RTK-GPS
Definition
Real-Time Kinematic Global Positioning System: a satellite-positioning technique where a static base station transmits correction data to a roving receiver in real time, giving centimetre-level accuracy across open ground without post-processing.
- Full name
- Real-Time Kinematic GPS
- Components
- Static base station and roving receiver
- Correction method
- Real-time data link from base to rover
- Accuracy
- Centimetre-level over open ground
- Post-processing needed
- No
Common questions
Why is RTK-GPS preferred over standard GPS for scene survey?+
Standard consumer GPS accuracy is typically several metres, which is too coarse for placing evidence markers, tyre marks, or bullet trajectories precisely on a scene diagram. RTK's correction signal removes most of that error in real time.
What limits RTK-GPS accuracy at a crime scene?+
Accuracy degrades under tree canopy, near tall buildings, or indoors where satellite signal and the base-to-rover correction link are obstructed, which is why total-station survey is often used alongside or instead of RTK-GPS in those conditions.
Related terms
- Backsighting
- The process of orienting a total station by pointing it at a known reference point (backsight) after setting it over the instrument...
- Datum Peg
- A fixed ground marker with precisely recorded coordinates that serves as the origin point for a site grid. All spatial measurements on...
- Resection
- A method of determining the instrument station's own coordinates by measuring angles and distances to two or more points of known position....
- Site Grid
- A rectangular coordinate system established across a site, usually with the origin at a datum peg and axes aligned to magnetic north...
- Total Station
- An electronic instrument that simultaneously measures horizontal and vertical angles and distance to a reflective prism, computing three-dimensional coordinates directly. Typical angular...