Satellite Antenna Phase Center Research Articles

Extension of the BDS IGSO and MEO satellite antenna patterns with FengYun-3C and LuTan-1 onboard data

The International Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Service (IGS) has recommended calibrating the extended satellite antenna Phase Center Variation (PCV) model for all navigation satellites to support low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite applications. Owing to the absence of ground-calibrated PCVs for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), tracking data from global ground stations were used for in-orbit estimations. However, limited by the observed maximum nadir angle, PCVs based on ground data cannot cover the entire range of nadir angles observed using by LEO satellites. In this study, the FengYun-3C and LuTan-1 missions were used to extend the PCVs of the BDS Inclined GeoSynchronous orbit (IGSO) and medium-Earth-orbit (MEO) satellites. The PCVs corresponding to the ionosphere-free linear combinations of B1I/B2I, B1I/B3I, and B1C/B2a were calibrated in-orbit by extending the maximum nadir angle from 9° to 10° for the IGSO and from 13° to 15° for the MEO. There was good consistency among the estimated PCVs of satellites of the same type. In addition, these estimated PCVs were close to the corresponding satellite block-specific values estimated based on ground tracking data. The impact of the extended PCVs of the BDS satellite antenna was investigated by comparing them with the unextended PCVs model in the receiver antenna PCVs pattern estimation and precise orbit determination of the FengYun-3C and LuTan-1 satellites. The results showed that the extended BDS satellite PCVs effectively reduced the unmodeled error of the unextended BDS satellite PCVs in the low-elevation region of the LEO receiver antenna PCV patterns. In addition, compared with the introduction of phase center offset alone, the introduction of ground-based PCVs can improve the overlapping orbit differences (OODs) of LEO satellites, and the extended BDS satellite PCVs can further improve the OODs. Taking B1C/B2a as an example, the improvement ratio of OODs in the 3D direction of Lutan-1A increased from 5.2 % to 8.0 %, and that of Lutan-1B can rise from 1.7 % to 4.2 %.

Estimating inter-satellite link Ka-band antenna phase center offsets to improve BDS-3 satellite orbit determination

Satellite antenna phase center offset (PCO) correction is essential not noly for L-band ground-tracking GNSS high-precision data processing, but also for Ka-band inter-satellite link (ISL) observations. The Ka-band ISL and L-band satellite-ground observations of 90 days from 25 November 2020 to 23 February 2021 are used for the Ka-band PCO estimation and precise orbit determination (POD) validation for BDS-3 satellites. The results show that the standard deviations of the estimated Ka-band PCOs for 29 BDS-3 satellites are 1.73, 2.63 and 3.58 cm in the X, Y and Z components, respectively. The accuracy of the Ka-band PCO estimates for medium Earth orbit satellites (MEO) is better than those of inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites due to a better observation geometry. The POD validation results indicate that using the estimated Ka-band PCOs can improve the ISL-based orbit determination performance. Using Ka-band ISL and L-band satellite-ground observations with 40 global stations for combined POD, the orbit overlap comparison shows that the average three-dimensional (3D) root mean square (RMS) error for 29 BDS-3 satellites is decreased from 12.6 to 6.6 cm with a reduction of 47.6%, and satellite laser ranging (SLR) validation for 4 BDS-3 satellites shows an accuracy improvement from 6 to 5 cm in RMS. When using ISL and only 7 regional ground stations are used, the average 3D RMS of orbit overlap errors is decreased from 15.9 to 10.9 cm with a reduction of 31.6%, and the RMS of SLR residuals for 4 BDS-3 satellites is decreased from 6.7 to 5.6 cm. For ISL-only POD, the average 3D RMS of orbit overlap errors is decreased from 18.0 to 12.4 cm with a reduction of 31.1%, and the RMS of SLR residuals for 4 BDS-3 satellites is decreased from 7.1 to 6.9 cm.

