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Old July 16th 20, 03:59 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tim Newport-Peace[_6_]
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Posts: 65
Default How accurate are the OLC AGL traces?

At 14:25 16 July 2020, kinsell wrote:
On 7/16/20 12:19 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 6:28:25 AM UTC+2, kinsell wrote:
On 7/15/20 7:34 PM, MNLou wrote:
Hi Nick -

When I want to analyze a flight from OLC, I download the IGC file and

open it in See You.

I think the AGL numbers are See You are more accurate than from the

OLC
summary.

YMMV -

Lou


The barometric sensor in the logger is going to be assuming 29.92

inches
of mercury for atmospheric pressure, any deviation from that is going

to
introduce an error on top of the instrument accuracy. So the AGL
calculations can be off quite a bit no matter what database is used

for
ground elevation..


I would suspect OLC is using GPS altitude for AGL calculations, and

probably using a fairly course terrain database which would explain the
inaccuracies.


The large majority of traces submitted to OLC are going to have pressure
data but yes they do accept ones with only GPS altitude. It's possible
they always use GPS altitude, but it's less accurate and tends to read
higher in my experience.

Whichever they use, resolution is not the same as accuracy. Subtracting
two large, inaccurate numbers from each other does not provide
meaningful results. And yes people sometimes get too close to the rocks.

GPS Altitudes from Flight Recorders _should_ be referenced to the WGS84
ellipsoid, but this is not always the case. There is usually a difference
between the WGS84 ellipsoid and Mean Sea Level.

What is the OLC Terrain Database referenced to?