Cost-Effective, Single-Frequency GPS Network as a Tool for Landslide Monitoring

Abstract

The constant monitoring of active landslides, particularly those located in the proximity of populated areas or touristic places, is crucial for early warning and risk-management purposes. The commonly used techniques deploy expensive instrumentation that can be hardly afforded, especially by small mountain communities in which landslide events often occur repeatedly. In recent years, the scientific community, as well as the private sector, have devoted growing effort to reducing the costs of monitoring systems. In this work, we present a monitoring network based on single-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors that have been activated to monitor an active landslide in the Carnic Alps, North-Eastern Italy. The system, which was composed of 12 single-frequency GPS stations, one seismometric station coupled with a single-frequency GPS instrument for real-time monitoring, and one permanent dual-frequency GPS station located in a stable area, provided daily reports of the landslide motion to the local authorities and administration. We show that this system is a valuable, flexible, and cost-effective tool for quick landslide characterization, and has high potential to be used as a landslide early warning system in case of emergency situations.

Precision Seeding Compensation and Positioning Based on Multisensors

“…When the tractor pulled the seeder to turn, the seeder and the tractor were regarded as the same rigid body system, that is, there was no relative deformation between the seeder and the tractor during the turning process. The real-time position data of the tractor could be acquired by the multi-satellite, multi-frequency GNSS antenna installed on the roof of the tractor and RTK auxiliary positioning device, but the measured position data were only the position data of the multi-satellite, multi-frequency GNSS antenna installed in the tractor [ 13 ], so it was necessary to calculate the position data of each seeding unit by taking into account of the rigid body motion principle [ 14 ]. With the position data and heading angle data received by the multi-satellite GNSS antenna and IMU901 angular transducer, it was feasible to calculate the turning radius and center position of tractor and to calculate the movement track of each seeding unit according to the position relationship between tractor and each seeding unit.…”

Review of Landslide Monitoring Techniques With IoT Integration Opportunities

“…Automated GPS based deformation monitoring systems [118], [119] [111], [112] are available and these systems can be directly converted in IoT Edge nodes. Some techniques in ground based geodetic techniques like total station instruments need manpower to do the survey for monitoring purpose, so these devices cannot be automated.…”

LZER0: A Cost-Effective Multi-Purpose GNSS Platform

“…In general, a stand-alone GNSS receiver can achieve precision of a few meters, but several strategies can be considered to improve its precision (cm or, better, mm, [ 10 , 11 ]). The main strategies used are: Absolute positioning: Post-Processed Precise Point Positioning (PP-PPP, [ 12 , 13 ]); Real-Time Precise Point Positioning (RT-PPP, [ 14 , 15 ]); Relative positioning with the Double Differences (DD) technique: Post Processed Kinematic (PPK, [ 15 , 16 ]); Real-Time Kinematic (RTK [ 17 , 18 ]).…”

“…To date, the LZER0 device has been successfully used in various projects in both the research and private sectors: Two LZER0 devices were used in the project CLARA “Cloud plAtform and smart underground imaging for natural Risk Assessment”, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) [ 29 ]; Six Cadastral LZER0 devices were produced and sold to the Forestry Administration of the cities of Pordenone, Maniago, and Udine in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (FVG) in NE -Italy; Three Automotive LZER0 devices were manufactured by our partner (SoluTOP SAS) and sold to the company Terranova srl, which uses them to drive agricultural machinery; One LZER0 device was used by OGS for real-time monitoring tests for the Cazzaso Landslide [ 11 , 30 ]; Three LZER0 devices were installed by OGS for landslide monitoring in the Brugnera area (FVG region, [ 30 ]). The monitoring service is operated by OGS on behalf of the Regional Civil Protection; Four LZER0 devices were installed by SoluTOP for environmental monitoring carried out for the PromoTurismoFVG company (NE-Italy).…”

“…One LZER0 device was used by OGS for real-time monitoring tests for the Cazzaso Landslide [ 11 , 30 ];…”