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| Business Outlook — RTK Crops Up in Precision Ag
| Most precision agriculture users have settled for 1-meter accuracy using GPS, made possible with the reliable and convenient corrections provided by WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System). GPS/GNSS is important to key areas in agriculture, including field mapping, yield mapping, and guidance. | | | Standard Sought on Accuracy of Ag GPS
| | The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) announced an effort to develop a standard on the dynamic accuracy of GPS equipment used in precision agriculture. | | | Map-Aided GPS Navigation
| | A novel technique tightly integrates information from accurate maps with raw GPS and gyro data from an in-vehicle GPS navigation system to determine a vehicle's position. Using classic statistical theory and fuzzy logic techniques, the technique improved vehicle navigation accuracy in an urban canyon setting by more than
30 percent. | | | Melee in the Mojave
| | Forty driverless vehicles equipped with GPS receivers and other sensors prep for a 175-mile trek across the desert in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA's) $2 million Grand Challenge. | | | Cutting-Edge Technology
| | Three teams of engineering students from universities in the Midwest design and field test robotic 'green machines' leveraging GPS receivers, navigation sensors, and command-and-control software. | | | Mine Eyes
| | A prototype system tells heavy equipment operators the location of nearby vehicles and obstacles, and warns them when they get too close. | |  MORE ARTICLES
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| Measuring Mach 8
| | The Benchmark Survey System, developed for the U.S. Air Force's Holloman High Speed Test Track. replaces legacy NGA conventional survey techniques with a GPS-only system, maintaining sub-millimeter positioning accuracy while increasing throughput by 400 percent, with an 85 percent decrease in manpower. Results agree with recent NGA precise survey data to better than 0.6 mm horizontal and better than 1.0 mm vertical. | | | Innovation: Dam Stability
| | A precise and modernized monitoring program is an important component of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' long-term risk-management plan for hydroelectric structures. Recent work at Libby Dam in Montana demonstrates that GPS deformation monitoring systems can accurately track displacements at critical points, making it an important asset in ensuring dam safety. | | | Bridge Deflection Monitoring — Tracking Millimeters across the Firth of Forth
| | Kinematic GPS trials with dual-frequency surveying grade code- and carrier-phase receivers measure 3D displacements of Scotland's Forth Road Bridge to millimeter precision. Researchers also found that measured frequencies of bridge movements compared well to the bridge frequencies obtained from finite element models. | | | Steep-Slope Monitoring
| | Although GPS is an efficient tool for deformation monitoring, it also is an expensive one for large projects. The authors developed a remote-controlled monitoring system using an electronic switching device for multiple antennas to monitor steep slopes at the Xiaowan hydropower station in China. | | | Millimeters in Motion
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| Brazilian researchers devised a way to detect dynamic millimetric displacements in large structures using single-frequency GPS receivers. They combine interferometry, satellite geometry, and a novel analysis of L1 double-difference phase residuals of regular static observations over a short baseline. | | | The Height of Precision
| | GPS sensors track wind-driven displacements of Chicago skyscrapers and provide the first full-scale insight into structural response that will help produce better building designs. | | | Real-Time Kinematic Spans the Gap
| | Hong Kong's Tsing Ma Bridge is the world's longest span suspension bridge carrying both road and rail traffic. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Perspectives — Late March 2008
| | I covered this subject a while back, but I think it's time to revisit it. Personal navigation devices (PNDs) are still selling like crazy. If you don't have one, someone you know does. Tens of millions of these things are being sold per year. | | | Perspectives — Early March 2008
| | There has been a lot of activity on both the civilian and military sides of GPS/GNSS these past few weeks. Instead of a central theme to this newsletter, I'm going to comment on three points of interest: a DoD directive regarding position, navigation, and timing; PRN32; and some new product developments. | | | Perspectives — Late February 2008
| | With nearly 60 GPS engineers and scientists, the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) is one of the biggest GPS R&D centers in the world today. It operates as a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which manages the lab for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). | | | Perspectives — Early February 2008
| | It appears the US Department of Transportation has bought the Nationwide Differential GPS system (NDGPS) another year. The FY09 Presidential Budget Request was released earlier this week, and it contains a line item in the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) budget for NDGPS in the amount of $4.6M for operations and maintenance of the current system until October 2009. There is no budget item for the planned build-out of NDGPS. The budget request is subject to approval by Congress, but most likely this will go through. | | | Perspectives — Late January 2008
