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 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 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 IWV retrieval from ground GNSS receivers during NAWDEX

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
Pierre Bosser ◽  
Olivier Bock
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Tropospheric Delay ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract. A ground-based network of more than 1200 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) was analysed using GIPSY-OASIS II software package for the documentation of time and space variations of water vapor in atmosphere during the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream impact EXperiment (NAWDEX) during fall 2016. The network extends throughout the North Atlantic, from the Caribbeans to Morocco through Greenland. This paper presents the methodology used for GNSS data processing, screening, and conversion of Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD) estimates to Integrated Water Vapor content (IWV) using surface parameters from reanalysis. The retrieved IWV are used to evaluate the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalyses ERAI and ERA5. ERA5 shows an overall improvement over ERAI in representing the spatial and temporal variability of IWV over the study area. The mean bias is decreased from 0.31±0.63 to 0.19±0.56 kg m−2 (mean ±1σ over all stations) and the standard deviation reduced from 2.17±0.67 to 1.64±0.53 kg m−2 combined with a slight improvement in correlation coefficient from 0.95 to 0.97. At regional scale, both reanalyses show a general wet bias at mid and northern latitudes but a dry bias in the Caribbeans. We hypothesize this results from the different nature of data being assimilated over the tropical oceans. This GNSS IWV data set is intended to be used for a better description of the high impact weather events that occurred during the NAWDEX experiment.

scholarly journals REAL-TIME TROPOSPHERIC PRODUCT ESTABLISHMENT AND ACCURACY ASSESSMENT IN CHINA

2018 ◽  
Vol XLII-3 ◽  
pp. 167-171
Author(s):  
M. Chen ◽  
J. Guo ◽  
J. Wu ◽  
W. Song ◽  
D. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Accuracy Assessment ◽  
Small Region ◽  
Correction Method ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Convergence Speed ◽  
Tropospheric Delay ◽  
The North ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Gnss Processing

Tropospheric delay has always been an important issue in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) processing. Empirical tropospheric delay models are difficult to simulate complex and volatile atmospheric environments, resulting in poor accuracy of the empirical model and difficulty in meeting precise positioning demand. In recent years, some scholars proposed to establish real-time tropospheric product by using real-time or near-real-time GNSS observations in a small region, and achieved some good results. This paper uses real-time observing data of 210 Chinese national GNSS reference stations to estimate the tropospheric delay, and establishes ZWD grid model in the country wide. In order to analyze the influence of tropospheric grid product on wide-area real-time PPP, this paper compares the method of taking ZWD grid product as a constraint with the model correction method. The results show that the ZWD grid product estimated based on the national reference stations can improve PPP accuracy and convergence speed. The accuracy in the north (N), east (E) and up (U) direction increase by 31.8 %,15.6 % and 38.3 %, respectively. As with the convergence speed, the accuracy of U direction experiences the most improvement.

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.

scholarly journals Assessing the quality of ionospheric models through GNSS positioning error: methodology and results

GPS Solutions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrià Rovira-Garcia ◽  
Deimos Ibáñez-Segura ◽  
Raul Orús-Perez ◽  
José Miguel Juan ◽  
Jaume Sanz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite System ◽  
Ionospheric Delay ◽  
Single Frequency ◽  
Positioning Error ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
Error Sources ◽  
Ionospheric Models ◽  
Evaluation Metric ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract Single-frequency users of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) must correct for the ionospheric delay. These corrections are available from global ionospheric models (GIMs). Therefore, the accuracy of the GIM is important because the unmodeled or incorrectly part of ionospheric delay contributes to the positioning error of GNSS-based positioning. However, the positioning error of receivers located at known coordinates can be used to infer the accuracy of GIMs in a simple manner. This is why assessment of GIMs by means of the position domain is often used as an alternative to assessments in the ionospheric delay domain. The latter method requires accurate reference ionospheric values obtained from a network solution and complex geodetic modeling. However, evaluations using the positioning error method present several difficulties, as evidenced in recent works, that can lead to inconsistent results compared to the tests using the ionospheric delay domain. We analyze the reasons why such inconsistencies occur, applying both methodologies. We have computed the position of 34 permanent stations for the entire year of 2014 within the last Solar Maximum. The positioning tests have been done using code pseudoranges and carrier-phase leveled (CCL) measurements. We identify the error sources that make it difficult to distinguish the part of the positioning error that is attributable to the ionospheric correction: the measurement noise, pseudorange multipath, evaluation metric, and outliers. Once these error sources are considered, we obtain equivalent results to those found in the ionospheric delay domain assessments. Accurate GIMs can provide single-frequency navigation positioning at the decimeter level using CCL measurements and better positions than those obtained using the dual-frequency ionospheric-free combination of pseudoranges. Finally, some recommendations are provided for further studies of ionospheric models using the position domain method.

