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Summary Review of GPS Technology For Structural Health Monitoring
Summary Review of GPS Technology For Structural Health Monitoring
Health Monitoring
Seok Been Im, Ph.D.1; Stefan Hurlebaus, Ph.D., M.ASCE2; and Young Jong Kang, Ph.D., M.ASCE3
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Christ University - Faculty of Engineering on 02/15/21. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Abstract: Over the last two decades, global positioning system (GPS) technology has been developed rapidly and recently applied to civil
structures for appropriate monitoring of structural performance. Currently, the GPS technique can only be applied to flexible structures having
lower modal frequency ranges, and it still has remaining issues when it comes to obtaining accurate measurements. However, the application of
GPS is promising as a monitoring tool because it can measure dynamic characteristics and static displacements in real time, whereas the con-
ventional monitoring system using accelerometers cannot measure static and quasi-static displacements. Furthermore, rapid advancements in
GPS devices and algorithms can mitigate erroneous sources of GPS data, and integrated systems using GPS receivers with other supplement
sensors are capable of providing accurate measurements. Therefore, GPS technology can provide accurate displacements of structures in real
time, and stress and strain conditions of the structures can be computed using finite-element models and numerical analyses. It is also expected
that damage localization and severity can be identified using the dynamic characteristics of structures obtained from GPS. This paper summa-
rizes the use of GPS technology for structural health monitoring. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000475. © 2013 American Society of
Civil Engineers.
CE Database subject headings: Geographic information systems; Monitoring; Span bridges; Monitoring.
Author keywords: GPS; Health monitoring; Long span bridges; Real-time monitoring.
Introduction bridges more frequently. Increased traffic loads call for more oner-
ous use requirements than were expected at the time of their original
In recent years, civil structures and buildings have been getting design. Therefore, continuous monitoring has to be performed using
bigger and more slender for economical and aesthetic reasons. A an appropriate method to secure the performance of high-rise
large number of long span bridges, such as cable-stayed bridges and buildings and bridges up to their physical design limits and close
suspension bridges, have been constructed to reduce the overall cost to their planned lifetimes.
of the substructure, because substructure costs significantly increase Conventional monitoring methods have been used with accel-
when bridges are located in seas, valleys, and developed urban areas. erometers and surveying equipment, such as the theodolite. The
Recently, many countries have emulatively constructed high-rise accelerometer monitoring system is capable of measuring the dy-
buildings because the building can be a tourist attraction and namic response of structures and its measuring coverage is broad;
a landmark for the country. Thus, long span bridges and high-rise that is, it is applicable for identifying high frequency ranges.
buildings can be significantly affected by live loads such as a However, it cannot assess static and quasi-static displacement, and
wind load. Many more concerns have been raised regarding the numerical integration errors may be included. Thus, the acceler-
dynamic responses of long span bridges and high-rise buildings to ometer system requires appropriate postprocessing to reduce in-
assure their structural performance. The importance of monitoring tegration error; it is limited in determining a double integration
constant in real-time monitoring applications (Celebi 2000; Lee
high-rise buildings cannot be overemphasized because the areas are
and Shinozuka 2006; Park et al. 2007). The permanent static dis-
densely populated. Additionally, bridges face severe environmental
placements caused by long-standing or impact loads are significant
effects leading to corrosion, and the original dynamic characteristics
especially for bridge structures because erosion and settlement of
can be changed because of the deterioration of their structural inte-
bridges caused by tidal effects, ship collisions, or other impacts may
grities. Furthermore, over the last several decades, the requirements cause entire bridges to abruptly fall. However, the information for
for bridges have changed: vehicles are heavier, faster, and using the permanent displacement of the bridges cannot be obtained from
the accelerometer system (Fujino et al. 2000; Masri et al. 2004).