Consistency of Galileo satellite antenna phase center offsets

Information about satellite antenna phase center offsets (PCOs) is indispensable for high-precision applications of global navigation satellite systems. Pre-flight manufacturer calibrations of the PCOs are available for all individual Galileo satellites and each frequency. So far, geodetic usage of Galileo is focused on the ionosphere-free linear combination of the E1 and E5a signals. In view of the growing number of E5b- and E6-capable receivers and upcoming multi-frequency applications, the consistency of the PCO values for different frequencies becomes a topic of increasing importance. Galileo satellite antenna PCOs have been estimated from the ionosphere-free linear combinations of E1/E5a, E1/E5b, and E1/E6. The mean horizontal PCOs of the different frequencies agree on the few millimeter level. The X-PCOs show a bias of about 1 cm compared to the manufacturer calibrations, whereas the Y-PCOs are free of such a bias. The Z-PCOs have a systematic offset of -11 to {-15} cm w.r.t. the manufacturer calibrations due to scale inconsistencies of the current version of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF2020) and the manufacturer calibrations. The maximum Z-PCO difference between the various linear combinations amounts to 4 cm and provides a measure of the presently achieved consistency of ground and space antenna calibrations across different frequencies. This inconsistency would translate into height differences of about 1.6 mm and associated scale differences of the terrestrial reference frame of 0.25 ppb, when adjusting station coordinates with manufacturer calibrated Galileo PCOs for different frequency pairs.

Precise orbit determination and precision comparison for FY3C and FY3D with receiver antenna GPS and BDS PCV using spaceborne BDS and GPS observation data

The FY3C and FY3D satellites were equipped with global navigation satellite occultation detector (GNOS) receivers that received both GPS and BDS-2 signals. For further improving precise orbit determination (POD) precisions, we estimated receiver GPS and BDS signal phase center variations (PCV) models with 2° and 5° resolutions and set the different weights for GPS and BDS-2 observations in the combined POD. The BDS-based POD precision using BDS-2 satellite antenna phase center offset (PCO) values from the China Satellite Navigation Office (CSNO) are not as accurate as those obtained from the International GNSS Service (IGS) Multi-GNSS experiments project (MGEX). The estimated receiver GPS and BDS PCV models with 2° and 5° resolutions were estimated from the GPS phase residuals of GPS-based POD and BDS phase residuals of combined POD, respectively. In most cases, the POD precisions using the estimated PCVs with 2° resolution are superior to those with 5° resolution. The precisions of the BDS-based POD and combined POD were both improved by introducing the receiver BDS PCV models. The weighting for GPS and BDS-2 observations can further improve the precision of the combined POD. The tested results of selected weights are better than those with equal weight in the combined POD. The experiment results show that orbital precisions of FY3C are worse than those of FY3D.

Estimation of GPS satellite antenna phase center offsets of the third frequency using raw observation model

Satellite antenna phase center offsets (PCOs) is an important error source in global navigation satellite system (GNSS). With GNSS observations in a global network, the PCOs estimation strategy generally uses a dual-frequency (DF) ionospheric-free (IF) combination as the observation model. This model cannot derive the PCO values at each frequency, which results in the PCOs of the third frequency being unavailable for GPS satellites in the igs14.atx product. In this contribution, the PCOs estimation method of the third frequency based on uncombined (UC) precise orbit determination (POD) model is developed. The PCOs of the first- and second frequencies are fixed to the known values while PCOs of the third frequency are regarded as estimated parameters. This method is tested on the PCO estimation of GPS L5 frequency by using 110 ground stations throughout the entire year of 2018. The averaged standard deviations of L5 PCOs over one year are derived, with x-, y-, and z-offsets being 0.2, 0.2, and 1.6 cm, respectively. The corresponding difference values of the derived weighing averaged PCOs compared to the values of the igs14.atx product are 0.2, 0.1, and 9.9 cm. The POD experiment is processed to validate the derived PCOs of L5 over a period of 50 days. Results show that the accuracy of orbits, clocks and station positions is slightly improved after using estimated PCOs.

