GLONASS-based precise point positioning and performance analysis

Carrier phase-based ionospheric observables using PPP models

Since Global Positioning System (GPS) has been routinely conducted in many engineering projects, it is also effectively applied to the assessment and preventing of forest and natural resources. Depending on the GPS survey method preferred in the applications performed around the forest environments, different level point positioning accuracy can be achieved. Traditionally, for many precise positioning applications, relative static positioning has been used. The data obtained have been analyzed with high-cost scientific and commercial software, which are required a good knowledge of processing procedures. However, in recent years, web based online services that use Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique, developed as a special type of relative positioning, that enables to process and analyze the static data easily, have become a significant alternative for users. These developments on GPS based surveyings that significantly make contributions to the studies applied around the forest environment, in terms of time, cost, accuracy and labour are preferred in many engineering facilities. In this study, it is aimed to research performance of GPS PPP technique and web based online services in positioning applications especially performed around the forest environments. For this purpose, two test stations have been established in different locations around the forest area, located in Campus of Davutpasa, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, and stations have been observed repeatedly in static GPS surveying mode for 3 days and per day with 3-hours observation duration. The observations have been computed by commercial software as using final GPS ephemerides products so called TopconTools v8.2 and also by web based online services namely OPUS, AUSPOS, CSRS-PPP, GAPS and APPS. From the results, when 3D positioning differences have been examined, it is seen that the positional accuracy is range from 0.024 m to 0.251 m for TP01 and from 0.078 m to 1.033 m for TP02 with respect to both relative solution and PPP solution, which is used by web based online services. When the results have been examined for only CSRS-PPP, APPS and GAPS services, which are used PPP solution, it is seen that the positional accuracy for 3D positioning differences is range from 0.024 m to 0.251 m for TP01 and from 0.078 m to 0.859 m for TP02. The results show that since the static GPS data is collected for duration of 3-hours and more, PPP technique and the web based online services using this technique for precise positioning applications around the forest environment give effective solutions to the users and at the same time decrease the survey cost with respect to equipment and software.

In recent decades, Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has become a well-established GNSS positioning method that is used in various applications. PPP is characterized by the use of precise satellite products (satellite orbits, clocks, and biases) combined with the accurate modeling of various error sources and elaborate algorithms. This way, PPP allows us to achieve position accuracies at the centimeter or even millimeter level. Nowadays, several institutions provide high-quality multi-GNSS satellite products through the International GNSS Service (IGS). These modern satellite products enable, for example, integer ambiguity fixing and incorporating observations from multiple GNSS in the PPP solution, typically enhancing the PPP performance.In this contribution, we provide an overview of the currently available multi-GNSS satellite products and discuss their potential benefits of using 2+ frequencies and alternatives to the ionosphere-free linear combination. These methods are considered advantageous for improving PPP performance, particularly regarding convergence time. We present PPP results using GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou observations and satellite products from different institutions, focusing on integer ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR). Additionally, we test the combined multi-GNSS product developed by the GNSS Research Center at Wuhan University as part of the IGS PPP-AR Pilot Project. We evaluate the resulting coordinate accuracy, convergence behavior, and ambiguity fixing rates. The PPP investigations are conducted with the open-source raPPPid, part of the Vienna VLBI and Satellite Software (VieVS PPP). 

Real-time capability , positioning accuracy and convergence time ar e the keys to the performance of Precise Point Positioning (PPP). In recent years, the development of IGS Real-Time Services (RTS) has improved the performance of real-time PPP to a large extent. Meanwhile, the PPP ambiguity resolution technique, which significantly improves the positioning accuracy and convergence time, has become mature gradually. If the advantages of both techniques can be combined to realize real-time PPP with ambiguity resolution, the application of PPP would be greatly expanded. In this paper, a real-time satellite-satellite single-difference fractional cycle bias (FCB) estimation method based on RTS products is proposed. To meet the demand of real-time PPP, narrow-lane FCBs are forecasted by short-term linear extrapolation. Taking accuracy levels and data amount into consideration, the forecasting interval for real-time wide-lane and narrow-lane FCBs are determined. Finally, the performance of real-time PPP with ambiguity resolution using real-time FCBs is evaluated in both static and kinematic modes. The results show that wide-lane FCBs to be forecasted daily and narrow-lane FCBs to be forecasted every 5 min can satisfy the need of real-time PPP with ambiguity resolution. In static mode, the average time to first fix (TTFF) is 15.97 min, and the average precision of the north, east and up components for hourly solution are 1.51, 1.64 and 2.18 cm respectively. As for kinematic mode, an average TTFF of 24.36 min is needed, and the 3D position error in fixed solution is decreased by 42.59% compared with float solution.

