Leica VIVA GS10 - Guides and Training
New users of our equipment are required to be trained by Facility staff. Training usually takes place during a one day visit to the GEF offices. Existing users are welcome to attend for refresher training.
Successful applicants will be invited to contact the Facility to arrange a suitable training date, usually close to the start of the project. Please note that training is free of charge, however applicants will be responsible for making their own way to the Facility.
Users may be interested to note that Newcastle University run a commercial course on high precision GNSS data post-processing, more details from their website at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cegs.cpd/cpd/gnsspostprocess.php
GEF guides
Guide to Online Positioning Services (1.1 Mb) Field QC Processing in GeoOffice (1.8 Mb) Setting up Auto Points on a GS10 RTK Rover (399.7 Kb)Leica VIVA GS10 - Applications
Static Surveying
Static applications include monitoring the movement of glaciers/ice flows, deformation networks including volcano monitoring,
precision location during gravity surveys etc.
During static surveys, carrier phase data is logged simultaneously to reference and roving receivers and stored on memory cards for later download and post-processing using the GeoOffice software. Recording times are generally from tens of minutes to hours at each location.
During longer term deployments it may be possible to power the units via solar panels, the GEF has a number of panels and regulators available, please see the Accessories and FAQ sections for more details. GEF receivers have been used extensively and found to be well suited to the challenging conditions found in Antarctica, Greenland and Iceland by researchers studying climate change.
Post-processed Kinematic (PPK) Surveying
In this mode, carrier phase data is again recorded simultaneously on reference and roving receivers, however the roving receiver is free to move whilst recording. Often, the rover is held stationary for short periods during the survey to accurately record survey points.
PPK (unlike RTK) requires no radio link between the two receivers in the field which results in a simpler setup. A disadvantage is the lack of feedback in the field as to the success of the survey, results only being obtained at a later stage at which point it may be discovered that insufficient data was collected.
Real-time Kinematic (RTK) Surveying
During an RTK survey, data collection is similar to PPK but the rover unit is receiving corrections from the reference receiver
via a radio link. Accurate centimetre level positions relative to the reference receiver are then calculated in real-time in the field with no post-processing required.
A higher accuracy can usually be obtained from a PPK survey rather than RTK and we would generally recommend PPK to our users. In certain situations, RTK may be required, for instance when feeding final location data into other instruments during the survey.
With both PPK and RTK surveys, the GPS antenna can be fitted to a carbon-fibre survey pole for very high accuracy work, or mounted onto the backpack for quicker, lower resolution surveying of large areas.
There are a vast number of applications for carrier phase kinematic surveying, from location of ground control points (GCPs) for airborne data calibration, measurement of control targets for our TLS systems to full scale mapping of landscape features for entry into GIS systems.