Opportunities and Challenges for the
Surveying Industry in a Multi-System
GNSS World
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UNSW, Sydney, Australia
Chris Rizos
Member of the IGS Governing Board (2004-15)
President International Association of Geodesy (2011-15)
XXV FIG Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 16-21 June 2014
The range of geospatial technologies, the
applications of surveying skills are unprecedented,
the opportunities numerous, the jobs plentiful…
But there are challenges...
Do we need to...
Change our education & training?
Change our client focus & markets?
Change our geospatial infrastructure?
Change our self-image?
I will take a geodesist’s perspective…
Crucial developments in geospatial technologies &
other mega-trends will impact on the Surveyor’s
work...
There are Opportunities as well as Challenges for the
industry and for our discipline...
1. GPS: an extraordinarily versatile tool...
“GPS has revolutionised Geodesy,
Surveying and Navigation”...
There is a blurring of boundaries between
GNSS Precise Positioning applications, and
its practitioners/experts/users...
and there’s more to come...
Constellation Status (Apr. 2014)
Sats*)
System
Blocks
Signals
GPS
IIA
IIR-A/B
IIR-M
IIF
L1 C/A, L1/L2 P(Y)
Same
+L2C
+L5
GLONASS
M
K
L1/L2 C/A + P
+L3
BeiDou
GEO
IGSO
MEO
B1, B2, B3
B1, B2, B3
B1, B2, B3
Galileo
IOV
E1, (E6), E5a/b/ab
(4)
QZSS
IGSO
L1 C/A, L1C, SAIF
L2C, E6 LEX, L5
1
IRNSS
IGSO
L5, S
8
12
7
4(+1)
24
(1)
5
5
4
(2)
*) not yet declared healthy/operational
3. Precise Positioning: from niche to mass
market...
“PP expertise has been the preserve
of professional elite for niche apps”...
There will be an explosion
in PP applications, based
on a wide variety of
GNSS techniques...
4. From National to Global Datums...
“GNSS has changed how datums
are defined and accessed”...
Best-practice is to use high fidelity 3D
datums, which are accurate & regularly
updated...
experts are still needed...
5. Geodesy as an Earth Observation Science...
“Geodesy has now gone beyond its
original mission as the foundation
for geospatial information”...
The faintest signatures of Global Change,
Geohazards & Environmental Processes can
be detected...
1. Become GNSS experts...
after steady decades-long evolution in
GPS precise positioning technology,
there will be dramatic change
1.1 Range of techniques is expanding...
The GPS world is simple...
Surveyors use specialised
procedures, and well-developed
guidelines & methodologies ...
Now it is getting more complicated
Differential Positioning (DGNSS)
GNSS Constellation(s)
Local CORS Network
DGNSS corrs or
raw CORS PR/CPH
data
GNSS User
Precise Point Positioning (PPP)
GNSS
Constellation(s)
GNSS
User
CORS Network
GNSS Satellite Orbit and
Clock Corrections
Real-time or post-processed?
Commercial or Free services?
PPP or PPP-RTK?
Commercial PPP services...
Free PPP RT-IGS... http://rts.igs.org/
1.1 Range of techniques is expanding...
1.2 From GPS to Multi-GNSS...
The GPS world is simple...
Multi-GNSS is more confusing...
Greater choice, but with more
scope for innovation
Visible GNSS satellites (mask angle 30 degrees)
2018:
10
GPS(32)+Glonass(24)+Galileo(26)+BeiDou(29)+IRNSS(7)+QZSS(4)+SBAS(13)
15
20
25
30
35
BeiDou visibility: Singapore
Mixing GNSS signals may be the norm...
1.1 Range of techniques is expanding...
1.2 From GPS to Multi-GNSS...
1.3 Receiver technology is evolving...
The GPS world is simple...
Surveyors use expensive HW &
sophisticated SW...
M-GNSS receivers will be more
varied in capabilities and cost
Interoperable M-GNSS receivers...
plus web-based processing
≈$2.5K per unit
Simple RTK-PP GPS receivers...
≈$2K per unit
A sign of things to come...
RT-PPP enabled by geodetic services & OEM
components
GNSS OEM + Open Source RTKLIB +
Internet + RT-IGS = Low-cost RT-PPP
A sign of things to come...
mass market PPP enabled by smartphone-type
receivers & geodetic services
2. Become GNSS Precise
Positioning innovators...
new precise positioning applications
2.1 Moving platform applications...
Surveyors have traditionally
used GPS/GNSS for static point
coordination...
Need to position “kinematically”
Mapping
platforms &
roving PP
apps...
GNSS attached to all sorts
of objects & vehicles...
2.1 Moving platform applications...
2.2 From GNSS to GNSS+...
GNSS is technology-of-choice for
outdoor positioning...
