scholarly journals Comparative analysis of blind tropospheric correction models in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26
Author(s):  
S. Osah ◽  
A. A. Acheampong ◽  
C. Fosu ◽  
I. Dadzie
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Models ◽  
Mapping Function ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Tropospheric Delay ◽  
Model Bias ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Delay Prediction

Abstract The impact of the earth’s atmospheric layers, particularly the troposphere on Global Navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals has become a major concern in GNSS accurate positioning, navigation, surveillance and timing applications. For precise GNSS applications, tropospheric delay has to be mitigated as accurately as possible using tropospheric delay prediction models. However, the choice of a particular prediction model can signifi-cantly impair the positioning accuracy particularly when the model does not suit the user’s environment. A performance assessment of these prediction models for a suitable one is very important. In this paper, an assessment study of the performances of five blind tropospheric delay prediction models, the UNB3m, EGNOS, GTrop, GPT2w and GPT3 models was conducted in Ghana over six selected Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) using the 1˚x1˚ gridded Vienna Mapping Function 3 (VMF3) zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) product as a reference. The gridded VMF3-ZTD which is generated for every six hours on the 1˚x1˚ grids was bilinearly interpolated both space and time and transferred from the grid heights to the respective heights of the CORS locations. The results show that the GPT3 model performed better in estimating the ZTD with an overall mean (bias: 2.05 cm; RMS: 2.53 cm), followed by GPT2w model (bias: 2.32cm; RMS: 2.76cm) and GTrop model (bias: 2.41cm; 2.82cm). UNB3m model (bias: 6.23 cm; RMS: 6.43 cm) and EGNOS model (bias: 6.70 cm; RMS: 6.89 cm) performed poorly. A multiple comparison test (MCT) was further performed on the RMSE of each model to check if there is significant difference at 5% significant level. The results show that the GPT3, GPT2w and GTrop models are significantly indifferent at 5% significance level indicating that either of these models can be employed to mitigate the ZTD in the study area, nevertheless, the choice of GPT3 model will be more preferable.

scholarly journals Analysis and Comparison of GPS Precipitable Water Estimates between Two Nearby Stations on Tahiti Island

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (24) ◽  
pp. 5578
Author(s):  
Fangzhao Zhang ◽  
Jean-Pierre Barriot ◽  
Guochang Xu ◽  
Marania Hopuare
Keyword(s):  
Mapping Function ◽  
Precipitable Water ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Tropospheric Delay ◽  
Horizontal Distance ◽  
International Gnss Service ◽  
Weighted Mean Temperature ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Since Bevis first proposed Global Positioning System (GPS) meteorology in 1992, the precipitable water (PW) estimates retrieved from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) networks with high accuracy have been widely used in many meteorological applications. The proper estimation of GNSS PW can be affected by the GNSS processing strategy as well as the local geographical properties of GNSS sites. To better understand the impact of these factors, we compare PW estimates from two nearby permanent GPS stations (THTI and FAA1) in the tropical Tahiti Island, a basalt shield volcano located in the South Pacific, with a mean slope of 8% and a diameter of 30 km. The altitude difference between the two stations is 86.14 m, and their horizontal distance difference is 2.56 km. In this paper, Bernese GNSS Software Version 5.2 with precise point positioning (PPP) and Vienna mapping function 1 (VMF1) was applied to estimate the zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD), which was compared with the International GNSS Service (IGS) Final products. The meteorological parameters sourced from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the local weighted mean temperature ( T m ) model were used to estimate the GPS PW for three years (May 2016 to April 2019). The results show that the differences of PW between two nearby GPS stations is nearly a constant with value 1.73 mm. In our case, this difference is mainly driven by insolation differences, the difference in altitude and the wind being only second factors.

scholarly journals Is GNSS real-time positioning a reliable option to validate erosion studies at olive grove environments?

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. e0204
Author(s):  
María S. Garrido-Carretero ◽  
María I. Ramos-Galán ◽  
María C. De Lacy-Pérez de los Cobos ◽  
Sergio Blanca-Mena ◽  
Antonio J. Gil-Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Single Frequency ◽  
Olive Grove ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Spatial Redistribution ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Aim of study: Soil degradation in agricultural areas is a widespread problem. In this framework, a data validation methodology is presented, including a study of the spatial resolution of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements, the calculation of erosion/deposition models, and the contribution of dual frequency and low-cost single frequency GNSS receivers.Area of study: A test olive grove in SE Spain.Material and methods: The study is based on three observation campaigns, between 2016 and 2018, using different GNSS receivers and working modes. The comparison between different surveys provide the volumetric variation over the analyzed period.Main results: Considering the dual-frequency receiver, there was no statistically significant difference between the means and the variances from 1.5 m and from 4.5 m data resolution at the 0.05 significance level. In order to estimate vertical differences from successive GNSS campaigns a differential digital elevation approach was applied. Although the differences depended on the zone of the test area and they changed along the monitoring period, the erosion rate could be catalogued as very low. The dual-frequency receiver satisfied the vertical centimetric precision limits for high accurate Digital Elevation Model (DEM), making it a reliable and accurate option to validate erosion studies in small areas.Research highlights: The results have allowed the characterization of multi-annual spatial redistribution of the topsoil at local scale, being of great help to design future prevention actions for the “tillage erosion” in olive grove environments. However, more tests are needed to guarantee the feasibility of low-cost receivers.

scholarly journals Impact of Using GPS L2 Receiver Antenna Corrections for the Galileo E5a Frequency on Position Estimates

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 5536
Author(s):  
Andrzej Araszkiewicz ◽  
Damian Kiliszek
Keyword(s):  
Satellite System ◽  
Differential Analysis ◽  
International Gnss Service ◽  
Phase Center ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Anechoic Chambers ◽  
Antenna Phase ◽  
Antenna Phase Center ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Knowledge of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna phase center variations plays a key role in precise positioning. Proper modeling is achieved by accessing antenna phase center corrections, which are determined in the calibration process. For most receiver antenna types, the International GNSS Service provides such corrections for two GPS and GLONASS carrier signals. In the case of Galileo, access to phase center corrections is difficult; only antennas calibrated in the anechoic chambers have available corrections for Galileo frequencies. Hence, in many of the studies, GPS-dedicated corrections are used for these Galileo frequencies. Differential analysis was conducted in this study to evaluate the impact of such change. In total, 25 stations belonging to the EUREF Permanent Network and equipped with individual calibrated antennas were the subject of this research. The results for both the absolute and relative positioning methods are clear: using GPS L2 corrections for Galileo E5a frequency causes a bias in the estimated height of almost 8 mm. For the horizontal component, a significant difference can be noticed for only one type of antenna.

scholarly journals Development and evaluation of the refined zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) models

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Yang ◽  
Xiaolin Meng ◽  
Jiming Guo ◽  
Debao Yuan ◽  
Ming Chen
Keyword(s):  
Back Propagation ◽  
Mapping Function ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Tropospheric Delay ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Residual Distribution ◽  
Zenith Tropospheric Delay ◽  
Accuracy Difference ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

AbstractThe tropospheric delay is a significant error source in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning and navigation. It is usually projected into zenith direction by using a mapping function. It is particularly important to establish a model that can provide stable and accurate Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD). Because of the regional accuracy difference and poor stability of the traditional ZTD models, this paper proposed two methods to refine the Hopfield and Saastamoinen ZTD models. One is by adding annual and semi-annual periodic terms and the other is based on Back-Propagation Artificial Neutral Network (BP-ANN). Using 5-year data from 2011 to 2015 collected at 67 GNSS reference stations in China and its surrounding regions, the four refined models were constructed. The tropospheric products at these GNSS stations were derived from the site-wise Vienna Mapping Function 1 (VMP1). The spatial analysis, temporal analysis, and residual distribution analysis for all the six models were conducted using the data from 2016 to 2017. The results show that the refined models can effectively improve the accuracy compared with the traditional models. For the Hopfield model, the improvement for the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and bias reached 24.5/49.7 and 34.0/52.8 mm, respectively. These values became 8.8/26.7 and 14.7/28.8 mm when the Saastamoinen model was refined using the two methods. This exploration is conducive to GNSS navigation and positioning and GNSS meteorology by providing more accurate tropospheric prior information.

scholarly journals The Effects of Higher-Order Ionospheric Terms on GPS Tropospheric Delay and Gradient Estimates