Satellite antenna phase center errors: magnified threat to multi-frequency PPP ambiguity resolution

Satellite antenna phase center errors: magnified threat to multi-frequency PPP ambiguity resolution

Reference system origin and scale realization within the future GNSS constellation \u201cKepler\u201d

Currently, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) do not contribute to the realization of origin and scale of combined global terrestrial reference frame (TRF) solutions due to present system design limitations. The future Galileo-like medium Earth orbit (MEO) constellation, called “Kepler”, proposed by the German Aerospace Center DLR, is characterized by a low Earth orbit (LEO) segment and the innovative key features of optical inter-satellite links (ISL) delivering highly precise range measurements and of optical frequency references enabling a perfect time synchronization within the complete constellation. In this study, the potential improvements of the Kepler constellation on the TRF origin and scale are assessed by simulations. The fully developed Kepler system allows significant improvements of the geocenter estimates (realized TRF origin in long-term). In particular, we find improvements by factors of 43 for the Z and of 8 for the X and Y component w. r. t. a contemporary MEO-only constellation. Furthermore, the Kepler constellation increases the reliability due to a complete de-correlation of the geocenter coordinates and the orbit parameters related to the solar radiation pressure modeling (SRP). However, biases in SRP modeling cause biased geocenter estimates and the ISL of Kepler can only partly compensate this effect. The realized scale enabling all Kepler features improves by 34% w. r. t. MEO-only. The dependency of the estimated satellite antenna phase center offsets (PCOs) upon the underlying TRF impedes a scale realization by GNSS. In order to realize the network scale with 1 mm accuracy, the PCOs have to be known within 2 cm for the MEO and 4 mm for the LEO satellites. Independently, the scale can be realized by estimating the MEO PCOs and by simultaneously fixing the LEO PCOs. This requires very accurate LEO PCOs; the simulations suggest them to be smaller than 1 mm in order to keep scale changes below 1 mm.

Refinement of BeiDou satellite antenna phase center correction model and its impact on precision orbit determination and positioning

Refinement of BeiDou satellite antenna phase center correction model and its impact on precision orbit determination and positioning

GNSS scale determination using calibrated receiver and Galileo satellite antenna patterns

The reference frame of a global terrestrial network is defined by the origin, the orientation and the scale. The origin of the ITRF2014 is defined by the ILRS long-term solution, the orientation by no-net rotation conditions w.r.t. the previous reference frame (ITRF2008), and the scale by the mean values from global VLBI and SLR solution series (Altamimi et al. in J Geophys Res Solid Earth 121:6109–6131, 2016). With the release of the Galileo satellite antenna phase center offsets (PCO) w.r.t. the satellites center of mass (GSA in Galileo IOV and FOC satellite metadata, 2019) and the availability of new ground antenna calibrations for GNSS receivers, based on anechoic chamber measurements or on robot calibrations, GNSS global network solutions qualify to contribute to the scale determination of terrestrial networks, as well. Our analysis is based on global multi-GNSS solutions of the years 2017 and 2018 and may be seen as “proof of concept” for the contribution of GNSS data to the scale determination of the terrestrial reference frame. In a first step, the currently used Galileo PCO estimations (Steigenberger et al. in J Geod 90:773–785, 2016) are compared to the released PCO values, which show discrepancies on the decimeter-level. Eventually, the published Galileo PCOs are used in an experimental solution as known values. GNSS-specific PCOs are estimated, as well, for GPS and GLONASS, together with the “standard” parameters set up in global GNSS solutions. From the estimated network coordinates, a time series of daily scale parameters of the terrestrial network is extracted, which shows an offset of the order of 1 ppb (parts per billion, corresponding to a height difference of 6.4 mm on the Earth’s surface) w.r.t. to the ITRF2014 network and an annual variation with an amplitude of about 0.3 ppb.

GPS III Vespucci: Results of half a year in orbit

The spacecraft nicknamed Vespucci is the first GPS III satellite launched in December 2018. Numerous receivers of the global International GNSS Service network tracked the signals of this new generation of GPS spacecraft from January to July 2019. This data set serves as the basis for analysis of broadcast ephemeris performance and clock stability, as well as solar radiation pressure and satellite antenna phase center models. Different empirical orbit models are tested, and box-wing models are developed based on approximate dimensions, mass, and assumed optical properties. The box-wing models show in general a better performance than the empirical models. Compared to Block IIF satellites, the stability of the GPS III rubidium clock is higher for integration times up to 10 s. At longer integration times, the stability of both clocks is similar but the GPS III clock does not suffer from frequency-specific line bias variations that affect the apparent IIF clock. Estimated antenna phase center offsets agree on the centimeter level with the calibrations published by the manufacturer. Measurements with a 30-m high-gain antenna revealed that the satellite did not stop signal transmission in July 2019 but switched to non-standard codes and codes beyond the tracking capabilities of commercial GNSS receivers. Prior to this hibernation mode, a 70 days test without broadcast ephemeris update was conducted during which the user range error increased to roughly 1 km.

