Professor Dr Karl Kraus

It is with deep regret that I announce the death of o.Univ. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Karl Kraus, Technische Universität Wien, Austria, on 5th April 2006, following a heart attack suffered while he was in Berlin at the Turkish-German Joint Geodetic Days.

Karl Kraus was born in Obermichelbach, Germany on 23rd April 1939. He obtained his Dipl.-Ing. in Geodetic Science at the University of Technology, Munich in 1962, his Dr.-Ing. (PhD) on photogrammetric block-adjustment in 1966 and Habilitation in automation in geodetic science at the University of Stuttgart in 1972.

He was assistant professor at the Institute of Photogrammetry in Munich from 1968 to 1970, post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Photogrammetry in Stuttgart from 1970 to 1974, and head of the Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at the University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, from 1974 until his death. From 1985-1991 he was head of the Joint Research Programme, ‘Remote Sensing’, of the Austrian Science Foundation, from 1983 to 1987 dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, and from 1987 to 1989 rector of Vienna University of Technology. In 1992 he was elected to the Council of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) for the period 1992-1996 as congress director, and was responsible for organising the very successful 1996 ISPRS Vienna Congress. From 1998 to 2001 he was chairman of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Vienna University of Technology.

In 1971 Karl Kraus was presented with the Carl-Pulfrich-Award for introducing statistical methods of prediction into photogram­metry. In 1990 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Technology, Budapest, Hungary, as well as the Wilhelm‑Exner‑Medal of the ‘Österreichischer Gewerbeverein’. He published more than 170 scientific publication and five textbooks on photogrammetry and remote sensing; some translated into several languages. He served on the editorial boards of several journals: Zeitschrift für Geo-Informa­tions-Systeme (September 1991 to December 1998), Zeitschrift für Vermessung und Geo­information, Zeitschrift für Photogrammetrie-Ferner­kundung-Geoinformation (1997 to September 2002) and ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (until January 2005).

Karl Kraus was an outstanding teacher and researcher, and originator of many new developments in photogrammetry and remote sensing. He was a friend and strong defender of the traditions of ISPRS, which was established as ISP in Vienna in 1910, and he fought hard to ensure that its origins were always recognised. He was a close colleague of many photogrammetrists and remote-sensing experts around the world. He had the reputation of being a kind and considerate colleague and leader of a university institute that was very highly respected internationally. His death is a sad loss to the photogrammetry and remote-sensing community, his family, friends and colleagues.