ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Analysis of the potential of low-cost GNSS receivers in the establishment of geodetic control networks using a static technique
More details
Hide details
1
Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Grunwaldzka Str. 53, 50-357 Wrocław, Poland
A - Research concept and design; B - Collection and/or assembly of data; C - Data analysis and interpretation; D - Writing the article; E - Critical revision of the article; F - Final approval of article
Submission date: 2026-04-22
Final revision date: 2026-07-23
Acceptance date: 2026-09-29
Publication date: 2026-10-26
Corresponding author
Kamil Kaźmierski
Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Grunwaldzka Str. 53, 50-357 Wrocław, Poland
Reports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics 2026;122:47-55
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Recent developments in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology have significantly improved the performance and quality of inexpensive measuring equipment, namely low-cost GNSS. These devices enable positioning with an accuracy comparable to that of geodetic-grade GNSS receivers. The main objective of this study was to verify whether such receivers are sufficient for establishing geodetic control networks using static measurement techniques, which require high accuracy in both horizontal and vertical directions. Field tests were carried out using several low-cost GNSS receivers and antennas, operated simultaneously with geodetic-grade instruments. The collected observations were processed using commercial software and compared with a benchmark campaign. The analyses considered the lengths of measurement sessions, information about antenna reference point offsets used, and the challenges in calculating baselines with low-cost GNSS receivers. Special attention was paid to minimizing the time required for measurement activities, while maintaining the required accuracy parameters. The results show that low-cost GNSS receivers fulfill the requirements of the relevant national guidelines - i.e., achieving vertical positioning accuracy of not exceeding 0.01 m, as well as horizontal positioning errors of well below 0.07 m. The conducted analyses further confirmed the stability and repeatability of the obtained results for sessions lasting 20 minutes or longer. The conducted work and obtained results confirm that low-cost GNSS receivers' affordability combined with their high precision makes them a valuable alternative to geodetic instruments in many practical applications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was funded by the statutory funds of the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences.
REFERENCES (19)
1.
Aichinger-Rosenberger M., Wolf A., Senn C., Hohensinn R., Glaner M. F., Moeller G., Soja B., Rothacher M. (2023). MPG-NET: A low-cost, multi-purpose GNSS co-location station network for environmental monitoring. Measurement. 216: 112981-112981. doi:10.1016/j.measurement.2023.112981.
2.
Dach R., Schär S., Arnold D., Brockmann E., Kalarus M. S., Lasser M., Stebler P., Jäggi A. (2024). CODE final product series for the IGS. doi:10.48350/197025.
3.
Fei K., Mai C., Jiang R., Zeng Y., Ma Z., Cai J., Li J. (2024). Research on a Low-Cost High-Precision Positioning System for Orchard Mowers. Agriculture. 14 (6): 813-813. doi:10.3390/agriculture14060813.
4.
Gao H., Wang X., Yao Y., Zhang L., Zhao Y., Li Z., Fang S. (2025). GDA: A GNSS data processing software for quality analysis. Advances in Space Research. 75 (6): 4395–4407-4395–4407. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2025.01.037.
5.
Hamza V., Stopar B., Ambrožič T., Sterle O. (2021). Performance Evaluation of Low-Cost Multi-Frequency GNSS Receivers and Antennas for Displacement Detection. Applied Sciences. 11 (14): 6666-6666. doi:10.3390/app11146666.
6.
Hamza V., Stopar B., Sterle O., Pavlovčič-Prešeren P. (2023). Low-Cost Dual-Frequency GNSS Receivers and Antennas for Surveying in Urban Areas. Sensors. 23 (5): 2861-2861. doi:10.3390/s23052861.
7.
Jagelčák J., Kuba O., Kubáňová J., Kostrzewski M., Nader M. (2024). Dynamic Position Accuracy of Low-Cost Global Navigation Satellite System Sensors Applied in Road Transport for Precision and Measurement Reliability. Sustainability. 16 (13): 5556-5556. doi:10.3390/su16135556.
8.
Kazmierski K., Dominiak K., Marut G. (2023). Positioning performance with dual-frequency low-cost GNSS receivers. Journal of Applied Geodesy. 17 (3): 255–267-255–267. doi:10.1515/jag-2022-0042.
9.
Krietemeyer A., Marel H., Giesen N., Veldhuis M. C. (2020). High Quality Zenith Tropospheric Delay Estimation Using a Low-Cost Dual-Frequency Receiver and Relative Antenna Calibration. Remote Sensing. 12 (9): 1393-1393. doi:10.3390/rs12091393.
10.
Krzan G., Dawidowicz K., Paziewski J. (2024). Low-cost GNSS antennas in precise positioning: a focus on multipath and antenna phase center models. GPS Solutions. 28 (3). doi:10.1007/s10291-024-01645-3.
11.
Marut G., Hadas T., Kaplon J., Trzcina E., Rohm W. (2022). Monitoring the Water Vapor Content at High Spatio-Temporal Resolution Using a Network of Low-Cost Multi-GNSS Receivers. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 60: 1–14-1–14. doi:10.1109/tgrs.2022.3226631.
12.
Marut G., Hadas T., Nosek J. (2024). Intercomparison of multi-GNSS signals characteristics acquired by a low-cost receiver connected to various low-cost antennas. GPS Solutions. 28 (2). doi:10.1007/s10291-024-01628-4.
13.
Nischan T. (2016). GFZRNX - RINEX GNSS Data Conversion and Manipulation Toolbox. doi:10.5880/GFZ.1.1.2016.002.
14.
Regulation (2021). Regulation of the Minister of Development, Labour and Technology of 6 July 2021 on geodetic, gravimetric and magnetic control networks. Act. Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, 2021, item 1341.
15.
Romero-Andrade R., Trejo-Soto M. E., Vázquez-Ontiveros J. R., Hernández-Andrade D., Cabanillas-Zavala J. L. (2021). Sampling Rate Impact on Precise Point Positioning with a Low-Cost GNSS Receiver. Applied Sciences. 11 (16): 7669-7669. doi:10.3390/app11167669.
17.
Teunissen P. J., Montenbruck O., others. (2017). Springer handbook of global navigation satellite systems. Springer.
18.
Wielgocka N., Hadas T., Kaczmarek A., Marut G. (2021). Feasibility of Using Low-Cost Dual-Frequency GNSS Receivers for Land Surveying. Sensors. 21 (6): 1956-1956. doi:10.3390/s21061956.
19.
Wu R., Wang W., Lu D., Wang L., Jia Q. (2018). Adaptive interference mitigation in GNSS. Springer.