To obtain the coordinates by means of precise point positioning (PPP) technique we need to use the undifferenced GPS pseudocode and carrier phase observations but to obtain the “precise” positioning we need precise orbit and clock data too. This products and other information for obtaining the results by using PPP technique on a centimeter level accuracy can be downloaded from different locations, but the most reliable satellite ephemerides and clock correction are available from International GNSS Service (IGS). In the PPP analysis we determined the parameters such as the receiver clock error, ionospheric delays code biases, code multipath and the total neutral atmosphere delay of the observations. For the determination of the permanent station coordinates, using the PPP technique, we used precise orbit and clock solutions to enable absolute positioning of a single receiver. In this article we present the results obtained by using the PPP technique on the permanent station Oradea, from which we can conclude that the PPP technique can be used for different GNSS application.

Precise Point Positioning (PPP) algorithms have been widely used in the Global Positioning System (GPS)-based applications. A PPP technique with a single receiver provides effective solutions where accurate absolute positioning is required. This paper provides the performance assessment of GPS PPP for detecting the displacements caused by an earthquake. For this purpose, the earthquake that occurred on 21 July 2017 at Kos-Bodrum with the impact of Mw 6.6 was investigated by analyzing the data of the permanent GPS stations located around the related region with the PPP technique. The location distances of these GPS stations range from 10 to 89 km to the epicenter of this earthquake. GPS data provided from seven permanent stations from the Continuously Operating Reference Stations-Turkey (CORS-TR) and local Bodrum CORS networks were processed to determine the co-seismic displacements during the earthquake. The data of these stations for days of year (DOYs) 200, 201, 202, and 203 were analyzed with post-process static PPP and kinematic PPP methods. GIPSY-OASIS II v6.4 was used for processing the data and all of the solutions were performed in the ITRF2008 reference frame. Two strategies were followed on the post-process static solutions. In the first strategy, 4-day data with 24-h observations were separately analyzed day by day. In the second strategy, the 24-h data were divided into 3-h duration, which is the minimum duration for optimum PPP solutions, and then the analyses were performed. When the displacements between DOYs 200 and 203 are considered in the 24-h data analysis, significant displacements have been observed through northwest direction in the northern stations whereas MUG1 is excluded. Moreover, there is significant displacement through the southeast direction in the station DATC located in the south of the epicenter. When the 3-h solutions are examined, displacements, especially on n and e directions, are observed starting from the solutions, which include Mw 6.6 earthquake. According to the kinematic PPP solutions, the effects of the Mw 6.6 earthquake can be seen clearly in the stations DATC, ORTA, TRKB, and YALI. Considering all outcomes, the PPP technique with both static and kinematic solutions provides effective results for detecting the displacements during the earthquake.

GPS precise point positioning (PPP) approach has been considered for achieving time transfer for a long time. By virtue of GPS/Galileo/BDS FCB products, PPP model has the possibilities for changing phase ambiguities from ‘float’ value to ‘integer’ value. In this study, PPP time/frequency transfer model has been presented and performance of seven links equipped with Hydrogen Masers (H-Masers) and cesium atomic clocks are compared in static and kinematic modes. With partial ambiguity resolution (PAR) enabled, in contrast to GPS, results show that multi-GNSS’s fixing rate is much higher and TTFF(Time To First Fixing) is much shorter. It is verified that the fixing rate and TTFF has nothing to do with the atomic clock type but has strong correlation with the quality of observation. We find that frequency stability of time link is seriously dependent on the type of atomic clock. As far as H-Masers, it has reached the order of 1E-16/1E-15 at the averaging time of 122880 s, respectively. As far as Cesium clock, it has reached the order of 1E-15/1E-14 at the averaging time of 122880 s, respectively. For H-Maser, the long-term frequency stabilities of integer PPP (IPPP) have been improved by roughly 3% at the static mode and 4% at the kinematic mode on average, respectively. For positioning, compared to PPP solutions, the stabilities of the IPPP coordinates are improved after an averaging time of 7680 s in static or kinematic mode.

Performance assessment of real-time multi-GNSS integrated PPP with uncombined and ionospheric-free combined observables

Post Processed Static (PPS) and Precise Point Positioning (PPP) techniques are not new; however, they have been refined over the decades. As such, today these techniques are offered online via GPS (Global Positioning System) data processing services. In this study, one Post Processed Static (OPUS) and one Precise Point Positioning (CSRS-PPP) technique is used to process 24 h GPS data for a CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Stations) station (P565) duration of year 2016. By analyzing the results sent by these two online services, subsidence is determined for the location of CORS station, P565, as 3–4 cm for the entire year of 2016. In addition, precision of these two techniques is determined as ∼2 cm. Accuracy of PPS and PPP results is 0.46 cm and 1.21 cm, respectively. Additionally, these two techniques are compared and variations between them is determined as 2.5 cm.

