Wave measurements with a modified HydroBall® buoy using different GNSS processing strategies

One of the CIDCO’s (The Interdisciplinary Center for the Development of OceanMapping) HydroBall®GNSS buoys has been specifically adapted to evaluate its potentialfor wave measurement at centimeter accuracy level. Multiple GNSS processing strategieswere tested, namely PPK (Post-Processed Kinematic), PPP (Precise Point Positioning), andTRP (Time Relative Positioning). Experiments were carried out in a hydraulic flume wherewaves of different amplitudes and periods were generated in a controlled environment.The wave heights obtained by the various GNSS solutions were compared with ultrasonicgauge measurements placed along the flume. The best results were obtained with the PPKand TRP solutions with root mean squared (RMS) values of 2 cm (on average). The mainadvantages of the TRP solution are that it does not require any reference station nearby(contrary to PPK) or precise ephemerides (required by PPP). A sinusoidal regression compari-son of the wave height time series allowed determination of the wave period and amplitudewith mean errors of 0.06 s and 0.8 cm, respectively.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author