Kinematic Positioning—Efficient New Tool for Surveying

Abstract

The paper gives an introduction to the rapidly emerging field of kinematic surveying, which deals with the concepts and techniques of conducting accurate surveys from moving vehicles. It briefly outlines the underlying mathematics and specifically discusses modeling, interpolation, and estimation. The general kinematic model is then related to the specific measurements used, which typically come from inertial measuring units (IMU) and satellite receivers (GPS). Four applications are presented to explain the concepts. The first application is semikinematic GPS, which is used for rapid control‐point densification and is one of the emerging procedures that will have a major impact on survey operations. The second is pipeline surveying by a velocity‐aided IMU that shows the strength of inertial techniques in situations where traditional and satellite methods cannot be applied. The last two applications use a combination of inertial and satellite techniques for road surveying from a truck and airborne photogrammetry without ground control.