With the full operation of the global BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS-3), positioning performance can be further enhanced by BDS-3 combined with the regional BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS-2). However, due to satellite signals being out of lock and the limited visibility of satellites, the traditional multi-frequency BDS-2/3 precise point positioning (PPP) model is unable to maintain great positioning performance under urban environmental conditions. In this study, a mixed multi-frequency undifferenced and uncombined (UDUC) BDS-2/3 PPP model is presented to improve the positioning performance under urban environmental conditions by making full use of B1I, B1C, B2I, B2a, and B3I signals from all visible BDS satellites. In this model, BDS satellites with single-, dual-, triple- and quad-frequency observations all can participate in PPP. The static and kinematic experiments were carried out using the mixed multi-frequency UDUC BDS-2/3 PPP model to fully assess the positioning performance under urban environmental conditions with comparisons to the multi-frequency model. The static experiments indicated that the mixed multi-frequency UDUC BDS-2/3 PPP could continuously achieve decimeter-level positioning accuracy at a cut-off elevation angle of 40°, but part of the BDS-3 PPP would lose resolution due to limited visible satellites. Furthermore, the initial kinematic vehicle experiment showed that mixed multi-frequency UDUC BDS-2/3 PPP had better satellite geometry and more observation redundancy than the traditional multi-frequency model. Compared with the traditional multi-frequency BDS-2/3 model, the positioning accuracy of the mixed multi-frequency model was improved by 51.6, 35.5, and 39.1%, respectively, in east, north, and up directions. The convergence time was shortened by 40%.

Within the last decade, GNSS Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has generated unprecedented interest among the GNSS community and is being used for a number of scientific and commercial applications today. Similar to the conventional relative positioning technique, PPP could provide positioning solutions at centimeter-level precision by making use of the precise carrier phase measurements and high-accuracy satellite orbits and clock corrections provided by, for example, the International GNSS Service. The PPP technique is attractive as it is computationally efficient; it eliminates the need for simultaneous observations at both the reference and rover receivers; it also eliminates the needs for the rover receiver to operate within the vicinity of the reference receiver; and it provides homogenous positioning quality within a consistent global frame anywhere in the world with a single GNSS receiver. Although PPP has definite advantages for many applications, its merits and widespread adoption are significantly limited by the long convergence time, which restricts the use of the PPP technique for many real-time GNSS applications. We provide an overview of the current performance of PPP as well as attempt to address some of the common misconceptions of this positioning technique--considered by many as the future of satellite positioning and navigation. Given the upcoming modernization and deployment of GNSS satellites over the next few years, it would be appropriate to address the potential impacts of these signals and constellations on the future prospect of PPP.

The revitalized Russian GLONASS system provides new potential for real-time retrieval of zenith tropospheric delays (ZTD) and precipitable water vapor (PWV) in order to support time-critical meteorological applications such as nowcasting or severe weather event monitoring. In this study, we develop a method of real-time ZTD/PWV retrieval based on GLONASS and/or GPS observations. The performance of ZTD and PWV derived from GLONASS data using real-time precise point positioning (PPP) technique is carefully investigated and evaluated. The potential of combining GLONASS and GPS data for ZTD/PWV retrieving is assessed as well. The GLONASS and GPS observations of about half a year for 80 globally distributed stations from the IGS (International GNSS Service) network are processed. The results show that the real-time GLONASS ZTD series agree quite well with the GPS ZTD series in general: the RMS of ZTD differences is about 8 mm (about 1.2 mm in PWV). Furthermore, for an inter-technique validation, the real-time ZTD estimated from GLONASS-only, GPS-only, and the GPS/GLONASS combined solutions are compared with those derived from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) at colocated GNSS/VLBI stations. The comparison shows that GLONASS can contribute to real-time meteorological applications, with almost the same accuracy as GPS. More accurate and reliable water vapor values, about 1.5---2.3 mm in PWV, can be achieved when GLONASS observations are combined with the GPS ones in the real-time PPP data processing. The comparison with radiosonde data further confirms the performance of GLONASS-derived real-time PWV and the benefit of adding GLONASS to stand-alone GPS processing.

