The science of measurement (instrumentation, methodology and
guidelines)
The acquisition of accurate and reliable survey data related to
the position, size and shape of natural and artificial features of the
earth and its environment and including variation with time.
Mission statement
The mission of Commission 5 is to:
Focus on modern technologies, and technical developments and
assist individual surveyors, engineers and GIS/LIS professionals
through guidelines and recommendations, to choose and utilise those
methods, technologies and instruments that are most appropriate to
different applications.
Follow technical developments through collaboration with other FIG
Commissions and other international organisations; participation in
appropriate meetings; and the preparation of appropriate publications.
Support research and development and stimulate new ideas in the
fields of expertise represented within the commission.
Collaborate with manufacturers on the improvement of
instrumentation and associated software.
Present and promote the work of the Commission and its working
groups on an on-going basis at FIG Congresses, FIG Working Weeks, FIG
Regional Conferences and other relevant technical meetings and in
appropriate FIG and other media.
General
This work plan covers the development, use and integration of
technologies for positioning and measurement and the associated
standardisation, best practice and fundamental reference frame issues.
Many of the issues are global in nature and Commission 5 along with many
other Associations is well suited to tackle the technological challenges
we face. There will be an ongoing cooperation with United Nations
Agencies to address global problems such as sustainable development and
humanitarian needs. The disciplines covered by Commission 5 will deliver
solutions for the spatial aspects of these important global problems.
Specific activities aimed at developing countries include examination of
Low Cost Surveying Technologies, assistance with implementation of modern
Geodetic Reference Frames (including Vertical Reference Frames) and
associated infrastructure and contribution to appropriate Continuing
Professional Development programs.
In addition to the specific activities above, the Commission will
support and contribute to FIG Task Forces and the Standards Network. The
Commission will also respond to the FIG Council to address new issues as
they emerge.
Working Groups
Working Group 5.1 – Standards, Quality Assurance and Calibration
Policy Issues
Influence the development of standards affecting positioning and
measurement instruments and methods, in collaboration with the FIG
Standards Network and through participation in the relevant technical
committees (TCs) of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and
other appropriate bodies.
Acceptance controls, quality assurance and certification and their
impact on the surveying profession.
Testing and calibration of measuring instruments.
Assist other Commission Working Groups to implement Standards from
TC 172/SC 6 and ISO TC211 as appropriate.
Chair
David Martin, France
e-mail: david.martin[at]esrf.fr
Specific project(s)
Guide for the expression of uncertainty in measurements (GUM) for
surveying
Connection to ISO TC211
Workshop(s)
Participation in FIG Working Weeks and other major Commission
events with dedicated Technical Sessions and/or Workshops as
appropriate.
Special Session on ISO TC211 at a FIG Working Week.
Publication(s)
A dedicated publication regarding the implementation of the “Guide
for the expression of uncertainty in measurements” (GUM) for surveying
Timetable
Draft publications will be presented at FIG Working Weeks during
the term of this plan and according to a timetable to be developed by
the Working Group Chairs.
Working group final report and outcomes will be presented at
dedicated session, FIG Congress, 2018.
Beneficiaries
FIG member associations, manufacturers and users of survey equipment,
governments, standardisation organisations, decision makers, GIS
developers and users, surveying businesses, individual surveyors
Work to bring together all organisations involved in defining or
using reference frames to develop common approaches and avoid
duplication. Such organisations include FIG, the International
Association of Geodesy (IAG), ISO, groups of national mapping
agencies, other influential national agencies.
Continue the existing co-operation with IAG on the Regional
Reference Frame Projects such as AFREF, APREF, EUREF, NAREF, and
SIRGAS.
Consider options for the development and implementation of 4
dimensional datums that incorporate the effects plate tectonic and
regional effects such as those due to earthquakes or local effects
such as landslides.
Provide background technical information on relevant issues
written in a way that is accessible to the surveying practitioners.
Examine how surveying practitioners can access the reference frame,
through less emphasis on networks of ground monuments and more
emphasis on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) base stations.
Provide information on the maintenance of CORS networks to ensure
long-term stability
Chair
Nic Donnelly, New Zealand
e-mail: ndonnelly[at]linz.govt.nz
Specific project(s)
Review of Reference Frames in Practise Manual,
Connection to ISO-TC211: Geodetic Registry Network.
Workshop(s)
Continuing Seminars on Reference Frames in Practise, 3D and
vertical frames
Participation in FIG Working Weeks and other major Commission
events with dedicated Technical Sessions.
Publication(s)
FIG Publication on ITRF
Publication regarding national datums (different types)
Timetable
Draft publications will be presented at FIG Working Weeks during
the term of this plan and according to a timetable to be developed by
the Working Group Chairs.
Working group final report and outcomes will be presented at
dedicated session, FIG Congress, 2018.
Educate FIG member agencies on current and future status of
regional and global vertical reference frames and height systems
Educate FIG member agencies on practical aspects about the
implementation of new geopotential datums including:
access using geoid height models and a geometric datum
redefining heights on existing bench marks to serve as
secondary control
ties between height systems and local and global mean sea
level
Chair
Kevin Kelly, USA
e-mail: kevin_kelly[at]esri.com
Co-Chair
Dan Roman, USA
e-mail: dan.roman[at]noaa.gov
Specific project(s)
Solicit members for WG
Inventory/catalogue of height systems and vertical datums in use
by countries and/or FIG member agencies
Capture planned changes and timelines for the evolution of height
systems in countries and by FIG member agencies
Workshop(s)
Special Sessions regarding vertical reference systems at FIG
Working Weeks, other major FIG events and at related conferences
including Reference Frame in Practice Seminars.
