A grid-based tropospheric product for China using a GNSS network

Tropospheric delay accounts for one source of error in global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). To better characterize the tropospheric delays in the temporal and spatial domain and facilitate the safety-critical use of GNSS across China, a method is proposed to generate a grid-based tropospheric product (GTP) using the GNSS network with an empirical tropospheric model, known as IGGtrop. The prototype system generates the GTPs in post-processing and real-time modes and is based on the undifferenced and uncombined precise point positioning (UU-PPP) technique. GTPs are constructed for a grid form (\(2.0{^{\circ }}\times 2.5{^{\circ }}\) latitude–longitude) over China with a time resolution of 5 min. The real-time GTP messages are encoded in a self-defined RTCM3 format and broadcast to users using NTRIP (networked transport of RTCM via internet protocol), which enables efficient and safe transmission to real-time users. Our approach for GTP generation consists of three sequential steps. In the first step, GNSS-derived zenith tropospheric delays (ZTDs) for a network of GNSS stations are estimated using UU-PPP. In the second step, vertical adjustments for the GNSS-derived ZTDs are applied to address the height differences between the GNSS stations and grid points. The ZTD height corrections are provided by the IGGtrop model. Finally, an inverse distance weighting method is used to interpolate the GNSS-derived ZTDs from the surrounding GNSS stations to the location of the grid point. A total of 210 global positioning system (GPS) stations from the crustal movement observation network of China are used to generate the GTPs in both post-processing and real-time modes. The accuracies of the GTPs are assessed against with ERA-Interim-derived ZTDs and the GPS-derived ZTDs at 12 test GPS stations, respectively. The results show that the post-processing and real-time GTPs can provide the ZTDs with accuracies of 1.4 and 1.8 cm, respectively. We also apply the GTPs in real-time kinematic GPS PPP, and the results show that the convergence time of the PPP solutions is shortened. These results confirm that the GTPs can act as an efficient information source to augment GNSS positioning over China.     

Weak GPS signal tracking using FFT discriminator in open loop receiver

An open loop tracking architecture, which tracks GPS signals under weak and challenging conditions, is analyzed. The in-phase and quadrature-phase integration pair is regarded as a single tone complex signal. An FFT-based method is used as a frequency discriminator to estimate the Doppler frequency residual of the single tone signal. Another FFT-based method applies complex squaring to eliminate the effect of the navigation data bits polarities. The performance of the FFT-based discriminators is assessed in three criteria. Those criteria are the signal strength and dynamic range that can be tracked and the accuracy of the estimated Doppler frequency. In addition, the performance of the discriminators is analyzed to provide the theoretical and simulated peak detection probability. The results indicate that the FFT discriminator can track signals about 5 dB weaker than the signals that can be tracked by the complex squared FFT discriminator. In a quasi-static environment, the Doppler frequency residual can be assumed to be around zero, which can enable the FFT-based discriminators to track signals with approximately 2 dB less power. Moreover, the performance of the FFT-based discriminators is compared with the performance of two other frequency discriminators, namely the fast–slow and power-based. The comparison results indicate that these two frequency discriminators give higher frequency estimation accuracy, but they have a narrower dynamic range.     

Generating GPS satellite fractional cycle bias for ambiguity-fixed precise point positioning

With the development of precise point positioning (PPP), the School of Geodesy and Geomatics (SGG) at Wuhan University is now routinely producing GPS satellite fractional cycle bias (FCB) products with open access for worldwide PPP users to conduct ambiguity-fixed PPP solution. We provide a brief theoretical background of PPP and present the strategies and models to compute the FCB products. The practical realization of the two-step (wide-lane and narrow-lane) FCB estimation scheme is described in detail. With GPS measurements taken in various situations, i.e., static, dynamic, and on low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, the quality of FCB estimation and the effectiveness of PPP ambiguity resolution (AR) are evaluated. The comparison with CNES FCBs indicated that our FCBs had a good consistency with the CNES ones. For wide-lane FCB, almost all the differences of the two products were within ±0.05 cycles. For narrow-lane FCB, 87.8 % of the differences were located between ±0.05 cycles, and 97.4 % of them were located between ±0.075 cycles. The experimental results showed that, compared with conventional ambiguity-float PPP, the averaged position RMS of static PPP can be improved from (3.6, 1.4, 3.6) to (2.0, 1.0, 2.7) centimeters for ambiguity-fixed PPP. The average accuracy improvement in the east, north, and up components reached 44.4, 28.6, and 25.0 %, respectively. A kinematic, ambiguity-fixed PPP test with observation of 80 min achieved a position accuracy of better than 5 cm at the one-sigma level in all three coordinate components. Compared with the results of ambiguity-float, kinematic PPP, the positioning biases of ambiguity-fixed PPP were improved by about 78.2, 20.8, and 65.1 % in east, north, and up. The RMS of LEO PPP test was improved by about 23.0, 37.0, and 43.0 % for GRACE-A and GRACE-B in radial, tangential, and normal directions when AR was applied to the same data set. These results demonstrated that the SGG FCB products can be produced with high quality for users anywhere around the world to carry out ambiguity-fixed PPP solutions.     

Assessing Performance of Tomo-SAR and Backscattering Coefficient for Hemi-Boreal Forest Aboveground Biomass Estimation

Tomo-SAR technique has been used for hemi-boreal forest height and further forest biomass estimation through allometric equation. Backscattering coefficient especially in longer wavelength (L- or P-band) is thought as a useful parameter for hemi-boreal forest biomass retrieval. The aim of this paper is to assess the performance of vertical backscattering power and backscattering coefficient for hemi-boreal forest aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation with airborne P-band data. The test site locates in southern Sweden called Remningstorp test site, and the in-situ forest AGB ranges from 14 t/ha to 245 t/ha at stand level. Multi-baseline P-band Pol-InSAR data in repeat-path mode collected during March and May in 2007 at Remningstorp test site was used. We found that the correlation coefficient (R) between backscattering coefficient of P-band HH polarization and the in-situ forest biomass reached 0.87. The R for P-band VV backscattering power at 5 m is 0.71 and 10 m is 0.72. Backscattering coefficient in HH polarization and vertical backscattering power at 5 m and 10 m were applied to construct a model for hemi-boreal forest AGB estimation by backward step-wise regression and cross-validation approach. The results showed that the estimated forest AGB ranges from 19 to 240 t/ha, and the constructed model obtained a higher R and smaller RMSE, the value of R is 0.91, RMSE is 30.43 t/ha at Remningstorp test site.     

Integrating ASTER and GLASS broadband emissivity products using a multi-resolution Kalman filter

In this study, the multi-resolution Kalman filter (MKF) algorithm, which can handle multi-resolution problems with high computational efficiency, was used to blend two emissivity products: the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) (BBE) product and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) narrowband emissivity (NBE) product. The ASTER NBE product was first converted into a BBE product. A new detrending method was used to transfer the BBEs into a process suitable for the MKF. The new detrending method was superior to the two existing methods. Finally, both the de-trended GLASS and ASTER BBE products were incorporated into the MKF framework to obtain the optimal estimation at each scale. Field measurements collected in North America were used to validate the integrated BBEs. Visually, the fusion map showed good continuity, with the exception of the border areas, and the quality of the fusion map was better than that of the original maps. The validation results indicate that the MKF improved the BBE product accuracy at the coarse scale. In addition, the MKF was capable of recovering missing pixels at a finer scale.     

陆地卫星五号TM图像系统纠正产品的几何精度分析

为了鉴定陆地卫星5号系统纠正TM图像产品的精度,我们以1:5万地形图为基准,对四景TM图像作了精度分析。结果表明,系统纠正后的TM图像产品,内部几何精度相当好,有较小的旋转、比例误差。采用一阶多项式即可建立TM图像和地形图之间的几何关系,其误差为1个像元左右。TM图像的大地绝对误差,可通过将整个TM图像沿x,y方向平移的方法来加以校正。     

Studies on object reconstruction from space using three-line scanner imagery

The paper investigates the capability of object reconstruction from space for two specific projects. Both of them are based on the use of three-line scanner systems allowing for simultaneous digital image recording from three different angles. An efficient model for combined point determination is proposed, considering the digital image data as well as orbit information, GPS and INS observations. The resulting accuracy is estimated from project oriented simulations. Finally, the possibilities for DTM generation, orthophoto production and stereo compilation from three-line scanner imagery are discussed.     

高光谱目标探测的进展与前沿问题

针对高光谱目标探测问题的主要挑战,将高光谱目标探测的进展与前沿问题分为两个方面进行综述。基于信号检测理论的方法如结构化背景的约束能量最小化方法、非结构化背景的自适应一致性余弦评估器等,是高光谱目标的探测经典算法;随着统计模式识别与机器学习领域中新技术的出现,一些数据驱动的目标探测方法逐渐成为了高光谱目标探测的前沿问题,如核方法、稀疏表达方法等。概述了两类方法的特点,比较了各自的优势和不足,并展望了高光谱目标探测未来的发展趋势。     

论(N-ζ)公式的内涵及推求N的精度

介绍了大地水准面(N)与似大地水准面(ζ)之差公式的推导方法,揭示了其物理内涵,论述了其在精化大地水准面中的重要作用。当似大地水准面精度达到cm级时,大地水准面也将达到同样的精度。