Establishing GPS Control Stations for Land Boundary Survey

Mr. Simon C W KWOK

Chair of the Geomatics Professional Group, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Hong Kong (2005-2009) Chairman of the Land Surveying Division Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (2009-2010) Chief Land Surveyor, Lands Department

9 March 2011

Land Survey Ordinance (Cap 473) Section 28 Responsibility of an authorized land surveyor
(1) An authorized land surveyor shall ensure that every land boundary survey or any part thereof undertaken by him is carried out, whether by himself or by other persons under his supervision or direction, in accordance with the requirements of any code of practice approved under this ordinance.

(2) An authorized land surveyor shall ensure that any field note, survey record plan or land boundary plan prepared by him or by other persons under his supervision or direction complies with the requirements of any code of practice approved under this ordinance, .

(4) An authorized land surveyor shall be personally responsible for the accuracy and completeness of every land boundary plan signed and certified by him .., and he shall be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of any inaccuracy or incompleteness of any land boundary plan so signed and certified.
3

Code of Practice, 4th Edition (Revised) December 2006 --- approved under Land Survey Ordinance Part F Establishment of Control Stations using GPS

Appendix F -- Specifications and practice guide for establishing GPS control stations for land boundary survey (October 2004, version 2.0). 30. Control stations established by using GPS shall comply with the accuracy standard and quality requirements as stipulated in Part I of Appendix F. Authorized Land Surveyors are required to follow the recommended practice for establishing such control stations and maintaining survey records for quality checking as set out in Part II of Appendix F.
4

The Code of Practice (4th Edition 2006) Part I The mandatory requirements in accuracy standard and quality requirement
(1) The standard error of any GPS baseline measurement shall not exceed , where

= [ 102 +(3L)2 ] mm,

or

(note: L = length of baseline in km)

= 30 mm;
whichever is the less.

(2) Control Origin A new station to be fixed by GPS technique shall be connected to at least two Hong Kong GPS Control Stations established by the Geodetic Survey Section of Lands Department and situated within 20 km from the new station. A GPS control station shall be checked before it is adopted as a control origin. The discrepancy between any measured baseline component and the respective computed baseline component derived from published values shall be less than 2. i.e.

dLat obs dLat comp < 2 dLong obs dLong comp < 2

and

(3) Station connection Every new GPS station shall be fixed by at least 3 independent GPS baselines connected directly to, at least, two GPS control stations.

(4) Observation sessions At least two sessions of observation shall be made for each GPS baseline. The time lapse between observation sessions shall not be less than 30 minutes at different times of day.

(5) GPS Baseline processing All GPS baseline solutions shall be integer ambiguity fixed solutions. The discrepancy of any baseline component of repeated baselines (i.e.

dLat maximum dLat minimum, dLong maximum dLong minimum shall be less than 2 (2)

or equivalent)

(6) Least squares network adjustment All GPS baselines used for computing the solution shall be independent baselines. Every new GPS station shall be fixed by at least 3 independent baselines obtained from not less than 2 observation sessions. The residuals of GPS baseline components (i.e. VLat, VLong or equivalent) shall be less than 2.

A case showing : how to carry out GPS control survey how to demonstrate compliance of the requirements of the Code of Practice. Purpose of the Job: provide control points for re-establishment of the boundary of a lot.

10

Boundaries of the lot to be re-established built

11

Control Diagram

Site
12

Control Diagram

To Nail 2

Site
13

Accuracy Standard
Code of Practice of Land Survey Ordinance, 4th edition 2006

Use Static GPS Survey to establish 3 GPS control stations.

Accuracy standard: [102 + (3L)2 ] mm or 30mm, whichever the less, where L = length of baseline in km

Break down 3 traverse stations

Linear misclosure = (10 + 2S / 15) mm, where S = total length of traverse in metre Angular misclosure = 30 n seconds, where n = number of survey station in the traverse

14

Environment of GPS Control Station Nail 1

Nail 1
15

Obstruction Diagram of Nail 1

16

Environment of GPS Control Station Nail 2

Nail 2

17

Obstruction Diagram of Nail 2

18

Environment of GPS Control Station Nail 3

Nail 3
19

Obstruction Diagram of Nail 3

20

GPS Control Working Diagram

21

Equipment Used
1. Static GPS measurement One GPS receiver

2. Traversing One total station Two prisms Three tripods

3. Radiation One mini prism One steel tape

22

GPS Measurement Sequence

First Observation Session Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Occupy Station 1 (15 minutes) Occupy Station 2 (15 minutes) Occupy Station 3 (15 minutes)

Second Observation Session Step 4: Step 5: Step 6: Occupy Station 1 Occupy Station 2 Occupy Station 3 (15 minutes) (15 minutes) (15 minutes) 1.5 hours

Total time taken for GPS measurement :

23

Time Taken for Field Measurement

GPS measurements were taken in parallel with the traversing and shot measurement operation

2 hours measurement time were spent for : Establish 3 GPS control station 3 traverse stations Taking shots of the house and other boundary features

24

Time Taken for GPS Computation

2 hours were spent for :

Checking of origin Baseline processing Network adjustment Independent check by terrestrial measurement

25

Quality Checking Results :

Check Origin

Reference stations: HKST.1, HKWS

26

Quality Checking Results

Repeated Baselines Nail 1

27

Quality Checking Results

Residual of Network Adjustment Nail 1

28

Quality Checking Results

Repeated Baselines Nail 2

29

Quality Checking Results

Residual of Network Adjustment Nail 2

30

Quality Checking Results

Repeated Baselines Nail 3

31

Quality Checking Results

Residual of Network Adjustment Nail 3

32

Quality Checking Results

Independent Checking of GPS measurement by Terrestrial Measurement

33

Quality Checking Results

Misclosure of the traverse broken down from the GPS control points

34