Germany will be measured again

An unusual action has started in Germany: in the next five weeks, German surveyors will go around the whole country “from the mountains in the south to the seas in the north”, so that “with an accuracy of a couple of millimeters” again measure its area as well as the height of the landscape. According to Deutsche Welle, the error should be “no more than a mustard seed.”

There are 250 points planned throughout Germany where antennas receiving satellite signals will be installed. For the first time such an experiment was carried out in 2008. Like 13 years ago, the Germans will take measurements using the American GPS system and the Russian GLONASS. Now the EU Galileo system has been added. According to media reports, 35 teams of specialists from the Bureau of Cartography and Geodesy will travel far and wide across Germany, working around the clock. For many, this is almost the last chance to “work on the ground” – perhaps, in the future, the whole process will be taken over by machines. It is unlikely that the new dimensions will make a sensation. So why are they needed?

It is believed that in recent years Germany has “sagged” off the coast and, conversely, “grown” in the mountains. Clarification of coordinates would be useful when studying climate change, building dams and other infrastructure, for example, routes intended for “unmanned” vehicles.