession in the tropics.

Construction of the huge six-lane Lu Pu Bridge began in October 2000 and has cost 2.25 billion yuan (272 million US dollars).

The main section of the 3,900 meter-long bridge is 750 meters long and 28.7 meters wide. The 550 meter-long main arch is made up of 27 box connectors, assembled by jointing, and 28 pairs of hangers linking the bridge deck. Over 35,000 tons of steel has been used in its construction.

The final stage of installation - the connection of the two bridge sections - proved to be the most difficult part of the project. In order to ensure that the final two segments from both sides of the river met exactly, precision surveying equipment of Leica Geosystems was also used in this phase of construction by monitoring the movements of the arch elements with an automated laser Total Station Leica TCA2003 providing an accuracy of fractions of a millimetre.

According to Vice-mayor Han Zheng, the bridge will help to relieve traffic crossing the river, and also contribute to Shanghai's bid for the World Expo 2010. The Lu Pu Suspension Bridge represents one of the three new river crossings to be opened for public in 2003 in the fast developing metropolitan area of Shanghai, the two other crossings being constructed in form of tunnels.

As a major sponsor of INTI 2003, an allgirls scientific mountaineering expedition in May-June 2003, Leica Geosystems supplied a GS20 professional data mapper, which played a key role in taking vital measurements aimed at determining the extent of glacial recession on one of the world's highest tropical glaciers.

The INTI 2003 expedition was made up of a group of girls, age 14-18, from the Oldfields School, Maryland. "Paramount among the expedition's many successes was the data collected, which included meteorological data, glacial mass balance data and glacial geometry data," Expedition leader Red Talbot said.

A major goal of the expedition was to map the glacier and its environment to facilitate future studies of the nature and extent of tropical glacial recession. In addition to being an important indicator of global climate fluctuations, glacial recession in the tropics could have a major impact on water resources in the region, which has a disproportionate amount of the world's readily available freshwater reserves.

"The cable-free operation facilitated by the GS20's Bluetooth wireless technology made data collection efficient and streamlined," said Talbot. "In a highaltitude mountaineering environment where efficiency means safety, this gave us peace of mind."

25

26 Machine Automation

World first in precision paving at Heathrow The demanding tolerances of concrete slab laying required at T5 and Heathrow Airport has called for the use of the high-tech 3-D Machine Guidance Systems of Leica Geosystems installed on Gomaco GHP2800 SlipForm Pavers.

BENEFITS: 路 a better quality surface 路 laying of concrete with precision, reliability and speed 路 concrete is laid with less paving preparation 路 elimination of on-site obstructions improves overall airport logistics

The project saw the deployment of the world's first entirely string line free paving system at a major international airport.

This four year project funded by the BAA and AMEC Pavement Team will deploy the world's first entirely stringline-free paving system at a major international airport. After installation of the system in February this year and the start of production in July, the system is delivering real savings and quality improvements at Heathrow.

Gone are the days of the time consuming and costly installation of steel pins, flags and guide wires traditionally used in slip-form guidance. This error-prone method severely restricted site logistics, impacted on safety and increased costs.

Today at Heathrow, the Pavement Team are completing all the slipform concrete paving for T5 and the upgrade of existing runways at Heathrow Airside by using two Leica LMGS-S Machine Control Systems and 6 x TCA1101+ total stations. Once the sub base has been prepared, the road / slab design is imported into the Leica LMGS-S system and the engineer sets up a pair of TCA1101 total stations adjacent to the working area to start tracking the slip-form paving machine.

The paver - a Gomaco GHP2800, receives real-time digital commands for steering and height corrections

via an on-board Leica computer from the TCA1101's.

This also includes the machine's attitude (roll and pitch) from two dual-axis tilt sensors and adjusts the machine's hydraulics if necessary, affording an extremely accurate position and heading data. The machine is automatically steered according to the design and allows the concrete to be placed in.

Two instruments guide the Gomaco and a third checks the final surface and re-aligns the machine if required.

