Post-processed Precise Point Positioning Research Articles

Performance Assessment of Multi-GNSS Real-Time Products from Various Analysis Centers

The performance of real-time precise point positioning (PPP) relies primarily on the availability and quality of orbit and clock corrections. In this research, we collected data streams from 12 real-time mount points of IGS Real-Time Service (RTS) or analysis centers for a one-month period and conducted a performance assessment, including product latency and data availability, accuracy of orbit, clock and positioning performance. The epoch availability of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BDS was more than 98.5%, 95.79%, 94.20% and 85.9%, respectively. In addition, the orbit and clock errors of different real-time corrections was investigated. Then, PPP in static and kinematic for 16 IGS stations was conducted. The results show the real-time PPP for different products has a longer convergence time and a slightly worse accuracy than those of the post-processing PPP. For static PPP over 24 h, the real-time products of WHU had the best performance, with a mean RMSE of 1.0 cm in the horizontal and vertical directions and a median convergence time of 12.0 min. The products of CAS had the faster convergence speed due to the shortest product latency. Regarding real-time kinematic PPP for GPS only in an hourly batch, the real-time products of WHU and ESA performed best with a mean RMSE of 10.8 cm and 9.5 cm in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. Additionally, the PPP for different real-time products with the multi-GNSS combination obtained higher accuracy than those with GPS only in post-processing or real-time mode, and the PPP with the GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BDS combination had the fastest convergence speed and best positioning performance. The hourly based kinematic PPP results of CAS, DLR, GFZ and WHU with the GREC combination had positioning errors smaller than 5.2 cm.

Water vapor monitoring with IGS RTS and GPT3/VMF3 functions over Turkey

Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has been proven as a cost-effective and efficient technique for monitoring the precipitable water vapor (PWV), which plays a critical role in weather forecasting. The recent developments of the International Global Navigation Satellite Systems Service (IGS) Real-Time Pilot Project (RTPP) ease the difficulties of real-time determination of PWV. In this study, the quality of the real-time PPP-derived PWVs and their correlation with precipitation estimates from different global products are investigated. The accuracies of the orbits and clocks derived from the IGS02 streams are evaluated and their performance outperforms the predicted part of IGS Ultra-rapid (IGU) orbits and clocks. A year of GNSS observations from 9 stations located in Turkey are processed to estimate the PWV in the real-time. Since there are no stations to collect meteorological data near GNSS stations, the real-time solutions employ empirical Global Pressure and Temperature 3 (GPT3) and its fully consistent discrete Vienna Mapping Function 3 (VMF3) to model the troposphere. The performance of the PWV estimates is assessed by comparing with Radiosonde-derived PWV values and post-processed PPP-derived PWV estimates employing the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) final orbits and clocks. At most sites, the root-mean-square (RMS) differences of the estimated PWVs in comparison with the radiosonde-derived PWVs are less than 2.4 mm with correlation coefficients greater than 0.90. The RMS differences between RT and post-processed PPP PWV estimates are found to be less than 1.2 mm. The estimated RT zenith total delays (ZTDs) at two IGS sites agree well with the ZTDs provided by the IGS final products. A method of precipitation monitoring is proposed based on the daily standard deviation (SD) of the PWV estimates. Experimental analyses of the proposal are undertaken by comparing the daily SDs of the PWV estimates and the daily accumulated precipitation estimates from the global precipitation grids produced from rain gauges, satellite images, and reanalyses product sets. The results show that the daily variation of the PWVs and the high precipitation estimates present a good agreement for some days but not always. The PWVs overestimate and underestimate a significant number of events. Spatial refinement of GPT3 grids and gridded precipitation products with higher sampling over Turkey may offer better results.

Performance Evaluation of Real-Time Precise Point Positioning with Both BDS-3 and BDS-2 Observations.

For time-critical precise applications, one popular technology is the real-time precise point positioning (PPP). In recent years, there has been a rapid development in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and the constellation of global BDS (BDS-3) has been fully deployed. In addition to the regional BDS (BDS-2) constellation, the real-time stream CLK93 has started to support the BDS-3 constellation, indicating that the real-time PPP processing involving BDS-3 observations is feasible. In this study, the global positioning performance of real-time PPP with BDS-3/BDS-2 observations is initially evaluated using the datasets from 147 stations. In the east, north and upward directions, positioning accuracy of 1.8, 1.2 and 2.5 cm in the static mode, and of 6.7, 5.1 and 10.4 cm in the kinematic mode can be achieved for the BDS-3/BDS-2 real-time PPP, respectively, while the corresponding convergence time with a threshold of 10 cm is 32.9, 23.7 and 32.8 min, and 66.9, 42.9 and 69.1 min in the two modes in the three directions, respectively. To complete this, the availability of BDS-3/BDS-2 constellations, the quality of BDS-3/BDS-2 real-time precise satellite products, and the BDS-3/BDS-2 post-processed PPP solutions are also analyzed. For comparison, the results for the GPS are also presented.

Performance assessment of real-time multi-GNSS integrated PPP with uncombined and ionospheric-free combined observables

For precise position services, the real-time precise point positioning (PPP) is a promising technology. The real-time PPP performance is expected to be improved by multi-system combination. The performance of real-time multi-system PPP needs to be periodically investigated, with the increasing number of available satellites and the continuously improved quality of real-time precise products of satellite clocks and orbits. In this study, a comprehensive performance assessment is conducted for the four-system integrated real-time PPP (FSIRT-PPP) with GPS, BDS, Galileo and GLONASS in both static and kinematic modes. The datasets from 118 stations spanning approximately a month are used for analysis, and the real-time stream CLK93 is employed. The superior performance of FSIRT-PPP is validated by comparing with the results of GPS/BDS, GPS/Galileo, GPS/GLONASS, GPS-only, BDS-only, Galileo-only and GLONASS-only cases. The FSIRT-PPP using ionospheric-free (IF) combined observables can achieve a convergence time of 10.9, 4.8 and 11.8 min and a positioning accuracy of 0.4, 0.5 and 0.7 cm in the static mode in the east, north and up directions, respectively, while the derived statistic is 15.4, 7.0 and 16.4 min, and 1.6, 1.2 and 3.4 cm in the kinematic mode in the three directions, respectively. Moreover, we also compare the position solutions of real-time PPP adopting IF combined and uncombined (UC) observables, and prove the mathematical equivalence between the two PPP models in the converged stage, provided that there are no external ionospheric corrections or constraints given to the estimated ionospheric delays in the UC model. The difference between the fully converged positioning accuracy of IF-based and UC-based real-time PPP is marginal, but the UC-based real-time PPP has longer convergence time due to the influence of the significant unmodeled time-varying errors in the real-time precise products as well as the different parameterization between them. For completeness, the real-time kinematic PPP results in harsh environments and the post-processed PPP results are also presented.

Precise Point Positioning Using World's First Dual-Frequency GPS/GALILEO Smartphone.

The release of the world’s first dual-frequency GPS/Galileo smartphone, Xiaomi mi 8, in 2018 provides an opportunity for high-precision positioning using ultra low-cost sensors. In this research, the GNSS precise point positioning (PPP) accuracy of the Xiaomi mi 8 smartphone is tested in post-processing and real-time modes. Raw dual-frequency observations are collected over two different time windows from both of the Xiaomi mi 8 smartphone and a Trimble R9 geodetic-quality GNSS receiver using a short baseline, due to the lack of a nearby reference station to the observation site. The data sets are first processed in differential modes using Trimble business center (TBC) software in order to provide the reference positioning solution for both of the geodetic receiver and the smartphone. An in-house PPP software is then used to process the collected data in both of post-processing and real-time modes. Precise ephemeris obtained from the multi-GNSS experiment (MGEX) is used for post-processing PPP, while the new NAVCAST real-time GNSS service, Germany, is used for real-time PPP. Additionally, the real-time PPP solution is assessed in both of static and kinematic modes. It is shown that the dual-frequency GNSS smartphone is capable of achieving decimeter-level positioning accuracy, in both of post-processing and real-time PPP modes, respectively. Meter-level positioning accuracy is achieved in the kinematic mode.

