Past & Present Australian Research Council (ARC) Funded SNAP Projects
from earliest (top) to latest (bottom)

ARC (large) project: "A Second Generation Low-Cost GPS Array System for Deformation Monitoring of the Mt. Guntur Volcano in Indonesia" 1998-2000

Summary: This project is concerned with the development and deployment of a second generation Permanent Automatic GPS Array System on an active volcano, Mt. Guntur, in Indonesia. This GPS deformation monitoring system will be a significant advance on earlier designs. A two-stage network design will be used: an inner network consisting of ten relatively low-cost GPS receivers surrounded by a few dual-frequency GPS receivers. The combined network will cost one fifth to one tenth a conventional system, and through the application of innovative data processing strategies and algorithms will deliver centimetre level accuracies (or better), during long periods of continuous operation. Such a network is expected to contribute to volcanic hazard mitigation. More details ...

---

ARC-SPIRT project: "A Precise Navigation System for Driverless Mine Equipment Using Combined GPS and GLONASS Measurements" 1998-2000

Summary: This project is concerned with the development and testing of an autonomous robotic navigation system based on two different satellite positioning systems: GPS and GLONASS. The application will be to support driverless open-cut mine equipment operations. The project has been prepared, and will be jointly managed, by the Industry Partner as part of their large program of Mine Automation. The aim is to build and test a prototype system employing innovative data processing algorithms previously developed by the Chief Investigators for use with GPS-only receivers. Realistic testing is vital because of the need to satisfy decimetre accuracy requirements, in real-time, while the in-vehicle receiver is moving in a mine environment where satellite coverage is very uneven. More details ...

---

ARC (International) project: "Installation and Test of a GPS Array System for Deformation Monitoring of the Mt. Guntur Volcano in Indonesia" 1998

Summary: To facilitate the international collaboration necessary in the development, deployment and testing of a Permanent Automatic GPS System on an active volcano in Indonesia, designed to monitor precursory ground deformational activity associated with volcanic eruptions, funding has been provided for 1998 and 1999 to support a number of trips by the collaborators; to Germany, and to and from Indonesia. More details ...

---

ARC (small) project: "Develop and Test a Centimetre Level Accuracy GPS Kinematic Positioning System for Medium-Range Applications" 1998

Summary: Centimetre level accuracy GPS kinematic positioning requires fixed integer ambiguities, which can be easily resolved in the case of short-range GPS kinematic positioning (where the distance between the reference receiver to the roving receiver is less than 15-20 km), but not in the case of medium-range (up to one hundred kilometres). The aim of this project is to develop a new ambiguity resolution technique, error mitigation method, quality control procedure, and associated specifications which can be used for medium-range GPS kinematic positioning. This technique is based on a new functional model to account for the distance-dependent biases, and a new quality control procedure to validate integer ambiguities, in order to derive sub-decimetre level accuracy position for moving platforms such as ships, aircraft, or land vehicles.

---

ARC (small) project: "Develop and Test Innovative Navigation and Surveying Techniques with the aid of the Chinese Wide Area DGPS Reference Station Network" 1999

Summary: It is proposed to participate in the development of the Chinese WADGPS system using currently available receiver facilities, but which operates more efficiently and supports a wider range of users than at present. Hence the proposed WADGPS system would not just be of the pseudo-range-based type already operating in other parts of the world. It will be innovative because it will incorporate refinements based on the use of GPS carrier phase measurements so as to achieve higher accuracy and reliability, even to centimetre-level accuracy under suitable conditions.

---

ARC (large) project: "Develop and Test A New Generation GPS RTK System for Instantaneous Carrier Phase-Based Positioning" 1999-2001

Summary: This project aims to develop and test a new generation of GPS data processing techniques, especially quality control procedures, appropriate for the latest generation of GPS receiver hardware, which can routinely deliver centimetre (or sub-centimetre) level accuracy using a single epoch of GPS observations. The two bases of this project are the instantaneous (single-epoch) ambiguity resolution technique, and an innovative error mitigation procedure, developed by the two Chief Investigators. More details ...