1
Manager, ENG Center, Samsung C&T, HongWoo Annex Bldg. 7F To monitor the static displacements of structures, conventional
1327-1, Seocho-Gu, Seoul, 137-858 Korea. E-mail: sbeeni75@gmail.com survey methods can be used, but their results are affected by
2
Assistant Professor, Zachry Dept. of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M surveyors and are not provided in real time. Thus, alternative ways
Univ., College Station, TX 77843-3136 (corresponding author). E-mail: have been developed in response to increased requirements for
shurlebaus@civil.tamu.edu monitoring dynamic and static displacements in real time. The
3
Professor, School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineer- global positioning system (GPS) and the newly developed tech-
ing, Korea Univ., Seoul, 136-713 Korea. E-mail: yjkang@korea.ac.kr
niques, such as terrestrial positioning systems, laser displace-
Note. This manuscript was submitted on March 1, 2011; approved on
August 2, 2011; published online on August 5, 2011. Discussion period ment sensors, and photo/video imaging methods, have been
open until March 1, 2014; separate discussions must be submitted for applied to long span bridges and examined for their feasibility
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engi- (Lee and Shinozuka 2006; Park et al. 2007; Wahbeh et al. 2003).
neering, Vol. 139, No. 10, October 1, 2013. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/ However, the vision-based approaches have some limitations.
2013/10-1653–1664/$25.00. First, the vision capabilities of monitoring devices can be affected
advancement of the GPS device and algorithms has enabled the sition. To obtain high-quality phase data, the rover GPS receiver has
monitoring of bridges in real time (Kijewski-Correa et al. 2006; Duff to be fixed or positioned shortly from the reference GPS. This
and Hyzak 1997). However, GPS monitoring is limited in its ap- technique uses the average time to reduce erroneous sources and is
plication to relatively lower-frequency structures because the max- appropriate for long-term monitoring. The mobile survey method
imum sampling rate of the latest receivers is 100 Hz (Ogaja et al. cannot detect short-term motions of structures, but it can measure
2007). In addition, the application of GPS may lead to critical errors long-term displacements. By obtaining several measurements along
because of multipath effects, geometry effects of satellites, tropo- a bridge, this technique assessed geometric changes induced by
spheric delay, cycle slips, etc., during monitoring. Although GPS settlement and bending. To assess short-term displacements, the
monitoring can be applied only to flexible structures having a lower fixed network system was then advanced with improved algorithms.
modal frequency range and still has unresolved issues in its ap- Thus, the advanced approach significantly reduced monitoring time
proach, it is still a viable and promising tool for monitoring static and and was called the fast static (FS) method (Gili et al. 2000). Sub-
dynamic displacements given the rapid advancement of GPS devices sequently, real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS was developed, and it can
and algorithms. It is also expected that the obtained displacements monitor the dynamic displacements while roving (Gili et al. 2000;
from GPS may possibly assess damage localization by the change Brown et al. 1999). The schematics of FS method and RTK GPS
of frequency and the stress conditions of members by inverse analysis method are shown in Fig. 2.
if all the erroneous sources are resolved. Based on the Nyquist theorem, the minimum sampling rate has to
This paper aims to provide a better understanding of GPS be twice as high as the frequency of a monitoring structure to obtain
technology and a summary review of recent applications of GPS reliable data (Shannon 1949). Currently, the performance of GPS
technology for structural health monitoring. The paper is orga- receivers has rapidly improved and has a sampling rate up to 50–
nized as follows: first, the GPS is introduced, and approaches to 100 Hz (Table 1). Table 1 exhibits up-to-date GPS receivers, and
apply the GPS technique in structural monitoring are described. their accuracies for FS and RTK monitoring are based on the
Second, field applications for GPS monitoring are provided, brochures provided by manufacturers. Recent studies on GPS
and the improvements of GPS devices and integrated systems monitoring with advanced device and algorithms exhibited that the
are then introduced. To propose an effective and practical GPS GPS technique can measure low amplitudes of displacements within
approach, the improved GPS devices, optimal algorithms, and millimeter levels of accuracy (Roberts et al. 2004b; Larocca 2004;
Watson et al. 2007).
other supplementary sensors are described. Finally, multiple ap-
proaches for erroneous source mitigation are provided to ease
the development of an optimal GPS monitoring and assessment
system. Applications of Global Positioning System in
Structural Monitoring
During the early stage of structural health monitoring with GPS, the
What Is Global Positioning System?
technology had been applied to large structures to monitor long-term
GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system created by the U.S.
DOD. Twenty-four GPS satellites were initially orbiting more than
20,000 km above the earth, and currently, more satellites continu-
ously transmit digital radio signals free of charge. The satellites were
designed to orbit twice a day, and at least four GPS satellites are
available to provide radio signals at any location on earth unless
blockages exist (Daly 1993).
The GPS digital signals consist of two parts: a carrier phase code
and a pseudorandom code. The signals contain the information of
satellites’ locations and the exact times using atomic clocks installed
in satellites. On the basis of the information, the receiver computes
the relative positions between the satellites and the receiver (Fig. 1).
