Fast estimation and analysis of the inter-frequency clock bias for Block IIF satellites

The inter-frequency bias of PRN25 was noticed by the scientific community and considered to be caused by thermal variations. The inter-frequency bias leads to an apparent inter-frequency clock bias (IFCB), which could be obtained using the difference of two ionosphere-free phase combinations (L1/L2 and L1/L5). We present an efficient approach derived from the epoch-differenced strategy for fast estimation of IFCBs for Block IIF satellites. For the analysis, data from 32 stations from the IGS network spanning 10 months (DOY 213, 2011–153, 2012) are processed. The processing times show that the epoch-differenced method is more efficient than the undifferenced one. In order to study the features of IFCB, a harmonic analysis is performed by using a FFT (fast Fourier transformation), and significant periodic variations with the periods of 12, 6 and 8 h are noticed. The fourth-order period is determined by comparing the performances of the model with different periods. After determination, a harmonics-based function of order 4 is used to model the IFCB, and the single-day amplitudes and phases are estimated for the 10 months from a least squares fit. Based on the estimated results, the characterization of IFCB is discussed. The algorithm is incorporated into the MGPSS software developed at SHAO (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences) and used to monitor the IFCB variations of GPS and COMPASS systems in near real time.     

Impact of GPS differential code bias in dual- and triple-frequency positioning and satellite clock estimation

The features and differences of various GPS differential code bias (DCB)s are discussed. The application of these biases in dual- and triple-frequency satellite clock estimation is introduced based on this discussion. A method for estimating the satellite clock error from triple-frequency uncombined observations is presented to meet the need of the triple-frequency uncombined precise point positioning (PPP). In order to evaluate the estimated satellite clock error, the performance of these biases in dual- and triple-frequency positioning is studied. Analysis of the inter-frequency clock bias (IFCB), which is a result of constant and time-varying frequency-dependent hardware delays, in ionospheric-free code-based (P1/P5) single point positioning indicates that its influence on the up direction is more pronounced than on the north and east directions. When the IFCB is corrected, the mean improvements are about 29, 35 and 52% for north, east and up directions, respectively. Considering the contribution of code observations to PPP convergence time, the performance of DCB(P1–P2), DCB(P1–P5) and IFCB in GPS triple-frequency PPP convergence is investigated. The results indicate that the DCB correction can accelerate PPP convergence by means of improving the accuracy of the code observation. The performance of these biases in positioning further verifies the correctness of the estimated dual- and triple-frequency satellite clock error.     

卫星导航定位与空间原子钟

介绍了各类原子钟在目前卫星导航定位系统以及科学试验中的应用概况，给出各类空间钟的性能特征及我国目前空间原子钟的研究现状。     

MGEX精密星历卫星钟差精度分析

IGS的多GNSS实验项目(Multi-GNSS Experiment,MGEX)所提供的事后精密卫星钟差作为一种基础性的GNSS数据产品。在分析MGEX事后精密钟差产品特点的基础上,设计用于卫星钟差精度评价的内符合精度指标和外符合精度指标。基于该指标对MGEX的欧洲定轨中心(CODE)、波茨坦地学中心(GFZ)和武汉大学(WUM)三个分析中心2015年的事后精密卫星钟差进行精度分析。结果表明:GFZ的卫星钟差精度相对最差,CODE的卫星钟差内符合精度最高,WUM的卫星钟差外符合精度最高,三个分析中心的卫星钟差内外符合精度平均值分别为0.307ns和0.322ns;随着GPS系统的更新其卫星钟差的精度有所提高,同时GPS系统中BLOCK IIF铯钟的钟差内外符合精度均最高;CODE的卫星钟差内符合精度随卫星钟类型的不同变化相对较小。     

Kalman-filter-based GPS clock estimation for near real-time positioning

In this article, an algorithm for clock offset estimation of the GPS satellites is presented. The algorithm is based on a Kalman-filter and processes undifferenced code and carrier-phase measurements of a global tracking network. The clock offset and drift of the satellite clocks are estimated along with tracking station clock offsets, tropospheric zenith path delay and carrier-phase ambiguities. The article provides a brief overview of already existing near-real-time and real-time clock products. The filter algorithm and data processing scheme is presented. Finally, the accuracy of the orbit and clock product is assessed with a precise orbit determination of the MetOp satellite and compared to results gained with other real-time products.

