report of the action team on global navigation satellite systems (gnss)

market can begin to develop. That allows people to use equity in <strong>the</strong>ir ownership <strong>of</strong> land to accesscapital, which in turn enables steps toward a mature economy. Given this, geodesy and surveyingare important disciplines at <strong>the</strong> foundation <strong>of</strong> economic development.284. FIG is also participating in <strong>the</strong> relevant standards being developed within <strong>the</strong> frameworks<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> International Standards Organization (ISO). Two examples are:• ISO Technical Committee 211 on Geographic Information and Geomatics.• ISO Technical Committee 172, which addresses Surveying Instruments.The role <strong>of</strong> GNSS and spatial information• Several studies have shown that over 80% <strong>of</strong> Government decisions involve a Spatialcomponent – “Where?”.• Accurate and Timely Spatial Information is required to deal with <strong>the</strong> priorities <strong>of</strong> Habitat,FAO, etc.• GNSS is a key technology for capturing accurate spatial information.The nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> GNSS surveying market285. It is important to recognise that GNSS surveyors are intelligent users at <strong>the</strong> “top end” <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> market. The history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> take-up <strong>of</strong> GNSS in <strong>the</strong> mass-market shows that users start <strong>of</strong>fhappy with <strong>the</strong> accuracy being achieved. However, many mass-market users quickly identify aneed for improved accuracy for certain applications. In that context, surveyors have always been5 to 10 years ahead <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mass market in <strong>the</strong>ir requirements for accuracy, reliability and for realtimeresults. Therefore, at any given time, <strong>the</strong> surveying market can be thought <strong>of</strong> as a snapshot <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> mass-market in <strong>the</strong> future.286. It is also important to recognise that while <strong>the</strong> GNSS surveying market is small comparedto <strong>the</strong> mass-market applications, <strong>the</strong> dollar values <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> equipment, s<strong>of</strong>tware and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>application projects are high.Future issues in GNSS surveying287. The latest GNSS surveying techniques squeeze millimetres from <strong>the</strong> least possibleamount <strong>of</strong> data, in real time, using all satellites in view and with multiple frequencies. Themajority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> work is using GPS and is already very efficient. The advantages for surveyorsfrom future developments in GNSS will be even greater efficiency, but more importantlyincreased reliability:• As L2 C/A GPS receivers come online, equipment and data processing will become lesscomplicated. Theoretically this should enable less expensive survey grade GPS receivers.It will be interesting to see if that will be realised;• The additional L5 frequency on GPS will give even better redundancy, accuracy,efficiency and reliability;• The availability <strong>of</strong> GLONASS has demonstrated <strong>the</strong> advantage <strong>of</strong> extra satellites,especially for those applications where satellite masking occurs, such as in urbancanyons, under tree canopies or in open cut mines; and• GALILEO will increasingly add all <strong>of</strong> this.51