Prospects for Combining a Geodetic Angle Refractometer and an Electronic Tacheometer to Improve the Accuracy of Angular Measurements

The atmospheric refraction effect significantly distorts the results of conventional geodetic measurements. The error due to the vertical refraction can be one hundred times greater than the instrumental error of an electronic tacheometer. Therefore, GNSS measurements do not always obtain reliable results. Furthermore, the hardware methods of refraction determination are complicated to implement in a real atmosphere. Therefore the methodical direction has the most significant development. In geodetic production, only one methodological technique is used. This is the determination of the refraction correction using the standard refraction coefficient. However, the accuracy of this method is insufficient. We are improving the angle refractometer based on the compensation method for refraction measurement. This way implements the two-wave dispersion method for angular refraction determination. The researchers faced several problems with the implementation of this method. Our refractometer scheme includes components that allow converting an information signal into an alternating electric current, amplifying it a billion times, effectively suppressing different types of interferences, and aligning different wavelength signals by the intensity and area of irradiation of photoreceivers. Furthermore, the developed scheme fully automates the process of registration and compensation of dispersion; as a result, the prospect of combining a refractometer with an electronic tacheometer into a single measuring complex opens up. In our opinion, this combination will make it possible to obtain values of angles, free from the influence of atmospheric refraction, with an accuracy close to the instrumental one.