Canopy, terrain, and distance effects on Global Positioning System position accuracy

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dc.contributor.authorDeckert, Christopher J.en
dc.contributor.committeechairBolstad, Paul V.en
dc.contributor.committeememberCarstensen, Laurence W.en
dc.contributor.committeememberSmith, James L.en
dc.contributor.departmentForestryen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:44:44Zen
dc.date.adate2009-09-05en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:44:44Zen
dc.date.issued1994-04-15en
dc.date.rdate2009-09-05en
dc.date.sdate2009-09-05en
dc.description.abstractA number of tests were conducted to determine the realizable accuracies of the Global Positioning System for natural resource conditions. The effects of terrain, forest canopy, number of consecutive position fixes, and PDOP on accuracy were evaluated. Position accuracies were determined for a total of 27 sites: three replicate sites selected for each of nine distinct conditions: three canopy (deciduous, coniferous, open) and three terrain (ridge, slope, valley) in all possible combinations. Each site was visited ten times over a span of eight months to collect position data, for ten replicates of 60, 100, 200, 300, and 500 position fixes. The mean differentially corrected positional accuracy for all sites was 4.35 meters with 95 percent of the positions estimated within 10.2 meters of the true value. The least accurate differential position data were observed at coniferous sites. Positional accuracy was higher for deciduous sites and the most accurate differential position data was collected at open sites. Accuracy increased with increasing number of position fixes. When the number of position fixes increased from 60 to 500, mean accuracy increased 46.7% at deciduous sites, 32.8% at coniferous sites, and 44.5% at open sites. The average time required by the GPS receiver to lock onto four satellites and begin collecting positions varied from one to two minutes. The most time was spent collecting position fixes at coniferous sites. No correlation was found between accuracy and the receiver's distance from the base-station. Nine replicates of 300 position fixes were averaged for six sites, which ranged from 43 kilometers to 247 kilometers from a Virginia Tech base-station. Mean accuracy ranged from 1.48 meters to 2.43 meters. GPS position data were evaluated for ease of conversion to GIS formats. Conversion was accomplished without problems.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.extentvii, 71 leavesen
dc.format.mediumBTDen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.otheretd-09052009-040816en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09052009-040816/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/44605en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartLD5655.V855_1994.D435.pdfen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 30830783en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V855 1994.D435en
dc.subject.lcshGlobal Positioning System -- Testingen
dc.titleCanopy, terrain, and distance effects on Global Positioning System position accuracyen
dc.typeThesisen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineForestryen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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