Real-Time Kinematics Positioning GNSS Landslide Monitoring System – Hardware Components

Monitoring landslide activity demands positioning systems that can operate continuously in difficult terrain while maintaining high accuracy. Traditional geodetic GNSS receivers provide excellent precision but are often too costly and delicate for large-scale deployments. Recent developments in affordable GNSS hardware have opened new opportunities for building dense monitoring networks at a fraction of the expense. This paper reviews the hardware components most critical to such systems, including receiver types, antennas, power solutions, and communication links. Low-cost single-frequency devices, such as u-blox modules, demonstrate promising results under favorable conditions, though they require longer convergence times. Dual-frequency receivers, such as the ZED-F9P, deliver faster initialization and more reliable precision, albeit with higher cost. Antenna configuration further influences performance, with geodetic-grade options ensuring stability and calibrated patch antennas offering practical compromises. Field deployments typically integrate solar panels with battery storage and rely on cellular or radio communication for real-time data transfer. With overall system costs ranging from €500 to €1500 per station, properly configured low-cost units have proven capable of tracking ground displacements with sufficient accuracy for landslide monitoring. The evidence suggests that careful hardware integration, balancing receiver choice, antenna performance, autonomous power supply, and connectivity is key to designing effective and resilient GNSS monitoring networks.