Concrete is laid with less paving preparation (as by previous methods) at a rate of 1m / minute (510mm x 7.5m slabs) with a resulting accuracy of +/- 3 mm in height and +/- 10mm in plan (standard deviation). This increase in productivity is estimated to be around 20% and a better, smoother surface results without any costly wastage of concrete.

Kevin Robinson, Works Superintendent, who is responsible for the day-today operation of all of

AMEC's paving machines, said: "This machine automation system means much easier and safer access to the machines, without the restrictions previously placed with the old stringline system."

"The elimination of on-site obstructions has considerably improved overall airport logistics."

These new Heathrow terminal taxiways and associated paved areas will have had all the benefits of using this major new 3-D Machine Guidance System. This has been the first time such a system has been used on such a scale on such a large and prestigious project.

The results speak for themselves - a better quality surface, laid with precision, reliability and speed - the only choice for large-scale projects and an end to string line guidance.

"This machine automation system means much easier and safer access to the machines, without the restrictions previously placed with the old stringline system."

Kevin Robinson Works Superintendent, AMEC

Machine Automation

Laing Contractors invest in Gradestar (left): Laing's grader with mast and 360o prism for tracking by the Robotic Total Station

Laing Contractors Christchurch, New Zealand, have invested in a GradeStar 3D machine control from Leica Geosystems to deliver engineering value and provide greater job site accuracy. The GradeStar machine control system, based on the robotic TPS1100 Total Stations series, was installed on a Cat 12G grader over an existing Sonicmaster system. This 3D machine control system enables grader operators to complete grading work in a shorter amount of time, more efficiently and with greater accuracy.

Laing Contractor's management and staff soon realised the benefits that the new 3D GradeStar, Total Control Concept would have on the efficiency of their business and on projects that featured complex designs. "The GradeStar 3D control system proved to be invaluable on the earthworks stage of the recently completed Warehouse Distribution Centre Project in Rolleston," Managing Director, Duncan Laing said.

"Job site tolerances were exceeded and large floor areas were completed in record time with fewer men on the ground and less material wastage, resulting in a very happy customer."

The GradeStar-TPS system offers enormous advantages compared to conventional machine control methods. The system does all the work for the operator. On site pre-preparation work such setting out centreline pegs or grade stakes is no longer required.

Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) can be loaded directly onto the GradeStar computer mounted in the

driver's cab, allowing grading to be undertaken exactly according to the project data. The GradeStar system controls vertical curves and superelevations automatically - enabling more efficient construction of subdivisions, roading and earthworks projects where fine grading tolerances are required.

A Robotic Total Station is used instead of a rotating laser. The Leica TCRA Robotic Total Station tracks a 360-degree prism that is attached to a mast mounted on the grader blade. The exact position of the grader blade is known at all times and the onboard GradeStar computer (mounted in the cab) compares the position of the blade with the design data and automatically adjusts the elevation and cross slope of the blade to within a tolerance of 5-10 mm. This is truly 3D operation controls the blades' elevation and slope as well as the position.

"It is our mission at Laing Contractors to deliver excellent quality to the

client," Duncan Laing, said.

"The Leica 3D GradeStar lets us achieve this by enabling increased job site efficiency, a reduction in waste as well as employing an environmentally friendly technology." Most recently, Laings have ordered a second GradeStar system for their new Volvo grader.

Included in the GPS GradeStar purchase is a Sonicmaster blade control system. Laings have also decided to purchase the

(above): Ray Copeland from Global, trains Laing's staff on the operation of the Powersearch Robotic Total Stations recently released GPS1200 Surveying System and will use this state of the art product in the form of a GPS base and GPS rover for their future work.

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About GradeStar 3D machine control The GradeStar 3D machine control system can work with either GPS sensors or TPS total stations and has a standard control panel that can be used with sonic, laser and 3D systems. Special benefits of the GradeStar 3D GPS solution are the long control range (up to six miles); no need for direct line of sight and unlimited machines can be controlled simultaneously from one base station. The GradeStar TPS solution is the perfect choice when highest accuracy is required or when works in tunnels, under bridges or other areas are need to be carried out, where obstructions could impede GPS signals. Other typical applications for the GradeStar 3D machine control system include fine grading on roads or highways, airport and runway projects, and the grading of parking lots.

