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formation Systems. 
In January of 1986 Carto Instruments A/S was established to 
produce and market the AP190 as a photo-digitizing system. 
Marketing began in 1987. The system sells for under 250.000 
NOK. Forty systems have been delivered worldwide to date. 
3.6 Metrology Norway System 
The company Metronor A/S is developing and marketing the 
on-line photogrammetric system Metrology Norway System 
(MNS). 
MNS is a new, absolute 3D coordinate and geometry measure- 
ment system. MNS is based on the use of high resolution CCD 
video cameras that through a patented factory calibration 
method have been converted to become on-line photogramme- 
tric cameras. MNS measures the spatial XYZ coordinates of 
special Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) or points of reflected 
laser light as seen by the cameras. The patented Metronor Light 
Pen is a unique hand-held device which endows the system 
with the complete functionality of a Coordinate Measurement 
Machine (CMM). The Light Pen contains several LEDs and a 
tip mechanism that accepts the same type of probe tips (i.e. 
ruby ball or pointer) employed on conventional CMMs. By 
placing the interchangeable probe tip of the Light Pen on an 
object, the user is able to instantly digitize any selected point 
on the object. If the object is CAD-based, the normal-to-the- 
surface deviation between the physical point and the nominal 
CAD reference is instantly computed. Applications for the 
mobile CMM include both off-line and in-line quality control, 
prototype assembly, rapid digitization of free form surfaces, as 
well as surveying and geometrical verification of assembly 
fixtures and welding stations in production cells. 
MNS can be brought on-site and initialized in minutes. Measur- 
ements with the Light Pen are fast, and with the use of lasers, 
MNS can measure the coordinates of hundreds of points in just 
a few seconds. 
A dual-camera MNS achieves typical accuracy of 0,1 mm in 
most applications. 
The company Metronor A/S was established in 1988, and has 
at the moment 8 employees. 
4. Development of Remote Sensing 
The big event in earth observation in 1991 was the launch of 
the european radar satellite ERS-1. The imaging radar SAR is 
functioning very well. 
The national ground station for ERS-1 data at Tromsg Satellite 
Station was built before the launch, and is equipped with the 
fastest SAR processor in Europe, the CESAR processor. 
Processed SAR images are transmitted from Tromsg to the 
users via the NORSAT B satellite. 
The main use of ERS-1 data is for sea and ice monitoring, 
where a number of interesting projects are going on. 
Even if ERS-1 is the new, interesting satellite, the main sources 
for satellite imagery still are Landsat and SPOT. The data used 
are mainly in digital form, the proportions begin roughly: 
digital data:film = 60%:40% 
In the 1980ies digital image processing was often run on 
minicomputers (Dipix Aries, Terragon 4000, Context Vision 
GOP 300). Then we had in Norway a change to using PC's 
(and Erdas). At the same time the number of institutions using 
satellite data increased to approximately 30. Now we are 
changing again, to UNIX-workstations. The trend has been 
towards faster computers with larger capacity. Standard, "off- 
the-shelf" hardware is preferred. Software has improved, with 
Erdas still being the most popular system. 
A few experiments has been conducted using airborne imaging 
spectrometers like CASI. They do have some advantages, and 
only the time will show if these are larger than the dis- 
advantages. 
4.1 Remote Sensing at Fjellanger Widerge A/S 
Fjellanger Widerge A/S was the SPOT distributor in Norway. 
From 1991 the distributor of SPOT imagery for all Nordic 
countries is Satellite Image Corporation in Kiruna, Sweden. But 
Fjellanger Widerge still has their archive of SPOT data. 
The company is in a process of lowering the interest for remote 
sensing and increasing the interest for GIS. They are acquiring 
a VGA-version of Erdas with Live-link to Arc/Info. 
For some of the customers Fjellanger Widerge performs image 
processing and/or produces satellite image maps. 
4.2 Remote Sensing at Geological Survey of Norway(NGU) 
NGU has two PCs with Erdas and Arc/Info software. In 
addition NGU has an Intergraph UNIX workstation with the 
same kind of software. 
The equipment is used in projects where geological structures 
are interpreted from digital Landsat MSS- and TM-data, and 
then integrated with geophysical data collected from airplane, 
helicopter, existing records and/or field observations. 
One of the projects has yielded interesting results with regard 
to structural-geological interpretation and in particular to the 
detection and monitoring of environmental stress caused by the 
Ni-Cu mining activities in the Nikel-Zapoljatnjy region of 
Kola. 
5. Development of GIS and Digital mapping 
Map production in 1988 was mainly an analog process, but 
with some digital techniques involved. The map itself was 
mainly an analog product. 
Today in 1992 the situation is completely reversed. The map 
production process is with few exceptions fully digital. And the 
product is the digital data, even if a plot usually is delivered in 
addition. 
But of course, there are still a large amount of analog maps 
older than 2-3 years in storage. 
The change to digital production and digital products has 
caused a drastic change of equipment and procedures at the 
map producers.