A New DGNSS Positioning Infrastructure for Android Smartphones

One’s position has become an important piece of information for our everyday lives in a smart city. Currently, a position can be obtained easily using smartphones that is equipped with low-cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) chipsets with accuracy varying from 5 m to 10 m. Differential GNSS (DGNSS) is an efficient technology that removes the majority of GNSS errors with the aid of reference stations installed at known locations. The sub-meter accuracy can be achieved when applying the DGNSS technology on the advanced receivers. In 2016, Android has opened the accesses of raw GNSS measurements to developers. However, most of the mid and low-end smartphones only provide the data using the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) protocol. They do not provide the raw measurements, and thus do not support the DGNSS operation either. We proposed a DGNSS infrastructure that correct the standalone GNSS position of smartphones using the corrections from the reference station. In the infrastructure, the position correction is generated considering the GNSS satellite IDs that contribute to the standalone solution in smartphones, and the position obtained is equivalent to the solution of using the range-domain correction directly. To serve a large number of smartphone users, a Client/Server architecture is developed to cope with a mass of DGNSS positioning requests efficiently. The comparison of the proposed infrastructure against the ground truth, for all field tests in open areas, showed that the infrastructure achieves the horizontal positioning accuracy better than 2 m. The improvement in accuracy can reach more than 50% for the test in the afternoon. The infrastructure brings benefits to applications that require more accuracy without requiring any hardware modifications.

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Assessment of the Steering Precision of a Hydrographic USV along Sounding Profiles Using a High-Precision GNSS RTK Receiver Supported Autopilot

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13215637 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (21) ◽

pp. 5637

Author(s):

Łukasz Marchel ◽

Cezary Specht ◽

Mariusz Specht

Keyword(s):

High Precision ◽

Low Cost ◽

Path Following ◽

Satellite System ◽

Magnetic Compass ◽

Reference Station ◽

Positioning System ◽

Positioning Accuracy ◽

Unmanned Surface Vehicles ◽

Global Navigation Satellite

Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) are increasingly used to perform numerous tasks connected with measurements in inland waters and seas. One of such target applications is hydrography, where traditional (manned) bathymetric measurements are increasingly often realized by unmanned surface vehicles. This pertains especially to restricted or hardly navigable waters, in which execution of hydrographic surveys with the use of USVs requires precise maneuvering. Bathymetric measurements should be realized in a way that makes it possible to determine the waterbody’s depth as precisely as possible, and this requires high-precision in navigating along planned sounding profiles. This paper presents research that aimed to determine the accuracy of unmanned surface vehicle steering in autonomous mode (with a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller) along planned hydrographic profiles. During the measurements, a high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Real Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning system based on a GNSS reference station network (positioning accuracy: 1–2 cm, p = 0.95) and a magnetic compass with the stability of course maintenance of 1°–3° Root Mean Square (RMS) were used. For the purpose of evaluating the accuracy of the vessel’s path following along sounding profiles, the cross track error (XTE) measure, i.e., the distance between an USV’s position and the hydrographic profile, calculated transversely to the course, was proposed. The tests were compared with earlier measurements taken by other unmanned surface vehicles, which followed the exact same profiles with the use of much simpler and low-cost multi-GNSS receiver (positioning accuracy: 2–2.5 m or better, p = 0.50), supported with a Fluxgate magnetic compass with a high course measurement accuracy of 0.3° (p = 0.50 at 30 m/s). The research has shown that despite the considerable difference in the positioning accuracy of both devices and incomparably different costs of both solutions, the authors proved that the use of the GNSS RTK positioning system, as opposed to a multi-GNSS system supported with a Fluxgate magnetic compass, influences the precision of USV following sounding profiles to an insignificant extent.

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Implementation and Analysis of Tightly Coupled Global Navigation Satellite System Precise Point Positioning/Inertial Navigation System (GNSS PPP/INS) with Insufficient Satellites for Land Vehicle Navigation

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s18124305 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 4305 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Yue Liu ◽

Fei Liu ◽

Yang Gao ◽

Lin Zhao

Keyword(s):