27

28 Archaeology

T16 #178277: a life of travel and tacheometry Leica Geosystems' worldwide reputation for quality precision instruments stems from the legacy of research and development left by forefathers Kern Swiss and WILD Heerbrugg. Most surveyors would have begun their professional careers using Wild instruments and for many years, a Wild T2 was synonymous with precision work. Today, the foundation of Leica Geosystems is based on this legacy - on the commitment of quality and precision and on the continuous application of the most modern technology. Customers know and trust Leica Geosystems' quality precision instruments and are confident that they will stand the test of time. One such example is that of a T16 optical theodolite, used for optical distance measurement, and now owned by archaeological surveyor, Dr Hans Barnard. Nearly 3-decades old, this instrument has certainly done its share of work. Yet Barnard continues to use it in the field despite the accession of new models. Here is its story.....

My best photograph, taken in 1999 in Cairo between the medieval city and the encroaching high-rises.

The Roman fort in Wadi Umm Wikala (Wadi Semna) as it could still be seen in the Summer of 1998.

Allow me to introduce myself: my serial number is 178277 and I am a T16 optical theodolite. Back in 1975, I left my home of manufacture in Heerbrugg, Switzerland to begin my working life in the Netherlands. In 1979, I was sold to the municipality of Purmerend, which was a growing community just north of Amsterdam. Most of my work had to do with laying out the streets and houses that were going to be built in the existing agricultural land. It was honest work and, apart from the rain, not very difficult.

After a while I was replaced with more advanced, electronic equipment even though I had been outfitted with a heavy DI4 Distomat.

Being from a generation of durable all-metal theodolites, with not too many moving parts and without vulnerable electronics, there were still many things I could do maybe not as fast or as accurate as the younger generation - but certainly more straightforward and reliable.

The first to appreciate this was a company called Passepartout in Gouda, who undertook contract survey work and the maintenance and trading of survey instruments. They also trained construction workers in various survey techniques, and it was

for these classes that I became the practice instrument.

and consequently he needed to own the tools of that trade.

Mapping in Egypt

A career as archaeological surveyor When I was about to retire from this job, my life took the dramatic turn that justifies my claim to fame. In 1993, a young medical doctor named Hans Barnard, used most of his life savings to purchase me in pursuit of his second vocation: archaeology. He had been to Egypt a couple of times as a member of the British expedition to Qasr Ibrim. Once an eagle's nest high above the Nile Valley, this city is now on an island in Lake Nasser, as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the early 1960's.

Hans' first responsibility was the health and safety of the foreign archaeologists and the Egyptian workmen. Fortunately this was not a full time job, and in his spare time he studied the excavated human bones, whilst at the same time teaching himself planning and surveying.

Soon he was able to not only expertly use the line level, plumbob and planning frame, but also the plane table and tacheometry. At the time we became partners, he had decided to pursue a career as an archaeological surveyor

From this time on my life was filled with adventure. Hans took me all over Egypt to map fascinating places and meet interesting people. First was Abu Sha'ar on the Red Sea just north of Hurghada, the site of a Roman fort that was subsequently transformed into a monastery.

Here we met Brian Cannon, an American surveyor who worked for the court, but had previously surveyed the route of an oil pipeline in Alaska and had a short spell of selling survey equipment.

Next we visited Berenike, the most important harbour on the Egyptian Red Sea coast in Graeco-Roman times (between the 3rd century BC and the 6th century AD), and worked with British surveyor Fred Aldsworth, a former Ordnance Survey surveyor who now specialised in archaeological survey work and conservation. Fred, Brian and Hans drew a detailed plan of Berenike and of a number of the ancient settlements and road stations nearby.

