Investigating the Positioning Capability of GPS and Galileo Constellations Over Indian Sub-continent

Abstract

AbstractThe Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) available to all users as a civilian system, and it has been developed by the European Union (EU). All the designed Galileo satellites are currently deployed in space, and the constellation is in validation phase with initial positioning assistance. Currently, the 22 Galileo satellites enable stand-alone Galileo positioning, which allows users to evaluate its positioning performance. Not much significant research has been reported regarding comparative performance analysis of GPS and Galileo constellations for the Indian region. In this assessment, GPS positions were determined by online positioning user service-static (OPUS-S) and are used to evaluate the Galileo positioning capability with broadcast ephemeris. This work uses a typical period of one week of continuously acquired data from 28th July to 3rd August 2019. The results show that the average number of visible satellites are 7 for Galileo and 10 for GPS at the Hyderabad Station (17° 24′ 28.40137′′ N, 78° 31′ 4.41613′′ E). Galileo’s stand-alone mean position at the user’s location is X = 1,211,941.93 m, Y = 5,966,420.66 m, and Z = 1,896,089.58 m. In comparison with the GPS precise position (X = 1,211,941.49 m, Y = 5,966,419.39 m, and Z = 1,896,089.21 m), Galileo’s X, Y, and Z values match well. The comparative numerical analysis shows that Galileo provides acceptable navigation solutions similar to GPS solutions determined by OPUS-S. The fully operational Galileo constellation may offer more than currently available satellites to users and improve accuracy and availability in low-latitude regions.KeywordsAccuracyDRMSSatellite visibility