Accuracy and precision evaluation of global positioning system methods for forest roads surveying (Case study: Javaherdeh forest, Ramsar)

Forest roads are essential infrastructures for accessing and managing forest units. Sustainable road management requires accurate spatial information from the road network. Various methods, differing in accuracy, precision, efficiency, and cost, are available for providing the location of roads. Given the remote location of forest roads, the lack of reference stations, potential inaccessibility to online networks, and conditions affecting positioning error, it is necessary to investigate the efficiency of existing positioning methods.

In this research, we studied the accuracy of PPK, RTK, online platforms such as Shamim, GPS, and mobile apps in positioning 34 points on 5 km of forest roads in watershed No. 30 in the Hyrcanian forest. The coordinates were first extended to the study area using the rapid static method. After post-processing and determining reference points, the exact coordinates of all ground control points on the road were obtained through the direct method. Then, the coordinates of all points were measured three times using various methods.

The health survey's statistical results showed that the highest mean differences were 2.53 m and 2.38 m for GPS and mobile apps, respectively. The least mean difference was 0.048 m, 0.049 m, and 0.092 m for PPK, RTK, and Shamim, respectively. The RMSE amount showed that the results from GPS and mobile apps had the least accuracy, and the methods PPK, RTK, and Shamim had the highest. Based on the one-sample T-test and Wilcoxon’s analysis, the amount of differences was not the same within each method through the 34 investigated points. Accuracy analysis indicated that GPS, with a distance mean of 1.14 m, had the least precision, and Shamim and RTK, with 0.0621 m and 0.063 m, were the most precise methods. The analysis of variance showed that the mobile app, Shamim, and PPK had the highest convergence.

The results of this research indicate that the PPK method was the most accurate, and the Shamim method was the most precise. Therefore, these methods can be used for purposes such as optimizing the forest road plan and longitudinal profile that require accurate location information.