Trimble has announced that the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS) and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) have jointly purchased 40 GNSS reference station receivers as part of a project to upgrade the current network.

LINZ is the government department responsible for the geodetic infrastructure and land title system in the country.

The LINZ network of reference stations provides accurate control points for monitoring and developing the geospatial infrastructure of the country.

It conducts geoscience research as part of the GeoNet project and performs commercial survey work throughout New Zealand.

Users can access positioning data from the LINZ reference stations through live data streams and archived data distributed over the internet.

John Beavan, principal scientist at GNS, said data from the existing installed Trimble reference station receivers have been beneficial both in terms of post-event analysis of the recent earthquake near Christchurch and for monitoring ongoing tectonic movements.

"With the increased sample rate possibilities, low latency communication options and additional frequency channels that the Trimble NetR9 receiver provides, LINZ and GNS will be able to provide even more valuable positioning information, both in support of surveying and geospatial applications and for geoscience and natural hazards research in New Zealand,” he said.