THE GPS (GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM) AS SUPPORT 
FOR SPECIAL SURVEYS IN URBAN AREAS 
Jucilei Cordini 
Dora Maria Orth 
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - UFSC 
Depto. de Engenharia Civil 
Campus Universitário - Trindade 
Caixa Postal 476 
88040-900 - Florianópolis - SC, Brazil 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 9 
ABSTRACT 
The urban areas are usually complex and dynamic regarding their land-use systems. Managing such areas is a 
constant challenge faced by the authorities. In Brazil, comes into play a worsening factor which is the lack of 
adequate information, both in quality and quantity, related to the urban reality and evolution. The existing 
technologies used to gather such information are not use in full by the fact that there is a shortage of 
expertise. This article intends to contribute by mean of a presentation of the GPS - Global Positioning 
System - capabilities for carrying out special surveys in urban areas. The use of GPS allows to enlarge the 
possibilities of use the conventional remote sensing techniques such as "Scanner - images"and 
"videography". 
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