A Comparisons Static and Future Kinematic GPS Surveys

This paper examines the techniques of relative static and relative kinematic surveying and discusses the benefits of each. Examples of applications in which both techniques could prove beneficial to the Corps surveyors, such as dam monitoring, are presented. In August 1986, the U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories (USAETL) began a three‐year program to introduce the use of GPS technology to all U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Districts as a means of performing geodetic surveys. During demonstrations, GPS receivers are used in a relative static mode with observation sessions lasting from 1/2 to 1 hour, depending on the precision required. Although GPS is a much more efficient tool for performing geodetic control surveys, a means of reducing the amount of time spent at each monument would make GPS more attractive for applications such as dam monitoring. The technique of relative kinematic GPS provides the surveyor with the capability to significantly reduce observation time compared to static GPS measurements.