Multi-GNSS Experiment Stations Research Articles

Accurate Retrieval of the Whole Flood Process from Occurrence to Recession Based on GPS Original CNR, Fitted CNR, and Seamless CNR Series

The CNR (Carrier-to-Noise Ratio) of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites is highly relevant to the multipath error. The multipath error is more serious in the flood environment since the reflection and diffraction coefficients of water are much higher compared to dry soil. Thus, the amplitude of CNR will decrease in the flood environment. In this study, the relationship between multipath error, flooding, and CNR is introduced in theory. Then, by using the characteristic of the orbital repetition period, the stability of CNR between 2 adjacent days in a static observation environment is demonstrated by 32 MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations in different latitude and longitude regions of the world. The results show that the average RMS of different CNRs between two adjacent days is only about 0.62 dB-Hz. In addition, the correlation coefficient of CNRs between two adjacent days is analyzed. The correlation coefficient of the original signal CNR is 0.997. Moreover, after mitigating the influence of random noise and lower CNR, the correlation coefficients of the fitted CNRs larger than 40 dB-Hz can reach 0.999. Thus, based on the fluctuation in original CNR, fitted CNR, and seamless series characteristics of CNR, the whole flood process from occurrence to recession can be retrieved. A flood that occurred in Zhengzhou City, China, from DOY 200 to DOY 202, 2021 is used to demonstrate the process of retrieval. The experimental results indicate that the flood appeared at about 15:30 pm on DOY 200, reached a peak at approximately 8:30 am on DOY 202, and totally subsided at about 10:00 am on DOY 202. In conclusion, the CNR can be effectively used to retrieve the whole process of the flood, which lays a foundation for researching flood detection and warning based on GPS satellites.

Instantaneous velocity determination and positioning using Doppler shift from a LEO constellation

To provide backup and supplementation for the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Doppler shift from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites can be used as signals of opportunity to provide positioning, navigation, and timing service. In this contribution, we first investigate the model and performance of instantaneous velocity determination and positioning with LEO satellites. Given a LEO constellation with 288 satellites, we simulate Doppler shift observations at nine multi-GNSS experiment stations. Owing to the lower orbit, the performance of LEO velocity determination is much more sensitive to the initial receiver position error than that of GNSS. Statistical results show that with the initial receiver position error increased from 0.1 to 10 m, the Root Mean Square Errors (RMSEs) increase from 0.73 to 2.65 cm/s, 0.68 to 2.96 cm/s, and 1.67 to 4.15 cm/s in the east, north, and up directions, respectively. The performances with GPS are compared with GPS + LEO, and it is found that LEO Doppler shift observations contribute to GPS velocity determination. As for LEO Doppler positioning, even if more than 30 visible LEO satellites are available, the position dilution of precision values can reach several hundreds. Assuming that the error of LEO Doppler measurements is 0.01 m/s, the instantaneous Doppler positioning accuracy can achieve about a few meters, which is comparable to that of GNSS pseudorange positioning. A constant velocity model is adopted for state transition. Static LEO Doppler positioning results show that an accuracy at centimeter to decimeter level can be achieved after solution convergence. For a static simulated kinematic positioning test, the RMSEs range from a few decimeters to several meters in different regions by giving different constraints. For a dynamic positioning test, the RMSEs are about 2–3 m in high latitude region.

Research on Blunder Detection Methods of Pseudorange Observation in GNSS Observation Domain

