1

Unit 3 GPS Surveying

Introduction:
Satellite navigation is a leading-edge technology which allows anyone with a receiver to determine their position very accurately at any time by picking up signals from a constellation of several satellites. Currently, the United States lobal !ositioning System " !S# and the $ussian %&'(SS system are the only operational Satellite navigation systems. )urope has begun the development of a third independent global system, known as * alileo+.

Satellite navigation &verview:

,he following system overview uses e-amples based on !S, however the principles apply to all satellite navigation system. !S is a satellite navigation system capable of providing a highly accurate, continuous, global navigation service independent of other positioning aids. !S provides ./ hour, all-weather, worldwide coverage with position, velocity and timing information. ,he system uses ./ operational satellites to provide a receiver with at least si- satellites in view at all times. ( minimum of four satellites in view are needed to allow the receiver to compute its current latitude, longitude, altitude and time. 0ith this information the user+s receiver can also calculate other parameters such as its velocity and acceleration.

Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

Components of

!S:

(ny satellite navigation system has three parts: ,he Space segment ,he Control segment ,he User segment (ll these parts operate together to provide accurate three-dimensional positioning, timing and velocity data to users worldwide.

,he Space Segment:

,he !S system constellation has ./ satellites in si- 112 orbital planes, with four satellites in each plane, with room for spares. ,he orbit period of each satellite is appro-imately 3. hours at an altitude of .4,356 kilometers. 0ith this constellation, a user receiver has at least si- satellites in view from any point on earth. &ther systems use satellites in different orbits and orbital periods. ,he satellite broadcast signal contains data which identifies the satellite and provides the positioning, timing, ranging data, satellite status and corrected orbit parameters of the satellite. !S satellites transmit on two fre7uencies8 one centered at 3191./. :;<, known as %3 and the other at 3..9.=4 :;<, known as %.. ,he %3 carrier is modulated by the C>( code "Coarse>(c7uisition# and the ! code "!recision#. ! code is encrypted for military and other authori<ed users. ,he %. carrier is modulated only with the ! code. Similar signals e-ist for alileo and %&'(SS, although both systems differ in the way signals are delivered. 'ew %.C and %1 signals are being added to the system as new satellites are launched.

,he Control Segment:

,he !S control segment consists of a master control station, five base stations and three data up-loading stations in locations round the globe. &ther configurations are possible for other satellite navigation systems. ,he base stations track and monitor the satellites via their broadcast signals. ,hese signals are passed to the master control station where orbital parameters and timing corrections are computed. ,he resulting corrections are transmitted back to the satellites via the data uploading stations.

,he User Segment:

User receivers, can be referred to as the User Segment, and consist of e7uipment which track and receive the satellite signals. User receivers must be capable of simultaneously processing the signals from a minimum of four satellites to obtain accurate position, velocity and timing measurements. ;owever accuracy and reliability is enhanced as the number of visible satellites increases.

Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

(pplications of Satellite 'avigation:

Satellite navigation applications are almost limitless, but some typical ones include: ? air traffic navigation and control and their related accuracy and integrity8 enhancement infrastructure8 ? management and tracking of ship and land vehicle fleets8 ? rental and personal car navigation systems8 ? automation of container location and tracking to increase the efficiency of ports8 ? navigation systems for remotely piloted air, land and water vehicles8 ? road and rail traffic monitoring8 ? dispatch and monitoring of emergency services8 ? automated car and truck guidance systems8 ? automated guidance of agricultural e7uipment for efficiency improvements in crop spraying and harvesting ? recreational guidance for hikers, boaters, cyclists and e-plorers8 ? aerial, seismic, and land surveying8 ? large structure monitoring "such as dams, bridges, buildings, etc#8 ? accurate timing systems for communications and commerce8 and ? earth7uake and tsunami detection and warning systems.

