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Principles of the Global Positioning System
Lecture 06
YUAN Linguo
Email: lgyuan@home.swjtu.edu.cn
Dept. of Surveying Engineering,
Southwest Jiaotong University
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Error Categories
1. Errors related to GPS Satellites
2. Errors related to GPS signal propagation in
atmosphere
3. Error related to GPS receivers
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Error sources
1. Errors Related to GPS Satellites
? Ephemerides error
? Clock error
? Relativistic effect
2. Errors Related to GPS Signal Propagation
? Ionospheric refraction
? Tropospheric refraction
? Multi-path effect
3. Error Related to GPS Receivers
? Receiver clock error
? Receiver position
? Antenna geometric center
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Basic Measurement of Eliminating these Errors
1. Correction by Models
2. Observation Approaches (relative surveying,
DGPS), Observation Time (time, date)
3. GPS Receiver Selection (Hardware: good
antenna for multipath, avoid building)
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GPS Major Error Sources
? Timing errors: receiver and satellite,
including SA
? satellite clock (as a difference between the
precise and broadcast clocks ): 0.1-0.2
microseconds which corresponds to 30-60
m error in range
? first-order clock errors are removed by
differencing technique
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Clock errors
-200
0
200
400
600
800
0 4 8 12162024
PRN 03 (June 14)
Clock SA (ns) 1999
Clock NoSA (ns) 2000
Clock error (ns)
Time (hrs)
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GPS Major Error Sources
Orbital errors and Selective Availability (SA)
? nominal error for the broadcast ephemeris: 1-5 m
on average
? precise (post-mission) orbits are good up to 5-10
cm and better; available with 24-hour delay
? Selective Availability: not observed on the orbit
? first-order orbital errors are removed by
differencing technique
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Basic atmospheric structure
Troposphere is
where the
temperature stops
decreasing in the
atmosphere. (~10
km altitude)
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troposphere
ionosphere
Geometric distance
Actual signal path
Boundary between iono
and troposphere
Atmospheric Errors on GPS Range
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? Propagation media
? ionosphere (50-1000km)
? the presence of free electrons in the geomagnetic field causes a nonlinear
dispersion of electromagnetic waves traveling through the ionized medium
? group delay (code range is measured too long) and phase advance (phase
range is measured too short) , frequency dependent; can reach ~150 m near
the horizon;
positive always is density electron since thus][3.40constant
index refractive phase 1
signal) GPS code assuch waves,of (groupindex refractive group 1
2
2
2
2
2
2
ephgre
ph
gr
NnnHzNc
f
c
n
f
c
n
>?=
++=
+?=
…
…
GPS Major Error Sources
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Propagation media cont.
? the propagation delay depends on the total electron content (TEC)
along the signal’s path and on the frequency of the signal itself as well
as on the geographic location and time (ionosphere is most active at
noon, quiet at night; 11-year Sun spot cycle)
? integration of the refractive index renders the measured range, and
the ionospheric terms for range and phase are as follows:
? differencing technique and ion-free combination of observations on
both frequencies eliminate first-order terms, secondary effects can be
neglected for the short baselines
? differential effect on the long baselines: 1-3 cm
zenith at range geometric theis where]mper electrons [10 TEC
TECcontent electron total where
3.40
and
3.40
distance measured
0
216
0
22
sdsN
TEC
f
TEC
f
dsns
e
iono
ph
iono
gr
∫
∫
=
?=?=?
=
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11-year Sun Spot Cycle
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L
1
L
2
Residual Range
Error
First Order:
1/f
2
16.2 m 26.7 m 0.0
Second Order: 1/f
3
~ 1.6 cm ~ 3.3 cm ~ -1.1 cm
Third Order: 1/f
4
~ 0.86 mm
~ 2.4
mm
~ -0.66 mm
Calibrated 1/f
3
Term
Based on a Thin Layer
Ionospheric Model
~ 1-2 mm
The phase advance can be obtained from the above table by
multiplying each number by -1, -0.5 and -1/3 for the 1/f
2
, 1/f
3
and 1/f
4
term, respectively
Estimated Ionospheric Group Delay for GPS Signal
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? ionosphere-free phase measurement
ΦΦΦ
12 1 1 2 2
11 1 2 2 2 11 22
,
=+
=++ + + +
α α
ραλαλαεαεTN N
α
α
1
1
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
=
?
