NATIONAL REPORT OF FINLAND 
1988-1991 
Pasi Pekkinen 
Finnish Society of Photogrammetry 
and Remote Sensing 
02150 Espoo 
Finland 
ISPRS Commission VI 
ABSTRACT: 
Highlights on the activities of photogrammetry, remote sensing and mapping in Finland for the period of 
1988 to 1991 are presented. 
KEY WORDS: National Reports. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Mapping in Finland in general, is practised by 
national organizations, municipal surveying offices 
and private companies. The national organizations 
concentrate on the small-scale mapping covering 
the whole country, while the large-scale maps are 
produced by municipal surveying offices and private 
companies. These organizations and their 
addresses are listed in the end of this paper. 
Research in the fields of photogrammetry, remote 
sensing, GIS, and digital mapping is mainly done in 
the national organizations. Names of these are also 
listed in the end of this paper. 
Education in the field of surveying at the university 
level is centered at the Helsinki University of 
Technology (HUT) at the department of Surveying. 
Fundamentals in photogrammetry and remote 
sensing are also given in several other universities. 
Education in photogrammetry on a lower than 
university level is given in the branches of survey- 
ing in the State Institutes of Technical Education 
and in the Municipal Institute of Technical Educa- 
tion of Espoo-Vantaa. 
2. DEVELOPMENT OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY 
The past four years (1988-1991) have been a period 
of slow but continuous development in the tradi- 
tional applications of photogrammetry. More 
sophisticated equipment and methods have been 
taken into use more widely. Very important is the 
conversion of several analog instruments to analyti- 
cal and purchase of new analytical plotters. In the 
field of non-topographic photogrammetry much 
more radical development has occurred as real-time 
photogrammetric stations have been taken into pro- 
ductive use. 
62 
Table I shows the amount of aerial photos taken 
during the period in question in Finland compared 
to the average of the previous four years. In the 
table there is also listed the percentage of the type 
of film used. À clear trend can be seen towards a 
wider use of color and color-infra films, although 
the black-and-white is still the most commonly 
used. The increase in the proportion of color-infra 
is partially caused by the increased interest for 
forestal interpretation and classification for forest 
taxation. À slight increase in the amount of total 
aerial photos taken can also be seen. 
Table II shows the amount of photogrammetric 
triangulation that has been done during the same 
period and it also shows the percentages of the 
methods used. À significant increase can be seen in 
the total amount of triangulations done, much due 
to a greater demand for digital elevation models 
and to the increase of more sophisticated equipment 
and methods used. From table IV one can see how 
the number of analytical plotters is increasing all 
the time. During 1991 91 % of all triangulation 
was done by bundle block adjustment. For the first 
time in 1991, triangulation was also done with 
digital images. 
Table III shows the amount of domestic mapping 
done during the four year period compared to the 
previous four years. Below the square kilometers 
covered, the proportions between two scale groups 
is displayed. A slight increase in the area covered 
can be seen analogous to the increase of total 
amount of aerial photos. The proportions between 
the two scale groups have been quite stable. A 
peek can be seen in the large-scale mapping during 
year 1990. 
The non-topographic activity has mostly increased 
in the field of real-time photogrammetry, where 
more systems have been taken into productive use. 
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