Therefore, a GPS receiver is capable of identifying the location and
speed of the receiver by tracking the signals. In addition, GPS
measurement is independent to all weather conditions; thus, con-
tinuous measurements of satellite signals are possible without
disturbance from reflecting objects near the receiver. GPS has been
widely used in navigation systems including aircrafts, vehicles,
Fig. 1. Calculation of distance between GPS satellite and receiver
ships, and for identifying positions.
static displacements caused by external loads (Ogaja et al. 2007). Field monitoring with GPS was performed to identify move-
After the advent of RTK GPS sensors, the GPS technique has been ments during a landslide in Vallcebre, Spain (Gili et al. 2000).
used for monitoring the dynamic, as well as static, displacement of Fourteen instances of GPS monitoring had been carried out be-
flexible structures. tween December 1995 and February 1998 to identify changes of
surveying points. From the testing, FS and RTK methods were
Long-Term Monitoring for a Dam and Landslide applied and compared. Based on the results, the FS method exhibited
slightly better precision than the RTK method (for the horizontal
In 1995, GPS was installed at the Pacoima Dam in California after direction, the error is 30 mm for FS method but 40 mm for RTK), but
the reference point of a conventional survey system was destroyed it required several minutes of monitoring while the RTK method
by earthquakes (Hudnut and Behr 1998). Although the installed measured in real time.
system could not measure the real-time displacement of the dam
during an earthquake, it effectively monitored the static displace-
Monitoring for a Tower and Chimney
ment after the earthquake. The installed GPS receiver had a sampling
rate of up to 2 Hz, but GPS signals were recorded once every 30 s. In 1993, one of the earliest applications of GPS monitoring was
Because of the low sampling rate, the GPS could not detect dis- performed to identify dynamic deformation of flexible structures.
placement of the dam influenced by water level, but it measured the The single frequency receiver having a 10-Hz sampling rate was
displacement by seasonal temperature change. used in the field application, and the test was performed at the
Calgary tower in Canada (Lovse et al. 1995). The least square es- by installing a GPS antenna on its roof (Celebi et al. 1998, 1999;
timation approach was used to resolve the ambiguities on the fly, Celebi and Sanli 2002). The results showed that a GPS system can
and chokering groundplanes around the GPS antennas were used to identify the dynamic response of the test setup and building with
reduce multipath effects. From the postprocessing, the GPS data sufficient accuracy. In their analysis, they used a cross-spectrum on
identified a main frequency of 0.36 Hz and displacement of 616 mm. two orthogonal and horizontal displacements because the obtained
However, the GPS monitoring required postprocessing to provide GPS signals were noisy and had small amplitudes (Celebi et al.
better precision. 1998). Also, they developed a software tool that can assess dis-
To monitor the quick displacement of high-rise structures, Breuer placement caused by earthquakes and severe wind in real time. The
et al. (2002) assessed the accuracy of GPS monitoring using two software provides warning when the displacements of a monitored
preliminary tests. From the results, they concluded that GPS data are structure exceed its threshold (Celebi 2000).
independent of the different distances between the reference and To monitor structural integrity of a high-rise building in Singapore,
rover GPS stations, and the precision of GPS monitoring is closely conventional accelerometer systems installed at the roof and base-
related to the number and geometry of satellites. After the pre- ment have been used since 1993. However, the conventional sys-
liminary test, they applied the GPS technique to the Stuttgart TV tems have difficulty in monitoring permanent static deformation
tower and the chimney of the Opole Power Station to evaluate and dynamic response in real time. Thus, GPS was applied in the
whether GPS monitoring is capable of measuring small displace- building along with the conventional monitoring system (Brown-
ments caused by weak winds. From the field test of the TV tower, john et al. 2003, 2004). Three Leica SR530 receivers and Ski-Pro
a constant frequency of 0.2 Hz was obtained from 2-min mea- software were used in the GPS application (Brownjohn et al. 2004).
surements. In that research, a Leica 300 GPS unit was used with the The GPS results demonstrated that the system can identify dynamic
kinematic on the fly algorithm, which required 100–300 data points characteristics of the building caused by wind loads. Also, real-
to resolve ambiguous data. time GPS monitoring can provide correlations between loadings
Tamura et al. (2002) used a RTK-GPS (Leica MC1000), having and response, and structural conditions of the building can be
a sampling rate of 10 Hz, to assess the wind-induced response of predicted using this relationship.