Consider how to address PP needs
in “difficult” environments?
PP in non-GNSS
environments
“GNSS is like
Swiss cheese...
… it’s full of
holes”
GNSS is not an indoor positioning technology…
2.1 Moving platform applications...
2.2 From GNSS to GNSS+...
2.3 New PP applications...
Precise Positioning synonymous
with “professional” market...
The distinction between PP niche &
mass market will likely disappear
Advanced ITS applications...
Positioning in vehicles is going from Passive to Active...
from simple navigation to information about traffic to
warnings about hazards to actively avoiding hazards
C-ITS positioning requirements…
“Vehicle Positioning for C-ITS in Australia”,
AustRoads Research Report, April 2013
https://www.onlinepublications.austroads.com.au/items/AP-R431-13
3. Become mapping experts...
there has never been such a
range of mapping technologies
3.1 Back-to-basics...
Surveyors have traditionally left
photogrammetric mapping &
image processing to experts...
Surveyors need to understand
mapping principles & apply them
Photogrammetric & TLS
principles...
3.1 Back-to-basics...
3.2 Unconventional mapping systems ...
Surveyors ignore “low-cost”
systems, considering them
unsuitable for their applications...
Today’s smartphone & robotic
imaging systems may be
tomorrow’s “everyman mappers”
Low-cost mobile mappers...
Google Tango
Robotics & SLAM
Smartphone imaging
Handheld lasers... E.g.
Zebedee, Kinect, etc
3.1 Back-to-basics...
3.2 Unconventional mapping systems...
3.3 Up in the air...
Surveyors work at ground-level...
Need to embrace mapping &
imagery from aerial vantage points
Airborne & satellite imagery...
UAVs are an
extremely
disruptive
technology...
Satellite imagery is getting
better and better...
Higher resolution, lower
cost, and hence geospatial
apps will grow
Difficult to predict how UAVs
will evolve, but geospatial
apps will be very important
Google buys sat image
company for $500M
http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/satellites/9-earthimaging-startups-to-watch
3.1 Back-to-basics...
3.2 Unconventional mapping systems...
3.3 Up in the air...
3.4 Under the ground...
Surveyors work at ground-level ...
Demand for underground utility
mapping will rise...
Underground
mapping...
The need to map underground
utilities & works is greater than
ever...
Surveyors need to use new
technologies, new approaches
4. Coordinate/Datum experts...
surveyors have always used
coordinates & datums
4.1 Back-to-basics...
Surveyors understand coordinates...
Those unique skills need to be
enhanced & applied
Coordinates &
datums...
90˚
120˚
150˚
180˚
60˚
60˚
30˚
30˚
0˚
0˚
-30˚
-30˚
50 mm/year
90˚
Manipulating & transforming
coordinates & datums should be one of
the Surveyors’ most marketable skills...
120˚
150˚
180˚
4.1 Back-to-basics...
4.2 ITRF-based datums...
Surveyors use a variety of local,
formal & ad hoc datums...
They should be champions for the
modernisation of national datums
based on ITRF & GNSS
Modernise national datums using ITRF...
Coordinates of “static” points
change with time...
GNSS techniques can
define/access different datums
in different ways...
Surveyors must be comfortable
with 4D coordinates...
Advocate best-practice datum
definition & master epoch-toepoch transformations...
4.1 Back-to-basics...
4.2 ITRF-based datums...
4.3 Accounting for deformation...
Surveyors seek stable ground...
High accuracy demands new
attitude to ground deformations
At cm-accuracy level, very little is stable...
Coordinates change due to many natural &
anthropogenic causes...
Surveyors need the skills to measure, interpret &
account for horizontal & vertical ground movement
4.1 Back-to-basics...
4.2 ITRF-based datums...
4.3 Accounting for deformation...
4.4 Height datums...
Surveyors deal with heights
everyday...
They must understand different
height systems & datums...
Height systems...
Physical & Geometric
height systems...
GNSS, tide gauges &
geoid models...
Sea Level Rise &
ground subsidence...
Surveyor must be able
to understand all of
these systems,
technologies &
phenomena
source: Sanchez (modified)
Lessons for our industry?...
 Maintain mastery over GNSS technologies
 Be ready for rapid change in GNSS technology &
services
 Be ready to address new GNSS precise positioning
applications
 Think about “GNSS+”
 Note that datums & coordinates are central to PP
 Hone Surveyors’ unique analysis & coordinate skills
 Use low-cost mapping systems & innovate
 Embrace change & seize opportunities
Opportunities & Challenges for
the Surveying Industry...
note this is but one perspective!
Focused on Measurement,
Mapping & Positioning, taking
advantage of GNSS & consumer
product development...
Thank You!