Scholarly record

POSSIBILITIES OF COMBINED GNSS AND PRECISE LEVELING FOR SUBSIDENCE MONITORING IN UNDERMINED AREAS

Petr Jadviscok, Jiri Plesnik, Rostislav Dandos

Abstract

This paper investigates the potential of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology for monitoring vertical displacements in areas affected by underground mining and evaluates its combination with precise geometric leveling. The study is based on repeated measurements carried out in the Stonava locality (Czech Republic), where intensive deep coal mining induces significant surface subsidence reaching up to several decimeters per year. The main objective is to assess the accuracy of GNSS-derived heights, which are generally considered less reliable than horizontal components, and to verify their applicability for subsidence monitoring. A combined approach was tested, where GNSS static observations were used to establish height reference points, while precise leveling was applied to determine relative height differences along observation profiles. The results were compared with subsidence values obtained by conventional precise leveling connected to reference benchmarks located outside the undermined area. The comparison shows that the differences between the two approaches did not exceed 0.02 m in any measurement stage, with nearly identical results achieved in the final stage. The findings indicate that, despite lower intrinsic vertical accuracy, GNSS can provide sufficiently reliable results for monitoring subsidence when combined with precise leveling. This approach significantly reduces time and operational demands by eliminating long leveling traverses, making it a practical alternative in areas with substantial vertical ground movements.

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