The ionospheric eclipse factor method (IEFM) and its application to determining the ionospheric delay for GPS

A new method for modeling the ionospheric delay using global positioning system (GPS) data is proposed, called the ionospheric eclipse factor method (IEFM). It is based on establishing a concept referred to as the ionospheric eclipse factor (IEF) λ of the ionospheric pierce point (IPP) and the IEF’s influence factor (IFF) . The IEF can be used to make a relatively precise distinction between ionospheric daytime and nighttime, whereas the IFF is advantageous for describing the IEF’s variations with day, month, season and year, associated with seasonal variations of total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere. By combining λ and with the local time t of IPP, the IEFM has the ability to precisely distinguish between ionospheric daytime and nighttime, as well as efficiently combine them during different seasons or months over a year at the IPP. The IEFM-based ionospheric delay estimates are validated by combining an absolute positioning mode with several ionospheric delay correction models or algorithms, using GPS data at an international Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) service (IGS) station (WTZR). Our results indicate that the IEFM may further improve ionospheric delay modeling using GPS data.     

Spin rate estimation of sounding rockets using GPS wind-up

Carrier phase wind-up is a well-known effect that arises from the relative rotation between a transmitting and receiving antenna. In GPS measurements at L1 frequency, this effect translates into an error of 19.029 cm per full relative rotation of antennas. Since this effect is independent of the satellite elevation for pure rotation about the antenna boresight axis, it is usually absorbed by the clock estimation in navigation algorithms. Therefore, the impact of wind-up is usually neglected for applications that do not require accuracies to the cm level like RTK. However, in receiving platforms with high rotation rate, the accumulated wind-up value can be important and actually be larger than receiver noise or even ionospheric variations. Therefore, in such scenarios, the wind-up contribution can be isolated and used as a source of information to compute the spin rate of such platforms using an appropriate combination of GPS observables. This work shows some results of a coarse, yet simple, approach to monitor the rotation angle and spin-rate of spin stabilized sounding rockets flown by DLR.     

Using GPS multipath to measure soil moisture fluctuations: initial results

Measurements of soil moisture are important for studies of climate and weather forecasting, flood prediction, and aquifer recharge studies. Although soil moisture measurement networks exist, most are sparsely distributed and lack standardized instrumentation. Measurements of soil moisture from satellites have extremely large spatial footprints (40–60 km). A methodology is described here that uses existing networks of continuously-operating GPS receivers to measure soil moisture fluctuations. In this technique, incoming signals are reflected off and attenuated by the ground before reception by the GPS receiver. These multipath reflections directly affect signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data routinely collected by GPS receivers, creating amplitude variations that are a function of ground reflectivity and therefore soil moisture content. After describing this technique, multipath reflection amplitudes at a GPS site in Tashkent, Uzbekistan are compared to estimates of soil moisture from the Noah land surface model. Although the GPS multipath amplitudes and the land surface model are uncalibrated, over the 70-day period studied, they both rise sharply following each rainfall event and slowly decrease over a period of ∼10 days.     

An approach to aid INS using time-differenced GPS carrier phase (TDCP) measurements

This paper presents a simple and effective approach that incorporates single-frequency, L1 time-differenced GPS carrier phase (TDCP) measurements without the need of ambiguity resolution techniques and the complexity to accommodate the delayed-state terms. Static trial results are included to illustrate the stochastic characteristics and effectiveness of the TDCP measurements in controlling position error growth. The formulation of the TDCP observation model is also described in a 17-state tightly-coupled GPS/INS iterative, extended Kalman filter (IEKF) approach. Preliminary land vehicle trial results are also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the TDCP which provides sub-meter positional accuracies when operating for more than 10 min.     

Income distribution dynamics and cross-region convergence in Europe

This paper presents a continuous version of the model of distribution dynamics to analyse the transition dynamics and implied long-run behaviour of the EU-27 NUTS-2 regions over the period 1995–2003. It departs from previous research in two respects: first, by introducing kernel estimation and three-dimensional stacked conditional density plots as well as highest density regions plots for the visualisation of the transition function, based on Hyndman et al. (J Comput Graph Stat 5(4):315–336, 1996), and second, by combining Getis’ spatial filtering view with kernel estimation to explicitly account for the spatial dimension of the growth process. The results of the analysis indicate a very slow catching-up of the poorest regions with the richer ones, a process of shifting away of a small group of very rich regions, and highlight the importance of geography in understanding regional income distribution dynamics.