Research in Application of Geodetic GPS Receivers in Time Synchronization

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Q.; Zhang, P.; Sun, Z.; Wang, F.; Wang, X.

2018-04-01

In recent years, with the development of satellite orbit and clock parameters accurately determining technology and the popularity of geodetic GPS receivers, Common-View (CV) which proposed in 1980 by Allan has gained widespread application and achieved higher accuracy time synchronization results. GPS Common View (GPS CV) is the technology that based on multi-channel geodetic GPS receivers located in different place and under the same common-view schedule to receiving same GPS satellite signal at the same time, and then calculating the time difference between respective local receiver time and GPST by weighted theory, we will obtain the difference between above local time of receivers that installed in different station with external atomic clock. Multi-channel geodetic GPS receivers have significant advantages such as higher stability, higher accuracy and more common-view satellites in long baseline time synchronization application over the single-channel geodetic GPS receivers. At present, receiver hardware delay and surrounding environment influence are main error factors that affect the accuracy of GPS common-view result. But most error factors will be suppressed by observation data smoothing and using of observation data from different satellites in multi-channel geodetic GPS receiver. After the SA (Selective Availability) cancellation, using a combination of precise satellite ephemeris, ionospheric-free dual-frequency P-code observations and accurately measuring of receiver hardware delay, we can achieve time synchronization result on the order of nanoseconds (ns). In this paper, 6 days observation data of two IGS core stations with external atomic clock (PTB, USNO distance of two stations about 6000 km) were used to verify the GPS common-view theory. Through GPS observation data analysis, there are at least 2-4 common-view satellites and 5 satellites in a few tracking periods between two stations when the elevation angle is 15°, even there will be at least

RESEARCH IN APPLICATION OF GEODETIC GPS RECEIVERS IN TIME SYNCHRONIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Q. Zhang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In recent years, with the development of satellite orbit and clock parameters accurately determining technology and the popularity of geodetic GPS receivers, Common-View (CV which proposed in 1980 by Allan has gained widespread application and achieved higher accuracy time synchronization results. GPS Common View (GPS CV is the technology that based on multi-channel geodetic GPS receivers located in different place and under the same common-view schedule to receiving same GPS satellite signal at the same time, and then calculating the time difference between respective local receiver time and GPST by weighted theory, we will obtain the difference between above local time of receivers that installed in different station with external atomic clock. Multi-channel geodetic GPS receivers have significant advantages such as higher stability, higher accuracy and more common-view satellites in long baseline time synchronization application over the single-channel geodetic GPS receivers. At present, receiver hardware delay and surrounding environment influence are main error factors that affect the accuracy of GPS common-view result. But most error factors will be suppressed by observation data smoothing and using of observation data from different satellites in multi-channel geodetic GPS receiver. After the SA (Selective Availability cancellation, using a combination of precise satellite ephemeris, ionospheric-free dual-frequency P-code observations and accurately measuring of receiver hardware delay, we can achieve time synchronization result on the order of nanoseconds (ns. In this paper, 6 days observation data of two IGS core stations with external atomic clock (PTB, USNO distance of two stations about 6000 km were used to verify the GPS common-view theory. Through GPS observation data analysis, there are at least 2–4 common-view satellites and 5 satellites in a few tracking periods between two stations when the elevation angle is 15°, even

A Forward GPS Multipath Simulator Based on the Vegetation Radiative Transfer Equation Model.

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Wu, Xuerui; Jin, Shuanggen; Xia, Junming

2017-06-05

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have been widely used in navigation, positioning and timing. Nowadays, the multipath errors may be re-utilized for the remote sensing of geophysical parameters (soil moisture, vegetation and snow depth), i.e., GPS-Multipath Reflectometry (GPS-MR). However, bistatic scattering properties and the relation between GPS observables and geophysical parameters are not clear, e.g., vegetation. In this paper, a new element on bistatic scattering properties of vegetation is incorporated into the traditional GPS-MR model. This new element is the first-order radiative transfer equation model. The new forward GPS multipath simulator is able to explicitly link the vegetation parameters with GPS multipath observables (signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), code pseudorange and carrier phase observables). The trunk layer and its corresponding scattering mechanisms are ignored since GPS-MR is not suitable for high forest monitoring due to the coherence of direct and reflected signals. Based on this new model, the developed simulator can present how the GPS signals (L1 and L2 carrier frequencies, C/A, P(Y) and L2C modulations) are transmitted (scattered and absorbed) through vegetation medium and received by GPS receivers. Simulation results show that the wheat will decrease the amplitudes of GPS multipath observables (SNR, phase and code), if we increase the vegetation moisture contents or the scatters sizes (stem or leaf). Although the Specular-Ground component dominates the total specular scattering, vegetation covered ground soil moisture has almost no effects on the final multipath signatures. Our simulated results are consistent with previous results for environmental parameter detections by GPS-MR.

Observing Tsunamis in the Ionosphere Using Ground Based GPS Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Galvan, D. A.; Komjathy, A.; Song, Y. Tony; Stephens, P.; Hickey, M. P.; Foster, J.

2011-01-01

Ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) show variations consistent with atmospheric internal gravity waves caused by ocean tsunamis following recent seismic events, including the Tohoku tsunami of March 11, 2011. We observe fluctuations correlated in time, space, and wave properties with this tsunami in TEC estimates processed using JPL's Global Ionospheric Mapping Software. These TEC estimates were band-pass filtered to remove ionospheric TEC variations with periods outside the typical range of internal gravity waves caused by tsunamis. Observable variations in TEC appear correlated with the Tohoku tsunami near the epicenter, at Hawaii, and near the west coast of North America. Disturbance magnitudes are 1-10% of the background TEC value. Observations near the epicenter are compared to estimates of expected tsunami-driven TEC variations produced by Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's Spectral Full Wave Model, an atmosphere-ionosphere coupling model, and found to be in good agreement. The potential exists to apply these detection techniques to real-time GPS TEC data, providing estimates of tsunami speed and amplitude that may be useful for future early warning systems.

Performance Enhancement of Land Vehicle Positioning Using Multiple GPS Receivers in an Urban Area

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Jong-Hwa Song

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The Global Positioning System (GPS is the most widely used navigation system in land vehicle applications. In urban areas, the GPS suffers from insufficient signal strength, multipath propagation and non-line-of-sight (NLOS errors, so it thus becomes difficult to obtain accurate and reliable position information. In this paper, an integration algorithm for multiple receivers is proposed to enhance the positioning performance of GPS for land vehicles in urban areas. The pseudoranges of multiple receivers are integrated based on a tightly coupled approach, and erroneous measurements are detected by testing the closeness of the pseudoranges. In order to fairly compare the pseudoranges, GPS errors and terms arising due to the differences between the positions of the receivers need to be compensated. The double-difference technique is used to eliminate GPS errors in the pseudoranges, and the geometrical distance is corrected by projecting the baseline vector between pairs of receivers. In order to test and analyze the proposed algorithm, an experiment involving live data was performed. The positioning performance of the algorithm was compared with that of the receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM-based integration algorithm for multiple receivers. The test results showed that the proposed algorithm yields more accurate position information in urban areas.

Signal existence verification (SEV) for GPS low received power signal detection using the time-frequency approach.

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Jan, Shau-Shiun; Sun, Chih-Cheng

2010-01-01

The detection of low received power of global positioning system (GPS) signals in the signal acquisition process is an important issue for GPS applications. Improving the miss-detection problem of low received power signal is crucial, especially for urban or indoor environments. This paper proposes a signal existence verification (SEV) process to detect and subsequently verify low received power GPS signals. The SEV process is based on the time-frequency representation of GPS signal, and it can capture the characteristic of GPS signal in the time-frequency plane to enhance the GPS signal acquisition performance. Several simulations and experiments are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed method for low received power signal detection. The contribution of this work is that the SEV process is an additional scheme to assist the GPS signal acquisition process in low received power signal detection, without changing the original signal acquisition or tracking algorithms.

Azimuth selection for sea level measurements using geodetic GPS receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaolei; Zhang, Qin; Zhang, Shuangcheng

2018-03-01

Based on analysis of Global Positioning System (GPS) multipath signals recorded by a geodetic GPS receiver, GPS Reflectometry (GPS-R) has demonstrated unique advantages in relation to sea level monitoring. Founded on multipath reflectometry theory, sea level changes can be measured by GPS-R through spectral analysis of recorded signal-to-noise ratio data. However, prior to estimating multipath parameters, it is necessary to define azimuth and elevation angle mask to ensure the reflecting zones are on water. Here, a method is presented to address azimuth selection, a topic currently under active development in the field of GPS-R. Data from three test sites: the Kachemak Bay GPS site PBAY in Alaska (USA), Friday Harbor GPS site SC02 in the San Juan Islands (USA), and Brest Harbor GPS site BRST in Brest (France) are analyzed. These sites are located in different multipath environments, from a rural coastal area to a busy harbor, and they experience different tidal ranges. Estimates by the GPS tide gauges at azimuths selected by the presented method are compared with measurements from physical tide gauges and acceptable correspondence found for all three sites.

47 CFR 87.151 - Special requirements for differential GPS receivers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Special requirements for differential GPS receivers. 87.151 Section 87.151 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND... differential GPS receivers. (a) The receiver shall achieve a message failure rate less than or equal to one...

Performance evaluation of GPS receiver under equatorial scintillation

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Alison de Oliveira Moraes

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Equatorial scintillation is a phenomenon that occurs daily in the equatorial region after the sunset and affects radio signals that propagate through the ionosphere. Depending on the temporal and spatial situation, equatorial scintillation can represent a problem in the availability and precision of the Global Positioning System (GPS. This work is concerned with evaluating the impact of equatorial scintillation on the performance of GPS receivers. First, the morphology and statistical model of equatorial scintillation is briefly presented. A numerical model that generates synthetic scintillation data to simulate the effects of equatorial scintillation is presented. An overview of the main theoretical principles on GPS receivers is presented. The analytical models that describe the effects of scintillation at receiver level are presented and compared with numerical simulations using a radio software receiver and synthetic data. The results achieved by simulation agreed quite well with those predicted by the analytical models. The only exception is for links with extreme levels of scintillation and when weak signals are received.

The application of GPS time information in the telemetry ground station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Songtao; Zhang Yusong; Sun Xiurui

2001-01-01

GPS time information is a kind of practicable information resource that can be shared all over the world. Now it is the most accurate wireless time information. The major of this paper is the application information of GPS time information in telemetry. The main point introduces how to make use of the GPS time information to produce GPS-IRIG-B time code for proving ground and how to send time information to related equipment in telemetry ground station

Software Defined GPS Receiver for International Space Station

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Duncan, Courtney B.; Robison, David E.; Koelewyn, Cynthia Lee

2011-01-01

JPL is providing a software defined radio (SDR) that will fly on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the CoNNeCT project under NASA's SCaN program. The SDR consists of several modules including a Baseband Processor Module (BPM) and a GPS Module (GPSM). The BPM executes applications (waveforms) consisting of software components for the embedded SPARC processor and logic for two Virtex II Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) that operate on data received from the GPSM. GPS waveforms on the SDR are enabled by an L-Band antenna, low noise amplifier (LNA), and the GPSM that performs quadrature downconversion at L1, L2, and L5. The GPS waveform for the JPL SDR will acquire and track L1 C/A, L2C, and L5 GPS signals from a CoNNeCT platform on ISS, providing the best GPS-based positioning of ISS achieved to date, the first use of multiple frequency GPS on ISS, and potentially the first L5 signal tracking from space. The system will also enable various radiometric investigations on ISS such as local multipath or ISS dynamic behavior characterization. In following the software-defined model, this work will create a highly portable GPS software and firmware package that can be adapted to another platform with the necessary processor and FPGA capability. This paper also describes ISS applications for the JPL CoNNeCT SDR GPS waveform, possibilities for future global navigation satellite system (GNSS) tracking development, and the applicability of the waveform components to other space navigation applications.

Development And Test of A Digitally Steered Antenna Array for The Navigator GPS Receiver

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Pinto, Heitor David; Valdez, Jennifer E.; Winternitz, Luke M. B.; Hassouneh, Munther A.; Price, Samuel R.

2012-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS)-based navigation has become common for low-Earth orbit spacecraft as the signal environment is similar to that on the Earth s surface. The situation changes abruptly, however, for spacecraft whose orbital altitudes exceed that of the GPS constellation. Visibility is dramatically reduced and signals that are present may be very weak and more susceptible to interference. GPS receivers effective at these altitudes require increased sensitivity, which often requires a high-gain antenna. Pointing such an antenna can pose a challenge. One efficient approach to mitigate these problems is the use of a digitally steered antenna array. Such an antenna can optimally allocate gain toward desired signal sources and away from interferers. This paper presents preliminary results in the development and test of a digitally steered antenna array for the Navigator GPS research program at NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center. In particular, this paper highlights the development of an array and front-end electronics, the development and test of a real-time software GPS receiver, and implementation of three beamforming methods for combining the signals from the array. Additionally, this paper discusses the development of a GPS signal simulator which produces digital samples of the GPS L1C/A signals as they would be received by an arbitrary antenna array configuration. The simulator models transmitter and receiver dynamics, near-far and multipath interference, and has been a critical component in both the development and test of the GPS receiver. The GPS receiver system was tested with real and simulated GPS signals. Preliminary results show that performance improvement was achieved in both the weak signal and interference environments, matching analytical predictions. This paper summarizes our initial findings and discusses the advantages and limitations of the antenna array and the various beamforming methods.

Comparison of an inflammation-based prognostic score (GPS) with performance status (ECOG-ps) in patients receiving palliative chemotherapy for gastroesophageal cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Crumley, Andrew B C; Stuart, Robert C; McKernan, Margaret; McDonald, Alexander C; McMillan, Donald C

2008-08-01

The aim of the present study was to compare an inflammation-based prognostic score (Glasgow Prognostic Score, GPS) with performance status (ECOG-ps) in patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy for palliation of gastroesophageal cancer. Sixty-five patients presenting with gastroesophageal carcinoma to the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow between January 1999 and December 2005 and who received palliative chemotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy were studied. ECOG-ps, C-reactive protein, and albumin were recorded at diagnosis. Patients with both an elevated C-reactive protein (>10 mg/L) and hypoalbuminemia (L) were allocated a GPS of 2. Patients in whom only one of these biochemical abnormalities was present were allocated a GPS of 1 and patients with a normal C-reactive protein and albumin were allocated a score of 0. Toxicity was recorded using the Common Toxicity Criteria. The minimum follow up was 14 months. During the follow-up period, 59 (91%) of the patients died. On univariate and multivariate survival analysis, only the GPS (hazard ratios 1.65, 95% CI 1.10-2.47, P GPS of 0, those patients with a GPS of 1 or 2 required more frequent chemotherapy dose reduction (P GPS, appears to be superior to the subjective assessment of performance status (ECOG-ps) in predicting the response to platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancer.

Real-time GPS seismology using a single receiver: method comparison, error analysis and precision validation

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xingxing

2014-05-01

Earthquake monitoring and early warning system for hazard assessment and mitigation has traditional been based on seismic instruments. However, for large seismic events, it is difficult for traditional seismic instruments to produce accurate and reliable displacements because of the saturation of broadband seismometers and problematic integration of strong-motion data. Compared with the traditional seismic instruments, GPS can measure arbitrarily large dynamic displacements without saturation, making them particularly valuable in case of large earthquakes and tsunamis. GPS relative positioning approach is usually adopted to estimate seismic displacements since centimeter-level accuracy can be achieved in real-time by processing double-differenced carrier-phase observables. However, relative positioning method requires a local reference station, which might itself be displaced during a large seismic event, resulting in misleading GPS analysis results. Meanwhile, the relative/network approach is time-consuming, particularly difficult for the simultaneous and real-time analysis of GPS data from hundreds or thousands of ground stations. In recent years, several single-receiver approaches for real-time GPS seismology, which can overcome the reference station problem of the relative positioning approach, have been successfully developed and applied to GPS seismology. One available method is real-time precise point positioning (PPP) relied on precise satellite orbit and clock products. However, real-time PPP needs a long (re)convergence period, of about thirty minutes, to resolve integer phase ambiguities and achieve centimeter-level accuracy. In comparison with PPP, Colosimo et al. (2011) proposed a variometric approach to determine the change of position between two adjacent epochs, and then displacements are obtained by a single integration of the delta positions. This approach does not suffer from convergence process, but the single integration from delta positions to

Fast-Acquisition/Weak-Signal-Tracking GPS Receiver for HEO

Science.gov (United States)

Wintemitz, Luke; Boegner, Greg; Sirotzky, Steve

2004-01-01

A report discusses the technical background and design of the Navigator Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver -- . a radiation-hardened receiver intended for use aboard spacecraft. Navigator is capable of weak signal acquisition and tracking as well as much faster acquisition of strong or weak signals with no a priori knowledge or external aiding. Weak-signal acquisition and tracking enables GPS use in high Earth orbits (HEO), and fast acquisition allows for the receiver to remain without power until needed in any orbit. Signal acquisition and signal tracking are, respectively, the processes of finding and demodulating a signal. Acquisition is the more computationally difficult process. Previous GPS receivers employ the method of sequentially searching the two-dimensional signal parameter space (code phase and Doppler). Navigator exploits properties of the Fourier transform in a massively parallel search for the GPS signal. This method results in far faster acquisition times [in the lab, 12 GPS satellites have been acquired with no a priori knowledge in a Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) scenario in less than one second]. Modeling has shown that Navigator will be capable of acquiring signals down to 25 dB-Hz, appropriate for HEO missions. Navigator is built using the radiation-hardened ColdFire microprocessor and housing the most computationally intense functions in dedicated field-programmable gate arrays. The high performance of the algorithm and of the receiver as a whole are made possible by optimizing computational efficiency and carefully weighing tradeoffs among the sampling rate, data format, and data-path bit width.

Assimilative Modeling of Ionospheric Disturbances with FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC and Ground-Based GPS Measurements

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Xiaoqing Pi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The four-dimensional Global Assimilative Ionospheric Model (GAIM is applied to a study of ionospheric disturbances. The investigation is focused on disturbance features, particularly in the altitude and latitude dimensions, at low latitudes during a geomagnetic storm on 7 August 2006, under solar minimum conditions. The modeling of storm-time ionospheric state (electron density is conducted by assimilating an unprecedented volume of line-of-sight TEC data collected by the Global Positioning System (GPS occultation receivers on board six FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites and geodetic-quality GPS receivers at two hundred globally-distributed ground tracking stations.With a band-limited Kalman filter technique to update the ionospheric state, the assimilative modeling reveals a pronounced enhancement in the equatorial anomaly in the East Asia sector during dusk and evening hours. The disturbance characteristics, obtained by comparing with the quiet conditions prior to the storm also modeled in this study through data assimilation, include lifted F layer and reduced electron density in the equatorial region, enhanced density at the magnetically conjugate anomaly latitudes, and tilted feature of density increase towards higher altitudes at lower latitudes. The characteristics are attributed to the enhanced plasma fountain effect driven by an enhanced eastward zonal electric field. These results enable us to distinguish the storm-time electric field perturbations clearly from other sources during the storm. The possible origins of electric field perturbations are also discussed, including penetration of the magnetospheric electric field and wind dynamo disturbances.

A Real-Time Capable Software-Defined Receiver Using GPU for Adaptive Anti-Jam GPS Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Jiwon; Chen, Yu-Hsuan; De Lorenzo, David S.; Lo, Sherman; Enge, Per; Akos, Dennis; Lee, Jiyun

2011-01-01

Due to their weak received signal power, Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are vulnerable to radio frequency interference. Adaptive beam and null steering of the gain pattern of a GPS antenna array can significantly increase the resistance of GPS sensors to signal interference and jamming. Since adaptive array processing requires intensive computational power, beamsteering GPS receivers were usually implemented using hardware such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). However, a software implementation using general-purpose processors is much more desirable because of its flexibility and cost effectiveness. This paper presents a GPS software-defined radio (SDR) with adaptive beamsteering capability for anti-jam applications. The GPS SDR design is based on an optimized desktop parallel processing architecture using a quad-core Central Processing Unit (CPU) coupled with a new generation Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) having massively parallel processors. This GPS SDR demonstrates sufficient computational capability to support a four-element antenna array and future GPS L5 signal processing in real time. After providing the details of our design and optimization schemes for future GPU-based GPS SDR developments, the jamming resistance of our GPS SDR under synthetic wideband jamming is presented. Since the GPS SDR uses commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and processors, it can be easily adopted in civil GPS applications requiring anti-jam capabilities. PMID:22164116

A Real-Time Capable Software-Defined Receiver Using GPU for Adaptive Anti-Jam GPS Sensors

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Dennis Akos

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Due to their weak received signal power, Global Positioning System (GPS signals are vulnerable to radio frequency interference. Adaptive beam and null steering of the gain pattern of a GPS antenna array can significantly increase the resistance of GPS sensors to signal interference and jamming. Since adaptive array processing requires intensive computational power, beamsteering GPS receivers were usually implemented using hardware such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs. However, a software implementation using general-purpose processors is much more desirable because of its flexibility and cost effectiveness. This paper presents a GPS software-defined radio (SDR with adaptive beamsteering capability for anti-jam applications. The GPS SDR design is based on an optimized desktop parallel processing architecture using a quad-core Central Processing Unit (CPU coupled with a new generation Graphics Processing Unit (GPU having massively parallel processors. This GPS SDR demonstrates sufficient computational capability to support a four-element antenna array and future GPS L5 signal processing in real time. After providing the details of our design and optimization schemes for future GPU-based GPS SDR developments, the jamming resistance of our GPS SDR under synthetic wideband jamming is presented. Since the GPS SDR uses commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and processors, it can be easily adopted in civil GPS applications requiring anti-jam capabilities.

GPS Receivers Use-Case Information : GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-18

Topics 1. Background. 2. Use Case Template. 3. Description of Submitted UseCases from DOT Extended Pos/Nav Working Group. 4. Utilization of UseCase Information. 5. Request of Information for Additional UseCases from GPS Receiver Manufacturer...

Implementation Of Code And Carrier Tracking Loops For Software GPS Receivers

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Win Kay Khaing

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract GPS is playing in very important role in our modern mobile societies. Software approach is very flexible rather than the traditional hardware receivers. The soft-GPS receiver includes two portions hardware and software. In hardware portion an antenna filter down-converter from RF Radio Frequency to IF Intermediate Frequency and an ADC Analog to Digital Converter are included. In software portion signal processing such as acquisition tracking and navigation that runs on general purpose processor is included. The GPS signal is taken from N-FUELS Full Educational Library of Signals for Navigation signal simulator. The heart of soft-GPS receiver is the synchronization processes such as acquisition and tracking. In tracking there are two main loops for code and carrier tracking. The objective of this paper is to analyse and find the optimum discriminator function for the code tracking loop in soft-GPS receivers. The delay lock loop DLL is a well-known technique to track the codes for GNSS spread spectrum systems. This paper also presents non-coherent square law DLLs and the impacts of some parameters on DLL discriminators such as number of samples per chip early-late spacing different C No values where C denotes the signal power and No is the noise spectral density and the impact of with or without front-end device. The results of discriminator outputs are illustrated by using S-curves. Testing results with the real GPS signal are also described. This optimized discriminator functions can be implemented in any soft-GPS receivers.

The use of the AOA TTR-4P GPS receiver in operation at the BIPM for real-time restitution of GPS time

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Claudine

1994-01-01

The Global Positioning System is an outstanding tool for the dissemination of time. Using mono-channel C/A-code GPS time receivers, the restitution of GPS time through the satellite constellation presents a peak-to-peak discrepancy of several tens of nanoseconds without SA but may be as high as several hundreds of nanoseconds with SA. As a consequence, civil users are more and more interested in implementing hardware and software methods for efficient restitution of GPS time, especially in the framework of the project of a real-time prediction of UTC (UTCp) which could be available in the form of time differences (UTCp - GPS time). Previous work, for improving the real-time restitution of GPS time with SA, to the level obtained without SA, focused on the implementation of a Kalman filter based on past data and updated at each new observation. An alternative solution relies upon the statistical features of the noise brought about by SA; it has already been shown that the SA noise is efficiently reduced by averaging data from numerous satellites observed simultaneously over a sufficiently long time. This method was successfully applied to data from a GPS time receiver, model AOA TTR-4P, connected to the cesium clock kept at the BIPM. This device, a multi-channel, dual frequency, P-code GPS time receiver, is one of the first TTR-4P units in operation in a civil laboratory. Preliminary comparative studies of this new equipment with conventional GPS time receivers are described in this paper. The results of an experimental restitution of GPS time, obtained in June 1993, are also detailed: 3 to 6 satellites were observed simultaneously with a sample interval of 15 s, an efficient smoothing of SA noise was realized by averaging data on all observed satellites over more than 1 hour. When the GPS system is complete in 1994, 8 satellites will be observable continuously from anywhere in the world and the same level of uncertainty will be obtained using a shorter averaging

The use of civilian-type GPS receivers by the military and their vulnerability to jamming

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Ludwig Combrinck

2012-05-01

Full Text Available We considered the impact of external influences on a GPS receiver and how these influences affect the capabilities of civilian-type GPS receivers. A standard commercial radio frequency signal generator and passive GPS antenna were used to test the sensitivity of GPS to intentional jamming; the possible effects of the terrain on the propagation of the jamming signal were also tested. It was found that the high sensitivity of GPS receivers and the low strength level of GPS satellite signals combine to make GPS receivers very vulnerable to intentional jamming or unintentional radio frequency interference. Terrain undulation was used to shield GPS antennas from the direct line-of-sight of the jamming antenna and this indicated that terrain characteristics can be used to mitigate the effects of jamming. These results illuminate the vulnerability of civilian-type GPS receivers to the possibility and the ease of disablement and establish the foundation for future work.

Determining of the phase centre of the real position of GPS receiver antenna

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Eva Pisoňová

2007-06-01

Full Text Available By continued improvement of measurement methods producers of GPS (Global Positioning System apparatus will be maybe once upon a time effective to minimize a difference of the phase centre from the geometrical one, because it is probably impossible to make the GPS receiver antenna with zero eccentricity of the phase centre. In the last analysis, we do not prevent from a manufacturing error by any way in eliminate of the possible measurement errors.In the paper there is presented the measurement testing practice with aim of the phase centre real position determining of several in a market available GPS receivers in the paper. Investigation up to what standard the GPS receiver antenna phase centre variation achieves to float in an inaccuracy into GPS measurements. Testing was realized on the temporary testing baseline closely village Badín at Banská Bystrica in the Central Slovak Region. GPS receivers Locus Survey System (Ashtech, ProMark2 (Ashtech were tested.

NavCube: A fully realized modernized GPS receiver

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The goal of this IRAD project is to complete the technology development of the modernized Navigator-SpaceCube GPS receiver (named the NavCube), enabling a potential...

GPS data processing of networks with mixed single- and dual-frequency receivers for deformation monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, X.; Deng, Z.; Ge, M.; Dick, G.; Jiang, W.; Liu, J.

2010-07-01

In order to obtain crustal deformations of higher spatial resolution, existing GPS networks must be densified. This densification can be carried out using single-frequency receivers at moderate costs. However, ionospheric delay handling is required in the data processing. We adapt the Satellite-specific Epoch-differenced Ionospheric Delay model (SEID) for GPS networks with mixed single- and dual-frequency receivers. The SEID model is modified to utilize the observations from the three nearest dual-frequency reference stations in order to avoid contaminations from more remote stations. As data of only three stations are used, an efficient missing data constructing approach with polynomial fitting is implemented to minimize data losses. Data from large scale reference networks extended with single-frequency receivers can now be processed, based on the adapted SEID model. A new data processing scheme is developed in order to make use of existing GPS data processing software packages without any modifications. This processing scheme is evaluated using a sub-network of the German SAPOS network. The results verify that the new scheme provides an efficient way to densify existing GPS networks with single-frequency receivers.

Features of High-Latitude Ionospheric Irregularities Development as Revealed by Ground-Based GPS Observations, Satellite-Borne GPS Observations and Satellite In Situ Measurements over the Territory of Russia during the Geomagnetic Storm on March 17-18, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Zakharenkova, I. E.; Cherniak, Iu. V.; Shagimuratov, I. I.; Klimenko, M. V.

2018-01-01

The dynamic picture of the response of the high- and mid-latitude ionosphere to the strong geomagnetic disturbances on March 17-18, 2015, has been studied with ground-based and satellite observations, mainly, by transionospheric measurements of delays of GPS (Global Positioning System) signals. The advantages of the joint use of ground-based GPS measurements and GPS measurements on board of the Swarm Low-Earth-Orbit satellite mission for monitoring of the appearance of ionospheric irregularities over the territory of Russia are shown for the first time. The results of analysis of ground-based and space-borne GPS observations, as well as satellite, in situ measurements, revealed large-scale ionospheric plasma irregularities observed over the territory of Russia in the latitude range of 50°-85° N during the main phase of the geomagnetic storm. The most intense ionospheric irregularities were detected in the auroral zone and in the region of the main ionospheric trough (MIT). It has been found that sharp changes in the phase of the carrier frequency of the navigation signal from all tracked satellites were recorded at all GPS stations located to the North from 55° MLAT. The development of a deep MIT was related to dynamic processes in the subauroral ionosphere, in particular, with electric fields of the intense subauroral polarization stream. Analysis of the electron and ion density values obtained by instruments on board of the Swarm and DMSP satellites showed that the zone of highly structured auroral ionosphere extended at least to heights of 850-900 km.

Ionospheric earthquake effects detection based on Total Electron Content (TEC) GPS Correlation

Science.gov (United States)

Sunardi, Bambang; Muslim, Buldan; Eka Sakya, Andi; Rohadi, Supriyanto; Sulastri; Murjaya, Jaya

2018-03-01

Advances in science and technology showed that ground-based GPS receiver was able to detect ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) disturbances caused by various natural phenomena such as earthquakes. One study of Tohoku (Japan) earthquake, March 11, 2011, magnitude M 9.0 showed TEC fluctuations observed from GPS observation network spread around the disaster area. This paper discussed the ionospheric earthquake effects detection using TEC GPS data. The case studies taken were Kebumen earthquake, January 25, 2014, magnitude M 6.2, Sumba earthquake, February 12, 2016, M 6.2 and Halmahera earthquake, February 17, 2016, M 6.1. TEC-GIM (Global Ionosphere Map) correlation methods for 31 days were used to monitor TEC anomaly in ionosphere. To ensure the geomagnetic disturbances due to solar activity, we also compare with Dst index in the same time window. The results showed anomalous ratio of correlation coefficient deviation to its standard deviation upon occurrences of Kebumen and Sumba earthquake, but not detected a similar anomaly for the Halmahera earthquake. It was needed a continous monitoring of TEC GPS data to detect the earthquake effects in ionosphere. This study giving hope in strengthening the earthquake effect early warning system using TEC GPS data. The method development of continuous TEC GPS observation derived from GPS observation network that already exists in Indonesia is needed to support earthquake effects early warning systems.

