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A New Network for a Town Torn in Two +++ Passing a Tough Test +++ Environmental Research with GNSS +++ Accurate GNSS Everywhere with SmartNet +++ A Smooth Runway in Record Time +++ Teaming up with the Sun +++ Scanning Beyond Retrofit Design +++ Flying 60 Knots Above the Colorado River +++ Monitoring Toronto’s Union Station +++ Swiss Bridge, Visible World-wide +++ Mobile Robots with Leica GPS1200 +++ GNSS for Ethiopia’s Sustainable Development +++ Leica Geosystems @ facebook
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- A New Network for a Town Torn in Two
The town of Staufen in the Black Forest has literally been torn apart: following failed geothermal borehole drilling, the ground on which the town and its 7,800 inhabitants stand has risen by up to 40 cm (15.7 in) in the last three years. This has had serious consequences for some of the houses in this historically listed town, some of which have cracks running through them that are up to 10 cm (3.9 in) wide. The town council commissioned surveying engineers Weber to set up a geodetic deformation network to monitor the continuing rise of ground levels.
- Passing a Tough Test
“I spent about three weeks up there – I wouldn’t have missed it.” says RLS founder Shane Loyd, PLS (Professional Land Surveyor) about his work on the soon-to-be-completed Cumberland Trail in Tennessee, “but I have to admit, I was glad to get home too!” RLS, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been around since 1999. Starting in 2007, they began to offer scanning and have established a good reputation for applying cutting edge techniques and equipment to surveying projects. On the Cumberland Trail project, the survey equipment used was a Leica Viva GNSS system and it was about as cutting edge as possible: “We picked up two systems and I think we were the first firm in the South to have one,” says Loyd, laughing, “Even the Allen Precision (Leica Geosystems’ dealer in the US) guys hadn’t been fully trained yet, so in some respects we were on our own. We got them out of the box and drove straight to the job, so it was a tough test for new equipment. Fortunately, the system worked great.”
- Environmental Research with GNSS
On three closely linked interdisciplinary projects, two of which are within the remit of the Competence Center Environment and Sustainability of the ETH Domain (CCES), the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry (IGP) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) opted for the Leica GRX1200 reference station receiver. The scope of the projects extends from research into tectonics, the movements of block glaciers right up to the determination of atmospheric water vapour content. The common denominators are sustainable studies in the fields of energy and environmental catastrophes as well as the Leica ATHENA Program for Higher-Education and Non-profit Organizations.
- Accurate GNSS Everywhere with SmartNet
Ten years ago, RTK surveys typically involved two GPS receivers (a base and a rover), a lot of batteries and cables, two radios, a tripod, a pole, and a backpack to carry it all. Today users can choose between a GPS or a GNSS receiver, and a radio or a mobile phone, and it all fits on the pole. With the establishment of RTK networks, they can also choose to work with an RTK rover within these networks instead of setting up their own base-station. Leica Geosystems SmartNet gives users easy access to precise Network RTK data, where they experience the best availability, reliability, and traceability using internationally recognized standards, combined with flexible and affordable subscription options that meet the needs of the local market.
- A Smooth Runway in Record Time
It's the runway reconstruction project whose impact was felt worldwide. New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport’s main Bay Runway, was in need of repair. JFK's governing organizations intensively researched the best possible methods and procedures to either repair or replace the aging runway. Flight delays resulting from a completely shutdown Bay Runway could potentially impact worldwide flight timetables. JFK International Airport serves 48 million passengers and 440,000 flights annually, with the total number of air passenger traffic expected to increase by 20 percent over the next decade. Bay Runway handles about one third of the annual operations, including more than half of all departures. The newly rebuilt runway was expected to reduce delays overall by an estimated 10,500 hours per year.
- Teaming up with the Sun
Against the background of fresh doubts about the safety of nuclear energy and our awareness of climate change caused by global CO2 emissions, the search for alternative methods of energy is assuming new urgency. Alongside wind and geothermal sources, free solar power supplies our cleanest form of energy. Solar technology is “hot” as never before and photovoltaic systems are enjoying a lasting boom in Germany, where for many years the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) has guaranteed two decades of enhanced feed-in tariffs for the owners of new systems with an output of up to 30 kW. The state subsidy offers an additional incentive to refinance a system. Optimizing the size of photovoltaic systems, and therefore their output, requires the latest technology: in solar energy and in surveying. Elektro Staudt offers its customers an outstanding service with the Leica Builder Total Station.