=?
?
f
ff
f
ff
? similarly, ionosphere-free pseudorange can be obtained
? The conditions applied are that sum of ionospheric effects on both
frequencies multiplied by constants to be determined must be zero;
second condition is for example that sum of the constants is 1, or
one constant is set to 1 (verify!).
2
2
2
2
1
12,1
R
f
f
RR ?=
Ionospheric Effect Removal by
Using Dual Frequency Receivers
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GPS Major Error Sources
? Troposphere (up to 50 km) - frequency-independent, same for
all frequencies below 15 GHz (troposphere is not dispersive
for frequencies below 15 GHz )
? group and phase delay are the same
? elimination by dual frequency is not possible
? affects relative and point positioning
? empirical models (functions of temperature, pressure and
relative humidity) are used to eliminate major part of the
effect
? differential effect is usually estimated (neglected for the short
baselines with similar atmospheric effects)
? total effect in the zenith direction reaches 2.5, and increases
with the cosecant of the elevation angle up to 20-28 m at 5deg
elevation
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∫
?
=? 10
6
dsN
troptrop
wd
trop
?+?=?
2
3210
T
e
c
T
e
c
T
p
cN
trop
++=
Tropospheric Effects (cont.)
? The tropospheric propagation effect is usually represented as a function
of temperature, pressure and relative humidity
? Obtained by integration of the refractivity Ntrop
? where integration is performed along the geometric path
? It is separated into two components: dry (0-40 km) and wet (0-11km)
? Represents an example of refractivity model at the surface of the earth;
c1, c2, c3 are constants, T is temperature in Kelvin (K), e is partial
pressure of water vapor [mb], p is atmospheric pressure [mb]
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Tropospheric Effects (cont.)
? The dry component, which is proportional to the density of the gas
molecules in the atmosphere and changes with their distribution,
represents about 90% of the total tropospheric refraction
? It can be modeled with an accuracy of about 2% that corresponds to 4
cm in the zenith direction using surface measurement of pressure and
temperature
? The wet refractivity is due to the polar nature of the water molecules
and the electron cloud displacement
? Since the water vapor is less uniform both spatially and temporally, it
cannot be modeled easily or predicted from the surface measurements
? As a phenomenon highly dependent on the turbulences in the lower
atmosphere, the wet component is modeled less accurately than the dry
? The influence of the wet tropospheric zenith delay is about 5-30 cm that
can be modeled with an accuracy of 2-5 cm
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() ()
???
trop d d w w
fz fz=+
00
? ?
dw
00
,
Tropospheric Effects (cont.)
? The tropospheric refraction as a function of the satellite’s zenith distance is
usually expressed as a product of a zenith delay and a mapping function
? A generic mapping function represents the relation between zenith effects
at the observation site and at the spacecraft’s elevation
? Several mapping functions have been developed (e.g., by Saastamoinen,
Goad and Goodman, Chao, Lanyi), which are equivalent as long as the
cutoff angle for the observations is at least 20o
? The tropospheric range correction can be written as follows:
where
fd(z), fw(z) - mapping functions for dry and wet components, respectively,
- vertical dry and wet components, respectively
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Tropospheric Effects (cont.)
