Doctoral Program in Geomatics and Infrastructures

The Doctorate of Geomatics and Infrastructures continues the tradition of the previous Doctorate in Geodesy and Geomatics, dating back to the first cycle of doctorates in Italy of the years 1983-86. Thus, according to the vision of the Doctorate School of Politecnico di Milano, we are working now within an interdisciplinary environment. The original field of geomatics, which in any way was already quite extended, has become even larger, enriched by disciplines that beyond defining the shape of the “Surface of the Earth” look at its use too as support of human activities, in particular infrastructures (road, railways, airports, etc.) and even at its stability, due to the interaction with first layers of the earth structure (applied geology). So, viewing the field of activity of the doctorate in terms of heights, we could say that we produce research on topics like: satellite geodesy (maintenance of global reference systems, orbit determination, global gravity field recovery), satellite earth observation (satellite positioning – GNSS remote sensing, high resolution imaging), airborne observation (aerogravimetry, digital photogrammetry and image analysis, LIDAR and SAR surveying), ground surveying and mapping (traditional and modern surveying, topographic data bases, geographic information systems), cultural heritage surveying (determining and archiving the shape of architectural and artistic works), structural control (surveying and controlling the geometry of structures and infrastructures at submillimiter level), navigation (inertial and satellite assisted navigation), traffic modelling and control (roads safety measures), designing, building and repairing infrastructures (technology and security on construction sites), monitoring the slope instability (identification, characterization and reconstruction of slopes dynamic), detecting geodynamical signals (crust deformation monitoring, subsidence, gravity field monitoring). The doctorate is articulated into 3 branches: geodesy and geomatics, surveying and geomatics, infrastructures. It offers to students high level courses in the different branches for 60 credits, and supports their participation in international research activities. After two mandatory courses of overview of geomatics and data processing, students can attend one of the following programs: