Off-Shore Differential Sea Height Determination Using Precise Relative GPS Processing

Bruce Hermann, Alan Evans, Gary Sitzman, and Larry Bartyczak, Benjamin Remondi and John Dugan

Abstract:	This paper presents the results of a test which used the Global Positioning System (GPS) to precisely determine relative sea height. The test was performed in May 1994 over two hundred miles from the U.S. mainland and east of the Gulf Stream. The procedure described uses Remondi’s kinematic On-The-Fly (OTF) GPS measurement processing to provide precise relative heights between two buoys approximately 1Okm apart and has the capability to compute precise relative position of the two buoys even though both platforms are moving. The height difference, which is with respect to the World Geodetic System (WGS84) ellipsoidal model, can be used to monitor the real-time differential wave height motion. Averaging the height difference can produce, with oceanographic corrections, the slope of the geoid. Alternately, real-time differential wave height motion from a grid of such buoys can possibly be used for detection of unusual events. Weather conditions for the two days of testing were excellent. Each day approximately five hours of GPS data were collected for both the north-south and east-west baselines across the test location. Small powered boats kept the drifting buoys near each end of the baselines. The accuracy of the ellipsoid height difference solutions is estimated to be at the centimeter level. The paper presents post-processed differential wave height statistics for the entire test and for the cases when the buoys were drifting and when they were being towed. Histograms of the height differences are presented. Results are consistent with a Gaussian distribution of the differential wave height motion.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1995) June 5 - 7, 1995 Antlers Doubletree Hotel Colorado Springs, CO
Pages:	605 - 612
Cite this article:	Hermann, Bruce, Evans, Alan, Sitzman, Gary, Bartyczak, Larry, Remondi, Benjamin, Dugan, John, "Off-Shore Differential Sea Height Determination Using Precise Relative GPS Processing," Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1995), Colorado Springs, CO, June 1995, pp. 605-612.
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