Soon after the potential of a small team in the desert was established, my life became even more interesting, but

Archaeology also more difficult than before. Together with Steve Sidebotham and Hans, I started planning ancient settlements in the Egyptian Eastern Desert. Steve is a professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at the University of Delaware (USA), with a particular interest in the ancient Red Sea trade and the Egyptian Eastern Desert.

He directed the excavations at Abu Sha'ar and co-directed those at Berenike. He also traced the Graeco-Roman trade routes through the desert and planned the way stations associated with these. When he decided to start mapping the ancient settlements in the desert he asked for our help. As there was only time for this during the summer holidays we went out when the desert was at its most inhospitable.

The project had no budget, and so I usually travelled in the back of an old Toyota Hilux pick-up truck, and I was even loaded on a camel a couple of times to go places that could not be reached by car!

Most of the settlements we visited were associated with

“I also got some compensation for my hard work - not only did I see places that few have visited, but also from time to time I was cleaned and calibrated.”

T16 #178277 ancient gold mines or stone quarries. Others were related to the ancient road system or served a still unknown function. All consisted of simple structures of local un-worked stone, built without the use of mortar.

The roofs must have been made of cloth or mats over a wooden frame and the buildings may have looked more like tents than like houses.

They had all been abandoned 1500 years before and had since been slowly reclaimed by the desert, a process aided by the removal of useful parts, the occasional flash floods, treasure hunters and

tourists. After all these years we were the first to once more spend a couple of nights in the settlement that we studied during the day.

These nights were silent under an impressive dome of stars at which I sometimes had a look to establish North.

The days were hot and more than once my spirit levels followed the sunlight rather than gravity.

Taping and tacheometry in the desert Survey work in the desert is seriously hampered by the lack of electric power.

Ordinary batteries can be brought in large quantities, but recharging battery packs is impossible without bringing special equipment or driving long distances. As the environment is harsh to delicate electronics as well as to the human brain, simple non-electronic survey methods are the preferred methods anyway. The loss in accuracy is irrelevant as the objects to be surveyed are usually too poorly constructed and too damaged to allow extreme precision. A possible loss in speed is more than compensated for by the additional information that can be gathered during the extra time on site. I was therefore mostly used to lay out a grid for taping or involved in tacheometry on the site.

For the first method I was only needed to construct a grid of 50 x 50 m squares.

After this I could rest in the shade while a tape was laid out along one of the grid lines. A second tape perpendicular to the first allowed Hans to measure the co-ordinates of whatever needed to be surveyed and draw this directly to scale. Square angels were obtained by either a third tape parallel to the first one or, more often, by an optical square. For the task of tacheometry I was required to work all the time.

The method used required a stadia rod to measure both angle and distance between the surveyor and the point to be surveyed. Depending on

the local situation these two methods were often combined, or supplemented with data from trigonometry or GPS-receivers. All these measurements had then to be converted into a drawing.

At first Hans did so on site, using ruler and protractor, enabling him to immediately check the final result. As he became more confident he started working at home, using sketches and notes to explain his long lists of measurements. From ruler and protractor he moved on to Excel and AutoCad. The final drawing was, however, always made by hand using a Rotring pen on drawing film.

PhotoShop was then used to clean the drawing and add the necessary captions. Many sites were mapped this way and many of the resulting plans were published, or will be soon. One of the nicest projects we worked on is the plan of the Roman fort in Wadi Umm Wikala that was destroyed only a short while after this plan was drawn.

Travelling rough, in the back of an old Toyota Hilux pick-up truck (photograph S.E. Sidebotham, August 1997.

Yemen to survey the environments of Baynun using a Wild RDS (serial # 218107) belonging to the German Institute in Sana'a.

More recently he was in Iceland to find early structures in Skagafjör∂ur, in the north of the island, with geophysical methods. At one stage, the use of a Wild T1000 (serial # 333638) with attached DI1000 Distomat and GRE4 datalogger was required. When he contacted the Leica Geosystems' helpdesk, to ask for the necessary software to run this combination, he not only promptly received technical support, but was also asked to share some of his adventures. As so, here we are....