Low Cost ◽

Satellite System ◽

Single Frequency ◽

Vehicle Navigation ◽

Land Vehicle ◽

Land Vehicle Navigation ◽

Gps Satellites ◽

Tightly Coupled ◽

Gnss Measurements ◽

Global Navigation Satellite

This paper implements and analyzes a tightly coupled single-frequency global navigation satellite system precise point positioning/inertial navigation system (GNSS PPP/INS) with insufficient satellites for land vehicle navigation using a low-cost GNSS receiver and a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial measurement unit (IMU). For land vehicle navigation, it is inevitable to encounter the situation where insufficient satellites can be observed. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the performance of tightly coupled integration in a GNSS-challenging environment. In addition, it is also of importance to investigate the least number of satellites adopted to improve the performance, compared with no satellites used. In this paper, tightly coupled integration using low-cost sensors with insufficient satellites was conducted, which provided a clear view of the improvement of the solution with insufficient satellites compared to no GNSS measurements at all. Specifically, in this paper single-frequency PPP was implemented to achieve the best performance, with one single-frequency receiver. The INS mechanization was conducted in a local-level frame (LLF). An extended Kalman filter was applied to fuse the two different types of measurements. To be more specific, in PPP processing, the atmosphere errors are corrected using a Saastamoinen model and the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) global ionosphere map (GIM) product. The residuals of atmosphere errors are not estimated to accelerate the ambiguity convergence. For INS error mitigation, velocity constraints for land vehicle navigation are adopted to limit the quick drift of a MEMS-based IMU. Field tests with simulated partial and full GNSS outages were conducted to show the performance of tightly coupled GNSS PPP/INS with insufficient satellites: The results were classified as long-term (several minutes) and short-term (less than 1 min). The results showed that generally, with GNSS measurements applied, although the number of satellites was not enough, the solution still could be improved, especially with more than three satellites observed. With three GPS satellites used, the horizontal drift could be reduced to a few meters after several minutes. The 3D position error could be limited within 10 m in one minute when three GPS satellites were applied. In addition, a field test in an urban area where insufficient satellites were observed from time to time was also conducted to show the limited solution drift.

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Preliminary Results on Tropospheric ZTD Estimation by Smartphone

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13224567 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (22) ◽

pp. 4567

Author(s):

Lorenzo Benvenuto ◽

Paolo Dabove ◽

Ilaria Ferrando ◽

Domenico Sguerso

Keyword(s):

Operating System ◽

Satellite System ◽

Reference Station ◽

Limited Information ◽

Dual Frequency ◽

Total Delay ◽

Gnss Measurements ◽

The Many ◽

Global Navigation Satellite ◽

Program Interface

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver is one of the many sensors embedded in smartphones. The early versions of the Android operating system could only access limited information from the GNSS, allowing the related Application Program Interface (API) to obtain only the location. With the development of the Android 7.0 (Nougat) operating system in May 2016, raw measurements from the internal GNSS sensor installed in the smartphone could be accessed. This work aims to show an initial analysis regarding the feasibility of Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) estimation by GNSS measurements extracted from smartphones, evaluating the accuracy of estimation to open a new window on troposphere local monitoring. Two different test sites have been considered, and two different types of software for data processing have been used. ZTDs have been estimated from both a dual-frequency and a multi-constellation receiver embedded in the smartphone, and from a GNSS Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS). The results have shown interesting performances in terms of ZTD estimation from the smartphone in respect of the estimations obtained with a geodetic receiver.

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Impacts of forest spatial structure on variation of the multipath phenomenon of navigation satellite signals

Folia Forestalia Polonica ◽

10.2478/ffp-2019-0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 3-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michał Brach ◽

Krzysztof Stereńczak ◽

Leszek Bolibok ◽

Łukasz Kwaśny ◽

Grzegorz Krok ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Structure ◽

Ground Truth ◽

Satellite System ◽

Forest Stand ◽

Navigation Satellite ◽

Radio Waves ◽

Ground Truth Data ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Gnss Measurements ◽

Global Navigation Satellite

AbstractThe GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers are commonly used in forest management in order to determine objects coordinates, area or length assessment and many other tasks which need accurate positioning. Unfortunately, the forest structure strongly limits access to satellite signals, which makes the positioning accuracy much weak comparing to the open areas. The main reason for this issue is the multipath phenomenon of satellite signal. It causes radio waves reflections from surrounding obstacles so the signal do not reach directly to the GNSS receiver’s antenna. Around 50% of error in GNSS positioning in the forest is because of multipath effect. In this research study, an attempt was made to quantify the forest stand features that may influence the multipath variability. The ground truth data was collected in six Forest Districts located in different part of Poland. The total amount of data was processed for over 2,700 study inventory plots with performed GNSS measurements. On every plot over 25 forest metrics were calculated and over 25 minutes of raw GNSS observations (1500 epochs) were captured. The main goal of this study was to find the way of multipath quantification and search the relationship between multipath variability and forest structure. It was reported that forest stand merchantable volume is the most important factor which influence the multipath phenomenon. Even though the similar geodetic class GNSS receivers were used it was observed significant difference of multipath values in similar conditions.

