The Influence of Pillar Displacements on Geodetic Measurements

Abstract

This paper deals with the effects that displacements of the measuring pillar have on precise geodetic measurements. The changes in the position of the control points on the object or its surroundings can only be determined with well stabilized and stable reference points. These points are usually stabilized with measuring pillars which are not always constructed in an optimal manner. If they are placed in a dark tube with a high absorption factor, solar heating on one side of the pillar can cause the pillar to deflect considerably due to the temperature difference on the two sides of the pillar. This paper presents the influence of such a displacement, if the pillar is a survey point, orientation point, or control point. We show that even small displacement of the survey point can have important influence on all measurements and that the error in some cases significantly increases, e.g., if the standard deviations of the coordinates of the survey point are 1 mm and their covariance is assumed to be zero, the standard deviation of the distance between measured and exact position of the control point exceeds the value of 2.2 mm.