Engineering Surveying CENG 3205

Chapter 6

Introduction to Global Positioning System

Introduction
The Global positioning system (GPS) is a satellite based navigational system that was developed
by U.S. Department of Defence (DOD) in the early 1970s. Initially, GPS was developed as a
military system to fulfil U.S. military needs. However, it was later made available to civilians,
and is now a dual system that can be accessed by both military and civilian uses. GPS is
shortened form of NAVSTAR – Navigation System with Time and Ranging Global
Positioning system. GPS is a solution for one of man’s longest and most troublesome problems.
It provides on answer to the question ‘Where on earth am I?’

One can imagine that this is an easy question to answer. You can easily locate yourself by
looking at objects that surround you and position yourself relative to them. But what if you have
no objects around you? What if you are in the middle of desert or in the middle of the ocean?
For many centuries, this problem was solved by using the sun and stars to navigate. These
methods worked well within certain boundaries. Sun and Stars cannot be seen when it is cloudy.
Also positions cannot be determined very accurately.
GPS consists, normally of constellation of 24 – operational satellites. This constellation, known
as Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was completed in July 1993. The official IOC
announcement, however, was made on December 1993. To ensure continuous worldwide
coverage, GPS satellites are arranged so that four satellites are placed in each of six orbital
planes. With this constellation geometry, four to ten GPS satellites will be visible anywhere in
the world, if the elevation angle of 100 is considered. Only four satellites are needed to provide
the positioning or location information in the form of precise estimation of position, velocity and
time (PVT) by using a GPS receiver.

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History of development of GPS

For centuries, the heavenly bodies were used to set time standards and to locate astronomical
observations. But if cloud, rain or fogs etc. obscure the stars and planet at night, the
astronomical approach to position location and navigation fails.

To circumvent the problem, Dead Reckoning or Initial Navigational System are being used
which actually tells the change in position. Thus, if the initial position is known, the final
position can be obtained using this system. Unfortunately, dead reckoning or initial navigational
system suffers from positional error with elapsed time.

In order to get rid of this, an electro system called Long Range Navigational System (LORAN)
was developed. It is the first true all weathered system for finding out position of a receiver. It
is based on the principle that if two radio transmitters are located at known position, and if each
transmits a short pulse in synchronization being received by a receiver, the separation in time of
the arrival of two pulses would determine a line of position (actually a hyperbola) characteristics
of time interval between the received pulses. Thus either from three synchronized ground
stations or from two sets of transmitting stations, two lines of position are obtained leading to a
point of intersection and that is what the unique location of receiver

Station 1 (Known) Station 2 (Known)

Receiver Position Unknown

Subsequently, Omega System (using continuous radio wave), LORAN-C etc. were developed
based on the principle of synchronization of ground system. But all these systems are two-
dimensional i.e. they can locate position in latitude and longitude only.

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With time, satellites are being used in finding the position of a receiver. The TRANSIT system
is the first of this kind. It is based on the principle that if the ephemeris of a satellite is known,
the position of any receiver can be determined by observing the Doppler Shift in the signals
broadcasted by the satellite. But it is also a 2D system, so there was search for an all-weather
radio navigation system having capability to fine the 3D position of a receiver to an unlimited
number of users instantaneously, continuously. The quest leads to the development of GPS.

Objective of GPS
The main objectives of GPS System are: -
 GPS was developed with the objective to provide accurate estimates of PVT with root

mean square errors of 10 m in position, 0.1m/s in velocity and 100ns in time.

 These estimates are to be available to an unlimited number of users all over the globe
continuously and nearly instantaneously.
 GPS was planned to offer two kinds of services:
 Standard Positioning Services (SPS) for open, unrestricted civil use
 Precise positioning services (PPS) for the DOD authorized users.

 Access to full capability of the system (i.e. PPS) is restricted by encryption in two ways:

 By Selective Availability (S/A)

 By Anti Spoofing (AS)

Global Positioning System Architecture

GPS Segments
GPS consists of three distinct segments:
1. The space segments - Satellites orbiting the earth
2. The control segments - stationed positioned on the earth's equator to control the satellites.
3. The User segment - Anybody that receives and uses the GPS signal.
1. Space Segment
 The space segment is designed to consist of 24 satellites orbiting the earth at
approximately at height 20,200 km in every 12 hours.
 The satellites are arrayed in 6 orbital plane inclined 550 to the equator.

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 The space segment is so designed that there will be a minimum of four satellites visible
above a 150 cut - off angle at any point of the earth's surface at any time.
 Four satellites are the minimum that must be visible for most applications. Experience
shows that there are usually at least 5 satellites visible for most of the time and quite
often there are 6 or 7 satellites visible.

 Each GPS satellite has four very accurate and precise atomic clocks (Rubidium and Cesium
standards) and has a microprocessor on board for limited self-monitoring and data
processing.
 The satellites are equipped with thrusts, which can be used to maintain or modify their orbits.
 The clocks operate at a fundamental frequency of 10.23 MHZ. This is used to generate
signals that are broadcast from the satellites.
 The satellites broadcast two carrier waves constantly. These carrier waves are in the L -
Band (used for radio), and travel to the earth at the speed of light. These carrier waves are
derived from the fundamental frequency, generated by a very precise atomic clock.
The GPS satellites essentially provide a platform for radio transceivers atomic clocks, computers
and various ancillary equipment used to operate the system. The electronic equipment allow the
measurement of pseudo range (R) from receiver to satellite, and each satellite broadcast a
message, which allows the user to determine the spatial position of the satellite at any instant.
With these data, the users are able to determine their position by resection.

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2. Control Segment

 The control segment consists of one master control station, 5 monitor stations and 4 ground
antennas distributed amongst 5 locations roughly on the earth's equator.
 These stations are at Colorado Springs, Ascension Island, Diego Garcia, Hawai and
Kwajalein Island.
 The control segments track the GPS satellites, update their orbiting position and calibrate and
synchronize their clocks.
 A further important function is to determine the orbit of each satellite and predict its path for
following 24 hours.
 This information is uploaded to each satellite and subsequently broadcast from it. This
enables the GPS receiver to know where each satellite can be expected to be found.
 The satellite signals are read at 5 monitor stations and measurements are then sent to the
master control station in Colorado Springs.

 Here they are processed to determine any errors in each satellite. The new ephemeredes
(satellite position as a function of time), Clock corrections and other broadcast message data
are then sent back to three monitoring stations (Diego Garcia, Ascension & Kwajalein)
equipped with ground antennas and uploaded to the satellites and broadcasted.

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Satellite

MONITOR STATION MASTER CONTROL STATION GROUND ANTENNA

(MCS)
(MS) (GA)

MASTER CONTROL STATION (MCS) - Prediction of ephemeredes and clock behavior.

MONITOR STATION (MS) - Control of ephemeredes and satellite clocks.
GROUND ANTENNA GA) - Uplink of Navigation Message to Satellites.

The main operational tasks of the control systems are:

 Tracking of the satellite for the orbit and clock determination and prediction modeling.
 Time synchronization of the satellites
 Upload of the data message to the satellites.
3. User Segment
 The user segment comprises of anyone using GPS receiver to receive GPS signals and
determine their position and /or their time.
 Typical applications within the user segment are Land Navigation for vehicle location,
surveying, marine navigation, areal navigation, machine control etc.
 GPS receivers vary greatly in size and complexity. The typical receiver is composed of
an antenna and preamplifier, radio signal microprocessor, control and display device, data
recording unit and power supply.
 The GPS receiver decodes the timing of signals from the visible satellites and calculates
their distances. This is used to compute its own latitude, longitude, elevation and time.
This is a continuous process and generally the position is updated on a second by second
basis.

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Receiver

Basic principles of GPS

 GPS is based on the principle of resection i.e. Receiver’s position (x,y,z) can be determined
given the distances from objects whose positions are known.
 Analytically, from the known positions of three objects and their distance from unknown
position, we get three-distance equation involving three unknown corresponding to the
unknown position of the receiver.
 These three equations can be solved for three unknowns (x, y, z).

Positioning Modes of GPS

Positioning with GPS can be performed by either of two ways: Point positioning or relative
positioning. GPS point positioning employs one GPS receiver that measures the code pseudo
range to determine the user’s position instantaneously as long as four or more satellites are
visible at the receiver. The expected positional accuracy from the civilian C/A code receivers has
gone down from 100 m, when selected availability was on, to about 22 m in the absence of
SA.GPS point positioning is used mainly when relatively low accuracy is required. This includes
recreation applications and low accuracy navigation.
GPS relative positioning, however, employs at least two GPS receivers simultaneously tracking
the same satellites. If both receivers track at least four common satellites, a positioning accuracy
level of the order of a sub-centimeter to a few meters can be obtained. Carrier phase or / and
pseudo range measurements can be used in GPS relative positioning, depending on the accuracy
requirements. The former provides the highest possible accuracy.