| | One of the hotter topics in the construction industry these days is GPS/GNSS. If any of you attend the World of Concrete exhibition in Las Vegas, you’ll see many examples of how GNSS is being implemented in construction environments. The exhibition is expected to attract more than 1,700 exhibitors and 90,000 attendees this month. I’m sorry I’ll miss it this year, but if you do attend, you’ll find the usual GNSS (and related) suspects exhibiting: Topcon, various Trimble divisions, Leica, Sokkia, Seco Mfg, CST/Berger, Berntsen, etc. | | | Perspectives — Early January 2008
| On the GPS front, I'm going to paraphrase, plagiarize, and otherwise copy from my fellow newsletter editor Don Jewell, who writes the Military & Government PNT newsletter. He spent decades on the inside looking out (think Lt. Col. Jewell) and offers interesting perspectives. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Steep-Slope Monitoring
| | Although GPS is an efficient tool for deformation monitoring, it also is an expensive one for large projects. The authors developed a remote-controlled monitoring system using an electronic switching device for multiple antennas to monitor steep slopes at the Xiaowan hydropower station in China. | | | The Concrete and the Clay
| | Every structure moves, if only imperceptibly to the unaided human eye. | | | What's Shaking? Earthquake Trials Test Networked RTK
| | Recent advances in GPS technologies make ground surface displacement measurements under static as well as dynamic conditions easier to obtain with increased accuracy | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| | | Measuring Mach 8
| | The Benchmark Survey System, developed for the U.S. Air Force's Holloman High Speed Test Track. replaces legacy NGA conventional survey techniques with a GPS-only system, maintaining sub-millimeter positioning accuracy while increasing throughput by 400 percent, with an 85 percent decrease in manpower. Results agree with recent NGA precise survey data to better than 0.6 mm horizontal and better than 1.0 mm vertical. | | | DIRECTIONS 2007: Survey & Construction
| | While 2006 saw two IIR-M satellite launches, look for double that in 2007. Even if new launches don?t improve the PDOP spikes, we?ll have more reliable hardware in orbit. The Big Mo is rolling. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Leadership Talks — Seeds of Growth
| | Michael L. Whitehead (MW), chief scientist at Hemisphere GPS, leads a team of engineers designing applications in machine control, guidance, marine, and survey. Managing Editor Tracy Cozzens (TC) spoke with him on June 4. | | | Shipyard Giants
| | Giant cranes moving in busy container yards require precise positioning to operate efficiently and safely. Ultra high-precision GPS RTK software working with dual-frequency GPS receivers and wireless data modems accomplishes this. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Mapping the Underworld: Testing GPS and GSM in Urban Canyons
| | Beneath the streets lie thousands of kilometers of cables and pipes. Buried decades ago, their exact location remains a mystery. At the University of Nottingham, researchers tested GPS and a system that pairs GPS with Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) algorithms. Their goal: find a solution for mapping buried assets, which in turn will increase the efficiency of streetworks projects. | | | Drive-By DTM
| | A data teletransmission system for quick and efficient creation of digital terrain models (DTMs) forms the backbone of experimental work in the transmission of differential GPS and real-time kinematic (RTK) corrections. A roving vehicle carries the system and collects data for a precise DTM. | | | Hurricane Hunters
| | GPS dropsondes released into the Katrina's eyewall tracked and predicted wind strength, speed, and direction. | | | Time-Invariant Sea-Floor Depths
| | A GPS survey combined with acoustic soundings can determine highly accurate sea-floor depths. Using the ellipsoid as the zero-reference surface then allows navigators, while underway, to determine both keel and overhead obstruction clearance independent of the stage of the tide and the draft of the ship and freeboard. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| In the Know Over Snow Leopards
| | In a first of its kind study, a female snow leopard was fitted with a GPS collar that will provide researchers with an unprecedented amount of precise data on snow leopard movements and habitat use. | | | Scientists Seek Swan Song for Bird Influenza
| | A 70-gram solar-powered GPS transmitter is helping scientists shed light on how wild birds spread avian influenza. | | | Even Small Animal H.A.B.I.T.s Now Can Be Tracked
| | A technology partnership between H.A.B.I.T. Research Ltd. and u-blox will soon make it possible for scientists to study the behavior of endangered species once thought too tiny to be tracked by GPS, raising the hope that many smaller species may be saved from extinction, according to H.A.B.I.T. President Jeffrey Goodyear. | | | Go Deep: Marine Mammal Marker for At-Sea Monitoring