Modelling of differential single difference receiver clock bias for precise positioning

A receiver hardware delay should be seriously considered for time-transfer and determination of ionospheric delay corrections for wide area differential GPS positioning. A receiver hardware delay does not generally effect the common geo-position application, as suitable differences of observations are used, or equivalently, clock error parameters are introduced, epoch-wise, that also absorb the delays. This paper investigates the behavior of inter-frequency (or observation-type) receiver hardware delays by using a single difference (SD) model, which estimates the receiver delay along with the receiver clock error (and SD ambiguities of a reference satellite with carrier phase observations) for zero and short baselines. The purpose of this paper is to model the between-observation-type delays for the purpose of precise positioning, under practical circumstances. The focus is on data series of differential SD receiver clock biases, since they reflect the behavior of receiver hardware delays with time. A simple linear regression of the data series is employed to study the behavior, and test statistics are employed to assess both the significance of the parameters and the observations fit for the linear regression. The statistical analysis results indicate that almost all inter-observation type receiver delays can be modeled as the sum of a constant (offset) and a constant rate of change (slope). The analysis shows that the differential receiver delay is generally at the mm- to cm-level on phase, while at the dm-level on code for the equipment used in the experiments.     

GPS inter-frequency clock bias modeling and prediction for real-time precise point positioning

To ensure the consistent use of the current GPS precise satellite clock products, the inter-frequency clock bias (IFCB) should be carefully considered for triple-frequency precise point positioning (PPP). It is beneficial to investigate the modeling of the IFCB for multi-frequency PPP, especially for real-time users suffering from difficulties in real-time IFCB estimations. Our analysis is based on datasets from 129 stations spanning a whole year. A harmonic analysis is performed for all single-day IFCB time series, and periodic IFCB variations with periods of 12, 8, 6, 4.8, 4 and 3 h are identified. An empirical model composed of a sixth-order harmonic function and a linear function is presented to describe daily variations in the IFCB, and the modeling accuracy is 4 mm. A least squares fit is adopted to estimate the single-day harmonic coefficients phase and amplitude. The prediction accuracy of the IFCB models degrades from 7.2 to 12.3 mm when the time span of prediction is increased from a day to a week. When using IFCB models of the previous day to obtain the IFCB correction values, the positioning accuracy of triple-frequency PPP is improved by 21, 11 and 16% over the triple-frequency PPP neglecting the IFCB in the post-processing mode in the east, north and up directions, respectively. As to the real-time triple-frequency PPP, the corresponding accuracy improvement is 24, 9 and 10% in the three directions, respectively.     

GNSS多频融合精密单点定位频率间卫星钟偏差研究

全球导航卫星系统(GNSS)提供多频信号,多频融合已经成为一种趋势。在精密钟差估计(PCE)的过程中,卫星钟差参数会吸收卫星端稳定的伪距偏差和时变的相位偏差,这些偏差均与频率相关。因而使用不同的观测值进行PCE时,得到的卫星钟差估值是不同的,它们之间的差值被定义为频率间卫星钟偏差(IFCB)。按组成成分,IFCB可以分成伪距相关的IFCB(CIFCB)和相位相关的IFCB(PIFCB)两部分。国际GNSS服务(IGS)提供的精密卫星钟差产品是基于双频消电离层(IF)组合观测值生成的。由于IFCB的存在,导致IGS卫星钟差产品不能直接应用于多频精密单点定位(PPP)。IFCB的精确考虑已经成为多频PPP的一个关键问题。本研究旨在对IFCB特性和估计方法开展系统深入的研究,并评估其对多频PPP解的影响。     

Improved method for estimating the inter-frequency satellite clock bias of triple-frequency GPS