GNSS PPP with different troposphere models during severe weather conditions

Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)-derived zenith wet delays must be estimated precisely for monitoring weather variations and rain passages in the troposphere. We processed a set of International GNSS Service (IGS) stations within the area affected by the central European Flooding 2013 and assessed the performance of post-processed precise point positioning (PPP) during severe weather by applying different troposphere models: the Vienna Mapping Function (VMF1) together with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts grids, the global mapping function with the Global Pressure and Temperature 2, the Niell mapping function with the University of New Brunswick (UNB), and the VMF1 with the UNB/VMF1 from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction numerical weather model (NWM) data. Wet delay estimates from each PPP session have been verified through the IGS final troposphere products, local surface measurements and double-difference (DD) GNSS solutions performed at the same sites. All the PPP solutions agree well with the IGS. The mean residuals are all below 2.0 mm, and the PPP VMF1 performs better with RMS of 4.0 mm. The PPP solutions applying an NWM offer better agreement with the PPP solutions using real surface measurements to model the troposphere. Both PPP and DD VMF1 solutions agree with RMS of 5.4 mm, which allowed PPP to offer a strong alternative to post-processed DD solutions, even during severe weathers. With respect to the daily ITRF08 coordinate solutions, the gridded VMF1-based PPP height repeatability is better for most stations before and after the observations are corrected for atmospheric non-tidal loading effect.

Comparative analysis of MGEX products for post-processing multi-GNSS PPP

In recent years, the precise products generated by the International GNSS Service (IGS) as a part of the Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) project have been increasingly used for multi-GNSS applications. Nowadays, six IGS Analysis Centers (ACs) have been providing GNSS products with different features. However, there is still neither a combined solution nor a standard accuracy definition for MGEX products, unlike the standard IGS products. For the GNSS techniques that are directly dependent on precise products, such as Precise Point Positioning (PPP), the quality of these products is a very crucial point in positioning performance. In this context, this study aims to investigate the impact of MGEX products provided by different IGS ACs on post-processing PPP performance in terms of accuracy, availability, and consistency. For this purpose, an experimental test was performed including all possible multi-GNSS combinations of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou. 24-hour observation datasets collected at ten IGS stations during the 1-month period of May 1–31 were processed with twelve PPP modes using all available precise products. As a first step, an analysis of product availability was carried out for the related MGEX precise products within the test period to be able to assess the impact of the availability on the test results. PPPH software was used to perform the test and the results were statistically assessed as regards positioning error, RMS error and convergence time. The results indicate that the PPP performance may considerably differ depending on the precise products utilized in the PPP process. For the test period, PPP solutions utilizing the precise products generated by GFZ (GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam) and WU (Wuhan University) agencies have relatively better positioning performance for nearly all processing modes compared to other solutions. The quality and availability of precise products are significant factors which lay behind the better PPP performance. On the other hand, while the integration of two or more systems significantly strength the PPP performance, GPS is still the dominant system for PPP and the solutions that do not include GPS constellation have very poor performance. The results also show that MGEX products have different impacts on the PPP performance as varying with the constellation involved in PPP solution and the geographical location of the station.

Very high-rate GPS for measuring dynamic seismic displacements without aliasing: performance evaluation of the variometric approach

Very high-rate global positioning system (GPS) data has the capacity to quickly resolve seismically related ground displacements, thereby providing great potential for rapidly determining the magnitude and the nature of an earthquake’s rupture process and for providing timely warnings for earthquakes and tsunamis. The GPS variometric approach can measure ground displacements with comparable precision to relative positioning and precise point positioning (PPP) within a short period of time. The variometric approach is based on single-differencing over time of carrier phase observations using only the broadcast ephemeris and a single receiver to estimate velocities, which are then integrated to derive displacements. We evaluate the performance of the variometric approach to measure displacements using 50 Hz GPS data, which were recorded during the 2013 MW 6.6 Lushan earthquake and the 2011 MW 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. The comparison between 50 and 1 Hz seismic displacements demonstrates that 1 Hz solutions often fail to faithfully manifest the seismic waves containing high-frequency seismic signals due to aliasing, which is common for near-field stations of a moderate-magnitude earthquake. Results indicate that 10–50 Hz sampling GPS sites deployed close to the source or the ruptured fault are needed for measuring dynamic seismic displacements of moderate-magnitude events. Comparisons with post-processed PPP results reveal that the variometric approach can determine seismic displacements with accuracies of 0.3–4.1, 0.5–2.3 and 0.8–6.8 cm in the east, north and up components, respectively. Moreover, the power spectral density analysis demonstrates that high-frequency noises of seismic displacements, derived using the variometric approach, are smaller than those of PPP-derived displacements in these three components.

