International GPS Service Research Articles

Ionospheric Electron Concentration Imaging Using Combination of LEO Satellite Data With Ground-Based GPS Observations Over China

Space-based global positioning system (GPS) data onboard low Earth orbit satellites are used together with ground-based GPS observations to simultaneously image ionospheric electron density (IED), and it aims to improve the spatial resolution of ionospheric tomography. High-precision dual-frequency GPS data from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China and several International GPS Service stations and the Constellation Observation System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) are used to invert a time series of the IED profiles over China and surroundings. Some retrieved electron density profiles are compared with the results from COSMIC occultation data processed by COSMIC Data Analysis and Archival Center, and the peak density in F2 (NmF2) is verified by ionosonde data. Experimental results demonstrate the imaging effectiveness due to COSMIC data used in the inversion, and the potential benefits using COSMIC data in such system are also discussed.

Precise point positioning versus traditional solution for GNSS networks

In this study, the availability of precise point positioning techniques are investigated to resolve the positioning problem of global navigation satellite system networks and reference stations by using 7-days, 24 h observation data of 60 stations from active GPS network of ordnance survey, which are located in the south of United Kingdom. The solutions have been investigated for coordinate convergence and the necessary extent of the duration of precise point positioning. The double differenced solutions with long baselines from the international GPS service stations and the traditional network solution with short baselines are frequently compared with the solutions of the precise point positioning problems, and the results are discussed. Investigation results have shown that the precise point positioning easily provides cm level precision, by using appropriate processing parameters with a few hours of observation data. Consistency of 3 h observation is approximately 3 cm. After 3 h, the equivalent of the double differenced solutions with long baselines and network solution with short baselines solutions approaches the precise point positioning solution. As such, 0.5 to 1.5 cm consistency can be obtained with the data in 12 h. There is a consistency that is less than 1 cm in latitude and longitude directions and under 2 cm in height direction for 24 h observation between solutions. In this respect, it is a method that may be an alternative to traditional relative positioning. Key words: Global navigation satellite systems, precise point positioning, GNSS Networks, PPP, GPS.

On ionosphere-delay processing methods for single-frequency precise-point positioning

Abstract: In single-frequency precise-point positioning of a satellite, ionosphere delay is one of the most important factors impacting the accuracy. Because of the instability of the ionosphere and uncertainty of its physical properties, the positioning accuracy is seriously limited when using a precision-limited model for correction. In order to reduce the error, we propose to introduce some ionosphere parameter for real-time ionosphere-delay estimation by applying various mapping functions. Through calculation with data from the IGS (International GPS Service) tracking station and comparison among results of using several different models and mapping functions, the feasibility and effectiveness of the new method are verified.

Effect of broadcast and precise satellite orbits in the estimation of Zenith tropospheric delay and integrated precipitable water vapour from GPS

Global Positioning System (GPS) estimates the total delay in zenith direction by the propagation delay of the neutral atmosphere in presence of water vapour present in the troposphere. This total delay has been treated as a nuisance parameter for many years by the geodesists. The above delay have two parts dry delay and wet delay and known as Zenith Hydrostatic Delay (ZHD) and Zenith Wet Delay (ZWD) respectively. The Integrated Precipitable Water Vapour (IPWV) is estimated through ZWD overlying the receiver at ground-based station. The accuracy of the above said estimates depends on the quality of the predicted satellite orbits, which are not the same for each individual satellite. India Meteorological Department (IMD) is operationally estimating the IPWV on near real time basis at five places and matches fairly well (error ~6.7 mm) with Radisonde (RS) data. This paper examine the effect of International GPS Service (IGS) predicted precise orbits and near real time predicted rapid or broadcast orbits supplied by the Scripps Orbit and Permanent Array Center (SOPAC) on Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) and IPWV estimates by calculating the mean Bias and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) for ZTD and IPWV in mm for all the five stations. The observed bias for ZTD is almost of the order of less than 1 mm in most cases and RMSE is less than 6 mm. Similarly the bias observed in the case of derived IPWV is almost negligible and RMSE is less than 1 mm.