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyu Zhang ◽  
Fei Guo ◽  
Xiaohong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Ionospheric Delay ◽  
Gradient Estimates ◽  
Tropospheric Delay ◽  
The North ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Atmospheric delays, e.g., ionospheric delay and tropospheric delay, are the dominant error sources for the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), especially for Precise Point Positioning (PPP). The common method for eliminating ionospheric delay is to form an ionosphere-free (IF) observable, which is a linear combination of observables on two frequencies such as GPS L1 and L2. As for the tropospheric delay, the dry component can be precisely corrected by empirical models, while the wet component is usually estimated as unknowns. However, the higher-order ionospheric (HOI) terms are not totally cancelled out in the (first-order) IF observable and as such, when not accounted for, they degrade the accuracy of other parameters. The impact of HOI corrections is well documented in the literature. This paper investigates the temporal effects of HOI terms on estimated tropospheric parameters, i.e., zenith tropospheric wet delay (ZWD) and north and east gradients. For this purpose, observations from over 100 stations with good global coverage were used considering various geographic and geophysical conditions. The results of numerical experiments show that HOI effects have a significant impact on the estimated tropospheric parameters, and the influence is dependent on location and time. The maximum differences of ZWD estimates reach over 20 mm during periods of activity such as solar storms and geomagnetic storms. Additionally, the north gradients are more likely to be affected by HOI effects compared with east gradients. In particular, the tropospheric gradient component is most affected for low latitude station during daytime. Additionally, the effects of bending errors and HOI terms on slant tropospheric delay at low elevation angles are much larger than those at high elevation angles.

scholarly journals Measurement of the Sea Surface Height with Airborne GNSS Reflectometry and Delay Bias Calibration

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3014
Author(s):  
Feng Wang ◽  
Dongkai Yang ◽  
Guodong Zhang ◽  
Jin Xing ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Arrival Time ◽  
Elevation Angle ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Sea Surface Height ◽  
Antenna Pattern ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Sea surface height can be measured with the delay between reflected and direct global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals. The arrival time of a feature point, such as the waveform peak, the peak of the derivative waveform, and the fraction of the peak waveform is not the true arrival time of the specular signal; there is a bias between them. This paper aims to analyze and calibrate the bias to improve the accuracy of sea surface height measured by using the reflected signals of GPS CA, Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I. First, the influencing factors of the delay bias, including the elevation angle, receiver height, wind speed, pseudorandom noise (PRN) code of GPS CA, Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I, and the down-looking antenna pattern are explored based on the Z-V model. The results show that (1) with increasing elevation angle, receiver height, and wind speed, the delay bias tends to decrease; (2) the impact of the PRN code is uncoupled from the elevation angle, receiver height, and wind speed, so the delay biases of Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I can be derived from that of GPS CA by multiplication by the constants 0.32 and 0.54, respectively; and (3) the influence of the down-looking antenna pattern on the delay bias is lower than 1 m, which is less than that of other factors; hence, the effect of the down-looking antenna pattern is ignored in this paper. Second, an analytical model and a neural network are proposed based on the assumption that the influence of all factors on the delay bias are uncoupled and coupled, respectively, to calibrate the delay bias. The results of the simulation and experiment show that compared to the meter-level bias before the calibration, the calibrated bias decreases the decimeter level. Based on the fact that the specular points of several satellites are visible to the down-looking antenna, the multi-observation method is proposed to calibrate the bias for the case of unknown wind speed, and the same calibration results can be obtained when the proper combination of satellites is selected.

Differences of instructor presence levels in predominately online versus predominately not online courses within the community college setting

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Marcie M. Cutsinger
Keyword(s):  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Learning Modalities ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Instructor Presence ◽  
Community Of Inquiry Framework ◽  
The Impact

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the level of instructor presence in the predominately online versus the predominately not online course. The increase in both the number of students enrolling on online courses and the number of courses/programs offered magnifies the need to address instructor presence. This case study considers students' perception of instructor presence in a predominately online and predominately not online course. Instructor presence was examined using the Community of Inquiry framework. The Community of Inquiry is a framework used to examine social, teaching and cognitive presence and the impact of such. Data was gathered from two courses in the different learning modalities. Students were enrolled in the courses at the same time with the same instructor. Statistical analysis utilized in this study included the Mann Whitney U, Spearman's rho and Kendall tau. A significance level of P less than (.05) was used for all tests. This research found no statistically significant difference in the levels of instructor presence in a predominately online course when compared to a predominately not online course. The two significant results in relation to instructor presence and course satisfaction were mixed. Course outcome and instructor presence are addressed with discussion and recommendations for further research included. This study contributes to the research by providing further data regarding students' perception of and the significance of instructor presence.

