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Precise positioning is important not only for land based vehicles but also for vessels. In the field of hydrography the positions of surveying vessels must be known with a high accuracy. Currently, GNSS receivers are predominantly used to determine the three dimensional position of surveying vessels on German inland waterways. Availability and accuracy of GNSS positions are influenced by shadowing, refraction, and multipath effects. Thus, the GNSS signal loss or disturbance results in measurement gaps. These gaps occur especially in regions with riparian vegetation, in valleys with steep slopes, intra-urban, and under bridges. The project “HydrOs” focuses on the improvement of the positioning solution: The position shall be determined reliably and uninterrupted and at the end of a GNSS gap still with an accuracy of a few decimetres. Moreover, the positioning system shall provide reliable integrity information. Therefore, all available sensors on board of the vessel which might contribute and more sensors shall be integrated in a multi-sensor system. In the project methods describing the vessels motion in space shall be developed. The dynamic motion model that integrates several sensors is put into effect with an extended Kalman filter (EKF). All available observations with a specified accuracy level are integrated into the filter. The ship motion is described by the state vector which comprises the three dimensional coordinates of a defined reference point, the attitude of the vessel, the velocity, and angular velocity. The filtering process itself will be supported by a flexible algorithm which recognizes automatically gaps of the incoming data.

Access to land, improving land use and mapping are all dependent on that land is mapped and surveyed. This presentation will focus on surveying of land and the base infrastructure needed for the surveying task. The authors will show how geodetic marks may be replaced by new infrastructures like active control networks (e.g. GNSS CORS networks). Apart from the technical basics of these networks, the economic benefit of a CORS network will be outlined with respect to costs and surveying instruments available to local surveyors. Another focus is on the cost-effective use of surveying instruments and the use of cost-effective instruments (e.g. low-cost GNSS). The authors will present a decision table on the base of accuracy, availability and costs to decide for instruments and procedures for different tasks as 1D, 2D or 3D surveying. Consequently the use of technology is dependent on the purpose of the survey as well as the technique available. Not always is the low-cost or the most modern technology the most appropriate. The authors talk about the cost-effective positioning technology and give different examples, e.g. low-cost GNSS receivers for data acquisition, RTK-GNSS for cadastral issues or highly precise total stations for engineering survey tasks. A modern alternative of positional sensors delivering point measurements are sensors delivering spatial measurements like terrestrial laser scanners, camera systems and ground-based radar. Here, the object will be acquired completely and not only chosen points. The disadvantages may count the high investment costs and the required specialized knowledge about the evaluation and data analysis. The main advantage is the availability of a huge amount of data that may serve different purposes in the future e.g. facility management or new planning procedures. Another idea for cost-effective positioning is kinematic data acquisition. In this case the spatial measurements are taken from moving platforms like vehicles. Besides the positioning of the moving sensors, the area measurements are used to create models for facades, streets or even complete cities. The presentation will give an introduction to kinematic data acquisition, the so-called mobile mapping, and compare it in a technical and financial point of view to normal surveying work. The final outcome of the report will give hints to decide for an appropriate spatial positioning technique for a given task or application. The method may be classical point measurements, static or kinematic area measurements; in any case positional infrastructure is needed for any positioning tasks.

In 2006 the University Stuttgart implemented an international master program for geodesy and geoinformatics. At the start it was designed as a three-semester program including one semester for the master thesis. It attracted an increasing number of students from all over the world; starting with only 5 students in fall 2006, the 7 th generation now started with 29 students last fall 2012. This is a considerable number for a geodesy related master program and directly illustrates the attractiveness of the program. This contribution reflects our experience with this international student community of the last more than 6 years. Recently the program was slightly modified as a consequence of this experience and of discussions with the students. It is now extended to a four-semesters program to not only improve the attractiveness of the program but also being fully compatible to other master programs at university level with typically 2 years study period. The new two years program provides one additional semester in order to deepen knowledge and to allow for additional elective modules. The new design of the program starting in fall 2013 will be outlined as well. Geomatics Engineering (GEOENGINE) is designed as a compact Master of Science program for international students from academia, government agencies or geomatics engineering companies. It provides advanced education and practical training to those students who wish to widen their perspective and expand their knowledge on numerical techniques for acquiring and modeling geospatial data. Therefore, the GEOENGINE master program provides profound knowledge focused on positioning, navigation and telematics. The compulsory modules cover topics like Advanced Mathematics, Geomatics Methodology, Geodesy, Engineering Geodesy, Remote Data Acquisition, Representation of Geodata, Law and Culture. Special focus is given to practical adaption of the knowledge within the Integrated Fieldwork which is carried out in the surrounding area of Stuttgart. Additionally, the elective modules Satellite Geodesy, Navigation, Geo-Telematics and Multisensor Integration may serve as access to research areas that may then be deepened in the master thesis.