Considering the contribution of the hardware biases to the estimated clock errors, an improved method for estimating the satellite inter-frequency clock bias (IFCB) is presented, i.e., the difference in the satellite clock error as computed from ionospheric-free pseudorange and carrier phase observations using L1/L2 and P1/P2 versus L1/L5 and P1/P5. The IFCB is composed of a constant and a variable part. The constant part is the inter-frequency hardware bias (IFHB). It contains the satellite and receiver hardware delays and can be expressed as a function of the DCBs [DCB (P1 ? P2) and DCB (P1 ? P5)]. When a reference satellite is selected, the satellite IFHB can be computed but is biased by a reference satellite IFHB. This bias will not affect the utilization of IFCB in positioning since it can be absorbed by the receiver clock error. Triple-frequency observations of 30 IGS stations between June 1, 2013, and May 31, 2014, were processed to show the variations of the IFHB. The IFHB values show a long-term variation with time. When a linear and a fourth-order harmonic function are used to model the estimated IFCB, which contains contributions of the hardware delays and clock errors, the results show that 89 % of the IFCB can be corrected given the current five triple-frequency GPS satellites with the averaged fitting RMS of 1.35 cm. Five days of data are processed to test the estimated satellite clock errors using the strategy presented. The residuals of P1/P5 and L1/L5 have a STD of <0.27 m and 0.97 cm, respectively. In addition, most predicted satellite IFCBs reach an accuracy of centimeter level and its mean accuracy of 5 days is better than 7 cm.     

基于小波降噪的Kalman滤波预报卫星钟差

卫星钟差预报在实时高精度导航定位中具有重要作用,Kalman滤波模型是预报卫星钟差的重要方法之一。为了进一步提高Kalman滤波模型预报卫星钟差的精度,本文提出了基于小波降噪的Kalman滤波模型预报卫星钟差。该模型使用小波降噪后数据,在保留Kalman滤波模型特点的基础上,明显地提高了短期卫星钟差预报精度。     

卫星钟差预报的T-S模糊神经网络法

结合钟差数据的特点,提出了一种基于变化率的T-S模糊神经网络(TSFNN)钟差预报模型。首先计算相邻历元间钟差的变化率值并对其进行建模;然后利用TSFNN模型预报钟差变化率值,再将预报的变化率值还原,得到钟差预报值;最后,通过算例将本文所建模型与IGU-P产品、二次多项式模型(QP)及灰色模型(GM(1,1))进行试验对比。结果表明:在使用变化率方法后,TSFNN模型预报的精度和稳定性分别提高了69.8%和76.3%,而且与IGU-P钟差产品相比,预报的精度高出约10倍,同时模型预报的效果优于两种常用模型。因此,该模型可以实现卫星钟差较高精度的预报。     

神经网络在卫星钟差短期预报中的应用研究

本文针对卫星钟差的特点,提出了基于神经网络的卫星钟差短期预报模型,给出了基于径向基函数(RBF)网络进行卫星钟差预测的基本思想、预测模型和实施步骤,并对比分析了神经网络模型与灰色系统理论模型的区别.为验证本文提出的预报模型的可行性和有效性,利用GPS卫星钟差数据进行钟差预报精度分析,并与灰色系统模型进行对比分析.仿真结...     

Estimation of satellite position,clock and phase bias corrections

Precise point positioning with integer ambiguity resolution requires precise knowledge of satellite position, clock and phase bias corrections. In this paper, a method for the estimation of these parameters with a global network of reference stations is presented. The method processes uncombined and undifferenced measurements of an arbitrary number of frequencies such that the obtained satellite position, clock and bias corrections can be used for any type of differenced and/or combined measurements. We perform a clustering of reference stations. The clustering enables a common satellite visibility within each cluster and an efficient fixing of the double difference ambiguities within each cluster. Additionally, the double difference ambiguities between the reference stations of different clusters are fixed. We use an integer decorrelation for ambiguity fixing in dense global networks. The performance of the proposed method is analysed with both simulated Galileo measurements on E1 and E5a and real GPS measurements of the IGS network. We defined 16 clusters and obtained satellite position, clock and phase bias corrections with a precision of better than 2 cm.     

一种组合模型在卫星钟差长期预报中的应用研究

近年来,卫星钟差长期预报普遍采用灰色模型,该模型的预报精度虽较传统的二次多项式模型有所提高,但仍不理想。本文在其基础上提出了一种新的组合模型:首先利用灰色模型估计的残差建立二次多项式模型,预报以后历元的残差,然后和灰色模型的预报结果相加;并分析了利用不同历元个数的残差建模所得组合模型的精度,将组合模型与灰色模型、二次多项式模型的预报精度进行了比较。结果表明:组合模型相对于灰色模型的预报精度能提高一个数量级左右,验证了本文提出的组合模型的可行性和有效性。     

