PDOP Definition
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The Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) is likely one of the most critical GPS AutoTrac values to monitor. As the PDOP value increases, both the horizontal and vertical precision (guidance accuracy) of your data points decreases. To help illustrate this relationship, please review the graph, which plots the PDOP value against the horizontal precision points collected on and around the University of Montana campus. Ten locations were collected to serve as ground control points to register |
an April 4, 1999 aerial photograph of the University area. You can see that as the PDOP value climbs from a minimum of 1.15 to a maximum of approximately 4.5, the horizontal precision and accuracy decreases from about 1.15 meters to about 1.9 meters. PDOP values below 7 are generally required to collect data at a 1 meter accuracy range (as determined by the PDOP mask set on your data logger) and any value below 3.5 is considered in-range for AutoTrac applications. |
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Keep in mind that PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision) is the measure of the geometrical strength of the GPS satellite configuration. As a general rule, any PDOP value below 3.5 is acceptable to use while operating AutoTrac but, the lower the number, the more precise the steering accuracy will be. |
During vehicle operation, the PDOP can be viewed under the StarFire information pages in both the Original GreenStar Display and GS2 Display |
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