? Tropospheric refraction accommodates only the systematic
part of the effect, and some small un-modeled effects remain
? Moreover, errors are introduced into the tropospheric
correction via inappropriate meteorological data (if applied) as
well as via errors in the zenith mapping function
? These errors are propagated into station coordinates in the
point positioning and into base components in the relative
positioning
? For example, the relative tropospheric refraction errors affects
mainly a baseline’s vertical component (error in the relative
tropospheric delay at the level of 10 cm implies errors of a few
millimeters in the horizontal components, and more than 20
cm in the vertical direction)
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Tropospheric Effects (cont.)
? If the zenith delay error is 1 cm, the effect on the
horizontal coordinates will be less than 1 mm but the
effect on the vertical component will be significant,
about 2.2 cm
? The effect of the tropospheric refraction error
increases with the latitude of the observing station and
reaches its maximum for the polar sites. It is a natural
consequence of a diluted observability at high
latitudes where satellites are visible only at low
elevation angles
? The scale of a baseline derived from observations that
are not corrected for the effect of the tropospheric
delay is distorted; the baseline is measured too long.
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The average a posteriori standard deviation in the local East,
North and Vertical directions as a function of the number of
tropospheric scaling factors estimated per day for the station in
Matera for GPS week 784
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GPS Major Error Sources
? Multipath - result of an interaction of the upcoming
signal with the objects in antenna surrounding; causes
multiple reflection and diffraction; as a result signal
arrives via direct and indirect paths
? magnitude tends to be random and unpredictable, can
reach 1-5 cm for phases and 10-20 m for code
pseudoranges
? can be largely reduced by careful antenna location
(avoiding reflective objects) and proper antenna design,
e.g., proper signal polarization, choke-ring or ground-
plane antennas
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Multipath
? As opposed to interference, which disrupts the signal and can virtually
provide no or useless data, multipath would allow for data collection,
but the results would be wrong!
? Existing multipath rejection technology (in-receiver) usually applies to
the C/A code-based observable, and can increase the mapping accuracy
by 50% (differential code positioning with a multipath rejection
technology can be good to 30-35 cm in horizontal and 40-50 cm in
vertical directions).
? Signal processing techniques, however, can reject the multipath signal
only if the multipath distance (difference between the direct and the
indirect paths) is more that 10 m.
? In a typical geodetic/surveying application, however, the antenna is
about 2 m above the ground, thus the multipath distance reaches at
most 4 m; consequently, the signal processing techniques cannot fully
mitigate the effects of reflected signals.
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Multipath
? However, properly designed choke ring antennas can almost
entirely eliminate this problem for the signals reflected from
the ground and the surface waves
? The multipath from the objects above the antenna still remains
an unresolved problem
? The performance of the choke ring antennas is usually better
for L2 than for L1, the reason being that the choke ring can be
optimized only for one frequency. If the choke ring is design
for L1, it has no effect for L2, while a choke ring designed for
L3 has some benefits for L1.
? Naturally, the optimal solution would be to have choke rings
optimized separately for L1 and L2, which is the expected
direction of progress for the geodetic antennas.
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Receiver and Observable Type Measuring
Noise
Noise Plus
Multipath
GPS Card
TM
10 cm 70 cm
GPS Card
TM
with choke ring antenna 30 cm
P-XII C/A- code 100 cm 300 cm
P-XII C/A-code with choke ring
antenna
200 cm
P-XII P-code 10 cm 70 cm
P-XII P-code with choke ring antenna 30 cm
Multipath mitigation
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GPS Major Error Sources
Interference and jamming (intentional interference)
? Radio interference can, at minimum, reduce the GPS
signal’s apparent strength (that is reduce the signal to
noise ratio by adding more noise) and consequently – the
accuracy, or, at worse, even block the signal entirely
? Medium-level interference would cause frequent losses of
lock or cycle slips, and might render virtually useless data.
? It is, therefore, important to make sure that the receiver
has an interference protection mechanism, which would
detect and eliminate (or suppress) the interfering signal.
