Monitoring the response of structures, especially tall buildings, under severe loading conditions is an important requirement for the validation of their design and construction, as well as being a maintenance concern. This paper presents a review of current research and development activities (since 1995) in the field of high-rise structure health monitoring using the Global Positioning System (GPS). The GPS monitoring technology and its accurate assessment method are firstly briefly described. Then, the progresses on monitoring the displacement of the high-rise structure caused by the ambient effects including wind, thermal variation, and earthquake-induced responses are discussed in details. Following that, the states of the art of augmenting the GPS monitoring technology are reviewed. Finally, existing problems and promising research efforts in the GPS-based health monitoring are given. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Optimal sensor placement (OSP) technique plays a key role in the structural health monitoring (SHM) of large-scale civil infrastructures. This paper outlines an overview of current research and development in the field of OSP problems in a perspective of both researchers and engineers. The paper begins with a definition of the model of sensor placement and provides the basic issues covering relevant methodologies. The primary evaluation criteria and main sensor placement methods are then discussed in details. Following that, the linkage between several influential sensor placement methods is described. Finally, existing problems and promising research efforts in the OSP problem of civil SHM are discussed.