Improving reliability of GPS coordinates for aging research

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10-08-2011 12:00 PM
AtifAdam
New Contributor
Hello there,
I am PhD student looking at social interaction and activity in the elderly to understand its relationship with cognitive impairment. We have been using these mini-gps tracking devices (P-TRAC: http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/sendumgpspackagetrackerpt200.html) to get location data on our participants. What I have seen is that there is large variability in GPS coordinates with time periods even when the participants are stationary.
I was hoping to see if anyone has worked with similar issues to get the get the best way to reduce the variability of the location (either analytically or methodically).

Thank so much. Its my first time posting here!!

Adam
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2 Replies
SebastianSantibanez
New Contributor
Adam,
That kind of GPS normally offers an accuracy of ~20 feet horizontal (In urban settings it can be worse due to the multipath).  Normally you can improve that accuracy by hiring an augmentation service, although I am not sure if that model offers augmentation possibilities.
I hope it helps
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AtifAdam
New Contributor
Adam,
That kind of GPS normally offers an accuracy of ~20 feet horizontal (In urban settings it can be worse due to the multipath).  Normally you can improve that accuracy by hiring an augmentation service, although I am not sure if that model offers augmentation possibilities.
I hope it helps


Thank you so much for that! In reading up on the variations in coordinates accuracy over time I came across smoothing techniques that could be used to improve the reliability of the data. I was wondering if any of these were available through the geostatiscal extension.
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