A Low Cost GPS System for Real-Time Tracking of Sounding Rockets

Science.gov (United States)

Markgraf, M.; Montenbruck, O.; Hassenpflug, F.; Turner, P.; Bull, B.; Bauer, Frank (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This paper describes the development as well as the on-ground and the in-flight evaluation of a low cost Global Positioning System (GPS) system for real-time tracking of sounding rockets. The flight unit comprises a modified ORION GPS receiver and a newly designed switchable antenna system composed of a helical antenna in the rocket tip and a dual-blade antenna combination attached to the body of the service module. Aside from the flight hardware a PC based terminal program has been developed to monitor the GPS data and graphically displays the rocket's path during the flight. In addition an Instantaneous Impact Point (IIP) prediction is performed based on the received position and velocity information. In preparation for ESA's Maxus-4 mission, a sounding rocket test flight was carried out at Esrange, Kiruna, on 19 Feb. 2001 to validate existing ground facilities and range safety installations. Due to the absence of a dedicated scientific payload, the flight offered the opportunity to test multiple GPS receivers and assess their performance for the tracking of sounding rockets. In addition to the ORION receiver, an Ashtech G12 HDMA receiver and a BAE (Canadian Marconi) Allstar receiver, both connected to a wrap-around antenna, have been flown on the same rocket as part of an independent experiment provided by the Goddard Space Flight Center. This allows an in-depth verification and trade-off of different receiver and antenna concepts.

A cost-performance model for ground-based optical communications receiving telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Lesh, J. R.; Robinson, D. L.

1986-01-01

An analytical cost-performance model for a ground-based optical communications receiving telescope is presented. The model considers costs of existing telescopes as a function of diameter and field of view. This, coupled with communication performance as a function of receiver diameter and field of view, yields the appropriate telescope cost versus communication performance curve.

A GPS measurement system for precise satellite tracking and geodesy

Science.gov (United States)

Yunck, T. P.; Wu, S.-C.; Lichten, S. M.

1985-01-01

NASA is pursuing two key applications of differential positioning with the Global Positioning System (GPS): sub-decimeter tracking of earth satellites and few-centimeter determination of ground-fixed baselines. Key requirements of the two applications include the use of dual-frequency carrier phase data, multiple ground receivers to serve as reference points, simultaneous solution for use position and GPS orbits, and calibration of atmospheric delays using water vapor radiometers. Sub-decimeter tracking will be first demonstrated on the TOPEX oceanographic satellite to be launched in 1991. A GPS flight receiver together with at least six ground receivers will acquire delta range data from the GPS carriers for non-real-time analysis. Altitude accuracies of 5 to 10 cm are expected. For baseline measurements, efforts will be made to obtain precise differential pseudorange by resolving the cycle ambiguity in differential carrier phase. This could lead to accuracies of 2 or 3 cm over a few thousand kilometers. To achieve this, a high-performance receiver is being developed, along with improved calibration and data processing techniques. Demonstrations may begin in 1986.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Design For Multipaths Mitigation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gadallah, El-Sayed

1998-01-01

.... This research introduces a new estimator that can detect the presence of multipath, can determine the unknown number of multipath components and can estimate multipath parameters in the GPS receiver...

Selection of the signal synchronization method in software GPS receivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlada S. Sokolović

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction This paper presents a critical analysis of the signal processing flow carried out in a software GPS receiver and a critical comparison of different architectures for signal processing within the GPS receiver. A model of software receivers is shown. Based on the displayed model, a receiver has been realized in the MATLAB software package, in which the simulations of signal processing were carried out. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of the synchronization of signals in the receiver, and to propose a solution acceptable for possible implementation. The signal processing flow was observed from the input circuit to the extraction of the bits of the navigation message. The entire signal processing was performed on the L1 signal and the data collected by the input circuit SE4110. A radio signal from the satellite was accepted with the input circuit, filtered and translated into a digital form. The input circuit ends with the hardware of the receiver. A digital signal from the input circuit is brought into the PC Pentium 4 (AMD 3000 + where the receiver is realized in Matlab. Model of software GPS receiver The first level of processing is signal acquisition. Signal acquisition was realized using the cyclic convolution. The acquisition process was carried out by measuring signals from satellites, and these parameters are passed to the next level of processing. The next level was done by monitoring the synchronization signal and extracting the navigation message bits. On the basis of the detection of the navigation message the receiver calculates the position of a satellite and then, based on the position of the satellite, its own position. Tracking of GPS signal synchronization In order to select the most acceptable method of signal synchronization in the receiver, different methods of signal synchronization are compared. The early-late-DLL (Delay Lock Loop, TDL (Tau Dither Loop

GPS phase scintillation and auroral electrojet currents during geomagnetic storms of March 17, 2013 and 2015

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prikryl, P.; Ghoddousi-Fard, R.; Viljanen, A.

2017-01-01

in the context of solar wind coupling to the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. Phase scintillation is observed at high latitudes by arrays of high-rate GNSS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitors (GISTMs) and geodetic-quality GPS receivers sampling at 1 Hz. The high-rate GPS receivers are distributed...... in the northern and in the southern high latitudes with sparser coverage. In addition to GPS receivers, the high-latitude ionosphere dynamics is studied using arrays of ground-based instruments including HF radars, ionosondes, riometers, magnetometers, optical imagers as well as particle detectors and ultraviolet...

The impact of GPS receiver modifications and ionospheric activity on Swarm baseline determination

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, X.; Visser, P. N. A. M.; van den IJssel, J.

2018-05-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) Swarm mission is a satellite constellation launched on 22 November 2013 aiming at observing the Earth geomagnetic field and its temporal variations. The three identical satellites are equipped with high-precision dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which make the constellation an ideal test bed for baseline determination. From October 2014 to August 2016, a number of GPS receiver modifications and a new GPS Receiver Independent Exchange Format (RINEX) converter were implemented. Moreover, the on-board GPS receiver performance has been influenced by the ionospheric scintillations. The impact of these factors is assessed for baseline determination of the pendulum formation flying Swarm-A and -C satellites. In total 30 months of data - from 15 July 2014 to the end of 2016 - is analyzed. The assessment includes analysis of observation residuals, success rate of GPS carrier phase ambiguity fixing, a consistency check between the so-called kinematic and reduced-dynamic baseline solution, and validations of orbits by comparing with Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) observations. External baseline solutions from The German Space Operations Center (GSOC) and Astronomisches Institut - Universität Bern (AIUB) are also included in the comparison. Results indicate that the GPS receiver modifications and RINEX converter changes are effective to improve the baseline determination. This research eventually shows a consistency level of 9.3/4.9/3.0 mm between kinematic and reduced-dynamic baselines in the radial/along-track/cross-track directions. On average 98.3% of the epochs have kinematic solutions. Consistency between TU Delft and external reduced-dynamic baseline solutions is at a level of 1 mm level in all directions.

Simultaneous ground-satellite observations of daytime traveling ionospheric disturbances over Japan using the GPS-TEC network and the CHAMP satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Moral, A. C.; Shiokawa, K.; Otsuka, Y.; Liu, H.; Nishioka, M.; Tsugawa, T.

2017-12-01

We report results of simultaneous ground-satellite measurements of daytime travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) over Japan by using the GEONET GPS receiver network and the CHAMP satellite. For the two years of 2002 and 2008, we examined GPS measurements of TEC (Total Electron Content) and neutral and electron densities measured by CHAMP satellite. Total of fifteen TID events with clear southward moving structures in the GPS-TEC measurements are found by simultaneous ground-satellite measurements. On 2002, simultaneous events are only observed in January (1 event) and February (4 events). On 2008, ten events are observed around winter months (January (3 events), February (5), March (1), and October (1)). Neutral and electron densities measured by CHAMP show quasi-periodic fluctuations throughout the passages for all events. The CHAMP satellite crossed at least one clear TID phase front for all the events. We fitted a sinusoidal function to both ground and satellite data to obtain the frequencies and phase of the observed variations. We calculated the corresponding phase relationships between TEC variations and neutral and electron densities measured by CHAMP to categorize the events. In the presentations we report correspondence of these TID structures seen in the simultaneous ground-satellite observations by GPS-TEC and CHAMP, and discuss their phase relationship to identify the source of the daytime TIDs and specify how much of the observed variations are showing clear frequencies/or not in the nature at middle latitudes.

goGPS: open source software for enhancing the accuracy of low-cost receivers by single-frequency relative kinematic positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Realini, Eugenio; Reguzzoni, Mirko

2013-01-01

goGPS is a free and open source satellite positioning software package aiming to provide a collaborative platform for research and teaching purposes. It was first published in 2009 and since then several related projects are on-going. Its objective is the investigation of strategies for enhancing the accuracy of low-cost single-frequency GPS receivers, mainly by relative positioning with respect to a base station and by a tailored extended Kalman filter working directly on code and phase observations. In this paper, the positioning algorithms implemented in goGPS are presented, emphasizing the modularity of the software design; two specific strategies to support the navigation with low-cost receivers are also proposed and discussed, namely an empirical observation weighting function calibrated on the receiver signal-to-noise ratio and the inclusion of height information from a digital terrain model as an additional observation in the Kalman filter. The former is crucial when working with high-sensitivity receivers, while the latter can significantly improve the positioning in the vertical direction. The overall goGPS positioning accuracy is assessed by comparison with a dual-frequency receiver and with the positioning computed by a standard low-cost receiver. The benefits of the calibrated weighting function and the digital terrain model are investigated by an experiment in a dense urban environment. It comes out that the use of goGPS and low-cost receivers leads to results comparable with those obtained by higher level receivers; goGPS has good performances also in a dense urban environment, where its additional features play an important role. (paper)

Gps monitoring of the la valette landslide (french alps) with two mono-frequency receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Squarzoni, C.; Delacourt, C.; Allemand, P.

2003-04-01

In the last years, the Global Positioning System techniques have been more and more employed in landslide monitoring. Here we present an application of the GPS techniques on the La Valette landslide, located in the Ubaye Valley in the southern French Alps. This complex landslide is composed by an upper part affected essentially by rotational mechanism, a central part with a generally translational movement and a lower part, occasionally transforming in mud flow in coincidence with strong rainfall events. Displacement rates are in average of a few centimetres per month and can reach one centimetre per day during spring. GPS data presented in this study have been acquired with a couple of mono-frequency GPS receivers Magellan ProMARK X-CM associated with multipath-resistant antennas and processed with the Magellan post-processing software MSTAR. Nine points have been set in the whole zone, seven of them in the moving area, one in a stable area near the landslide and one on the facing slope, used as reference point. For each measure, one GPS receiver is placed on the base point and the second one is placed on each monitored point for one-hour sessions. The baseline between base and monitored point ranges from 480 and 1660 m. Nine campaigns of measure have been made between October 2000 and October 2002, to follow the evolution of the surface displacements. The GPS results have been compared with the distance-meter measurements achieved on the same site by RTM Service (Restauration des Terrains de Montagne). The velocities obtained by the two methods are similar. The advantage of the GPS technique is the obtention of the real 3D displacement vector. These measurements have been combined with SAR interferometric data in order to derive a 3D map of the deformation.

Geomagnetic storm effects on GPS based navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. V. S. Rama Rao

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The energetic events on the sun, solar wind and subsequent effects on the Earth's geomagnetic field and upper atmosphere (ionosphere comprise space weather. Modern navigation systems that use radio-wave signals, reflecting from or propagating through the ionosphere as a means of determining range or distance, are vulnerable to a variety of effects that can degrade the performance of the navigational systems. In particular, the Global Positioning System (GPS that uses a constellation of earth orbiting satellites are affected due to the space weather phenomena.

Studies made during two successive geomagnetic storms that occurred during the period from 8 to 12 November 2004, have clearly revealed the adverse affects on the GPS range delay as inferred from the Total Electron Content (TEC measurements made from a chain of seven dual frequency GPS receivers installed in the Indian sector. Significant increases in TEC at the Equatorial Ionization anomaly crest region are observed, resulting in increased range delay during the periods of the storm activity. Further, the storm time rapid changes occurring in TEC resulted in a number of phase slips in the GPS signal compared to those on quiet days. These phase slips often result in the loss of lock of the GPS receivers, similar to those that occur during strong(>10 dB L-band scintillation events, adversely affecting the GPS based navigation.

Performance Evaluation of Block Acquisition and Tracking Algorithms Using an Open Source GPS Receiver Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Ramachandran, Ganesh K.; Akopian, David; Heckler, Gregory W.; Winternitz, Luke B.

2011-01-01

Location technologies have many applications in wireless communications, military and space missions, etc. US Global Positioning System (GPS) and other existing and emerging Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are expected to provide accurate location information to enable such applications. While GNSS systems perform very well in strong signal conditions, their operation in many urban, indoor, and space applications is not robust or even impossible due to weak signals and strong distortions. The search for less costly, faster and more sensitive receivers is still in progress. As the research community addresses more and more complicated phenomena there exists a demand on flexible multimode reference receivers, associated SDKs, and development platforms which may accelerate and facilitate the research. One of such concepts is the software GPS/GNSS receiver (GPS SDR) which permits a facilitated access to algorithmic libraries and a possibility to integrate more advanced algorithms without hardware and essential software updates. The GNU-SDR and GPS-SDR open source receiver platforms are such popular examples. This paper evaluates the performance of recently proposed block-corelator techniques for acquisition and tracking of GPS signals using open source GPS-SDR platform.

Rail inspection system based on iGPS

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Xiaoyan; Wang, Mulan; Wen, Xiuping

2018-05-01

Track parameters include gauge, super elevation, cross level and so on, which could be calculated through the three-dimensional coordinates of the track. The rail inspection system based on iGPS (indoor/infrared GPS) was composed of base station, receiver, rail inspection frame, wireless communication unit, display and control unit and data processing unit. With the continuous movement of the inspection frame, the system could accurately inspect the coordinates of rail; realize the intelligent detection and precision measurement. According to principle of angle intersection measurement, the inspection model was structured, and detection process was given.

Fault detection and isolation in GPS receiver autonomous integrity monitoring based on chaos particle swarm optimization-particle filter algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ershen; Jia, Chaoying; Tong, Gang; Qu, Pingping; Lan, Xiaoyu; Pang, Tao

2018-03-01

The receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) is one of the most important parts in an avionic navigation system. Two problems need to be addressed to improve this system, namely, the degeneracy phenomenon and lack of samples for the standard particle filter (PF). However, the number of samples cannot adequately express the real distribution of the probability density function (i.e., sample impoverishment). This study presents a GPS receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) method based on a chaos particle swarm optimization particle filter (CPSO-PF) algorithm with a log likelihood ratio. The chaos sequence generates a set of chaotic variables, which are mapped to the interval of optimization variables to improve particle quality. This chaos perturbation overcomes the potential for the search to become trapped in a local optimum in the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Test statistics are configured based on a likelihood ratio, and satellite fault detection is then conducted by checking the consistency between the state estimate of the main PF and those of the auxiliary PFs. Based on GPS data, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can effectively detect and isolate satellite faults under conditions of non-Gaussian measurement noise. Moreover, the performance of the proposed novel method is better than that of RAIM based on the PF or PSO-PF algorithm.

Military/Civilian Mixed-Mode Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver (MMGR)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Peczalski, Andy; Kriz, Jeff; Carlson, Stephen G; Sampson, Steven J

2004-01-01

... AND T) MMGR objective of meeting pervasive defense system requirements and civilian needs for ultra-small GPS receiver technology is dependent in part upon the creation of multi- L-band reconfigurable...

The local ionospheric modeling by integration ground GPS observations and satellite altimetry data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Ali Sharifi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The free electrons in the ionosphere have a strong impact on the propagation of radio waves. When the signals pass through the ionosphere, both their group and phase velocity are disturbed. Several space geodetic techniques such as satellite altimetry, low Earth orbit (LEO satellite and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI can be used to model the total electron content. At present, the classical input data for development of ionospheric models are based on dual-frequency GPS observations, However, a major problem with this observation type is the nonuniform distribution of the terrestrial GPS reference stations with large gaps notably over the sea surface and ocean where only some single stations are located on islands, leading to lower the precision of the model over these areas. In these regions the dual-frequency satellite altimeters provide precise information about the parameters of the ionosphere. Combination of GPS and satellite altimetry observations allows making best use of the advantages of their different spatial and temporal distributions. In this study, the local ionosphere modeling was done by the combination of space geodetic observations using spherical Slepian function. The combination of the data from ground GPS observations over the western part of the USA and the altimetry mission Jason-2 was performed on the normal equation level in the least-square procedure and a least-square variance component estimation (LS-VCE was applied to take into account the different accuracy levels of the observations. The integrated ionosphere model is more accurate and more reliable than the results derived from the ground GPS observations over the oceans.

GPS-based system for satellite tracking and geodesy

Science.gov (United States)

Bertiger, Willy I.; Thornton, Catherine L.

1989-01-01

High-performance receivers and data processing systems developed for GPS are reviewed. The GPS Inferred Positioning System (GIPSY) and the Orbiter Analysis and Simulation Software (OASIS) are described. The OASIS software is used to assess GPS system performance using GIPSY for data processing. Consideration is given to parameter estimation for multiday arcs, orbit repeatability, orbit prediction, daily baseline repeatability, agreement with VLBI, and ambiguity resolution. Also, the dual-frequency Rogue receiver, which can track up to eight GPS satellites simultaneously, is discussed.

Design of DGPS Receiver Based on the Net of VRS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun XU

2014-02-01

Full Text Available To improve the positioning accuracy of the GPS system, the differential technology based on real time kinematic is utilized. Comparing with the conventional differential technology, the differential technology based on the virtual reference station can minimize the size of the rover station which is of great significance for the small system such as the mini-type unmanned vehicle, smart ammunitions and so on. Due to the high cost of the GPS receivers in the market which can’t be redeveloped and the limitation of their interface, it is not suitable for the application of the embedded system. In this paper, the receiver based on the aforementioned method is proposed to realize the real time differential positioning. Firstly, the concept of differential positioning based on real time kinematic is explained. Next, the composition of the virtual reference system and its working principle are introduced. And then, the design of differential GPS receiver based on the virtual reference system for rover station is illustrated. Finally, from the repeatability test, the result shows that by means of getting the differential corrections from the virtual reference station, the designed differential GPS receiver can correct the errors caused by ionosphere, troposphere and atmospheric refraction. Moreover, it can improve the positioning accuracy to centimeter-level. With low cost, small size and convertibility of the interface of the designed differential GPS receiver according to the embedded system, it will be popular in the future market.

GPS-based tracking system for TOPEX orbit determination

Science.gov (United States)

Melbourne, W. G.

1984-01-01

A tracking system concept is discussed that is based on the utilization of the constellation of Navstar satellites in the Global Positioning System (GPS). The concept involves simultaneous and continuous metric tracking of the signals from all visible Navstar satellites by approximately six globally distributed ground terminals and by the TOPEX spacecraft at 1300-km altitude. Error studies indicate that this system could be capable of obtaining decimeter position accuracies and, most importantly, around 5 cm in the radial component which is key to exploiting the full accuracy potential of the altimetric measurements for ocean topography. Topics covered include: background of the GPS, the precision mode for utilization of the system, past JPL research for using the GPS in precision applications, the present tracking system concept for high accuracy satellite positioning, and results from a proof-of-concept demonstration.

Flight Performance Evaluation of Three GPS Receivers for Sounding Rocket Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Barton; Diehl, James; Montenbruck, Oliver; Markgraf, Markus; Bauer, Frank (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

In preparation for the European Space Agency Maxus-4 mission, a sounding rocket test flight was carried out at Esrange, near Kiruna, Sweden on February 19, 2001 to validate existing ground facilities and range safety installations. Due to the absence of a dedicated scientific payload, the flight offered the opportunity to test multiple GPS receivers and assess their performance for the tracking of sounding rockets. The receivers included an Ashtech G12 HDMA receiver, a BAE (Canadian Marconi) Allstar receiver and a Mitel Orion receiver. All of them provide C/A code tracking on the L1 frequency to determine the user position and make use of Doppler measurements to derive the instantaneous velocity. Among the receivers, the G12 has been optimized for use under highly dynamic conditions and has earlier been flown successfully on NASA sounding rockets. The Allstar is representative of common single frequency receivers for terrestrial applications and received no particular modification, except for the disabling of the common altitude and velocity constraints that would otherwise inhibit its use for space application. The Orion receiver, finally, employs the same Mitel chipset as the Allstar, but has received various firmware modifications by DLR to safeguard it against signal losses and improve its tracking performance. While the two NASA receivers were driven by a common wrap-around antenna, the DLR experiment made use of a switchable antenna system comprising a helical antenna in the tip of the rocket and two blade antennas attached to the body of the vehicle. During the boost a peak acceleration of roughly l7g's was achieved which resulted in a velocity of about 1100 m/s at the end of the burn. At apogee, the rocket reached an altitude of over 80 km. A detailed analysis of the attained flight data is given together with a evaluation of different receiver designs and antenna concepts.

Performance Enhancement of Land Vehicle Positioning Using Multiple GPS Receivers in an Urban Area

OpenAIRE

Song, Jong-Hwa; Jee, Gyu-In

2016-01-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most widely used navigation system in land vehicle applications. In urban areas, the GPS suffers from insufficient signal strength, multipath propagation and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) errors, so it thus becomes difficult to obtain accurate and reliable position information. In this paper, an integration algorithm for multiple receivers is proposed to enhance the positioning performance of GPS for land vehicles in urban areas. The pseudoranges of multi...

Ground Control Point - Wireless System Network for UAV-based environmental monitoring applications

Science.gov (United States)

Mejia-Aguilar, Abraham

2016-04-01

In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have seen widespread civil applications including usage for survey and monitoring services in areas such as agriculture, construction and civil engineering, private surveillance and reconnaissance services and cultural heritage management. Most aerial monitoring services require the integration of information acquired during the flight (such as imagery) with ground-based information (such as GPS information or others) for improved ground truth validation. For example, to obtain an accurate 3D and Digital Elevation Model based on aerial imagery, it is necessary to include ground-based information of coordinate points, which are normally acquired with surveying methods based on Global Position Systems (GPS). However, GPS surveys are very time consuming and especially for longer time series of monitoring data repeated GPS surveys are necessary. In order to improve speed of data collection and integration, this work presents an autonomous system based on Waspmote technologies build on single nodes interlinked in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) star-topology for ground based information collection and later integration with surveying data obtained by UAV. Nodes are designed to be visible from the air, to resist extreme weather conditions with low-power consumption. Besides, nodes are equipped with GPS as well as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), accelerometer, temperature and soil moisture sensors and thus provide significant advantages in a broad range of applications for environmental monitoring. For our purpose, the WSN transmits the environmental data with 3G/GPRS to a database on a regular time basis. This project provides a detailed case study and implementation of a Ground Control Point System Network for UAV-based vegetation monitoring of dry mountain grassland in the Matsch valley, Italy.

Precise orbit determination for the shuttle radar topography mission using a new generation of GPS receiver

Science.gov (United States)

Bertiger, W.; Bar-Sever, Y.; Desai, S.; Duncan, C.; Haines, B.; Kuang, D.; Lough, M.; Reichert, A.; Romans, L.; Srinivasan, J.;

Current Direction and Velocity Measurements Using GPS Receivers Mounted on Floats at Tom Bevill Lock and Dam

Science.gov (United States)

2002-12-01

radio and batteries. The procedures outlined in this CHETN will concentrate on the Magellan GPS ProMARK X-CP receiver as it was used to collect...The Magellan GPS ProMARK X-CP is a small robust light receiver that can log 9 hr of both pseudorange and carrier phase satellite data for post...post- processing software, pseudorange GPS data recorded by the ProMARK X-CP can be post-processed differential to achieve 1-3 m (3.3-9.8 ft) horizontal

GPS phase scintillation during the geomagnetic storm of March 17, 2015: The relation to auroral electrojet currents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prikryl, Paul; Ghoddousi-Fard, Reza; Connors, Martin

and magnetometers. GPS phase scintillation index is computed for L1 signal sampled at the rate of 50 Hz by specialized GPS scintillation receivers of the Expanded Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (ECHAIN). To further extend the geographic coverage, the phasescintillation proxy index is obtained from......Ionospheric irregularities cause rapid fluctuations of radio wave amplitude and phase that candegrade GPS positional accuracy and affect performance of radio communication and navigation systems. The ionosphere becomes particularly disturbed during geomagnetic storms caused by impacts of coronal...... mass ejections compounded by high-speed plasma streams from coronal holes. Geomagnetic storm of March 17, 2015 was the largest in the current solar cycle. The high-latitude ionosphere dynamics is studied using arrays of ground-based instruments including GPS receivers, HF radars, ionosondes, riometers...

Performance Analysis of Low-Cost Single-Frequency GPS Receivers in Hydrographic Surveying

Science.gov (United States)

Elsobeiey, M.

2017-10-01

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has issued standards that provide the minimum requirements for different types of hydrographic surveys execution to collect data to be used to compile navigational charts. Such standards are usually updated from time to time to reflect new survey techniques and practices and must be achieved to assure both surface navigation safety and marine environment protection. Hydrographic surveys can be classified to four orders namely, special order, order 1a, order 1b, and order 2. The order of hydrographic surveys to use should be determined in accordance with the importance to the safety of navigation in the surveyed area. Typically, geodetic-grade dual-frequency GPS receivers are utilized for position determination during data collection in hydrographic surveys. However, with the evolution of high-sensitivity low-cost single-frequency receivers, it is very important to evaluate the performance of such receivers. This paper investigates the performance of low-cost single-frequency GPS receivers in hydrographic surveying applications. The main objective is to examine whether low-cost single-frequency receivers fulfil the IHO standards for hydrographic surveys. It is shown that the low-cost single-frequency receivers meet the IHO horizontal accuracy for all hydrographic surveys orders at any depth. However, the single-frequency receivers meet only order 2 requirements for vertical accuracy at depth more than or equal 100 m.

Dynamic strain and rotation ground motions of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake from dense high-rate GPS observations in Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, B. S.; Rau, R. J.; Lin, C. J.; Kuo, L. C.

2017-12-01

Seismic waves generated by the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku, Japan earthquake were well recorded by continuous GPS in Taiwan. Those GPS were operated in one hertz sampling rate and densely distributed in Taiwan Island. Those continuous GPS observations and the precise point positioning technique provide an opportunity to estimate spatial derivatives from absolute ground motions of this giant teleseismic event. In this study, we process and investigate more than one and half hundred high-rate GPS displacements and its spatial derivatives, thus strain and rotations, to compare to broadband seismic and rotational sensor observations. It is shown that continuous GPS observations are highly consistent with broadband seismic observations during its surface waves across Taiwan Island. Several standard Geodesy and seismic array analysis techniques for spatial gradients have been applied to those continuous GPS time series to determine its dynamic strain and rotation time histories. Results show that those derivate GPS vertical axis ground rotations are consistent to seismic array determined rotations. However, vertical rotation-rate observations from the R1 rotational sensors have low resolutions and could not compared with GPS observations for this special event. For its dese spatial distribution of GPS stations in Taiwan Island, not only wavefield gradient time histories at individual site was obtained but also 2-D spatial ground motion fields were determined in this study also. In this study, we will report the analyzed results of those spatial gradient wavefields of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake across Taiwan Island and discuss its geological implications.

Determination of global positioning system (GPS) receiver clock errors: impact on positioning accuracy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeh, Ta-Kang; Hwang, Cheinway; Xu, Guochang; Wang, Chuan-Sheng; Lee, Chien-Chih

2009-01-01

Enhancing the positioning precision is the primary pursuit of global positioning system (GPS) users. To achieve this goal, most studies have focused on the relationship between GPS receiver clock errors and GPS positioning precision. This study utilizes undifferentiated phase data to calculate GPS clock errors and to compare with the frequency of cesium clock directly, to verify estimated clock errors by the method used in this paper. The frequency stability calculated from this paper (the indirect method) and measured from the National Standard Time and Frequency Laboratory (NSTFL) of Taiwan (the direct method) match to 1.5 × 10 −12 (the value from this study was smaller than that from NSTFL), suggesting that the proposed technique has reached a certain level of quality. The built-in quartz clocks in the GPS receivers yield relative frequency offsets that are 3–4 orders higher than those of rubidium clocks. The frequency stability of the quartz clocks is on average two orders worse than that of the rubidium clock. Using the rubidium clock instead of the quartz clock, the horizontal and vertical positioning accuracies were improved by 26–78% (0.6–3.6 mm) and 20–34% (1.3–3.0 mm), respectively, for a short baseline. These improvements are 7–25% (0.3–1.7 mm) and 11% (1.7 mm) for a long baseline. Our experiments show that the frequency stability of the clock, rather than relative frequency offset, is the governing factor of positioning accuracy

Selected properties of GPS and Galileo-IOV receiver intersystem biases in multi-GNSS data processing

Science.gov (United States)

Paziewski, Jacek; Sieradzki, Rafał; Wielgosz, Paweł

2015-09-01

Two overlapping frequencies—L1/E1 and L5/E5a—in GPS and Galileo systems support the creation of mixed double-differences in a tightly combined relative positioning model. On the other hand, a tightly combined model makes it necessary to take into account receiver intersystem bias, which is the difference in receiver hardware delays. This bias is present in both carrier-phase and pseudorange observations. Earlier research showed that using a priori knowledge of earlier-calibrated ISB to correct GNSS observations has significant impact on ambiguity resolution and, therefore, precise positioning results. In previous research concerning ISB estimation conducted by the authors, small oscillations in phase ISB time series were detected. This paper investigates this effect present in the GPS-Galileo-IOV ISB time series. In particular, ISB short-term temporal stability and its dependence on the number of Galileo satellites used in the ISB estimation was examined. In this contribution we investigate the amplitude and frequency of the detected ISB time series oscillations as well as their potential source. The presented results are based on real observational data collected on a zero baseline with the use of different sets of GNSS receivers.

GPS phase scintillation at high latitudes during the geomagnetic storm of 17-18 March 2015

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prikryl, P.; Ghoddousi-Fard, R.; Weygand, J. M.

2016-01-01

The geomagnetic storm of 17–18 March 2015 was caused by the impacts of a coronal mass ejection and a high-speed plasma stream from a coronal hole. The high-latitude ionosphere dynamics is studied using arrays of ground-based instruments including GPS receivers, HF radars, ionosondes, riometers......, and magnetometers. The phase scintillation index is computed for signals sampled at a rate of up to 100 Hz by specialized GPS scintillation receivers supplemented by the phase scintillation proxy index obtained from geodetic-quality GPS data sampled at 1 Hz. In the context of solar wind coupling...... to the magnetosphere-ionosphere system, it is shown that GPS phase scintillation is primarily enhanced in the cusp, the tongue of ionization that is broken into patches drawn into the polar cap from the dayside storm-enhanced plasma density, and in the auroral oval. In this paper we examine the relation between...

FAA aircraft certification human factors and operations checklist for standalone GPS receivers (TSO C129 Class A)

Science.gov (United States)

1995-04-01

This document is a checklist designed to assist Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) certification personnel and global : positioning system (GPS) receiver manufacturers in the evaluation of the pilot-system interface characteristlcs of GPS : recieve...

