Accuracy assessment and position correction for low-cost non-differential GPS as applied on an industrial peat bog

• Published in: Computers and electronics in agriculture 1999-12, Vol.24 (3), p.119-130
• Main Authors: Holden, N.M., Comparetti, A., Ward, S.M., McGovern, E.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: APLICACIONES DEL ORDENADOR; APPLICATION DES ORDINATEURS; Applied sciences; COMPUTER APPLICATIONS; Differential correction; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Fuels; GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS; GPS; Milled peat; Peat; PEAT SOILS; Positioning accuracy; SISTEMA DE POSICIONAMIENTO GLOBAL; SOL TOURBEUX; SUELO TURBOSO; SYSTEME DE POSITIONNEMENT GLOBAL; Wood. Peat. Brown coal
• ISSN: 0168-1699; 1872-7107
• DOI: 10.1016/S0168-1699(99)00031-9

A low-cost, non-differentially corrected hand-held GPS receiver was tested on an industrial peat production bog. A correction procedure (‘pseudo-differential correction’) was derived that corrected data points to the nearest position on a line defining the centre of each 15-m wide field. The result was a corrected log of track points for each field for all points lying along the field. It was found that the mean orthogonal distance from a field centreline was linearly correlated with mean uncorrected GPS data error ( r 2=0.99) such that as GPS error increased so the accuracy obtained by correction decreased. For a signal with a mean uncorrected error of ∼30 m it was possible to reduce the error to ∼12 m. The results are discussed within the design requirements of a precision peat production system for peat energy. It is concluded that low-cost GPS could be used without differential correction as part of a precision peat production system because over 80% of the time positional error could be constrained to within 15 m. When compared with the perceived patterns of variability and the 30-m resolution of Landsat imagery which can be used for making application maps, this is acceptable.