
08 May 2008, 5:20pm
KOREC has installed additional TrimbleTM Net R5 GNSS receivers to extend coverage of the UK’s first and only Network RTK GNSS solution. This delivers a real network solution for both GPS and GLONASS, allowing for both GPS and GNSS ambiguities to be corrected. It means that when there is limited availability of GPS satellites, GNSS satellites can be used to provide corrections. The augmented network now covers extensive areas of the Midlands and the South East including Stafford, Birmingham, London, Cambridge, Reading and Brighton.
At no additional cost, the GLONASS option provides users with the capability to maintain lock on enough satellites when sky visibility becomes limited, allowing them to continually work in urban canyons or high foliage environments. Tracking both GLONASS and GPS satellites can also improve productivity by reducing the time required to achieve real-time decimetre or sub-foot accuracy.
Using data from OS Net, the nationwide GPS network operated by Great Britain's mapping agency Ordnance Survey, the Trimble service will deliver centimetre-level RTK and differential GPS (DGPS) positioning customised for each Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) rover receiver's exact location anywhere in the network. The Trimble VRS Now service will supply fast, easy to use and accurate GNSS positioning for a variety of applications including surveying, urban planning, construction, transportation, environmental monitoring, resource and territory management, GIS Mapping, weather services and scientific research.
The new system includes a network of Trimble NetR5™ GNSS Reference Stations equipped to receive broad-spectrum GPS and GLONASS positioning signals to maximise field productivity. Network corrections are calculated using Trimble VRS™ technology, the most widely used network RTK solution worldwide. Users connect into the network using a wireless connection—either cellular or radio—for fast, easy access to precise network RTK and DGPS corrections.
Trimble VRS Now represents a major advance in precision surveying productivity. No longer dependant on a field base station, precision GNSS surveys are easy to perform and users can be up and running in minutes. And without the need for base station hardware, all GNSS receivers can now work independently as rovers—saving time and money. Simply connect, correct and measure.
A subscription to Trimble VRS Now, a GPS rover, and mobile phone is all a user needs to begin surveying or collecting data with Trimble precision. Surveyors and other users can switch on their receiver and real-time corrections will be available in seconds. In most cases, no further GPS investment is necessary. Trimble VRS Now works with many GPS and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) survey instruments from a variety of manufacturers.

Each month we select a hot topic and a leading figure in the industry to write about it.HAVE WE REALLY LEARNT THE LESSONS FROM LAST YEAR’S FLOODS?
Flooding costs associated with extreme weather, both financial and emotional, have increased considerably over the last decade, and experts have predicted this trend is set to continue.
Paul Livett, Chairman of GroundSure looks into how increasing the use of flood risk information in property transactions can help to ensure both residential and commercial transactions are conducted on a truly informed basis, with buyers being made aware of environmental risks prior to purchase.
Over 2.2 million homes and small businesses in the UK are located in areas considered at risk of flooding, and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said that 570,000 of these face a high risk of flooding. The floods in June and July last year left approximately 48,000 households… More…
Paul Livett
Chairman of GroundSure