A Pedestrian Dead Reckoning System Integrating Low-Cost MEMS Inertial Sensors and GPS Receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-feng Li

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The body-mounted inertial systems for pedestrian navigation do not require any preinstalled facilities and can run autonomously. The advantages over other technologies make it especially attractive for the applications such as first responders, military and consumer markets. The hardware platform integrating the low-cost, low-power and small-size MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems inertial sensors and GPS (global positioning system receiver is proposed. When the satellite signals are available, the location of the pedestrian is directly obtained from the GPS receiver. The inertial sensors are the complement of the GPS receiver in places where the GPS signals are not available, such as indoors, urban canyons and places under dense foliages. The height tracking is achieved by the barometer. The proposed PDR (pedestrian dead reckoning algorithm is real-timely implemented in the platform. The simple but effective step detection and step length estimation method are realized to reduce the computation and memory requirements on the microprocessor. A complementary filter is proposed to fuse the data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and digital compass for decreasing the heading error, which is the main error source in positioning. The reliability and accuracy of the proposed system is verified by field pedestrian walking tests in outdoors and indoors. The positioning error is less than 4% of the total traveled distance. The results indicate that the pedestrian dead reckoning system is able to provide satisfactory tracking performance.

Decadal changes of surface elevation over permafrost area estimated using reflected GPS signals

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lin; Larson, Kristine M.

2018-02-01

Conventional benchmark-based survey and Global Positioning System (GPS) have been used to measure surface elevation changes over permafrost areas, usually once or a few times a year. Here we use reflected GPS signals to measure temporal changes of ground surface elevation due to dynamics of the active layer and near-surface permafrost. Applying the GPS interferometric reflectometry technique to the multipath signal-to-noise ratio data collected by a continuously operating GPS receiver mounted deep in permafrost in Barrow, Alaska, we can retrieve the vertical distance between the antenna and reflecting surface. Using this unique kind of observables, we obtain daily changes of surface elevation during July and August from 2004 to 2015. Our results show distinct temporal variations at three timescales: regular thaw settlement within each summer, strong interannual variability that is characterized by a sub-decadal subsidence trend followed by a brief uplift trend, and a secular subsidence trend of 0.26 ± 0.02 cm year-1 during 2004 and 2015. This method provides a new way to fully utilize data from continuously operating GPS sites in cold regions for studying dynamics of the frozen ground consistently and sustainably over a long time.

Low-cost digital GPS receiver with software carrier detection

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, M. H.

1988-08-01

The satellite navigation system global positioning system (GPS) will play a major role in the field of navigation. It will be able to compete with all previously existing radio navigation systems. Low-cost receivers will be built for a number of civilian users, such as general aviation, sea and land navigation. To permit production at low cost for the civil market, a new technique for a C/A (course and acquisition) code receiver has been developed. All the signal detecting and processing is carried out with the digital signal processing software in a Texas Instruments TMS 320C10. The advantage of this method is that complex functions can be effected in a computer program instead of in analog or digital circuits. This reduces the costs of the parts used in the receiver and also avoids calibration. Taken together, these two features greatly reduce the price of a navigation set. This paper discusses the underlying principles leading to this new receiver.

Application and Optimization of Kalman Filter for Baseband Signal Processing of GPS Receivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

He Yanpin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available High sensitivity tracking in GPS receiver is required in many weak signal circumstances. The key of improving sensitivity is the optimization of the loop filter in tracking. As Kalman filter is the most optimized linear filter, it is used in many engineering fields. This article introduced the application of Kalman filter as the loop filter of the carrier tracking loop in GPS receiver, to improve tracking sensitivity. The traditional loop filter is replaced. Simulation results show that the new structure improves the tracking sensitivity by 6dB and can make the tracking loop more robust when the navigation signal is languishing. The optimization of theKalman filter is also analysed, which further improves the sensitivity by 4dB.

An evaluation of a UAV guidance system with consumer grade GPS receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Abigail Stella

Remote sensing has been demonstrated an important tool in agricultural and natural resource management and research applications, however there are limitations that exist with traditional platforms (i.e., hand held sensors, linear moves, vehicle mounted, airplanes, remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellites). Rapid technological advances in electronics, computers, software applications, and the aerospace industry have dramatically reduced the cost and increased the availability of remote sensing technologies. Remote sensing imagery vary in spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions and are available from numerous providers. Appendix A presented results of a test project that acquired high-resolution aerial photography with a RPV to map the boundary of a 0.42 km2 fire area. The project mapped the boundaries of the fire area from a mosaic of the aerial images collected and compared this with ground-based measurements. The project achieved a 92.4% correlation between the aerial assessment and the ground truth data. Appendix B used multi-objective analysis to quantitatively assess the tradeoffs between different sensor platform attributes to identify the best overall technology. Experts were surveyed to identify the best overall technology at three different pixel sizes. Appendix C evaluated the positional accuracy of a relatively low cost UAV designed for high resolution remote sensing of small areas in order to determine the positional accuracy of sensor readings. The study evaluated the accuracy and uncertainty of a UAV flight route with respect to the programmed waypoints and of the UAV's GPS position, respectively. In addition, the potential displacement of sensor data was evaluated based on (1) GPS measurements on board the aircraft and (2) the autopilot's circuit board with 3-axis gyros and accelerometers (i.e., roll, pitch, and yaw). The accuracies were estimated based on a 95% confidence interval or similar methods. The

Determining of the phase centre of the real position of GPS receiver antenna

OpenAIRE

Eva Pisoňová; Jozef Ornth; Vladimír Sedlák

2007-01-01

By continued improvement of measurement methods producers of GPS (Global Positioning System) apparatus will be maybe once upon a time effective to minimize a difference of the phase centre from the geometrical one, because it is probably impossible to make the GPS receiver antenna with zero eccentricity of the phase centre. In the last analysis, we do not prevent from a manufacturing error by any way in eliminate of the possible measurement errors.In the paper there is presented the measureme...

In-flight performance analysis of MEMS GPS receiver and its application to precise orbit determination of APOD-A satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Defeng; Liu, Ye; Yi, Bin; Cao, Jianfeng; Li, Xie

2017-12-01

An experimental satellite mission termed atmospheric density detection and precise orbit determination (APOD) was developed by China and launched on 20 September 2015. The micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) GPS receiver provides the basis for precise orbit determination (POD) within the range of a few decimetres. The in-flight performance of the MEMS GPS receiver was assessed. The average number of tracked GPS satellites is 10.7. However, only 5.1 GPS satellites are available for dual-frequency navigation because of the loss of many L2 observations at low elevations. The variations in the multipath error for C1 and P2 were estimated, and the maximum multipath error could reach up to 0.8 m. The average code noises are 0.28 m (C1) and 0.69 m (P2). Using the MEMS GPS receiver, the orbit of the APOD nanosatellite (APOD-A) was precisely determined. Two types of orbit solutions are proposed: a dual-frequency solution and a single-frequency solution. The antenna phase center variations (PCVs) and code residual variations (CRVs) were estimated, and the maximum value of the PCVs is 4.0 cm. After correcting the antenna PCVs and CRVs, the final orbit precision for the dual-frequency and single-frequency solutions were 7.71 cm and 12.91 cm, respectively, validated using the satellite laser ranging (SLR) data, which were significantly improved by 3.35 cm and 25.25 cm. The average RMS of the 6-h overlap differences in the dual-frequency solution between two consecutive days in three dimensions (3D) is 4.59 cm. The MEMS GPS receiver is the Chinese indigenous onboard receiver, which was successfully used in the POD of a nanosatellite. This study has important reference value for improving the MEMS GPS receiver and its application in other low Earth orbit (LEO) nanosatellites.

A Geometry-Based Cycle Slip Detection and Repair Method with Time-Differenced Carrier Phase (TDCP for a Single Frequency Global Position System (GPS + BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS Receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuang Qian

2016-12-01

Full Text Available As the field of high-precision applications based on carriers continues to expand, the development of low-cost, small, modular receivers and their application in diverse scenarios and situations with complex data quality has increased the requirements of carrier-phase data preprocessing. A new geometry-based cycle slip detection and repair method based on Global Position System (GPS + BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS is proposed. The method uses a Time-differenced Carrier Phase (TDCP model, which eliminates the Inner-System Bias (ISB between GPS and BDS, and it is conducive to the effective combination of GPS and BDS. It avoids the interference of the noise of the pseudo-range with cycle slip detection, while the cycle slips are preserved as integers. This method does not limit the receiver frequency number, and it is applicable to single-frequency data. The process is divided into two steps to detect and repair cycle slip. The first step is cycle slip detection, using the Improved Local Analysis Method (ILAM to find satellites that have cycle slips; The second step is to repair the cycle slips, including estimating the float solution of changes in ambiguities at the satellites that have cycle slips with the least squares method and the integer solution of the cycle slips by rounding. In the process of rounding, in addition to the success probability, a decimal test is carried out to validate the result. Finally, experiments with filed test data are carried out to prove the effectiveness of this method. The results show that the detectable cycle slips number with GPS + BDS is much greater than that with GPS. The method can also detect the non-integer outliers while fixing the cycle slip. The maximum decimal bias in repair is less than that with GPS. It implies that this method takes full advantages of multi-system.

Equipamento microprocessado para geração de sinal de correção diferencial, em tempo real, para GPS Microprocessor-based equipment for real time generation of differential GPS correction signal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thales C. B. Lima

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um equipamento microprocessado, de baixo custo, para geração de sinal de correção diferencial para GPS, em tempo real, e configuração e supervisão do receptor GPS base. O equipamento desenvolvido possui um microcontrolador dedicado, display alfanumérico, teclado multifunção para configuração e operação do sistema e interfaces de comunicação. O circuito eletrônico do equipamento tem a função de receber as informações do GPS base e interpretá-las, transformando-as numa sentença no protocolo RTCM SC-104. O software do microcontrolador é responsável pela conversão do sinal recebido pelo GPS base, do formato proprietário para o protocolo RTCM SC-104. A placa processadora principal possui duas interfaces seriais padrão RS-232C. Uma delas tem a função de configuração e leitura das informações geradas pelo receptor GPS base. A outra atua somente como saída, enviando o sinal de correção diferencial. O projeto do equipamento microprocessado mostrou que é possível a construção de uma estação privada para a geração do sinal de correção diferencial, de baixo custo.This work presents the development of low cost microprocessor-based equipment for generation of differential GPS correction signal, in real time, and configuration and supervision of the GPS base. The developed equipment contains a dedicated microcontroller connected to the GPS receiver, alphanumeric display and multifunction keyboard for configuration and operation of the system and communication interfaces. The electronic circuit has the function of receiving the information from GPS base; interpret them, converting the sentence in the RTCM SC-104 protocol. The microcontroller software makes the conversion of the signal received by the GPS base from the specific format to RTCM SC-104 protocol. The processing main board has two serials RS-232C standard interfaces. One of them is used for configuration and

MULTI-GNSS RECEIVER FOR AEROSPACE NAVIGATION AND POSITIONING APPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. R. Peres

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The upcoming Galileo system opens a wide range of new opportunities in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS market. However, the characteristics of the future GNSS signals require the development of new GNSS receivers. In the frame of the REAGE project, DEIMOS and ISEL have developed a GNSS receiver targeted for aerospace applications, supporting current and future GPS L1 and Galileo E1 signals, based on commercial (or, in the furthest extent, industrial grade components. Although the REAGE project aimed at space applications, the REAGE receiver is also applicable to many terrestrial applications (ground or airborne, such as Georeferencing and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV navigation. This paper presents the architecture and features of the REAGE receiver, as well as some results of the validation campaign with GPS L1 and Galileo E1 signals.

Android App Based Vehicle Tracking Using GPS And GSM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica Saini

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Global Positioning System GPS is used in numerous applications in todays world. A real time vehicle tracking system using the GPS technology is proposed in this paper. The project Android App based Vehicle Tracking Using GSM AND GPRS mainly focuses in tracking the location of the vehicle on which the device has been installed. It will then send the data in the form of latitude and longitude coordinates through SMS on the users mobile where the coordinates will be plotted in the Android app automatically. Initially the GPS installed in the device takes input from the satellite and stores it in the microcontrollers buffer. In order to track the vehicle the mobile user has to call on the SIM number that is registered in the GSM module of the device. Once the call is received the device authenticates the calling number. If authenticated the location of the vehicle is sent to the registered mobile number in the form of SMS. After sending the message the GSM is deactivated and the GPS is activated again. The coordinates of the location received in the SMS can be viewed on the android app. The hardware part described in the paper comprises of GPRS GSM module LCD to view the coordinates ATMega Microcontroller MAX 232 Arduino RS232 and relay.

Development of Soil Compaction Analysis Software (SCAN Integrating a Low Cost GPS Receiver and Compactometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongha Lee

2012-02-01

Full Text Available A software for soil compaction analysis (SCAN has been developed for evaluating the compaction states using the data from the GPS as well as a compactometer attached on the roller. The SCAN is distinguished from other previous software for intelligent compaction (IC in that it can use the results from various types of GPS positioning methods, and it also has an optimal structure for remotely managing the large amounts of data gathered from numerous rollers. For this, several methods were developed: (1 improving the accuracy of low cost GPS receiver’s positioning results; (2 modeling the trajectory of a moving roller using a GPS receiver’s results and linking it with the data from the compactometer; and (3 extracting the information regarding the compaction states of the ground from the modeled trajectory, using spatial analysis methods. The SCAN was verified throughout various field compaction tests, and it has been confirmed that it can be a very effective tool in evaluating field compaction states.

Soil Moisture Retrieval Based on GPS Signal Strength Attenuation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Koch

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Soil moisture (SM is a highly relevant variable for agriculture, the emergence of floods and a key variable in the global energy and water cycle. In the last years, several satellite missions have been launched especially to derive large-scale products of the SM dynamics on the Earth. However, in situ validation data are often scarce. We developed a new method to retrieve SM of bare soil from measurements of low-cost GPS (Global Positioning System sensors that receive the freely available GPS L1-band signals. The experimental setup of three GPS sensors was installed at a bare soil field at the German Weather Service (DWD in Munich for almost 1.5 years. Two GPS antennas were installed within the soil column at a depth of 10 cm and one above the soil. SM was successfully retrieved based on GPS signal strength losses through the integral soil volume. The results show high agreement with measured and modelled SM validation data. Due to its non-destructive, cheap and low power setup, GPS sensor networks could also be used for potential applications in remote areas, aiming to serve as satellite validation data and to support the fields of agriculture, water supply, flood forecasting and climate change.

Communication plan of GPS monitoring system based on the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Xiangpeng; Liu, Zhenan; Bao, Yuanlu

2005-11-01

In GPS monitoring system, wireless communications network is necessary to keep base station in contact with mobile stations. Public communications network and personal communications network can't work well all the time. In this article, an economical communications network that can be competent for communication of GPS monitoring system is introduced. Personal communications network is used in this GPS monitoring system. In order to enlarge the coverage area and to expand the capacity of the personal communications network, the concept of cellular radio system is introduced. Because only the non-adjacent cells can use the same frequency channel, handoff of mobile station is extremely important when it goes in another cell. The mobile station of the system will know its own longitude and latitude by receiving data from GPS satellites all the time, so it can change its working frequency channel according to its position. Internet, instead of personal communication cable, is used to connect the base stations. So the communications network has the advantage of public communications network and personal one.

A statistical study of GPS loss of lock caused by ionospheric disturbances

Science.gov (United States)

Tsugawa, T.; Nishioka, M.; Otsuka, Y.; Saito, A.; Kato, H.; Kubota, M.; Nagatsuma, T.; Murata, K. T.

2010-12-01

Two-dimensional total electron content (TEC) maps have been derived from ground-based GPS receiver networks and applied to studies of various ionospheric disturbances since mid-1990s. For the purpose of monitoring and researching ionospheric disturbances which can degrade GNSS navigations and cause loss-of-lock on GNSS signals, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan has developed TEC maps over Japan using the dense GPS network, GEONET, which consists of more than 1,200 GPS receivers and is operated by Geophysical Survey Institute, Japan. Currently, we are providing two-dimensional maps of absolute TEC, detrended TEC with 60, 30, 15-minute window, rate of TEC change index (ROTI), and loss-of-lock (LOL) on GPS signal over Japan. These data and quick-look maps since 1997 are archived and available in the website of NICT (http://wdc.nict.go.jp/IONO/). Recently developed GPS receiver networks in North America and Europe make it possible to obtain regional TEC maps with higher spatial and temporal resolution than the global weighted mean TEC maps in the IONEX format provided by several institutes such as International GNSS Service (IGS) and another global TEC map provided by MIT Haystack observatory. Recently, we have also developed the regional TEC maps over North America and Europe. These data and quick-look maps are also available in the NICT website. In this presentation, we will show some severe ionospheric events such as high latitude storm-time plasma bubbles and storm enhanced density events observed over Japan using the GPS-TEC database. These events cause loss-of-lock of GPS signals and large GPS positioning errors. We also discuss about the statistical characteristics of LOL on the GPS signal caused by ionospheric disturbances.

Precise GPS orbits for geodesy

Science.gov (United States)

Colombo, Oscar L.

1994-01-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has become, in recent years, the main space-based system for surveying and navigation in many military, commercial, cadastral, mapping, and scientific applications. Better receivers, interferometric techniques (DGPS), and advances in post-processing methods have made possible to position fixed or moving receivers with sub-decimeter accuracies in a global reference frame. Improved methods for obtaining the orbits of the GPS satellites have played a major role in these achievements; this paper gives a personal view of the main developments in GPS orbit determination.

Water vapour tomography using GPS phase observations: Results from the ESCOMPTE experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, T.; Gradinarsky, L.; Elgered, G.

2007-10-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) tomography is a technique for estimating the 3-D structure of the atmospheric water vapour using data from a dense local network of GPS receivers. Several current methods utilize estimates of slant wet delays between the GPS satellites and the receivers on the ground, which are difficult to obtain with millimetre accuracy from the GPS observations. We present results of applying a new tomographic method to GPS data from the Expériance sur site pour contraindre les modèles de pollution atmosphérique et de transport d'emissions (ESCOMPTE) experiment in southern France. This method does not rely on any slant wet delay estimates, instead it uses the GPS phase observations directly. We show that the estimated wet refractivity profiles estimated by this method is on the same accuracy level or better compared to other tomographic methods. The results are in agreement with earlier simulations, for example the profile information is limited above 4 km.

GPS satellite and receiver instrumental biases estimation using least ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

PA) landings. Therefore, GPS augmentation sys- tem is required to provide users with orbit, clock, and ionosphere corrections. The first space-based augmentation system .... detailed structure of the transversal filter consists of 3 basic weight ...

Detection test of wireless network signal strength and GPS positioning signal in underground pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Li; Zhang, Yunwei; Chen, Ling

2018-03-01

In order to solve the problem of selecting positioning technology for inspection robot in underground pipeline environment, the wireless network signal strength and GPS positioning signal testing are carried out in the actual underground pipeline environment. Firstly, the strength variation of the 3G wireless network signal and Wi-Fi wireless signal provided by China Telecom and China Unicom ground base stations are tested, and the attenuation law of these wireless signals along the pipeline is analyzed quantitatively and described. Then, the receiving data of the GPS satellite signal in the pipeline are tested, and the attenuation of GPS satellite signal under underground pipeline is analyzed. The testing results may be reference for other related research which need to consider positioning in pipeline.

GPS receiver phase biases estimable in PPP-RTK networks: dynamic characterization and impact analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Baocheng; Liu, Teng; Yuan, Yunbin

2018-06-01

The integer ambiguity resolution enabled precise point positioning (PPP-RTK) has been proven advantageous in a wide range of applications. The realization of PPP-RTK concerns the isolation of satellite phase biases (SPBs) and other corrections from a network of Global Positioning System (GPS) reference receivers. This is generally based on Kalman filter in order to achieve real-time capability, in which proper modeling of the dynamics of various types of unknowns remains crucial. This paper seeks to gain insight into how to reasonably deal with the dynamic behavior of the estimable receiver phase biases (RPBs). Using dual-frequency GPS data collected at six colocated receivers over days 50-120 of 2015, we analyze the 30-s epoch-by-epoch estimates of L1 and wide-lane (WL) RPBs for each receiver pair. The dynamics observed in these estimates are a combined effect of three factors, namely the random measurement noise, the multipath and the ambient temperature. The first factor can be overcome by turning to a real-time filter and the second by considering the use of a sidereal filtering. The third factor has an effect only on the WL, and this effect appears to be linear. After accounting for these three factors, the low-pass-filtered, sidereal-filtered, epoch-by-epoch estimates of L1 RPBs follow a random walk process, whereas those of WL RPBs are constant over time. Properly modeling the dynamics of RPBs is vital, as it ensures the best convergence of the Kalman-filtered, between-satellite single-differenced SPB estimates to their correct values and, in turn, shortens the time-to-first-fix at user side.

GPS receiver phase biases estimable in PPP-RTK networks: dynamic characterization and impact analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Baocheng; Liu, Teng; Yuan, Yunbin

2017-11-01

The integer ambiguity resolution enabled precise point positioning (PPP-RTK) has been proven advantageous in a wide range of applications. The realization of PPP-RTK concerns the isolation of satellite phase biases (SPBs) and other corrections from a network of Global Positioning System (GPS) reference receivers. This is generally based on Kalman filter in order to achieve real-time capability, in which proper modeling of the dynamics of various types of unknowns remains crucial. This paper seeks to gain insight into how to reasonably deal with the dynamic behavior of the estimable receiver phase biases (RPBs). Using dual-frequency GPS data collected at six colocated receivers over days 50-120 of 2015, we analyze the 30-s epoch-by-epoch estimates of L1 and wide-lane (WL) RPBs for each receiver pair. The dynamics observed in these estimates are a combined effect of three factors, namely the random measurement noise, the multipath and the ambient temperature. The first factor can be overcome by turning to a real-time filter and the second by considering the use of a sidereal filtering. The third factor has an effect only on the WL, and this effect appears to be linear. After accounting for these three factors, the low-pass-filtered, sidereal-filtered, epoch-by-epoch estimates of L1 RPBs follow a random walk process, whereas those of WL RPBs are constant over time. Properly modeling the dynamics of RPBs is vital, as it ensures the best convergence of the Kalman-filtered, between-satellite single-differenced SPB estimates to their correct values and, in turn, shortens the time-to-first-fix at user side.

Development of GPS data remote retrieval system using wireless LAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koichiro Doi

2012-11-01

Full Text Available A remote retrieval system, using a wireless LAN, was developed to retrieve dual-frequency GPS data. The system consists of a ground observation unit (comprising a dual-frequency GPS logger and a data transmission unit and a data retrieval unit. In this system, we use the ZigBee communication protocol to transmit control commands (2.4 GHz, 250 Kbps and a wireless LAN communication to transmit GPS data (2.4 GHz, 54 Mbps. Data of every 30 seconds to transmit to the data retrieval unit are re-sampled from 1-second data at 00 UT each day. We conducted three data-transmission tests with the system: (1 a ground data retrieval test, (2 a data retrieval test from the atmosphere of a few hundred meters high using a small unmanned aircraft, and (3 actual GPS-data retrieval tests from a GPS buoy deployed on sea ice at Nisi-no-ura Cove, Syowa Station, Antarctica. In test (1, we successfully received all the data from the ground observation unit when situated at distances of less than 400 m from the data retrieval unit. In test (2, we obtained approximately 24.5 MB of data from the aircraft at heights of less than 250 m. In test (3, we obtained approximately 23.5 MB of data from the GPS buoy within 10 minutes. The proposed system has the advantage of enabling continuous measurements without aborting the measurement at the data retrievals.

GPS test range mission planning

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Iris P.; Hancock, Thomas P.

The principal features of the Test Range User Mission Planner (TRUMP), a PC-resident tool designed to aid in deploying and utilizing GPS-based test range assets, are reviewed. TRUMP features time history plots of time-space-position information (TSPI); performance based on a dynamic GPS/inertial system simulation; time history plots of TSPI data link connectivity; digital terrain elevation data maps with user-defined cultural features; and two-dimensional coverage plots of ground-based test range assets. Some functions to be added during the next development phase are discussed.

GPS-Based Highway Performance Monitoring Performance Monitoring Using GPS: Characterization of Travel Speeds on any Roadway Segment

OpenAIRE

Kornhauser, Alain L.

2012-01-01

Presented is a characterization of travel speed on any roadway segment based on probe vehicle position data. Most of the characterization is based position data obtained from GPS receivers because of their high precision and their increasing availability. Comparison is also made to Qualcomm’s Automatic Satellite Position Reporting (QASPR) system because of its long history (10+ years) of extensive use by the long-haul trucking industry. Described is the use of these data in conjunction with d...

A comparison between TEC obtained by the TOPEX/Poseidon borne GPS receiver and TEC from the Gallagher model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciraolo, L.

2003-01-01

JPL archived RINEX files relative to the GPS receiver of TOPEX at the site bodhi.jplnasa.gov/pub/topex/rinex for years 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997. The GPS receiver on board was intended as a tool for precise orbitography, but from such data it is possible to extract Differential Phase and Group Delays providing with a biased estimate of slant Total Electron Content (TEC) from TOPEX to GPS. This means a very useful information about TEC in an area above 1340 up to 20000 km, or high topside and plasmasphere. It was possible to get some estimate of the minimum magnitude of slants that can be observed in such region. A comparison with slants obtained by the Gallagher was carried out, with interesting results

A comparison between TEC obtained by the TOPEX/Poseidon borne GPS receiver and TEC from the Gallagher model

CERN Document Server

Ciraolo, L

2002-01-01

JPL archived RINEX files relative to the GPS receiver of TOPEX at the site bodhi.jplnasa.gov/pub/topex/rinex for years 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997. The GPS receiver on board was intended as a tool for precise orbitography, but from such data it is possible to extract Differential Phase and Group Delays providing with a biased estimate of slant Total Electron Content (TEC) from TOPEX to GPS. This means a very useful information about TEC in an area above 1340 up to 20000 km, or high topside and plasmasphere. It was possible to get some estimate of the minimum magnitude of slants that can be observed in such region. A comparison with slants obtained by the Gallagher was carried out, with interesting results.

Retrieval Assimilation and Modeling of Atmospheric Water Vapor from Ground- and Space-Based GPS Networks: Investigation of the Global and Regional Hydrological Cycles

Science.gov (United States)

Dickey, Jean O.

1999-01-01

Uncertainty over the response of the atmospheric hydrological cycle (particularly the distribution of water vapor and cloudiness) to anthropogenic forcing is a primary source of doubt in current estimates of global climate sensitivity, which raises severe difficulties in evaluating its likely societal impact. Fortunately, a variety of advanced techniques and sensors are beginning to shed new light on the atmospheric hydrological cycle. One of the most promising makes use of the sensitivity of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to the thermodynamic state, and in particular the water vapor content, of the atmosphere through which the radio signals propagate. Our strategy to derive the maximum benefit for hydrological studies from the rapidly increasing GPS data stream will proceed in three stages: (1) systematically analyze and archive quality-controlled retrievals using state-of-the-art techniques; (2) employ both currently available and innovative assimilation procedures to incorporate these determinations into advanced regional and global atmospheric models and assess their effects; and (3) apply the results to investigate selected scientific issues of relevance to regional and global hydrological studies. An archive of GPS-based estimation of total zenith delay (TZD) data and water vapor where applicable has been established with expanded automated quality control. The accuracy of the GPS estimates is being monitored; the investigation of systematic errors is ongoing using comparisons with water vapor radiometers. Meteorological packages have been implemented. The accuracy and utilization of the TZD estimates has been improved by implementing a troposphere gradient model. GPS-based gradients have been validated as real atmospheric moisture gradients, establishing a link between the estimated gradients and the passage of weather fronts. We have developed a generalized ray tracing inversion scheme that can be used to analyze occultation data acquired from space

Empirical model for mean temperature for Indian zone and estimation of precipitable water vapor from ground based GPS measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Suresh Raju

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Estimation of precipitable water (PW in the atmosphere from ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS essentially involves modeling the zenith hydrostatic delay (ZHD in terms of surface Pressure (P_s and subtracting it from the corresponding values of zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD to estimate the zenith wet (non-hydrostatic delay (ZWD. This further involves establishing an appropriate model connecting PW and ZWD, which in its simplest case assumed to be similar to that of ZHD. But when the temperature variations are large, for the accurate estimate of PW the variation of the proportionality constant connecting PW and ZWD is to be accounted. For this a water vapor weighted mean temperature (T_m has been defined by many investigations, which has to be modeled on a regional basis. For estimating PW over the Indian region from GPS data, a region specific model for T_m in terms of surface temperature (T_s is developed using the radiosonde measurements from eight India Meteorological Department (IMD stations spread over the sub-continent within a latitude range of 8.5°–32.6° N. Following a similar procedure T_m-based models are also evolved for each of these stations and the features of these site-specific models are compared with those of the region-specific model. Applicability of the region-specific and site-specific T_m-based models in retrieving PW from GPS data recorded at the IGS sites Bangalore and Hyderabad, is tested by comparing the retrieved values of PW with those estimated from the altitude profile of water vapor measured using radiosonde. The values of ZWD estimated at 00:00 UTC and 12:00 UTC are used to test the validity of the models by estimating the PW using the models and comparing it with those obtained from radiosonde data. The region specific T_m-based model is found to be in par with if not better than a

Validation of GPS atmospheric water vapor with WVR data in satellite tracking mode

Science.gov (United States)

Shangguan, M.; Heise, S.; Bender, M.; Dick, G.; Ramatschi, M.; Wickert, J.

2015-01-01

Slant-integrated water vapor (SIWV) data derived from GPS STDs (slant total delays), which provide the spatial information on tropospheric water vapor, have a high potential for assimilation to weather models or for nowcasting or reconstruction of the 3-D humidity field with tomographic techniques. Therefore, the accuracy of GPS STD is important, and independent observations are needed to estimate the quality of GPS STD. In 2012 the GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences) started to operate a microwave radiometer in the vicinity of the Potsdam GPS station. The water vapor content along the line of sight between a ground station and a GPS satellite can be derived from GPS data and directly measured by a water vapor radiometer (WVR) at the same time. In this study we present the validation results of SIWV observed by a ground-based GPS receiver and a WVR. The validation covers 184 days of data with dry and wet humidity conditions. SIWV data from GPS and WVR generally show good agreement with a mean bias of -0.4 kg m-2 and an rms (root mean square) of 3.15 kg m-2. The differences in SIWV show an elevation dependent on an rms of 7.13 kg m-2 below 15° but of 1.76 kg m-2 above 15°. Nevertheless, this elevation dependence is not observed regarding relative deviations. The relation between the differences and possible influencing factors (elevation angles, pressure, temperature and relative humidity) are analyzed in this study. Besides the elevation, dependencies between the atmospheric humidity conditions, temperature and the differences in SIWV are found.

A GPS-based Real-time Road Traffic Monitoring System

Science.gov (United States)

Tanti, Kamal Kumar

In recent years, monitoring systems are astonishingly inclined towards ever more automatic; reliably interconnected, distributed and autonomous operation. Specifically, the measurement, logging, data processing and interpretation activities may be carried out by separate units at different locations in near real-time. The recent evolution of mobile communication devices and communication technologies has fostered a growing interest in the GIS & GPS-based location-aware systems and services. This paper describes a real-time road traffic monitoring system based on integrated mobile field devices (GPS/GSM/IOs) working in tandem with advanced GIS-based application software providing on-the-fly authentications for real-time monitoring and security enhancement. The described system is developed as a fully automated, continuous, real-time monitoring system that employs GPS sensors and Ethernet and/or serial port communication techniques are used to transfer data between GPS receivers at target points and a central processing computer. The data can be processed locally or remotely based on the requirements of client’s satisfaction. Due to the modular architecture of the system, other sensor types may be supported with minimal effort. Data on the distributed network & measurements are transmitted via cellular SIM cards to a Control Unit, which provides for post-processing and network management. The Control Unit may be remotely accessed via an Internet connection. The new system will not only provide more consistent data about the road traffic conditions but also will provide methods for integrating with other Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). For communication between the mobile device and central monitoring service GSM technology is used. The resulting system is characterized by autonomy, reliability and a high degree of automation.

Stability Analysis of Receiver ISB for BDS/GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, H.; Hao, J. M.; Tian, Y. G.; Yu, H. L.; Zhou, Y. L.

2017-07-01

Stability analysis of receiver ISB (Inter-System Bias) is essential for understanding the feature of ISB as well as the ISB modeling and prediction. In order to analyze the long-term stability of ISB, the data from MGEX (Multi-GNSS Experiment) covering 3 weeks, which are from 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively, are processed with the precise satellite clock and orbit products provided by Wuhan University and GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ). Using the ISB calculated by BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System)/GPS (Global Positioning System) combined PPP (Precise Point Positioning), the daily stability and weekly stability of ISB are investigated. The experimental results show that the diurnal variation of ISB is stable, and the average of daily standard deviation is about 0.5 ns. The weekly averages and standard deviations of ISB vary greatly in different years. The weekly averages of ISB are relevant to receiver types. There is a system bias between ISB calculated from the precise products provided by Wuhan University and GFZ. In addition, the system bias of the weekly average ISB of different stations is consistent with each other.

Norwegian GPs' participation in multidisciplinary meetings: A register-based study from 2007

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gjesdal Sturla

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background An increasing number of patients with chronic disorders and a more complex health service demand greater interdisciplinary collaboration in Primary Health Care. The aim of this study was therefore to identify factors related to general practitioners (GPs, their list populations and practice municipalities associated with a high rate of GP participation in multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs. Methods A national cross-sectional register-based study of Norwegian general practice was conducted, including data on all GPs in the Regular GP Scheme in 2007 (N = 3179. GPs were grouped into quartiles based on the annual number of MDMs per patient on their list, and the groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse associations between high rates of participation and characteristics of the GP, their list population and practice municipality. Results On average, GPs attended 30 MDMs per year. The majority of the meetings concerned patients in the age groups 20-59 years. Psychological disorders were the motivation for 53% of the meetings. In a multivariate logistic regression model, the following characteristics predicted a high rate of MDM attendance: younger age of the GP, with an OR of 1.6 (95% CI 1.2-2.1 for GPs Conclusions Psychological problems including substance addiction gave grounds for the majority of MDMs. GPs with a high proportion of consultations with such problems also participated more frequently in MDMs. List size was negatively associated with the rate of MDMs, while a more disadvantaged list population was positively associated. Working in smaller organisational units seemed to facilitate cooperation between different professionals. There may be a generation shift towards more frequent participation in interdisciplinary work among younger GPs.

Evaluation of the use of low-cost GPS receivers in the autonomous guidance of agricultural tractors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alonso-Garcia, S.; Gomez-Gil, J.; Arribas, J. I.

2011-07-01

This paper evaluates the use of low-cost global positioning system (GPS) receivers in the autonomous guidance of agricultural tractors. An autonomous guidance system was installed in a 6400 John Deere agricultural tractor. A low cost GPS receiver was used as positioning sensor. Three different control laws were implemented in order to evaluate the autonomous guidance of the tractor with the low-cost receiver. The guidance was experimentally tested with the tracking of straight trajectories and with the step response. The total guidance error was obtained from the receiver accuracy and from the guidance error. For the evaluation of the receivers accuracy, positioning data from several low cost receivers were recorded and analyzed. For the evaluation of the guidance error, tests were performed with each control law at three different speeds. The conclusions obtained were that relative accuracy of low-cost receivers decreases with the time; that for an interval lower than 15 min, the error usually remains below 1 m; that all the control laws have a similar behavior and it is conditioned by the control law adjustment; that automatic guidance with low cost receivers is possible with speeds that went up to 9 km h{sup -}1; and finally, that the total error in the guidance is mainly determined by the receivers accuracy. (Author) 46 refs.

Statistical characteristics of L1 carrier phase observations from four low-cost GPS receivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cederholm, Jens Peter

2010-01-01

Statistical properties of L1 carrier phase observations from four low-cost GPS receivers are investigated through a case study. The observations are collected on a zero baseline with a frequency of 1 Hz and processed with a double difference model. The carrier phase residuals from an ambiguity...

Characterization of Personal Privacy Devices (PPD) radiation pattern impact on the ground and airborne segments of the local area augmentation system (LAAS) at GPS L1 frequency

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhateeb, Abualkair M. Khair

Personal Privacy Devices (PPDs) are radio-frequency transmitters that intentionally transmit in a frequency band used by other devices for the intent purpose of denying service to those devices. These devices have shown the potential to interfere with the ground and air sub-systems of the Local Area Augmentation Systems (LAAS), a GPS-based navigation aids at commercial airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is concerned by the potential impact of these devices to GPS navigation aids at airports and has commenced an activity to determine the severity of this threat. In support of this situation, the research in this dissertation has been conducted under (FAA) Cooperative Agreement 2011-G-012, to investigate the impact of these devices on the LAAS. In order to investigate the impact of PPDs Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) on the ground and air sub-systems of the LAAS, the work presented in phase one of this research is intended to characterize the vehicle's impact on the PPD's Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP). A study was conceived in this research to characterize PPD performance by examining the on-vehicle radiation patterns as a function of vehicle type, jammer type, jammer location inside a vehicle and jammer orientation at each location. Phase two was to characterize the GPS Radiation Pattern on Multipath Limiting Antenna. MLA has to meet stringent requirements for acceptable signal detection and multipath rejection. The ARL-2100 is the most recent MLA antenna proposed to be used in the LAAS ground segment. The ground-based antenna's radiation pattern was modeled. This was achieved via (HFSS) a commercial-off the shelf CAD-based modeling code with a full-wave electromagnetic software simulation package that uses the Finite Element Analysis. Phase three of this work has been conducted to study the characteristics of the GPS Radiation Pattern on Commercial Aircraft. The airborne GPS antenna was modeled and the resulting radiation pattern on

GPS receivers for georeferencing of spatial variability of soil attributes Receptores GPS para georreferenciamento da variabilidade espacial de atributos do solo

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David L Rosalen

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The characterization of the spatial variability of soil attributes is essential to support agricultural practices in a sustainable manner. The use of geostatistics to characterize spatial variability of these attributes, such as soil resistance to penetration (RP and gravimetric soil moisture (GM is now usual practice in precision agriculture. The result of geostatistical analysis is dependent on the sample density and other factors according to the georeferencing methodology used. Thus, this study aimed to compare two methods of georeferencing to characterize the spatial variability of RP and GM as well as the spatial correlation of these variables. Sampling grid of 60 points spaced 20 m was used. For RP measurements, an electronic penetrometer was used and to determine the GM, a Dutch auger (0.0-0.1 m depth was used. The samples were georeferenced using a GPS navigation receiver, Simple Point Positioning (SPP with navigation GPS receiver, and Semi-Kinematic Relative Positioning (SKRP with an L1 geodetic GPS receiver. The results indicated that the georeferencing conducted by PPS did not affect the characterization of spatial variability of RP or GM, neither the spatial structure relationship of these attributes.A caracterização da variabilidade espacial dos atributos do solo é indispensável para subsidiar práticas agrícolas de maneira sustentável. A utilização da geoestatística para caracterizar a variabilidade espacial desses atributos, como a resistência mecânica do solo à penetração (RP e a umidade gravimétrica do solo (UG, é, hoje, prática usual na agricultura de precisão. O resultado da análise geoestatística é dependente da densidade amostral e de outros fatores, como o método de georreferencimento utilizado. Desta forma, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo comparar dois métodos de georreferenciamento para a caracterização da variabilidade espacial da RP e da UG, bem como a correlação espacial dessas vari

GPS Interference Mitigation Using Derivative-free Kalman Filter-based RNN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. L. Mao

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The global positioning system (GPS with accurate positioning and timing properties has become integral part of all applications around the world. Radio frequency interference can significantly decrease the performance of GPS receivers or even completely prohibit the acquisition or tracking of satellites. The approaches of system performances that can be further enhanced by preprocessing to reject the jamming signal will be investigated. A recurrent neural network (RNN predictor for the GPS anti-jamming applications will be proposed. The adaptive RNN predictor is utilized to accurately predict the narrowband waveform based on an unscented Kalman filter (UKF-based algorithm. The UKF algorithm as a derivative-free alternative to the extended Kalman filter (EKF in the framework of state-estimation is adopted to achieve better performance in terms of convergence rate and quality of solution. The adaptive RNN filter can be successfully applied for the suppression of interference with a number of different narrowband formats, i.e. continuous wave interference (CWI, multi-tone CWI, swept CWI and pulsed CWI, to emulate realistic circumstances. Simulation results show that the proposed UKF-based scheme can offer the superior performances to suppress the interference over the conventional methods by computing mean squared prediction error (MSPE and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR improvements.

A low-power CMOS frequency synthesizer for GPS receivers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Yunfeng; Xiao Shimao; Zhuang Haixiao; Ma Chengyan; Ye Tianchun; Yue Jianlian

2010-01-01

A low-power frequency synthesizer for GPS/Galileo L1/E1 band receivers implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS process is introduced. By adding clock-controlled transistors at latch outputs to reduce the time constant at sensing time, the working frequency of the high-speed source-coupled logic prescaler supplying quadrature local oscillator signals has been increased, compared with traditional prescalers. Measurement results show that this synthesizer achieves an in-band phase noise of -87 dBc/Hz at 15 kHz offset, with spurs less than -65 dBc. The whole synthesizer consumes 6 mA in the case of a 1.8 V supply, and its core area is 0.6 mm 2 . (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Comparação de três receptores GPS para uso em agricultura de precisão Comparison of three GPS receiver for precision agriculture uses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo C. C. Stabile

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Diversos equipamentos que se utilizam dos sinais transmitidos pelo Sistema de Posicionamento Global (GPS têm sido empregados na Agricultura de Precisão. Neste estudo, foi feita uma comparação de três receptores comerciais no intuito de verificar suas acurácias. As principais qualidades medidas foram a repetibilidade dos dados e a estabilidade do sistema. O estudo foi conduzido em campo aberto, na área experimental da ESALQ/USP, com três linhas paralelas de 50 m espaçadas 10 m entre si. A coleta de dados foi feita no dia 25-9-2002, totalizando seis repetições da comparação dos três sistemas. Os dados foram coletados simultaneamente, de acordo com a melhor configuração da constelação de satélites, sendo que os três sistemas apresentaram resultados distintos. O GPS "A" (oito canais, sem correção diferencial apresentou a maior variabilidade e a menor repetibilidade, com desvios de quase 10 m numa mesma linha. O sistema "B", com sinal de correção diferencial (DGPS "B", 12 canais, apresentou acurácia superior ao "A", com desvios de, no máximo, 6 m, mas com repetibilidade significativa. O GPS "C" (12 canais, com algoritmo otimizado apresentou a maior acurácia e desvio máximo de 2 m. Assim, os dois últimos sistemas são adequados para a aplicação dos conceitos da Agricultura de Precisão.Several brands of equipment have been used with global positioning systems (GPS in Precision Agriculture. The quality of these different receivers varies according to their capabilities in terms of accuracy and repeatability. In this study, three commercial systems were tested to compare their accuracies. This study focused on measuring the stability of the receiver and the repeatability of data. The study was conducted in the experimental area of ESALQ/USP. It consisted of three parallel 50-meter lines spaced 10 meters apart. Data collection was done on 9-25-2002 with a total of six replications. Data was collected simultaneously and the

Observational study of ionospheric irregularities and GPS scintillations associated with the 2012 tropical cyclone Tembin passing Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhe; Liu, Zhizhao

2016-05-01

This study presents the ionospheric responses observed in Hong Kong to a Typhoon, namely, Tembin, from the aspects of the occurrence of ionospheric irregularities and scintillations, using Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from a ground-based GPS scintillation monitoring station in Hong Kong and from GPS receivers on board the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) satellites. The ionospheric irregularities and scintillations are characterized by the rate of total electron content variation index (ROTI) and the amplitude scintillation index S4, respectively. The typhoon Tembin formed over the western North Pacific during 18-30 August 2012 and approached Hong Kong during 24-27 August 2012 with the closest distance 290 km from Hong Kong at around 17 universal time (UT) on 25 August 2012. The ground-based observations indicate that in the nighttime period of 20:00-02:00 local time (LT = UT + 8 h) on 26 August when Tembin passed closely to Hong Kong, the ionospheric irregularities and scintillations of GPS signals were observed in the south of Hong Kong, over the area of 13°N ~ 23°N in latitude and 110°E ~ 120°E in longitude. From the COSMIC observations, it shows that the number of radio occultation scintillation events peaks on 26 August 2012 during the passage of Tembin. Without the presence of strong geomagnetic or solar activity, it is suspected that gravity waves might be generated in the lower atmosphere and likely seed the formation of ionospheric plasma irregularities. This work for the first time from Hong Kong observes the sign of coupling between the lower atmosphere and ionosphere in a tropical cyclone event, combining both ground- and space-based GPS observation data.

GPS/INS Sensor Fusion Using GPS Wind up Model

Science.gov (United States)

Williamson, Walton R. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method of stabilizing an inertial navigation system (INS), includes the steps of: receiving data from an inertial navigation system; and receiving a finite number of carrier phase observables using at least one GPS receiver from a plurality of GPS satellites; calculating a phase wind up correction; correcting at least one of the finite number of carrier phase observables using the phase wind up correction; and calculating a corrected IMU attitude or velocity or position using the corrected at least one of the finite number of carrier phase observables; and performing a step selected from the steps consisting of recording, reporting, or providing the corrected IMU attitude or velocity or position to another process that uses the corrected IMU attitude or velocity or position. A GPS stabilized inertial navigation system apparatus is also described.

Hacking GPS

CERN Document Server

Kingsley-Hughes, Kathie

2005-01-01

* This is the "user manual" that didn't come with any of the 30 million GPS receivers currently in use, showing readers how to modify, tweak, and hack their GPS to take it to new levels!* Crazy-cool modifications include exploiting secret keycodes, revealing hidden features, building power cords and cables, hacking the battery and antenna, protecting a GPS from impact and falls, making a screen protector, and solar-powering a GPS* Potential power users will take the function and performance of their GPS to a whole new level by hacking into the firmware and hacking into a PC connection with a GPS* Fear not! Any potentially dangerous mod (to the device) is clearly labeled, with precautions listed that should be taken* Game time! Readers can check out GPS games, check into hacking geocaching, and even use a GPS as a metal detector

GPS Water Vapor Tomography Based on Accurate Estimations of the GPS Tropospheric Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Champollion, C.; Masson, F.; Bock, O.; Bouin, M.; Walpersdorf, A.; Doerflinger, E.; van Baelen, J.; Brenot, H.

2003-12-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is now a common technique for the retrieval of zenithal integrated water vapor (IWV). Further applications in meteorology need also slant integrated water vapor (SIWV) which allow to precisely define the high variability of tropospheric water vapor at different temporal and spatial scales. Only precise estimations of IWV and horizontal gradients allow the estimation of accurate SIWV. We present studies developed to improve the estimation of tropospheric water vapor from GPS data. Results are obtained from several field experiments (MAP, ESCOMPTE, OHM-CV, IHOP, .). First IWV are estimated using different GPS processing strategies and results are compared to radiosondes. The role of the reference frame and the a priori constraints on the coordinates of the fiducial and local stations is generally underestimated. It seems to be of first order in the estimation of the IWV. Second we validate the estimated horizontal gradients comparing zenith delay gradients and single site gradients. IWV, gradients and post-fit residuals are used to construct slant integrated water delays. Validation of the SIWV is under progress comparing GPS SIWV, Lidar measurements and high resolution meteorological models (Meso-NH). A careful analysis of the post-fit residuals is needed to separate tropospheric signal from multipaths. The slant tropospheric delays are used to study the 3D heterogeneity of the troposphere. We develop a tomographic software to model the three-dimensional distribution of the tropospheric water vapor from GPS data. The software is applied to the ESCOMPTE field experiment, a dense network of 17 dual frequency GPS receivers operated in southern France. Three inversions have been successfully compared to three successive radiosonde launches. Good resolution is obtained up to heights of 3000 m.

A New Indoor Positioning System Architecture Using GPS Signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Rui; Chen, Wu; Xu, Ying; Ji, Shengyue

2015-04-29

The pseudolite system is a good alternative for indoor positioning systems due to its large coverage area and accurate positioning solution. However, for common Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, the pseudolite system requires some modifications of the user terminals. To solve the problem, this paper proposes a new pseudolite-based indoor positioning system architecture. The main idea is to receive real-world GPS signals, repeat each satellite signal and transmit those using indoor transmitting antennas. The transmitted GPS-like signal can be processed (signal acquisition and tracking, navigation data decoding) by the general receiver and thus no hardware-level modification on the receiver is required. In addition, all Tx can be synchronized with each other since one single clock is used in Rx/Tx. The proposed system is simulated using a software GPS receiver. The simulation results show the indoor positioning system is able to provide high accurate horizontal positioning in both static and dynamic situations.

Indoor Positioning Using GPS Revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun; Blunck, Henrik; Godsk, Torben

2010-01-01

It has been considered a fact that GPS performs too poorly inside buildings to provide usable indoor positioning. We analyze results of a measurement campaign to improve on the understanding of indoor GPS reception characteristics. The results show that using state-of-the-art receivers GPS...... low signal-to-noise ratios, multipath phenomena or bad satellite constellation geometry. We have also measured the indoor performance of embedded GPS receivers in mobile phones which provided lower availability and accuracy than state-of-the-art ones. Finally, we consider how the GPS performance...

2014-2016 Mt. Etna Ground deformation imaged by SISTEM approach using GPS and SENTINEL-1A/1B TOPSAR data

Science.gov (United States)

Bonforte, Alessandro; Guglielmino, Francesco; Puglisi, Giuseppe

2017-04-01

In the frame of the EC FP7 MED-SUV project (call FP7 ENV.2012.6.4-2), and thanks to the GEO-GSNL initiative, GPS data and SENTINEL 1A/1B TOPSAR acquired on Mt. Etna between October 2014 and November 2016 were analyzed. The SENTINEL data were used in order to combine and integrate them with GPS, and detail the ground deformation recorded by GPS on Mt. Etna, during the last two-year's volcanic activity. The Sentinel data were processed by GAMMA software, using a spectral diversity method and a procedure able to co-register the SENTINEL pairs with extremely high precision (processing, a new software architecture based on the hypervisor virtualization technology for the x64 versions of Windows has been implemented. The DInSAR results are analysed and successively used as input for the time series analysis using the StaMPS package. On December 28, 2014 eruptive activity resumed at Mt. Etna with a fire fountain activity feeding two lava flows spreading on the eastern and south-western upper flanks of the volcano, producing evident deformation at the summit of the volcano. GPS displacements and Sentinel-1A ascending interferogram were calculated in order to image the ground deformation pattern accompanying the eruption. The ground deformation pattern has been perfectly depicted by the GPS network, mainly affecting the uppermost part of the volcano edifice, with a strong decay of the deformation, according to a very shallow and strong dyke intrusion. The Sentinel 1A SAR data, covering the similar time spanning, confirmed that most of displacements are related to the dike intrusion, and evidenced a local gravity-driven motion of the western wall of the Valle del Bove, probably related to the dike intrusion. To monitor the temporal successive evolution of ground deformation, we performed an A-DInSAR SENTINEL analysis using the Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) approach included with the StaMPS processing package. The April 2015-December 2015, SBAS Time series, shown a volcano

Fisheye-Based Method for GPS Localization Improvement in Unknown Semi-Obstructed Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julien Moreau

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A precise GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System localization is vital for autonomous road vehicles, especially in cluttered or urban environments where satellites are occluded, preventing accurate positioning. We propose to fuse GPS (Global Positioning System data with fisheye stereovision to face this problem independently to additional data, possibly outdated, unavailable, and needing correlation with reality. Our stereoscope is sky-facing with 360° × 180° fisheye cameras to observe surrounding obstacles. We propose a 3D modelling and plane extraction through following steps: stereoscope self-calibration for decalibration robustness, stereo matching considering neighbours epipolar curves to compute 3D, and robust plane fitting based on generated cartography and Hough transform. We use these 3D data with GPS raw data to estimate NLOS (Non Line Of Sight reflected signals pseudorange delay. We exploit extracted planes to build a visibility mask for NLOS detection. A simplified 3D canyon model allows to compute reflections pseudorange delays. In the end, GPS positioning is computed considering corrected pseudoranges. With experimentations on real fixed scenes, we show generated 3D models reaching metric accuracy and improvement of horizontal GPS positioning accuracy by more than 50%. The proposed procedure is effective, and the proposed NLOS detection outperforms CN0-based methods (Carrier-to-receiver Noise density.

Receiver Test Selection Criteria

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-12

The DOT requests that GPS manufacturers submit receivers for test in the following TWG categories: - Aviation (non-certified), cellular, general location/navigation, high precision, timing, networks, and space-based receivers - Each receiver should b...

A pose estimation method for unmanned ground vehicles in GPS denied environments

Science.gov (United States)

Tamjidi, Amirhossein; Ye, Cang

2012-06-01

This paper presents a pose estimation method based on the 1-Point RANSAC EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) framework. The method fuses the depth data from a LIDAR and the visual data from a monocular camera to estimate the pose of a Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) in a GPS denied environment. Its estimation framework continuy updates the vehicle's 6D pose state and temporary estimates of the extracted visual features' 3D positions. In contrast to the conventional EKF-SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) frameworks, the proposed method discards feature estimates from the extended state vector once they are no longer observed for several steps. As a result, the extended state vector always maintains a reasonable size that is suitable for online calculation. The fusion of laser and visual data is performed both in the feature initialization part of the EKF-SLAM process and in the motion prediction stage. A RANSAC pose calculation procedure is devised to produce pose estimate for the motion model. The proposed method has been successfully tested on the Ford campus's LIDAR-Vision dataset. The results are compared with the ground truth data of the dataset and the estimation error is ~1.9% of the path length.

Evaluating the Correctness of Airborne Laser Scanning Data Heights Using Vehicle-Based RTK and VRS GPS Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Vermeer

2011-08-01

Full Text Available In this study, we describe a system in which a GPS receiver mounted on the roof of a car is used to provide reference information to evaluate the elevation accuracy and georeferencing of airborne laser scanning (ALS point clouds. The concept was evaluated in the Klaukkala test area where a number of roads were traversed to collect real-time kinematic data. Two test cases were evaluated, including one case using the real-time kinematic (RTK method with a dedicated GPS base station at a known benchmark in the area and another case using the GNSSnet virtual reference station service (VRS. The utility of both GPS methods was confirmed. When all test data were included, the mean difference between ALS data and GPS-based observations was −2.4 cm for both RTK and VRS GPS cases. The corresponding dispersions were ±4.5 cm and ±5.9 cm, respectively. In addition, our examination did not reveal the presence of any significant rotation between ALS and GPS data.

Ionospheric correction for spaceborne single-frequency GPS based ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The Klobuchar model was used to compute ionospheric delays for the dlft station, and .... dual-frequency GPS receivers; therefore, the iono- ... The mapping function is defined as the ratio of .... eter in the processing of an extended set of single.

GPS Tomography: Water Vapour Monitoring for Germany

Science.gov (United States)

Bender, Michael; Dick, Galina; Wickert, Jens; Raabe, Armin

2010-05-01

Ground based GPS atmosphere sounding provides numerous atmospheric quantities with a high temporal resolution for all weather conditions. The spatial resolution of the GPS observations is mainly given by the number of GNSS satellites and GPS ground stations. The latter could considerably be increased in the last few years leading to more reliable and better resolved GPS products. New techniques such as the GPS water vapour tomography gain increased significance as data from large and dense GPS networks become available. The GPS tomography has the potential to provide spatially resolved fields of different quantities operationally, i. e. the humidity or wet refractivity as required for meteorological applications or the refraction index which is important for several space based observations or for precise positioning. The number of German GPS stations operationally processed by the GFZ in Potsdam was recently enlarged to more than 300. About 28000 IWV observations and more than 1.4 millions of slant total delay data are now available per day with a temporal resolution of 15 min and 2.5 min, respectively. The extended network leads not only to a higher spatial resolution of the tomographically reconstructed 3D fields but also to a much higher stability of the inversion process and with that to an increased quality of the results. Under these improved conditions the GPS tomography can operate continuously over several days or weeks without applying too tight constraints. Time series of tomographically reconstructed humidity fields will be shown and different initialisation strategies will be discussed: Initialisation with a simple exponential profile, with a 3D humidity field extrapolated from synoptic observations and with the result of the preceeding reconstruction. The results are compared to tomographic reconstructions initialised with COSMO-DE analyses and to the corresponding model fields. The inversion can be further stabilised by making use of independent

Kinematic-PPP using Single/Dual Frequency Observations from (GPS, GLONASS and GPS/GLONASS) Constellations for Hydrography

Science.gov (United States)

Farah, Ashraf

2018-03-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is ideally suited for inshore and offshore positioning because of its high accuracy and the short observation time required for a position fix. Precise point positioning (PPP) is a technique used for position computation with a high accuracy using a single GNSS receiver. It relies on highly accurate satellite position and clock data that can be acquired from different sources such as the International GNSS Service (IGS). PPP precision varies based on positioning technique (static or kinematic), observations type (single or dual frequency) and the duration of observations among other factors. PPP offers comparable accuracy to differential GPS with safe in cost and time. For many years, PPP users depended on GPS (American system) which considered the solely reliable system. GLONASS's contribution in PPP techniques was limited due to fail in maintaining full constellation. Yet, GLONASS limited observations could be integrated into GPS-based PPP to improve availability and precision. As GLONASS reached its full constellation early 2013, there is a wide interest in PPP systems based on GLONASS only and independent of GPS. This paper investigates the performance of kinematic PPP solution for the hydrographic applications in the Nile river (Aswan, Egypt) based on GPS, GLONASS and GPS/GLONASS constellations. The study investigates also the effect of using two different observation types; single-frequency and dual frequency observations from the tested constellations.

FPGA-based real-time embedded system for RISS/GPS integrated navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelfatah, Walid Farid; Georgy, Jacques; Iqbal, Umar; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2012-01-01

Navigation algorithms integrating measurements from multi-sensor systems overcome the problems that arise from using GPS navigation systems in standalone mode. Algorithms which integrate the data from 2D low-cost reduced inertial sensor system (RISS), consisting of a gyroscope and an odometer or wheel encoders, along with a GPS receiver via a Kalman filter has proved to be worthy in providing a consistent and more reliable navigation solution compared to standalone GPS receivers. It has been also shown to be beneficial, especially in GPS-denied environments such as urban canyons and tunnels. The main objective of this paper is to narrow the idea-to-implementation gap that follows the algorithm development by realizing a low-cost real-time embedded navigation system capable of computing the data-fused positioning solution. The role of the developed system is to synchronize the measurements from the three sensors, relative to the pulse per second signal generated from the GPS, after which the navigation algorithm is applied to the synchronized measurements to compute the navigation solution in real-time. Employing a customizable soft-core processor on an FPGA in the kernel of the navigation system, provided the flexibility for communicating with the various sensors and the computation capability required by the Kalman filter integration algorithm.

Ground receiving station (GRS) of UMS - receiving and processing the electromagnetic wave data from satellite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammad Syahmi Nordin; Fauziah Abdul Aziz

2007-01-01

The low resolution Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) polar-orbiting satellites Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is being received and recorded in real-time mode at ground receiving station in School of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The system is suitable for the developing and undeveloped countries in south and Southeast Asia and is said to be acceptable for engineering, agricultural, climatological and environmental applications. The system comprises a personal computer attached with a small APT receiver. The data transmission between the ground receiving station and NOAA satellites is using the electromagnetic wave. The relation for receiving and processing the electromagnetic wave in the transmission will be discussed. (Author)

Ionospheric Tomography from a Reference GPS/MET Experiment Through the IRI Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lung-Chih Tsai

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In earlier studies, we implemented the Multiplicative Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (MART to reconstruct two-dimensional ionospheric structures from measured TECs through the receptions of the GPS-to-LEO signals and/or the NNSS-to-ground beacon signals. To examine the accuracy of the reconstructed image we need ground-based validation systems which are difficult to obtain. However, such comparative investigation is needed if one aims to improve tomography inverse techniques and algorithms. In this study, we propose a simulation scheme to carry out this task. We first simulate the GPS-to-LEO TEC measurements through the IRI model by integrating electron densities along the ¡§straight¡¨ ray occultation paths between the GPS and LEO satellite obtained from the real GPS/MET experiment. Contiguous tomographic images are then derived by the MART algorithm within the ¡§reference¡¨ GPS/MET experiment. They are verified by comparison with the ¡§true¡¨ IRI-modelled ionosphere. We show that simulation/reference results can be used to find the optimal reconstruction strategy in space-based ionospheric tomography.

