Karl Ramsayer (29 September 1911,

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

''Große Kreisstadt Schwäbisch Gmünd. Personalia'' in ''ostalb einhorn. Vierteljahreshefte für Heimat und Kultur im Ostalbkreis'', Nr. 37/38, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Einhorn-Verlag E. Dietenberger GmbH und Ostalbverlag – Schwäbischer Heimatverlag Dietenberger & Theiss oHG, Schwäbisch Gmünd und Aalen, 1983, P. 148 – 24 December 1982, near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) was a German

geodesist Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

and is well known as one of the most important scientists in

geodetic astronomy Geodetic astronomy or astronomical geodesy (astro-geodesy) is the application of astronomical methods into geodetic networks and other technical projects of geodesy. Applications The most important applications are: * Establishment of geodetic da ...

and in electronic

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

. In the 1950s Ramsayer became professor at the Geodetic Institute of the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...

. In the following years he founded the ''Institut für Navigation'' which he developed to a leading research institute in the fields of

avionics Avionics (a blend word, blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, ...

. Many

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

s in automatic positioning methods and air guidance systems have their origin in Stuttgart research projects.

Work on navigation and geodesy

Much of Ramsayer's research on navigation concerned

dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...

, automatic navigation maps based on

Doppler radar A Doppler radar is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target and analyzing how the object's motion has altered the f ...

, and improvements in

astro navigation Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space (or on the surface of ...

. Long series of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

test flights showed the advantages of combining different positioning methods ( integrated navigation). He is the author of some hundred special articles in scientific journals and author or coauthor of some dozen research reports. In

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

and

geosciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

, Ramsayer's priority was the integration of electronic and astronomic observation methods to improve the mutual quality and the strength of networks. Another focus was analyses of the interdependence of

accuracy Accuracy and precision are two measures of ''observational error''. ''Accuracy'' is how close a given set of measurements (observations or readings) are to their ''true value'', while ''precision'' is how close the measurements are to each other ...

and

systematic error Observational error (or measurement error) is the difference between a measured value of a quantity and its true value.Dodge, Y. (2003) ''The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms'', OUP. In statistics, an error is not necessarily a " mistak ...

s. One of his major works late in life was volume IIa of the ''Handbuch der Vermessungskunde'', published in 1968. Ramsayer retired from the geodetic institute in May 1980 and from flight navigation in 1981. His successors were Erik Grafarend in the area of geodesy and Philipp Hartl in the area of navigation. Ramsayer was honoured by several academic prizes and made an

honorary doctor An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

; in 1982 he got the most important prize in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n geodesy, the

Friedrich Hopfner Friedrich Hopfner (28 October 1881 – 5 September 1949) was an Austrian geodesist, geophysicist and planetary scientist. As an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire he began his scientific work at the Bureau of Meteorology. In 1921 he became Ch ...

medal. He died near Stuttgart.

Important publications and sources

* Geodätische Astronomie (1969): Volume IIa of ''Handbuch der Vermessungskunde'' (900 p.), J.B. Metzler/ Stuttgart *

TACAN A tactical air navigation system, commonly referred to by the acronym TACAN, is a navigation system used by military aircraft. It provides the user with bearing and distance (slant-range or hypotenuse) to a ground or ship-borne station. It is a mor ...

and Doppler radar; Automatische Koppelkarte; Integrated Geodesy. NATO research papers, 1965-1970 * Festkolloquium 9 May 1980 on the occasion of retirement of o. Prof. Dr-Ing. Karl Ramsayer. Geodätisches Institut der Universität Stuttgart, DGK Reihe E/19, Munich 1981, * Festvortrag (Ceremonial address) at the TU Vienna (1982), and overview on Ramsayers scientific work: Österr. Zeitschrift für Vermessungswesen und Photogrammetrie (ÖZfVuPh) Vol.70, p. 231-233, Verlag Rohrer, Baden bei Wien.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsayer, Karl 1911 births 1982 deaths 20th-century German astronomers German geodesists University of Stuttgart faculty Scientists from Stuttgart