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GPS relative positioning can be made either in real time or post mission modes. GPS relative
positioning is used for high accuracy applications such as surveying and mapping, GIS and
precise navigation.
GPS Point Positioning
GPS point positioning, also known as standalone or autonomous positioning, involves only one
GPS receiver. That is only one receiver simultaneously tracks four or more GPS satellites to
determine its own coordinates with respect to the center of the earth. To determine the receiver’s
position at any time, the satellite coordinates as well as a minimum of four ranges to four
satellites are required. The receiver gets the satellite coordinates through navigation message,
while ranges are obtained from either C/A code or P-code, depending on the receiver type
civilian or military. As mentioned before, the measured pseudo ranges are contaminated by both
the satellite and receiver clock synchronization errors. Correcting the satellite clock errors may
be done by applying the satellite clock correction in the navigation message; the receiver clock
error is treated as an additional unknown parameter in the estimation process. This brings the
total number of unknown parameters to four: three for receiver coordinates and one for the
receiver clock error. This is the reason why at least four satellites are needed. If more than four
satellites are tracked, the so-called least square estimation is applied.

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GPS relative positioning

GPS relative positioning, also called differential positioning, employs at least two GPS receivers
simultaneously tracking the same satellites to determine their relative coordinates. Of the two
receivers, one is selected as a reference or base, which remains stationary at a site with precisely
known coordinates. The other receiver known as Rover or Remote receiver has its coordinate
unknown. The rover receiver may or may not be stationary depending upon the type of GPS
operation. A minimum of four common satellites is required for relative positioning. However,
tracking more than four common satellites simultaneously would improve the precision of the
GPS position solution. Carrier phase or pseudo range measurements can be used in relative
positioning. A variety of positioning techniques are used to provide a post processing (post
mission) or real time solution. GPS relative positioning provides a higher accuracy than that of
autonomous positioning.

Depending on whether the carrier phase or the pseudo range measurements are used in relative
positioning, an accuracy level of a sub centimeter to a few meters can be obtained. This is mainly
because the measurements of two or more receivers simultaneously tracking a particular satellite
contain more or less the same errors and biases. The shorter the distance between the two
receivers, the more similar the errors. Therefore, if we take the difference between the

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measurements of the two receivers (hence the name “differential positioning”), the similar errors
will be removed or reduced and accuracy will be more.
Static GPS positioning

Static GPS surveying is a relative positioning technique that depends on the carrier phase
measurements. It employs two or more stationary receivers simultaneously tracking the same
satellites. One receiver, the base receiver, is set up over a point with precisely known coordinates
such as survey monuments. The other receiver, the remote receiver is set up over a point whose
coordinates have to be determined. The base receiver can support any number of remote
receivers, as long as minimum of four common satellites is visible at both the base and the
remote sites. In principle, this method is based on collecting simultaneous measurements at both
the base and remote receivers for a certain period of time, which, after processing, yield the
coordinates of the unknown point. The observation or occupation time varies from about 20
minutes to a few hours, depending on the distance between the base and the remote receivers.
(I.e. the baseline length), the number of satellite visible and satellite geometry.
The measurements are usually taken at a recording interval of 15 or 20 seconds called epochs.
After completing the field measurements, the collected data is downloaded from receivers into
PC for processing. Different processing options may be selected depending on the user
requirements.

Base (Known) Remote (Unknown)

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Static GPS surveying with the carrier phase measurements is the most accurate positioning
technique. This is mainly due to the significant change in satellite geometry over the long
observation time span. This is mainly used for new control point establishment in the area.
Fast (Rapid) Static Positioning
Fast or Rapid static surveying is a carrier phase based relative positioning technique similar to
static GPS surveying. That is, it employs two or more GPS receivers simultaneously tracking the
same satellites. However, with rapid static surveying, only the base receiver remains stationary
over the known point during the entire observation session. The rover receiver remains stationary
over the unknown point for a short period of time only, and then moves to another point whose
coordinates are sought. Similar to static GPS surveying, the base receiver can support any
number of rovers. This method is suitable when survey involves a number of unknown points
located in the vicinity (i.e. within up to 15 km) of a known point. The survey starts by setting up
the base receiver over the known point, while setting up the rover receiver over the first
unknown point.
The base receiver remains stationary and collects data continuously. The rover receiver collects
data for a period of about 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the distance to the base as well as the
satellite geometry. Once the rover receiver has collected the data, the user moves to the
following point with unknown coordinates and repeat the procedures.
 It should be pointed out that, while moving, the rover receiver may be turned off.
 Due to relatively short occupancy time for the rover receiver, the recording interval is
reduced to 5 seconds.