:ap @atums:
0ell-defined coordinate systems are re7uired for positioning points in .@ or 6@ space on surface of earth. ;owever, one needs to represent or ideali<e earth in a manner suitable for proper representation of position. Several ideali<ations have been proposed for the shape of earth. Aor e-ample, the first appro-imation to shape of earth is eoid, the theoretical shape of earth. @ifferences in the density of the earth cause variation in the strength of the gravitational pull, in turn causing regions to dip or bulge above or below a mathematical reference surface called ellipsoid. ,his undulating shape is the eoid. ,he geoid is very irregular and the magnitude of geoidal deformation depends on the variation in the strength of the magnetic field, and on geologic history. ( rotational ellipsoid is another mathematical appro-imation to earthBs shape. It is an imaginary, regular and smooth mathematical surface over which computation of coordinates becomes very easy. (n ellipsoidal surface can be further appro-imated by a sphere. Aollowing figure gives the most important surfaces from the view point of positioning C the actual earth+s surface, and its appro-imation in the form of geoid and ellipsoid. ,he separation between ellipsoid and geoid is indicated by eoidal undulation "'#. ,he normal distance earth+s surface and geoid is called ortho-metric height ";#. ,he normal distance earth+s surface and ellipsoid is called the geodetic height "h#. (n appro-imate relationship between these 7uantities is given by "h D ; E '#. Since geoid is also very irregular, it is appro-imated by another surface called mean sea level ":S%#.

Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

(s the actual earth surface is highly undulating, defining position on this surface is 7uite difficult. 0e use the concept of datum which is a mathematical model of the earth we use to calculate the coordinates ".@ or 6@# on any map, chart, or survey system. ,he datum can be vertical C to define vertical position "F# with respect to a reference surface or hori<ontal C to define the hori<ontal position "G and H#. eoid is used for representation of land and ocean surface topography and can be defined as that surface which best fits the :S%. ,he :S% is generally used as the reference surface for heights or as the vertical datum. Using conventional survey e7uipment which make use of plumb bob and bubble tube to establish directions of gravity and level surface, one can easily reali<e the difference in heights between two points ;owever, even this surface ":S%# is also not smooth enough for representation of hori<ontal coordinates. ;ence, separate hori<ontal datum, also called as the geodetic datum are used for hori<ontal positioning. eodetic datum define the si<e and shape of the earth and the origin and orientation of the coordinate systems used to map the earth. :odern geodetic datum range from flat-earth models used for plane surveying to comple- models from spherical earth to ellipsoidal models and derived from years of satellite measurements. ,hese are used for many applications which completely describe the si<e, shape, orientation, gravity field, and angular velocity of the earth. ,he ellipsoidal systems can be geocentric or non-geocentric. ,he geocentric systems have their <-a-is aligned either "a# with the instantaneous spin a-is of the earth "instantaneous terrestrial system, I,S# or "b# with a hypothetical spin a-is adopted by a convention "conventional terrestrial systems, C,S#. Such systems became useful only 7uite recently, with the advent of satellite positioning. ,he 0orld eodetic System-5/ "0 S-5/# is one such system which is the global system for defining coordinates for !S measurements. ,he non-geocentric systems are used for local work "observations# in which case their origin would be located at a point on the surface of the earth. Aor near-geocentric systems, origin is usually as close to the center of mass of the earth as the earlier geodesists could establish. Such systems are off the center of mass by anything between a few meters and a few km "more than 344 such systems are in e-istence around the world#. ,hese associated reference Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

5 ellipsoids are taken to be concentric with their coordinate system, geocentric or near-geocentric, with the a-is of revolution coinciding with the <-a-is of the coordinate system. Indian )verest system, on
which all our topographic mapping is based, is an e-ample of such local geodetic system whose initial point or tie point is located at Ialyanpur ":!, India#.