Estimation of the Antenna Phase Center Correction Model for the BeiDou-3 MEO Satellites

Satellite antenna phase center offsets (PCOs) and phase variations (PVs) for BeiDou-3 satellites are estimated based on the tracking data of the Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) and the international GNSS Monitoring and Assessment System (iGMAS) network. However, when estimating the (PCOs) of BeiDou-3 medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites by pure Extending the CODE Orbit Model (ECOM1), the x-offset estimations of the PCOs have a systematic variation of about 0.4 m with the elevation of the Sun above the orbital plane (β-angle). Thus, a priori box-wing solar radiation pressure (SRP) model of BeiDou-3 MEO was assisted with ECOM1. Then, the satellite type-specific PCOs and common PVs were obtained. The estimations of PCOs and PVs were compared with the MGEX PCOs from the precise orbit and clock offset. When the MGEX PCOs were used, the root mean square (RMS) of 24 h overlap was 6.76, 4.36, 1.46 cm, in along-track, cross-track, and radial directions, respectively; the RMS and standard deviations (STD) of the 24 h clock offset overlap were 0.28 and 0.15 ns; the fitting RMS of the 72 h clock offset of the quadratic polynomial was 0.243 ns. After comparing this with the estimated PCOs and PVs, the RMS of the 24 h orbit overlap was decreased by 6.5 mm (10.54%), 1.8 mm (4.4%), and 1.1 mm (8.03%) in the along-track, cross-track, and radial directions, respectively; the RMS and STD of the 24 h clock offset overlap were decreased by 0.024 ns (8.6%) and 0.020 ns (13.1%), respectively; the fitting RMS of the 72 h clock offset of the quadratic polynomial was reduced by about 0.016 ns (6.5%).

Estimation of satellite antenna phase center offsets for Galileo

Satellite antenna phase center offsets for the Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) and Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites are estimated by two different analysis centers based on tracking data of a global GNSS network. The mean x- and y-offsets could be determined with a precision of a few centimeters. However, daily estimates of the x-offsets of the IOV satellites show pronounced systematic effects with a peak-to-peak amplitude of up to 70 cm that depend on the orbit model and the elevation of the Sun above the orbital plane. For the IOV y-offsets, no dependence on the orbit model exists but the scatter strongly depends on the elevation of the Sun above the orbital plane. In general, these systematic effects are significantly smaller for the FOC satellites. The z-offsets of the two analysis centers agree within the 10–15 cm level, and the time series do not show systematic effects. The application of an averaged Galileo satellite antenna model obtained from the two solutions results in a reduction of orbit day boundary discontinuities by up to one third—even if an independent software package is used.

Absolute IGS antenna phase center model igs08.atx: status and potential improvements

On 17 April 2011, all analysis centers (ACs) of the International GNSS Service (IGS) adopted the reference frame realization IGS08 and the corresponding absolute antenna phase center model igs08.atx for their routine analyses. The latter consists of an updated set of receiver and satellite antenna phase center offsets and variations (PCOs and PCVs). An update of the model was necessary due to the difference of about 1 ppb in the terrestrial scale between two consecutive realizations of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF2008 vs. ITRF2005), as that parameter is highly correlated with the GNSS satellite antenna PCO components in the radial direction. For the receiver antennas, more individual calibrations could be considered and GLONASS-specific correction values were added. For the satellite antennas, all correction values except for the GPS PCVs were newly estimated considering more data than for the former model. Satellite-specific PCOs for all GPS satellites active since 1994 could be derived from reprocessed solutions of five ACs generated within the scope of the first IGS reprocessing campaign. Two ACs separately derived a full set of corrections for all GLONASS satellites active since 2003. Ignoring scale-related biases, the accuracy of the satellite antenna PCOs is on the level of a few cm. With the new phase center model, orbit discontinuities at day boundaries can be reduced, and the consistency between GPS and GLONASS results is improved. To support the analysis of low Earth orbiter (LEO) data, igs08.atx was extended with LEO-derived PCV estimates for big nadir angles in June 2013.

