Water Level Profiling with GPS

G. Lachapelle, C. Liu, G. Lu, Rob Hare

Abstract:	A precise knowledge of water levels is essential for tidal studies and other hydrographic purposes such as the establishment of chart datums. GPS offers the possibility of determining water level profiles with a cm-level accuracy using carrier phase observations with the ambiguities resolved on-the-fly. Accurate Bench Marks (B.M.‘s) can also be established along the shores if an accurate geoid model is available. The results of a DGPS survey conducted along an 80-km section of the Fraser River, British Columbia, in March 1993 to test this concept, are reported. Dual frequency receivers were used to permit quasi-instantaneous carrier phase ambiguity resolution using widelane observables. Frequent ties to B.M.‘s were made to assess independently the accuracy of the GPS methodology. A 2-cm accuracy shore-to-launch height transfer method was used. The repeatability of GPS, based on re-visits of selected B.M.‘s, was calculated as 5.5 cm RMS. The agreement between GPS-derived and levelled orthometric heights at B.M.‘s was found to be 6 cm RMS, once a constant geoid bias was removed.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 6th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1993) September 22 - 24, 1993 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	1581 - 1587
Cite this article:	Lachapelle, G., Liu, C., Lu, G., Hare, Rob, "Water Level Profiling with GPS," Proceedings of the 6th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1993), Salt Lake City, UT, September 1993, pp. 1581-1587.
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