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal quality, type of receiver equipment, and external environment can cause GNSS observations to be anomalous, and these anomalies are sometimes reflected in GNSS pseudorange observations rather than phase observations. To better detect blunders in pseudorange observations, this paper proposes three pseudorange blunder detection methods under the same frequency and different code types (case1), and the same code type and different frequencies (case2), of pseudorange observations, which are the Code Observation Difference Method (CODM), the Inter-satellite Code Observation Difference Method (ICODM), and the Inter-epoch and Inter-satellite Code Observation Difference Method (IICODM). The corresponding thresholds for the constructed test statistics of the three detection methods were derived based on the Bessel formula. Performance analysis of the three detection methods was performed under case1 based on C2 and P2 code observation data of Global Positioning System (GPS) at 137 Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) stations, and case2 based on BDS B1I and B3I frequency observation data of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) at 232 MGEX stations, on 29 July 2022. The results show that the statistical information value of the three methods in case1 was significantly smaller than that in case2. In the first case, the maximum values of test statistics, RMSE and threshold mean values were 0.526, 0.752 and 2.243 m, respectively, while the corresponding values in case2 were 7.066, 4.490 and 13.480 m respectively. The reason for this is that the data quality of global GPS is higher than that of BDS and the differential observation equation eliminates or weakens more errors with the same frequency and different types of code pseudorange observations. Under the same conditions, compared with ICODM and IICODM, CODM has high computational efficiency and a simple mathematical model. It is recommended to use CODM first for pseudorange blunder detection in the GNSS observation domain. According to the RMSE of 3 times as the limit, it is recommended that the threshold be set to 5 m under case1 for GPS and 15 m under case2 for BDS, which is half the existing reference value. Finally, the blunder detection methods proposed can improve positioning performance through actual data verification.

Investigating the effect of observation interval on GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou static PPP

GNSS observation intervals can be tuned from low rate to high rates (such as 300 to 1 s) for the specific applications. In this study, the effect of sampling intervals of 1, 5, 15, and 30 s on the convergence time and positioning accuracy of static precise point positioning is investigated using high-rate data from 26 IGS (International GNSS Service)-MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations over a three-week period in 2020. Six different GNSS constellations – namely, GPS-only, GLONASS-only, Galileo-only, BeiDou-2-only, BeiDou-3-only, and multi-GNSS (GPS+GLONASS+Galileo+BeiDou-2+BeiDou-3) – are processed for static PPP. The results show that the use of higher rate of observation intervals significantly reduces the PPP convergence time for each GNSS constellation. Maximum improvements between 30 s and 1 s are found to be 55%, 60%, and 55% for north, east, and up components, respectively, for Galileo PPP. However, the results of positioning accuracy indicates that the use of higher rate of observation intervals slightly degrades the PPP converged positioning accuracy for each GNSS constellation except for BDS-3 and multi-GNSS PPP modes. The results demonstrate that the satellite clock interpolation error is mainly responsible for the degradation in accuracy at the higher rate of observation intervals compared with the orbit interpolation error.

Performance Evaluation of Single-Frequency Precise Point Positioning and Its Use in the Android Smartphone

The opening access of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) raw data in Android smart devices has led to numerous studies on precise point positioning on mobile phones, among which single-frequency precise point positioning (SF-PPP) has become popular because smartphone-based dual-frequency data still suffer from poor observational quality. As the ionospheric delay is a dominant factor in SF-PPP, we first evaluated two SF-PPP approaches with the MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations, the Group and Phase Ionospheric Correction (GRAPHIC) approach and the uncombined approach, and then applied them to a Huawei P40 smartphone. For MGEX stations, both approaches achieved less than 0.1 m and 0.2 m accuracy in horizontal and vertical components, respectively. Uncombined SF-PPP manifested a significant decrease in the convergence time by 40.7%, 20.0%, and 13.8% in the east, north, and up components, respectively. For P40 data, the SF-PPP performance was analyzed using data collected with both a built-in antenna and an external geodetic antenna. The P40 data collected with the built-in antenna showed lower carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N0) values, and the pseudorange noise reached 0.67 m, which is about 67% larger than that with a geodetic antenna. Because the P40 pseudorange noise presented a strong correlation with C/N0, a C/N0-dependent weight model was constructed and used for the P40 data with the built-in antenna. The convergence of uncombined SF-PPP approach was faster than the GRAPHIC model for both the internal and external antenna datasets. The root mean square (RMS) errors for the uncombined SF-PPP solutions of P40 with an external antenna were 0.14 m, 0.15 m, and 0.33 m in the east, north, and up directions, respectively. In contrast, the P40 with an embedded antenna could only reach 0.72 m, 0.51 m, and 0.66 m, respectively, indicating severe positioning degradation due to antenna issues. The results indicate that the two SF-PPP models both can achieve sub-meter level positioning accuracy utilizing multi-GNSS single-frequency observations from mobile smartphones.

An investigation into real-time GPS/GLONASS single-frequency precise point positioning and its atmospheric mitigation strategies

One of the challenges in the innovative application of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) lies in real-time single-frequency precise point positioning (RT-SFPPP). The well-known problems associated with SFPPP are its slow convergence and lower positioning accuracy due to the effects of various errors inherited by the GNSS positioning, including the atmospheric error. In order to mitigate the two above-mentioned problems, several scenarios for the reduction of the atmospheric delays in RT-SFPPP, including the ionospheric constraint and tropospheric constraint, were investigated in this research. The performance of the RT-SFPPP utilizing the above-mentioned methods was evaluated using one-week observations from multi-GNSS experiment stations in a simulated kinematic mode. Results showed that the convergence time of the RT-SFPPP was significantly shortened when the slant ionospheric delays derived from the real-time ionospheric products provided by Centre National d’Études Spatiales were applied as the pseudo-observations. Results also showed that the convergence time of GPS + GLONASS RT-SFPPP can be reduced by modeling the frequency-dependent part of the GLONASS receiver uncalibrated code delay as a quadratic polynomial function of GLONASS frequency number. The a priori zenith wet delays (ZWDs) derived from forecast Vienna Mapping Functions 3 (VMF3_FC) were compared to the reference ZWDs from globally distributed radiosonde stations. The mean root mean square error of the a priori ZWDs resulting from VMF3_FC at 381 radiosonde stations in 2020 was 1.53 cm compared to the radiosonde-based ZWDs. When the ZWDs derived from VMF3_FC were used as pseudo-observations in the position estimation system, the convergence time for the vertical positioning reaching a 0.3 m accuracy was considerably shortened.

Modeling and performance assessment of BDS-2/BDS-3 triple-frequency ionosphere-free and uncombined precise point positioning

The global BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) and regional system (BDS-2) are transmitting signals on three or more frequencies, which brings more choices and practical potentials. To deeply integrate and fully utilize the BDS-2 and BDS-3 signals, this research is dedicated to the modeling and assessment of BDS-2/BDS-3 combined triple-frequency precise point positioning (PPP). Using ionosphere-free (IF) or uncombined (UC) observables, the three BDS-2/BDS-3 combined triple-frequency PPP models, named IF1213, IF123 and UC123 are developed. Particularly, new biases such as time delay bias (TDB) and inter-frequency bias (IFB) as well as the parameterizations are addressed. One-month observations from 16 Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) stations located in and around the Asia-Pacific region are utilized to validate and compare the models. The results indicate that the three BDS-2/BDS-3 combined triple-frequency PPP models have the comparable performance and the third frequency makes a marginal contribution to positioning and tropospheric delay retrieval. The TDB should be carefully considered in BDS-2/BDS-3 combined PPP, especially for the IF123 model due to the larger absolute values of TDB. Meanwhile, the IFB derived from receiver uncalibrated code delay difference shows good stability in both short-term (intra-day) and long-term (inter-day) periods. In addition, demonstrated by triple-frequency PPP tests with one-month data from 47 global MGEX stations, the BDS-2/BDS-3 combined constellation allows for significantly improved convergence performance and positioning accuracy over the BDS-2-only constellation. The BDS-3 system has the ability to provide the precise positioning accuracy of 12.1/9.8/15.8 mm on a global scale after the convergence time of 23.0/13.2/24.7 min in east/north/up components.