Behaviour of large scale structures of the electron content as a key parameterfor range errors in GNSS applications

The Total Electron Content (TEC) of the ionosphere is a key parameter for describing the ionospheric state. This paper deals with the large scale behaviour of TEC under low and high solar activity conditions. Large scale structures of the plasma density are formed by fundamental ionospheric processes mainly driven by solar radiation input, neutral winds and electric fields. The monitoring of large scale structures contributes to a comprehensive understanding of these coupling mechanisms which are rather complex particularly under perturbed geomagnetic conditions. The paper addresses techniques to monitor TEC with sufficient accuracy of a few TEC units (1016m-2) to measure large scale structures over Europe and over the polar areas. The availability of GPS data from global GPS receiver networks as e.g., those from the International GPS Service (IGS) is dense enough to generate TEC maps on a continuous base. A model assisted technique is briefly described for mapping TEC over the European and polar areas. A statistical estimation of horizontal TEC gradients reveals large scale gradients of up to about 6 TECU/1000 km under high solar activity conditions at an occurrence probability level of about 1%. Occasionally, during severe ionospheric storms this value may increase by a factor of 10 or even more. A close correlation of large scale gradients and the geomagnetic activity has been found giving the chance to forecast TEC gradient amplitudes by using predicted geomagnetic indices. Since TEC is proportional to first-order range errors in Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) such as the US GPS and the Russian GLONASS the study of the behaviour of this parameter has a practical meaning in GNSS based navigation and positioning. The paper addresses the close relationship between TEC and ranging errors in GNSS. Having in view Galileo, the planned Europe?s own global satellite navigation system, some aspects related to the mitigation of ionospheric propagation errors within the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) are discussed. Since EGNOS will augment the two above mentioned satellite navigation systems and make them suitable for safety critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels the ionospheric propagation errors have to be mitigated as much as possible.

Observations of the F-region ionospheric irregularities in the South American sector during the October 2003 "Halloween Storms"

Abstract. The response of the ionospheric F-region in the South American sector during the super geomagnetic storms on 29 and 30 October 2003 is studied in the present investigation. In this paper, we present ionospheric sounding observations during the period 29–31 October 2003 obtained at Palmas (a near equatorial location) and Sao Jose dos Campos (a location under the southern crest of the equatorial ionospheric anomaly), Brazil, along with observations during the period 27–31 October 2003 from a chain of GPS stations covering the South American sector from Imperatriz, Brazil, to Rio Grande, Argentina. Also, complementary observations that include sequences of all-sky images of the OI 777.4 and 630.0 nm emissions observed at El Leoncito, Argentina, on the nights of 28–29 (geomagnetically quiet night) and 29–30 (geomagnetically disturbed night) October 2003, and ion densities observed in the South American sector by the DMSP F13, F14 and F15 satellites orbiting at about 800 km on 29 and 30 October 2003 are presented. In addition, global TEC maps derived from GPS observations collected from the global GPS network of International GPS Service (IGS) are presented, showing widespread and drastic TEC changes during the different phases of the geomagnetic disturbances. The observations indicate that the equatorial ionospheric irregularities or plasma bubbles extend to the Argentinean station Rawson (geom. Lat. 33.1° S) and map at the magnetic equator at an altitude of about 2500 km.

INTEGRATED ADJUSTMENT OF CHINESE 2000' GPS CONTROL NETWORK

Since the beginning of the nineteen nineties, China has established six nationwide GPS networks by corresponding campaigns for different objectives. With the support of the international GPS service (IGS) network and advanced data processing strategies, an accurate and unified national GPS control network with more than 2500 stations integrating the 6 existing GPS networks has been established, which is called “National 2000' GPS Control Network”. In the integrating adjustment of the nationwide GPS networks, some systematic model parameters were introduced into the adjustment functional model, in order to control the influences of systematic errors of the sub networks; the variance component estimation technique is used for adjusting the a priori precision of the different GPS networks and different observation sessions; the error detection and deleting technique is used in the data pre-processing of sub networks and observation sessions for resisting the effects of outlying observations; and a bifactor robust estimation theory is applied for controlling the influences of the outliers of the correlated baselines on the last coordinate parameters. It is shown that the average standard deviation for the horizontal component is smaller than 1.0cm, for the vertical component is smaller than 2.0cm, and for the three dimensional (3-D) position of geocentre coordinates is smaller than 3.0cm. The exterior checking accuracy for the 3-D position is averagely better than 0.9cm.

