DEPARTMENT OF

LANDS AND PLANNING

GNSS Surveying for

Cadastral Surveys
Amy Peterson
GNSS CORS Manager
Office of the Surveyor General

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Presentation Content
• Purpose of discussion

• Background to Territory GNSS surveying wrt standards, legislation,

and guidelines

• Proposed standards, requirements, changes and best practice

guidelines from an OSG perspective

• Discussion and open forum

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Objective
• To stimulate discussion amongst the surveying community on the
topic Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Surveying for
Cadastral Surveys in the Territory

• In particular :
– STANDARDS
– BEST PRACTICE

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Background

• Survey legislation related to GNSS Surveying in the Territory

– Survey Practice Directions 2003 (SPD) – numerous clauses relating
to GNSS measurements of derivatives
– Licensed Surveyors Act – Clause 46 A Co-ordinated Survey Area
(CSA) inserted in 2001

• Standards and Best Practice Guidelines

– ICSM Standards & Practices for Control
Surveys (SP1)
– Guidelines for the use of GPS for Cadastral
Surveying in the NT (rescinded in 2003)
– Documentation from other jurisdictions,
industry, manufacturers / suppliers

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Standards vs Best Practice
Standard
• A standard is a rule or requirement that is determined by a
consensus opinion of users.
• It prescribes the accepted and (theoretically) the best criteria for a
product, process, test, or procedure.
• The benefits of a standard are safety, quality, interchange ability of
parts or systems, and international consistency.

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Standards vs Best Practice
Best Practice
• Best Practice is a management idea
which asserts that there is a technique
or method that is more effective and
efficient than any other.

• It maintains that with proper processes,

checks, and testing, a desired outcome
can be delivered with fewer problems
and unforeseen complications.

• Best practice is generally based on

repeatable procedures that have proven
themselves over time for large numbers
of people.

• Best practice can be expected to evolve

as new information, instrumentation and
methodology becomes available.

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Standards
PROPOSAL 1 : Geodetic datum

• Specify that all horizontal co-ordinates for Territory surveys

shall be computed in terms of GDA94 - Geocentric Datum of
Australia 1994.

– Currently the SPD’s for CSA’s does not specifically state this

– Consider also stating that the working vertical datum for the
Territory is the AHD - Australian Height Datum ?

– Emphasis on the need to connect to known GDA94 marks not

only for datum reasons but also for legal traceability of GNSS
measurements

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Standards
PROPOSAL 2 : Quantifying and Reporting GNSS
Survey Quality

• Specify that the quality of GNSS surveys will be quantified in

terms of an ‘error circle’ or ‘survey uncertainty’.

– It will reflect the uncertainty of the datum to which the survey is

connected , and includes uncertainty resulting from survey
measurement error, survey measurement precision and survey
geometry.

– That is, the combined uncertainty of the datum and the quality of
the survey

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Standards
PROPOSAL 3 : Adjustment and testing

• Specify that GNSS surveys will be adjusted via a rigorous

least squares adjustment process or equivalent.

– This will allow surveyors to test the reliability and quality of their
GNSS measurements

– To determine if they have meet the require accuracy standards

or specifications.

– Produce standard error ellipses for points derived by GNSS

measurements

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Standards
PROPOSAL 4 : Formula for expressing ‘survey uncertainty’

• The following formula should be used to determine the uncertainty

or the error circle radius, at the 95% confidence region –
r=axk

where a = the semi-major axis of the standards error ellipse (m)

K = q0 + q1H + q2H2 +q3H3
H = b/a
b = the semi-minor axis of the standard error ellipse (m)
q0 = 1.9608
q1 = 0.0041
q2 = 0.1143
q3 = 0.3716 (source Leenhouts -1985)

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Standards of Accuracy
Present Standards of Accuracy in SPD’s for CSAs
- Minimum allowable accuracy standard for cadastral surveys (urban and
rural) equates to a Class B survey.

r = 2.45 x 30 (d + 0.2)

- Minimum allowable standard for ‘CRM’ surveys (urban and rural) is

equivalent to a Class A survey

r = 2.45 x 15 (d + 0.2)

Where
– r = length of maximum allowable radius in ‘mm’ for an error circle ;
– d = distance in ‘km’ to either the nearest datum or adjoining survey
marks / CRM ;
– calculated for 95% confidence limit for 2 dimensions

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Standards of Accuracy - continued

Distance
(km) Class A Cadastral (mm) Class B CRM (mm)

0.01 15 8

0.1 22 11

0.5 51 26

1 88 44

10 750 375

50 3690 1845

REMEMBER this table also represents allowable errors for terrestrial

measurements as well !