a full-scale tower. After validation of the RTK-GPS system, they To better monitoring high-rise buildings in urban areas, Kijewski-
applied the system to a tower in Tokyo. The GPS detected a static Correa et al. (2006) executed precalibration of GPS system. They
displacement of 4 cm caused by a typhoon and identified a 4-cm identified background noise of GPS signals using the concept of
deformation caused by heat stress. Also, the GPS results identified position quality thresholds and assessed the effect of frequency and
a peak frequency of 0.57 Hz for the tower, which agreed with ac- amplitude of dynamic motions as considering the structural behaviors
celerometer results. Li et al. (2006) developed the integrated system of high-rise buildings. Also, Kijewski-Correa and Kochly (2007)
using both GPS and accelerometer sensors to monitor broad ranges studied the multipath effect because surrounding buildings in urban
of frequencies. They installed the integrated system to the same areas can be a source of multipath of GPS signals. After the validation,
steel tower in Tokyo with an anemometer and strain gauge, and it the GPS monitoring system was applied to full-scale structures in
exhibited a clear peak frequency of 0.57 Hz. Chicago. From the full-scale tests, the GPS results showed good
correlations with accelerometer results for the dynamic response of
Monitoring for High-Rise Buildings the building.
bridge, GPS antennas were installed on the bridge deck and pylons. absolute displacements. Thus, Wong et al. (2001a, b) installed GPS
Two Ashtech Z-XII dual-frequency GPS receivers and a pair of systems on cables, decks, and pylons to monitor the displacement
Racal Delta Link II UHF telemetry links systems were used in this of bridge components to improve accuracy of the WASHMS. The
monitoring. In the preliminary test, the zero-baseline test, the ki- improved GPS system can measure vertical displacement within
nematic GPS system was assessed, and the results revealed that the 20-mm precision and within 10-mm accuracy in the horizontal
resolution was 61 mm in the horizontal direction and 63 mm in the direction (Wong et al. 2001a). The GPS data were transferred using
vertical direction. For the bridge monitoring, the static reference optical fibers to remove the potential loss of signals caused by large
point was determined as the top of the bridge-control building near vehicle interruption. Based on the assessments of wind load, tem-
the bridge. The monitoring of Humber suspension bridge was perature load, traffic load, and railway load, the cable force and
performed on a calm day to minimize error caused by wind load. strains/stresses for main structural components were assessed in
From the results, it was seen that the GPS data could be interrupted the GPS-on-structure instrumentation system (OSIS).
by passing trucks. Therefore, a GPS antenna was subsequently Jiang et al. (2002) introduced a real-time GPS monitoring system
installed at an elevated position using a pole, but critical vibrations developed at Tsinghua University and applied the system to the
on the pole were caused by wind loads. Fig. 3 exhibits GPS antennas Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong and Humen Suspension Bridge in
recently installed at the Youngjong Grand Bridge in Korea, and they China to assess dynamic responses of the bridges. In their GPS
are installed at stiff poles to minimize the effect of wind loads. applications, the on-the-fly ambiguity resolution technique was used
A long span suspension bridge requires careful concern for ve- to reduce errors caused by satellite constellation and atmospheric
hicle loads because unpredicted traffic loads caused by over- delay. Thus, 3 min of GPS data were needed for data processing to
population may lead to critical deterioration (Roberts et al. 1999). extract erroneous sources. They also proposed a display system
To assess the dynamic response when applying heavy loads, using three vibration modes obtained from fast-Fourier transform
Roberts et al. applied five fully loaded trucks to the Humber Bridge. (FFT) analysis of GPS data. In their display systems, computer
Eight GPS receivers were used for bridge monitoring: five receivers simulation methods were used to provide three-dimensional (3D)
were installed on the bridge, two receivers were placed at reference deformations of bridges in real time (Xinzheng et al. 2004). Guo
points, and one receiver was located on a truck. The receivers on the et al. (2005) also assessed and monitored displacements of the
bridge were attached with specially designed clamps that reduce Humen Bridge using RTK GPS sensors. Seven GPS stations on the
antenna vibration caused by wind loads. The test was performed bridge (five more GPS stations will be installed later) were in-
while the bridge was partially closed, but the effects of other vehicles stalled for bridge monitoring, and a fiber optical communication
Fig. 3. GPS antennas installed at stiff poles (Youngjong Grand Bridge, Korea)
cable-stayed Rosenbrücke Bridge in Austria, and they installed the identified the oscillation frequency up to 4 Hz. During data pro-
GPS stations at pylons and on the bridge deck (Wieser and Brunner cessing, the least square–based techniques, permitting spectral
2002). The results showed that the GPS application provided re- analysis and the traditional FFT technique, were considered, and the
liable accuracy for pylons without filtering (2 mm for horizontal WINWWZ software was used in the analyses (Psimoulis et al. 2008).