Chinese geodetic coordinate system 2000

The basic strategies in establishing the Chinese geodetic coordinate system 2000 have been summarized, including the definition of the coordinate system, the structure of the terrestrial reference frame, the functional and stochastic models involved in the realization of the reference frame as well as the improvements of the adjustment procedures. First, the fundamental frame of the coordinate system is composed of the permanent GPS tracking network in China which is integrated into the international GPS service stations by combined adjustment, in order to guarantee the consistence between the international terrestrial reference system and the Chinese geodetic coordinate system. Second, the extended frame of the coordinate system is composed of the unified 2000’ national GPS network which is integrated by 6 nationwide GPS networks with more than 2500 stations under the controlling of the fundamental frame. Third, the densified frame is composed of national astronomical geodetic network with nearly 50 thousand stations which was updated by the combined adjustment with the 2000’ national GPS network, thus the datum of the national astronomical geodetic network has been unified and the precision greatly improved. By the optimal data fusion method the influences of the datum errors, systematic errors and the outliers in the separated geodetic networks are weakened in the unified Chinese geodetic coordinate frame. The significance in application of the new geodetic coordinate system and the existing problems in the reference frame are described and analyzed.

The international global navigation satellite systems service (IGS): development and achievements

Since 21 June 1992 the International GPS Service (IGS), renamed International GNSS Service in 2005, produces and makes available uninterrupted time series of its products, in particular GPS observations from the IGS Global Network, GPS orbits, Earth orientation parameters (components x and y of polar motion, length of day) with daily time resolution, satellite and receiver clock information for each day with different latencies and accuracies, and station coordinates and velocities in weekly batches for further analysis by the IERS (International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service). At a later stage the IGS started exploiting its network for atmosphere monitoring, in particular for ionosphere mapping, for troposphere monitoring, and time and frequency transfer. This is why new IGS products encompass ionosphere maps and tropospheric zenith delays. This development became even more important when more and more space-missions carrying space-borne GPS for various purposes were launched. This article offers an overview for the broader scientific community of the development of the IGS and of the spectrum of topics addressed today with IGS data and products.

Estimation of single station interfrequency receiver bias using GPS‐TEC

Dual‐frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers present a plausible and cost‐effective way of computing Total Electron Content (TEC). For accurate estimates of TEC, frequency‐dependent satellite and receiver instrumental biases should be removed from GPS measurements properly. Although instrumental satellite bias values are widely available through the internet from various International GPS Service (IGS) analysis centers, receiver biases (also known as differential code biases or interfrequency biases) are provided only for a very few GPS stations and a select number of days. This makes it very difficult to compute TEC for a single station. In this study, an online, single station receiver bias estimation algorithm, IONOLAB‐BIAS, is developed and implemented to obtain daily and monthly averages of receiver bias. The algorithm is successfully applied to both quiet and disturbed days of the ionosphere for stations positioned in high‐latitude, midlatitude, and equatorial regions. The receiver bias estimates are compared with two of the basic methods in the literature that can be applied off‐line, and also with the receiver bias values provided from the IGS centers for a select number of stations. It is observed that IONOLAB‐BIAS is in excellent accordance with the sparse estimates from the IGS centers for all ionospheric states and regions. IONOLAB‐BIAS has a high potential to be an alternative receiver bias computation algorithm with its ease of implementation and accurate estimates for any single station GPS‐TEC.

The Direct and Indirect Methods of Ionospheric TEC Predictions and Their Comparison

The direct and indirect methods for predicting the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) by using the ARIMA ( p, d, q) model in the theory of time-series analysis are proposed. The direct method predicts directly the time series composed of the TECs at the every grid point. The indirect method is: at first, to fit the ionospheric TECs with the spherical harmonics and obtain the time series of the fitting coefficients; then, to predict forward the fitting coefficients with the ARIMA ( p, d, q) model in the theory of time-series analysis; and finally, to calculate the TEC for the specific time and grid point. Using the ionospheric data of the International GPS Service (IGS) in the period from 1 January 2004 to 31 January 2005, the testing and comparisons on the proposed methods are performed, the results indicate that within 12 days, the results of the two methods are basically consistent, and that for the predictions longer than 12 days, the accuracy of the indirect method is higher than the direct method. In the duration of 20 days, relative to the total ionospheric grid points, the percentage of the grid points with a prediction error less than 3 TECUs is about 80%; as the duration becomes longer, compared with the indirect method, the decline of this percentage is not apparent for the direct method. Obviously, the direct method suits the prediction of regional TECs, and the indirect method suits the prediction of global TECs.

Space Weather and the Global Positioning System

Space Weather and the Global Positioning System

A model for predicting GPS-GDOP and its probability using LiDAR data and ultra rapid product

This paper presents a model to predict the GDOP value (Geometric Dilution of Precision) and the probability of its occurrence at a point in space and time using airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data and the ultra-rapid product (URP) available from the International GPS Service. LiDAR data help to classify the terrain around a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver into categories such as ground, opaque objects, translucent objects and transparent regions as per their response to the transmission of GPS signal. Through field experiments it is established that URP can be used satisfactorily to determine GDOP. Further experiments have shown that the translucent objects (mainly trees here) lower the GDOP quality as they obstruct the GPS signal. LiDAR data density on trees is used as a measure of the translucency of trees to the GPS signal. Through GPS observations taken in field a relationship has been established between LiDAR data density on trees and the probability that a satellite which is behind the tree is visible at the GPS receiver. A model is presented which, for all possible combinations of visible satellites, computes the GDOP value along with the probability of occurrence of this GDOP. A few results are presented to show the performance of the model developed and its possible application in location based queries.

Response of the Total Electron Content of Terrestrial Ionosphere to GRB041227

At 21:30 UT on 2004 December 27 an extremely strong gamma-ray burst swept across the earth and caused the part of the terrestrial upper atmosphere exposed to it to produce extra ionization. Sudden ionospheric disturbance (SID) events were simultaneously observed at many of the very low frequency (VLF) electric wave observing stations. Analyses of the X-ray data of the GOES satellite as well as the solar wind and interplanetary data of the ACE satellite with the relevant theories show that the observed SID event observed was indeed caused by GRB041227. We calculated the response of the total electron content (TEC) of the terrestrial ionosphere to this γ-ray burst using the observed data provided by the international GPS service network (IGS) and the data processing method of coherent summation. The result indicates that the GRB041227 produced by the SGR1806-20 had an evident effect on the terrestrial ionosphere: in the course of the burst the average ionospheric TEC increased, to a maximum size of about 0.04 TECU (1 TECU = 10 16 el/m 2), equivalent to a solar flare with importance of C or lower. The calculated result demonstrates once again that a remote celestial body can also affect the terrestrial space environment to some extent.

Night-time total electron content enhancements at equatorial anomaly region in China

This paper presents small scale (duration ⩽1 h, Δ TEC ⩾ 1 TECU) night-time total electron content (TEC) enhancements observed at the equatorial anomaly region in China, for the first time. The data is from a GPS receiver chain established in 2005 by Institute of Center for Space Science and Applied Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences and a GPS receiver of International GPS Service (IGS), located between Fuzhou (26.1°N, 119.3°E) and Nanning (22.8°N, 108.3°E). Two other GPS observations of IGS taken at higher latitude were also used to investigate the localization of such phenomenon. The characteristics of the night-time TEC enhancement are examined with two case studies. The TEC increases about 1–3TECU, intermittently. While the night-time TEC enhancement mainly occurs at the equatorial anomaly region, it can be observed at middle latitude as well. The spatial size of the enhancement region is less than 5° in longitude. The primary statistical study shows that the TEC enhancement is more often observed in spring and autumn, but rarely in summer. It has no dependence on geomagnetic activity. The enhancement can occur both before and after midnight.