---

ARC (large) project: "Development & Testing of Innovative High Precision GPS Techniques with the Aid of the Singaporean Multi-Base Station Network" 1999-2001

Summary: The project aims to develop and test several innovative GPS positioning techniques which take advantage of a network of continuously operating GPS base stations, linked by dedicated telephone lines to a central processing facility. Such a multi-receiver infrastructure can address several significant shortcomings of current commercial centimetre-accuracy GPS systems, leading to improvements in accuracy, reductions in user costs, increased suitability of GPS for critical applications, and increased flexibility in system implementation. The expected outcomes are several unique real-time GPS systems and Internet-enabled services. Prototype systems will be tested on the Singaporean multi-base station network. This network is being established as an initiative jointly proposed by the Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and UNSW. More details...

---

ARC-SPIRT project: "Development of a Medium Range, Carrier Phase-Based GPS Positioning System for Helicopter Gravity Surveys" 1999-2001

Summary: The objective of this project is to develop field procedures, a hardware package and a data processing software system for medium-range, centimetre accuracy, rapid GPS positioning in support of helicopter gravity surveys, based on the use of a network of GPS reference receivers. The outcome will be a more efficient high precision GPS positioning technique suited to the demanding requirements of the geophysical exploration industry. The project Industry Partner will be Normandy Exploration, one of Australia's largest exploration companies. The intended GPS system will overcome some of the present constraints of commercial GPS systems, and provide will significant benefits to the Industry Partner, and to the Australian geophysical exploration industry. More details ...

---

ARC-RIEF project: "A GPS Receiver Facility to Support Australian Geodetic Research" 1999

Summary: This project seeks funding for up to ten dual-frequency GPS receivers, high quality choke-ring antennas and notebook PCs to create a pool of GPS equipment which will support a large number of international standard, geodetic research projects at universities in Australia. The parties to this RIEF consist of a consortium embracing those academic departments in Australia that have a well-established track record of geodetic research using GPS. The researchers already have strong links with each other, evidenced by joint publications and a number of existing collaborative grants supported by the ARC. This proposal will strengthen the breadth and scope of geodetic research able to be undertaken by Australian geodesists. The GPS Receiver Pool will be used to collect field data essential for on-going and new research projects, many in collaboration with other Australian and overseas investigators. The projects will address a wide variety of geodetic problems, including the monitoring of deformation of man-made and natural features, global and regional tectonics, measurement of sea-level change, precise mapping of Antarctic ice sheets and their flow, and the sounding of the atmosphere.

---

ARC-IREX project: "Low-cost Densification of Permanent GPS Networks for Natural Hazard Mitigation" 1999

Summary: Researchers from UNSW, and from the Geographical Survey Institute (GSI), Japan, propose to deploy and test an innovative hardware/software system design for an automatic, continuously-operated ground deformation monitoring system based on GPS technology. Conventional continuously-operated GPS (CGPS) networks, such as the one established in Japan by GSI to precisely measure earth surface movement (fault motion is considered an important precursory signal for seismic activity), are very expensive. The nationwide GSI network is the world's largest. However, in order to densify such CGPS networks, and to promote the use of the CGPS technique in lesser developed countries, a significantly cheaper system architecture is required. The essence of the UNSW design is an integrated, dual-mode network consisting of low-cost, single-frequency GPS receivers across the area of interest, surrounded by a small number of dual-frequency GPS receivers. Tests have shown that through the application of innovative data processing algorithms such a CGPS network would be able to deliver better than centimetre level accuracies, at considerably lower cost than present systems based exclusively on dual-frequency instrumentation, as in the example of the GSI network. This project proposes the first test of this new CGPS system design, in Japan, some time in 1999. More details ...