Development and Positioning Accuracy Assessment of Precise Point Positioning Algorithms Based on GLONASS Code-Pseudorange Measurements

The purpose of this study is to develop precise point positioning (PPP) algorithms based on GLONASS code-pseudorange, verify their performance and present their utility. As the basic correction models of PPP, we applied Inter Frequency Bias (IFB), relativistic effect, satellite antenna phase center offset, and satellite orbit and satellite clock errors, ionospheric errors, and tropospheric errors that must be provided on a real-time basis. The satellite orbit and satellite clock errors provided by Information-Analytical Centre (IAC) are interpolated at each observation epoch by applying the Lagrange polynomial method and linear interpolation method. We applied Global Ionosphere Maps (GIM) provided by International GNSS Service (IGS) for ionospheric errors, and increased the positioning accuracy by applying the true value calculated with GIPSY for tropospheric errors. As a result of testing the developed GLONASS PPP algorithms for four days, the horizontal error was approximately 1.4 ~ 1.5 m and the vertical error was approximately 2.5 ~ 2.8 m, showing that the accuracy is similar to that of GPS PPP.

Satellite Clock Error and Orbital Solution Error Estimation for Precise Navigation Applications

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system that provides a three-dimensional user position (x,y,z), velocity and time anywhere on or above the earth surface. The satellite-based position accuracy is affected by several factors such as satellite clock error, propagation path delays and receiver noise due to which the GPS does not meet the requirements of critical navigation applications such as missile navigation and category I/II/III aircraft landings. This paper emphasizes on modelling the satellite clock error and orbital solution (satellite position) error considering the signal emission time. The transmission time sent by each satellite in broadcast ephemerides is not accurate. This has to be corrected in order to obtain correct satellite position and in turn a precise receiver position. Signal transmission time or broadcast time from satellite antenna phase center is computed at the receiver using several parameters such as signal reception time, propagation time, pseudorange observed and satellite clock error correction parameters. This corrected time of transmission and broadcast orbital parameters are used for estimation of the orbital solution. The estimated orbital solution was validated with the precise ephemerides which are estimated by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), USA. The errors are estimated for a typical day data collected on 11th March 2011 from dual frequency GPS receiver located at Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Andhra University College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam (17.73°N/83.319°E).

Evaluation of the ITRF2008 GPS vertical velocities using satellite antenna z-offsets

We develop a method to evaluate the terrestrial reference frame (TRF) scale rate error using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite antenna phase center offset (APCO) parameters and apply it to ITRF2008. We search for the TRF in which z-APCO parameters have the smallest drift. In order to provide realistic error bars for the z-APCO drifts, we pay attention to model periodic variations and auto-correlated noise processes in the z-APCO time series. We will show that the GPS scale rate with respect to a frame is, as a first approximation, proportional to the estimated mean z-APCO trend if that frame is used to constrain station positions. Thus, an ITRF2008 scale rate error between ?0.27 and ?0.06 mm/yr depending on the GPS analysis center can be estimated, which demonstrates the high quality of the newly constructed ITRF2008. We will also demonstrate that the traditional estimates of the GPS scale rate from 7-parameter similarity transformations are consistent with our newly derived GPS scale rates with respect to ITRF2008 within two sigmas. We find using International GNSS Service (IGS) products that the traditional approach is relevant for scale rate determination even if some of the z-APCO values supplied by the IGS were not simultaneously calibrated. As the scale rate is related to the accuracy of vertical velocities, our estimates supply a conservative evaluation that can be used for error budget computation.

Yaw attitude of eclipsing GPS satellites and its impact on solutions from precise point positioning

During the period when a GPS satellite, the Earth and the Sun are approximately collinear, the phenomenon of eclipsing the satellite occurs, when the satellite yaw attitude deviates from its nominal case, i.e. the body X-axis cannot point towards the Sun for Block II&IIA or away from it for Block IIR satellites. The yaw attitude of the eclipsing satellites has a significant influence on both the satellite clock estimation at each International GNSS Service (IGS) Analysis Center (AC) and for users of the precise point positioning (PPP) implementations. It is known that, during the eclipsing periods, inconsistent yaw attitude models among the ACs will contribute to the errors of the IGS combined clock products. As for the PPP user, the influence of the eclipsing satellite is two-fold. First, as the satellite clocks are always kept fixed during PPP implementation, the above-mentioned problematic IGS clocks will inevitably be passed on to the PPP estimates. Second, the improper yaw attitude modeling of the eclipsing satellite will cause a correction bias exceeding 1 dm for the two kinds of attitude-related systematic errors, namely the phase wind-up and satellite antenna phase center offset, which will further deteriorate the accuracy of the PPP solutions. A yaw attitude model is introduced in this paper with the aim of improving the reliability of PPP solutions during the satellite eclipsing period.

