Investigation of real-time kinematic multi-GNSS precise point positioning with the CNES products

Abstract

The performance of precise point positioning (PPP) is easily affected by the observation environment, satellite number, spatial geometry and the accuracy of the external data products being used. In this study, we formulate the mathematical model of multi-GNSS PPP and assess the performance of dual- and triple-frequency PPP modes using the real-time products from the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). For real-time dual-frequency PPP performance, the results show that, no significant differences can be observed from different combined PPP modes at a low cut-off angle (e.g. 10°). With the increase of the elevation cut-off angle, the multi-GNSS PPP shows a better performance in the convergence speed and positioning accuracy, especially in the early stage of convergence. Of all six PPP modes, the convergence time of GPS/BDS/GLONASS/GALILEO PPP is the shortest one under the elevation cut-off angle of 30°. Compared with GPS-only, the convergence time is reduced by 47.6% when converging to 0.2 m, and by 30.4% when converging to 0.1 m. For the position accuracy, under the elevation cut-off angle of 30°, 80.4% of positioning biases are within 0–10 cm in horizontal direction, and 91.0% within 0–20 cm in vertical direction for the GPS/BDS/GLONASS/GALILEO combined PPP. In addition, the convergence performance of triple-frequency PPP is improved by at least 36.4% in two schemes compared with dual-frequency PPP. The accuracy also be improved, with a mean RMS of about 2.9, 3.2 and 6.0 cm in East, North and Up directions.