Kurt Bretterbauer

Kurt Bretterbauer (born January 31, 1929 in Vienna ; † February 26, 2009 in Bad Vöslau ) was an Austrian geodesist and professor at the Vienna University of Technology.

Life

Kurt Bretterbauer studied surveying at the Vienna University of Technology from 1948 to 1953 . After graduating, he joined the Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying (BEV) as an assistant and studied astronomy and mathematics at the University of Vienna .

In 1958 he received a scholarship from the American Academy of Science for a research stay at Ohio State University , where he worked under Veikko Heiskanen in the World Gravity Project and on lunar cartography until the end of 1959 . Returning to the BEV, Bretterbauer was mainly involved in the basic survey (leveling and vertical deviation measurements in the first-order triangulation network).

1967 he became Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Vienna Karl Ledersteger and received his doctorate in 1969. Dr. techn. (Dissertation topic: "Contributions to the refraction problem in higher geodesy"). After the accidental death of Prof. Ledersteger (1972) Bretterbauer was appointed to his successor as university professor for theoretical geodesy at what is now the Technical University of Vienna . He held this chair until his retirement in 1997. His successor was Harald Schuh , who moved to Potsdam in 2012 , which means that the chair is currently vacant.

Scientific activity

Bretterbauer's areas of work included a. mathematical map design , geometry of the ellipsoid of revolution , geodetic applications of astrometry , research on refraction and sea ​​level rise . He wrote about 100 scientific publications on these topics; as an observer in the BEV , he determined numerous high alpine TP points and perfected astro-geodetic observation methods; in addition to this he later developed an improved method of direction transmission (at the Vienna University of Technology) . The founding of the Geoscientific Mitteilungen series , which he initiated as a senior assistant, is also worthy of permanent merit . To date, over 80 volumes have appeared in this series of publications by the specialist group, including monographs on gravity and isostasy from his institute , several conference volumes ( GeoLIS , cartography), some commemorative publications and around 20 dissertations and diploma theses.

As an academic teacher, Kurt Bretterbauer was characterized by an extremely lively presentation style. Although he usually scheduled his lectures at 8 a.m., almost all of his students attended them. He was also known for his very concise formulations on geodesy and its relationships with other geosciences. For geoid - and Refraktionsproblem as he coined the phrase "A signal for geodesy, is noise for surveying ," by which he outlined the tension between research and practical geodesy few words.

As a full professor, Bretterbauer initiated around a dozen dissertations and several large research projects , including a. the geoid study and the Vienna test network , a new geoid determination for the whole of Austria (at that time the most accurate in the world) and the first applications of CCD technology for astrogeodesy . For the Austrian Geoid 2000, his institute (including G.Gerstbach and R.Weber ) cooperated intensively with the Graz University of Technology and the BEV . This gravity field model achieved almost the accuracy of the centimeter geoid propagated by W.Torge Europe-wide and improved the transformation between physical and GPS-determined geometric height systems to 2–3 cm.

As head of the geosciences department for many years , Bretterbauer was committed to numerous innovations and a comprehensive study reform. The student excursions to research institutes abroad can also be traced back to him.

A commemorative publication with around 20 academic contributions from his students was dedicated to his retirement. His 80th birthday was celebrated on February 3, 2009 with a celebratory colloquium at the Vienna University of Technology.

Individual evidence

• Robert Weber (Ed.): Festschrift Kurt Bretterbauer for his 70th birthday. Vienna University of Technology - Study of Surveying, Vienna 1999 ( Geoscientific Communications 50, ISSN  1811-8380 ).
• Robert Weber, lecture at the 2009 Festive Colloquium (80th birthday).