Friedrich Robert Helmert, founder of modern geodesy, on the occasion of the centenary of his death

Friedrich Robert Helmert died in Potsdam in 1917 at the age of 74 after serving for over 30 years as director of the Royal Prussian Geodetic Institute and of the Central Bureau of the Internationale Erdmessung, the forerunner of today's International Association of Geodesy. He dedicated his life and his scientific career to the field of geodesy. His teachings on theoretical and physical geodesy were incorporated into university curricula around the world and hence into international endeavours to measure planet Earth. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the impact he has had on the development of modern geodesy and on the related sciences.

Arctic geopolitics and the beginning of earthquake monitoring in Denmark and Greenland

Where there scientific or political reasons behind Denmark’s decision to establish its first seismological stations for earthquake monitoring? In a nation where earthquakes are few and of small magnitude, it is remarkable that since 1927 the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), and its predecessors back to the Danish Geodetic Institute have recorded seismological events from permanent stations in Denmark and Greenland and shared data through international data centres.

Brief communication "Application of mobile laser scanning in snow cover profiling"

We present a snowmobile-based mobile mapping system and its first application to snow cover roughness and change detection measurement. The ROAMER mobile mapping system, constructed at the Finnish Geodetic Institute, consists of the positioning and navigating systems, a terrestrial laser scanner, and the carrying platform (a snowmobile sledge in this application). We demonstrate the applicability of the instrument to snow cover roughness profiling and change detection by presenting preliminary results from a mobile laser scanning (MLS) campaign. The results show the potential of MLS for fast and efficient snow profiling from large areas in a millimetre scale.

Brief communication "Application of mobile laser scanning in snow cover profiling"

We present a snowmobile based mobile mapping system and its first application on snow cover roughness and change detection measurement. The ROAMER mobile mapping system, constructed at the Finnish Geodetic Institute, consists of the positioning and navigating systems, a terrestrial laser scanner, and the carrying platform (a snowmobile sledge in this application). We demonstrate the applicability of the instrument in snow cover roughness profiling and change detection by presenting preliminary results from a mobile laser scanning (MLS) campaign. The results show the potential of MLS for fast and efficient snow profiling from large areas in a millimetre scale.

On the Contribution of the Geodetic Institute Potsdam to the International Latitude Service

The paper reviews in what ways the Geodetic Institute Potsdam contributed to the foundation of the International Latitude Service (ILS) and took part in its activities through the work of Helmert, Albrecht, Wanach and Mahnkopf. Based on international scientific cooperation, the results were the rectangular coordinates of the polar motion from 1890.0 to 1922.7 at 0.1 year intervals, in particular those derived from the latitude observations at independent stations from 1890.0 to 1899.8, and those derived from the latitude observations at the ILS stations from 1899.9 to 1922.7.

Surging glaciers in Greenland – a status

New wide-angle vertical aerial photography covering most of West and East Greenland were flown in the years 1981 and 1985 by Mark Hurd Corp., Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the Geodetic Institute, Copenhagen. The photographs are on a scale of approximately 1:150 000,so that single photographs cover a large area, and are valuable as bench marks for glacier changes. These photographs have been used for updating information on West Greenland glacier changes and the history of West Greenland glacier surges. Those covering East Greenland have been used for location of importantcentres of surging glaciers.

Reconnaissance for economic minerals in the Kangerdlugssuaq area, East Greenland

As an intergral part of GGU's work in East Greenland in 1986 (Kalsbeek & Nielsen, this report) a party visited the Kangerdlugssuaq area with a view to assessing its economie potential. Logistic support was shared with the Geodetic Institute. During most of the period spent in the field area (27 July to 12 August) Stenstrop, assisted by Henrik Krarup (a student assistant), worked on Flammefjeld, a porphyry molybdenum prospeet earlier investigated by the Northern Mining Company of Copenhagen (Geyti & Thomassen, 1984), while Brooks and Sehønwandt investigated other targets and eo-operated closely with Platinova Resources Ltd of Toronto who have a eoneession in the area. Kangerdlugssuaq is an area of Arehaean gneisses whieh was subject to intense magmatie activity in the early Tertiary when the present continental margin was loeated over the hot spot whieh now lies under Iceland. The geology has reeently been reviewed by Brooks & Nielsen (1982), where loealities mentioned here ean be identified.