direction and 4 mm for vertical direction). However, they concluded From the results, the GPS system could identify the dynamic
that GPS monitoring was not appropriate for bridge decks because characteristics up to 4 Hz, and results were more accurate up to 2 Hz.
cables installed in bridges can lead to multipath effects, and thus,
reliable GPS data cannot be obtained from the GPS stations near
cables. Another cable-stayed bridge in Canada was assessed using Validation of Global Positioning System Precision
GPS (Larocca 2004). The dynamic characteristics of the Hawkshaw Recently, the GPS precision has been advanced with rapid im-
cable-stayed bridge was identified using vehicle loads. During provement of GPS system, and it will be getting better starting 2018
monitoring, five GPS receivers (a pair of NOVATEL OEM4-DL4 because more GPS satellites will be available based on Galileo plan
and three TRIMBLE 5700) having a 5-Hz sampling rate were in- currently being propelled by the European Union (EU) and European
stalled, and one triaxial accelerometer, ENTRAN EGA3, was placed Space Agency (ESA) (Spiegel 2010). The GPS precision is generally
on the bridge. Using different weights of trucks, the dynamic be- validated by comparison of GPS and accelerometer data (Kijewski-
haviors of the bridge in the vertical and horizontal directions were Correa and Kochly 2007; Moschas and Stiros 2011). The displace-
assessed. The GPS results exhibited that the frequencies of the bridge ments obtained from GPS are converted to acceleration data using
were 0.57 Hz for the vertical direction and 0.60 Hz for the horizontal a double numerical differentiation procedure.
direction. The conventional instrument verified the GPS data and the In addition, the GPS precision can be verified in preliminary tests
precision of GPS data for amplitude ranged between 0.5 and 0.8 mm. by installing a GPS sensor on a motion simulator. Tamura et al.
Recently, a cable-stayed bridge over the River Tamar in Australia (2002) assessed a RTK-GPS system using an electronic exciter
was monitored using GPS technology. The GPS results were com- providing sinusoidal vibration (Fig. 4). The GPS technique exam-
pared with analysis results obtained from Space Gass structural ined the dynamic response when the natural frequency was ,2 Hz
analysis software (Larocca 2004). The GPS results exhibited that the and the displacement was .2 cm.
GPS monitoring successfully identified static displacements from To improve the precision of GPS monitoring for high-rise
thermal effects and dynamic displacements by traffic loading. The buildings, Kijewski-Correa et al. (2006) conducted experiments
resolution of GPS results was accurate at the millimeter level. using a motion simulator to validate the GPS system and back-
ground noise. Also, Nickitopoulou et al. (2006) statistically assessed
GPS data using a prototype specimen including a rotation rod, and
Improvement of Global Positioning System Device the obtained GPS data were compared with real coordinates of the
Up-to-date GPS sensors and related devices are being rapidly de-
veloped. In the early stages of GPS application, the measurements
of DCP were used to identify the status of aerial navigation and
aircraft landing (Teague et al. 1995). The DCP measures the phase
difference of the same carrier signal between two antennas. On the
basis of test results in the laboratory, the GPS DCP system is a viable
device for monitoring displacements of structural systems at the
centimeter level when the bandwidth of the structures is up to 2 Hz.
The carrier phase measurements using the relative position of
receivers can identify positions with high precision, but the signals
can be affected by cycle slip or interruption of surrounding objects
such as cables and vehicles (Brown et al. 1999). The traditional carrier
phase measurements require that both receivers are stationary
during monitoring. However, the improved RTK GPS technique
can measure the position of the installed receiver in real time while
it is roving. Thus, the RTK GPS technique was applied for monitor-
ing of structures. Although conventional monitoring systems using
accelerometers can measure the high-frequency range of vibration
in structures, they may tend to drift over time and cannot detect
low-frequency vibration ranges. However, GPS can monitor low-
frequency vibrations and detect static displacements, whereas ac- Fig. 4. Evaluation of RTK GPS using sinusoidal exciter
celerometers cannot.
then the results from both receivers are compared. The results
Improvement of a Single-Frequency Receiver
exhibited that the data from dual receivers were better, but single
with an Optimal Algorithm
receivers also provided reliable monitoring data for both bridges.