优选小波函数的小波神经网络预报GPS卫星钟差

为了提高卫星钟差预报的精度,针对小波神经网络(WNN)模型未能根据实际情况选取合适的小波函数的问题,本文提出一种基于"Shannon熵-能量比"的优选小波函数的小波神经网络钟差预报模型。首先利用小波函数对钟差一次差分数据进行连续小波变换,得到变换后的小波系数。然后分别计算小波系数的能量值和Shannon熵值,将"Shannon熵-能量比"(SEE)作为最优小波函数选择的评价指标,以指导选择最适合的小波函数作为WNN模型的激活函数。最后利用优选的WNN模型对卫星钟差进行预报,对预报的结果进行对比分析。结果表明:该评价指标能够根据卫星钟差实际情况准确指导WNN模型选择合适的小波函数,提高WNN模型的预报精度和适用性,使该模型可以实现卫星钟差较高精度的预报。     

基于广义延拓法的精密卫星钟差插值

在GPS数据处理中,需要高采样率的精密卫星钟差,而IGS仅提供5 min间隔的卫星钟差,在实际应用中,必须内插出更小的采样间隔的数据。本文尝试将广义延拓法用于GPS精密卫星钟差插值,将5 min和15 min间隔的数据插值到30 s间隔,探讨插值精度与三个参数的关系,并将结果和GFZ提供的精密卫星钟差及其他插值方法得到的结果进行比较。结果表明,广义延拓插值法具有较高的精度,完全适用于GPS精密卫星钟差的插值。     

基于MEA-BP神经网络的卫星钟差预报

卫星钟差是影响导航定位精度的重要因素之一,建立高精度的钟差预报模型对高精度定位有重要意义。针对常用模型卫星钟差在短期预报中随时间增加误差积累,以及传统BP神经网络不稳定,容易出现过拟合等问题,本文提出一种基于思维进化算法(MEA)优化的BP神经网络钟差预报模型和算法。首先对原始钟差数据进行一次差处理;然后利用思维进化算法对BP神经网络的初始权值和阈值进行优化,给出该模型进行钟差预报的具体步骤;选用IGS站提供的多天GPS精密钟差产品数据进行试验分析,使用GPS一天中前12 h数据建模,进行2、3、6和12 h的钟差预报。结果表明:利用MEA-BP模型得到的上述4种时段的预报精度分别优于0.36、0.38、0.62和1.56 ns,预报误差曲线变化起伏较小,说明新模型的预报性能优于3种传统模型,新模型在钟差预报短期预报中的实用性及稳定性是较佳的。     

iGPS测量原理及其精度分析

iGPS测量技术采用类似于GPS的空间定位原理,通过测量两台以上发射器发射的红外激光信号,解算得到接收传感器的空间三维坐标。在分析iGPS角度测量原理的基础上,进一步分析iGPS的系统平差原理和在线控制程序开发技术,最后分析iGPS的测量精度及其应用,提出完全测量空间概念。     

顾及系统间偏差的BDS/GPS单钟差定位法

在多系统定位中,因接收机硬件延迟难以与钟差分离,导致传统方法需要对每个系统考虑一个接收机钟差项,使得在遮挡环境下存在因卫星少参数多,导致定位结果不可靠的问题。针对这一不足,研究一种顾及系统间偏差的BDS/GPS双系统单钟差定位算法。在卫星数足够时利用传统方法估计系统间偏差参数,当卫星数过少时,将已获得的参数作为已知量,从而只估计一个钟差参数。采用Trimble NetR9与UBLOX M8T两种接收机数据对算法进行验证,以提高截止高度角的方式模拟遮挡环境。实验结果表明,相较于传统方法,当卫星数过少时,Trimble NetR9平面和高程分别提高118.8%(1.374 m)与41.3%(1.434 m),UBLOX M8T平面和高程分别提高9.5%(0.654 m)与242.9%(10.165 m),可更好地应用于导航领域。     

iGPS: IDL tool package for GPS position time series analysis

A new tool package written in Interactive Data Language (IDL) was developed for processing and analyzing daily continuous GPS position time series. This software package can read continuous GPS position time series in various formats, detect outliers, remove abnormal observation spans, locate epochs of offsets or post-seismic relaxation events, and estimate their amplitudes. It also provides functionalities for epoch statistics, site selection, periodic noise analysis, spatial filtering (by regional stacking), etc. This tool is referred to as iGPS.