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Abstract
GNSS Positioning Infrastructure and Operations
Joel van Cranenbroeck
Business Development Director
GNSS Reference Stations & Structural Monitoring, Leica Geosystems AG,
Email: Joel.VanCranenbroeck@leica-geosystems.com
Ratan Awasthi
Regional Technical Support Manager
Leica Geosystems India
Email: rka@satyam.net.in
It is well recognised today that a reference network comprised of permanent stations operating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers on a continuous basis provides the fundamental infrastructure required to meet the needs not only of geodesy and the geosciences, but also of professional GNSS users in areas of surveying, mapping and navigation.
These high accuracy applications can only be satisfied through the use of the carrier phase-based, differential GPS technique, whereby the “reference” or “base” receiver is located at a station whose coordinates are known in a geocentric datum or reference frame.
Furthermore, the widespread use of the GPS Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) technique has encouraged government geodetic and/or land survey agencies to look for ways to use GPS reference receivers to support ever expanding non-geodetic, real-time applications of high accuracy positioning for engineering, machine guidance, precision agriculture, etc.
This paper reviews the establishment of GNSS continuously operating reference stations (CORS) by government agencies and research institutes over the last two decades. The justification for the establishment of CORS networks was initially in support of geodesy and other geo-scientific applications, at the global and regional level.
However, increasingly GNSS CORS network operators have sought ways of making their network infrastructure the basis of a profitable business. This has arisen with the introduction of real-time centimetre-level accuracy services, carrier phase-based modes of operation generally referred to as GPS-RTK (Real-Time Kinematic).
One approach is to try to recruit a core group of users who are prepared to pay for the GNSS-RTK services. But this is only feasible if the number of users, and the fees that are charged, are sufficient to generate a reasonable return-on-investment (ROI).
This ROI (or at the very least “cost-recovery”) is important for many network operators in order that they may provide for the maintenance and upgrade of the CORS infrastructure. On the other hand, there are those who advocate that there is no need to recoup CORS investment, that the installed GNSS receivers should be seen as public infrastructure, in a similar manner to roads, bridges, etc.
This paper discusses some new business and operational models for GNSS-RTK services.
These include models for the establishment and operation of CORS infrastructure, service provision, business cases, and options for value-added services beyond the standard GNSS-RTK service.
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