Positional accuracy of GPS-enabled mobile devices

Abstract

The rise of Web 2.0 coupled with the recent, non-stop technological advancements have cleared the way for an unprecedented spread
of applications exploiting geospatial data created by common people. Portable, GPS-enabled mobile devices like tablets and smart
phones, that are currently accessible to a wide audience, allow to easily produce georeferenced data (including images, audios, videos
and textual notes) which constantly feed the databases of a number of projects. However, what is the positional accuracy achievable
by such devices? This work seeks to provide an answer by investigating the performances of mobile devices equipped with Android
operative system starting from a series of field surveys. Comparing the positions recorded by a tablet and a smart phone on a number
of points of known location, many statistical analysis allow first to quantify the positional accuracy of the observations, that, despite
varying with the specific device under testing, generally present median values of the order of some meters. Specific computations
allow then to evaluate the nature of the measured errors and to further study their behavior and dependence on the two coordinates. A
final analysis shows also that the accuracy information, which is automatically provided by the mobile devices together with the
position recorded, is not generally a reliable measure of the real accuracy. Although achieved on a limited number of tested devices
and thus to be assumed as preliminary, the results are significant and can constitute fruitful ground for future research in this field.