Indian

eodetic @atum:

,he Indian system is a topo-centric system which is reali<ed by: o Choosing an initial point "origin# o Specifying, the latitude and longitude of the initial point o (<imuth of a line from this point o ,wo parameters of a reference surface "ellipsoid#: Components of deflection of vertical eoidal undulation at the initial point Indian eodetic datum, using )verest spheroid is a local geodetic datum, which best fits to certain e-tent the Indian subcontinent. It is non-geocentric ellipsoid, and its origin is far away from the geo-centre "C. . of the )arth#.

,he geodetic coordinates based on )verest spheroid differ considerably "in many cases even hundreds of meters# as compared to 0 S 5/ and other International ellipsoids.

@etails of the Indian topo-centric system:

&rigin "Initial !oint# %atitude of &rigin %ongitude of &rigin :eridional deflection of vertical !rime vertical deflection of vertical Semi maKor a-is of )verest Spheroid Alattening of )verest Spheroid eoidal undulation (<imuth to Surantal Ialyanpur ./ 49B 33BB..= 99 o 6JB 39BB.19 -4BB..J .BB.5J =,699,643 meters 3>644.5439 4 meters 3J4 o .9B4=BB.6J
o

,ypes of

!S receivers:
!S receivers are: Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

,wo basic types of

3. Code phase receivers

6 .. Carrier phase receivers ,hese receiver types can be further subdivided as 3. C>( code receivers .. !-code receivers 6. Codeless receivers /. Single and dual-fre7uency receivers 1. $eceivers using cross-correlation or s7uaring or !-0 techni7ues

Code dependent or code phase receivers:

,hese are also called code correlating receivers since they need access to the satellite navigation message of the !- or C>(-code signal for operation. Aollowing are the characteristics8

Use almanac data from satellite navigation message for operation and signal processing !rovides real-time navigation data ;ave anywhere-fi- capability because it can synchroni<e itself with !S time at a point with unknown coordinates once a lock on the signals of four satellites has been obtained and, conse7uently, a 7uicker start-up time at survey commencement. Uni7ue capability to begin calculations without being given an appro-imate location and time. In code based receivers, the phase position of the received code se7uence is compared with the phase of an identical code replica, generated by the receiver "using the same algorithm as used for the code from the satellites# via a correlation techni7ue. ;ence, the observable is also called the code phase. ,he two code se7uences are shifted stepwise in phase until ma-imum correlation is obtained. ( complete code dependent correlation channel produces following observables and information: o code phase o carrier phase o change of carrier phase "@oppler fre7uency#

Carrier phase receivers:

Utili<e the actual !S signal itself to calculate a position. ,wo general types of such receivers are "a# single fre7uency "b# dual fre7uency "a# Single fre7uency receiver ,racks %3 fre7uency signal only Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

Cheaper than dual fre7uency receivers Used effectively to relative positioning mode for accurate baselines of less than 14 km or where ionosphere effects can generally be ignored.

"b# @ual fre7uency receiver ,racks both %3 and %. fre7uency signal :ore e-pensive than a single fre7uency receiver Can more effectively resolve longer baselines of more than 14 km where ionosphere effects have a larger impact. )liminate almost all ionosphere effects by combining %3 and %. observations.

Comparison of single and double fre7uency receivers:

Single Frequency (ccess to %3 only :ostly civilian users :uch cheaper :odulated with C>( and ! codes Corrupted by ionospheric delay Used for short base lines :ost receivers are coded Double frequency (ccess to %3 and %. :ostly military users Lery e-pensive It may not be possible for civilian users once H code is there. (lmost independent of ionospheric delay Used for both long and short base lines :ost receivers with dual fre7uency are codeless

:ost dual-fre7uency receivers utili<e codeless and propriety semi-codeless techni7ues allowing use of %. during anti-spoofing "(S#. M(S is a policy of the U.S. @epartment of @efense by which the !-Code is encrypted "by the additional modulation of a so-called 0-Code to generate a new MH-CodeM#, to protect the militarily important !-Code signals from being MspoofedM through the transmission of false !S signals by an adversary during times of war. ;ence civilian !S receivers are unable to make direct !-Code pseudo-range measurements and must use proprietary "indirect# signal tracking techni7ues to make measurements on the %. carrier wave "for both pseudo-range and carrier phase#. (ll dual-fre7uency instrumentation must therefore overcome (S using these special signal tracking and measurement techni7uesM "$i<os, 3JJJ#.