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Low-Cost GPS Receivers for the Monitoring of Sunflower Cover Dynamics

Journal of Sensors ◽

10.1155/2017/6941739 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Mehrez Zribi ◽

Erwan Motte ◽

Pascal Fanise ◽

Walid Zouaoui

Keyword(s):

Water Content ◽

Low Cost ◽

Ground Truth ◽

Satellite System ◽

Daily Basis ◽

Empirical Modeling ◽

Test Field ◽

Signal Attenuation ◽

Vegetation Water ◽

Global Navigation Satellite

The aim of this research is to analyze the potential use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals for the monitoring of in situ vegetation characteristics. An instrument, based on the use of a pair of low-cost receivers and antennas, providing continuous measurements of all the available Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite signals is proposed for the determination of signal attenuation caused by a sunflower cover. Experimental campaigns with this instrument, combined with ground truth measurements of the vegetation, were performed over a nonirrigated sunflower test field for a period of more than two months, corresponding to a significant portion of the vegetation cycle. A method is proposed for the analysis of the signal attenuation data as a function of elevation and azimuth angles. A high correlation is observed between the vegetation’s water content and the GPS signals attenuation, and an empirical modeling is tested for the retrieval of signal behavior as a function of vegetation water content (VWC). The VWC was estimated from GNSS signals on a daily basis, over the full length of the study period.

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Inventory of Locations of Old Mining Works Using LiDAR Data: A Case Study in Slovakia

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13126981 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 6981

Author(s):

Marcela Bindzarova Gergelova ◽

Slavomir Labant ◽

Jozef Mizak ◽

Pavel Sustek ◽

Lubomir Leicher

Keyword(s):

Satellite System ◽

Precise Determination ◽

Lidar Data ◽

Positional Accuracy ◽

Current Form ◽

Mining History ◽

Mining Works ◽

Gnss Measurements ◽

Global Navigation Satellite

The concept of further sustainable development in the area of administration of the register of old mining works and recent mining works in Slovakia requires precise determination of the locations of the objects that constitute it. The objects in this register have their uniqueness linked with the history of mining in Slovakia. The state of positional accuracy in the registration of objects in its current form is unsatisfactory. Different database sources containing the locations of the old mining works are insufficient and show significant locational deviations. For this reason, it is necessary to precisely locate old mining works using modern measuring technologies. The most effective approach to solving this problem is the use of LiDAR data, which at the same time allow determining the position and above-ground shape of old mining works. Two localities with significant mining history were selected for this case study. Positional deviations in the location of old mining works among the selected data were determined from the register of old mining works in Slovakia, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements, multidirectional hill-shading using LiDAR, and accessible data from the open street map. To compare the positions of identical old mining works from the selected database sources, we established differences in the coordinates (ΔX, ΔY) and calculated the positional deviations of the same objects. The average positional deviation in the total count of nineteen objects comparing documents, LiDAR data, and the register was 33.6 m. Comparing the locations of twelve old mining works between the LiDAR data and the open street map, the average positional deviation was 16.3 m. Between the data sources from GNSS and the registry of old mining works, the average positional deviation of four selected objects was 39.17 m.

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Sea Topography of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas Using Repeated GNSS Measurements

Water ◽

10.3390/w13060812 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 812

Author(s):

Sotiris Lycourghiotis

Keyword(s):

Satellite System ◽

Geoid Model ◽

Sea Surface Topography ◽

Mean Sea Surface ◽

The Mean ◽

A New Technique ◽

Gnss Measurements ◽

Global Navigation Satellite ◽

Constant Slope ◽

Ionian And Adriatic Seas

The mean sea surface topography of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas has been determined. This was based on six-months of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements which were performed on the Ionian Queen (a ship). The measurements were analyzed following a double-path methodology based on differential GNSS (D-GNSS) and precise point positioning (PPP) analysis. Numerical filtering techniques, multi-parametric accuracy analysis and a new technique for removing the meteorological tide factors were also used. Results were compared with the EGM96 geoid model. The calculated differences ranged between 0 and 48 cm. The error of the results was estimated to fall within 3.31 cm. The 3D image of the marine topography in the region shows a nearly constant slope of 4 cm/km in the N–S direction. Thus, the effectiveness of the approach “repeated GNSS measurements on the same route of a ship” developed in the context of “GNSS methods on floating means” has been demonstrated. The application of this approach using systematic multi-track recordings on conventional liner ships is very promising, as it may open possibilities for widespread use of the methodology across the world.

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Present-day orogenic processes in the western Kalpin nappe explored by interseismic GNSS measurements and coseismic InSAR observations of the 2020 Mw 6.1 Kalpin event

Geophysical Journal International ◽

10.1093/gji/ggab097 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ping He ◽

