Re: [Proj] Mugnier's columns / old German maps / von Müffling
Brent Fraser
bfraser at geoanalytic.com
Mon Nov 17 11:52:26 EST 2008
http://www.asprs.org/resources/grids/
Jan Hartmann wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I found the posting below on the Proj list (24-7-2004). Prof. Mugnier
> mentions his Internet-columns, but the URLS he mentions do not exist
> anymore. Are they still available?
>
> More in particaular, I am trying to georeference the Tranchot-Map of the
> Rhineland in Germany, surveyed by French ingénieur-géographes under
> Colonel Tranchot from 1804-1813, and by Prussian Ingenieurgeographen
> under General von Müffling from 1815-1828. Much geodetic information
> about this survey is available in "Rudolf Schmidt, Die Kartenaufnahme
> der Rheinlande durch Tranchot und vond Müffling. Teil I: Geschichte des
> Kartenwerkes und vermessungstechnische Arbeiten, Bonn 1973", but if
> someone on this list has further information about this map and the way
> it was made, I would very much like to hear about it.
>
> Jan
>
> Dr. J. Hartmann
> Department of Geography
> University of Amsterdam
>
>
> Clifford J Mugnier wrote:
>>
>> Maciek,
>>
>> I was surprised to hear of a Transverse Mercator projection on such an
> old
>> topo map of German territory since it was so difficult to compute by
> hand.
>> Remember now, that Gauss was the first to use it in the early 1800s (for
>> the survey of Hannover), and he had a staff of several Ph.D. students
> to do
>> the "grunt" work for him. Its main purpose (the Gauss-Conform TM), for
>> Gauss was to facilitate the survey computations rather than to be used
> for
>> a cartographic projection. The subsequent plane-table mapping for
>> cadastral surveying (tax mapping) probably was on the Müffling projection
>> because it was so "easy" to cast under field survey conditions.
>>
>> The most common projections found in old German applications were the
>> "Solnder" (nowadays called the Cassini-Soldner) and the "Müffling." Both
>> are aphylactic projections, although the Cassini-Soldner is slightly
> closer
>> mathematically to the Transverse Mercator than the Müffling. The more
>> common name for that projection is the Polyhedric or the "Polyeder."
>>
>> The ellipsoidal Müffling uses the identical mathematics as the
>> two-dimentionsional version of the 3D "Local Space Rectangular" (LSR)
>> coordinate system used in 3D computational photogrammetry. It is
> (almost)
>> the ellipsoidal equivalent of the gnomonic projection. ALL aphylactic
>> projections (Müffling/Polyeder, Cassini-Soldner, Bonne, and Polyconic)
> were
>> developed to facilitate drafting in the field for plane table and alidade
>> compilation. For survey computations, they are awful. (See my
> comments in
>> my ASPRS column on Hong Kong.)
>>
>> The EXACT ellipsoid parameters and the EXACT number of significant digits
>> published is critical to high-precision applications of geodetic
>> transformations. Variations abound that are correct for certain
> places for
>> certain eras. Exactly when a certain set of defining parameters is
> correct
>> has to be discerned from government survey notes and publications. It is
>> an EXACT science, but it is also remarkably obscure and esoteric.
>>
>> Major General von Müffling was one of the first officers in command of
> the
>> Topographic Engineer Corps of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (See my
> columns
>> in PE&RS on Austria, Hungary, Poland, etc. for more details.)
>>
>> Clifford J. Mugnier
>> Chief of Geodesy and
>> Associate Director,
>> CENTER FOR GEOINFORMATICS
>> Department of Civil Engineering
>> LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
>> Baton Rouge, LA 70803
>> Voice and Facsimile: (225) 578-8536
>> ======================================================
>> http://www.ASPRS.org/resources.html
>> http://www.cee.lsu.edu/facultyStaff/mugnier/index.html
>> ======================================================
>>
>>
>> "Paul Kelly" <paul-grass at stjohnspoint.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>
>> > On Sat, 24 Jul 2004, Maciek Sieczka wrote:
>> >
>> > [...]
>> >
>> >> As to the datums I tried 3 different ones and I'm not sure which one is
>> >> really suitable here. I believe I had a best result with the first of
>> >> the mentioned below. Though the reprojection result was very similar
>> >> in each case (max 1-2 m difference) I would like to know which one
>> >> is right if somebody can tell me.
>> >>
>> > None of them are "right"; they are all only approximations to the shift
>> > between the two datums. Number 1 is for central West Germany, number 2
>> >
>> for
>>
>> > southern west Germany, and number 3 seems to be general for the whole
>> >
>> area
>>
>> > the potsdam datum is used in. However there is also a more accurate
>> > 7-parameter transformation for all of Germany on the CRS website (and
>> >
>> also
>>
>> > in GRASS).
>> >
>>
>> First I'd like to explain myself. Before I got to understand that
> there are
>> different datum transformation parameters available for Potsdam datum I
>> have
>> had propably accidently selected the "2." mentioned below when setting up
>> the mapset in Grass. After that I got to the
>> http://crs.bkg.bund.de/crseu/crs/descr/eu-countrysel.php?country=DE,
>> understood a bit more and came to conclussion that "1." would be better
>> (not
>> "right" :), ok) in my case - my maps are within 50°20'N - 52°20'N. And
>> after
>> your message I finally noticed different Potsdam datum paramteres
> available
>> in Grass. Briefly that's why I was, in error, reffering to the "2." as to
>> the "GRASS 5.3, datum: potsdam". Sorry for that.
>>
>>
>> >> 1. +towgs84=584.8,67.0,400.3,0.105,0.013,-2.378,10.29
>> >> taken from the
>> >> http://crs.bkg.bund.de/crseu/crs/descr/eu-countrysel.php?country=DE ->
>> >> DE_DHDN / GK_3 -> Transf. -> DE_DHDN (Middle) to ETRS89
>> >>
>> >> 2. +towgs84: 597.1,71.4,412.1,0.894,0.068,-1.563,7.58
>> >> GRASS 5.3, datum: potsdam
>> >>
>> >> 3. +towgs84=606.0,23.0,413.0
>> >> GDAL 1.2.0, potsdam bessel, Potsdam Rauenberg 1950 DHDN
>> >>
>>
>>
>> > So it all depends on which part of Germany your map covers, and e.g. if
>> >
>> it
>>
>> > is not in an area that any of the widely available transformations
> covers
>> > (e.g. former part of Germany that is now in Poland?)
>> >
>>
>> Yes, former part of Germany, now in Poland, circa 50°45'N, 15°30' - 15°
>> 50'E.
>>
>>
>> > then for maximum
>> > accuracy you would have to derive your own transformation using
> locations
>> > of churches as was suggested. But I wouldn't know how to do that...
>> >
>>
>> Then me neither for sure.
>>
>> I've noticed that all the German/Bessel 1841 systems on the CRS site
>> mention slightly different ellipsoid inverse flattening than Grass:
>>
>> Grass 5.3: 299.1528128
>> CRS: 299.15281285
>>
>> Propably not a big difference but how big anyway?
>>
>> One thing more about the projection I've remembered that the guy I got
> the
>> map from mentioned the name "von Müffling". He seemed to know about
>> the cartography even less than me (would you believe it?) but
> according to
>> him the projection was "multilateral projection elaborated by general
> major
>> von Müffling" (my own translation from Polish). I treid a brief search
>> about
>> this general but nothing. Is it telling anything to anybody?
>>
>> Maciek
>>
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>
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