Ground-Based GPS for Validation of Climate Models: The Impact of Satellite Antenna Phase Center Variations

The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is an important indicator for climate change. Using the Global Positioning System (GPS), it is possible to estimate the integrated water vapor (IWV) above the ground-based GPS receiver. In order to optimally determine the IWV, a correct model of the received signal phase is essential. We have studied the effect of the satellite antenna phase center variations (PCVs) on the IWV estimates by simulating the effect and by studying the estimates of the IWV based on the observed GPS signals. During a period of five years, from 2003 to 2008, a new satellite type was introduced, and it steadily grew in numbers. The antenna PCVs for these satellites deviate from the earlier satellite types and contribute to excess IWV estimates. We find that ignoring satellite antenna phase variations for this time period can lead to an additional IWV trend of about 0.15 kg/m2/year for regular GPS processing.

Quality assessment of GPS reprocessed terrestrial reference frame

The International GNSS Service (IGS) contributes to the construction of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) by submitting time series of station positions and Earth Rotation Parameters (ERP). For the first time, its submission to the ITRF2008 construction is based on a combination of entirely reprocessed GPS solutions delivered by 11 Analysis Centers (ACs). We analyze the IGS submission and four of the individual AC contributions in terms of the GNSS frame origin and scale, station position repeatability and time series seasonal variations. We show here that the GPS Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF) origin is consistent with Satellite laser Ranging (SLR) at the centimeter level with a drift lower than 1 mm/year. Although the scale drift compared to Very Long baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and SLR mean scale is smaller than 0.4 mm/year, we think that it would be premature to use that information in the ITRF scale definition due to its strong dependence on the GPS satellite and ground antenna phase center variations. The new position time series also show a better repeatability compared to past IGS combined products and their annual variations are shown to be more consistent with loading models. The comparison of GPS station positions and velocities to those of VLBI via local ties in co-located sites demonstrates that the IGS reprocessed solution submitted to the ITRF2008 is more reliable and precise than any of the past submissions. However, we show that some of the remaining inconsistencies between GPS and VLBI positioning may be caused by uncalibrated GNSS radomes.

The GLONASS-M satellite yaw-attitude model

The proper modeling of the satellites’ yaw-attitude is a prerequisite for high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning and poses a particular challenge during periods when the satellite orbital planes are partially eclipsed. Whereas a lot of effort has been put in to examine the yaw-attitude control of GPS satellites that are in eclipsing orbits, hardly anything is known about the yaw-attitude behavior of eclipsing GLONASS-M satellites. However, systematic variations of the carrier phase observation residuals in the vicinity of the orbit’s noon and midnight points of up to ±27 cm indicate significant attitude-related modeling issues. In order to explore the GLONASS-M attitude laws during eclipse seasons, we have studied the evolution of the horizontal satellite antenna offset estimates during orbit noon and orbit midnight using a technique that we refer to as “reverse kinematic precise point positioning”. In this approach, we keep all relevant global geodetic parameters fixed and estimate the satellite clock and antenna phase center positions epoch-by-epoch using 30-second observation and clock data from a global multi-GNSS ground station network. The estimated horizontal antenna phase center offsets implicitly provide the spacecraft’s yaw-attitude. The insights gained from studying the yaw angle behavior have led to the development of the very first yaw-attitude model for eclipsing GLONASS-M satellites. The derived yaw-attitude model proves to be much better than the nominal yaw-attitude model commonly being used by today’s GLONASS-capable GNSS software packages as it reduces the observation residuals of eclipsing satellites down to the normal level of non-eclipsing satellites and thereby prevents a multitude of measurements from being incorrectly identified as outliers. It facilitates continuous satellite clock estimation during eclipse and improves in particular the results of kinematic precise point positioning of ground-based receivers.