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P-code C/A-code
Source SA off SA on SA off SA on
Satellite
- Orbit
- Clock
5 m
1 m
10 - 40 m
10 - 50 m
5 m
1 m
10 - 40 m
10 - 50 m
Signal propagation
- Ionosphere (2 frequencies)
- Ionosphere (model)
- Troposphere (model)
- Multipath Effects
- Relativistic Propagation
cm - dm
-
dm
1 m
~ 2 cm
cm - dm
-
dm
1 m
~ 2 cm
cm - dm
2 - 100 m
dm
5 m
~ 2 cm
cm - dm
2 - 100 m
dm
5 m
~ 2 cm
Receiver
- Observation Noise
- Hardware Delays
- Antenna Phase Center
0.1 - 1 m
dm - m
mm - cm
0.1 - 1 m
dm - m
mm - cm
1 - 10 m
m
mm - cm
1 - 10 m
m
mm - cm
Main Sources of Errors and Their Contributions to
the Single Range Observation Equation
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originalECEFrotatedECEF
e
XRX
dt
)(
3
α
ωα
=
=
Earth Rotation Correction
? If the observation equation is expressed in the terrestrial reference
frame, ITRF, then the Earth rotation correction must be applied to the
satellite coordinates.
? During the signal propagation from the transmitter to the terrestrial
antenna, the ITRF frame rotates with the Earth with respect to the
satellite (at the equator it rotates by ~ 32 m).
? As a consequence, the position of the transmitter’s antenna at the time
of signal transmission has changed in the ITRF frame.
? Thus, the spacecraft’s coordinates at the transmission time must be
rotated forward about the third axis of the ITRF frame by the amount
equal to the propagation time dt (~0.07 s) multiplied by the Earth’s
rotational velocity, ωe. The angle of rotation is expressed as follows:
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Relativistic Effects
Moving clock seems to run slower than the one at rest
? consequently for the satellite, the orbital period T would be measured
shorter
? furthermore, nominal emitted frequency f=2π/T would appear to be
higher
Four Primary Effects on GPS
? Gravitational field causes relativistic perturbation of the satellite orbit
? Gravitational field causes space-time curvature of the signal, thus
propagation correction has to be applied to the phase observable
? The motion of the satellite and the fact the the satellite and observer are
located in different parts of gravitational field (special and general relativity)
result in relativistic frequency difference between the two
? Relativistic effect on GPS receiver clock (due to the fact that the receiver is
placed in the gravitational field and rotates with the Earth) is corrected by
the receiver software; it amounts to 1ns = 30 cm after 3 hours
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10
10
?
Relativistic Effects
? The combined effect of a direct relativistic effect on the
orbital motion of the satellite (relativistic perturbation)
and the phase observable amounts to 0.001 ppm in
positioning
? Earth gravitation and the fact that the satellite moves,
affect the satellite clock’s frequency at the order of
? The dynamic and propagation effects strongly depend
on the geometry between station, satellite and
geocenter
? The maximum effect in the range units (cδt) for the
single phase measurement is 19 mm.
? This effect is significantly reduced (to 0.001 ppm) for
the relative positioning.
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()()()
[]
δρρt GMc rR rR=+++?2
3
/ln /
Relativistic Effects (cont.)
The phase measurement relativistic propagation
correction reads as follows (max 19 mm)
r, R - geocentric distances to the satellite and station,
respectively,
ρ - range distance between satellite and the receiver,
c - speed of light in a vacuum,
GM - gravitational constant multiplied by the mass of
the Earth.
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Relativistic Effects (cont.)
? The constant drift which is a part of the total correction
due to relativistic time difference between the receiver
and the satellite is compensated for before launch time by
reducing the frequency of the satellite clock by 0.00455
Hz from its nominal value of 10.23 MHz.
? However, the periodic term has to be modeled
? for GPS altitude, it has the maximum amplitude of ~30 ns in time
or 10 m in distance
? the periodic part can be canceled by performing between-stations
differencing, but for point positioning is still harmful if not
properly accommodated.