Geomagnetic field effect on the ionospheric contribution to the error of navigation satellite systems

When using global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) for high-precision measurements, one should consider high-order errors. The ionospheric second-order error caused by the geomagnetic field is approximately proportional to the total electron content. Therefore, this error can be taken into account by modifying the coefficients in an “ionosphere-free” combination of GNSS measurements at two frequencies. This study checks the approximations underlying this modification. We reveal that these approximations are valid and the results depend weakly on the accuracy of ionospheric parameters used a priori for calculating the coefficients of the modified two-frequency formula. In addition, we investigate how the choice of a model of the Earth’s magnetic field affects the second-order ionospheric error.