Modeling of BDS-2/BDS-3 single-frequency PPP with B1I and B1C signals and positioning performance analysis

On June 23, 2020, the BDS-3 constellation was fully operational and started providing global positioning navigation and timing services. In the future, BDS-2 will continue to provide services and so it is of great importance to study the combination method of BDS-2 and BDS-3 for BDS precise positioning. Compared with BDS-2, BDS-3 is added new signals B1C, B2a and B2b, and the key is how to handle the signal biases between BDS-2 and BDS-3 in BDS-2/BDS-3 combination processing. With consideration of the signal biases between BDS-2 and BDS-3, we present the BDS-2/BDS-3 single-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) model and study the contribution of BDS-2/BDS-3 combination to BDS precise positioning by using one week data of 36 globally distributed stations from multi-GNSS experiment (MGEX) and international GNSS monitoring and assessment system (iGMAS). It is found that the receiver signal biases between BDS-2 and BDS-3 should be carefully considered no matter B1I or B1C signals are used when BDS-2 and BDS-3 are combined. By comparing the positioning performance of BDS-3 single-frequency PPP (SF-PPP) with B1I and B1C observations, it is noted that the positioning performance is related with the receivers of different networks. The positioning performance with B1I is better than that with B1C at iGMAS stations, while it is opposite at MGEX stations. In addition, the contribution of BDS-2/BDS-3 combination is validated. The convergence performance of BDS-2/BDS-3 SF-PPP is better than that of BDS-2 and BDS-3 SF-PPP. Compared with BDS-3 SF-PPP, the vertical convergence performance of BDS-2/BDS-3 SF-PPP improves by about 43.6% at the 68% confidence level. For the positioning accuracy, BDS-3 and BDS-2/BDS-3 SF-PPP are nearly the same, and improves by about 60% compared with BDS-2 SF-PPP.

Web tabanlı CSRS-PPP uygulamasının farklı uydu sistemleri üzerindeki performansı

Küresel Navigasyon Uydu Sistemleri’nden (Global Navigation Satellite Systems, GNSS) elde edilen veriler değerlendirilirken bilimsel/akademik, ticari yazılımlar ve kullanımı gittikçe artan web tabanlı uygulamalar kullanılmaktadır. GNSS veri değerlendirme stratejisi mutlak ve bağıl olarak temelde ikiye ayrılmaktadır. Kullanımı artan web tabanlı servisler temelde mutlak yöntemi kullanan ya da bağıl yöntemi kullananlar olarak ayrılmaktadır. Hassas mutlak nokta konumlama (Precise Point Positioning, PPP) yöntemi tek bir alıcı ile cm mertebesinde konum belirlemeyi mümkün kılmakta ve kullanıcılar açısından oldukça pratik olarak konum belirleme imkânı sunmaktadır. PPP yönteminin gerçek zamanlı uygulamaları da gittikçe yaygınlaşmakta, bu durum kullanıcılar açısından hem zaman hem de maliyet tasarrufu imkânları sunmaktadır. Konum belirleme tarafında bu gelişmeler yaşanırken, ilk ortaya çıktığı günden bu yana askeri amacının yanında insanoğlunun hayatına her alanda giren Küresel Konumlama Sistemi (GPS), diğer sistemlerin de (GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS, IRNSS vb.) devreye alınması ile oldukça yaygınlaşmıştır. Bugün artık GNSS olarak hayatımızın içinde daha fazla var olmaya devam etmektedir. Çeşitli ülkeler tarafından geliştirilen ve kullanılan uydu sistemlerinin dünya üzerine yayılmış bulunan Uluslararası GNSS Servisi (International GNSS Service, IGS) istasyonlarında veri toplanarak, konum belirleme sürecine dahil edilmesi ile The Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) projesi geliştirilmiş ve belirlenen istasyonlarda, tüm uydu sistemlerinden veri toplanmasına başlanılmıştır. Bu çalışmada, web tabanlı CSRS-PPP uygulaması ile dünya üzerinde dağılmış 5 MGEX istasyonunda toplanan 10 günlük GNSS gözlem verileri değerlendirilmiştir. MGEX projesi kapsamında istasyonlardan gözlem verileri 1 saniyeden 30 saniyeye kadar gözlem aralığında ve çoklu uydu sistemlerinden (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC, BeiDou, SBAS) veri toplama imkânı bulunmaktadır. CSRS-PPP uygulamasının değerlendirme stratejisinde kullandığı GPS ve GLONASS (GPS, GLONASS ve GPS+GLONASS) uydu sistemleri ile 1 ile 30 saniye aralıklı toplanmış gözlem verilerinin en az 15 dakikadan 24 saate kadar gözlem aralığında ve farklı iyonosferik koşullardaki performansı değerlendirilmiş ve yorumlanmıştır.

