A Test on the Potential of a Low Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle RTK/PPK Solution for Precision Positioning.

Nicola Angelo Famiglietti,Gianpaolo Cecere,Carmine Grasso,Annamaria Vicari,Antonino Memmolo

doi:10.3390/s21113882

Nicola Angelo Famiglietti, Gianpaolo Cecere + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/s21113882

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Abstract

This paper investigated the achievable accuracy from a low-cost RTK (Real Time Kinematic)/PPK (Post Processing Kinematic) GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) system installed on board a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), employing three different types of GNSS Bases (Alloy, RS2 and RING) working in PPK mode. To evaluate the quality of the results, a set of seven GCPs (Ground Control Points) measured by means of the NRTK (Network Real Time Kinematic) technique was used. The outcomes show a RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) of 0.0189 m for an ALLOY Base, 0.0194 m for an RS2 Base and 0.0511 m for RING Base, respectively, on the vertical value of DEMs (Digital Elevation Models) obtained by a photogrammetric process. This indicates that, when changing the Base for the PPK, the solutions are different, but they can still be considered adequate for precision positioning with UAVs, especially when GCPs could be used with some difficulty. Therefore, the integration of a RTK/PPK GNSS module on a UAV allows the reconstruction of a highly detailed and precise DEM without using GCPs and provides the possibility to carry out surveys in inaccessible areas.

Highlights

The INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy) is often called in emergency situations related to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions
Fast mapping could provide a significant contribution during the early phases of the emergency and in general when timeliness is crucial [1,2,3,4]
DEMs produced in the environment, comparing them with the precision measurements produced in the GIS environment, comparing them with the precision measurements made madeon onthe theGCPs