TerraStar GNSS Positioning for African Aerial Surveys

Johannesburg-based GeoDuster Technologies (South Africa) has commissioned TerraStar GNSS’s TerraStar-D Precise Point Positioning (PPP) service for a series of aerial geophysical, exploration and environmental surveys being carried out in Africa by Terrascan Airborne of Germany aboard a specially equipped light aircraft.

Using a combination of GPS and Glonass satellite signals, the high-precision service is being deployed in conjunction with Septentrio dual-frequency AsteRx2eL GNSS receivers for geo-referencing high-density magnetic gradient radiometric measurements, often acquired in remote locations and difficult environments.  Seamless positional accuracies are typically better than 10cm with enhanced update rates precluding any use of local base stations, radios or cell coverage.

The TerraStar-D PPP facility is one of a number of proprietary high-precision positioning services developed by TerraStar GNSS in Aberdeen, UK, for both inland and near-shore survey operations as well as other land-based applications covering machinery control, agricultural, oil and gas and production activities. It has recently been chosen by DEME in support of the Belgian company’s worldwide fleet of dredgers and auxiliary vessels.