Seasonal analysis of Klobuchar and NeQuick G single-frequency ionospheric models performance in 2018

For single frequency positioning, the ionospheric effects can be minimized by using an ionospheric model, e.g., the Klobuchar or the NeQuick G. These models, respectively associated with the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo systems, are based on a set of transmitted coefficients that describe the background ionospheric behavior and can be used to estimate the ionospheric delay at any time and location on the globe. We evaluate the accuracy and seasonal behavior of the Klobuchar and the NeQuick G models at different latitudes during the solar minimum year of 2018. Calibrated ionospheric Slant Total Electron Content (STEC) values from 33 MGEX (The Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations tracking GPS and Galileo satellites are used as a reference for comparison. The evaluation results show that, for low solar activity conditions (Winter Solstice), the Klobuchar model usually overestimates the ionospheric delay measured on the L1 frequency, with a mean bias of 0.93 m, and performs better than NeQuick G in regions and periods of high ionospheric activity (Spring and Autumn Equinoxes). NeQuick G usually underestimates the delay, with a mean bias of −0.14 m, performing better than Klobuchar in regions and periods of low ionospheric activity. Overall, Klobuchar and NeQuick G presented a modelling error RMS of 1.54 m and 1.19 m respectively.

The update of BDS-2 TGD and its impact on positioning

Timing group delay (TGD) is an important parameter that affects the positioning performance of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) broadcasts TGD corrections from B3I frequency to B1I and B2I frequencies, namely TGD1 and TGD2. On July 21, 2017, BDS updated TGD values with a maximum change of more than 4 ns. In this contribution, we explain the motivation for the BDS TGD update, which is due to the systematic bias between narrowly correlated and widely correlated pseudo-ranges in BDS monitoring receivers. To investigate the impact of the updated TGD, BDS signal-in-space range error (SISRE) and user positioning performance regarding single point positioning (SPP) and precise point positioning (PPP) are analyzed. Results show that after the update of TGD, the difference between the new TGD and multi-GNSS experiment (MGEX) differential code bias (DCB) decreases from 1.38 ns to 0.29 ns on TGD1 and from 0.40 ns to 0.25 ns on TGD2. With the contribution of more accurate TGD, the systematic bias of BDS radial SISRE no longer exists, and the overall BDS SISRE also reduces from 1.33 m to 0.87 m on B1I/B2I frequency, from 1.05 m to 0.89 m on B1I frequency, from 0.92 m to 0.91 m on B2I frequency, respectively, which proves the similar precision of BDS TGD and MGEX DCB. One week of statistical results from 28 globally distributed MGEX stations shows that the SPP performance improves on non-B3I frequencies after the TGD update, with a maximum improvement of more than 22% for the B1I/B2I or B1I/B3I combination. The new TGD mainly reduces SPP positioning bias in the East component. The updated TGD also slightly improves the PPP convergence performance for the B1I/B3I combination, but mostly contributes to a more accurate estimation of the receiver clock and ambiguities.

