Location Selection of the Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) using Best-Worst Method (BWM)Case study: Southern coasts of Iran

Network Real-Time Kinematic (NRTK) is a network of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) that provide precise positioning services at a centimeter-level in real-time. The main step in the design of NRTK is the location selection of the CORS, which has a direct impact on the cost of establishing and maintaining the NRTK and the quality of the positioning services provided by the NRTK. Presently such a network to meet the needs of navigation and exploration as well, as the extraction of marine resources in oil fields in coastal and offshore areas of Iran, does not exist. Therefore, this research has been conducted to pave the way for the establishment of an NRTK on the Southern coast of Iran. More specifically, the location selection of the CORS on the Southern coast of Iran, to cover the aforementioned needs, was become the subject of this research. For this purpose, first, the comparison matrix of the required criteria and sub-criteria was set up based on the opinion of 10 experts in this field via the Delphi method and then in MATLAB software using the Best-Worst algorithm the weights the criteria and sub-criteria were computed. Next, the classification of the layers related to the criteria and sub-criteria was performed in the GIS environment. Finally, by merging the layers according to their weights, the optimum location for the establishment of CORS has been derived. The computational details and the results are presented in the paper.

Keywords:

Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) , Best-Worst Method (BWM) , Network Real-Time Kinematic (NRTK) , Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM).