Showing papers in "Artificial Satellites in 2017"

Precise Receiver Clock Offset Estimations According to Each Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Timescales

Abstract: Abstract Each GNSS constellation operates its own system times; namely, GPS system time (GPST), GLONASS system time (GLONASST), BeiDou system time (BDT) and Galileo system time (GST). They could be traced back to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) scale and are aligned to GPST. This paper estimates the receiver clock offsets to three timescales: GPST, GLONASST and BDT. The two measurement scenarios use two identical multi-GNSS geodetic receivers connected to the same geodetic antenna through a splitter. One receiver is driven by its internal oscillators and another receiver is connected to the external frequency oscillators, caesium frequency standard, kept as the Thailand standard time scale at the National Institute of Metrology (Thailand) called UTC(NIMT). The three weeks data are observed at 30 seconds sample rate. The receiver clock offsets with respected to the three system time are estimated and analysed through the geodetic technique of static Precise Point Positioning (PPP) using a data processing software developed by Wuhan University - Positioning And Navigation Data Analyst (PANDA) software. The estimated receiver clock offsets are around 32, 33 and 18 nanoseconds from GPST, GLONASST and BDT respectively. This experiment is initially stated that each timescale is inter-operated with GPST and further measurements on receiver internal delay has to be determined for clock comparisons especially the high accuracy clock at timing laboratories.

Lifetime Performances of Modernized GLONASS Satellites: A Review

Abstract: Abstract GLONASS, successfully operating during 1990s became unusable by early 2000s. Following a revitalization and modernization plan since 2004, GLONASS constellation has been completed again by the end of 2011 and the use of GLONASS is gaining popularity. Because of the previous experience, some scepticism exists among the stakeholders in using GLONASS for reliable solution and application development. This paper critically reviews the operational lifespan of GLONASS satellites launched between 2004 and 2016, as this is an important contributor towards reliability and sustained operation of the system. For popularization and extracting full benefits of GLONASS as stand-alone system or as an active component of multi-GNSS, major issues of assuring the minimum sufficient GLONASS constellation (of 24…23 satellites), efficient design implementation and the modernized ground control segment development and operation need to be properly taken care of by the system operators.

An optimized TRIAD algorithm for attitude determination

Abstract: Abstract The classic TRIAD was used to obtain the attitude of air vehicles. However, the accuracy was dominated by the sensor noise and the calculation order. To improve that in this paper, a new method based on weighting the vectors summation and difference was proposed. Then both simulation and experiment verified the advantages of the optimized algorithm.

Variation of Static-PPP Positioning Accuracy Using GPS-Single Frequency Observations (Aswan, Egypt)

Abstract: Abstract Precise Point Positioning (PPP) is a technique used for position computation with a high accuracy using only one GNSS receiver. It depends on highly accurate satellite position and clock data rather than broadcast ephemeries. PPP precision varies based on positioning technique (static or kinematic), observations type (single or dual frequency) and the duration of collected observations. PPP-(dual frequency receivers) offers comparable accuracy to differential GPS. PPP-single frequency receivers has many applications such as infrastructure, hydrography and precision agriculture. PPP using low cost GPS single-frequency receivers is an area of great interest for millions of users in developing countries such as Egypt. This research presents a study for the variability of single frequency static GPS-PPP precision based on different observation durations.

Evaluation of Quad-Constellation GNSS Precise Point Positioning in Egypt

Abstract: Abstract Commonly, relative GPS positioning technique is used in Egypt for precise positioning applications. However, the requirement of a reference station is usually problematic for some applications as it limits the operational range of the system and increases the system cost and complexity On the other hand; the single point positioning is traditionally used for low accuracy applications such as land vehicle navigation with positioning accuracy up to 10 meters in some scenarios which caused navigation problems especially in downtown areas. Recently, high positioning accuracy can be obtained through Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique in which only once GNSS receiver is used. However, the major drawback of PPP is the long convergence time to reach to the surveying grade accuracy compared to the existing relative techniques. Moreover, the PPP accuracy is significantly degraded due to shortage in satellite availability in urban areas. To overcome these limitations, the quad constellation GNSS systems namely; GPS.GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou can be combined to increase the satellite availability and enhance the satellite geometry which in turn reduces the convergence time. In Egypt, at the moment, the signals of both Galileo and BeiDou could be logged with limited number of satellites up to four and six satellites for both Systems respectively. In this paper, we investigated the performance of the Quad-GNSS positioning in both dual- and single-frequency ionosphere free PPP modes for both high accurate and low cost navigation application, respectively. The performance of the developed PPP models will be investigated through GNSS data sets collected at three Egyptian cities namely, Cairo, Alexandria and Aswan.

