M_DCB: Matlab code for estimating GNSS satellite and receiver differential code biases

Abstract

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) have been widely used to monitor variations in the earth's ionosphere by estimating total electron content (TEC) using dual-frequency observations. Differential code biases (DCBs) are one of the important error sources in estimating precise TEC from GNSS data. The International GNSS Service (IGS) Analysis Centers have routinely provided DCB estimates for GNSS satellites and IGS ground receivers, but the DCBs for regional and local network receivers are not provided. Furthermore, the DCB values of GNSS satellites or receivers are assumed to be constant over 1 day or 1 month, which is not always the case. We describe Matlab code to estimate GNSS satellite and receiver DCBs for time intervals from hours to days; the software is called M_DCB. The DCBs of GNSS satellites and ground receivers are tested and evaluated using data from the IGS GNSS network. The estimates from M_DCB show good agreement with the IGS Analysis Centers with a mean difference of less than 0.7 ns and an RMS of less than 0.4 ns, even for a single station DCB estimate.