GPS,Galileo, QZSS and IRNSS differential ISBs: estimation and application

Knowledge of inter-system biases (ISBs) is essential to combine observations of multiple global and regional navigation satellite systems (GNSS/RNSS) in an optimal way. Earlier studies based on GPS, Galileo, BDS and QZSS have demonstrated that the performance of multi-GNSS real-time kinematic positioning is improved when the differential ISBs (DISBs) corresponding to signals of different constellations but transmitted at identical frequencies can be calibrated, such that only one common pivot satellite is sufficient for inter-system ambiguity resolution at that particular frequency. Recently, many new GNSS satellites have been launched. At the beginning of 2016, there were 12 Galileo IOV/FOC satellites and 12 GPS Block IIF satellites in orbit, while the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) had five satellites launched of which four are operational. More launches are scheduled for the coming years. As a continuation of the earlier studies, we analyze the magnitude and stability of the DISBs corresponding to these new satellites. For IRNSS this article presents for the first time DISBs with respect to the L5/E5a signals of GPS, Galileo and QZSS for a mixed-receiver baseline. It is furthermore demonstrated that single-frequency (L5/E5a) ambiguity resolution is tremendously improved when the multi-GNSS observations are all differenced with respect to a common pivot satellite, compared to classical differencing for which a pivot satellite is selected for each constellation.     

Extracting tidal frequencies using multivariate harmonic analysis of sea level height time series

This contribution is seen as a first attempt to extract the tidal frequencies using a multivariate spectral analysis method applied to multiple time series of tide-gauge records. The existing methods are either physics-based in which the ephemeris of Moon, Sun and other planets are used, or are observation-based in which univariate analysis methods—Fourier and wavelet for instance—are applied to tidal observations. The existence of many long tide-gauge records around the world allows one to use tidal observations and extract the main tidal constituents for which efficient multivariate methods are to be developed. This contribution applies the multivariate least-squares harmonic estimation (LS-HE) to the tidal time series of the UK tide-gauge stations. The first 413 harmonics of the tidal constituents and their nonlinear components are provided using the multivariate LS-HE. A few observations of the research are highlighted: (1) the multivariate analysis takes information of multiple time series into account in an optimal least- squares sense, and thus the tidal frequencies have higher detection power compared to the univariate analysis. (2) Dominant tidal frequencies range from the long-term signals to the sixth-diurnal species interval. Higher frequencies have negligible effects. (3) The most important tidal constituents (the first 50 frequencies) ordered from their amplitudes range from 212 cm (M2) to 1 cm (OQ2) for the data set considered. There are signals in this list that are not available in the 145 main tidal frequencies of the literature. (4) Tide predictions using different lists of tidal frequencies on five different data sets around the world are compared. The prediction results using the first significant 50 constituents provided promising results on these locations of the world.     

IRNSS/NavIC and GPS: a single- and dual-system L5 analysis

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has recently (May 2016) become fully operational. In this contribution, for the fully operational IRNSS as a stand-alone system and also in combination with GPS, we provide a first assessment of L5 integer ambiguity resolution and positioning performance. While our empirical analyses are based on the data collected by two JAVAD receivers at Curtin University, Perth, Australia, our formal analyses are carried out for various onshore locations within the IRNSS service area. We study the noise characteristics (carrier-to-noise density, measurement precision, time correlation), the integer ambiguity resolution performance (success rates and ambiguity dilution of precision), and the positioning performance (ambiguity float and ambiguity fixed). The results show that our empirical outcomes are consistent with their formal counterparts and that the GPS L5-data have a lower noise level than that of IRNSS L5-data, particularly in case of the code data. The underlying model in our assessments varies from stand-alone IRNSS (L5) to IRNSS \(+\) GPS (L5), from unconstrained to height-constrained and from kinematic to static. Significant improvements in ambiguity resolution and positioning performance are achievable upon integrating L5-data of IRNSS with GPS.     

GLONASS CDMA L3 ambiguity resolution and positioning

A first assessment of GLONASS CDMA L3 ambiguity resolution and positioning performance is provided. Our analyses are based on GLONASS L3 data from the satellite pair SVNs 755-801, received by two JAVAD receivers at Curtin University, Perth, Australia. In our analyses, four different versions of the two-satellite model are applied: the geometry-free model, the geometry-based model , the height-constrained geometry-based model, and the geometry-fixed model. We study the noise characteristics (carrier-to-noise density, measurement precision), the integer ambiguity resolution performance (success rates and distribution of the ambiguity residuals), and the positioning performance (ambiguity float and ambiguity fixed). The results show that our empirical outcomes are consistent with their formal counterparts and that the GLONASS data have a lower noise level than that of GPS, particularly in case of the code data. This difference is not only seen in the noise levels but also in their onward propagation to the ambiguity time series and ambiguity residuals distribution.     

Analysis of Galileo IOV + FOC signals and E5 RTK performance

GPS Solutions - The current Galileo constellation in April 2017 comprises both in-orbit validation and full operational capability satellites transmitting signals on five frequencies, i.e., E1,...     

IRNSS/NavIC Single-Point Positioning: A Service Area Precision Analysis

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has recently (as of May 2016) become operational. The system has been developed with the objective of offering positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) to users in its two service areas, covering the Indian landmass and the Indian Ocean, respectively. It is the goal of this contribution to provide further insight into the full-constellation L5 pseudorange single-point positioning (SPP) capabilities of the system. A detailed dilution of precision (DOP) analysis of its two service areas, including the identification, in location and time, of poor receiver-satellite geometries is provided. It is hereby demonstrated how the impact of some of these poor receiver-satellite geometries can be mitigated by means of height-constraining. An overview and analysis of the SPP precision is also provided including easy-to-use representative day-averaged values for a grid of locations covering the two service areas.