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DEVELOPMENT AND STATE OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY IN BULGARIA
Dr Ivan Katzarsky
Head of Main Department of Cadastre and Geodesy
at the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, Bulgaria
Commission VI, Working Group 6
KEY WORDS:
Close-Range Photogrammetry
ABSTRACT
Photogrammetry, History, Mapping, Management, Revision, Aerial Photogrammetry,
The paper provides a brief review of the development and state of photogrammetry in Bulgaria which made its initial
steps during the first decade of this century to reach its present state corresponding to the requirements of national
economy of this type of activity as well as to up-to-date trends in science and technology. Nowadays over 20 institutes
companies and offices in Bulgaria develop and apply photogrammetry in various fields of human endeavor. Although
the principal photogrammetric activity concerns the making and revision of maps at scales from 1:25 000 up to 1:500,
photogrammetry is also applied for various special purposes. In line with the large volume of production,research of a
predominantly applied character is carried out. Photogrammetry is taught in 4 technical universities and 6 technical high
schools. There are textbooks, instructions, manuals, technologies, etc. while the theoretical and applied publications
on photogrammetry in year-books and magazines exceed 1000.
The public activity of Bulgarian phogrammetrists is organized by the Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Section at
the Union of Surveyors and Land Managers in Bulgaria, through which they are affiliated to ISPRS.
1. INTRODUCTION
Having made its first steps only 30 years following the
liberation of the country from Ottoman domination,
photogrammetry in Bulgaria has been making steady
progress to reach its present state, which corresponds
both to the needs of national economy from such an
activity and to modern trends of science and technology.
2. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
2.1. Initial Steps (1907-1928)
Bulgaria was probably the first country on the Balkan
peninsula to begin to apply photogrammetry. The first
known photogrammetric surveys in the country were
made near city of Sofia in 1907 and 1908. These were
plotted in the Vienna Institute of Cartography by Eduard
von Orel, using a Stereoauthograph of his own make,
Which, as it is known, is the first photogrammetric analog
instrument. During the 1912 Balkan War aerial
photographs were taken for military reconnaissance,
while during World War | (1914-1918) terrestrial
photogrammetric pictures were taken of Belasitsa
mountain and the Southern front-line for military
purposes as well as between the towns of Skopje and
Bitola for design of a railway line. Meanwhile an aerial
photo was taken of the city of Gabrovo from a Zeppelin in
1917. Later on, in 1920 and 1921 terrestrial
photogrammetric pictures were taken around Sofia and
of the Rhodope mountain, and in 1926 an aerial photo
was taken of Gabrovo from an aircraft.
7
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B6. Vienna 1996
2.2. Medium-Scale Mapping (1928-1944)
A more noteworthy attempt of introducing terrestrial
photogrammetry in Bulgaria was made in 1928 when an
area of about 2.5 sq. km in the vicinity of Sofia was
surveyed by means of the newly-designed Wild
Phototheodolite. The area was mapped at the scale of
1:10 000 at the Wild factory, using also the newly-
designed A-2 Autograph. Following that successful step
preparations got underway for the use of terrestrial
photogrammetry in making of a topographic map at 1:25
000 scale. Three Wild phototheodolites and one A-2
Autograph were imported in 1930. At the same time a
Wild aerial survey camera and a Hugershoff-Heide
rectifier were purchased so that the use of terrestrial
photogrammetry for mapping of the mountainous regions
of the country began simultaneously with aerial
photography of the plain regions. Later on, Zeiss-Jena
Multiplex and C-5 Stereoplanigraph and a A-5 Wild
Autograph were bought and ever since 1940 aerial
photogrammetry has been almost exclusively in use.
In 1930 the geodesists V. Peevsky and G. Grozdanov
(students of Prof. DoleZal of Vienna) and A. Raikov (a
student of Prof. Hugershoff of Dresden) published "A
Course in Photogrammetry” which until late 1945 was the
standard textbook for all practicing photoprammetrists in
the country.
2.3. Large-Scale Mapping (after 1944)
Application of photogrammetry for large-scale mapping
and for non topographic use made its headway after
1944, aimed at the post-war restoration and intensive
development of the country's economy. Single-frame