Yangmao Wen ◽

Shuiping Li ◽

Kaihua Ding ◽

Zhicai Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Source Parameters ◽

Satellite System ◽

Tien Shan ◽

Dislocation Model ◽

Maximum Displacement ◽

Finite Fault ◽

Instantaneous Deformation ◽

Gnss Measurements ◽

Global Navigation Satellite ◽

Finite Fault Model

Summary As the largest and most active intracontinental orogenic belt on Earth, the Tien Shan (TS) is a natural laboratory for understanding the Cenozoic orogenic processes driven by the India-Asia collision. On 19 January 2020, a Mw 6.1 event stuck the Kalpin region, where the southern frontal TS interacts with the Tarim basin. To probe the local ongoing orogenic processes and potential seismic hazard in the Kalpin region, both interseismic and instantaneous deformation derived from geodetic observations are employed in this study. With the constraint of interseismic global navigation satellite system (GNSS) velocities, we estimate the décollement plane parameters of the western Kalpin nappe based on a two-dimensional dislocation model, and the results suggest that the décollement plane is nearly subhorizontal with a dip of ∼3° at a depth of 24 km. Then, we collect both Sentinel-1 and ALOS-2 satellite images to capture the coseismic displacements caused by the 2020 Kalpin event, and the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) images show a maximum displacement of 7 cm in the line of sight near the epicentral region. With these coseismic displacement measurements, we invert the source parameters of this event using a finite-fault model. We determine the optimal source mechanism in which the fault geometry is dominated by thrust faulting with an E–W strike of 275° and a northward dip of 11.2°, and the main rupture slip is concentrated within an area 28.0 km in length and${\rm{\,\,}}$10.3 km in width, with a maximum slip of 0.3 m at a depth of 6–8 km. The total released moment of our preferred distributed slip model yields a geodetic moment of 1.59 × 1018 N$\cdot $m, equivalent to Mw 6.1. The contrast of the décollement plane depth from interseismic GNSS and the rupture depth from coseismic InSAR suggests that a compression still exists in the Kalpin nappe forefront, which is prone to frequent moderate events and may be at risk of a much more dangerous earthquake.

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HEIGHT DETERMINATION TECHNIQUES FOR THE NEXT NATIONAL HEIGHT SYSTEM OF FINLAND - A CASE STUDY

Geodesy and Cartography ◽

10.3846/20296991.2015.1120387 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 145-155

Author(s):

Timo Saari ◽

Markku Poutanen ◽

Veikko Saaranen ◽

Harri Kaartinen ◽

Antero Kukko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Laser Scanning ◽

Pilot Project ◽

Satellite System ◽

Reference Station ◽

Virtual Reference ◽

Precise Levelling ◽

Height Determination ◽

Weak Points ◽

Global Navigation Satellite

Precise levelling is known for its accuracy and reliability in height determination, but the process itself is slow, laborious and expensive. We have started a project to study methods for height determination that could decrease the creation time of national height systems without losing the accuracy and reliability that is needed for them. In the pilot project described here, we study some of the alternative techniques with a pilot field test where we compared them with the precise levelling. The purpose of the test is not to evaluate the mutual superiority or suitability of the techniques, but to establish the background for a larger test and to find strong and weak points of each technique. The techniques chosen for this study were precise levelling, Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) levelling, which included static Global Positioning System (GPS) and Virtual Reference Station (VRS) measurements. This research highlighted the differences of the studied techniques and gave insights about the framework and procedure for the later experiments. The research will continue in a larger scale, where the suitability of the techniques regarding the height systems is to be determined.

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Design of a Multiband Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Frequency Interference Monitoring Front-End with Synchronized Secondary Sensors

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s18082594 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 2594

Author(s):

Aiden Morrison ◽

Nadezda Sokolova ◽

James Curran

Keyword(s):

Radio Frequency ◽

Global Navigation Satellite System ◽

Low Cost ◽

Satellite System ◽

Radio Frequency Interference ◽

Navigation Satellite ◽

Inertial Measurement ◽

Front End ◽

Global Navigation ◽

Global Navigation Satellite

This paper investigates the challenges of developing a multi-frequency radio frequency interference (RFI) monitoring and characterization system that is optimized for ease of deployment and operation as well as low per unit cost. To achieve this, we explore the design and development of a multiband global navigation satellite system (GNSS) front-end which is intrinsically capable of synchronizing side channel information from non-RF sensors, such as inertial measurement units and integrated power meters, to allow the simultaneous production of substantial amounts of sampled spectrum while also allowing low-cost, real-time monitoring and logging of detected RFI events. While the inertial measurement unit and barometer are not used in the RFI investigation discussed, the design features that provide for their precise synchronization with the RF sample stream are presented as design elements worth consideration. The designed system, referred to as Four Independent Tuners with Data-packing (FITWD), was utilized in a data collection campaign over multiple European and Scandinavian countries in support of the determination of the relative occurrence rates of L1/E1 and L5/E5a interference events and intensities where it proved itself a successful alternative to larger and more expensive commercial solutions. The dual conclusions reached were that it was possible to develop a compact low-cost, multi-channel radio frequency (RF) front-end that implicitly supported external data source synchronization, and that such monitoring systems or similar capabilities integrated within receivers are likely to be needed in the future due to the increasing occurrence rates of GNSS RFI events.

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