Characteristics of codeless receivers:

Use signals without the knowledge of codes which has the advantage that the system is independent of possible restrictions on code access to civilian users. 'either the ephemeris nor the almanac and precise time can be e-tracted from signals.

'owadays totally codeless receivers are not built as it is almost certain that C>( code will be available to all users. Such techni7ue is useful, however, for access of %. in times of !-code denial "(S activated# "Seeber .446#. Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

eodetic receivers:
,hese receiver are essentially used for geodetic>surveying applications with the following characteristics "Seeber, .446#:

carrier phase data as observables availability of both fre7uencies "%3, %. # access to the ! code, at least for larger distances, and in geographical region with strong ionospheric disturbances "low and high latitudes#.

Aollowing factors should be kept in mind for such receivers "Seeber, .446#:

,racking all signals from each visible satellite at any time " !S only system re7uires 3. dual fre7uency channels8 !SE %&'(SS system needs .4 dual fre7uency channels# Noth fre7uencies should be available %ow phase and code noise ;igh data rate " O 34 ;<# for kinematic applications ;igh memory capacity %ow power consumption and weight and small si<e Aull operational capability under (S Capability to track weak signals "under foliage, and difficult environmental conditions# :ulti-path mitigation, interference suppression, stable antenna phase centre "e-plained later# ood onboard and office software

&ther useful features for geodetic receivers:

( modern !S survey system should measure accurately and reliably anywhere under any condition8 it should be useable for almost any application "geodetic, geodynamic, detailed IS and topographic engineering survey, etc.# and may have the following features "Seeber, .446#:

3 pps timing output event marker "for marking special events or area of interest to the ability to accept e-ternal fre7uencies fast data transfer to computer few or no cable connection Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194) !S use#

radio modem @ !S and $,I capability "e-plained later# operate over difficult meteorological conditions ease in interfacing to other systems and from other manufacturer ease and fle-ibility of use "multi purpose applications# fle-ible set up "tripod, pole, pillar, vehicle#

Considerations in selection of

!S receivers:

Structure of

!S receiver:
!S receiver structures:

Aunctionally, there are two groups of

o o

(pplication processing Signal processing

Application processing

,ime and fre7uency transfer Static and kinematic surveying 'avigation Ionospheric ,otal )lectron Content ",)C# monitoring &peration as differential !S "@ !S# reference station Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

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!S signal integrity monitoring

Signal processing

Splitting of incoming signal into multiple satellite signals eneration of reference carrier eneration of reference !$' code (c7uisition of satellite signal ,racking of code and carrier @emodulation and system data e-traction )-traction of code phase measurements )-traction of carrier fre7uency and carrier phase )-traction of satellite Signal to 'oise $atio "S'$# information $elationship of !S system time

Components of

!S receiver:

(ntenna with preamplifier $adio fre7uency "$A# and intermediate fre7uency "IA# Aront end section Signal tracker and Code co-relator section $eference oscillator :icroprocessor "navigational solution unit#

&ther parts: memory, power supply, display and control

(i) Antenna and preamplifier

Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

11 @etects the electromagnetic waves arriving from the satellite, converts the wave energy into an electrical current, amplifies the signal strength and passes on the signal receiver electronics. !S signal structure re7uires that all !S antennas are right-handed circularly polari<ed. Lery sensitive as it has to pick up rather weak satellite signal, allows signal reception from all elevation and a<imuths of the visible hemisphere and should minimi<e the multi-path effects. Loltage induced by !S signal in the antenna is sent to the preamplifier (ntenna ,ypes: monopole or dipole, 7uadrifilar heli- "also called volute#, spiral heli-, microstrip "also called patch#, choke ring

(ii) RF/IF Section

!S signal is down converted to a lower fre7uency in $A>IA section. ,his is done by combining the $A signal with a sinusoidal signal generated by the local reference oscillator. IA signal contains all code and data signals from the original $A signal with low carrier fre7uency.