Calibration and Impact of BeiDou Satellite-Dependent Timing Group Delay Bias

The accuracy of the timing group delay (TGD) transmitted in the broadcast ephemeris is an important factor that affects the service performance of a GNSS system. In this contribution, an apparent bias is found by comparing the orbit and clock difference using half-year data of the BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) broadcast ephemeris and precise post-processed products. The bias differs at each satellite on each frequency and shows a general systematic difference between BDS-2 and BDS-3. We attribute this to the satellite-dependent TGD bias of the BDS broadcast ephemeris, which is subsequently calibrated. Moreover, to calibrate the bias independently, a network solution strategy is proposed based on 87 globally distributed multi-GNSS experiment (MGEX) stations spanning 25 weeks. The estimated bias shows good agreement with the values observed from the orbit and clock comparison. For the validation of the bias, we compared the signal-in-space range error (SISRE) performance with and without the TGD bias correction. The results show that the SISRE of the BDS improved from 0.71, 0.81, and 1.40 m to 0.64, 0.66, and 0.64 m in the B1I, B3I, and B1I/B3I frequencies. For BDS-3, the SISRE is well within 0.50 m after the bias correction. To further validate the bias, a week’s data were collected at 97 globally distributed MGEX stations. When the TGD bias is corrected, the root mean square (RMS) of single point positioning (SPP) can be improved by 5.6, 8.4, and 21.6% in the B1I, B3I, and B1I/B3I frequencies. Meanwhile, the SISRE and SPP assessment results also indicate that the TGD bias should be corrected by each satellite rather than only corrected between BDS-2 and BDS-3.

An Improved QZSS Satellite Clock Offsets Prediction Based on the Extreme Learning Machine Method

The Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) has been developed as a GPS (Global Positioning System) complementary system to improve positioning accuracy in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the accuracies of ultra-rapid predicted clocks are not high enough for real-time applications, so it is still a challenge problem. This article focuses on the clock predictions of the new QZSS constellation. Based on the QZSS clock periodic characteristics, an improved clock prediction method combining the spectrum analysis model (SAM) and extreme learning machine (ELM) is proposed with abbreviation as iELM. The key parameters of iELM are selected carefully including the number of hidden layer nodes and activation function. Further, the input length of the iELM network is optimized and discussed thoroughly. For the purpose of assessing the performance of the proposed algorithm, the clock prediction accuracies are compared among GBU-P (the ultra-rapid predicted orbits/clocks provided by GFZ (Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum)), SAM and iELM methods. It is demonstrated that iELM keeps in a high level of accuracy below 1.0ns with the predicted time increasing from 0 to 18h, and a little larger during the next six hours. And the QZO (Quasi-Zenith Orbit) satellites perform better than GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) satellite. Furthermore, precise point positioning (PPP) for both static and kinematic modes are experimentally studied for 13 IGS (International GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Service) MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations in the longitude range between 100°E and 180°E. In the static PPP mode, the iELM method is verified to be effective for the GPS/QZSS constellation as positioning accuracy is improved by 28.3%, 57.7% and 47.4% on average in the east, north and up component with respect to GPS/QZSS GBU-P results. Nearly 70.0% stations achieve sub-decimeter accuracy in the vertical component. As for the kinematic PPP, the iELM method based on GPS/QZSS observations performs much better than the others for shorter convergence time and better positioning accuracy. Compared with GPS/QZSS GBU-P, iELM takes at most a half time to get convergence, and the accuracy is enhanced by 27.6%, 23.7% and 13.9% on average in the east, north and up direction respectively.

Improving Short Term Clock Prediction for BDS-2 Real-Time Precise Point Positioning.

