Since October 2015 I am also working as Adjunct Lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and Construction Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe.
My lecture is called "Geomatics" and I read for the students of the Bachelor course Civil Engineering. The goal of this lecture is to give the students an understanding of
The properties of measured values
Evaluation and interpretation of measurements. Calculation of average, variance and standard deviation as well as interpretation of reliability.
Coordinates and coordinate reference systems
Basics of spatial, horizontal and vertical coordinate reference systems as well as their mathematical and physical relationship. Starting with the WGS84 as reference system for GNSS based coordinates, geocentric - X, Y, and Z - as well as geodetic coordinates -latitude, longitude and ellipsoidal height. Introducing the UTM projection as global standard coordinate system for the horizontal plan and finally explaining the physical nature of mean sea level referred heights, focussing on the Normalheight as standard height system in Europe.
Global Navigation Satelite Systems - GNSS
Introduction of different GNSS Systems - GPS, GLONASS and Galileo - and their basic components and individual properties. Absolute and relative positioning methods, code and phase measurements as well as the main error sources and their calibration or elimination respectively are described. Furthermore the typical applications and standard measurement procedures, like Real Time Kinematic - RTK - are demonstrated.
Tacheometry
Introduction of the totalstation as standard instrument for horizontal and vertical positioning. The main mechanical and optical components of the instrument are explained as well as the typical error sources and methods for calibration of the instrument and elimination of error. In practical excersizes three different surverying methods, polar measurement, coordinate stakeout and trigonometric height determination are trained.
Levelling
This chapter is concerned with height determination based on spirit levelling. The level instrument is introduced and the main mechanical components as well as error sources and calibrations are explained. The survey method for levelling and the full computation of levelling loops are excersised in practical sessions.
Selected topics and presentations from running projects
This session is concerned with special and selected topics. This can be presentations of currently running projects or demonstrations of special sensors or software applications. For example Scanner or drones for mass data collection, applications of geotechnical and structoral sensors in monitoring projects.