A Performance Evaluation of Three State of the Art GPS Receivers for Hydrographic Surveying

Peter Kielland, David Neufeldt

Abstract:	The Canadian Hy&ographic Service tested three GPS receivers to determine their suitability for use in hydrographic surveying. The Ashtech MXII, the Magnavox MX4200 and the Trimble SST were evaluated for their real-time differential performance. To carry out the test, a rocking mast apparatus was constructed to simulate the antenna dynamics encountered on a typical hydrographic survey vessel. This oscillating mast was mechanically instrumented to provide reference antenna positions accurate to within a few centimetres for each GPS measurement epoch. The antenna outputs from both the mast and monitor antennas were split into three feed lines so that each of the three receiver pairs used exactly the same GPS signals. The differential corrections were transmitted over null-modem data links. Each receiver pair logged all raw data as well as internally computed differentially corrected positions. The raw data from all receivers was also postprocessed using software developed for CHS by Nortech Surveys. Results of the data analysis are presented in this paper.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991) September 11 - 13, 1991 Albuquerque, NM
Pages:	1029 - 1042
Cite this article:	Kielland, Peter, Neufeldt, David, "A Performance Evaluation of Three State of the Art GPS Receivers for Hydrographic Surveying," Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991), Albuquerque, NM, September 1991, pp. 1029-1042.
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