---

ARC (small) project: "Investigations into GPS-Pseudolite Integration for Precise Positioning Applications" 2000

Summary: This project is concerned with the testing of a pseudolite ("pseudo-satellite") transmitter that can complement the Global Positioning System (GPS) in situations where sky visibility is so poor that not enough satellite signals can be received in order to perform the positioning task. Pseudolite-augmented GPS positioning is a new technology with potential applications in shaded outdoor situations, such as in deep open cut mines and downtown "urban canyons". The feasibility of using pseudolites in combination with GPS will be demonstrated for centimetre-level accuracy applications with the modification of the current UNSW GPS data processing software to handle the new data types. More details ...

---

ARC (small) project: "Develop and Test a Sub-Decimetre Level Accuracy GPS Kinematic Positioning System for Long-Range Airborne Applications" 2000

Summary: Precise airborne GPS positioning requires the use of carrier phase measurements, the data processing of which suffers from the technical challenges of ambiguity resolution, cycle slip repair, multipath mitigation and tropospheric delay modelling. The aim of this project is to develop and test an airborne GPS kinematic positioning system which could provide sub-decimetre accuracy aircraft trajectory information. The expected outcome of this project will be a software package, and associate fieldwork and implementation procedures, for airborne GPS kinematic positioning applications such as in support of Laser Airborne Depth Sounder and airborne gravimetry operations.

---

ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship awarded to Dr. Jinling Wang: "The Integrated Analysis of GPS and GLONASS Measurements for Precise Real-Time Positioning " 2000-2002

Summary: Satellite positioning technologies are increasingly becoming an important part of the worldwide geo-spatial information infrastructure. The integrated analysis of GPS and GLONASS measurements is a major milestone in satellite positioning, because it can dramatically improve the reliability and productivity of positioning. An integrated GPS-GLONASS positioning system, however, requires advanced data modelling and quality control techniques. This project aims to investigate the most challenging modelling and quality control issues. The major outcomes of this research will be an optimal mathematical model, a real-time stochastic modelling method and robust quality control procedures that optimise the performance of integrated GPS-GLONASS positioning systems.

---

ARC-SPIRT project: "An Integrated GPS and Pseudolite Surveying System for Steelworks Applications" 2001-2003

Summary: Heavy industry such as steelworks are very challenging environments for positioning technologies because heat, dust, cramped and dangerous conditions, vibration, moving machinery, elevated sites, line-of-sight obstructions, gas fumes and steam, etc., make satellite-based systems such as GPS sub-optimal. To overcome the problems of GPS signal shading, it is proposed to integrate the GPS and pseudolite technologies so as to develop a vehicle positioning system for use Flat Steel Products area of BHP's steelworks. This award was granted to Prof. Chris Rizos and Dr. Jinling Wang.

---

ARC-SPIRT (APAI) project: "Development of Communications and Information Technologies in Support of Integrated GPS Reference Station Networks" 2001-2003

Summary: An Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry) to support a PhD student to work on a project that aims to integrate communications and information technologies with GPS to create a ground-based infrastructure that services the needs for high precision positioning in rural and regional Australia. GPS, wireless communications and the Internet can be applied to applications such as 'precision agriculture', materials handling, mining, transport and port operations, all of which are vital to Australia's continued prosperity. This project will focus on addressing the various CIT challenges, including the system architecture design and definition of Internet/wireless communication protocols, necessary for the development of products and services based on the integration of GPS Reference Station Networks and the Internet. This grant was awarded to Prof. Chris Rizos.

---

ARC-Discovery (APD) project: "Integrated Space Geodetic Techniques for Ground Subsidence Monitoring Due to Underground Mining and Similar Activities" 2002-2004

Summary: This project will integrate two space geodetic techniques: GPS and InSAR for the monitoring of ground subsidence due to underground mining, and similar activities. Data from GPS will be used to map tropospheric water vapour and ionospheric disturbances, and hence these results will be used to calibrate the atmospheric effects in InSAR. GPS coordinates can be considered as being 'absolute' in the sense that they are tied to a well-defined terrestrial reference system. On the other hand, InSAR results are 'relative' measurements. In addition, InSAR results, with their high spatial resolution, can be used to densify GPS results in a spatial sense. Therefore it is obvious that the two techniques are complementary. This grant supports an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Linlin Ge. More details on InSAR research ...

