The Federal Office of Topography has been participating in the operation of Zimmerwald geostation since 1992. Originally conceived as the observatory of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern, 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 Zimmerwald geostation.

In the framework 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 Centre for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) at the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern for the determination of highly precise GPS satellite orbits. The IGS provides the data from Zimmerwald geostation to interested parties for scientific research.

The significance of Zimmerwald geostation for swisstopo is not only that Zimmerwald as the fundamental point is the reference for the national survey (LV95), but also that it is used as the connection to global reference systems.

Besides being used for national surveying purposes, the data of Zimmerwald geostation are also used for the swipos positioning service.