Exatidão de posicionamento de um receptor GPS, operando sob diferentes coberturas vegetais Evaluation of the accuracy of positioning a GPS receiver operating under different vegetation covers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rubens Angulo Filho

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Para avaliar a exatidão de posicionamento planimétrico do receptor GPS Trimble/Pro-XL, operando sob diferentes condições de cobertura vegetal (pastagem, seringueira, eucalipto e pinus, o equipamento foi posicionado alternadamente sobre 6 pontos, locados ao acaso nas áreas de estudo, variando o tempo de permanência (1 , 5 e 10 min mas com a mesma taxa de aquisição de dados (1 s fazendo-se, posteriormente, a correção diferencial (DGPS pós-processada dos dados. Os pontos também tiveram suas coordenadas levantadas pelo método topográfico, segundo a NBR 13133 - Execução de Levantamento Topográfico, para fins de comparação. De acordo com o método empregado e os resultados obtidos, foi possível separar as exatidões de posicionamento planimétrico, conforme o tipo de cobertura vegetal, em dois grupos: sem e com cobertura arbórea confirmando, assim, a interferência do dossel na recepção dos sinais emitidos pelos satélites GPS. O aumento do tempo de permanência melhorou a exatidão de posicionamento planimétrico, o que ratifica a escolha da metodologia de levantamento como sendo fundamental para a obtenção de bons resultados de posicionamento.To evaluate planimetric positioning accuracy of a GPS receiver (Trimble/Pro-XL, operating under different conditions of vegetation cover (pasture, rubber trees, eucalyptus and pine trees, 6 control points were located randomly in the study area. For comparison, their coordinates were first obtained by a conventional surveying method, according to NBR 13133 of Brazilian Surveying Standards. Afterwards, the GPS receiver was positioned on those control points, maintaining the acquisition rate of 1 s while changing the time for 1, 5 and 10 min, the DGPS method was used to correct the positioning coordinate data. According to the methodology applied and the results obtained, it was possible to distinguish planimetric positioning accuracy, according to the vegetation cover, in two groups

A GPS-Based Pitot-Static Calibration Method Using Global Output-Error Optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, John V.; Cunningham, Kevin

2010-01-01

Pressure-based airspeed and altitude measurements for aircraft typically require calibration of the installed system to account for pressure sensing errors such as those due to local flow field effects. In some cases, calibration is used to meet requirements such as those specified in Federal Aviation Regulation Part 25. Several methods are used for in-flight pitot-static calibration including tower fly-by, pacer aircraft, and trailing cone methods. In the 1990 s, the introduction of satellite-based positioning systems to the civilian market enabled new inflight calibration methods based on accurate ground speed measurements provided by Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Use of GPS for airspeed calibration has many advantages such as accuracy, ease of portability (e.g. hand-held) and the flexibility of operating in airspace without the limitations of test range boundaries or ground telemetry support. The current research was motivated by the need for a rapid and statistically accurate method for in-flight calibration of pitot-static systems for remotely piloted, dynamically-scaled research aircraft. Current calibration methods were deemed not practical for this application because of confined test range size and limited flight time available for each sortie. A method was developed that uses high data rate measurements of static and total pressure, and GPSbased ground speed measurements to compute the pressure errors over a range of airspeed. The novel application of this approach is the use of system identification methods that rapidly compute optimal pressure error models with defined confidence intervals in nearreal time. This method has been demonstrated in flight tests and has shown 2- bounds of approximately 0.2 kts with an order of magnitude reduction in test time over other methods. As part of this experiment, a unique database of wind measurements was acquired concurrently with the flight experiments, for the purpose of experimental validation of the

GPS Modeling and Analysis. Summary of Research: GPS Satellite Axial Ratio Predictions

Science.gov (United States)

Axelrad, Penina; Reeh, Lisa

2002-01-01

This report outlines the algorithms developed at the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research to model yaw and predict the axial ratio as measured from a ground station. The algorithms are implemented in a collection of Matlab functions and scripts that read certain user input, such as ground station coordinates, the UTC time, and the desired GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, and compute the above-mentioned parameters. The position information for the GPS satellites is obtained from Yuma almanac files corresponding to the prescribed date. The results are displayed graphically through time histories and azimuth-elevation plots.

GLORI (GLObal navigation satellite system Reflectometry Instrument): A New Airborne GNSS-R receiver for land surface applications

Science.gov (United States)

Motte, Erwan; Zribi, Mehrez; Fanise, Pascal

2015-04-01

GLORI (GLObal navigation satellite system Reflectometry Instrument) is a new receiver dedicated to the airborne measurement of surface parameters such as soil moisture and biomass above ground and sea state (wave height and direction) above oceans. The instrument is based on the PARIS concept [Martin-Neira, 1993] using both the direct and surface-reflected L-band signals from the GPS constellation as a multistatic radar source. The receiver is based on one up-looking and one down-looking dual polarization hemispherical active antennas feeding a low-cost 4-channel SDR direct down-conversion receiver tuned to the GPS L1 frequency. The raw measurements are sampled at 16.368MHz and stored as 2-bit, IQ binary files. In post-processing, GPS acquisition and tracking are performed on the direct up-looking signal while the down-looking signal is processed blindly using tracking parameters from the direct signal. The obtained direct and reflected code-correlation waveforms are the basic observables for geophysical parameters inversion. The instrument was designed to be installed aboard the ATR42 experimental aircraft from the French SAFIRE fleet as a permanent payload. The long term goal of the project is to provide real-time continuous surface information for every flight performed. The aircraft records attitude information through its Inertial Measurement Unit and a commercial GPS receiver records additional information such as estimated doppler and code phase, receiver location, satellites azimuth and elevation. A series of test flights were performed over both the Toulouse and Gulf of Lion (Mediterranean Sea) regions during the period 17-21 Nov 2014 together with the KuROS radar [Hauser et al., 2014]. Using processing methods from the literature [Egido et al., 2014], preliminary results demonstrate the instrument sensitivity to both ground and ocean surface parameters estimation. A dedicated scientific flight campaign is planned at the end of second quarter 2015 with

Two Approaches for Successful Mapping GPS Data to Underlying Road Network in Location-based Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meratnia, Nirvana; Kyandoghere, Kyamakya

Latest data acquisition techniques facilitate the provision of real-time location-based services. With the coming about of miniature and cheap GPS receivers and cellular phones, new horizons have been opened for such services. The mobile telephony and Internet technology within the GIS environment

Selected properties of GPS and Galileo-IOV receiver intersystem biases in multi-GNSS data processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paziewski, Jacek; Sieradzki, Rafał; Wielgosz, Paweł

2015-01-01

Two overlapping frequencies—L1/E1 and L5/E5a—in GPS and Galileo systems support the creation of mixed double-differences in a tightly combined relative positioning model. On the other hand, a tightly combined model makes it necessary to take into account receiver intersystem bias, which is the difference in receiver hardware delays. This bias is present in both carrier-phase and pseudorange observations. Earlier research showed that using a priori knowledge of earlier-calibrated ISB to correct GNSS observations has significant impact on ambiguity resolution and, therefore, precise positioning results. In previous research concerning ISB estimation conducted by the authors, small oscillations in phase ISB time series were detected. This paper investigates this effect present in the GPS–Galileo-IOV ISB time series. In particular, ISB short-term temporal stability and its dependence on the number of Galileo satellites used in the ISB estimation was examined. In this contribution we investigate the amplitude and frequency of the detected ISB time series oscillations as well as their potential source. The presented results are based on real observational data collected on a zero baseline with the use of different sets of GNSS receivers. (paper)

Timing Comparisons for GLEs and High-energy Proton Events using GPS Proton Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstein, V.; Winter, L. M.; Carver, M.; Morley, S.

2017-12-01

The newly released LANL GPS particle sensor data offers a unique snapshot of access of relativistic particles into the geomagnetic field. Currently, 23 of the 31 operational GPS satellites host energetic particle detectors which can detect the arrival of high-energy solar protons associated with Ground Level Enhancements (GLEs). We compare the timing profiles of solar energetic proton detections from GPS satellites as well as from ground-based Neutron Monitors and GOES spacecraft at geostationary orbit in order to understand how high-energy protons from the Sun enter the geomagnetic field and investigate potential differences in arrival time of energetic protons at GPS satellites as a function of location. Previous studies could only use one or two spacecraft at a similar altitude to track the arrival of energetic particles. With GPS data, we can now test whether the particles arrive isotropically, as assumed, or whether there exist differences in the timing and energetics viewed by each of the individual satellites. Extensions of this work could lead to improvements in space weather forecasting that predict more localized risk estimates for space-based technology.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) web service to support Area Navigation (RNAV) flight planning

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-28

The Volpe Center designed, implemented, and deployed a Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) prediction system in the mid 1990s to support both Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) use of TSO C...

TerraSAR-X precise orbit determination with real-time GPS ephemerides

Science.gov (United States)

Wermuth, Martin; Hauschild, Andre; Montenbruck, Oliver; Kahle, Ralph

TerraSAR-X is a German Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, which was launched in June 2007 from Baikonour. Its task is to acquire radar images of the Earth's surface. In order to locate the radar data takes precisely, the satellite is equipped with a high-quality dual-frequency GPS receiver -the Integrated Geodetic and Occultation Receiver (IGOR) provided by the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ). Using GPS observations from the IGOR instrument in a reduced dynamic precise orbit determination (POD), the German Space Operations Center (DLR/GSOC) is computing rapid and science orbit products on a routine basis. The rapid orbit products arrive with a latency of about one hour after data reception with an accuracy of 10-20 cm. Science orbit products are computed with a latency of five days achieving an accuracy of about 5cm (3D-RMS). For active and future Earth observation missions, the availability of near real-time precise orbit information is becoming more and more important. Other applications of near real-time orbit products include the processing of GNSS radio occulation measurements for atmospheric sounding as well as altimeter measurements of ocean surface heights, which are nowadays employed in global weather and ocean circulation models with short latencies. For example after natural disasters it is necessary to evaluate the damage by satellite images as soon as possible. The latency and quality of POD results is mainly driven by the availability of precise GPS ephemerides. In order to have high-quality GPS ephemerides available at real-time, GSOC has developed the real-time clock estimation system RETICLE. The system receives NTRIP-data streams with GNSS observations from the global tracking network of IGS in real-time. Using the known station position, RETICLE estimates precise GPS satellite clock offsets and drifts based on the most recent available IGU predicted orbits. The clock offset estimates have an accuracy of better than 0.3 ns and are

SCaN Network Ground Station Receiver Performance for Future Service Support

Science.gov (United States)

Estabrook, Polly; Lee, Dennis; Cheng, Michael; Lau, Chi-Wung

2012-01-01

Objectives: Examine the impact of providing the newly standardized CCSDS Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes to the SCaN return data service on the SCaN SN and DSN ground stations receivers: SN Current Receiver: Integrated Receiver (IR). DSN Current Receiver: Downlink Telemetry and Tracking (DTT) Receiver. Early Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) prototype of the SN User Service Subsystem Component Replacement (USS CR) Narrow Band Receiver. Motivate discussion of general issues of ground station hardware design to enable simple and cheap modifications for support of future services.

Robust GPS autonomous signal quality monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Ndili, Awele Nnaemeka

The Global Positioning System (GPS), introduced by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973, provides unprecedented world-wide navigation capabilities through a constellation of 24 satellites in global orbit, each emitting a low-power radio-frequency signal for ranging. GPS receivers track these transmitted signals, computing position to within 30 meters from range measurements made to four satellites. GPS has a wide range of applications, including aircraft, marine and land vehicle navigation. Each application places demands on GPS for various levels of accuracy, integrity, system availability and continuity of service. Radio frequency interference (RFI), which results from natural sources such as TV/FM harmonics, radar or Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS), presents a challenge in the use of GPS, by posing a threat to the accuracy, integrity and availability of the GPS navigation solution. In order to use GPS for integrity-sensitive applications, it is therefore necessary to monitor the quality of the received signal, with the objective of promptly detecting the presence of RFI, and thus provide a timely warning of degradation of system accuracy. This presents a challenge, since the myriad kinds of RFI affect the GPS receiver in different ways. What is required then, is a robust method of detecting GPS accuracy degradation, which is effective regardless of the origin of the threat. This dissertation presents a new method of robust signal quality monitoring for GPS. Algorithms for receiver autonomous interference detection and integrity monitoring are demonstrated. Candidate test statistics are derived from fundamental receiver measurements of in-phase and quadrature correlation outputs, and the gain of the Active Gain Controller (AGC). Performance of selected test statistics are evaluated in the presence of RFI: broadband interference, pulsed and non-pulsed interference, coherent CW at different frequencies; and non-RFI: GPS signal fading due to physical blockage and

Combining GPS measurements and IRI model predictions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez-Pajares, M.; Juan, J.M.; Sanz, J.; Bilitza, D.

2002-01-01

The free electrons distributed in the ionosphere (between one hundred and thousands of km in height) produce a frequency-dependent effect on Global Positioning System (GPS) signals: a delay in the pseudo-orange and an advance in the carrier phase. These effects are proportional to the columnar electron density between the satellite and receiver, i.e. the integrated electron density along the ray path. Global ionospheric TEC (total electron content) maps can be obtained with GPS data from a network of ground IGS (international GPS service) reference stations with an accuracy of few TEC units. The comparison with the TOPEX TEC, mainly measured over the oceans far from the IGS stations, shows a mean bias and standard deviation of about 2 and 5 TECUs respectively. The discrepancies between the STEC predictions and the observed values show an RMS typically below 5 TECUs (which also includes the alignment code noise). he existence of a growing database 2-hourly global TEC maps and with resolution of 5x2.5 degrees in longitude and latitude can be used to improve the IRI prediction capability of the TEC. When the IRI predictions and the GPS estimations are compared for a three month period around the Solar Maximum, they are in good agreement for middle latitudes. An over-determination of IRI TEC has been found at the extreme latitudes, the IRI predictions being, typically two times higher than the GPS estimations. Finally, local fits of the IRI model can be done by tuning the SSN from STEC GPS observations

Comparison of GLONASS and GPS Time Transfers

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, P.; Koshelyaevsky, N. B.; Lewandowski, W.; Petit, G.; Thomas, C.

1993-01-01

The Russian global space navigation system GLONASS could provide a technique similar to GPS for international time comparison. The main limitation to its use for time transfer is the lack of commercially available time receivers. The University of Leeds built a GPS/GLONASS receiver five years ago and since then has provided continuous information about GLONASS time and its comparison with GPS time. For the last two years the VNIIFTRI and several other Russian time laboratories have used Russian-built GLONASS navigation receivers for time comparisons. Since June 1991, the VNIIFTRI has operated a GPS time receiver which offers, for the first time, an opportunity for the direct comparison of time transfers using GPS and GLONASS. This seven-month experiment shows that even with relatively imprecise data recording and processing, in terms of time metrology, GLONASS can provide continental time transfer at a level of several tens of nanoseconds.

GPS Position Time Series @ JPL

Science.gov (United States)

Owen, Susan; Moore, Angelyn; Kedar, Sharon; Liu, Zhen; Webb, Frank; Heflin, Mike; Desai, Shailen

2013-01-01

Different flavors of GPS time series analysis at JPL - Use same GPS Precise Point Positioning Analysis raw time series - Variations in time series analysis/post-processing driven by different users. center dot JPL Global Time Series/Velocities - researchers studying reference frame, combining with VLBI/SLR/DORIS center dot JPL/SOPAC Combined Time Series/Velocities - crustal deformation for tectonic, volcanic, ground water studies center dot ARIA Time Series/Coseismic Data Products - Hazard monitoring and response focused center dot ARIA data system designed to integrate GPS and InSAR - GPS tropospheric delay used for correcting InSAR - Caltech's GIANT time series analysis uses GPS to correct orbital errors in InSAR - Zhen Liu's talking tomorrow on InSAR Time Series analysis

Study on index system of GPS interference effect evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Kun; Zeng, Fangling; Zhao, Yuan; Zeng, Ruiqi

2018-05-01

Satellite navigation interference effect evaluation is the key technology to break through the research of Navigation countermeasure. To evaluate accurately the interference degree and Anti-jamming ability of GPS receiver, this text based on the existing research results of Navigation interference effect evaluation, build the index system of GPS receiver effectiveness evaluation from four levels of signal acquisition, tracking, demodulation and positioning/timing and establish the model for each index. These indexes can accurately and quantitatively describe the interference effect at all levels.

Evaluating the accuracy of GPS-based taxi trajectory records

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zheng, Zhong; Rasouli, Soora; Timmermans, Harry

2014-01-01

Taxi data are an underused source of travel information. A handful of research has been concerned with the processing of raw taxi GPS data to minimize random error. The study of methods that systematically detect erroneous data has, however, received less attention. Generally, an origin and a

Multiple Interference Cancellation Performance for GPS Receivers with Dual-Polarized Antenna Arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moeness G. Amin

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the interference cancellation performance in global positioning system (GPS receivers equipped with dual-polarized antenna arrays. In dense jamming environment, different types of interferers can be mitigated by the dual-polarized antennas, either acting individually or in conjunction with other receiver antennas. We apply minimum variance distorntionless response (MVDR method to a uniform circular dual-polarized antenna array. The MVDR beamformer is constructed for each satellite. Analysis of the eigenstructures of the covariance matrix and the corresponding weight vector polarization characteristics are provided. Depending on the number of jammers and jammer polarizations, the array chooses to expend its degrees of freedom to counter the jammer polarization or/and use phase coherence to form jammer spatial nulls. Results of interference cancellations demonstrate that applying multiple MVDR beamformers, each for one satellite, has a superior cancellation performance compared to using only one MVDR beamformer for all satellites in the field of view.

Application of GPS systems on a mobile robot

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Peter; Saxena, Mayank; Tedder, Maurice; Mischalske, Steve; Hall, Ernest L.

2001-10-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) as geographic information and navigational system for a ground based mobile robot. Several low cost wireless systems are now available for a variety of innovative automobile applications including location, messaging and tracking and security. Experiments were conducted with a test bed mobile robot, Bearcat II, for point-to-point motion using a Motorola GPS in June 2001. The Motorola M12 Oncore GPS system is connected to the Bearcat II main control computer through a RS232 interface. A mapping program is used to define a desired route. Then GPS information may be displayed for verification. However, the GPS information is also used to update the control points of the mobile robot using a reinforcement learning method. Local position updates are also used when found in the environment. The significance of the method is in extending the use of GPS to local vehicle control that requires more resolution that is available from the raw data using the adaptive control method.

Combining low-cost GPS receivers with upGPR to derive continuously liquid water content, snow height and snow water equivalent in Alpine snow covers

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Franziska; Schmid, Lino; Prasch, Monika; Heilig, Achim; Eisen, Olaf; Schweizer, Jürg; Mauser, Wolfram

2015-04-01

The temporal evolution of Alpine snowpacks is important for assessing water supply, hydropower generation, flood predictions and avalanche forecasts. Especially in high mountain regions with an extremely varying topography, it is until now often difficult to derive continuous and non-destructive information on snow parameters. Since autumn 2012, we are running a new low-cost GPS (Global Positioning System) snow measurement experiment at the high alpine study site Weissfluhjoch (2450 m a.s.l.) in Switzerland. The globally and freely broadcasted GPS L1-band (1.57542 GHz) was continuously recorded with GPS antennas, which are installed at the ground surface underneath the snowpack. GPS raw data, containing carrier-to-noise power density ratio (C/N0) as well as elevation and azimuth angle information for each time step of 1 s, was stored and analyzed for all 32 GPS satellites. Since the dielectric permittivity of an overlying wet snowpack influences microwave radiation, the bulk volumetric liquid water content as well as daily melt-freeze cycles can be derived non-destructively from GPS signal strength losses and external snow height information. This liquid water content information is qualitatively in good accordance with meteorological and snow-hydrological data and quantitatively highly agrees with continuous data derived from an upward-looking ground-penetrating radar (upGPR) working in a similar frequency range. As a promising novelty, we combined the GPS signal strength data with upGPR travel-time information of active impulse radar rays to the snow surface and back from underneath the snow cover. This combination allows determining liquid water content, snow height and snow water equivalent from beneath the snow cover without using any other external information. The snow parameters derived by combining upGPR and GPS data are in good agreement with conventional sensors as e.g. laser distance gauges or snow pillows. As the GPS sensors are cheap, they can easily

Determining slack tide with a GPS receiver on an anchored buoy

Science.gov (United States)

Valk, M.; Savenije, H. H. G.; Tiberius, C. C. J. M.; Luxemburg, W. M. J.

2014-07-01

In this paper we present a novel method to determine the time of occurrence of tidal slack with a GPS receiver mounted on an anchored buoy commonly used to delineate shipping lanes in estuaries and tidal channels. Slack tide occurs when the tide changes direction from ebb to flood flow or from flood to ebb. The determination of this point in time is not only useful for shipping and salvaging, it is also important information for calibrating tidal models, for determining the maximum salt intrusion and for the further refinement of the theory on tidal propagation. The accuracy of the timing is well within 10 min and the method - able to operate in real time - is relatively cheap and easy to implement on a permanent basis or in short field campaigns.

Accuracy assessment of high-rate GPS measurements for seismology

Science.gov (United States)

Elosegui, P.; Davis, J. L.; Ekström, G.

2007-12-01

Analysis of GPS measurements with a controlled laboratory system, built to simulate the ground motions caused by tectonic earthquakes and other transient geophysical signals such as glacial earthquakes, enables us to assess the technique of high-rate GPS. The root-mean-square (rms) position error of this system when undergoing realistic simulated seismic motions is 0.05~mm, with maximum position errors of 0.1~mm, thus providing "ground truth" GPS displacements. We have acquired an extensive set of high-rate GPS measurements while inducing seismic motions on a GPS antenna mounted on this system with a temporal spectrum similar to real seismic events. We found that, for a particular 15-min-long test event, the rms error of the 1-Hz GPS position estimates was 2.5~mm, with maximum position errors of 10~mm, and the error spectrum of the GPS estimates was approximately flicker noise. These results may however represent a best-case scenario since they were obtained over a short (~10~m) baseline, thereby greatly mitigating baseline-dependent errors, and when the number and distribution of satellites on the sky was good. For example, we have determined that the rms error can increase by a factor of 2--3 as the GPS constellation changes throughout the day, with an average value of 3.5~mm for eight identical, hourly-spaced, consecutive test events. The rms error also increases with increasing baseline, as one would expect, with an average rms error for a ~1400~km baseline of 9~mm. We will present an assessment of the accuracy of high-rate GPS based on these measurements, discuss the implications of this study for seismology, and describe new applications in glaciology.

Inverse spiking filter based acquisition enhancement in software based global positioning system receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Arul Elango

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The lower visibility of the satellite in the acquisition stage of a GPS receiver under worst noisy situation leads to reacquisition of the data and thereby takes a longer time to obtain the first position fix. If the impulse noise affects the GPS signal, the conventional ways of acquiring the satellites do not guarantee to meet the minimum requirement of four satellites to find the user position. The performance of GPS receiver acquisition can be improved in the low SNR level using inverse spiking filtering technique. In the proposed method, the estimate of the desired GPS L1 signal corrupted by impulse noise (gn is obtained by the prediction error filter (hopt, which is the optimum inverse filter that reshapes the noisy signal (yn into a desired GPS signal (xn. In the proposed method, to detect the visible satellites under weak signal conditions the traditional differential coherent approach is combined with the inverse spiking filter method to increase the number of visible satellites and to avoid the reacquisition process. Montecarlo simulation is carried out to assess the performance of the proposed method for C/N0 of 20 dB-Hz and results indicate that the modified differential coherent method effectively excises the noise with 90% probability of detection. Subsequently tracking operation is also tested to confirm the acquisition performance by demodulating the navigation data successfully.

Ionospheric threats to the integrity of airborne GPS users

Science.gov (United States)

Datta-Barua, Seebany

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has both revolutionized and entwined the worlds of aviation and atmospheric science. As the largest and most unpredictable source of GPS positioning error, the ionospheric layer of the atmosphere, if left unchecked, can endanger the safety, or "integrity," of the single frequency airborne user. An augmentation system is a differential-GPS-based navigation system that provides integrity through independent ionospheric monitoring by reference stations. However, the monitor stations are not in general colocated with the user's GPS receiver. The augmentation system must protect users from possible ionosphere density variations occurring between its measurements and the user's. This study analyzes observations from ionospherically active periods to identify what types of ionospheric disturbances may cause threats to user safety if left unmitigated. This work identifies when such disturbances may occur using a geomagnetic measure of activity and then considers two disturbances as case studies. The first case study indicates the need for a non-trivial threat model for the Federal Aviation Administration's Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) that was not known prior to the work. The second case study uses ground- and space-based data to model an ionospheric disturbance of interest to the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). This work is a step in the justification for, and possible future refinement of, one of the WAAS integrity algorithms. For both WAAS and LAAS, integrity threats are basically caused by events that may be occurring but are unobservable. Prior to the data available in this solar cycle, events of such magnitude were not known to be possible. This work serves as evidence that the ionospheric threat models developed for WARS and LAAS are warranted and that they are sufficiently conservative to maintain user integrity even under extreme ionospheric behavior.

Comparison of EISCAT and ionosonde electron densities: application to a ground-based ionospheric segment of a space weather programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Lilensten

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Space weather applications require real-time data and wide area observations from both ground- and space-based instrumentation. From space, the global navigation satellite system - GPS - is an important tool. From the ground the incoherent scatter (IS radar technique permits a direct measurement up to the topside region, while ionosondes give good measurements of the lower part of the ionosphere. An important issue is the intercalibration of these various instruments. In this paper, we address the intercomparison of the EISCAT IS radar and two ionosondes located at Tromsø (Norway, at times when GPS measurements were also available. We show that even EISCAT data calibrated using ionosonde data can lead to different values of total electron content (TEC when compared to that obtained from GPS.

The Performance Analysis of a Real-Time Integrated INS/GPS Vehicle Navigation System with Abnormal GPS Measurement Elimination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jhen-Kai Liao

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The integration of an Inertial Navigation System (INS and the Global Positioning System (GPS is common in mobile mapping and navigation applications to seamlessly determine the position, velocity, and orientation of the mobile platform. In most INS/GPS integrated architectures, the GPS is considered to be an accurate reference with which to correct for the systematic errors of the inertial sensors, which are composed of biases, scale factors and drift. However, the GPS receiver may produce abnormal pseudo-range errors mainly caused by ionospheric delay, tropospheric delay and the multipath effect. These errors degrade the overall position accuracy of an integrated system that uses conventional INS/GPS integration strategies such as loosely coupled (LC and tightly coupled (TC schemes. Conventional tightly coupled INS/GPS integration schemes apply the Klobuchar model and the Hopfield model to reduce pseudo-range delays caused by ionospheric delay and tropospheric delay, respectively, but do not address the multipath problem. However, the multipath effect (from reflected GPS signals affects the position error far more significantly in a consumer-grade GPS receiver than in an expensive, geodetic-grade GPS receiver. To avoid this problem, a new integrated INS/GPS architecture is proposed. The proposed method is described and applied in a real-time integrated system with two integration strategies, namely, loosely coupled and tightly coupled schemes, respectively. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, field tests with various scenarios are conducted and the results are compared with a reliable reference system.

Measuring Snow Liquid Water Content with Low-Cost GPS Receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Franziska; Prasch, Monika; Schmid, Lino; Schweizer, Jürg; Mauser, Wolfram

2014-01-01

The amount of liquid water in snow characterizes the wetness of a snowpack. Its temporal evolution plays an important role for wet-snow avalanche prediction, as well as the onset of meltwater release and water availability estimations within a river basin. However, it is still a challenge and a not yet satisfyingly solved issue to measure the liquid water content (LWC) in snow with conventional in situ and remote sensing techniques. We propose a new approach based on the attenuation of microwave radiation in the L-band emitted by the satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS). For this purpose, we performed a continuous low-cost GPS measurement experiment at the Weissfluhjoch test site in Switzerland, during the snow melt period in 2013. As a measure of signal strength, we analyzed the carrier-to-noise power density ratio (C/N0) and developed a procedure to normalize these data. The bulk volumetric LWC was determined based on assumptions for attenuation, reflection and refraction of radiation in wet snow. The onset of melt, as well as daily melt-freeze cycles were clearly detected. The temporal evolution of the LWC was closely related to the meteorological and snow-hydrological data. Due to its non-destructive setup, its cost-efficiency and global availability, this approach has the potential to be implemented in distributed sensor networks for avalanche prediction or basin-wide melt onset measurements. PMID:25384007

Measuring Snow Liquid Water Content with Low-Cost GPS Receivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska Koch

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The amount of liquid water in snow characterizes the wetness of a snowpack. Its temporal evolution plays an important role for wet-snow avalanche prediction, as well as the onset of meltwater release and water availability estimations within a river basin. However, it is still a challenge and a not yet satisfyingly solved issue to measure the liquid water content (LWC in snow with conventional in situ and remote sensing techniques. We propose a new approach based on the attenuation of microwave radiation in the L-band emitted by the satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS. For this purpose, we performed a continuous low-cost GPS measurement experiment at the Weissfluhjoch test site in Switzerland, during the snow melt period in 2013. As a measure of signal strength, we analyzed the carrier-to-noise power density ratio (C/N0 and developed a procedure to normalize these data. The bulk volumetric LWC was determined based on assumptions for attenuation, reflection and refraction of radiation in wet snow. The onset of melt, as well as daily melt-freeze cycles were clearly detected. The temporal evolution of the LWC was closely related to the meteorological and snow-hydrological data. Due to its non-destructive setup, its cost-efficiency and global availability, this approach has the potential to be implemented in distributed sensor networks for avalanche prediction or basin-wide melt onset measurements.

Physical applications of GPS geodesy: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, Yehuda; Melgar, Diego

2016-10-01

Geodesy, the oldest science, has become an important discipline in the geosciences, in large part by enhancing Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities over the last 35 years well beyond the satellite constellation's original design. The ability of GPS geodesy to estimate 3D positions with millimeter-level precision with respect to a global terrestrial reference frame has contributed to significant advances in geophysics, seismology, atmospheric science, hydrology, and natural hazard science. Monitoring the changes in the positions or trajectories of GPS instruments on the Earth's land and water surfaces, in the atmosphere, or in space, is important for both theory and applications, from an improved understanding of tectonic and magmatic processes to developing systems for mitigating the impact of natural hazards on society and the environment. Besides accurate positioning, all disturbances in the propagation of the transmitted GPS radio signals from satellite to receiver are mined for information, from troposphere and ionosphere delays for weather, climate, and natural hazard applications, to disturbances in the signals due to multipath reflections from the solid ground, water, and ice for environmental applications. We review the relevant concepts of geodetic theory, data analysis, and physical modeling for a myriad of processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales, and discuss the extensive global infrastructure that has been built to support GPS geodesy consisting of thousands of continuously operating stations. We also discuss the integration of heterogeneous and complementary data sets from geodesy, seismology, and geology, focusing on crustal deformation applications and early warning systems for natural hazards.

Small satellite attitude determination based on GPS/IMU data fusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Golovan, Andrey [Navigation and Control Laboratory, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow (Russian Federation); Cepe, Ali [Department of Applied Mechanics and Control, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2014-12-10

In this paper, we present the mathematical models and algorithms that describe the problem of attitude determination for a small satellite using measurements from three angular rate sensors (ARS) and aiding measurements from multiple GPS receivers/antennas rigidly attached to the platform of the satellite.

Study of the GPS inter-frequency calibration of timing receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Defraigne, P.; Huang, W.; Bertrand, B.; Rovera, D.

