Dynamic GPS for Railroad Surveys: A Case History

L. Harold Spradley, David H. Spradley, Wayne A. Heitshusen

Abstract:	The NAVSTAR Global Positioning System, utilized in a variety of differential modes, provides powerful tools for geodetic surveying and precise navigation - tests and examples of which have been well-documented through ION meetings in the last decade. As GPS has matured, both in the expansion of the satellite constellation and in development of equipment and software, it is appropriate to discuss applications which have been brought beyond the experimental and prototype level and placed into practice on a routine basis. During the past five years, Satellite Positioning Corporation (SPC) has developed software and procedures to combine differential GPS survey with database operations for attribute collection. In combination, these tools have been optimized for field inventory of facilities along railroad trackage. During 1988 and 1989, test surveys were performed, and facility attributes were collected in distinctively different regions of the Burlington Northern Railroad. The field survey and facility inventory data were structured to be integrated with BN’s Roadway Information System (MS) database. After extensive tests of the database interface with prior railway survey data, the system was brought into a production status in the latter part of 1990. This paper describes operating procedures in the GPS survey, levels of productivity and accuracy achieved, and the inter- relationship between differential GPS survey results with railroad engineering and maintenance operations.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1991 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 22 - 24, 1991 Sheraton San Marcos Hotel Phoenix, AZ
Pages:	43 - 44
Cite this article:	Spradley, L. Harold, Spradley, David H., Heitshusen, Wayne A., "Dynamic GPS for Railroad Surveys: A Case History," Proceedings of the 1991 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Phoenix, AZ, January 1991, pp. 43-44.
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