British Columbia Guidelines For RTK GPS Surveys, Including ...

Province of British Columbia (BC) Guidelines for RTK GPS Surveys,

Including Operating within a Municipal Active Control System

Area (BC ACSm)

Version 1.2 November 2009

British Columbia Guidelines for GPS RTK Surveys, Including Operating within a Municipal Active Control System Area (BC ACSm)

Table of Contents

LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................................................II

APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................................................II

1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................1

2 GPS RTK SURVEYS .............................................................................................................................1

2.1 RTK DESCRIPTION .........................................................................................................................1

2.2 RTK ACCURACY ISSUES ................................................................................................................2

2.2.1 RTK Antenna Centering and HI Measurement

3

2.2.2 RTK Antenna Phase Center Movement

4

2.2.3 RTK Base Station Fixed 3D Coordinates

4

2.2.4 RTK Initialization

4

2.2.5 Satellite Geometry and Elevation Angles

6

2.2.6 Random and Short-Term Systematic RTK Errors

6

2.2.7 Radial Nature of RTK Surveys

7

2.3 RTK VALIDATION ..........................................................................................................................8

2.4 RTK PRODUCTION SURVEYS..........................................................................................................9

2.4.1 Horizontal Datums, Coordinates, and Projections

9

2.4.2 Vertical Considerations (Ellipsoidal Heights, MSL Elevations, Geoidal Undulations) 10

2.4.3 Planning and Preparation for an RTK Survey

10

3. MUNICIPAL ACTIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS: BC ACSM .......................................................12

3.1. HISTORY.......................................................................................................................................12 3.2. WHAT IS THE BC ACSM ?..............................................................................................................14 3.3. BC ACSM COMPONENTS...............................................................................................................14 3.4. BC ACSM ADVANTAGES ..............................................................................................................15 3.5 RTK CONTROL SURVEYS WITHIN A BC ACSM .............................................................................15

3.5.1 RTK Antenna Centering and HI Measurements:

15

3.5.2 RTK Antenna Phase Center Movement:

16

3.5.3 RTK Base Station Fixed 3D Coordinates:

16

3.5.4 RTK Initialization:

16

3.5.5 Satellite Geometry and Elevation Angles:

16

3.5.6 Random and Short-Term Systematic RTK Errors:

17

3.5.7 Radial Nature of RTK Surveys:

17

3.5.8 Validations:

17

3.5.9 Horizontal Datums, Coordinates, and Projections:

17

3.5.10 Vertical Considerations (Ellipsoidal height, MSL elevation, Geoidal undulation):

18

3.5.11 Planning and Preparation for an RTK Survey within an Acsm:

19

Crown Registry and Geographic Base Branch ISO CRGB Procedures Manual V4.5 JA04 wCBM.doc CRGB-ISO-DO-001

Issue: 1.1 ? Revision Date: 10/22/09 Page i

British Columbia Guidelines for GPS RTK Surveys, Including Operating within a Municipal Active Control System Area (BC ACSm)

List of Figures

Figure 1: Typical RTK GPS system setup.................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2: BC ACS Stations......................................................................................................................... 13

Appendices

Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C -

CRGB Documents References Recommended Information Sources

Crown Registry and Geographic Base Branch ISO CRGB Procedures Manual V4.5 JA04 wCBM.doc CRGB-ISO-DO-001

Issue: 1.1 ? Revision Date: 10/22/09 Page ii

British Columbia Guidelines for GPS RTK Surveys, Including Operating within a Municipal Active Control System Area (BC ACSm)

1 INTRODUCTION

This document provides guidelines for GPS Real Time Kinematic (RTK) surveys conducted within BC. Referrals to this document should be with the British Columbia Specifications and Guidelines for Control Surveys Using GPS Technology. It is assumed that the reader has an understanding of the GPS Control Surveys document before this RTK guideline document is read. Appendix B contains information links to obtain documents maintained by Base Mapping and Geomatics Services (CRGB) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

In these documents, it is assumed that static carrier-phase surveys are used for the reliable establishment of permanent survey control that will be fully integrated within the Provincial Geo-Spatial Reference (GSR). RTK techniques are suitable for topographic / detail / layout surveys, and can also be used for survey control establishment in support of specific projects. The accuracy expectation for RTK is typically a few-centimetres horizontal and perhaps 1.5 times worse in the vertical. Accuracy values are expressed at the 95% confidence level in this document.

