Volume 8, Issue 1

The paper presents a comparison among three different techniques for harmonic analysis on the sphere and the ellipsoid. The EGM2008 global geopotential model has been used up to degree and order 360 in order to create gravity anomaly fields on both the sphere and the ellipsoid as the function fields of the current investigation. Harmonic analysis has then been carried out to compute the dimensionless potential coeficients using the created function fields. Three different harmonic analysis techniques have been applied: the least-squares technique, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technique and the Gauss-Legendre numerical integration technique. The computed coeficients in spherical harmonics have then been compared with EGM2008 (in the frequency domain) and the computed fields on the sphere and the ellipsoid have been compared with fields created by EGM2008 up to degree and order 360 (in the space domain) in order to estimate the accuracy of the three different harmonic analysis techniques used within the current investigation. The results proved that the least-squares technique gives the best accuracy both in frequency and space domain. The FFT technique provides quite good results in a very short cpu time. The Gauss-Legendre technique gives the worst results among the presented techniques, but still the residuals in the space domain are negligibly small.

Deformation monitoring is a kind of continuous recording positions (horizontal and vertical coordinates) precisely regardless the deformation pattern and instrument used. In general, a deformation monitoring network can be designed using the trial and error method or analytical methods such as linear programming and nonlinear programming. Recently, a deformation monitoring network may also be designed by heuristic optimization algorithms such as Genetic Algorithms (GAs), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Simulated Annealing (SA). In this paper, GAs and PSO, which are heuristic optimization techniques, are applied to a geodetic horizontal deformation monitoring networks to solve second-order design problem. The results proved that both GAs and PSO can be used as alternative methods in place of the traditional optimization techniques with high eficiency.

Proper dynamic modelling of the troposphere wet delay using the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) measurements is important in precise point positioning and in estimation of the PrecipitableWater Vapour (PWV) for weather forecast. The random walk (RW) and the first-order Gauss-Markov (GM) autocorrelation models are commonly used for this purpose. However, it was found that these models consistently underestimate the temporal correlations that exist among the troposphere wet delay. Therefore, a new dynamic model is proposed. The performance of the proposed model in following the autocorrelation of actual data is demonstrated and its impact on the near-real time estimation of the wet delay was tested and compared to that of the GMand RWmodels. Results showed that the proposed model outperformed these models. When the computed wet delays were used to compute PWV, their estimated valueswere very close to actual PWV data measured by radiosonde with differences less than 1 mm.

To address the need of highly automated positioning systems in underground construction, we present a long-range 3D tracking system based on infrared optical markers. It provides continuous 3D position estimation of static or kinematic targets with low latency over a tracking volume of 12 m x 8 m x 70 m (width x height x depth). Over the entire volume, relative 3D point accuracy with a maximal deviation ≤ 22 mm is ensured with possible target rotations of yaw, pitch = 0 − 45° and roll = 0 − 360°. No preliminary sighting of target(s) is necessary since the system automatically locks onto a target without user intervention and autonomously starts tracking as soon as a target is within the view of the system. The proposed system needs a minimal hardware setup, consisting of two machine vision cameras and a standard workstation for data processing. This allows for quick installation with minimal disturbance of construction work. The data processing pipeline ensures camera calibration and tracking during on-going underground activities. Tests in real underground scenarios prove the system’s capabilities to act as 3D position measurement platform for multiple underground tasks that require long range, low latency and high accuracy. Those tasks include simultaneously tracking of personnel, machines or robots.

The Basarab cable-stayed bridge is a newly built structure in Bucharest, Romania, which was inaugurated in June 2011. Before the oficial opening, in order to assure its qualification for trafic, it had to pass several loading tests with convoys of trucks and trams. For this, besides a priori evaluation using the Finite Element Method (FEM), levelling and acceleration measurements were made to identify vertical displacements, as well as vibration frequencies of the bridge. The three-day loading trial of the bridge represented a good opportunity for setting-up a GPS campaign for structural monitoring of the Basarab bridge. Taking advantage of the redundancy obtained via simultaneous multi-sensor measurements, it was possible to compare and validate the GPS estimated displacements with both FEM and levelling. Moreover, the dynamic behaviour of the bridge during a dynamic loading test was evaluated using a 20 Hz GPS observation rate and validated afterwards with vibration frequency estimates from acceleration time series. Along with simulations (FEM) and laboratory tests, the in situ monitoring of a structure has a particular importance in establishing the safety of a newly-built structure. Furthermore, in some cases permanent monitoring is needed for safety and economic reasons, especially for strategic structures such as dams and bridges. GPS technology can satisfy this request due to its real-time processing capability and thus it can be looked upon as a new and promising tool for dynamic evaluation of engineering structures. In this contribution we have also assessed the performance of GPS with regard to accuracy and false alarm probability demands for the continuous monitoring of the Basarab cable-stayed bridge.

Methane built up in landfills as a result of breaking down of organic materials can be a renewable energy source if it is taken advantage of. The aim of research presented in this paper is to detect landfill gas (that contains methane) by means of terrestrial laser scanning. The hypothesis is that where no surface leakage has been reported, the landfill gas will expand or migrate. Therefore, it is possible to detect it through repeated scanning of the same area and comparison of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) generated from the point clouds. Only the most significant movements, i.e. vertical, are of interest in this case. During September-November 2011, a small area at Forsbacka landfill in the vicinity of Gävle was scanned 10 times. Epoch-to-epoch comparisons of the resulting DTMs have shown two significant changes (-27 and +19 mm) in elevation of the surface, and it is not impossible that they are caused by migrating landfill gas. The method tested in this study is deemed to be rigorous and accurate for detecting small-scale swell-shrink behaviour of the ground surface (in our case a landfill surface). However, both data processing and interpretation of the results have been considerably complicated by presence of low vegetation (weeds) on the study site, which was dificult to filter away completely from the data. Based on our pilot study, we recommend that a larger area and a longer period of time are chosen to give basis for more grounded conclusions about presence of landfill gas.