Seasonal variability of GPS‐derived zenith tropospheric delay (1994–2006) and climate implications

The total zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) is an important parameter of the atmosphere and directly or indirectly reflects the weather and climate processes and variations. In this paper the ZTD time series with a 2‐hour resolution are derived from globally distributed 150 International GPS Service (IGS) stations (1994–2006), which are used to investigate the secular trend and seasonal variation of ZTD as well as its implications in climate. The mean secular ZTD variation trend is about 1.5 ± 0.001 mm/yr at all IGS stations. The secular variations are systematically increasing in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere and decreasing in most parts of the Southern Hemisphere. Furthermore, the ZTD trends are almost symmetrically decreasing with increasing altitude, while the summation of upward and downward trends at globally distributed GPS sites is almost zero, possibly reflecting that the secular ZTD variation is in balance at a global scale. Significant annual variations of ZTD are found over all GPS stations with the amplitude from 25 to 75 mm. The annual variation amplitudes of ZTD near oceanic coasts are generally larger than in the continental inland. Larger amplitudes of annual ZTD variation are mostly found at middle latitudes (near 20°S and 40°N) and smaller amplitudes of annual ZTD variation are located at higher latitudes (e.g., Antarctic) and the equator areas. The phase of annual ZTD variation is about 60° in the Southern Hemisphere (about February, summer) and about 240° in the Northern Hemisphere (about August, summer). The mean amplitude of semiannual ZTD variations is about 10 mm, much smaller than annual variations. The semiannual amplitudes are larger in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere, indicating that the semiannual variation amplitudes of ZTD in the Southern Hemisphere are not significant. In addition, the higher‐frequency variability (RMS of ZTD residuals) ranges from 15 to 65 mm of delay, depending on altitude of the station. Inland stations tend to have lower variability and sites at ocean and coasts have higher variability. These seasonal ZTD cycles are due mainly to the wet component variations (ZWD).

Deformation of Thailand as Detected by GPS Measurements due to the December 26th, 2004 Mega-Thrust Earthquake

The Mw 9.3 mega-thrust earthquake on December 26th, 2004 off the coast of North Sumatra, Indonesia has resulted in large co- and post-seismic motions throughout SE Asia. As a result, the geodetic network of Thailand has been deformed. The THAICA network has been regularly observed with GPS since 1994. Therefore the continuous tectonic motions in Thailand, which is located on the Sundaland block are well known. The last GPS campaign prior to the mega-thrust earthquake took place in October 2004 as part of the EU-ASEAN funded SEAMERGES project. Shortly after the earthquake, the GPS campaigns were repeated in January 2005 and February 2005 to determine the displacements. The GPS data in Thailand were processed, using the Precise Point Positioning strategy of the GIPSY software package. Data from the International GPS Service (IGS) were included, to obtain the positions and velocities of the Thai GPS sites in the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) solution of 2000. Since the coordinate time series of the Thai geodetic network spanning up to a decade are available, the absolute steady-state velocities prior to the earthquake are known with uncertainties below 1 mm/yr. Results obtained from the latest campaign indicated that the earthquake has resulted in the horizontal displacements, ranging from 33 cm in the south, 9 cm in the centre, to about 3 cm in the north and east of Thailand. In addition, it was found that the post-seismic motion due to the earthquake has increased further the displacement at the PHUK station.