2018-02-01

When calibrating Global Positioning System (GPS) stations dedicated to timing, the hardware delays of P1 and P2, the P(Y)-codes on frequencies L1 and L2, are determined separately. In the international atomic time (TAI) network the GPS stations of the time laboratories are calibrated relatively against reference stations. This paper aims at determining the consistency between the P1 and P2 hardware delays (called dP1 and dP2) of these reference stations, and to look at the stability of the inter-signal hardware delays dP1-dP2 of all the stations in the network. The method consists of determining the dP1-dP2 directly from the GPS pseudorange measurements corrected for the frequency-dependent antenna phase center and the frequency-dependent ionosphere corrections, and then to compare these computed dP1-dP2 to the calibrated values. Our results show that the differences between the computed and calibrated dP1-dP2 are well inside the expected combined uncertainty of the two quantities. Furthermore, the consistency between the calibrated time transfer solution obtained from either single-frequency P1 or dual-frequency P3 for reference laboratories is shown to be about 1.0 ns, well inside the 2.1 ns uB uncertainty of a time transfer link based on GPS P3 or Precise Point Positioning. This demonstrates the good consistency between the P1 and P2 hardware delays of the reference stations used for calibration in the TAI network. The long-term stability of the inter-signal hardware delays is also analysed from the computed dP1-dP2. It is shown that only variations larger than 2 ns can be detected for a particular station, while variations of 200 ps can be detected when differentiating the results between two stations. Finally, we also show that in the differential calibration process as used in the TAI network, using the same antenna phase center or using different positions for L1 and L2 signals gives maximum differences of 200 ps on the hardware delays of the separate

New advantages of the combined GPS and GLONASS observations for high-latitude ionospheric irregularities monitoring: case study of June 2015 geomagnetic storm

Science.gov (United States)

Cherniak, Iurii; Zakharenkova, Irina

2017-05-01

Monitoring, tracking and nowcasting of the ionospheric plasma density disturbances using dual-frequency measurements of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are effectively carried out during several decades. Recent rapid growth and modernization of the ground-based segment gives an opportunity to establish a great database consisting of more than 6000 stations worldwide which provide GPS signals measurements with an open access. Apart of the GPS signals, at least two-third of these stations receive simultaneously signals transmitted by another Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)—the Russian system GLONASS. Today, GLONASS signal measurements are mainly used in navigation and geodesy only and very rarely for ionosphere research. We present the first results demonstrating advantages of using several independent but compatible GNSS systems like GPS and GLONASS for improvement of the permanent monitoring of the high-latitude ionospheric irregularities. For the first time, the high-resolution two-dimensional maps of ROTI perturbation were made using not only GPS but also GLONASS measurements. We extend the use of the ROTI maps for analyzing ionospheric irregularities distribution. We demonstrate that the meridional slices of the ROTI maps can be effectively used to study the occurrence and temporal evolution of the ionospheric irregularities. The meridional slices of the geographical sectors with a high density of the GPS and GLONASS measurements can represent spatio-temporal dynamics of the intense ionospheric plasma density irregularities with very high resolution, and they can be effectively used for detailed study of the space weather drivers on the processes of the ionospheric irregularities generation, development and their lifetimes. Using a representative database of 5800 ground-based GNSS stations located worldwide, we have investigated the occurrence of the high-latitude ionospheric plasma density irregularities during the geomagnetic storm of

Geomagnetic storms, super-storms, and their impacts on GPS-based navigation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Astafyeva, E.; Yasyukevich, Yu.; Maksikov, A.; Zhivetiev, I.

2014-07-01

Using data of GPS receivers located worldwide, we analyze the quality of GPS performance during four geomagnetic storms of different intensity: two super-storms and two intense storms. We show that during super-storms the density of GPS Losses-of-Lock (LoL) increases up to 0.25% at L1 frequency and up to 3% at L2 frequency, and up to 0.15% (at L1) and 1% (at L2) during less intense storms. Also, depending on the intensity of the storm time ionospheric disturbances, the total number of total electron content (TEC) slips can exceed from 4 to 40 times the quiet time level. Both GPS LoL and TEC slips occur during abrupt changes of SYM-H index of geomagnetic activity, i.e., during the main phase of geomagnetic storms and during development of ionospheric storms. The main contribution in the total number of GPS LoL was found to be done by GPS sites located at low and high latitudes, whereas the area of numerous TEC slips seemed to mostly correspond to the boundary of the auroral oval, i.e., region with intensive ionospheric irregularities. Our global maps of TEC slips show where the regions with intense irregularities of electron density occur during geomagnetic storms and will let us in future predict appearance of GPS errors for geomagnetically disturbed conditions.

Low-cost approach for a software-defined radio based ground station receiver for CCSDS standard compliant S-band satellite communications

Science.gov (United States)

Boettcher, M. A.; Butt, B. M.; Klinkner, S.

2016-10-01

A major concern of a university satellite mission is to download the payload and the telemetry data from a satellite. While the ground station antennas are in general easy and with limited afford to procure, the receiving unit is most certainly not. The flexible and low-cost software-defined radio (SDR) transceiver "BladeRF" is used to receive the QPSK modulated and CCSDS compliant coded data of a satellite in the HAM radio S-band. The control software is based on the Open Source program GNU Radio, which also is used to perform CCSDS post processing of the binary bit stream. The test results show a good performance of the receiving system.

Sounding rocket/ground-based observation campaign to study Medium-Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTID)

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, M.; Yokoyama, T.; Saito, A.; Otsuka, Y.; Yamamoto, M.; Abe, T.; Watanabe, S.; Ishisaka, K.; Saito, S.; Larsen, M.; Pfaff, R. F.; Bernhardt, P. A.

2012-12-01

An observation campaign is under preparation. It is to launch sounding rockets S-520-27 and S-310-42 from Uchinoura Space Center of JAXA while ground-based instruments measure waves in the ionosphere. It is scheduled in July/August 2013. The main purpose of the experiment is to reveal generation mechanism of Medium-Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbance (MSTID). The MSTID is the ionospheric wave with 1-2 hour periodicity, 100-200 km horizontal wavelength, and southwestward propagation. It is enhanced in the summer nighttime of the mid-latitude ionosphere. The MSTID is not only a simple atmospheric-wave modulation of the ionosphere, but shows similarity to characteristics of the Perkins instability. A problem is that growth rate of the Perkins instability is too small to explain the phenomena. We now hypothesize a generation mechanism that electromagnetic coupling of the F- and E-regions help rapid growth of the MSTID especially at its initial stage. In the observation campaign, we will use the sounding rocket S-520-27 for in-situ measurement of ionospheric parameters, i.e., electron density and electric fields. Wind velocity measurements in both F- and E-regions are very important as well. For the F-region winds, we will conduct Lithium-release experiment under the full-moon condition. This is a big technical challenge. Another rocket S-310-42 will be used for the E-region wind measurement with the TMA release. On the ground, we will use GEONET (Japanese vast GPS receiver network) to monitor horizontal distribution of GPS-TEC on the realtime bases. In the presentation we will show MSTID characteristics and the proposed generation mechanism, and discuss plan and current status of the project.

Utilization of GPS Tropospheric Delays for Climate Research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suparta, Wayan

2017-01-01

The tropospheric delay is one of the main error sources in Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and its impact plays a crucial role in near real-time weather forecasting. Accessibility and accurate estimation of this parameter are essential for weather and climate research. Advances in GPS application has allowed the measurements of zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) in all weather conditions and on a global scale with fine temporal and spatial resolution. In addition to the rapid advancement of GPS technology and informatics and the development of research in the field of Earth and Planetary Sciences, the GPS data has been available free of charge. Now only required sophisticated processing techniques but user friendly. On the other hand, the ZTD parameter obtained from the models or measurements needs to be converted into precipitable water vapor (PWV) to make it more useful as a component of weather forecasting and analysis atmospheric hazards such as tropical storms, flash floods, landslide, pollution, and earthquake as well as for climate change studies. This paper addresses the determination of ZTD as a signal error or delay source during the propagation from the satellite to a receiver on the ground and is a key driving force behind the atmospheric events. Some results in terms of ZTD and PWV will be highlighted in this paper. (paper)

A Regional GPS Receiver Network For Monitoring Mid-latitude Total Electron Content During Storms

Science.gov (United States)

Vernon, A.; Cander, Lj. R.

A regional GPS receiver network has been used for monitoring mid-latitude total elec- tron content (TEC) during ionospheric storms at the current solar maximum. Differ- ent individual storms were examined to study how the temporal patterns of changes develop and how they are related to solar and geomagnetic activity for parameter de- scriptive of plasmaspheric-ionospheric ionisation. Use is then made of computer con- touring techniques to produce snapshot maps of TEC for different study cases. Com- parisons with the local ionosonde data at different phases of the storms enable the storm developments to be studied in detail.

IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The NASA IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data (IPUTG0) data set contains GPS readings, including latitude, longitude, track, ground speed, off distance,...

Effect of forest canopy on GPS-based movement data

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholas J. DeCesare; John R. Squires; Jay A. Kolbe

2005-01-01

The advancing role of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in ecology has made studies of animal movement possible for larger and more vagile species. A simple field test revealed that lengths of GPS-based movement data were strongly biased (Pof forest canopy. Global Positioning System error added an average of 27.5% additional...

Attitude determination for small satellites using GPS signal-to-noise ratio

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Daniel

An embedded system for GPS-based attitude determination (AD) using signal-to-noise (SNR) measurements was developed for CubeSat applications. The design serves as an evaluation testbed for conducting ground based experiments using various computational methods and antenna types to determine the optimum AD accuracy. Raw GPS data is also stored to non-volatile memory for downloading and post analysis. Two low-power microcontrollers are used for processing and to display information on a graphic screen for real-time performance evaluations. A new parallel inter-processor communication protocol was developed that is faster and uses less power than existing standard protocols. A shorted annular patch (SAP) antenna was fabricated for the initial ground-based AD experiments with the testbed. Static AD estimations with RMS errors in the range of 2.5° to 4.8° were achieved over a range of off-zenith attitudes.

Integrated navigation of aerial robot for GPS and GPS-denied environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Satoshi; Min, Hongkyu; Nonami, Kenzo; Wada, Tetsuya

2016-01-01

In this study, novel robust navigation system for aerial robot in GPS and GPS- denied environments is proposed. Generally, the aerial robot uses position and velocity information from Global Positioning System (GPS) for guidance and control. However, GPS could not be used in several environments, for example, GPS has huge error near buildings and trees, indoor, and so on. In such GPS-denied environment, Laser Detection and Ranging (LIDER) sensor based navigation system have generally been used. However, LIDER sensor also has an weakness, and it could not be used in the open outdoor environment where GPS could be used. Therefore, it is desired to develop the integrated navigation system which is seamlessly applied to GPS and GPS-denied environments. In this paper, the integrated navigation system for aerial robot using GPS and LIDER is developed. The navigation system is designed based on Extended Kalman Filter, and the effectiveness of the developed system is verified by numerical simulation and experiment. (paper)

Comparison of the precision of three commonly used GPS models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E Chavoshi

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Development of science in various fields has caused change in the methods to determine geographical location. Precision farming involves new technology that provides the opportunity for farmers to change in factors such as nutrients, soil moisture available to plants, soil physical and chemical characteristics and other factors with the spatial resolution of less than a centimeter to several meters to monitor and evaluate. GPS receivers based on precision farming operations specified accuracies are used in the following areas: 1 monitoring of crop and soil sampling (less than one meter accuracy 2 use of fertilizer, pesticide and seed work (less than half a meter accuracy 3 Transplantation and row cultivation (precision of less than 4 cm (Perez et al., 2011. In one application of GPS in agriculture, route guidance precision farming tractors in the fields was designed to reduce the transmission error that deviate from the path specified in the range of 50 to 300 mm driver informed and improved way to display (Perez et al., 2011. In another study, the system automatically guidance, based on RTK-GPS technology, precision tillage operations was used between and within the rows very close to the drip irrigation pipe and without damage to their crops at a distance of 50 mm (Abidine et al., 2004. In another study, to compare the accuracy and precision of the receivers, 5 different models of Trimble Mark GPS devices from 15 stations were mapped, the results indicated that minimum error was related to Geo XT model with an accuracy of 91 cm and maximum error was related to Pharos model with an accuracy of 5.62 m (Kindra et al., 2006. Due to the increasing use of GPS receivers in agriculture as well as the lack of trust on the real accuracy and precision of receivers, this study aimed to compare the positioning accuracy and precision of three commonly used GPS receivers models used to specify receivers with the lowest error for precision

GPS Test Facility

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Global Positioning System (GPS) Test Facility Instrumentation Suite (GPSIS) provides great flexibility in testing receivers by providing operational control of...

An ultra-wide bandwidth-based range/GPS tight integration approach for relative positioning in vehicular ad hoc networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, Feng; Cheong, Joon Wayn; Dempster, Andrew G

2015-01-01

Relative position awareness is a vital premise for the implementation of emerging intelligent transportation systems, such as collision warning. However, commercial global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receivers do not satisfy the requirements of these applications. Fortunately, cooperative positioning (CP) techniques, through sharing the GNSS measurements between vehicles, can improve the performance of relative positioning in a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET). In this paper, while assuming there are no obstacles between vehicles, a new enhanced tightly coupled CP technique is presented by adding ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB)-based inter-vehicular range measurements. In the proposed CP method, each vehicle fuses the GPS measurements and the inter-vehicular range measurements. Based on analytical and experimental results, in the full GPS coverage environment, the new tight integration CP method outperforms the INS-aided tight CP method, tight CP method, and DGPS by 11%, 15%, and 24%, respectively; in the GPS outage scenario, the performance improvement achieves 60%, 65%, and 73%, respectively. (paper)

Review of current GPS methodologies for producing accurate time series and their error sources

Science.gov (United States)

He, Xiaoxing; Montillet, Jean-Philippe; Fernandes, Rui; Bos, Machiel; Yu, Kegen; Hua, Xianghong; Jiang, Weiping

2017-05-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is an important tool to observe and model geodynamic processes such as plate tectonics and post-glacial rebound. In the last three decades, GPS has seen tremendous advances in the precision of the measurements, which allow researchers to study geophysical signals through a careful analysis of daily time series of GPS receiver coordinates. However, the GPS observations contain errors and the time series can be described as the sum of a real signal and noise. The signal itself can again be divided into station displacements due to geophysical causes and to disturbing factors. Examples of the latter are errors in the realization and stability of the reference frame and corrections due to ionospheric and tropospheric delays and GPS satellite orbit errors. There is an increasing demand on detecting millimeter to sub-millimeter level ground displacement signals in order to further understand regional scale geodetic phenomena hence requiring further improvements in the sensitivity of the GPS solutions. This paper provides a review spanning over 25 years of advances in processing strategies, error mitigation methods and noise modeling for the processing and analysis of GPS daily position time series. The processing of the observations is described step-by-step and mainly with three different strategies in order to explain the weaknesses and strengths of the existing methodologies. In particular, we focus on the choice of the stochastic model in the GPS time series, which directly affects the estimation of the functional model including, for example, tectonic rates, seasonal signals and co-seismic offsets. Moreover, the geodetic community continues to develop computational methods to fully automatize all phases from analysis of GPS time series. This idea is greatly motivated by the large number of GPS receivers installed around the world for diverse applications ranging from surveying small deformations of civil engineering structures (e

Exploring the Limits of High Altitude GPS for Future Lunar Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Ashman, Benjamin W.; Parker, Joel J. K.; Bauer, Frank H.; Esswein, Michael

2018-01-01

An increasing number of spacecraft are relying on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for navigation at altitudes near or above the GPS constellation itself - the region known as the Space Service Volume (SSV). While the formal definition of the SSV ends at geostationary altitude, the practical limit of high-altitude space usage is not known, and recent missions have demonstrated that signal availability is sufficient for operational navigation at altitudes halfway to the moon. This paper presents simulation results based on a high-fidelity model of the GPS constellation, calibrated and validated through comparisons of simulated GPS signal availability and strength with flight data from recent high-altitude missions including the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 16 (GOES-16) and the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. This improved model is applied to the transfer to a lunar near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) of the class being considered for the international Deep Space Gateway concept. The number of GPS signals visible and their received signal strengths are presented as a function of receiver altitude in order to explore the practical upper limit of high-altitude space usage of GPS.

Imaging of Ground Ice with Surface-Based Geophysics

Science.gov (United States)

2015-10-01

terrains. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), in particular, has been effective for imaging ground ice. ERT measures the ability of materials to...13 2.2.1 Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT...Engineer Research and Development Center ERT Electrical Resistivity Tomography GPS Global Positioning System LiDAR Light Detection and Ranging SIPRE

Very High-rate (50 Hz) GPS for Detection of Earthquake Ground Motions : How High Do We Need to Go?

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, R.

2017-12-01

The GPS variometric approach can measure displacements using broadcast ephemeris and a single receiver, with comparable precision to relative positioning and PPP within a short period of time. We evaluate the performance of the variometric approach to measure displacements using very high-rate (50 Hz) GPS data, which recorded from the 2013 Mw 6.6 Lushan earthquake and the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake. To remove the nonlinear drift due to integration process, we present to apply a high-pass filter to reconstruct displacements using the variometric approach. Comparison between 50 Hz and 1 Hz coseismic displacements demonstrates that 1 Hz solutions often fail to faithfully manifest the seismic waves containing high-frequency (> 0.5 Hz) seismic signals, which is common for near-field stations during a moderate-magnitude earthquake. Therefore, in order to reconstruct near-field seismic waves caused by moderate or large earthquakes, it is helpful to equip monitoring stations with very high-rate GPS receivers. Results derived using the variometric approach are compared with PPP results. They display very good consistence within only a few millimeters both in static and seismic periods. High-frequency (above 10 Hz) noises of displacements derived using the variometric approach are smaller than PPP displacements in three components.

Development of a High Precision Displacement Measurement System by Fusing a Low Cost RTK-GPS Sensor and a Force Feedback Accelerometer for Infrastructure Monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Gunhee; Kim, Kiyoung; Chung, Jun Yeon; Choi, Jaemook; Kwon, Nam-Yeol; Kang, Doo-Young; Sohn, Hoon

2017-11-28

A displacement measurement system fusing a low cost real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK-GPS) receiver and a force feedback accelerometer is proposed for infrastructure monitoring. The proposed system is composed of a sensor module, a base module and a computation module. The sensor module consists of a RTK-GPS rover and a force feedback accelerometer, and is installed on a target structure like conventional RTK-GPS sensors. The base module is placed on a rigid ground away from the target structure similar to conventional RTK-GPS bases, and transmits observation messages to the sensor module. Then, the initial acceleration, velocity and displacement responses measured by the sensor module are transmitted to the computation module located at a central monitoring facility. Finally, high precision and high sampling rate displacement, velocity, and acceleration are estimated by fusing the acceleration from the accelerometer, the velocity from the GPS rover, and the displacement from RTK-GPS. Note that the proposed displacement measurement system can measure 3-axis acceleration, velocity as well as displacement in real time. In terms of displacement, the proposed measurement system can estimate dynamic and pseudo-static displacement with a root-mean-square error of 2 mm and a sampling rate of up to 100 Hz. The performance of the proposed system is validated under sinusoidal, random and steady-state vibrations. Field tests were performed on the Yeongjong Grand Bridge and Yi Sun-sin Bridge in Korea, and the Xihoumen Bridge in China to compare the performance of the proposed system with a commercial RTK-GPS sensor and other data fusion techniques.

Multiscale GPS tomography during COPS: validation and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Champollion, Cédric; Flamant, Cyrille; Masson, Frédéric; Gégout, Pascal; Boniface, Karen; Richard, Evelyne

2010-05-01

Accurate 3D description of the water vapour field is of interest for process studies such as convection initiation. None of the current techniques (LIDAR, satellite, radio soundings, GPS) can provide an all weather continuous 3D field of moisture. The combination of GPS tomography with radio-soundings (and/or LIDAR) has been used for such process studies using both advantages of vertically resolved soundings and high temporal density of GPS measurements. GPS tomography has been used at short scale (10 km horizontal resolution but in a 50 km² area) for process studies such as the ESCOMPTE experiment (Bastin et al., 2005) and at larger scale (50 km horizontal resolution) during IHOP_2002. But no extensive statistical validation has been done so far. The overarching goal of the COPS field experiment is to advance the quality of forecasts of orographically induced convective precipitation by four-dimensional observations and modeling of its life cycle for identifying the physical and chemical processes responsible for deficiencies in QPF over low-mountain regions. During the COPS field experiment, a GPS network of about 100 GPS stations has been continuously operating during three months in an area of 500 km² in the East of France (Vosges Mountains) and West of Germany (Black Forest). If the mean spacing between the GPS is about 50 km, an East-West GPS profile with a density of about 10 km is dedicated to high resolution tomography. One major goal of the GPS COPS experiment is to validate the GPS tomography with different spatial resolutions. Validation is based on additional radio-soundings and airborne / ground-based LIDAR measurement. The number and the high quality of vertically resolved water vapor observations give an unique data set for GPS tomography validation. Numerous tests have been done on real data to show the type water vapor structures that can be imaging by GPS tomography depending of the assimilation of additional data (radio soundings), the

Estimating the contribution from different ionospheric regions to the TEC response to the solar flares using data from the international GPS network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. A. Leonovich

Full Text Available This paper proposes a new method for estimating the contribution from different ionospheric regions to the response of total electron content variations to the solar flare, based on data from the international network of two-frequency multichannel receivers of the navigation GPS system. The method uses the effect of partial "shadowing" of the atmosphere by the terrestrial globe. The study of the solar flare influence on the atmosphere uses GPS stations located near the boundary of the shadow on the ground in the nightside hemisphere. The beams between the satellite-borne transmitter and the receiver on the ground for these stations pass partially through the atmosphere lying in the region of total shadow, and partially through the illuminated atmosphere. The analysis of the ionospheric effect of a powerful solar flare of class X5.7/3B that was recorded on 14 July 2000 (10:24 UT, N22 W07 in quiet geomagnetic conditions (D_st = -10 nT has shown that about 75% of the TEC increase corresponds to the ionospheric region lying below 300 km and about 25% to regions lying above 300 km.

Key words. Ionosphere (solar radiation and cosmic ray effects; instruments and techniques – Solar physics, astrophysics and astronomy (ultraviolet emissions

Using GPS to Detect Imminent Tsunamis

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Y. Tony

2009-01-01

A promising method of detecting imminent tsunamis and estimating their destructive potential involves the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) data in addition to seismic data. Application of the method is expected to increase the reliability of global tsunami-warning systems, making it possible to save lives while reducing the incidence of false alarms. Tsunamis kill people every year. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed about 230,000 people. The magnitude of an earthquake is not always a reliable indication of the destructive potential of a tsunami. The 2004 Indian Ocean quake generated a huge tsunami, while the 2005 Nias (Indonesia) quake did not, even though both were initially estimated to be of the similar magnitude. Between 2005 and 2007, five false tsunami alarms were issued worldwide. Such alarms result in negative societal and economic effects. GPS stations can detect ground motions of earthquakes in real time, as frequently as every few seconds. In the present method, the epicenter of an earthquake is located by use of data from seismometers, then data from coastal GPS stations near the epicenter are used to infer sea-floor displacements that precede a tsunami. The displacement data are used in conjunction with local topographical data and an advanced theory to quantify the destructive potential of a tsunami on a new tsunami scale, based on the GPS-derived tsunami energy, much like the Richter Scale used for earthquakes. An important element of the derivation of the advanced theory was recognition that horizontal sea-floor motions contribute much more to generation of tsunamis than previously believed. The method produces a reliable estimate of the destructive potential of a tsunami within minutes typically, well before the tsunami reaches coastal areas. The viability of the method was demonstrated in computational tests in which the method yielded accurate representations of three historical tsunamis for which well-documented ground

Tightly-coupled real-time analysis of GPS and accelerometer data for translational and rotational ground motions and application to earthquake and tsunami early warning

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, J.; Bock, Y.; Melgar, D.; Hasse, J.; Crowell, B. W.

2013-12-01

High-rate GPS can play an important role in earthquake early warning (EEW) systems for large (>M6) events by providing permanent displacements immediately as they are achieved, to be used in source inversions that can be repeatedly updated as more information becomes available. This is most valuable to implement at a site very near the potential source rupture, where broadband seismometers are likely to clip, and accelerometer data cannot be objectively integrated to produce reliable displacements in real time. At present, more than 525 real-time GPS stations have been established in western North America, which are being integrated into EEW systems. Our analysis technique relies on a tightly-coupled combination of GPS and accelerometer data, an extension of precise point positioning with ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR). We operate a PPP service based on North American stations available through the IGS and UNAVCO/PBO. The service provides real-time satellite clock and fractional-cycle bias products that allow us to position individual client stations in the zone of deformation. The service reference stations are chosen to be further than 200 km from the primary zones of tectonic deformation in the western U.S. to avoid contamination of the satellite products during a large seismic event. At client stations, accelerometer data are applied as tight constraints on the positions between epochs in PPP-AR, which improves cycle-slip repair and rapid ambiguity resolution after GPS outages. Furthermore, we estimate site displacements, seismic velocities, and coseismic ground tilts to facilitate the analysis of ground motion characteristics and the inversion for source mechanisms. The seismogeodetic displacement and velocity waveforms preserves the detection of P wave arrivals, and provides P-wave arrival displacement that is key new information for EEW. Our innovative solution method for coseismic tilts mitigates an error source that has continually plagued strong motion

Detection of plumes at Redoubt and Etna volcanoes using the GPS SNR method

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Kristine M.; Palo, Scott; Roesler, Carolyn; Mattia, Mario; Bruno, Valentina; Coltelli, Mauro; Fee, David

2017-09-01

Detection and characterization of volcanic eruptions is important both for public health and aircraft safety. A variety of ground sensors are used to monitor volcanic eruptions. Data from these ground sensors are subsequently incorporated into models that predict the movement of ash. Here a method to detect volcanic plumes using GPS signals is described. Rather than carrier phase data used by geodesists, the method takes advantage of attenuations in signal to noise ratio (SNR) data. Two datasets are evaluated: the 2009 Redoubt Volcano eruptions and the 2013/2015 eruptions at Mt. Etna. SNR-based eruption durations are compared with previously published seismic, infrasonic, and radar studies at Redoubt Volcano. SNR-based plume detections from Mt. Etna are compared with L-band radar and tremor observations. To place these SNR observations from Redoubt and Etna in context, a model of the propagation of GPS signals through both water/water vapor and tephra is developed. Neither water nor fine ash particles will produce the observed attenuation of GPS signals, while scattering caused by particles > 1 cm in diameter potentially could.

Analysis of GPS Satellite Allocation for the United States Nuclear Detonation Detection System (USNDS)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bell, Aaron

2002-01-01

...) satellites to detect atmospheric nuclear detonations. Though there are currently over 24 operational GPS satellites, USNDS ground based antennas are only capable of actively monitoring 24 satellites at a time...

A design proposal of a certain missile tactical command system based on Beidou satellite communication and GPS positioning techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jian; Hao, Yongsheng; Miao, Jian; Zhang, Jianmao

2007-11-01

This paper introduced a design proposal of tactical command system that applied to a kind of anti-tank missile carriers. The tactical command system was made up of embedded computer system based on PC104 bus, Linux operating system, digital military map, Beidou satellite communication equipments and GPS positioning equipments. The geographic coordinates was measured by the GPS receiver, the positioning data, commands and information were transmitted real-time between tactical command systems, tactical command systems and command center, by the Beidou satellite communication systems. The Beidou satellite communication equipments and GPS positioning equipments were integrated to an independent module, exchanging data with embedded computer through RS232 serial ports and USB ports. The decision support system software based on information fusion, calculates positioning data, geography information and battle field information synthetically, shows the position of allies and the position of enemy on the military map, and assesses the various threats of different enemy objects, educes a situation assessment and threat assessment.

Near real-time PPP-based monitoring of the ionosphere using dual-frequency GPS/BDS/Galileo data

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhinmin; Li, Yangyang; Li, Fei; Guo, Jinyun

2018-03-01

Ionosphere delay is very important to GNSS observations, since it is one of the main error sources which have to be mitigated even eliminated in order to determine reliable and precise positions. The ionosphere is a dispersive medium to radio signal, so the value of the group delay or phase advance of GNSS radio signal depends on the signal frequency. Ground-based GNSS stations have been used for ionosphere monitoring and modeling for a long time. In this paper we will introduce a novel approach suitable for single-receiver operation based on the precise point positioning (PPP) technique. One of the main characteristic is that only carrier-phase observations are used to avoid particular effects of pseudorange observations. The technique consists of introducing ionosphere ambiguity parameters obtained from PPP filter into the geometry-free combination of observations to estimate ionospheric delays. Observational data from stations that are capable of tracking the GPS/BDS/GALILEO from the International GNSS Service (IGS) Multi-GNSS Experiments (MGEX) network are processed. For the purpose of performance validation, ionospheric delays series derived from the novel approach are compared with the global ionospheric map (GIM) from Ionospheric Associate Analysis Centers (IAACs). The results are encouraging and offer potential solutions to the near real-time ionosphere monitoring.

Design about position and display of GPS based on singlechip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WU Dongdong

2016-02-01

Full Text Available GPS is used in ships,vehicles,aircraft and other moving objects.GPS also has the important application in vehicle monitoring system.However,with the expansion of the specialized functions of GPS,its high cost makes so many ordinary consumers unbearable.This paper proposes a simple design of GPS based on singlechip.The design Improves the basic utility functions of system and adds the speed and mileage measurement.GPS module uses the differential technology to improve the positioning accuracy.Therefore,the navigation device is compact,easy to carry and of high precision positioning.Through getting the data of 3D coordinates from the observation point and the factor of position accuracy,the average of which is less than five,indicating that the position accuracy can be improved by differential technology to achieve the desired range.At last,the feasibility of this design is verified through the current data tested in the outdoors.

Design of complete software GPS signal simulator with low complexity and precise multipath channel model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Arul Elango

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The need for GPS data simulators have become important due to the tremendous growth in the design of versatile GPS receivers. Commercial hardware and software based GPS simulators are expensive and time consuming. In this work, a low cost simple novel GPS L1 signal simulator is designed for testing and evaluating the performance of software GPS receiver in a laboratory environment. A typical real time paradigm, similar to actual satellite derived GPS signal is created on a computer generated scenario. In this paper, a GPS software simulator is proposed that may offer a lot of analysis and testing flexibility to the researchers and developers as it is totally software based primarily running on a laptop/personal computer without the requirement of any hardware. The proposed GPS simulator allows provision for re-configurability and test repeatability and is developed in VC++ platform to minimize the simulation time. It also incorporates Rayleigh multipath channel fading model under non-line of sight (NLOS conditions. In this work, to efficiently design the simulator, several Rayleigh fading models viz. Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT, Filtering White Gaussian Noise (FWFN and modified Sum of Sinusoidal (SOS simulators are tested and compared in terms of accuracy of its first and second order statistical metrics, execution time and the later one is found to be as the best appropriate Rayleigh multipath model suitable for incorporating with GPS simulator. The fading model written in ‘MATLAB’ engine has been linked with software GPS simulator module enable to test GPS receiver’s functionality in different fading environments.

The Aalborg Survey / Part 2 - GPS Based Survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harder, Henrik; Reiter, Ida Maria; Christensen, Cecilie Breinholm

, the GPS based data are supplemented with an attractivity analysis among the 169 respondents. The resulting data are presented in maps in three scales that illustrate the respondents’ use of Aalborg’s urban spaces with regards to the respondent’s movements in time and space. By further coupling the GPS...... data with data on the single respondent’s gender, age, address, activities, mode of transport, use of money etc. it is possible to gain a more detailed knowledge of young people’s use of urban spaces in Aalborg....

