When we started the surveying business the instrumentation did not include many features that later, over time, became an integral part of both the equipment and software and the standard work process.
This means that all the comfortable features applicable to surveys done with Total Station, could not be applied to surveys done with GPS. Fast use of GPS therefore, did not allow for the automatic discontinuities, point coding, and quick notes that could be tracked on the plan.
The use of GPS, as is often the case in the early days, was for select few.
In order to keep both the quality of services and the speed of performance high at that time, we had to develop a method to use coding quickly based on the ways of early GPS instruments.
Another innovation, introduced at the same time as GPS, was the automatic drawing of lines joining points which, has always constituted the lines of discontinuity in the terrain useful for the purpose of calculating the mathematical terrain model.
Being among the first to use GPS, in our history we were also among the first to experiment GPS campaigns using devices of different brands and technologies; this allowed us to understand the various instrumental tolerances and accuracies as well as the different resistance to the Multipath phenomenon.
If you found this article interesting you might also like the following articles: on GPS operations, differential GPS, and Multipath.