Experimental Verification and Full-Scale Deployment of Global Positioning Systems to Monitor the Dynamic Response of Tall Buildings

The Civil Engineering community has long needed methods of accurate global displacement measurement for use in construction and more recently in the areas of structural health monitoring. Global Positioning Systems GPS provide one answer to this challenge, with rapid advancements in the available sampling rates and tracking resolution. However, as a relatively new dynamic sensing technology, GPS performance must be thoroughly validated before its application in full scale. This paper details an experimental program with this aim, documenting the performance of a high-precision GPS in terms of its background noise and dynamic tracking ability, while providing position quality thresholds suitable for qualifying the accuracy of tracking in full scale. Given the performance observed in these studies, considerations for full-scale deployment are offered as well as an assessment of its efficacy in monitoring the dynamic motions of a tall building through the Chicago full-scale monitoring project. DOI: 10.1061/ ASCE 0733-9445 2006 132:8 1242 CE Database subject headings: Displacement; Measurement; Structural reliability; Global positioning; Buildings, high-rise; Dynamic response.