Comparative analysis of three ionospheric broadcast models for global navigation satellite systems

Abstract

An ionospheric model and corresponding coefficients broadcasted via GNSS navigation message are generally used to estimate the time delay for single-frequency GNSS users. In this article, the capabilities of three ionospheric models, namely, Klobuchar model, NeQuick Galileo version (NeQuick G), and Neustrelitz TEC broadcast model (NTCM-BC), were assessed. The models were examined in two aspects: total electron content (TEC) prediction and ionospheric delay correction effects in single-point positioning. Results show that both NeQuick G and NTCM-BC models outperformed Klobuchar model for predicting global TEC values during all the test days. Compared with Slant TEC (STEC) along the receiver-to-satellite ray path derived from IGS global ionosphere map (GIMs), STEC from NeQuick G and NTCM-BC models tend to have less bias than those from Klobuchar model in most situations. The point positioning results were improved by applying ionospheric broadcast models especially at the mid- and low-latitude stations.