Best Paper 2025
May 2026
The publisher of the ISPRS Open Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Elsevier B.V., and Trimble, Inc., have agreed to establish the ISPRS Fritz Ackermann Award to encourage and stimulate submission of high-quality scientific papers by individual authors or groups to the ISPRS Open Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, to promote and advertise the Journal, and to honour the outstanding contributions of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Friedrich (Fritz) Ackermann to research and development in photogrammetry and remote sensing.
The Award is presented to authors of the best paper published exclusively in the ISPRS Open Journal during the four-year period from January of a Congress year, to December of the year prior to the next Congress. As an exception, the period for the first Award will cover the five-year period starting in 2021. The Award consists of a certificate and a grant of €10,000. A five-member Jury, comprising experts of high scientific standing, whose expertise covers the main topics included in the scope of the Journal, evaluates the papers. For each year of the evaluation period, the best paper is selected, and from these papers, the one to receive the ISPRS Fritz Ackermann Award will be selected. The first ISPRS Fritz Ackermann will be presented at the 25th ISPRS Congress in Toronto in 2026.
The Jury appointed by the ISPRS Council evaluated the papers published in 2025 and announces its decision for the Best Paper. The winner of the 2025 Best Paper Award is:
"Intensity-based stochastic model of terrestrial laser scanners: Methodological workflow, empirical derivation and practical benefit"
by Florian Schill1, Christoph Holst2/sup>, Daniel Wujanz3, Jens Hartmann4, and Jens-André Paffenholz5
1University of Applied Sciences Mainz, i3mainz – Institute for Spatial Information and Surveying Technology, Lucy-Hillebrand-Straße 2, Mainz, 55128, Germany
2Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Chair of Engineering Geodesy, Arcisstraße 21, Munich, 80333, Germany
3technet GmbH gründig + partner, Am Lehnshof 8, Berlin, 13467, Germany
4Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Bauhausstraße 8, Dessau-Roßlau, 06846, Germany
5Clausthal University of Technology, Institute of Geo-Engineering, Chair of Geomatics for Underground Systems, Erzstraße 18, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 38678, Germany
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| Florian Schill |
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Christoph Holst |
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Daniel Wujanz |
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Jens Hartmann |
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Jens-André Paffenholz |
published in volume 15, January 2025,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophoto.2024.100079
Jury's rationale for the paper selection
The paper reports on a collaborative research project investigating how raw intensity measurements from terrestrial laser scanning can be used to build reliable stochastic models for estimating range measurement uncertainty. It introduces a standardised workflow for deriving these models and evaluates eight identical Z+F scanners with different ages, calibration histories, and operating hours. The experimental results show that the computed stochastic model is transferable to all individual scanners of the series, eliminating the need for individual scanner-specific calibration. The study is at the meeting point of geodesy (high-precision surveying) and photogrammetry (surveying the world with imaging sensors). The model is scalable and can improve uncertainty estimation in practical 3D surveying applications such as deformation monitoring and BIM quality assessment. It is highly relevant for everyday surveying work.
On behalf of the ISPRS and the ISPRS Fritz Ackermann Jury, I would like to congratulate the authors for this distinction and thank them for their contribution. I would also like to thank the sponsors of the Award, and the Jury members for their thorough evaluations.
George Vosselman
past Editor-in-Chief ISPRS Open Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
University of Twente, Faculty ITC,the Netherlands
Email address: george.vosselman@utwente.nl