Evaluation of Ionospheric Delay Extraction Model Using Dual-Frequency Multisystem Observations

Abstract

Ionospheric delay presents complex spatiotemporal variation characteristics and is a critical error source restricting the improvement of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning, navigation, and timing performance. It is a prerequisite to constructing an accurate ionospheric delay extraction model that supports the study of the ionospheric delay characteristics. By using modernized dual-frequency and multi-system signals and inter-system bias (ISB) calibration, the performance of the ionospheric delay extraction model can be enhanced further. This study focuses on quantitatively analyzing the influence of the geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) and the redundancy of observations on the accuracy of ionospheric delay extraction, by constructing two state-of-the-art high-precision dual-frequency multi-system ionospheric delay extraction models using the tightly coupled un-difference and un-combination precise point positioning (UPPP) and carrier-to-code leveling (CCL) methods. GNSS datasets from eight international GNSS service (IGS) stations were selected to evaluate their accuracy and analyze their influencing factors. The results show that the ionospheric delay extraction model using the UPPP method is more accurate than the CCL method for both single and multiple systems. The ionospheric delay extraction model using the CCL method is insensitive to time and coordinates. The ionospheric delay extraction model using the UPPP method shows inconsistent accuracy at different times and coordinates, which reflects a correlation with the GDOP effect.