Research Activities in Precise Positioning at Laval University

This review paper summarises the recent, on-going, and future research activities in precise positioning at Laval University. The projects undertaken by the GPS and Geodesy Research Group are presented following three main research topics. The first one deals with the use of precise positioning for deformation monitoring of engineering structures. The study of ice forces on dams using a robotic total station and the improvement of GPS height determination using multiple GPS antennas linked to a single receiver with calibrated fiber optics are presented. A second topic of research is the crustal deformation of the Charlevoix seismic zone in Quebec. This study uses GPS and levelling techniques and involves an investigation of the temporal stability of the GPS permanent stations available in the surrounding area. Finally, research on single GPS receiver positioning techniques is presented, namely, Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Time Relative Positioning (TRP).