Great Lakes Region Height Modernization Consortium Overview of : PennDOT CORS & VRS / RTN for Great Lakes Region Height Modernization Consortium Charles I. Harpster, Jr., CP, LSIT (charpster@state.pa.us) Geodetic Surveys Manager April 13, 2011

ENGINEERING DISTRICTS ERIE WARREN McKEAN SUSQUEHANNA 1 TIOGA BRADFORD POTTER CRAWFORD WAYNE 4 Oil City FOREST WYOMING ELK CAMERON SULLIVAN LACKAWANNA 2 LYCOMING VENANGO Dunmore PIKE MERCER Montoursville 3 Dunmore JEFFERSON CLINTON CLARION Clearfield LUZERNE COLUMBIA LAWRENCE MONROE 10 MONTOUR BUTLER CLEARFIELD UNION CENTRE CARBON ARMSTRONG SNYDER NORTHUMBER- LAND 5 BEAVER NORTHAMPTON 11 INDIANA MIFFLIN SCHUYLKILL LEHIGH Allentown ALLEGHENY Indiana BLAIR JUNIATA CAMBRIA Hollidaysburg Bridgeville Bridgeville PERRY DAUPHIN LEBANON BERKS Harrisburg BUCKS WESTMORELAND HUNTINGDON WASHINGTON 9 MONTGOMERY 12 CUMBERLAND 8 6 Uniontown LANCASTER PHILADELPHIA SOMERSET BEDFORD King of Prussia FULTON FRANKLIN GREENE FAYETTE ADAMS YORK CHESTER DELAWARE Our Purpose & Function: Provide Geodetic Survey Operations & Support for the PennDOT Photogrammetry & Surveys Section & Districts Provide Geodetic Survey Control for the Commonwealth Coordinate with the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) ENGINEERING DISTRICTS

GPS at PennDOT

GPS at PennDOT Field Equipment Pre 1996 = Conventional Survey Techniques Wild T2 Theodolite Zeiss Ni2 Automatic Level

GPS at PennDOT Field Equipment 1996 = PennDOT purchased first GPS units for PSS 1999 = PennDOT purchased GPS units for all Districts Trimble 4800 Rover 1999 Trimble 4000 SSI 1996 Trimble 4700 Base 1999

GPS at PennDOT Field Equipment 2006 = PennDOT started purchase of GPS+GLONASS Trimble R8 (GPS only) = 2003+ Trimble R8 GNSS (GPS+GLONASS) = 2006+

GPS at PennDOT CORS = National Coverage thru the National Geodetic Survey

GPS at PennDOT PennDOT CORS History First NGS CORS in PA from PennDOT WIL1 - in 1996 – at Penn State Univ, Wilkes-Barre Campus Trimble 4000SSI (now 4700) with Compact L1/L2 Antenna (still there!) Soon to be upgraded to Trimble NetR9 w/ Zephyr Antenna (GNSS)

GPS at PennDOT PennDOT CORS History First NGS (GNSS) CORS in PA from PennDOT PAAP – in 2010 – at Univ of Pittsburgh, Oakland Campus Trimble NetR5 w/ Zephyr Antenna (GNSS)

Currently 20 NGS CORS in PA from PennDOT GPS at PennDOT CORS = PA Coverage - data access thru the NGS http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS/ Currently 20 NGS CORS in PA from PennDOT (16 – GPS and 4 – GNSS) + 7 more NGS CORS from other state entities

GPS at PennDOT CORS = Examples – District 2-6 - Potter County GPS Antenna GPS Receiver with Computer

GPS at PennDOT CORS = Examples – District 10-0 HQ - Indiana Co GPS Antenna GPS Receiver with Computer

GPS at PennDOT VRS = Virtual Reference System

GPS at PennDOT VRS = Current PennDOT Use Current PennDOT use of VRS: Increases field production by 30-50% from traditional GPS surveying Reduce GPS field observation times by cellular phone link Cut GPS field occupation time from 8-15 minutes to 3 minutes. Reduce GPS office computation times by using real-time GPS methods Coordinate values available in field, eliminates majority of GPS processing in office More active field GPS units (rovers), eliminates static field GPS units (bases) Significantly reduce need for “passive monumentation” Anxiously awaiting newer / better NGS geoid models (NGS - 10 yr plan) PennDOT currently has own VRS in SW PA currently submitting purchase request for state-wide expansion of the PennDOT VRS PennDOT PSS currently streams real-time data from 21 CORS to 3 Vendor RTN’s 1 base station data stream to vendor = 1 field rover vendor account for PennDOT = No $$$ fees Trimble & Topcon vendor networks & possibly Leica in the near future

GPS at PennDOT VRS = PennDOT Coverage – SW PA http://www.dotvrs.state.pa.us/

GPS at PennDOT VRS = Vendor (KeyNetGPS) PA Coverage http://vrs

GPS at PennDOT VRS = Possible State-wide PennDOT Coverage http://www

GPS at PennDOT GPS Accuracies - Summary Method Obs Time Accuracy Static 30 - 60 min 0.02 - 0.05’ Horz (over 6 miles) 0.10 - 0.15’ Vert Fast Static 8 - 20 min 0.02 - 0.05’ Horz (under 6 miles) 0.10 - 0.15’ Vert RTK 5 sec - 3 min 0.05 – 0.07’ Horz VRS 5 sec - 3 min 0.05 – 0.07’ Horz (in 20 mile network) 0.10 - 0.15’ Vert FUTURE Outlook = stronger GPS signals / more SVs = even better accuracy

Resources NGS CORS NGS OPUS (Online Positioning Users Service) http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS/ Download GPS data to process against your GPS data (i.e. in TGO Software) eliminates need for a field base receiver and frees up receiver for more roving production NGS OPUS (Online Positioning Users Service) http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/OPUS/ Submit your GPS data to NGS and have them process it for you, for free! Great for GPS positioning of single points, but points are not “networked or connected” together OPUS-S (static) = at least 2 hrs of GPS data processed against 3 surrounding CORS OPUS-RS (rapid-static) = 15 min to 4 hrs of GPS data processed against all surrounding CORS Results emailed to you within seconds / minutes! OPUS-DB = publish your results into NGS’s database NGS Federal Geospatial Summit 2010 http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/2010Summit/2010FederalGeospatialSummitProceedings.pdf NGS Survey Control Database http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/datasheet.prl PennDOT’s Photogrammetry Asset Management System (PAMS) http://www.penndotpams.org PennDOT’s Surveying & Mapping Manual (Pub. 122M) http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bureaus/pdBOS.nsf/FormsAndPubsHomePage?OpenFrameSet