| | The observation technology used by wildlife researchers can limit their understanding of the behavior of marine mammals. Surface tracking using geolocation and Service Argos tags have shown that these mammals range much farther than previously thought. Relatively simple time/depth recorders (TDRs) show that they dive more than 1,000 meters deep and for longer than one hour. To further the understanding of these aquatic creatures, we developed a smaller and more capable tag with more sensing capabilities that can be deployed for longer durations. The MAMMARK tag, measuring 2.5 ? 4 centimeters, carries a low-power microprocessor and a set of sensors that can be multiplexed through a high-resolution analog-to-digital converter (ADC). | | | An Eye for Landscapes
| | This portable system offers fast deployment with no recalibration and maps both vertical and horizontal features while maintaining optimal flight parameters. | | | Drive-By DTM
| | A data teletransmission system for quick and efficient creation of digital terrain models (DTMs) forms the backbone of experimental work in the transmission of differential GPS and real-time kinematic (RTK) corrections. A roving vehicle carries the system and collects data for a precise DTM. | | |
Guided to Gather — Toy Plane Upgraded with Telemetry
| | GPS/INS and infrared optical sensors propel USGS's transformation of a remote-controlled one-quarter–scale recreational aircraft into a low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle designed for environmental particulate collection. | | | Up Close and Grizzly
| | Integrating a GPS receiver with image processing and geographic information systems (GIS) helps wildlife researchers see "the other side of the mountain." | | | Mine Eyes
| | A prototype system tells heavy equipment operators the location of nearby vehicles and obstacles, and warns them when they get too close. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Perspectives — Early July 2008
| | The PNT.gov website provides users with an inside look at U.S. GPS policy, as well as the thoughts of those who influence that policy. The minutes from this spring's meeting of the PNT Advisory Board are worth looking through. In particular, the discussion on the number of optimal GPS satellites is positive. | | | Perspectives — Late June 2008
| | Mobile phones are becoming powerful enough to rival some of the most powerful field data collection devices ever made. Our industry is catching the attention of some software developers who are writing software for smart phones that can be very productive for field personnel. | | | Perspectives — Early June 2008
| | This may be the most important column I've ever written. It's certainly the most expensive. At $40,000 worth of equipment for this writer, multiplied by 17,346 readers, we're talking $694 million. And that's not nearly the full extent of industry impact; the Department of Commerce has some figures that I will quote later. | | | Perspectives — Late May 2008
| | It's going to be a few years and then some before we can take advantage of L5. And when the time comes it may require an investment in new hardware, even if the receiver you have today claims to be compatible. Nevertheless, it will be a boon to the high-precision user. | | | Perspectives — Early May 2008
| | A functioning Galileo system may still be some years away — current projections that plan on having a full satellite constellation in orbit within five years may prove wishful thinking. Nevertheless, Galileo can mean nothing but good things for survey and construction, and the sooner it gets here, the better. | | | Perspectives — Late April 2008
| | Japan's satellite-based augmentation system has brought meter-level accuracy to that region, which is great news for mapping. But there are even centimeter-level options available that take advantage of Japan's MSAS. | | | Perspectives — Early April 2008
| | The use of GPS and GNSS technology for precision agriculture hasn't changed much in years. But lately, supplemental technology has been showing up more frequently down on the farm. | | | Perspectives — Late March 2008
| | I covered this subject a while back, but I think it's time to revisit it. Personal navigation devices (PNDs) are still selling like crazy. If you don't have one, someone you know does. Tens of millions of these things are being sold per year. | | | Perspectives — Early March 2008
| | There has been a lot of activity on both the civilian and military sides of GPS/GNSS these past few weeks. Instead of a central theme to this newsletter, I'm going to comment on three points of interest: a DoD directive regarding position, navigation, and timing; PRN32; and some new product developments. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Innovation: Brainy Positioning
| | Primarily developed for computing applications, such as pattern recognition, neural networks have been adapted for use in several fields of science, including geodesy. Those adaptations are needed because usually the situations and problems encountered in computer science are different from those in other fields. Geodesy is no exception. | | | Surveying the Market
| | GPS products sold in the survey and construction sector range from $1,000 to $125,000, furnishing high gross margins. We explore the business of this industry segment, its key players, and their relationships with providers and vendors. | | | Innovation: Photogrammetry for Mobile Mapping