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Standards of Accuracy – Modifications?
PROPOSAL 5 : Amend SPDs for CSAs Clauses wrt
Accuracy of Surveys

• GNSS surveys that observe distances greater than 20km

modify the formula for determining the allowable error circle
radius to –

r = 2.45 x 3 (d + 0.2)
Where
– r = length of maximum allowable radius in ‘mm’ for an error circle ;
– d = distance in ‘km’ to either the nearest datum or adjoining survey
marks / CRM ;
– calculated for 95% confidence limit for 2 dimensions

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Standards of Accuracy – Modifications?
Distance Allowable error circle
(km) radius (mm)
10 75
20 148
30 222
40 295
50 369
60 442
70 516
80 589
90 663
100 736

Are these more realistic and acceptable error circle values for
such GNSS observations ?

What about GNSS measurements less than 20 km?

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT
 GNSS Surveying Best Practice Guidelines
PROPOSAL 6 : Best Practice Guidelines for
Adjustment and Testing of GNSS Measurements

• Purpose – is to recommend procedures for the adjustment of a

GNSS cadastral survey ; the testing of the reliability of GNSS
measurements ; the quantifying, testing and classification of quality
of GNSS measurements.
• Guidelines to focus on –
– GNSS measurements being corrected for systematic errors
– The need for redundant GNSS measurements (DoF)
– Minimally constrained adjustments
– Statistical testing of the GNSS Survey
• Local Test – T distribution to validate each GNSS measurement and its
precision
• Global Test – Chi square dsitribution to validate the entire GNSS survey
– Computation of survey uncertainties or error circles.

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Best Practice Guidelines
PROPOSAL 7 : Best Practice Guidelines for GNSS
Equipment and Measurement Validation

• Purpose – is to recommend procedures that will validate and / or

verify GNSS equipment, measurements and processing

• Guidelines to focus on –
– Achieving legal traceable GNSS measurements in accordance
with the National Measurement Act 1960
– The application of ‘OSG’ GNSS test ranges
– Real time kinematic (RTK) valildation and verification

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Best Practice Guidelines
PROPOSAL 8 : Best Practice Guidelines for GNSS
Surveying Techniques

• Purpose – is to recommend procedures for the various GNSS

measurement techniques that can be used.
• Guidelines to focus on –
– Planning a GNSS cadastral survey
– Selection of GNSS equipment
– Observational techniques for relative positioning - static, quick
static, psuedo-kinematic, kinematic, real time kinematic ( +
network) ; ‘absolute’ and differential GNSS (psuedo ranges)
positioning
– Independent baselines, minimisation of GNSS errors, ambiguity
resolution, redundancy
– Connections to known GDA94 marks
– Processing of GNSS measurements

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Best Practice Guidelines
PROPOSAL 9 : Best Practice Guidelines for GNSS
Heighting

• Purpose – is to recommend procedures for the propagation or

determination of ‘heights’ for cadastral surveys using GNSS
measurements
• Guidelines to focus on –
– The different types of vertical datums, surfaces and boundaries
wrt the cadastre in the Territory
– Various GNSS techniques to derived heights
– Geoidal separation
– Connections to marks with known heights

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 GNSS Surveying Best Practice Guidelines
PROPOSAL 10 : Best Practice
Guidelines for GNSS Data
Management

• Purpose – is to recommend procedures for

GNSS surveying field book or notes, and
data archiving.
• Guidelines to focus on –
– GNSS field book content – sketches,
‘log sheets’ , GNSS receiver / antenna
details.
– Storage and archiving of raw GNSS
data, reductions and final results
– Statutory responsibilities wrt GNSS data

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Proposal Summary

1 : Geodetic datum
2 : Quantifying and Reporting GNSS Survey Quality
3 : Adjustment and testing
4 : Formula for expressing ‘survey uncertainty’
5 : Amend SPDs for CSAs Clauses wrt Accuracy of Surveys
6 : Best Practice Guidelines for Adjustment and Testing of GNSS
Measurements
7 : Best Practice Guidelines for GNSS Equipment and
Measurement Validation
8 : Best Practice Guidelines for GNSS Surveying Techniques
9 : Best Practice Guidelines for GNSS Heighting
10 : Best Practice Guidelines for GNSS Data Management

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Standards & Best Practice?

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 Discussion Forum

Feedback or comments on the

10 Proposals?

The way forward?

An Industry working group?

Amy.Peterson@nt.gov.au

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT

 NT GRS – The State of Play

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

NT Spatial 2011 - The State of Play - SSSI NT