Precise point positioning (PPP) allows for centimeter- to decimeter-level positioning accuracy using a single global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver. However, the use of PPP is presently limited due to the time required for the solution to converge or re-converge to the expected accuracy, which typically requires about 30 minutes. This relatively long convergence time is essentially caused by the existing un-modeled GNSS residual errors. Additionally, in urban areas, the number of visible satellites is usually limited when a single satellite constellation is used, which in turn slows down the PPP solution convergence. This, however, can be overcome by combining the observations of two constellations, namely the GPS and Galileo systems. Unfortunately, combining the GPS and Galileo constellations, although enhances the satellite geometry, introduces additional biases that must be considered in the observation mathematical models. These include the GPS-to-Galileo time offset, and Galileo satellite and receiver hardware delays. In addition, the stochastic characteristics of the new Galileo E1 and E5a signals must be determined to a high degree of precision. This can be done by analyzing various sets of GPS and Galileo measurements collected at two stations with short separation. Several PPP models are developed in this dissertation, which combine GPS and Galileo observations in the un-differenced and between-satellite single-difference (BSSD) modes. These include the traditional un-differenced model, the decoupled clock model, the semi-decoupled clock model, and the between-satellite single-difference model. It is shown that the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model, the GPS decoupled clock model, and semi-decoupled clock GPS/Galileo PPP model improve the convergence time by about 25% in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only PPP model. In addition, the semi-decoupled GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution precision by about 25% compared to the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model. Moreover, the BSSD GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution convergence time by about 50%, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS PPP model, regardless of the type of BSSD combination used. As well, the BSSD model improves the solution precision by about 50% and 25% when the BSSD loose and tight combinations are used, respectively, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only model.

The GNSS precise point positioning (PPP) technique has been extensively covered in recent research. In this study, six International global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Service (IGS) stations defined by 4-digits code in Africa were selected to be processed. The stations cover different climates in Africa. HARB, SUTH and WIND stations cover the mid-latitude area and NKLG, NURK and MAL2 are located in the equatorial region. Two data sessions were selected in processing to cover the winter and summer seasons: the first session of 3 days [01–03 January 2013 (DOY: 001–003/2013)] and the second session of 3 days [01–03 July 2013 (DOY: 182–184/2013)]. This paper aims to evaluate the accuracy of static PPP coordinate solution in Africa for different convergence times using free online services: Canadian Spatial Reference System (CSRS)-PPP, Automatic Precise Point Service (APPS)-PPP and GPS Analysis and Positioning Software (GAPS)-PPP. The stations’ observation times were divided into different observation times (1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h).The PPP coordinate solution was compared to the reference solution of those stations. The investigation is continued by estimating the PPP total tropospheric zenith delay (TZD) parameters, which were obtained by the different online services. These parameters were compared to the published parameters from IGS. The comparison between the different online services shows that the CSRS-PPP provides the best solution after 4 and 8 h. The APPS-PPP and CSRS-PPP provides the same solution in millimeters level after 12 h. In the equatorial region, the PPP coordinate solution is significantly improved between 12 and 24 h. Moreover, GAPS-PPP is not recommended to be used in the equatorial stations, where it shows a high error compared to CSRS-PPP and APPS-PPP even after 24 h. The mid-latitude stations show a better PPP coordinate solution in the winter than in the summer, but the equatorial stations present a low accuracy for the two sessions. Regarding the PPP tropospheric delay estimation, an additional station (HNUS) is used in the mid-latitude area, which has a low ellipsoidal height. APPS-PPP shows the best solution in the TZD estimation. The GAPS-PPP online service shows a systemic error in estimation and a high RMS relative to the TZD values known from IGS. The ellipsoidal height for antenna indicates a negative correlation to the estimated tropospheric values, but there is no effect for the variation of the ellipsoidal height in the estimated RMS. The estimated tropospheric parameters are correlated with the PPP coordinate estimation, where the GAPS-PPP service provides the worst PPP coordinate solution and at the same time, it shows the worst accuracy for tropospheric parameters estimation. Moreover, the estimated tropospheric parameters for the mid-latitude stations in the summer season show a higher RMS than in the winter season, which matches the same sequence of the PPP coordinates. The NKLG and NURK stations present a low accuracy for the tropospheric estimation, which is matching to the low accuracy of the PPP coordinates obtained from the different online services.

BeiDou global navigation satellite system (BDS-3), a developed GNSS by China, has the ability to support five different signals, including B1I, B3I, B1C, B2a, and B2b. Meanwhile, BDS-3 has officially provided the satellite-based precise point positioning (PPP) service through the B2b signal (PPP-B2b) since 2021. It’s necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis on multi-frequency PPP with PPP-B2b corrections. In this study, a multi-frequency undifferenced and uncombined PPP model (UDUC) using PPP-B2b corrections was employed to investigate dual-frequency to five-frequency real-time PPP performance. The results show that compared with the conventional dual-frequency solutions, multi-frequency solutions can improve both the convergence performances and positioning accuracy of PPP-B2b service, especially during the convergence stage. The quad-frequency and five-frequency solutions can achieve the best positioning performance. The static solutions of multi-frequency PPP models reach the centimeter-level accuracy after convergence. In kinematic mode, the convergence time of the five-frequency PPP results is reduced by 23.5% compared with the dual-frequency results. The root mean square (RMS) errors of the five-frequency PPP in the E, N, and U components are 7.1 cm, 4.8 cm, and 12.4 cm, which are improved by 6.8%, 11.5%, and 5.5%, respectively.Graphical