Single epoch estimation of the Galileo integrity chain sensor station clock offsets

The Galileo integrity chain depends on a number of key factors, one of which is contamination of the signal-in-space errors with residual errors other than imperfect modelling of satellite orbits and clocks. A potential consequence of this is that the user protection limit is driven not by the errors associated with the imperfect orbit and clock modelling, but by the distortions induced by noise and bias in the integrity chain. These distortions increase the minimum bias the integrity chain can guarantee to detect, which is reflected in the user protection limit. A contributor to this distortion is the inaccuracy associated with the estimation of the offset between the Galileo sensor station (GSS) receiver clocks and the Galileo system time (GST). This offset is termed the receiver clock synchronization error (CSE). This paper describes the research carried out to determine both the CSE and its associated error using GPS data as captured with the Galileo System Test Bed Version 1 (GSTB-V1). In the study we simulate open access to a time datum using IGS data. Two methods are compared for determining CSE and the corresponding uncertainty (noise) across a global network of tracking stations. The single-epoch single-station method is an ‘averaging’ technique that uses a single epoch of data, and is carried out at individual sensor stations, without recourse to the data from other stations. The global network solution method is also single epoch based, but uses the inversion of a linearised model of the global system to solve for the CSE simultaneously at all GSS along with a number of other parameters that would otherwise be absorbed into the CSE estimate in the averaging technique. To test the effectiveness of various configurations in the two methods the estimated synchronisation errors across the GSS network (comprising 25 stations) are compared to the same values as estimated by the International GPS Service (IGS) using a global tracking network of around 150 stations, as well as precise orbit and satellite clock models determined by a combination of global analysis centres. The results show that the averaging technique is vulnerable to unmodelled errors in the satellite clock offsets from system time, leading to receiver CSE errors in the region of 12 ns (3.7 m), this value being largely driven by the satellite CSE errors. The global network approach is capable of delivering CSE errors at the level of 1.5 ns (46 cm) depending on the number of parameters in the linearised model. The International GNSS Service (IGS) receiver clock estimates were used as a truth model for comparative assessment.

Topside ionosphere and plasmasphere: Use of NeQuick in connection with Gallagher plasmasphere model

The NeQuick ionospheric electron density model has a very simple topside formulation, which allows taking into account the electron content up to 20,000km. In the present work, the Gallagher model has been used in connection with NeQuick to provide a more realistic representation of the electron concentration distribution in the plasmasphere. An analysis of the impact of the proposed modification in low geomagnetic latitudes (±40°) on modeled vertical total electron content has been performed for different levels of solar activity, season, and universal time.In addition, GPS vertical total electron content values obtained from seven IGS (International GPS Service) station data have been compared with the NeQuick and NeQuick+Gallagher vertical total electron content values, confirming the importance of including a plasmaspheric formulation in the NeQuick model.

GPS determination of the velocity and strain-rate fields on Schirmacher Glacier, central Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Global positioning system (GPS) campaigns were conducted during the 2003 and 2004 austral summer seasons to obtain insight into the velocity and strain-rate distribution on Schirmacher Glacier, central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. GPS data were collected at 21 sites and analyzed to estimate the site coordinates, baselines and velocities. The short-term precision of the base station, MAIT, is estimated from the daily coordinate repeatability solutions during the two years. All GPS points on the glacier were constrained with respect to MAIT and nearby International GPS Service stations. Horizontal velocities of the glacier sites lie between 1.89 ± 0.01 and 10.88 ± 0.01 ma−1 to the north-northeast, with an average velocity of 6.21 ± 0.01 m a−1. The principal strain rates provide a quantitative measurement of extension rates, which range from (0.11 ± 0.01) × 10−3 to (1.48 ± 0.85) × 10−3a−1, and shortening rates, which range from (0.04 ± 0.02) × 10−3 to (0.96 ± 0.16) × 10−3a−1. The velocity and strain-rate distributions across the GPS network in Schirmacher Glacier are spatially correlated with topography, subsurface undulations, fracture zones/crevasses and the partial blockage of the flow by nunataks and the Schirmacher Oasis.