scholarly journals Updating of digital topographic maps in the new national spatial coordinate system: case Fergana valley in Uzbekistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Dilbarkhon Fazilova ◽  
Hasan Magdiev
Keyword(s):  
Coordinate System ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Topographic Maps ◽  
The North ◽  
New Information ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Geodetic Coordinate System ◽  
Geocentric Coordinate System

Abstract. The classical geodetic coordinate system (CS42) in Uzbekistan uses the Krasovsky ellipsoid. The implementation of new information technologies, such as the Global Navigation Satellite System, became the basis for the development of a new national open geocentric coordinate system. This paper describes the development of a distortion grid for transforming horizontal spatial data from the local geodetic datum CS42 to a geocentric datum WGS84 for 1:100000 scale maps of the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan. A first version of the distortion grid file has been created for transforming between CS42 and WGS84 for the whole territory of the country. The significant influence of the longitudinal drift of the region has been confirmed. The grid was used to transform topographic maps at a scale of 1:100000 for the Fergana Valley. Changing the map datum has shifted the grid of coordinate systems by 70 m in the East and 7 m in the North.

scholarly journals Climatology of Ionospheric Amplitude Scintillation on GNSS Signals at South American Sector During Solar Cycle 24

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Perez Macho ◽  
Emilia Correia ◽  
Luca Spogli ◽  
Marcio Tadeu de Assis Honorato Muella
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Scintillation Index ◽  
Ionospheric Scintillation ◽  
South American ◽  
Amplitude Scintillation ◽  
Solar Cycle 24 ◽  
Cycle 24 ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Scintillations are caused by ionospheric irregularities and can affect the propagation of trans-ionospheric radio signals. One way to understand and predict the impact of such irregularities on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals is through the climatological behavior of the ionospheric scintillation indexes during the different phases of a solar cycle. In this work, we investigate the amplitude scintillation index S4 during the full solar cycle 24 at South American (SA) sector, that is featured by the Ionospheric Anomaly (EIA) and by the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA). We also investigate the daily variation of S4 and two case studies during geomagnetic storms. The results show a significant intensification of amplitude scintillations at northern and southern crest of EIA, especially during the southern hemisphere’s spring/summer seasons, with a higher increase during solar maximum, and after sunset. And particularly at the SAMA region, where the intensity of magnetic field lines is lower, the S4 fluctuations are much higher.

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 A New Method to Improve the Detection of Co-Seismic Ionospheric Disturbances using Sequential Measurement Combination

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (13) ◽  
pp. 2948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seonho Kang ◽  
Junesol Song ◽  
Deokhwa Han ◽  
Bugyeom Kim ◽  
Hyoungmin So ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Derivative ◽  
Tohoku Earthquake ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Detection Performance ◽  
Ionospheric Delay ◽  
New Method ◽  
Ionospheric Disturbances ◽  
The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake ◽  
Sequential Measurement ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Earthquakes generate energy that propagates into the ionosphere and incurs co-seismic ionospheric disturbances (CIDs), which can be observed in ionospheric delay measurements. In most cases, the CID has a weak signal strength, because the energy in the atmosphere transferred from the earthquake dissipates as it travels toward the ionosphere. It is particularly hard to observe at reference stations that are located far from the epicenter. As the number of Global Navigation Satellite System stations and their positions are restricted, it is important to employ weak CID data in the analysis by improving the detection performance of CIDs. In this study, we suggest a new method of detecting CIDs, which mainly uses a sequential measurement combination of the carrier phase-based ionospheric delay data, with a 1-second interval. The proposed method’s performance was compared with conventional methods, including band-pass filters and a representative time-derivative method, using data from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. As a result, the maximum CID-to-noise ratio can be increased by a maximum of 13% when the proposed method is used, and consequently, the detection performance of the CID can be improved.

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