Application of the Undifferenced GNSS Precise Positioning in Determining Coordinates in National Reference Frames

Abstract: Abstract In high-accuracy positioning using GNSS, the most common solution is still relative positioning using double-difference observations of dual-frequency measurements. An increasingly popular alternative to relative positioning are undifferenced approaches, which are designed to make full use of modern satellite systems and signals. Positions referenced to global International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF2008) obtained from Precise Point Positioning (PPP) or Undifferenced (UD) network solutions have to be transformed to national (regional) reference frame, which introduces additional bases related to the transformation process. In this paper, satellite observations from two test networks using different observation time series were processed. The first test concerns the positioning accuracy from processing one year of dual-frequency GPS observations from 14 EUREF Permanent Network (EPN) stations using NAPEOS 3.3.1 software. The results were transformed into a national reference frame (PL-ETRF2000) and compared to positions from an EPN cumulative solution, which was adopted as the true coordinates. Daily observations were processed using PPP and UD multi-station solutions to determine the final accuracy resulting from satellite positioning, the transformation to national coordinate systems and Eurasian intraplate plate velocities. The second numerical test involved similar processing strategies of post-processing carried out using different observation time series (30 min., 1 hour, 2 hours, daily) and different classes of GNSS receivers. The centimeter accuracy of results presented in the national coordinate system satisfies the requirements of many surveying and engineering applications.

Evaluation of Integration Degree of the ASG-EUPOS Polish Reference Networks With Ukrainian GeoTerrace Network Stations in the Border Area

Abstract: Abstract GNSS systems are currently the basic tools for determination of the highest precision station coordinates (e.g. basic control network stations or stations used in the networks for geodynamic studies) as well as for land, maritime and air navigation. All of these tasks are carried out using active, large scale, satellite geodetic networks which are complex, intelligent teleinformatic systems offering post processing services along with corrections delivered in real-time for kinematic measurements. Many countries in the world, also in Europe, have built their own multifunctional networks and enhance them with their own GNSS augmentation systems. Nowadays however, in the era of international integration, there is a necessity to consider collective actions in order to build a unified system, covering e.g. the whole Europe or at least some of its regions. Such actions have already been undertaken in many regions of the world. In Europe such an example is the development for EUPOS which consists of active national networks built in central eastern European countries. So far experience and research show, that the critical areas for connecting these networks are border areas, in which the positioning accuracy decreases (Krzeszowski and Bosy, 2011). This study attempts to evaluate the border area compatibility of Polish ASG-EUPOS (European Position Determination System) reference stations and Ukrainian GeoTerrace system reference stations in the context of their future incorporation into the EUPOS. The two networks analyzed in work feature similar hardware parameters. In the ASG-EUPOS reference stations network, during the analyzed period, 2 stations (WLDW and CHEL) used only one system (GPS), while, in the GeoTerrace network, all the stations were equipped with both GPS and GLONASS receivers. The ASG EUPOS reference station network (95.6%) has its average completeness greater by about 6% when compared to the GeoTerrace network (89.8%).

EGNOS Monitoring Prepared in Space Research Centre P.A.S. for SPMS Project

Abstract: Abstract The European Geostationary Overlay Service (EGNOS) augments Global Positioning System (GPS) by providing correction data and integrity information for improving positioning over Europe. EGNOS Service Performance Monitoring Support (SPMS) project has assumed establishment, maintenance and implementation of an EGNOS performance monitoring network. The paper presents preliminary results of analyses prepared in Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw), as one of partners in SPMS project.

MRS2016: Rigid Moon Rotation Series in the Relativistic Approximation

Abstract: Abstract The rigid Moon rotation problem is studied for the relativistic (kinematical) case, in which the geodetic perturbations in the Moon rotation are taken into account. As the result of this research the high-precision Moon Rotation Series MRS2016 in the relativistic approximation was constructed for the first time and the discrepancies between the high-precision numerical and the semi-analytical solutions of the rigid Moon rotation were investigated with respect to the fixed ecliptic of epoch J2000, by the numerical and analytical methods. The residuals between the numerical solution and MRS2016 in the perturbing terms of the physical librations do not exceed 80 mas and 10 arc seconds over 2000 and 6000 years, respectively.

GNSS Antenna Caused Near-Field Interference Effect in Precise Point Positioning Results

Abstract: Abstract Results of long-term static GNSS observation processing adjustment prove that the often assumed “averaging multipath effect due to extended observation periods” does not actually apply. It is instead visible a bias that falsifies the coordinate estimation. The comparisons between the height difference measured with a geometrical precise leveling and the height difference provided by GNSS clearly verify the impact of the near-field multipath effect. The aim of this paper is analysis the near-field interference effect with respect to the coordinate domain. We demonstrate that the way of antennas mounting during observation campaign (distance from nearest antennas) can cause visible changes in pseudo-kinematic precise point positioning results. GNSS measured height differences comparison revealed that bias of up to 3 mm can be noticed in Up component when some object (additional GNSS antenna) was placed in radiating near-field region of measuring antenna. Additionally, for both processing scenario (GPS and GPS/GLONASS) the scattering of results clearly increased when additional antenna crosses radiating near-field region of measuring antenna. It is especially true for big choke ring antennas. In short session (15, 30 min.) the standard deviation was about twice bigger in comparison to scenario without additional antenna. When we used typical surveying antennas (short near-field region radius) the effect is almost invisible. In this case it can be observed the standard deviation increase of about 20%. On the other hand we found that surveying antennas are generally characterized by lower accuracy than choke ring antennas. The standard deviation obtained on point with this type of antenna was bigger in all processing scenarios (in comparison to standard deviation obtained on point with choke ring antenna).