Splinter meetings to coordinate activities at national and
international meetings including UN-GGIM, IAG (Commission2 and IGFS),
and UNOOSA
Publication(s)
Chart of definitions of vertical datums (including tidal datums),
height systems and their relationships
Review paper on principles vertical reference frames and height
system unification
FIG publication on “Vertical Reference Frames in Practice”
covering practical aspects of and procedures for using vertical
reference frames and height systems
Develop a series of papers on practical aspects of implementing
new national vertical datums consistent with global and regional
height systems
Timetable
Working group final report and outcomes will be presented at
dedicated session, FIG Congress, 2018.
Beneficiaries
FIG member associations, government agencies, decision makers, GIS
developers and users, surveying businesses, individual surveyors.
Examine the positioning services using CORS and automated
positioning software via WWW.
Support and disseminate emerging positioning techniques using GNSS
Research and dissemination regarding real time networks
Multi-GNSS products and advancements
Provide FIG input during planning and implementation phases
associated with programs of modernisation and development of all GNSS
Chair
Dr. Neil Weston, USA
e-mail: neil.weston[at]unh.edu
Co-Chair
Suelynn Choy, Australia
e-mail: suelynn.choy[at]rmit.edu.au
Specific project(s)
Research and Publications on “Precise Point Positioning, Network RTK,
Processing Services, Low-Cost GNSS, Multi-GNSS”
Workshops
Continuing Seminars on Reference Frames in Practise, 3D and
vertical frames
Special Session regarding these topics on FIG Working Weeks and
Conferences.
Publications
Publication on PPP - misconceptions, challenges and opportunities
Publication on Multi-GNSS advances including best-practise
examples
Timetable
Draft publications will be presented at FIG Working Weeks during
the term of this plan and according to a timetable to be developed by
the Working Group Chairs.
Working group final report and outcomes will be presented at
dedicated session, FIG Congress, 2018.
Beneficiaries
FIG member associations, government agencies, decision makers, GIS
developers and users, surveying businesses, individual surveyors.
This group is a joint working group between FIG and IAG. It focuses on
the development of shared resources that extend our understanding of the
theory, tools and technologies applicable to the development of multi
sensor systems. It has a major focus on;
Performance characterization of positioning sensors and
technologies that can play a role in augmenting core GNSS capabilities
Theoretical and practical evaluation of current algorithms for
measurement integration within multi sensor systems.
The development of new measurement integration algorithms based
around innovative modeling techniques in other research domains such
as machine learning and genetic algorithms, spatial cognition etc.
Establishing links between the outcomes of this WG and other
IAG and FIG WGs (across the whole period)
Generating formal parameters that describe the performance of
current and emerging positioning technologies that can inform FIG and
IAG members.
Chair
Allison Kealy, Australia
e-mail: a.kealy[at]unimelb.edu.au
Co-Chair
Guenther Retscher, Austria
e-mail:
Guenther.Retscher[at]geo.tuwien.ac.at
Specific project(s)
International field experiments and workshops on a range of multi
sensor systems and technologies.
Evaluation of UAV capabilities and the increasing role of
multi-sensor systems in UAV navigation.
Investigate the role of vision based measurements in improving the
navigation performance of multi sensor systems
Development of shared resources to encourage rapid research and
advancements internationally.
Workshops
Special Sessions at Working Weeks and Supporting Special international
conferences and symposia including: Mobile Mapping Symposium, ION GNSS,
IGNSS Australia, IPIN, etc.
Publications
A number of papers will be submitted to relevant conferences and
technical journals. A special journal edition of papers from the Mobile
Mapping Symposium in 2015 will be supported.
Timetable
Draft publications will be presented at FIG Working Weeks during
the term of this plan and according to a timetable to be developed by
the Working Group Chairs.
Working group final report and outcomes will be presented at
dedicated session, FIG Congress, 2018.
Beneficiaries
FIG member associations, academic and research institutions, spatial
data acquisition specialists, third party developers of LBS requiring
mobile location information, GIS developers and users, surveying
businesses, individual surveyors.
Educate FIG member associations and individual surveyors on when
to use which surveying instrument or evaluation software taking into
account economic reasons
Design fit-for-purpose surveying systems that are cost-effective
Support decision makers for establishing cost-effective
positioning solutions
Chair
Leonid A. Lipatnikov, Russia
e-mail: l.lipatnikov[at]ssga.ru
Specific project(s)
Developing guidelines for cost-effective use and design of survey
solutions including costs for labour and investment
Workshops
FIG workshop with Commissions 3 and 7
Publications
FIG Publication on cost effective surveying techniques
Timetable
Working group final report and outcomes will be presented at
dedicated session, FIG Congress, 2018.
Beneficiaries
FIG member associations, academic and research institutions, spatial
data acquisition specialists, GIS developers and users, surveying
businesses, individual surveyors mianly dedicated to developing countries.
Co-operation with Other Commissions and organisations
Commission 6 and ISPRS on Laser Scanning
Commission 7 and 3 on Cost-Effective Positioning
Co-operation with United Nation Organisations, Sister Associations and
other Partners
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and ICG
(International Committee on GNSS). FIG is co-chairing of the Task
Force on Geodetic Reference Systems.
UN GGIM is another field of cooperation between UN and FIG
Commission 5.
Strong Cooperation with International Association of Geodesy
(IAG), with which FIG has a Memorandum of Understanding. Working group
5.5 is jointly organized with IAG.
Good cooperation with International Society for Photogrammetry and
Remote Sensing (ISPRS), the Permanent Committe on GIS Infrastructure
Asia Pacific (PCGIAP) and the US based Institute of Navigation (ION).
Contribution to International Standard Organizations, especially
ISO.