Although there are already several real-time precise positioning service providers, unfortunately, not all users can use the correction information due to either cost of the service and limitation of their equipment or out of the service coverage. An alternative way is to enhance the accuracy of the predicted satellite clocks for precise real-time positioning. Based on the study of existing prediction models, an improved model combing the spectrum analysis (SA) and the generalized regression neural network (GRNN) model is proposed especially for BeiDou satellite navigation system (BDS)-2 satellites. The periodic terms and GRNN-related parameters including length and interval of sample data, as well as a smooth factor, are optimized satellite by satellite to consider satellite-specific characteristics for all the fourteen BDS-2 satellites. The improved model is validated by comparing the predicted clocks of existing models and the improved model with precisely estimated ones. The bias of the predicted clock is within ±0.5 ns over three hours and better than that of the other models and can be used for several real-time precise applications. The clock prediction is further evaluated by applying clock corrections to precise point positioning (PPP) in both static and kinematic mode for eight IGS (International GNSS Service) MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations in the Asia-Pacific region. In the static PPP, the improved model is validated to be effective, and position accuracies of some IGS MGEX stations achieve more than 30.0% improvements on average for each component, which enables us to obtain sub-decimeter positioning. In the kinematic PPP, the improved model performs much better than the others in terms of both the convergence time and the position accuracy. The convergence time can be shortened from 1–2 h to 0.5–1 h, while the position accuracy is enhanced by 15.4%, 21.6% and 19.3% on average in east, north and up component, respectively.

Investigation of the performance of real-time BDS-only precise point positioning using the IGS real-time service

With the development of China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) and the operation of the real-time service (RTS) of the International GNSS service, BDS real-time precise point positioning (RTPPP) has become possible. In this contribution, the RTS product CLK93 is employed for BDS RTPPP, and its quality for BDS orbit and clock corrections is first assessed by availability and accuracy over a period of 24 days. Following this, the convergence time and positioning accuracy of BDS-only RTPPP are evaluated by performing a 24-day processing with ten stations from the multi-GNSS experiment (MGEX) network. Finally, a real-time kinematic test is conducted in an urban environment to further investigate the performance of BDS-only RTPPP. Experimental results show that the average availabilities of the CLK93 corrections are approximately 95% for the inclined geosynchronous satellite orbit (IGSO) satellites, 90% for the medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites and 65% for the geostationary earth orbit satellites. The mean accuracy of the real-time corrections, which is represented by the signal-in-space ranging error (SISRE) value, is 10 cm for the IGSO and MEO satellites. Furthermore, the average positioning accuracies in the north, east and up components of the ten MGEX stations are approximately 1.7, 2.2 and 2.6 cm, respectively, for the static mode and 10.3, 15.6 and 29.2 cm, respectively, for the kinematic mode. In addition, the average time required to converge to a 20-cm accuracy in the three-dimensional component is approximately 100 and 136 min for BDS-only RTPPP in the static and kinematic modes, respectively. In addition, the positioning accuracy of BDS-only RTPPP in the real-time kinematic test is 0.86, 0.92 and 1.68 m in the east, north and up components, respectively, for the whole solutions during the test, which is obviously worse than that obtained by GPS-only RTPPP.

The Impact of Eclipsing GNSS Satellites on the Precise Point Positioning

When satellites enter into the noon maneuver or the shadow crossing regimes, the actual attitudes will depart from their nominal values. If improper attitude models are used, the induced-errors due to the wind-up effect and satellite antenna PCO (Phase Center Offset) will deteriorate the positioning accuracy. Because different generations of satellites adopt different attitude control models, the influences on the positioning performances deserve further study. Consequently, the impact of three eclipsing strategies on the single-system and multi-GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Precise Point Positioning (PPP) are analyzed. According to the results of the eclipsing monitor, 65 globally distributed MGEX (Multi-GNSS EXperiment) stations for 31-day period in July 2017 are selected to perform G/R/E/C/GR/GREC PPP in both static and kinematic modes. The results show that the influences of non-nominal attitudes are related to the magnitude of the PCO values, maximum yaw angle differences, the duration of maneuver, the value of the sun angle and the satellite geometric strength. For single-system, using modeled attitudes rather than the nominal ones will greatly improve the positioning accuracy of GLONASS-only and BDS-only PPP while slightly contributions to the GPS-only and GALILEO-only PPP. Deleting the eclipsing satellites may sometimes induce a longer convergence time and a worse solution due to the poor satellite geometry, especially for GLONASS kinematic PPP when stations are located in the low latitude and BDS kinematic PPP. When multi-GNSS data are available, especially four navigation systems, the accuracy improvements of using the modeled attitudes or deleting eclipsing satellites are non-significant.