Performance Evaluation of Real-Time Precise Point Positioning Method

Post-Processed Precise Point Positioning (PPP) is a well-known zero-difference positioning method which provides accurate and precise results. After the experimental tests, IGS Real Time Service (RTS) officially provided real time orbit and clock products for the GNSS community that allows real-time (RT) PPP applications. Different software packages can be used for RT-PPP. In this study, in order to evaluate the performance of RT-PPP, 3 IGS stations are used. Results, obtained by using BKG Ntrip Client (BNC) Software v2.12, are examined in terms of both accuracy and precision.

Precise Point Positioning Using Triple GNSS Constellations in Various Modes.

This paper introduces a new dual-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) model, which combines the observations from three different global navigation satellite system (GNSS) constellations, namely GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou. Combining measurements from different GNSS systems introduces additional biases, including inter-system bias and hardware delays, which require rigorous modelling. Our model is based on the un-differenced and between-satellite single-difference (BSSD) linear combinations. BSSD linear combination cancels out some receiver-related biases, including receiver clock error and non-zero initial phase bias of the receiver oscillator. Forming the BSSD linear combination requires a reference satellite, which can be selected from any of the GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou systems. In this paper three BSSD scenarios are tested; each considers a reference satellite from a different GNSS constellation. Natural Resources Canada’s GPSPace PPP software is modified to enable a combined GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou PPP solution and to handle the newly introduced biases. A total of four data sets collected at four different IGS stations are processed to verify the developed PPP model. Precise satellite orbit and clock products from the International GNSS Service Multi-GNSS Experiment (IGS-MGEX) network are used to correct the GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou measurements in the post-processing PPP mode. A real-time PPP solution is also obtained, which is referred to as RT-PPP in the sequel, through the use of the IGS real-time service (RTS) for satellite orbit and clock corrections. However, only GPS and Galileo observations are used for the RT-PPP solution, as the RTS-IGS satellite products are not presently available for BeiDou system. All post-processed and real-time PPP solutions are compared with the traditional un-differenced GPS-only counterparts. It is shown that combining the GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou observations in the post-processing mode improves the PPP convergence time by 25% compared with the GPS-only counterpart, regardless of the linear combination used. The use of BSSD linear combination improves the precision of the estimated positioning parameters by about 25% in comparison with the GPS-only PPP solution. Additionally, the solution convergence time is reduced to 10 minutes for the BSSD model, which represents about 50% reduction, in comparison with the GPS-only PPP solution. The GNSS RT-PPP solution, on the other hand, shows a similar convergence time and precision to the GPS-only counterpart.

Performance evaluation of short to long term GPS, GLONASS and GPS/GLONASS post-processed PPP

In recent years, in addition to the GPS constellation, the ability to utilise extra satellites available in the GLONASS system enhanced the capabilities and possible applications of precise point positioning (PPP) method. However, the intrinsic differences between GPS and GLONASS and the lack of a fully tested global tracking network of multi-GNSS systems necessitate the evaluation of their combined use. This paper offers a comprehensive statistical assessment of static PPP using GPS-only, GLONASS-only and GPS/GLONASS combined data. Data analysis is performed in a short (hourly to daily) and a long (several weeks) term, spanning observations from eleven IGS stations. Evaluation of the results reveals insignificant differences in the accuracy and repeatability among the three satellite constellation solutions for long (8 h, 24 h) observation times. The superiority of the combined GPS/GLONASS solution is apparent for short (1 h, 2 h) observation periods, whereas analysis confirms the stability of PPP solutions for the very long (several weeks) observation periods irrespectively of the satellite constellation used.