Evaluation of GPS-based attitude parameters applied to bathymetric measurements

• Published in: Wuhan University journal of natural sciences Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 685 - 692
• Main Authors: Chang, Chia-chyang, Hsing-wei, Lee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer Nature B.V 01.06.2003; Department of Surveying and Mapping Engineering, Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, Tahsi, Taoyuan 335, Taiwan,China
• Subjects: Antennas; Attitudes; Evaluation; Parameters; Pitch (inclination); Rolling motion; Surveys; Vessels; multi-antenna GPS system; attitude parameters; bathymetric measurements
• ISSN: 1007-1202; 1993-4998
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02899835

As the survey vessels normally take bathymetric measurements in a ‘dynamic’ environment on the sea surface, the attitude parameters of the vessel are basically required to be introduced into the bathymetric corrections to achieve the ‘ideal’ vertical measurements related to the sounding datum. A multi-antenna GPS system, which can be easy-mounted on a vessel, has proved to be able to precisely determine its attitude parameters through the combinations of the GPS vectors. This study aimed at evaluating such a GPS-based system to determine the attitude parameters for the survey vessels, based on the data collected both in-land for testing and on-sea for practical use. The precision of the estimates was realized to be around 1.6′ for heading, 2.3′ for pitch, 9.9′ for roll, and 0.3 cm for heave, based on the testing data. When system was practically applied to the bathymetric measurements made on-board, the sea depth agreements for the check points can be improved by a significant level of 43%, if a complete set of attitude parameters was in use. As the attitude information was proved to be helpful for the bathymetric measurements, it can be suggested that a multi-antenna GPS system is an economic and effective tool for the determinations of the attitude parameter, and particularly suitable for the applications of hydrographie surveys.