---

ARC-Linkage (International) project: "An Integrated Bridge Monitoring System Based on the GPS and Pseudolite Technologies" 2002-2003

Summary: Global Positioning System (GPS) technology can be used for precise deflection measurement of manmade structures such as buildings, bridges, etc. When integrated with additional signals from pseudolites (PL) that transmit GPS-like signals, changes in the height(s) of the monitored point(s) can be measured to millimetre accuracy. In collaboration with University of Nottingham researchers (from the Institute of Engineering Surveying & Space Geodesy), a bridge structure in the U.K. will be used as a testbed, and will be the first time that PLs have been used for such an application. The UNSW researchers are Prof. Chris Rizos and Dr. Joel Barnes.

---

ARC-Linkage project: "Development of Internet-based Kinematic GPS Solutions for Local and Regional Positioning Services" 2003-2005

Summary: This interdisciplinary project develops a highly novel total network strategy for real-time kinematic GPS positioning services using the Internet communication protocols for data transmission. The proposed system is technically superior to existing network-based differential GPS (DGPS) systems, by providing positioning services at different accuracy levels (metre to centimetre) with reduced operational cost to users. The research focuses on improved network operations and processing, along with developing user-specific algorithms. The outcomes are expected to provide significant opportunities for both real time and near-real-time kinematic positioning applications and commercialisations of such services, in urban and regional areas of Australia. This project is undertaken in collaboration with researchers from the Queensland University of Technology and Prof. Chris Rizos.

---

ARC-Discovery project: "Remote Sensing Based on Indirect GPS Signals" 2003-2006

Summary: It is intended to utilize signals from the GPS satellite system, reflected from stationary objects (walls and water surfaces), to detect deformation or changed surface characteristics using the bistatic radar principle. The GPS receiving system consists of one or more signal detection components with antennas, as well as a processing device. The main objectives of the research are: the estimation of the power budget, developing techniques for system modelling, developing techniques for simultaneous reception of signals from different satellites, and processing these signals with the aim of improving the spatial resolution, development of a demonstrator system, and evaluation of the system for selected remote sensing tasks. This grant was awarded to Prof. Chris Rizos, and the research is undertaken in collaboration with Prof. Kurt Kubik, of the University of Queensland.

---

ARC-Discovery project: "Stochastic Modelling for High Precision GPS and Glonass Satellite Positioning" 2003-2004

Summary: This ARC grant is awarded to Dr. Jinling Wang. Realistic stochastic modelling for measurements is one of the fundamental and challenging issues in a wide range of scientific problems. This project aims to develop and test an innovative stochastic modelling methodology for high precision GPS and Glonass satellite positioning applications. The new stochastic modelling methodology will significantly improve the accuracy and reliability of satellite positioning results. The expected outcomes are: (1) new knowledge about the statistical characteristics of satellite measurements; (2) development of a new error analysis framework; and (3) development of computationally efficient data processing algorithms to support high precision GPS and Glonass positioning.

---

ARC-Linkage (APAI) project: "An Augmented-GPS Software Receiver for Indoor/Outdoor Positioning" 2003-2005

Summary: An Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry) to support a PhD student to work on a project that will focus on the technical design of a personal positioning device, based on the measurement of a combination of GPS satellite and ground-transmitted signals. The design will incorporate Australian innovations in high-sensitivity GPS receivers, and "pseudo-satellite" technologies. The integration of the GPS and "pseudo-satellite" technologies will be carried out within a "software receiver", which offers the opportunity of flexibility in the design of signal processing and navigation algorithms. The receiver design is intended to address the critical challenges for a low-cost, ubiquitous, high accuracy positioning device for a variety of indoor and outdoor consumer applications. This grant was awarded to Prof. Chris Rizos and Dr. Jinling Wang.