scholarly journals The impact of using the strategy of self-questioning in the achievement of students in the fifth grade in mathematics: أثر استخدام استراتيجية التساؤل الذاتي في تحصيل طلاب الصف الخامس الابتدائي في مادة الرياضيات

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Latif Al-Zakri
Keyword(s):  
Achievement Test ◽  
Experimental Methodology ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Fifth Grade Students ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study aimed to examine the impact of the use of self-questioning in the understanding of fifth grade students in mathematics material. The researcher used the experimental methodology for independent groups to investigate the impact of the independent variable, which is a self-questioning strategy on the dependent variable, which is understanding. The study sample consisted of 42 students from the fifth grade students from Khubayb bin Udai School in Riyadh; equally divided into two groups of 21 students in each group (experimental and control), and after making sure from groups' equivalence by applying the tools of the study, having been taught the experimental group by using self-questioning strategy, while the control group has been studied the unit by using the traditional method. After the completion of the study of prescribed content study, study tools (achievement test) were applied then. The results indicated to the presence of a statistically significant difference (at the significance level <0. 05) between the mean scores of the two groups' students (experimental and control) in achievement test posttest for the experimental group. Since the results of the study were positive in increasing the achievement, the researcher recommended the need to use self-questioning to raise the level of achievement of learners in mathematics material

scholarly journals GNSS-Assisted Integrated Sensor Orientation with Sensor Pre-Calibration for Accurate Corridor Mapping

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 2783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yilin Zhou ◽  
Ewelina Rupnik ◽  
Paul-Henri Faure ◽  
Marc Pierrot-Deseilligny
Keyword(s):  
Satellite System ◽  
Sensor Calibration ◽  
Image Block ◽  
Integrated Sensor ◽  
Physical Constraints ◽  
Pose Determination ◽  
Sensor Orientation ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Oblique Images ◽  
The Impact

With the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and global navigation satellite system (GNSS), the accurate camera positions at exposure can be known and the GNSS-assisted bundle block adjustment (BBA) approach is possible for integrated sensor orientation (ISO). This study employed ISO approach for camera pose determination with the objective of investigating the impact of a good sensor pre-calibration on a poor acquisition geometry. Within the presented works, several flights were conducted on a dike by a small UAV embedded with a metric camera and a GNSS receiver. The multi-lever-arm estimation within the BBA procedure makes it possible to merge image blocks of different configurations such as nadir and oblique images without physical constraints on camera and GNSS antenna positions. The merged image block achieves a better accuracy and the sensor self-calibrated well. The issued sensor calibration is then applied to a less preferable acquisition configuration and the accuracy is significantly improved. For a corridor acquisition scene of about 600 m , a centimetric accuracy is reached with one GCP. With the provided sensor pre-calibration, an accuracy of 3.9 c m is achieved without any GCP.

scholarly journals Georeferencing of Laser Scanner-Based Kinematic Multi-Sensor Systems in the Context of Iterated Extended Kalman Filters Using Geometrical Constraints

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sören Vogel ◽  
Hamza Alkhatib ◽  
Johannes Bureick ◽  
Rozhin Moftizadeh ◽  
Ingo Neumann
Keyword(s):  
State Constraints ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Sensor Systems ◽  
Measurement Models ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Geometrical Constraints ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Georeferencing is an indispensable necessity regarding operating with kinematic multi-sensor systems (MSS) in various indoor and outdoor areas. Information from object space combined with various types of prior information (e.g., geometrical constraints) are beneficial especially in challenging environments where common solutions for pose estimation (e.g., global navigation satellite system or external tracking by a total station) are inapplicable, unreliable or inaccurate. Consequently, an iterated extended Kalman filter is used and a general georeferencing approach by means of recursive state estimation is introduced. This approach is open to several types of observation inputs and can deal with (non)linear systems and measurement models. The capability of using both explicit and implicit formulations of the relation between states and observations, and the consideration of (non)linear equality and inequality state constraints is a special feature. The framework presented is evaluated by an indoor kinematic MSS based on a terrestrial laser scanner. The focus here is on the impact of several different combinations of applied state constraints and the dependencies of two classes of inertial measurement units (IMU). The results presented are based on real measurement data combined with simulated IMU measurements.

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