Aerial geodetic total station platform for precise active positioning in GNSS-degraded environmentsAerial geodetic total station platform for precise active positioning in GNSS-degraded environments Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2025-03-052024enOne of the main applications of UAVs (Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles) is precise mapping; however, most of the studies are specialized either on rapid-mapping without focusing on characteristic point localization, or point positioning without concentrating upon the real-time or high accuracy. In this study, an active localization method for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)-degraded environments is proposed using a custom-built UAV as an aerial geodetic total station platform. The UAV equipped with an RTK (Real-time-Kinematics)-GNSS receiver and an optimized gimbal that carries an optical sensor and a laser range-finder, is able to autonomously detect, track and localize fiducial targets, using the UAV's orientation and position, exporting their coordinates in WGS 84 geodetic reference system during the flight. The system has been validated with a significant number of experiments in various environments with increasing difficulty, providing a three-dimensional error in a range of 4–15 cm.This research and the APC have been co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH–CREATE–INNOVATE (project code: T1EDK-03209).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Automation in Construction158 Partsinevelos Panagiotis Παρτσινεβελος Παναγιωτης Petrakis Georgios Πετρακης Γεωργιος Antonopoulos Angelos Αντωνοπουλος Αγγελος Fotakis Tzanis Φωτακης Τζανης Bikos Efstathios Μπικος Ευσταθιος Charokopos Zisis Χαροκοπος Ζησης Tripolitsiotis Achilleas Τριπολιτσιωτης Αχιλλεας Elsevier UAVs Surveying Precision mapping Geo-localization GNSS-degraged environments