- Scanning Beyond Retrofit Design
MegChem Engineering & Drafting Services (Pty) Ltd, South Africa, is a multi-discipline engineering company serving a diverse client base in the oil, gas, power generation, and energy related industries. The company, founded in 1995, is ISO 9001-certified and has more than 300 employees. They also have a Leica HDS6100 scanner, Cyclone, and CloudWorx software as part of their engineering services toolkit. Flying 60 Knots Above the Colorado RiverWhen veteran pilot, professional engineer, and land surveyor Gary Grigsby took off from Rifle/Colorado in his helicopter last June to survey a canyon with newly fitted Leica Geosystems LiDAR sensor and digital camera, he harbored some doubt about how well the technology would perform over the challenging terrain ahead.
- Flying 60 Knots Above the Colorado River
When veteran pilot, professional engineer, and land surveyor Gary Grigsby took off from Rifle/Colorado in his helicopter last June to survey a canyon with newly fitted Leica Geosystems LiDAR sensor and digital camera, he harbored some doubt about how well the technology would perform over the challenging terrain ahead.
- Monitoring Toronto’s Union Station
Downtown Toronto’s Union Station is Canada’s busiest rail terminal, handling about 65 million passengers annually. Built from 1915 to 1920, it’s considered to be a masterpiece of Beaux Arts architecture, expressed in the ornately colonnaded front and the 76 x 27 m (250 x 90 ft) Grand Hall, which is famous for its marble floor, soaring arched roof, and four-story windows at each end.
- Swiss Bridge, Visible World-wide
A bridge over the Rhine near the village of Diepoldsau, not far from the headquarters of Leica Geosystems AG, is one of the most thoroughly monitored bridges in the whole of Switzerland. However, it is not about to collapse at any moment. The reason for this is the cantonal highways department gave Leica Geosystems permission to install any number of sensors and convert the cable-stayed bridge into a “test structure”. The canton benefits from this arrangement, as do (potential) customers, university students and last but not least, the Leica Geosystems product specialists.
- Mobile Robots with Leica GPS1200
Robots, robots, robots – you find them everywhere. Often unbeknownst to us, they have considerable impact on our lives: we buy products made by robots, we use them in science, and they explore unknown environments. Robots aren’t “stupid” machines, but solve many complicated tasks without human help. They “live” in our world and can observe it with their sensors. To be able to move, robots need to know where they are, where they want to get to, and how to get there. These basic robotics tasks are called localization and navigation. They cover a large spectrum of different technologies and applications, drawing on some very ancient techniques, but also some of the most advanced space science and engineering. Amongst them Leica Geosystems’ technology, as tests with a Leica GPS1200 at the Institute of Control and Information Technology at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava recently showed.
- GNSS for Ethiopia’s Sustainable Development
The River Nile has sustained life in North Africa for millennia, during which time Egypt has successfully tapped into this resource. But in the area of the headwaters of the Blue Nile, Ethiopia has lacked the infrastructure to harness the river’s potential. In order to redress this imbalance the Ministry of Water and Energy for the Republic of Ethiopia commissioned a feasibility study for 800 km² (198,000 acs) of net irrigation development in three schemes, which required a total study or search area of 1,700 km² (420,000 acs)in Ethiopia’s Nile basin. The project was funded by the World Bank and is being undertaken by UK based consultancy company Halcrow, who mapped the river catchment areas of Megech, Upper Beles and Negeso using Leica Geosystems GNSS equipment and stereo photogrammetry from satellite imagery.
- Leica Geosystems @ facebook
Almost 100 photographs of markers, taken by our customers from all over the (surveying) world, can be found on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/LeicaGeosystems in the album “Markers”. Here you can find a random selection of photographs that have been sent to us. We are pleased to announce that within only a few months since the Leica Geosystems facebook page was launched, we have more than 4,500 fans! |
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