To monitor structural displacements in detail, densified GPS stations Larocca et al. (2005) also used single-frequency GPS receivers
are required, but it is costly to establish a dense GPS network using with the phase residual method (PRM) to identify the dynamic
dual frequency receivers. Although the dual-frequency receiver is characteristics of the Pierre-Laporte Suspension Bridge in Canada.
highly accurate, it is 10 times more expensive than the single- They compared the modified on-the-fly ambiguity resolution and
frequency receiver. Thus, Rizos et al. (2000) compared the ac- PRM algorithm, and both methods showed good agreement with
curacy of both dual- and single-frequency receivers. The four each other. Also, the GPS with PRM successfully measured dy-
single-frequency receivers, Canadian Marconi Company GPS re- namic displacements and was not affected by bad geometry of
ceivers and Trimble 4000SSE receivers, were installed by Uni- satellites.
versity of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers at Tsukuba, Japan,
and the data obtained from the newly installed network were
Improvement of Global Positioning System Antenna
compared with the data obtained from the currently established
network, GEONET, using dual-frequency receivers. The data from The multipath effect in GPS monitoring has been a long-standing
both networks were postprocessed by specially revised Bernese GPS issue because it can degrade the accuracy of GPS data. To reduce
software. It was found that results from single-frequency receivers the multipath effect, chokering groundplanes were used to apply
have good agreement with the results from dual-frequency receivers GPS monitoring at the Calgary tower in Canada (Lovse et al. 1995).
in the horizontal direction (the accuracies showed better than 5 mm Then, the choke-ring, which can mitigate the multipath effect, was
for the single one and 2 mm for the dual one). However, the ac- applied to the GPS antenna (Duff and Hyzak 1997; Roberts et al.
curacies for the vertical direction showed critical differences be- 2000, 2004b; Kijewski-Correa and Kochly 2007; Wieser and Brunner
tween both networks (the accuracies showed better than 3 cm for the 2002; Cosser et al. 2004; Kijewski-Correa et al. 2004; Satirapod and
single one and 6 mm for the dual one). In the meantime, Forward Rizos 2005). The choke-ring antenna consists of a central antenna
et al. (2001) proposed a switched GPS antenna array system that uses and several conductive rings around the antenna (Fig. 6). However,
a single GPS receiver connecting with multiple antennas to improve all GPS signals obtained from multipath cannot be completely
the accuracy of monitoring with a single-frequency receiver. This eliminated. Thus, postprocessing algorithms are needed to select
approach reduced the cost of implementing the GPS monitoring more accurate GPS data.
Fig. 5. Prototype experimental device for validating GPS precision performed by Nickitopoulou et al. (2006)
Using an analytical simulation, the optimal locations of PLs were caused by tropospheric delay, cycle slip, and background noise
determined. The results showed that the application of three PLs were mitigated in GPS monitoring. They concluded that the AF
made it possible to measure displacements with same accuracy for approach with the hybrid system using GPS and accelerometer
all 3D directions and improved the accuracy of measurement, even sensors can achieve the precision of millimeter level for vertical
including signal blockages. displacements (Roberts et al. 2002a, b). Satirapod and Rizos (2005)
To improve the monitoring range and accuracy of GPS, a vision- applied a wavelet decomposition technique to identify errors caused
based approach was applied with the GPS technique (Kijewski- by the multipath effect. After using the proposed approach using
Correa et al. 2004; Psimoulis and Stiros 2008). Kijewski-Correa a wavelet transform, the carrier phase multipath can be removed
et al. (2004) proposed an integrated system using GPS and terres- from the original GPS data. To assess a medium span suspension
trial positioning systems. This approach was expected to mitigate bridge, the Nottingham Wilford Suspension Bridge, Meo et al. (2006)
errors caused by multipath and insufficient numbers of satellites for used the RTK GPS sensors with two different filtering techniques.