(iii) Signal tracker and code correlator

IA signal from all satellites is passed on to this section. ;ere signals are isolated, identified by their codes and assigned to a particular channel. $eceiver channel is main electronic unit of !S receiver. Larious channel types: parallel, se7uencing, and multiple-ing

(iv) Reference oscillator

Ine-pensive 7uart< oscillators are used. Some receivers can also accept e-ternal high precision signal from atomic fre7uency standards with less noise. icroprocessor (navigational solution unit)

(v)

Controls the operation, including signal ac7uisition, signal processing, and decoding of broadcast message. Computation of on-line positions and velocity, conversion into a given local datum, @ !S correction (ccepts commands from the user, display of information, and data flow through communication port.

(vi) !t"er parts# memory$ po%er supply$ command and display

Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

12 Aor post processing data is stored on internal or e-ternal memory devices, :odern receivers have internal solid state "$(:# memories or removable memory cards. @ata can also be transferred to laptops by using $S.6. or e7uivalent communication port. $eceivers use low voltage @C power with low energy consumption and generally use rechargeable nickel-cadmium or lithium batteries. ;andheld keypads are used for display and communication between user and receiver. !ost-processing software from the vendor can be used for further processing of !S data.

(dvantages of

!S:

Unlike conventional surveying procedures, there is no need for inter-visibility between stations. Independent of weather conditions as a result of using radio fre7uencies to transmit the signals. Use of same field and data reduction procedures results in position accuracy which are independent of network shape or geometry and are primarily a function of inter-station distance. !S surveying provides generally homogeneous accuracy. ;ence, geodetic network planning in the classical sense is no longer relevant. ,he points can be established wherever they are re7uired and need not be located at evenly distributed sites atop mountains to satisfy inter-visibility, or network geometry criteria. !S surveying is more efficient, more fle-ible and less time consuming positioning techni7ue than using conventional terrestrial survey technologies. !S can be used to obtain high accuracy three dimensional "6@# information, anywhere and any time with relatively little effort on a global datum . ,he !S instrumentation and the data processing software do not radically change even if very high or moderately high accuracies are re7uired "from 3 part in 34 / to 3 part in 34= #.

Current %imitations of

!S:

!S re7uires that there is clear opening to sky without any obstruction to the signals by overhanging branches or structures "though the antenna can be raised above the obstruction#. ;ence, underground usage is not possible. Aurther, there may be limited applications in densely settled urban areas . &ne needs careful advanced planning to reali<e true potential of !S. Larious issues related to transportation, travel, and logistic support need to be sorted out before actual survey work for higher efficiency. Are7uently, !S surveyed sites may not be useful for conventional surveys due to intervisibility, shape and geometry re7uirements. ,wo inter-visible stations would have to established by !S in order to satisfy the re7uirement for a<imuth data for use by conventional "line-of-sight# survey methods. Since !S coordinates are available in global 0 S-5/ datum, reliable coordinate transformation schemes are re7uired for transforming !S coordinates into a local geodetic system for their integration with results from conventional surveys. Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)

13 !S results are, in general, more accurate than the surrounding control marks established by terrestrial techni7ues over time. Comparison of !S and terrestrial results will be the source of confusion, controversy and conflict for many years to come . Since !S vertical information is not available in universally acceptable geoid based height system, !S heights have to be reduced to a sea level datum by suitable transformation. ,he !S instrumentation is still comparatively e-pensive. (lthough the price of one receiver is likely to soon match that of a theodolite-)@: instrument, generally a minimum of two are re7uired for most survey works. Necause of comple- procedures for planning, data reduction and post-processing, !S surveys re7uire skilled personnel for operations.

Prof. Sachin Patel (91-9179883194)