Exploiting Network Real-time Kinematic GNSS Positioning for Transport Applications

Xiaolin Meng, Alan Dodson, Terry Moore, Chun Liu, Pengfei Cheng, Quan Wang and CHengming Li

Abstract:	A joint research team at the Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy (IESSG) within the University of Nottingham of the UK together with their Chinese research partners is currently undertaking a study into the positioning accuracy and mobility which could be provided with the use of network based RTK GNSS (NRTK) positioning and how to fully exploit this technology for a variety of intelligent transport system (ITS) applications. During the study, a vehicle equipped with a GPRS enabled survey grade GNSS rover receiver which could receive real-time RTCM corrections from a network GNSS reference station facility is used to acquire positions of this moving vehicle on different classes of UK highway. These positions are compared with positions obtained by a much cheaper Bluetooth enabled navigation grade GPS receiver. The latter one could also produce highly accurate differential GNSS positions by using pseudorange measurements and differential corrections either from EGNOS or the network GNSS facility. Preliminary research reveals that NRTK GNSS positioning is highly constrained by the roadside terrain and signal blockage. For instance, a very narrow flyover bridge could cause positioning gaps of several epochs. As an example application of NRTK GNSS positioning, for the determination of instant travel speed and mapping the road pavement roughness, both the horizontal and the vertical components of 3D position solutions are used to calculate instantaneous velocity and/or acceleration. The locations and level of any potential damages of the road pavement could be precisely determined. This provides an alternative, accurate, cost-effective and very efficient approach to detect road surface condition than the more expensive solution offered by a road profile detector. To validate the data acquired, these estimated accelerations are compared with those direct acceleration measurements from an accelerometer. This paper demonstrates through practical examples that NRTK GPS positioning is a feasible tool for many potential land transport applications through significantly improving positioning accuracy, flexibility and mobility.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2007) September 25 - 28, 2007 Fort Worth Convention Center Fort Worth, TX
Pages:	135 - 141
Cite this article:	Meng, Xiaolin, Dodson, Alan, Moore, Terry, Liu, Chun, Cheng, Pengfei, Wang, Quan, Li, CHengming, "Exploiting Network Real-time Kinematic GNSS Positioning for Transport Applications," Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2007), Fort Worth, TX, September 2007, pp. 135-141.
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