Section 2 of this document describes general techniques and accuracy issues for RTK surveying.

Section 3 of this document describes the specific RTK application of working within a Municipal Active Control System area (BC ACSm). The Capital Regional District (CRD), and the Metro Vancouver (MV) are example BC ACSm operational areas. The High Precision Networks (HPN) established as part of the BC ACSm initiatives are also discussed in this Section. Note that Section 3 is "generic" for RTK users working within a BC ACSm. Operational details (e.g. current system configuration, data communication details, contact names, etc.) are available directly from the agency looking after each specific BC ACSm.

2 GPS RTK SURVEYS

This Section describes GPS RTK surveys, including methodologies, procedures, errors, redundancy issues, etc. IMPORTANT NOTE: It is assumed that the reader has an understanding of the document: British Columbia Specifications and Guidelines for Control Surveys Using GPS Technology.

2.1 RTK Description

Real Time Kinematic (RTK) surveying is an advanced form of relative GPS carrier-phase surveying in which the Base Station transmits its raw measurement data to rover(s), which then compute a vector baseline from the Base Station to the rover. This computation is done nearly instantaneously, with minimal delays between the time of the Base Station measurements, and the time these are used for baseline processing at the rover (ideally a few seconds). The precision of RTK baselines can be almost as good as the precision of static carrier-phase baselines. If the Base Station coordinates are accurately known, this will usually result in accurate rover positions. The combination of fast and precise positioning, one-man operation, and wide work areas has resulted in RTK becoming an impressively powerful tool for some survey applications. Like other survey techniques, RTK does not solve every survey problem. RTK is only suitable for environments with reasonably good GPS tracking conditions (limited obstructions, multipath, and RF noise), and with continuously reliable communication from the Base Station to the rover.

Crown Registry and Geographic Base Branch ISO CRGB Procedures Manual V4.5 JA04 wCBM.doc CRGB-ISO-DO-001

Issue: 1.1 ? Revision Date: 11/5/2009 Page 1

British Columbia Guidelines for GPS RTK Surveys, Including Operating within a Municipal Active Control System Area (BC ACSm)

Figure 1: Typical RTK GPS System Setup

The above describes a typical RTK GPS System setup with one single Base Station supporting a rover within a working radius of the Base Station. The working radius is limited by 2 factors; the first being the data telemetry system communication range (not discussed here), and the second being the distance beyond which the RTK solution will not be reliable because the ionospheric and other distance-related errors begin to overcome the solution to the point where RTK initialization is no longer reliable. The effective working radius for a typical dual-frequency RTK GPS is usually quoted in the range of 10 to 20km.

The limitation described above has initiated the development of a network based RTK GPS, in which the data from an entire network of RTK GPS Base Stations is considered in real-time to allow fast and accurate rover initializations over a larger area. These techniques have been developing since the early 2000s, and the results look promising. Metro Vancouver (MV) and Capital Regional District (CRD) of southern BC have implemented such a network and have been very successful with their operation and usage. More information related to this service can be found at CRGB web site:



Future RTK implementations / refinements within BC will consider these developments, as well as the GPS modernization impacts of L2C and L5. Full deployment of GLONASS and GALILEO signals will greatly enhance the accuracy and productivity of RTK GPS activities also in the future.

2.2 RTK Accuracy Issues

The following Sections describe RTK-specific accuracy issues, and include suggestions to reduce their impact. REMINDER: General errors affecting carrier-phase GPS are discussed in the document: British Columbia Specifications and Guidelines for Control Surveys Using GPS Technology.

Crown Registry and Geographic Base Branch ISO CRGB Procedures Manual V4.5 JA04 wCBM.doc CRGB-ISO-DO-001

Issue: 1.1 ? Revision Date: 11/5/2009 Page 2

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