GPS antenna designs

Science.gov (United States)

Laube, Samuel J. P.

1987-05-01

Application of the current GPS NAVSTAR system to civilian service requires that a right hand, circularly polarized, -160 dBW spread spectrum signal be received from an orbiting satellite, where the antenna environment is also moving. This presents a design challenge when inexpensive antennas are desired. The intent of this survey is to provide information on the antennas mentioned and to construct and test prototypes to determine whether the choice made by the industry, the quadrifilar helix, is the best. The helix antenna is currently the low cost standard for GPS. Prototype versions were constructed using 12 gauge wire and subminiature coaxial hardline. The constructed antennas were tested using a signal generator and a reference turnstile. A spectrum analyzer was used to measure the level of the received signal.

Relationships between GPS-signal propagation errors and EISCAT observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Jakowski

1996-12-01

Full Text Available When travelling through the ionosphere the signals of space-based radio navigation systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS are subject to modifications in amplitude, phase and polarization. In particular, phase changes due to refraction lead to propagation errors of up to 50 m for single-frequency GPS users. If both the L1 and the L2 frequencies transmitted by the GPS satellites are measured, first-order range error contributions of the ionosphere can be determined and removed by difference methods. The ionospheric contribution is proportional to the total electron content (TEC along the ray path between satellite and receiver. Using about ten European GPS receiving stations of the International GPS Service for Geodynamics (IGS, the TEC over Europe is estimated within the geographic ranges -20°≤ λ ≤40°E and 32.5°≤ Φ ≤70°N in longitude and latitude, respectively. The derived TEC maps over Europe contribute to the study of horizontal coupling and transport proces- ses during significant ionospheric events. Due to their comprehensive information about the high-latitude ionosphere, EISCAT observations may help to study the influence of ionospheric phenomena upon propagation errors in GPS navigation systems. Since there are still some accuracy limiting problems to be solved in TEC determination using GPS, data comparison of TEC with vertical electron density profiles derived from EISCAT observations is valuable to enhance the accuracy of propagation-error estimations. This is evident both for absolute TEC calibration as well as for the conversion of ray-path-related observations to vertical TEC. The combination of EISCAT data and GPS-derived TEC data enables a better understanding of large-scale ionospheric processes.

Lightweight GPS-tags, one giant leap for wildlife tracking? An assessment approach.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariano R Recio

Full Text Available Recent technological improvements have made possible the development of lightweight GPS-tagging devices suitable to track medium-to-small sized animals. However, current inferences concerning GPS performance are based on heavier designs, suitable only for large mammals. Lightweight GPS-units are deployed close to the ground, on species selecting micro-topographical features and with different behavioural patterns in comparison to larger mammal species. We assessed the effects of vegetation, topography, motion, and behaviour on the fix success rate for lightweight GPS-collar across a range of natural environments, and at the scale of perception of feral cats (Felis catus. Units deployed at 20 cm above the ground in sites of varied vegetation and topography showed that trees (native forest and shrub cover had the largest influence on fix success rate (89% on average; whereas tree cover, sky availability, number of satellites and horizontal dilution of position (HDOP were the main variables affecting location error (±39.5 m and ±27.6 m before and after filtering outlier fixes. Tests on HDOP or number of satellites-based screening methods to remove inaccurate locations achieved only a small reduction of error and discarded many accurate locations. Mobility tests were used to simulate cats' motion, revealing a slightly lower performance as compared to the fixed sites. GPS-collars deployed on 43 cats showed no difference in fix success rate by sex or season. Overall, fix success rate and location error values were within the range of previous tests carried out with collars designed for larger species. Lightweight GPS-tags are a suitable method to track medium to small size species, hence increasing the range of opportunities for spatial ecology research. However, the effects of vegetation, topography and behaviour on location error and fix success rate need to be evaluated prior to deployment, for the particular study species and their habitats.

Development of a High Precision Displacement Measurement System by Fusing a Low Cost RTK-GPS Sensor and a Force Feedback Accelerometer for Infrastructure Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunhee Koo

2017-11-01

Full Text Available A displacement measurement system fusing a low cost real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK-GPS receiver and a force feedback accelerometer is proposed for infrastructure monitoring. The proposed system is composed of a sensor module, a base module and a computation module. The sensor module consists of a RTK-GPS rover and a force feedback accelerometer, and is installed on a target structure like conventional RTK-GPS sensors. The base module is placed on a rigid ground away from the target structure similar to conventional RTK-GPS bases, and transmits observation messages to the sensor module. Then, the initial acceleration, velocity and displacement responses measured by the sensor module are transmitted to the computation module located at a central monitoring facility. Finally, high precision and high sampling rate displacement, velocity, and acceleration are estimated by fusing the acceleration from the accelerometer, the velocity from the GPS rover, and the displacement from RTK-GPS. Note that the proposed displacement measurement system can measure 3-axis acceleration, velocity as well as displacement in real time. In terms of displacement, the proposed measurement system can estimate dynamic and pseudo-static displacement with a root-mean-square error of 2 mm and a sampling rate of up to 100 Hz. The performance of the proposed system is validated under sinusoidal, random and steady-state vibrations. Field tests were performed on the Yeongjong Grand Bridge and Yi Sun-sin Bridge in Korea, and the Xihoumen Bridge in China to compare the performance of the proposed system with a commercial RTK-GPS sensor and other data fusion techniques.

IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data, Version 1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The NASA IceBridge GPS L0 Raw Satellite Navigation Data (IPUTG0) data set contains GPS readings, including latitude, longitude, track, ground speed, off distance,...

GPS Navigation for the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Bamford, William; Mitchell, Jason; Southward, Michael; Baldwin, Philip; Winternitz, Luke; Heckler, Gregory; Kurichh, Rishi; Sirotzky, Steve

2009-01-01

In 2014. NASA is scheduled to launch the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS), a four-satellite formation designed to monitor fluctuations in the Earth's magnetosphere. This mission has two planned phases with different orbits (1? x 12Re and 1.2 x 25Re) to allow for varying science regions of interest. To minimize ground resources and to mitigate the probability of collisions between formation members, an on-board orbit determination system consisting of a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and crosslink transceiver was desired. Candidate sensors would be required to acquire GPS signals both below and above the constellation while spinning at three revolutions-per-minute (RPM) and exchanging state and science information among the constellation. The Intersatellite Ranging and Alarm System (IRAS), developed by Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) was selected to meet this challenge. IRAS leverages the eight years of development GSFC has invested in the Navigator GPS receiver and its spacecraft communication expertise, culminating in a sensor capable of absolute and relative navigation as well as intersatellite communication. The Navigator is a state-of-the-art receiver designed to acquire and track weak GPS signals down to -147dBm. This innovation allows the receiver to track both the main lobe and the much weaker side lobe signals. The Navigator's four antenna inputs and 24 tracking channels, together with customized hardware and software, allow it to seamlessly maintain visibility while rotating. Additionally, an extended Kalman filter provides autonomous, near real-time, absolute state and time estimates. The Navigator made its maiden voyage on the Space Shuttle during the Hubble Servicing Mission, and is scheduled to fly on MMS as well as the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM). Additionally, Navigator's acquisition engine will be featured in the receiver being developed for the Orion vehicle. The crosslink transceiver is a 1/4 Watt transmitter

NONLINEAR FILTER METHOD OF GPS DYNAMIC POSITIONING BASED ON BANCROFT ALGORITHM

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANGQin; TAOBen-zao; ZHAOChao-ying; WANGLi

2005-01-01

Because of the ignored items after linearization, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) becomes a form of suboptimal gradient descent algorithm. The emanative tendency exists in GPS solution when the filter equations are ill-posed. The deviation in the estimation cannot be avoided. Furthermore, the true solution may be lost in pseudorange positioning because the linearized pseudorange equations are partial solutions. To solve the above problems in GPS dynamic positioning by using EKF, a closed-form Kalman filter method called the two-stage algorithm is presented for the nonlinear algebraic solution of GPS dynamic positioning based on the global nonlinear least squares closed algorithm--Bancroft numerical algorithm of American. The method separates the spatial parts from temporal parts during processing the GPS filter problems, and solves the nonlinear GPS dynamic positioning, thus getting stable and reliable dynamic positioning solutions.

Effect of an evidence-based answering service on GPs and their patients : a pilot study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeven, A.A.; Schuling, J.

2004-01-01

OBJECTIVES: For general practitioners (GPs), an important obstacle to practising evidence-based medicine is lack of time. An evidence-based answering service was developed that took over searching and appraisal of medical evidence from the GPs. GPs sent in questions, and the informationist

New Applications for Detecting Natural Hazards Using Ground and Space-Based GNSS-Derived Ionospheric Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Komjathy, A.; Butala, M.; Verkhoglyadova, O. P.; Wilson, B. D.; Iijima, B.; Akopian, V.; Mannucci, A.

2012-12-01

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and University of Southern California (USC) have jointly developed the Global Assimilative Ionospheric Model (GAIM) to monitor space weather, study storm effects, and provide ionospheric calibration for various customers including NASA flight projects. JPL/USC GAIM is a physics-based 3D data assimilation model using 4DVAR and Kalman filter approaches to solve for ion and electron density states and other key ionospheric drivers. The JPL/USC GAIM technologies, now operating in real-time and post-processing modes, can routinely accept as input ground GPS TEC data from 1200+ sites including streaming and hourly GPS stations, occultation links from CHAMP, SAC-C, COSMIC and C/NOFS satellites, UV limb and nadir scans. In the presentation, first we will discuss recent advances in our assimilating ground-based GPS, C/NOFS and COSMIC occultation measurements using our GAIM system characterizing the ionosphere in 3D. We will elaborate on our improved space-based bias estimation techniques to generate high precision calibrated TEC measurements to be assimilated into GAIM. We will discuss the benefits of adding GLONASS measurements to our GIM and GAIM processing technologies. New and upcoming applications and first results will be shown for estimating very high precision TEC perturbations using real-time and post-processed GNSS observations from GEONET and IGS networks. We will demonstrate initial steps on how to integrate this GNSS ionosphere-based technology into a global tsunami warning system. Additional potential applications might include the remote sensing of ionospheric TEC perturbations generated by other natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and human-made events such as nuclear tests.

Increase of Carrier-to-Noise Ratio in GPS Receivers Caused by Continuous-Wave Interference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Li

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The increased use of personal private devices (PPDs is drawing greater attention to the effects of continuous-wave interference (CWI on the performance of global positioning system (GPS receivers. The effective carrier-to-noise density ratio (C/N0, an essential index of GNSS receiver performance, is studied in this paper. Receiver tracking performance deteriorates in the presence of interference. Hence, the effective C/N0, which measures tracking performance, decreases. However, simulations and bench tests have shown that the effective C/N0 may increase in the presence of CWI. The reason is that a sinusoidal signal is induced by the CWI in the correlator and may be tracked by the carrier tracking loop. Thus, the effective carrier power depends on the power of the signal induced by the CWI, and the effective C/N0 increases with the power of the CWI. The filtering of the CWI in the carrier tracking loop correlator and its effect on the phase locked loop (PLL tracking performance are analyzed. A mathematical model of the effect of the CWI on the effective C/N0 is derived. Simulation results show that the proposed model is more accurate than existing models, especially when the jam-to-signal ratio (JSR is greater than 30 dBc.

A New Algorithm for ABS/GPS Integration Based on Fuzzy-Logic in Vehicle Navigation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Amin Zadeh

2011-10-01

Full Text Available GPS based vehicle navigation systems have difficulties in tracking vehicles in urban canyons due to poor satellite availability. ABS (Antilock Brake System Navigation System consists of self-contained optical encoders mounted on vehicle wheels that can continuously provide accurate short-term positioning information. In this paper, a new concept regarding GPS/ABS integration, based on Fuzzy Logic is presented. The proposed algorithm is used to identify GPS position accuracy based on environment and vehicle dynamic knowledge. The GPS is used as reference during the time it is in a good condition and replaced by ABS positioning system when GPS information is unreliable. We compare our proposed algorithm with other common algorithm in real environment. Our results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly improve the stability and reliability of ABS/GPS navigation system.

A new local GPS water vapor tomography imaging technique using spectral functions w.r.t space and time: initial tests and results for the Tahiti Island case (French Polynesia)

Science.gov (United States)

Sichoix, L.; Barriot, J.; Fadil, A.; Ortega, P.

2009-12-01

In this study, we present the initial tests and validation results performed on a newly-developed GPS water vapor tomography inversion code based on a spectral approach tailored to coarse networks of GPS stations. Our work is mainly motivated by the lack of dense GPS coverage in Tahiti Island. Firstly, we use the GAMIT software to estimate the tropospheric slant wet delays (SWD) from a single GPS ground-based receiver to each visible satellite. SWD values are our model input. Secondly, the refractivity along ray paths is written as 3D Zernike radial and spherical harmonic series as well as sinusoidal time series and then inserted into the Radon transform linking slant delays and refractivity. This approach is in contrast with usual previous approaches where the atmosphere is divided into voxels (3D pixels). These approaches may exhibit instabilities as a voxel is crossed by more than one ray. Thirdly, we overcome the ill-posedness of the Radon transform by adding a priori constraints in the form of a full covariance matrix of the atmospheric refractivity taking into account the transport and mixing processes in the atmosphere.

Global Positioning System receiver evaluation results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byrne, R.H.

1993-09-01

A Sandia project currently uses an outdated Magnavox 6400 Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver as the core of its navigation system. The goal of this study was to analyze the performance of the current GPS receiver compared to newer, less expensive models and to make recommendations on how to improve the performance of the overall navigation system. This paper discusses the test methodology used to experimentally analyze the performance of different GPS receivers, the test results, and recommendations on how an upgrade should proceed. Appendices contain detailed information regarding the raw data, test hardware, and test software.

Automated time activity classification based on global positioning system (GPS) tracking data.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jun; Jiang, Chengsheng; Houston, Douglas; Baker, Dean; Delfino, Ralph

2011-11-14

Air pollution epidemiological studies are increasingly using global positioning system (GPS) to collect time-location data because they offer continuous tracking, high temporal resolution, and minimum reporting burden for participants. However, substantial uncertainties in the processing and classifying of raw GPS data create challenges for reliably characterizing time activity patterns. We developed and evaluated models to classify people's major time activity patterns from continuous GPS tracking data. We developed and evaluated two automated models to classify major time activity patterns (i.e., indoor, outdoor static, outdoor walking, and in-vehicle travel) based on GPS time activity data collected under free living conditions for 47 participants (N = 131 person-days) from the Harbor Communities Time Location Study (HCTLS) in 2008 and supplemental GPS data collected from three UC-Irvine research staff (N = 21 person-days) in 2010. Time activity patterns used for model development were manually classified by research staff using information from participant GPS recordings, activity logs, and follow-up interviews. We evaluated two models: (a) a rule-based model that developed user-defined rules based on time, speed, and spatial location, and (b) a random forest decision tree model. Indoor, outdoor static, outdoor walking and in-vehicle travel activities accounted for 82.7%, 6.1%, 3.2% and 7.2% of manually-classified time activities in the HCTLS dataset, respectively. The rule-based model classified indoor and in-vehicle travel periods reasonably well (Indoor: sensitivity > 91%, specificity > 80%, and precision > 96%; in-vehicle travel: sensitivity > 71%, specificity > 99%, and precision > 88%), but the performance was moderate for outdoor static and outdoor walking predictions. No striking differences in performance were observed between the rule-based and the random forest models. The random forest model was fast and easy to execute, but was likely less robust

Tractor-mounted, GPS-based spot fumigation system manages Prunus replant disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Udompetaikul

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Our research goal was to use recent advances in global positioning system (GPS and computer technology to apply just the right amount of fumigant where it is most needed (i.e., in a small target treatment zone in and around each tree replanting site to control Prunus replant disease (PRD. We developed and confirmed the function of (1 GPS-based software that can be used on cleared orchard land to flexibly plan and map all of an orchard's future tree sites and associated spot fumigation treatment zones and 2 a tractor-based GPS-controlled spot fumigation system to quickly and safely treat the targeted tree site treatment zones. In trials in two almond orchards and one peach orchard, our evaluations of the composite mapping and application system, which examined spatial accuracy of the spot treatments, delivery rate accuracy of the spot treatments, and tree growth responses to the spot treatments, all indicated that GPS spot fumigation has excellent potential to greatly reduce fumigant usage while adequately managing the PRD complex.

Research on Single Base-Station Distance Estimation Algorithm in Quasi-GPS Ultrasonic Location System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheng, X C; Su, S J; Wang, Y K; Du, J B [Instrument Department, College of Mechatronics Engineering and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, ChangSha, Hunan, 410073 (China)

2006-10-15

In order to identify each base-station in quasi-GPS ultrasonic location system, a unique pseudo-random code is assigned to each base-station. This article primarily studies the distance estimation problem between Autonomous Guide Vehicle (AGV) and single base-station, and then the ultrasonic spread-spectrum distance measurement Time Delay Estimation (TDE) model is established. Based on the above model, the envelope correlation fast TDE algorithm based on FFT is presented and analyzed. It shows by experiments that when the m sequence used in the received signal is as same as the reference signal, there will be a sharp correlation value in their envelope correlation function after they are processed by the above algorithm; otherwise, the will be no prominent correlation value. So, the AGV can identify each base-station easily.

Research on Single Base-Station Distance Estimation Algorithm in Quasi-GPS Ultrasonic Location System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, X C; Su, S J; Wang, Y K; Du, J B

2006-01-01

In order to identify each base-station in quasi-GPS ultrasonic location system, a unique pseudo-random code is assigned to each base-station. This article primarily studies the distance estimation problem between Autonomous Guide Vehicle (AGV) and single base-station, and then the ultrasonic spread-spectrum distance measurement Time Delay Estimation (TDE) model is established. Based on the above model, the envelope correlation fast TDE algorithm based on FFT is presented and analyzed. It shows by experiments that when the m sequence used in the received signal is as same as the reference signal, there will be a sharp correlation value in their envelope correlation function after they are processed by the above algorithm; otherwise, the will be no prominent correlation value. So, the AGV can identify each base-station easily

Status of Precise Orbit Determination for Jason-2 Using GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Melachroinos, S.; Lemoine, F. G.; Zelensky, N. P.; Rowlands, D. D.; Pavlis, D. E.

2011-01-01

The JASON-2 satellite, launched in June 2008, is the latest follow-on to the successful TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) and JASON-I altimetry missions. JASON-2 is equipped with a TRSR Blackjack GPS dual-frequency receiver, a laser retroreflector array, and a DORIS receiver for precise orbit determination (POD). The most recent time series of orbits computed at NASA GSFC, based on SLR/DORIS data have been completed using both ITRF2005 and ITRF2008. These orbits have been shown to agree radially at 1 cm RMS for dynamic vs SLRlDORIS reduced-dynamic orbits and in comparison with orbits produced by other analysis centers (Lemoine et al., 2010; Zelensky et al., 2010; Cerri et al., 2010). We have recently upgraded the GEODYN software to implement model improvements for GPS processing. We describe the implementation of IGS standards to the Jason2 GEODYN GPS processing, and other dynamical and measurement model improvements. Our GPS-only JASON-2 orbit accuracy is assessed using a number of tests including analysis of independent SLR and altimeter crossover residuals, orbit overlap differences, and direct comparison to orbits generated at GSFC using SLR and DORIS tracking, and to orbits generated externally at other centers. Tests based on SLR and the altimeter crossover residuals provide the best performance indicator for independent validation of the NASAlGSFC GPS-only reduced dynamic orbits. For the ITRF2005 and ITRF2008 implementation of our GPS-only obits we are using the IGS05 and IGS08 standards. Reduced dynamic versus dynamic orbit differences are used to characterize the remaining force model error and TRF instability. We evaluate the GPS vs SLR & DORIS orbits produced using the GEODYN software and assess in particular their consistency radially and the stability of the altimeter satellite reference frame in the Z direction for both ITRF2005 and ITRF2008 as a proxy to assess the consistency of the reference frame for altimeter satellite POD.

A Java-based tool for creating KML files from GPS waypoints

Science.gov (United States)

Kinnicutt, P. G.; Rivard, C.; Rimer, S.

2008-12-01

Google Earth provides a free tool with powerful capabilities for visualizing geoscience images and data. Commercial software tools exist for doing sophisticated digitizing and spatial modeling , but for the purposes of presentation, visualization and overlaying aerial images with data Google Earth provides much of the functionality. Likewise, with current technologies in GPS (Global Positioning System) systems and with Google Earth Plus, it is possible to upload GPS waypoints, tracks and routes directly into Google Earth for visualization. However, older technology GPS units and even low-cost GPS units found today may lack the necessary communications interface to a computer (e.g. no Bluetooth, no WiFi, no USB, no Serial, etc.) or may have an incompatible interface, such as a Serial port but no USB adapter available. In such cases, any waypoints, tracks and routes saved in the GPS unit or recorded in a field notebook must be manually transferred to a computer for use in a GIS system or other program. This presentation describes a Java-based tool developed by the author which enables users to enter GPS coordinates in a user-friendly manner, then save these coordinates in a Keyhole MarkUp Language (KML) file format, for visualization in Google Earth. This tool either accepts user-interactive input or accepts input from a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file, which can be generated from any spreadsheet program. This tool accepts input in the form of lat/long or UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates. This presentation describes this system's applicability through several small case studies. This free and lightweight tool simplifies the task of manually inputting GPS data into Google Earth for people working in the field without an automated mechanism for uploading the data; for instance, the user may not have internet connectivity or may not have the proper hardware or software. Since it is a Java application and not a web- based tool, it can be installed on one

Constraining earthquake source inversions with GPS data: 1. Resolution-based removal of artifacts

Science.gov (United States)

Page, M.T.; Custodio, S.; Archuleta, R.J.; Carlson, J.M.

2009-01-01

We present a resolution analysis of an inversion of GPS data from the 2004 Mw 6.0 Parkfield earthquake. This earthquake was recorded at thirteen 1-Hz GPS receivers, which provides for a truly coseismic data set that can be used to infer the static slip field. We find that the resolution of our inverted slip model is poor at depth and near the edges of the modeled fault plane that are far from GPS receivers. The spatial heterogeneity of the model resolution in the static field inversion leads to artifacts in poorly resolved areas of the fault plane. These artifacts look qualitatively similar to asperities commonly seen in the final slip models of earthquake source inversions, but in this inversion they are caused by a surplus of free parameters. The location of the artifacts depends on the station geometry and the assumed velocity structure. We demonstrate that a nonuniform gridding of model parameters on the fault can remove these artifacts from the inversion. We generate a nonuniform grid with a grid spacing that matches the local resolution length on the fault and show that it outperforms uniform grids, which either generate spurious structure in poorly resolved regions or lose recoverable information in well-resolved areas of the fault. In a synthetic test, the nonuniform grid correctly averages slip in poorly resolved areas of the fault while recovering small-scale structure near the surface. Finally, we present an inversion of the Parkfield GPS data set on the nonuniform grid and analyze the errors in the final model. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Distributed Arithmetic for Efficient Base-Band Processing in Real-Time GNSS Software Receivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grégoire Waelchli

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The growing market of GNSS capable mobile devices is driving the interest of GNSS software solutions, as they can share many system resources (processor, memory, reducing both the size and the cost of their integration. Indeed, with the increasing performance of modern processors, it becomes now feasible to implement in software a multichannel GNSS receiver operating in real time. However, a major issue with this approach is the large computing resources required for the base-band processing, in particular for the correlation operations. Therefore, new algorithms need to be developed in order to reduce the overall complexity of the receiver architecture. Towards that aim, this paper first introduces the challenges of the software implementation of a GPS receiver, with a main focus given to the base-band processing and correlation operations. It then describes the already existing solutions and, from this, introduces a new algorithm based on distributed arithmetic.

Forest operations planning by using RTK-GPS based digital elevation model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neşe Gülci

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Having large proportion of forests in mountainous terrain in Turkey, the logging methods that not only minimize operational costs but also minimize environmental damages should be determined in forest operations planning. In a case where necessary logging equipment and machines are available, ground slope is the most important factor in determining the logging method. For this reason, accurate, up to date, and precise ground slope data is very crucial in the success of forest operations planning. In recent years, high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM can be generated for forested areas by using Real Time Kinematic (RTK GPS method and these DEMs can be used to develop precise slope maps. In this study, high-resolution DEM was developed by RTK-GPS method to generate precise slope map in a sample area. Then, the slope map was classified into slope classes specified by IUFRO in order to assist forest operations planning. According to the results, logging methods that are suitable for very steep and steep terrain conditions (i.e. skyline logging, cable pulling, and chute systems should be preferred in 48.1% of the study area. It was also found that logging methods that are suitable for terrain with medium slope (i.e. skidding and cable pulling and gentle slope (i.e. skidding and mobile winch should be preferred in 34.1% and 17.8% of the study area, respectively.

Hazard Monitoring in a Spectrum-Challenged Future: US Department of Transportation Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment of Interference on High-Precision GNSS Receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Blume, F.; Berglund, H. T.

2016-12-01

In 2012 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reversed its decision to allow communications company LightSquared to use GPS-adjacent spectrum for a ground based network after testing demonstrated harmful interference to GPS receivers. Now rebranded as Ligado, they have submitted modified application to use a smaller portion of the L-band spectrum at much lower power. Many GPS community stakeholders, including the hazard monitoring and EEW communities remain concerned that Ligado's proposed use could still cause harmful interference, causing signal degradation, real-time positioning errors, and total failure of GNSS hardware in widespread use in hazard monitoring networks. The Department of Transportation (DoT) has conducted hardware tests to determine adjacent-band transmitter power limit criteria that would prevent harmful interference from Ligado's operations. We present preliminary results produced from the data collected by the three UNAVCO receiver types tested: Trimble NetRS, Trimble NetR9, and Septentrio PolaRx5. In the first round of testing, simulated GNSS signals were broadcast in an anechoic chamber (pictured below) while interfering signals are broadcast simultaneously with varying amplitude and frequency. The older GPS-only NetRS receiver showed smaller reductions in SNR at frequencies adjacent to GPS L1 as compared to the other receivers, suggesting narrower L1 filter bandwidth in the RF frontend. The NetR9 showed greater decreases in observed SNR in the 1615 to 1625 MHz range when compared to the other two receivers. This suggests that the NetR9's L1 filter bandwidth has been increased to accommodate GNSS signals. Linearity tests were conducted to better relate SNR measurements between receiver types. The PolaRx5 receiver showed less SNR variation between tracking channels than both Trimble receivers. Our results show the power levels at which adjacent-band interference begins degrading receiver performance and eventually disables tracking. As

Precise orbit determination of the Sentinel-3A altimetry satellite using ambiguity-fixed GPS carrier phase observations

Science.gov (United States)

Montenbruck, Oliver; Hackel, Stefan; Jäggi, Adrian

2017-11-01

The Sentinel-3 mission takes routine measurements of sea surface heights and depends crucially on accurate and precise knowledge of the spacecraft. Orbit determination with a targeted uncertainty of less than 2 cm in radial direction is supported through an onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite instrument, and a complementary laser retroreflector for satellite laser ranging. Within this study, the potential of ambiguity fixing for GPS-only precise orbit determination (POD) of the Sentinel-3 spacecraft is assessed. A refined strategy for carrier phase generation out of low-level measurements is employed to cope with half-cycle ambiguities in the tracking of the Sentinel-3 GPS receiver that have so far inhibited ambiguity-fixed POD solutions. Rather than explicitly fixing double-difference phase ambiguities with respect to a network of terrestrial reference stations, a single-receiver ambiguity resolution concept is employed that builds on dedicated GPS orbit, clock, and wide-lane bias products provided by the CNES/CLS (Centre National d'Études Spatiales/Collecte Localisation Satellites) analysis center of the International GNSS Service. Compared to float ambiguity solutions, a notably improved precision can be inferred from laser ranging residuals. These decrease from roughly 9 mm down to 5 mm standard deviation for high-grade stations on average over low and high elevations. Furthermore, the ambiguity-fixed orbits offer a substantially improved cross-track accuracy and help to identify lateral offsets in the GPS antenna or center-of-mass (CoM) location. With respect to altimetry, the improved orbit precision also benefits the global consistency of sea surface measurements. However, modeling of the absolute height continues to rely on proper dynamical models for the spacecraft motion as well as ground calibrations for the relative position of the altimeter reference point and the CoM.

VLBI and GPS-based Time-Transfer Using CONT08 Data

Science.gov (United States)

Rieck, Carsten; Haas, Ruediger; Jaldehag, Kenneth; Jahansson, Jan

2010-01-01

One important prerequisite for geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is the use of frequency standards with excellent short term stability. This makes VLBI stations, which are often co-located with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiving stations, interesting for studies of time- and frequency-transfer techniques. We present an assessment of VLBI time-transfer based on the data of the two week long consecutive IVS CONT08 VLBI campaign by using GPS Carrier Phase (GPSCP). CONT08 was a 15 day long campaign in August 2008 that involved eleven VLBI stations on five continents. For CONT08 we estimated the worst case VLBI frequency link stability between the stations of Onsala and Wettzell to 1e-15 at one day. Comparisons with GPSCP confirm the VLBI results. We also identify time-transfer related challenges of the VLBI technique as used today.

Software-Defined GPS Receiver Implemented on the Parallella-16 Board

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Daniel Madelung; Jakobsen, Jakob; Knudsen, Per

2015-01-01

. The Parallella-16 board is a kickstarter-funded platform consisting of a dual-core ARM A9 CPU, an integrated FPGA and a 16-core coprocessor known as the Epiphany. The main contribution in this paper has been the development of a GPS tracking algorithm, which utilizes the parallelism in the Epiphany processor...

New advanced netted ground based and topside radio diagnostics for Space Weather Program

Science.gov (United States)

Rothkaehl, Hanna; Krankowski, Andrzej; Morawski, Marek; Atamaniuk, Barbara; Zakharenkova, Irina; Cherniak, Iurii

2014-05-01

To give a more detailed and complete understanding of physical plasma processes that govern the solar-terrestrial space, and to develop qualitative and quantitative models of the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling, it is necessary to design and build the next generation of instruments for space diagnostics and monitoring. Novel ground- based wide-area sensor networks, such as the LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) radar facility, comprising wide band, and vector-sensing radio receivers and multi-spacecraft plasma diagnostics should help solve outstanding problems of space physics and describe long-term environmental changes. The LOw Frequency ARray - LOFAR - is a new fully digital radio telescope designed for frequencies between 30 MHz and 240 MHz located in Europe. The three new LOFAR stations will be installed until summer 2015 in Poland. The LOFAR facilities in Poland will be distributed among three sites: Lazy (East of Krakow), Borowiec near Poznan and Baldy near Olsztyn. All they will be connected via PIONIER dedicated links to Poznan. Each site will host one LOFAR station (96 high-band+96 low-band antennas). They will most time work as a part of European network, however, when less charged, they can operate as a national network The new digital radio frequency analyzer (RFA) on board the low-orbiting RELEC satellite was designed to monitor and investigate the ionospheric plasma properties. This two-point ground-based and topside ionosphere-located space plasma diagnostic can be a useful new tool for monitoring and diagnosing turbulent plasma properties. The RFA on board the RELEC satellite is the first in a series of experiments which is planned to be launched into the near-Earth environment. In order to improve and validate the large scales and small scales ionospheric structures we will used the GPS observations collected at IGS/EPN network employed to reconstruct diurnal variations of TEC using all satellite passes over individual GPS stations and the

Sensing and Classifying Impairments of GPS Reception on Mobile Devices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blunck, Henrik; Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun; Toftegaard, Thomas Skjødeberg

2011-01-01

Positioning using GPS receivers is a primary sensing modality in many areas of pervasive computing. However, previous work has not considered how people’s body impacts the availability and accuracy of GPS positioning and for means to sense such impacts. We present results that the GPS performance...

