The Federal Office of Topography has been participating in the operation of geostation Zimmerwald since 1992. Originally conceived as the observatory of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB), the institute started carrying out laser distance observations to artificial satellites (Satellite Laser Ranging) in 1972. As a result of these long-term observations, highly precise coordinates were determined for station Zimmerwald.
In the frame of the International GPS Service (IGS), the Federal Office of Topography set up a permanent GPS station in Zimmerwald in 1992. The data of this station are used by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) at the AIUB for the determintion of highly precise GPS satellite orbits. The IGS provides the data from geostation Zimmerwald to interested parties for scientific research.
The significance of geostation Zimmerwald for swisstopo is not only that the fundamental point Zimmerwald is the reference for the National Survey (LV95), but it also serves as the connection to global reference systems.
Besides the application in national surveying, the data of geostation Zimmerwald are also used for the positioning service swipos.