Short-term analysis of GNSS clocks

A characterization of the short-term stability of the atomic frequency standards onboard GNSS satellites is presented. Clock performance is evaluated using two different methods. The first method derives the temporal variation of the satellite’s clock from a polynomial fit through 1-way carrier-phase measurements from a receiver directly connected to a high-precision atomic frequency standard. Alternatively, three-way measurements using inter-station single differences of a second satellite from a neighboring station are used if the receiver’s clock stability at the station tracking the satellite of interest is not sufficient. The second method is a Kalman-filter-based clock estimation based on dual-frequency pseudorange and carrier-phase measurements from a small global or regional tracking network. Both methods are introduced and their respective advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The analysis section presents a characterization of GPS, GLONASS, GIOVE, Galileo IOV, QZSS, and COMPASS clocks based on these two methods. Special focus has been set on the frequency standards of new generation satellites like GPS Block IIF, QZSS, and IOV as well as the Chinese COMPASS/BeiDou-2 system. The analysis shows results for the Allan deviation covering averaging intervals from 1 to 1,000 s, which is of special interest for real-time PPP and other high-rate applications like processing of radio-occultation measurements. The clock interpolation errors for different sampling rates are evaluated for different types of clocks and their effect on PPP is discussed.     

Model improvements and validation of TerraSAR-X precise orbit determination

The radar imaging satellite mission TerraSAR-X requires precisely determined satellite orbits for validating geodetic remote sensing techniques. Since the achieved quality of the operationally derived, reduced-dynamic (RD) orbit solutions limits the capabilities of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) validation, an effort is made to improve the estimated orbit solutions. This paper discusses the benefits of refined dynamical models on orbit accuracy as well as estimated empirical accelerations and compares different dynamic models in a RD orbit determination. Modeling aspects discussed in the paper include the use of a macro-model for drag and radiation pressure computation, the use of high-quality atmospheric density and wind models as well as the benefit of high-fidelity gravity and ocean tide models. The Sun-synchronous dusk–dawn orbit geometry of TerraSAR-X results in a particular high correlation of solar radiation pressure modeling and estimated normal-direction positions. Furthermore, this mission offers a unique suite of independent sensors for orbit validation. Several parameters serve as quality indicators for the estimated satellite orbit solutions. These include the magnitude of the estimated empirical accelerations, satellite laser ranging (SLR) residuals, and SLR-based orbit corrections. Moreover, the radargrammetric distance measurements of the SAR instrument are selected for assessing the quality of the orbit solutions and compared to the SLR analysis. The use of high-fidelity satellite dynamics models in the RD approach is shown to clearly improve the orbit quality compared to simplified models and loosely constrained empirical accelerations. The estimated empirical accelerations are substantially reduced by 30% in tangential direction when working with the refined dynamical models. Likewise the SLR residuals are reduced from \(-3\,\pm \,17\) to \(2\,\pm \,13\) mm, and the SLR-derived normal-direction position corrections are reduced from 15 to 6 mm, obtained from the 2012–2014 period. The radar range bias is reduced from \(-10.3\) to \(-6.1\) mm with the updated orbit solutions, which coincides with the reduced standard deviation of the SLR residuals. The improvements are mainly driven by the satellite macro-model for the purpose of solar radiation pressure modeling, improved atmospheric density models, and the use of state-of-the-art gravity field models.     

Tracking and orbit determination performance of the GRAS instrument on MetOp-A

The global navigation satellite system receiver for atmospheric sounding (GRAS) on MetOp-A is the first European GPS receiver providing dual-frequency navigation and occultation measurements from a spaceborne platform on a routine basis. The receiver is based on ESA’s AGGA-2 correlator chip, which implements a high-quality tracking scheme for semi-codeless P(Y) code tracking on the L1 and L2 frequency. Data collected with the zenith antenna on MetOp-A have been used to perform an in-flight characterization of the GRAS instrument with focus on the tracking and navigation performance. Besides an assessment of the receiver noise and systematic measurement errors, the study addresses the precise orbit determination accuracy achievable with the GRAS receiver. A consistency on the 5 cm level is demonstrated for reduced dynamics orbit solutions computed independently by four different agencies and software packages. With purely kinematic solutions, 10 cm accuracy is obtained. As a part of the analysis, an empirical antenna offset correction and preliminary phase center correction map are derived, which notably reduce the carrier phase residuals and improve the consistency of kinematic orbit determination results.

Precision spacecraft navigation using a low-cost GPS receiver

Within the PROBA-2 microsatellite mission, a miniaturized single-frequency GPS receiver based on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology is employed for onboard navigation and timing. A rapid electronic fuse protects against destructive single-event latch-ups (SEL) and enables a quasi-continuous receiver operation despite the inherent sensitivity to space radiation. While limited to single-frequency C/A-code tracking with a narrow-band frontend, the receiver is able to provide precision navigation services through processing of raw GPS measurements on ground as well as a built-in real-time navigation system. In both cases, ionospheric path delays are eliminated through a combination of L1 pseudorange and carrier phase measurements, which also offers a factor-of-two noise reduction relative to code-only processing. By comparison with satellite laser ranging (SLR) measurements, a 0.3-m (3D rms) accuracy is demonstrated for the PROBA-2 reduced dynamic orbit determinations using post-processed GPS orbit and clock products. Furthermore, the experimental onboard navigation system is shown to provide real-time position information with a 3D rms accuracy of about 1?m, which notably outperforms the specification of the Standard Positioning Service (SPS). In view of their lower hardware complexity, mass budget and power requirements as well as the reduced interference susceptibility, legacy C/A-code receivers can thus provide an attractive alternative to dual-frequency receivers even for demanding navigation applications in low Earth orbit.     

IRNSS-1A: signal and clock characterization of the Indian regional navigation system

An initial characterization of the L5 and S-Band navigation signals transmitted by the first satellite of the Indian regional navigation satellite system (IRNSS) is presented. In the absence of a public signal specification, a 30 m high-gain antenna has been used to record the signal spectrum and the modulated chip sequences. For the IRNSS standard positioning service, use of a Gold ranging code is confirmed and relevant shift register parameters for the two frequencies are identified. Based on a prototype receiver, L5 single-frequency code and phase observations of IRNSS-1A have also been collected. The tracking performance is described, and the measurements are used to characterize the short-term clock stability of IRNSS-1A.