| | While photogrammetry is often used as a mapping tool on its own, GPS can aid the technique by supplying accurate coordinates for digital cameras. In turn, photogrammetry can come to the aid of a GPS/INS positioning system by bridging gaps in GPS/INS positions, which frequently occur in urban environments. | | | Innovation: Stochastic Models for GPS Positioning — An Empirical Approach
| | When processing GPS data, we should not only try to model the deterministic part of the measurements; we should also try to account for their stochastic behavior, which is possible through use of the covariance matrix. Here, the authors present an empirical approach for building the covariance matrix of observations, with the ultimate goal to improve the quality of GPS data processing. | | | GNSS Accuracy: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
| | This update to a seminal article first published here in 1998 explains how statistical methods can create many different position accuracy measures. As the driving forces of positioning and navigation change from survey and precision guidance to location-based services, E911, and so on, some accuracy measures have fallen out of common usage, while others have blossomed. The analysis changes further when the constellation expands to ombinations of GPS, SBAS, Galileo, and GLONASS. Software scripts, provided online, help bridge the gap between theory and reality. | | | Innovation: Any Questions? The International GNSS Service
| | The IGS was established in 1994 in order to provide the highest quality GNSS data and products in support of Earth science research, multidisciplinary applications, and education. It was and is still the aim of the IGS to advance scientific understanding of the Earth system components and their interactions, as well as to facilitate other applications benefiting society. | | | On-Grid Goal
| | Already adopted by many countries, real-time networks (RTNs) can be a boon to the public and private sectors. In the U.S., the On-Grid initiative seeks to bring together local and regional RTN developers to pool resources so that high-precision real-time GNSS networks can benefit the surveying, scientific, and communication sectors, among many others. | | | Innovation: Phase Wind-Up Analysis
| | A circularly polarized antenna's phase depends directly on the antenna's orientation with respect to the signal source. As a result, the observed carrier phase depends on the relative orientation of the transmitting and receiving antennas as well as the direction of the line of sight between them. Changing the receiver antenna orientation changes the reference direction and thus the measured phase. | | | GPS Buoys Nautical Measurements
| | Global Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (GSBAS) technology has presented us with an opportunity to greatly simplify the gathering of shore data used by the U.S. Navy and other mariners. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| ARC Debuts Two New Antennas
| | ARC Wireless Solutions Inc. today unveiled its Atlas combo GPS/cellular antenna and Titan GPS antenna, dubbing the Titan the flagship among its product line. | | | Leadership Talks — Costs of New Tech
| | Jason Kim, senior analyst at the Department of Commerce, discusses withdrawal of support, forecast for 2020, for civil use of the P(Y) signal. | | | Hemisphere GPS Shares the Wealth with Employees
| | Hemisphere GPS has implemented a plan to assist its employees in purchasing shares of the company through an employee share purchase plan, while is vice chairman has established an automatic securities disposition plan. | | | Intelleflex, Minds Offer Crop Harvest Tracking System
| | RF identification (RFID) supplier Intelleflex Corp and IT automation specialist Minds Inc. have developed combination GPS and RFID tracking system specifically for crop harvesting. | | | Compass Added to GPS for Ricoh 500SE Camera
| | GeoSpatial Experts has introduced an integrated magnetic compass/GPS receiver module for the Ricoh 500SE digital camera that is fully compatible with its existing version of GPS-Photo Link software, the company said. | | | Announcing the First JAVAD GNSS User Conference
| | JAVAD GNSS announced its first ever user conference and dealer meeting to be held July 21 through July 23 in Moscow. The user conference will be an annual event, with future events to be held in San Francisco as well, according to JAVAD. | | | NavCom Software Updated for RTK, StarFire Network
| | Deere & Co. subsidiary NavCom Technology Inc. today released updated software for its real-time kinematic (RTK) and StarFire products, which provides users with access to the expanded six-satellite StarFire Network and NavCom's new Ultra RTK capability. | | | Spectra Precision Debuts Data Collection Software
| | Spectra Precision has unveiled its Nomad data collector running its new Field Surveyor 2.0 field software for its Focus 10 Total Stations and Epoch 25 GPS Systems. | | | Topcon Brings in Three GPS Veterans
| | Japan's Topcon has beefed up the management of its U.S-based subsidiary, Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS), with three satellite navigation industry veterans, tapping them for appointments to management positions in the company's agriculture, OEM (original equipment manufacture), and asset management groups. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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