GPS monitoring. Psimoulis and Stiros (2008) used the combined They used an adaptive filtering technique and band pass filter with
system of GPS and robotic total stations (RTSs) to identify dynamic wavelet decomposition scheme to reduce the multipath effect and
characteristics of relatively rigid structures (modal frequencies are noise in signals. To mitigate the multipath effect, Shengxiang et al.
up to 3–4 Hz). GPS monitoring was performed using a conventional (2006) recorded GPS data for 2 successive days and then applied the
antenna, JPS Legent-E, and dual-frequency receivers, JPS Legent- wavelet filtering method and differential correction to the data. After
H, having a sampling rate up to 20 Hz. RTS was used to supplement treating data, the accuracy of GPS monitoring critically improved
the missing data of GPS and Leica TCA1201; with a sampling rate vertical displacements at the millimeter level. Kijewski-Correa and
of up to 10 Hz, and was also used with a high-quality reflector. The Kochly (2007) verified the accuracy of GPS monitoring results with
RTS reflector and GPS antenna were installed on top of the oscil- accelerometer results using a shake table. They identified multipath
lating wagon. The GPS receiver was located on a stable position 10– effects using Fourier and wavelet spectra and the GPS Distortion
20 m away from the wagon and the RTS was fixed at a stable position Signature. Based on GPS data from 2 consecutive days, the errors
40–70 m away from the wagon. To resolve the phase difference caused by multipath and change of satellite constellation were
between both independent measurements, the cross-correlation identified. When the GPS Distortion Signature was not available in
approach was used. From the results, the GPS and RTS approach the field, the multipath could be identified by wavelet spectra and be
measured the modal frequencies up to 4 Hz with good precision, and eliminated by a filtering approach. Larson et al. (2007) developed a
the precision was improved when getting higher amplitudes and mitigation technique using aspect repeat time adjustment (ARTA),
lower modal frequencies. The application of a spectral analysis can which can reduce the multipath error considering repeatability of
also mitigate the effects of loss or discontinuity of signals. However, GPS data. Using the ARTA technique, the SDs of GPS data for the
the GPS and RTS technique still needs to consider good constel- horizontal direction were significantly improved in their research.
lation of satellites and the effect of multipath signals. Also, RTS Further, it is significant to collect GPS data when having best
requires good weather, which allows clear air for the emitted ray, and constellation of satellites because the lower elevation satellites may
the distance between RTS and reflector is limited to up to few lead to a critical error by multipath. Based on the wavelet analysis,
hundred meters with clear sight. Aram et al. (2007) proposed an algorithm for picking up the GPS
data during the best satellite geometry. By applying wavelet fil-
tering to residuals in received data, the multipath value can be
Mitigation of Erroneous Sources in Global Positioning approximated, and the best satellite condition can be selected.
System Monitoring As discussed previously, signals from lower elevation satellites
may lead to critically delayed signals by multipath. Thus, the multi-
GPS monitoring is expected to be a promising tool for structural path effect can be mitigated using an elevation cutoff angle during
health monitoring, but the system has inherent erroneous sources data processing. Ogaja and Satirapod (2007) used a simple spectral
because of the effects of satellite constellation, multipath, tropo- analysis process to identify frequencies by multipath in the obtained
spheric delay, and cycle slips. First of all, the multipath effect in high rate (1 Hz) GPS data. From the identified frequencies for
GPS monitoring has been a long-standing issue because it can de- multipath, the site characteristics in GPS signals can be classified.
grade the accuracy of GPS data. The multipath effect is strongly Also, the application of a spectral analysis can mitigate the effect
affected by the surroundings of a GPS receiver, and it is difficult to of loss or discontinuity of signals (Psimoulis and Stiros 2008).
isolate the receivers from the surroundings. This multipath effect can For mitigation of errors caused by tropospheric delay and cycle
be magnified when GPS data include measurements from a low slip, Kijewski-Correa et al. (2004) used a differential GPS (DGPS)
elevation satellite. Second, the geometry and available numbers of configuration to minimize errors caused by local atmospheric con-
satellites can significantly affect the monitoring results. Especially ditions and times at receivers. To reduce effects from the satel-
in urban areas, it is difficult to maintain sufficient numbers of viable lite constellation, Larocca et al. (2005) applied the GPS technique
satellites and a good satellite constellation. Also, a cycle slip induced with the PRM algorithm at the Pierre-Laporte Suspension Bridge in
by unexpected errors caused by a discontinuous signal, weak signal, Canada. Kijewski-Correa et al. (2006) conducted experiments using
tures.” Earthq. Spectra, 15(1), 55–66. accelerometer system.” GPS Solut., 10(4), 233–247.
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