T16 #178277 & Hans Barnard

To Iceland and back Hans was rewarded now and again by seeing his name in print, and I also got some compensation for my hard work - not only did I see places that few have visited, but also from time to time I was cleaned and calibrated.

At some point I also got a new set of legs, bought second hand from a foreign company involved in the construction of several tunnels in Cairo, both for sewage and traffic.

Less fortunate were the times when Hans left me to use different instruments elsewhere.

At one stage he went to

Further information about Hans Barnard’s work can be found at http://www.barnard.nl/desert/ and associated pages.

29

30 Geological Survey

What's happening on Mt. Everest and K2 in 2004?

For the first time ever, a Leica GPS system records movements around Mt. Everest every 30 seconds...

Mountain climbers and scientists aren't the only things that move around on the world's highest mountain; in fact, Mt. Everest and the entire Himalayan region is constantly transforming itself. In order to capture the positions of people and nature as well record their movements, a permanent, solar-powered Leica GPS 530 surveying station was installed in 2003. It is located on the Nepalese side of the mountain, near the glass research pyramid that was set up more than a decade ago by the Italian research team "Ev-K2-CNR".

In a flank overhanging the mighty Khumbu Glacier and with a good view of several 8000meter mountains - including Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse - the Italian research pyramid (left) was set up in 1992 with numerous laboratory facilities for medical and environmental research. In 2003, the lab received a GPS 530 station located on undisturbed rock (red circle).

Photo: Ev-K2-CNR Poretti/Leica Geosystems

The GPS system from Leica Geosystems receives signals around the clock from the 24 Navstar GPS satellites, allowing it to determine its exact position and to also transmit a precise positioni signal every 30 seconds. This reference signal allows researchers and climbers in the region with their own GPS receivers to orientate themselves with centimeter accuracy.

GPS technology and equipment from Leica Geosystems was used to survey the highest mountain in the world for the first time in 1992, by an international team led by Italian geophysicist Giorgio Poretti.

The Leica GPS system is now permanently installed at base-camp altitude. It delivers the extremely precise referential data to researchers and climbers

The newly erected Leica GPS hemispheric antenna at the foot of Mt. Everest receives GPS signals year all year round, 24 hours a day. The Leica GPS System 530 calculates the signals and transmits exact positioning data for researchers, climbers and emergency teams in the region every 30 seconds. Solar technology supplies the equipment with energy throughout the entire year. The data are also transmitted directly to the Italian research center in order to track tectonic changes.

Photo: Ev-K2-CNR Poretti/Leica Geosystems

and at the same time records valuable information on changes in the earth's crust. "After a series of tough tests and based on our many years of positive experience in extreme situations, we decided once again in favour of GPS equipment from Leica Geosystems. In this climatic zone, with no way to maintain the equipment over the course of many months, precision and reliability are the top priority," says Giorgio Poretti.

Mt. Everest ice cover and the 50th anniversary of the first K2 conquest To this day it is not known exactly how thick the ice cover is on the top of Mt. Everest, and thus the course and height of the profile of the summit are not known. In a GPS

surveying campaign to be led by the Italian research team "Ev-K2-CNR" under the direction of the Triestebased geophysicist Giorgio Poretti in 2004, the two highest mountain peaks in the world will be climbed and surveyed with state-ofthe-art GPS systems from Switzerland, in such a way that even the precise profile of the summit can be recognized.

The combined expedition on Mt. Everest and K2 marks the 50-year anniversary of the first successful climb of 8611-meter K2 in 1954, accomplished by an Italian mountaineering team led by Professor Poretti's "Ev-K2-CNR" predecessor, Ardito Desio.

Leica GPS surveying instruments will accompany the teams to the world's two highest summits in 2004.

It will be the first GPS topographical survey of K2's summit ever!

Stfi

Tunnel Monitoring

Double prism solves curves in tunnel monitoring In today's big cities, there is often new construction under already existing infrastructure. This raises a big safety issue, making it necessary to stringently monitor the stability of existing buildings and also for signs of movement or distortion during construction. Specific requirements of projects are always creating new challenges for surveyors, and in Singapore the new tunnel construction at Dhoby Ghaut station has done just that - necessitating the use of bi-directional prism to enable monitoring along the curved tunnel.

The Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) underground train system in Singapore is constantly being improved with new tunnel additions. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) first commissioned the installation of an automatic tunnel monitoring system at Bugis Junction over eight years ago - the first system in the world to monitor in a live tunnel.

The latest project involves the building of the Singapore Management University City Campus, over two tunnels of the Dhoby Ghaut Station. In addition, the new Marina Tunnel, phase one of the Circle line, is being constructed alongside these existing tunnels and extend into the back of the Station where monitoring is also required.

began cooperation with Leica in 1994 and have worked together on many projects since then.

"The monitoring zone is a 500-metre long tunnel and this is too big for one instrument, making it necessary to use four total stations to cover its length for southbound, and another four for the northbound," said William Tang, Sales and Project Manager for Leica Geosystems' Singapore agent SiberHegner (SEA) Pte Ltd. "It is also on a curve, creating the need for the bi-directional prism."

Over 2000 prisms, including sixty bi-directional prisms were needed to cover the roof, walls and floor of the tunnels.

Installation of monitoring system With such jobs, it is always necessary to make sure that the monitoring system works before construction commences. If the excavation is anticipated to reach what is defined as the first and second reserves (zones that are defined by the distance they are away from an existing tunnel), then monitoring for movement or distortion must be undertaken. The project team can then be forewarned if any preventative measures are needed. Wisecan Engineering Services Pte Ltd were selected as the surveyors for the project in February 2002. "We first completed the tunnel geometry and then started to do the planning in accordance for authority requirement," Managing Director, Mr Chua Keng Guan said.

Wisecan was formed in 1992 and begin by providing survey work for cable laying in Singapore. Prior to that Mr Chua worked for the MRTC and had a particular interest in tunnel projects. They

Installation in live tunnel Because the tunnel is live - a train passes every four minutes - and it is very costly to have the tunnel closed during the day, the team had to install the prisms and monitoring system at night. Due to continual maintenance and repair activities also during this time, the team were lucky to be granted one or two nights per week for tunnel access, and then are only allocated three hours to undertake their work. Only a total of 30 access nights - 15 for each tunnel - have been approved so the schedule is very tight.

"The train stops at 1am and starts again at 5am," William Tang said. "Because it is a high voltage area, safety is a high issue and the power needs to be turned off and signals need to be working properly."

It takes 16 people working in three teams to install up to 200 prisms per night. Leica TCA2002 total stations were used for the measurement.

"There is only three metres between each prism which is

extremely dense and therefore quite a challenge," said William Tang.

Monitoring of this particular project will continue for three years until 2005.

However, despite installation of the automatic monitoring system, manual checking will also need to continue as a backup every one to two months.

Data flow The four TCA2003 measure simultaneously and after each measurement cycle the raw data is being transmitted via GSM modem to a Server at Wisescan office. The data will be automatically processed and transmitted to the client almost instantly.

Should the measurement exceed the trigger levels, SMS warning messages will be automatically generated and broadcast to the responsible people. This proc-ess ensures that client gets the data on time for corrective action to be taken.

"If anything is found to be moving, we need to be able to provide convincing answers to the authority," Mr Chua said. "We are very confident that Leica instruments are able to provide consistency, and that is what we want for the important jobs - especially government authorities - we are able to tell the LTA that we are using a reliable instrument."

He added: "We have always believed in accuracy, performance and reliability. I liken Leica to a Mercedes - it lasts a long time and at the end of the day Leica outperforms the rest."

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William Tang and Ghua Keng Guan with the purpose-designed bi-directional prism

"We have always believed in accuracy, performance and reliability. I liken Leica to a Mercedes - it lasts a long time and at the end of the day Leica outperforms the rest."

Chua Keng Guan Managing Director Wisecan Engineering Services Pte Ltd

Over 2000 prisms - over the roof, walls and floor were intalled in the tunnel

31

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