The contribution deals with the use of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers and ad-hoc networks for monitoring tasks. These tasks enfold the monitoring of buildings and structures as well as natural objects, e.g. landslides. The current trend is to operate plenty of low-priced receivers. Beside an overview of available GNSS monitoring systems, first results of a new system developed at the Institute of Engineering Geodesy of University Stuttgart (IIGS) are presented. The accuracy is characterized by a maximum positional deviation of 2 cm for a measurement interval of 10 minutes.

In general, engineering geodesy has a strong relationship to construction and especially to construction processes. It is responsible for surveying and setting out as well as for monitoring tasks. Engineering geodesy delivers the geometric base for the construction process. Additionally, it controls the results of the process. Besides, engineering geodesists have a broad knowledge regarding quality models, quality parameters as well as quality propagation. With respect to other disciplines like transport telematics or electronic engineering, the quality characteristics and parameters are different. In comparison to construction engineering the quality description is already advanced, since construction quality means to avoid quality defects by keeping the given tolerances. This leads to the conclusion that there is a need for quality models and propagation methods at the borderline of construction engineering and engineering geodesy, with other words within the construction process. This article focuses on two research projects currently carried through at the Institute of Engineering Geodesy at the University of Stuttgart (IIGS). Both deal with the complete description of quality within the construction process. One focuses on fundamental research and congruously on the detailed quality description of engineering geodesy processes on quality parameter level based on a complete quality model. Here the mathematical correct quality parameter propagation is realized by different methods, e.g. Monte Carlo Simulation leading to reliable information at the interfaces to the construction process. The other project is application-oriented and focuses on the Total Quality of the entire process, taking into account the product, too. The quality model is application-oriented and simplified in order to take into account the needs of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The quality is measured on a rough scale using so-called checks. The first project is applied to the engineering processes that are needed for climbing formworks, and the second to the construction of residential houses. The article compares the two projects, presents the respective advantages and disadvantages and shows the interrelationships.

In general, engineering geodesy has a strong relationship to construction and especially to construction processes. It is responsible for surveying and setting out as well as for monitoring tasks. Engineering geodesy delivers the geometric base for the construction process. Additionally, it controls the results of the process. Besides, engineering geodesists have a broad knowledge regarding quality models, quality parameters as well as quality propagation. With respect to other disciplines like transport telematics or electronic engineering, the quality characteristics and parameters are different. In comparison to construction engineering the quality description is already advanced, since construction quality means to avoid quality defects by keeping the given tolerances. This leads to the conclusion that there is a need for quality models and propagation methods at the borderline of construction engineering and engineering geodesy, with other words within the construction process. This article focuses on two research projects currently carried through at the Institute of Engineering Geodesy at the University of Stuttgart (IIGS). Both deal with the complete description of quality within the construction process. One focuses on fundamental research and congruously on the detailed quality description of engineering geodesy processes on quality parameter level based on a complete quality model. Here the mathematical correct quality parameter propagation is realized by different methods, e.g. Monte Carlo Simulation leading to reliable information at the interfaces to the construction process. The other project is application-oriented and focuses on the Total Quality of the entire process, taking into account the product, too. The quality model is application-oriented and simplified in order to take into account the needs of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The quality is measured on a rough scale using so-called checks. The first project is applied to the engineering processes that are needed for climbing formworks, and the second to the construction of residential houses. The article compares the two projects, presents the respective advantages and disadvantages and shows the interrelationships.