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Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS

RTK surveying is a carrier phase based relative positioning technique that, like the previous
methods, employs two or more receivers simultaneously tracking the same satellites. This
method is suitable when
 Survey involves a large number of unknown points located in the vicinity (i.e. within up
to 10 – 15 km) of known point.
 The coordinates of the unknown points are required in real time and
 The line of sight, the propagation path, is relatively unobstructed.
Because of its ease of use as well as its capability to determine the coordinates in real time, many
users prefer this method. In this method, the base receiver remains stationary over the known
point and is attached to a radio transmitter. The rover receiver is normally carried in backpack
and is attached to a radio receiver. Similar to the conventional Kinematic GPS method, a data
rate as high as 1 HZ (one sample per second observation time) is required. The base receiver
measurements and coordinates are transmitted to the rover receiver through the communication
radio link. The built in software in a rover receiver combines and process the GPS measurements
collected at both the base and the rover receivers to obtain the rover coordinates in real time.
That is no post processing is required. The expected positional accuracy is of the order of 2 to 5
cm which can further be improved by staying over the point for a short period of time, for
example, about 30 seconds, to allow for averaging the position.
The computed rover coordinates for the entire survey may be stored and downloaded at a later
time into CAD software for further analysis. This method is mainly used with dual frequency
receivers. Under the same conditions, the positioning accuracy of the RTK method is slightly
compared with that of the conventional kinematic GPS method. This is mainly because of the
time tags (or time stamps) of the conventional kinematic data from both the base and rover match
perfectly in processing. With RTK, however, the base receiver data reaches the rover after some
delay (called latency). Data latency occurs as result of formatting, packetizing, transmitting and
decoding the base data. To match the time tag of the rover data, the base data must be
extrapolated which degrades the positional accuracy.

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Application of GPS

GPS has been available for civil and military use for more than two decades. That period of time
has witnessed the creation of numerous new GPS applications. Because it provides high accuracy
positioning in cost effective manner, GPS has found its way in many industrial applications,
replacing conventional methods in most cases. For example, with GPS, machineries can be
automatically guided and controlled. This is especially useful in hazardous areas, where human
lives are endangered. This unit explains the usefulness of GPS in some of the applications.
GPS for Vehicle Navigation
When traveling through unfamiliar areas, vehicle drivers often use paper road maps for route
guidance. This requires identification of features both on the ground and on the map. This creates
problems and often leads to missing the correct path. Further, searching for a destination using
paper map is unsafe especially in busy area as it distracts the driver attention and results in
accident.This is overcome by a new technology, incorporating GPS with digital road maps and
computer system. Driver can obtained the route guidance electronically with a touch of a button.
The role of GPS in this technology is to continuously determine the vehicle’s location.In
obstructed areas, such as building or tunnels etc, GPS is supplemented by a terrestrial system
such as the DR (Dead Reckoning) system to over come the signal blockage.DR is system that
uses the vehicle’s odometer and gyros to determine the vehicle direction and travel distance. But
this system is accurate only over a short period of time.The GPS determined vehicle location is
superimposed on an electronic digital road map, containing in its database digital information
such as street names and directions, business listing, airports and other related information.
Once the driver inputs a destination, the built in computer finds the best route to reach the
destination.
GPS for Civil Engineering applications:
Civil engineering works are often done in complex and unfriendly environment, making it
difficult for personnel to operate efficiently. The ability of GPS to provide real time sub-meters
and centimeter level accuracy in a cost effective manner has significantly changed the civil
engineering industry. Constructions firms are using GPS in many applications such as road
construction, Earth moving and fleet management.

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In road construction and earth moving, GPS, combined with wireless communication and
computer systems, is installed onboard the Earth moving machine. Designated surface
information, in digital format, is uploaded into the system. With the help of computer display and
the real time GPS position information, the operator can view whether the correct grade has been
reached. In situation in which millimeter level elevation is needed, GPS can be integrated with
rotated beam lasers. The same technology (i.e. combined GPS, wireless communications and
computers) is also used for foundation works (e.g. pile positioning) and precise structural
placement (e.g. prefabricated bridge section). In these applications, the operators are guided
through onboard computer displays, eliminating the need for conventional methods.
GPS is also used to track the location and usage of equipment at different sites. By sending this
information to central location, GPS enables contractors to deploy their equipments more
efficiently.

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