Investigation on Reference Frames and Time Systems in Multi-GNSS

Receivers able to track satellites belonging to different GNSSs (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) are available on the market. To compute coordinates and velocities it is necessary to identify all the elements that contribute to interoperability of the different GNSSs. For example the timescales kept by different GNSSs have to be aligned. Receiver-specific biases, or firmware-dependent biases, need to be calibrated. The reference frame used in the representation of the orbits must be unique. In this paper we address the interoperability issues from the standpoint of a Single Point Positioning (SPP) user, i.e., using pseudoranges and broadcast ephemeris. The biases between GNSSs timescales and receiver-dependent biases are analyzed for a set of 31 MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations over a time span of more than three years. Time series of biases between timescales of GPS (Global Positioning System), GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System), SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation System) and NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) are investigated, in addition to the identification of events like discontinuity of receiver-dependent biases due to firmware updating. The GPS broadcast reference frame is shown to be aligned to the one (IGS14) realized by the precise ephemeris of CODE (Center for Orbit Determination in Europe) to within 0.1 m and 2 milliarcsec, with values dependent on whether IIR-A, IIR-B/M or IIF satellite blocks are considered. Larger offsets are observed for GLONASS, up to 1 m for GLONASS K satellites. For Galileo the alignment of the broadcast orbit to IGS14/CODE is again at the 0.1 m and several milliarcsec level, with the FOC (Full Operational Capability) satellites slightly better than IOV (In Orbit Validation). For BeiDou an alignment of the broadcast frame to IGS14/CODE comparable to GLONASS is observed, regardless of whether IGSO (Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit) or MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) satellites are considered. For all satellites, position differences according to the broadcast ephemeris relative to IGS14/CODE orbits are projected to the radial, along-track and crosstrack triad, with the largest periodic differences affecting mostly the along track component. Sudden discontinuities at the level of up to 1 m and 2–3 ns are observed for the along-track component and the satellite clock, respectively. The time scales of GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS and NAVIC are very closely aligned to GPS, with constant offsets depending on receiver type. The offset of the BeiDou time scale to GPS has an oscillatory pattern with peak-to-peak values up to 100 ns. To characterize receiver-dependent biases the average of six Septentrio receivers is taken as reference, and relative offsets of the other receiver types are investigated. These receiver-dependent biases may depend on the individual station, or for the same station on the update of the firmware. A detailed calibration history is presented for each multiGNSS station studied.

A simplified and unified model of multi-GNSS precise point positioning

Additional observations from other GNSS s can augment GPS precise point positioning (PPP) for improved positioning accuracy, reliability and availability. Traditional multi-GNSS PPP model requires the estimation of inter-system bias (ISB) parameter. Based on the scaled sensitivity matrix (SSM) method, a quantitative approach for assessing parameter assimilation, we theoretically prove that the ISB parameter is not correlated with coordinate parameters and it can be assimilated into clock and ambiguity parameters. Thus, removing ISB from multi-GNSS PPP model does not affect coordinate estimation. Based on this analysis, we develop a simplified and unified model for multi-GNSS PPP, where ISB parameter does not need to be estimated and observations from different GNSS systems are treated in a unified way. To verify the new model, we implement the algorithm to the self-developed software to process 1year GPS/GLONASS data of 53 IGS (International GNSS Service) worldwide stations and 1month GPS/BDS data of 15 IGS MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) stations. Two types of GPS/GLONASS and GPS/BDS combined PPP solution are performed, one is based on traditional model and the other implements the new model. RMSs of coordinate differences between the two type of solutions are few μm for daily static PPP and less than 0.02mm for GPS/GLONASS kinematic PPP in the North, East and Up components, respectively. Considering the millimeter-level precision of current GNSS PPP solutions, these statistics demonstrate equivalent performance of the two solution types.