Feasibility of Using Handheld GPS for Topographic Mapping: Review Study

Abstract

Global Positioning System (GPS) has drastically improved the technique for ground point location with high accuracy. One of the parameters that affect the accuracy of position using GPS is the receiver in use and observation technique adopted. Handheld GPS receivers are drastically cheap if compared with geodetic ones. That is because they are mainly manufactured for navigation and sporting activities. The accuracy of ground point location they produce need to be assessed. Some researchers conducted geometric tests to investigate the possibility of these receivers for mapping purposes regarding their accuracy for determining ground coordinates. This article aims to collect and present results obtained by such researchers in order to investigate the feasibility of using handheld GPS for topographic mapping. The study concluded that raw Handheld GPS data can be used to provide topographic maps of scale 1:50000 scale. With the improvement in the receiver design and the procedures of data collection accuracy of few centimeters can be achieved and large-scale mapping of 1:10000 can be produced.

Introduction

The text reviews the accuracy and usefulness of handheld GPS/GNSS receivers for surveying, mapping, and GIS applications. GPS has become an important tool for collecting geographic data because it is faster, less expensive, easy to use, and provides digital coordinates that can be stored and processed. However, the accuracy of handheld devices is generally lower than that of expensive geodetic-grade receivers.

Handheld GPS Technology

Modern handheld GPS devices, smartphones, and GNSS receivers can collect pseudorange, carrier-phase, and Doppler measurements. Some advanced handheld receivers can use dual-frequency GNSS and carrier-phase observations, potentially achieving much higher accuracy than traditional navigation devices.

However, handheld GPS accuracy can be affected by:

• Atmospheric conditions.
• Satellite geometry.
• Buildings and other obstructions.
• Heavy vegetation.
• Multipath effects.
• Receiver quality and observation techniques.

Technological improvements such as multi-GNSS, dual-frequency receivers, and improved antennas have significantly reduced these limitations.

Findings from Previous Studies

Several studies have investigated the accuracy of handheld GPS devices:

• Hill et al. (1999): Demonstrated that raw pseudorange data from Garmin receivers could be processed to approximately 5 m accuracy, while carrier-phase processing could potentially achieve centimeter-level accuracy.
• Schwieger (2003): Found that Garmin eTrex receivers could achieve approximately 6–7 m horizontal accuracy after correction and were suitable for some GIS applications.
• Tiberius (2003): Reported approximately 2.55 m horizontal standard deviation for single-point positioning and about 1.03 m for kinematic positioning.
• El-Mowafy (2005): Achieved much better results using carrier-phase and differential processing, with maximum horizontal errors around 14 cm and vertical errors around 10 cm.
• Schwieger and Gläser (2005): Found that handheld receivers could measure baselines up to about 8 km with deviations of approximately 8 cm under favorable conditions. They considered handheld GPS useful for low- to medium-accuracy engineering and GIS applications.
• Gerling (2006): Reported that inexpensive Garmin GPS-72 receivers generally provided accuracy between approximately 3 m and 15 m.
• Schwieger (2007): Demonstrated that high-sensitivity low-cost GPS receivers could achieve centimeter-level accuracy under suitable conditions, although ordinary navigation receivers had considerably lower accuracy.
• Zupan and Lapaine (2007): Found average horizontal deviations of approximately 5.9 m, with an RMSE of about 4.85 m.
• Halim et al. (2010): Found handheld GPS accuracy ranging from approximately 0.2 m to 3.5 m, which was better than the Google Maps coordinates tested in their study.
• Zomrawi and Issa (2012): Reported horizontal accuracy of approximately ±4 m and concluded that handheld GPS could be used for planimetric mapping at approximately 1:7,500 scale and smaller.

Conclusion

The paper reviewed most of the research published about testing geometric accuracy obtained using handheld GPS. The literature review shows that different results and conclusions based on methodology and test design were obtained and derived. The review concludes that planimetric accuracy obtained using handheld GPS receivers can vary between 0.01m to 7.00m. In vertical direction accuracy obtained range from 0.02m to 7.68m. This shows high variation in results for both planimetry and height. It is also concluded that handheld GPS can provide data for planimetric mapping of scale 1:10000 and contour maps with contour interval of 10m. More recent studies, however, show accuracy up to within ±1cm for planimetry and ±2cm in height. More tests should be carried out, however, to confirm these conclusions.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Ismat M. Elhassan, Hasan Bilani, Yaser M. A. Ahmad. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.