Smartphone-based integrated PDR/GPS/Bluetooth pedestrian location

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xianghong; Wei, Dongyan; Lai, Qifeng; Xu, Ying; Yuan, Hong

2017-02-01

Typical indoor location method is fingerprint and traditional outdoor location system is GPS. Both of them are of poor accuracy and limited only for indoor or outdoor environments. As the smartphones are equipped with MEMS sensors, it means PDR can be widely used. In this paper, an algorithm of smartphone-based integrated PDR/GPS/Bluetooth for pedestrian location in the indoor/outdoor is proposed, which can be highly expected to realize seamless indoor/outdoor localization of the pedestrian. In addition, we also provide technologies to estimate orientation with Magnetometer and Gyroscope and detect context with output of sensors. The extensive experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can realize seamless indoor/outdoor localization.

Analysis of strong scintillation events by using GPS data at low latitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Forte, Biagio; Jakowski, Norbert; Wilken, Volker

2010-05-01

Drifting structures charaterised by inhomogeneities in the spatial electron density distribution at ionospheric heights originate scintillation of radio waves propagating through. The fractional electron density fluctuations and the corresponding scintillation levels may reach extreme values at low latitudes during high solar activity. Strong scintillation events have disruptive effects on a number of technological applications. In particular, operations and services based on GPS signals and receivers may experience severe disruption due to a significant degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio, eventually leading to signal loss of lock. Experimental scintillation data collected in the Asian sector at low latitudes by means of a GPS dual frequency receiver under moderate solar activity (2006) have been analysed. The GPS receiver is particularly modified in firmware in order to record power estimates on the C/A code as well as on the carriers L1 and L2. Strong scintillation activity is recorded in the post-sunset period (saturating S4 and SI as high as 20 dB). An overview of these events is presented, by taking into account scintillation impact on the signal intensity, phase, and dynamics. In particular, the interpretation of these events based on a refined scattering theory is provided with possible consequences for standard scintillation models.

Jason-1 and Jason-2 POD Using GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Melachroinos, Stavros; Lemoine, Frank G.; Zelensky, Nikita P.; Rowlands, David D.; Luthcke, Scott B.; Beckley, Brian D.

2012-01-01

The Jason-2 satellite, launched in June 2008, is the latest follow-on to the successful Jason-1 altimetry satellite mission launched in December 7, 2001. Both, Jason-2 and Jason-1 are equipped with a GPS dual-frequency receiver, a laser retroreflector array, and a DORIS receiver for precise orbit determination (POD). A series of dynamic and reduced-dynamic Jason-2 orbits computed at NASA GSFC, based on GPS-only data and the std0905 standards, have been completed till cy74through cycle 74 using the IGS05 framework. These orbits, now publicly available, have been shown to agree radially at 1 cm RMS with the GSFC std0905 SLR/DORIS orbits and in comparison with orbits produced by JPL, ESA and CNES. In this paper, we describe the implementation of the IGS08 and repro1 framework for the Jason-2 and Jason-1 GPS POD processing with the NASA GSFC GEODYN software. . In our updated GPS POD, ambiguity fixing and updated time variable and static gravity fields. We also evaluate the implementation of non-tidal and degree-1 loading displacement as forward modeling to the tracking stations. Reduced-dynamic versus dynamic orbit differences are used to characterize the remaining force model errors and TRF instability. In particular, we assess their consistency radially and the stability of the altimeter satellite reference frame in the North/South direction as a proxy to assess the consistency of the reference frame.

PMU Placement Methods in Power Systems based on Evolutionary Algorithms and GPS Receiver

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. R. Mosavi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, optimal placement of Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU using Global Positioning System (GPS is discussed. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO, Simulated Annealing (SA, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO and Genetic Algorithm (GA are used for this problem. Pheromone evaporation coefficient and the probability of moving from state x to state y by ant are introduced into the ACO. The modified algorithm overcomes the ACO in obtaining global optimal solution and convergence speed, when applied to optimizing the PMU placement problem. We also compare this simulink with SA, PSO and GA that to find capability of ACO in the search of optimal solution. The fitness function includes observability, redundancy and number of PMU. Logarithmic Least Square Method (LLSM is used to calculate the weights of fitness function. The suggested optimization method is applied in 30-bus IEEE system and the simulation results show modified ACO find results better than PSO and SA, but same result with GA.

The future of GPS-based electric power system measurements, operation and control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rizy, D.T. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Wilson, R.E. [Western Area Power Administration, Golden, CO (United States); Martin, K.E.; Litzenberger, W.H. [Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, OR (United States); Hauer, J.F. [Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States); Overholt, P.N. [Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States); Sobajic, D.J. [Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)

1998-11-01

Much of modern society is powered by inexpensive and reliable electricity delivered by a complex and elaborate electric power network. Electrical utilities are currently using the Global Positioning System-NAVSTAR (GPS) timekeeping to improve the network`s reliability. Currently, GPS synchronizes the clocks on dynamic recorders and aids in post-mortem analysis of network disturbances. Two major projects have demonstrated the use of GPS-synchronized power system measurements. In 1992, the Electric Power Research Institute`s (EPRI) sponsored Phase Measurements Project used a commercially available Phasor Measurements Unit (PMU) to collect GPS-synchronized measurements for analyzing power system problems. In 1995, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) under DOE`s and EPRI`s sponsorship launched the Wide Area Measurements (WAMS) project. WAMS demonstrated GPS-synchronized measurements over a large area of their power networks and demonstrated the networking of GPS-based measurement systems in BPA and WAPA. The phasor measurement technology has also been used to conduct dynamic power system tests. During these tests, a large dynamic resistor was inserted to simulate a small power system disturbance.

Ground test program for a full-size solar dynamic heat receiver

Science.gov (United States)

Sedgwick, L. M.; Kaufmann, K. J.; Mclallin, K. L.; Kerslake, T. W.

1991-01-01

Test hardware, facilities, and procedures were developed to conduct ground testing of a full-size, solar dynamic heat receiver in a partially simulated, low earth orbit environment. The heat receiver was designed to supply 102 kW of thermal energy to a helium and xenon gas mixture continuously over a 94 minute orbit, including up to 36 minutes of eclipse. The purpose of the test program was to quantify the receiver thermodynamic performance, its operating temperatures, and thermal response to changes in environmental and power module interface boundary conditions. The heat receiver was tested in a vacuum chamber using liquid nitrogen cold shrouds and an aperture cold plate. Special test equipment was designed to provide the required ranges in interface boundary conditions that typify those expected or required for operation as part of the solar dynamic power module on the Space Station Freedom. The support hardware includes an infrared quartz lamp heater with 30 independently controllable zones and a closed-Brayton cycle engine simulator to circulate and condition the helium-xenon gas mixture. The test article, test support hardware, facilities, and instrumentation developed to conduct the ground test program are all described.

Near real-time GPS applications for tsunami early warning systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Falck

2010-02-01

Full Text Available GPS (Global Positioning System technology is widely used for positioning applications. Many of them have high requirements with respect to precision, reliability or fast product delivery, but usually not all at the same time as it is the case for early warning applications. The tasks for the GPS-based components within the GITEWS project (German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, Rudloff et al., 2009 are to support the determination of sea levels (measured onshore and offshore and to detect co-seismic land mass displacements with the lowest possible latency (design goal: first reliable results after 5 min. The completed system was designed to fulfil these tasks in near real-time, rather than for scientific research requirements. The obtained data products (movements of GPS antennas are supporting the warning process in different ways. The measurements from GPS instruments on buoys allow the earliest possible detection or confirmation of tsunami waves on the ocean. Onshore GPS measurements are made collocated with tide gauges or seismological stations and give information about co-seismic land mass movements as recorded, e.g., during the great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 2004 (Subarya et al., 2006. This information is important to separate tsunami-caused sea height movements from apparent sea height changes at tide gauge locations (sensor station movement and also as additional information about earthquakes' mechanisms, as this is an essential information to predict a tsunami (Sobolev et al., 2007.

This article gives an end-to-end overview of the GITEWS GPS-component system, from the GPS sensors (GPS receiver with GPS antenna and auxiliary systems, either onshore or offshore to the early warning centre displays. We describe how the GPS sensors have been installed, how they are operated and the methods used to collect, transfer and process the GPS data in near real-time. This includes the sensor system design, the communication

USGS Earthquake Program GPS Use Case : Earthquake Early Warning

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-12

USGS GPS receiver use case. Item 1 - High Precision User (federal agency with Stafford Act hazard alert responsibilities for earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides nationwide). Item 2 - Description of Associated GPS Application(s): The USGS Eart...

GPS time series at Campi Flegrei caldera (2000-2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prospero De Martino

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The Campi Flegrei caldera is an active volcanic system associated to a high volcanic risk, and represents a well known and peculiar example of ground deformations (bradyseism, characterized by intense uplift periods, followed by subsidence phases with some episodic superimposed mini-uplifts. Ground deformation is an important volcanic precursor, and, its continuous monitoring, is one of the main tool for short time forecast of eruptive activity. This paper provides an overview of the continuous GPS monitoring of the Campi Flegrei caldera from January 2000 to July 2013, including network operations, data recording and processing, and data products. In this period the GPS time series allowed continuous and accurate tracking of ground deformation of the area. Seven main uplift episodes were detected, and during each uplift period, the recurrent horizontal displacement pattern, radial from the “caldera center”, suggests no significant change in deformation source geometry and location occurs. The complete archive of GPS time series at Campi Flegrei area is reported in the Supplementary materials. These data can be usefull for the scientific community in improving the research on Campi Flegrei caldera dynamic and hazard assessment.

The SMS-GPS-Trip-Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reinau, Kristian Hegner; Harder, Henrik; Weber, Michael

2015-01-01

This article presents a new method for collecting travel behavior data, based on a combination of GPS tracking and SMS technology, coined the SMS–GPS-Trip method. The state-of-the-art method for collecting data for activity based traffic models is a combination of travel diaries and GPS tracking...

GPS on Every Roof, GPS Sensor Network for Post-Seismic Building-Wise Damage Identification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenji Oguni

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Development of wireless sensor network equipped with GPS for post-seismic building-wise damage identification is presented in this paper. This system is called GPS on Every Roof. Sensor node equipped with GPS antenna and receiver is installed on the top of the roof of each and every building. The position of this sensor node is measured before and after earthquake. The final goal of this system is to i identify the displacement of the roof of each house and ii collect the information of displacement of the roof of the houses through wireless communication. Superposing this information on GIS, building-wise damage distribution due to earthquake can be obtained. The system overview, hardware and some of the key components of the system such as on-board GPS relative positioning algorithm to achieve the accuracy in the order of several centimeters are described in detail. Also, the results from a field experiment using a wireless sensor network with 39 sensor nodes are presented.

The Inversion of Ionospheric/plasmaspheric Electron Density From GPS Beacon Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Y. H.; Xu, J. S.; Ma, S. Y.

It is a space-time 4-D tomography to reconstruct ionospheric/ plasmaspheric elec- tron density, Ne, from ground-based GPS beacon measurements. The mathematical foundation of such inversion is studied in this paper and some simulation results of reconstruction for GPS network observation are presented. Assuming reasonably a power law dependence of NE on time with an index number of 1-3 during one ob- servational time of GPS (60-90min.), 4-D inversion in consideration is reduced to a 3-D cone-beam tomography with incomplete projections. To see clearly the effects of the incompleteness on the quality of reconstruction for 3-D condition, we deduced theoretically the formulae of 3-D parallel-beam tomography. After establishing the mathematical basis, we adopt linear temporal dependence of NE and voxel elemental functions to perform simulation of NE reconstruction with the help of IRI90 model. Reasonable time-dependent 3-D images of ionosphere/ plasmasphere electron density distributions are obtained when taking proper layout of the GPS network and allowing variable resolutions in vertical.

Absolute GPS Positioning Using Genetic Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Ramillien, G.

A new inverse approach for restoring the absolute coordinates of a ground -based station from three or four observed GPS pseudo-ranges is proposed. This stochastic method is based on simulations of natural evolution named genetic algorithms (GA). These iterative procedures provide fairly good and robust estimates of the absolute positions in the Earth's geocentric reference system. For comparison/validation, GA results are compared to the ones obtained using the classical linearized least-square scheme for the determination of the XYZ location proposed by Bancroft (1985) which is strongly limited by the number of available observations (i.e. here, the number of input pseudo-ranges must be four). The r.m.s. accuracy of the non -linear cost function reached by this latter method is typically ~10-4 m2 corresponding to ~300-500-m accuracies for each geocentric coordinate. However, GA can provide more acceptable solutions (r.m.s. errors < 10-5 m2), even when only three instantaneous pseudo-ranges are used, such as a lost of lock during a GPS survey. Tuned GA parameters used in different simulations are N=1000 starting individuals, as well as Pc=60-70% and Pm=30-40% for the crossover probability and mutation rate, respectively. Statistical tests on the ability of GA to recover acceptable coordinates in presence of important levels of noise are made simulating nearly 3000 random samples of erroneous pseudo-ranges. Here, two main sources of measurement errors are considered in the inversion: (1) typical satellite-clock errors and/or 300-metre variance atmospheric delays, and (2) Geometrical Dilution of Precision (GDOP) due to the particular GPS satellite configuration at the time of acquisition. Extracting valuable information and even from low-quality starting range observations, GA offer an interesting alternative for high -precision GPS positioning.

Ground-Truthing of Airborne LiDAR Using RTK-GPS Surveyed Data in Coastal Louisiana's Wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Lauve, R. M.; Alizad, K.; Hagen, S. C.

2017-12-01

Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data are used by engineers and scientists to create bare earth digital elevation models (DEM), which are essential to modeling complex coastal, ecological, and hydrological systems. However, acquiring accurate bare earth elevations in coastal wetlands is difficult due to the density of marsh grasses that prevent the sensors reflection off the true ground surface. Previous work by Medeiros et al. [2015] developed a technique to assess LiDAR error and adjust elevations according to marsh vegetation density and index. The aim of this study is the collection of ground truth points and the investigation on the range of potential errors found in existing LiDAR datasets within coastal Louisiana's wetlands. Survey grids were mapped out in an area dominated by Spartina alterniflora and a survey-grade Trimble Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS device was employed to measure bare earth ground elevations in the marsh system adjacent to Terrebonne Bay, LA. Elevations were obtained for 20 meter-spaced surveyed grid points and were used to generate a DEM. The comparison between LiDAR derived and surveyed data DEMs yield an average difference of 23 cm with a maximum difference of 68 cm. Considering the local tidal range of 45 cm, these differences can introduce substantial error when the DEM is used for ecological modeling [Alizad et al., 2016]. Results from this study will be further analyzed and implemented in order to adjust LiDAR-derived DEMs closer to their true elevation across Louisiana's coastal wetlands. ReferencesAlizad, K., S. C. Hagen, J. T. Morris, S. C. Medeiros, M. V. Bilskie, and J. F. Weishampel (2016), Coastal wetland response to sea-level rise in a fluvial estuarine system, Earth's Future, 4(11), 483-497, 10.1002/2016EF000385. Medeiros, S., S. Hagen, J. Weishampel, and J. Angelo (2015), Adjusting Lidar-Derived Digital Terrain Models in Coastal Marshes Based on Estimated Aboveground Biomass Density, Remote Sensing, 7

Modeling environmental bias and computing velocity field from data of Terra Nova Bay GPS network in Antarctica by means of a quasi-observation processing approach

Science.gov (United States)

Casula, Giuseppe; Dubbini, Marco; Galeandro, Angelo

2007-01-01

A semi-permanent GPS network of about 30 vertices has been installed at Terra Nova Bay (TNB) near Ross Sea in Antarctica. A permanent GPS station TNB1 based on an Ashtech Z-XII dual frequency P-code GPS receiver with ASH700936D_M Choke Ring Antenna has been mounted on a reinforced concrete pillar built on bedrock since October 1998 and has recorded continuously up to the present. The semi-permanent network has been routinely surveyed every summer using high quality dual frequency GPS receivers with 24 hour sessions at 15 sec rate; data, metadata and solutions will be available to the scientific community at (http://www.geodant.unimore.it). We present the results of a distributed session approach applied to processing GPS data of the TNB GPS network, and based on Gamit/Globk 10.2-3 GPS analysis software. The results are in good agreement with other authors' computations and with many of the theoretical models.

Mapping the Coastline Limits of the Mexican State Sinaloa Using GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Vazquez, G. E.

2007-12-01

This research work presents the delimitation of the coastline limits of Sinaloa (one of the richest states of northwestern Mexico). In order to achieve this big task, it was required to use GPS (Global Positioning System) together with leveling spirit measurements. Based on the appropriate selection of the cited measurement techniques, the objective was to map the Sinaloa's state coastline to have the cartography of approximate 1600 km of littoral. The GPS measurements were performed and referred with respect to a GPS network located across the state. This GPS network consists of at least one first-order-site at each of the sixteen counties that constitute the state, and three to four second-order-sites of the ten counties of the state surrounded by sea. The leveling spirit measurements were referred to local benchmarks pre-established by the Mexican agency SEMARNAT (SEcretaría Del Medio Ambiente y Recursos NATurales). Within the main specifications of the GPS measurements and equipment, we used geodetic-dual-frequency GPS receivers in kinematic mode for both base stations (first and second order sites of the GPS state network) and rover stations (points forming the state littoral) with 5-sec log-rate interval and 10 deg cut-off angle. The GPS data processing was performed using the commercial software Trimble Geomatics Office (TGO) with Double Differences (DD) in post-processing mode. To this point, the field measurements had been totally covered including the cartography (scale 1:1000) and this includes the specifications and appropriate labeling according to the Mexican norm NOM-146-SEMARNAT-2005.

Results from Navigator GPS Flight Testing for the Magnetospheric MultiScale Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Lulich, Tyler D.; Bamford, William A.; Wintermitz, Luke M. B.; Price, Samuel R.

2012-01-01

The recent delivery of the first Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Navigator Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission spacecraft is a high water mark crowning a decade of research and development in high-altitude space-based GPS. Preceding MMS delivery, the engineering team had developed receivers to support multiple missions and mission studies, such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) navigation for the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM), above the constellation navigation for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) proof-of-concept studies, cis-Lunar navigation with rapid re-acquisition during re-entry for the Orion Project and an orbital demonstration on the Space Shuttle during the Hubble Servicing Mission (HSM-4).

Modular Software for Spacecraft Navigation Using the Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, S. H.; Hartman, K. R.; Weidow, D. A.; Berry, D. L.; Oza, D. H.; Long, A. C.; Joyce, E.; Steger, W. L.

1996-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center Flight Dynamics and Mission Operations Divisions have jointly investigated the feasibility of engineering modular Global Positioning SYSTEM (GPS) navigation software to support both real time flight and ground postprocessing configurations. The goals of this effort are to define standard GPS data interfaces and to engineer standard, reusable navigation software components that can be used to build a broad range of GPS navigation support applications. The paper discusses the GPS modular software (GMOD) system and operations concepts, major requirements, candidate software architecture, feasibility assessment and recommended software interface standards. In additon, ongoing efforts to broaden the scope of the initial study and to develop modular software to support autonomous navigation using GPS are addressed,

Radiation-resistant composite scintillators based on GSO and GPS grains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boyarintsev, A.Yu. [Institute for Scintillation Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 60 Nauki Avenue, 61001 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Galunov, N.Z. [Institute for Scintillation Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 60 Nauki Avenue, 61001 Kharkiv (Ukraine); V.N. Karasin Kharkov National University, 4 Svobody Sq., 61022 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Gerasymov, Ia.V.; Karavaeva, N.L. [Institute for Scintillation Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 60 Nauki Avenue, 61001 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Krech, A.V., E-mail: AntonKrech@gmail.com [Institute for Scintillation Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 60 Nauki Avenue, 61001 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Levchuk, L.G.; Popov, V.F. [National Science Center, Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, 1 Akademicheskaya Str., 61108 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Sidletskiy, O.Ts. [Institute for Scintillation Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 60 Nauki Avenue, 61001 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Sorokin, P.V. [National Science Center, Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, 1 Akademicheskaya Str., 61108 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Tarasenko, O.A. [Institute for Scintillation Materials, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 60 Nauki Avenue, 61001 Kharkiv (Ukraine)

2017-01-01

The effect of irradiation on the scintillation light output, optical transmittance, and luminescent spectra of composite scintillators based on grains of single crystals Gd{sub 2}SiO{sub 5}:Ce (GSO) and Gd{sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7}:Ce (GPS) is studied. The dielectric gel Sylgard-184 is the base and the binder for the grains inside the composite scintillator. The paper presents and analyzes the results obtained for the scintillators exposed by 10 MeV electrons from the linear electron accelerator at room temperature. The exposure doses D≤250 Mrad. The dose rate is 0.2 or 1500 Mrad/h. The study has shown that the composite scintillators based on the grains of GSO and GPS are radiation-resistant over the range of the irradiation.

Inertial and GPS data integration for positioning and tracking of GPR

Science.gov (United States)

Chicarella, Simone; D'Alvano, Alessandro; Ferrara, Vincenzo; Frezza, Fabrizio; Pajewski, Lara

2015-04-01

Nowadays many applications and studies use a Global Positioning System (GPS) to integrate Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) data [1-2]. The aim is the production of detailed detection maps that are geo-referenced and superimposable on geographic maps themes. GPS provides data to determine static positioning, and to track the mobile detection system path on the land. A low-cost standard GPS, like GPS-622R by RF Solutions Ltd, allows accuracy around 2.5 m CEP (Circular Error Probability), and a maximum update rate of 10 Hz. These accuracy and update rate are satisfying values when we evaluate positioning datum, but they are unsuitable for precision tracking of a speedy-mobile GPR system. In order to determine the relative displacements with respect to an initial position on the territory, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) can be used. Some inertial-system applications for GPR tracking have been presented in recent studies [3-4]. The integration of both GPS and IMU systems is the aim of our work, in order to increase GPR applicability, e.g. the case of a GPR mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle for the detection of people buried under avalanches [5]. In this work, we will present the design, realization and experimental characterization of our electronic board that includes GPS-622R and AltIMU-10 v3 by Pololu. The latter comprises an inertial-measurement unit and an altimeter. In particular, the IMU adopts L3GD20 gyro and LSM303D accelerometer and magnetometer; the digital barometer LPS331AP provides data for altitude evaluation. The prototype of our system for GPR positioning and tracking is based on an Arduino microcontroller board. Acknowledgement This work benefited from networking activities carried out within the EU funded COST Action TU1208 'Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar. ' References [1] M. Solla, X. Núñez-Nieto, M. Varela-González, J. Martínez-Sánchez, and P. Arias, 'GPR for Road Inspection: georeferencing and efficient

Combined GPS/GLONASS Precise Point Positioning with Fixed GPS Ambiguities

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Lin; Cai, Changsheng; Santerre, Rock; Zhu, Jianjun

2014-01-01

Precise point positioning (PPP) technology is mostly implemented with an ambiguity-float solution. Its performance may be further improved by performing ambiguity-fixed resolution. Currently, the PPP integer ambiguity resolutions (IARs) are mainly based on GPS-only measurements. The integration of GPS and GLONASS can speed up the convergence and increase the accuracy of float ambiguity estimates, which contributes to enhancing the success rate and reliability of fixing ambiguities. This paper presents an approach of combined GPS/GLONASS PPP with fixed GPS ambiguities (GGPPP-FGA) in which GPS ambiguities are fixed into integers, while all GLONASS ambiguities are kept as float values. An improved minimum constellation method (MCM) is proposed to enhance the efficiency of GPS ambiguity fixing. Datasets from 20 globally distributed stations on two consecutive days are employed to investigate the performance of the GGPPP-FGA, including the positioning accuracy, convergence time and the time to first fix (TTFF). All datasets are processed for a time span of three hours in three scenarios, i.e., the GPS ambiguity-float solution, the GPS ambiguity-fixed resolution and the GGPPP-FGA resolution. The results indicate that the performance of the GPS ambiguity-fixed resolutions is significantly better than that of the GPS ambiguity-float solutions. In addition, the GGPPP-FGA improves the positioning accuracy by 38%, 25% and 44% and reduces the convergence time by 36%, 36% and 29% in the east, north and up coordinate components over the GPS-only ambiguity-fixed resolutions, respectively. Moreover, the TTFF is reduced by 27% after adding GLONASS observations. Wilcoxon rank sum tests and chi-square two-sample tests are made to examine the significance of the improvement on the positioning accuracy, convergence time and TTFF. PMID:25237901

Combined GPS/GLONASS Precise Point Positioning with Fixed GPS Ambiguities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Pan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Precise point positioning (PPP technology is mostly implemented with an ambiguity-float solution. Its performance may be further improved by performing ambiguity-fixed resolution. Currently, the PPP integer ambiguity resolutions (IARs are mainly based on GPS-only measurements. The integration of GPS and GLONASS can speed up the convergence and increase the accuracy of float ambiguity estimates, which contributes to enhancing the success rate and reliability of fixing ambiguities. This paper presents an approach of combined GPS/GLONASS PPP with fixed GPS ambiguities (GGPPP-FGA in which GPS ambiguities are fixed into integers, while all GLONASS ambiguities are kept as float values. An improved minimum constellation method (MCM is proposed to enhance the efficiency of GPS ambiguity fixing. Datasets from 20 globally distributed stations on two consecutive days are employed to investigate the performance of the GGPPP-FGA, including the positioning accuracy, convergence time and the time to first fix (TTFF. All datasets are processed for a time span of three hours in three scenarios, i.e., the GPS ambiguity-float solution, the GPS ambiguity-fixed resolution and the GGPPP-FGA resolution. The results indicate that the performance of the GPS ambiguity-fixed resolutions is significantly better than that of the GPS ambiguity-float solutions. In addition, the GGPPP-FGA improves the positioning accuracy by 38%, 25% and 44% and reduces the convergence time by 36%, 36% and 29% in the east, north and up coordinate components over the GPS-only ambiguity-fixed resolutions, respectively. Moreover, the TTFF is reduced by 27% after adding GLONASS observations. Wilcoxon rank sum tests and chi-square two-sample tests are made to examine the significance of the improvement on the positioning accuracy, convergence time and TTFF.

Validation of MODIS integrated water vapor product against reference GPS data at the Iberian Peninsula

Science.gov (United States)

Vaquero-Martínez, Javier; Antón, Manuel; Ortiz de Galisteo, José Pablo; Cachorro, Victoria E.; Costa, Maria João; Román, Roberto; Bennouna, Yasmine S.

2017-12-01

In this work, the water vapor product from MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument, on-board Aqua and Terra satellites, is compared against GPS water vapor data from 21 stations in the Iberian Peninsula as reference. GPS water vapor data is obtained from ground-based receiver stations which measure the delay caused by water vapor in the GPS microwave signals. The study period extends from 2007 until 2012. Regression analysis in every GPS station show that MODIS overestimates low integrated water vapor (IWV) data and tends to underestimate high IWV data. R2 shows a fair agreement, between 0.38 and 0.71. Inter-quartile range (IQR) in every station is around 30-45%. The dependence on several parameters was also analyzed. IWV dependence showed that low IWV are highly overestimated by MODIS, with high IQR (low precision), sharply decreasing as IWV increases. Regarding dependence on solar zenith angle (SZA), performance of MODIS IWV data decreases between 50° and 90°, while night-time MODIS data (infrared) are quite stable. The seasonal cycles of IWV and SZA cause a seasonal dependence on MODIS performance. In summer and winter, MODIS IWV tends to overestimate the reference IWV value, while in spring and autumn the tendency is to underestimate. Low IWV from coastal stations is highly overestimated (∼60%) and quite imprecise (IQR around 60%). On the contrary, high IWV data show very little dependence along seasons. Cloud-fraction (CF) dependence was also studied, showing that clouds display a negligible impact on IWV over/underestimation. However, IQR increases with CF, except in night-time satellite values, which are quite stable.

Inversion of GPS meteorology data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Hocke

Full Text Available The GPS meteorology (GPS/MET experiment, led by the Universities Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR, consists of a GPS receiver aboard a low earth orbit (LEO satellite which was launched on 3 April 1995. During a radio occultation the LEO satellite rises or sets relative to one of the 24 GPS satellites at the Earth's horizon. Thereby the atmospheric layers are successively sounded by radio waves which propagate from the GPS satellite to the LEO satellite. From the observed phase path increases, which are due to refraction of the radio waves by the ionosphere and the neutral atmosphere, the atmospheric parameter refractivity, density, pressure and temperature are calculated with high accuracy and resolution (0.5–1.5 km. In the present study, practical aspects of the GPS/MET data analysis are discussed. The retrieval is based on the Abelian integral inversion of the atmospheric bending angle profile into the refractivity index profile. The problem of the upper boundary condition of the Abelian integral is described by examples. The statistical optimization approach which is applied to the data above 40 km and the use of topside bending angle profiles from model atmospheres stabilize the inversion. The retrieved temperature profiles are compared with corresponding profiles which have already been calculated by scientists of UCAR and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, using Abelian integral inversion too. The comparison shows that in some cases large differences occur (5 K and more. This is probably due to different treatment of the upper boundary condition, data runaways and noise. Several temperature profiles with wavelike structures at tropospheric and stratospheric heights are shown. While the periodic structures at upper stratospheric heights could be caused by residual errors of the ionospheric correction method, the periodic temperature fluctuations at heights below 30 km are most likely caused by atmospheric waves (vertically

Nonlinear Filtering with IMM Algorithm for Ultra-Tight GPS/INS Integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dah-Jing Jwo

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper conducts a performance evaluation for the ultra-tight integration of a Global positioning system (GPS and an inertial navigation system (INS, using nonlinear filtering approaches with an interacting multiple model (IMM algorithm. An ultra-tight GPS/INS architecture involves the integration of in-phase and quadrature components from the correlator of a GPS receiver with INS data. An unscented Kalman filter (UKF, which employs a set of sigma points by deterministic sampling, avoids the error caused by linearization as in an extended Kalman filter (EKF. Based on the filter structural adaptation for describing various dynamic behaviours, the IMM nonlinear filtering provides an alternative for designing the adaptive filter in the ultra-tight GPS/INS integration. The use of IMM enables tuning of an appropriate value for the process of noise covariance so as to maintain good estimation accuracy and tracking capability. Two examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the design and demonstrate the effective improvement in navigation estimation accuracy. A performance comparison among various filtering methods for ultra-tight integration of GPS and INS is also presented. The IMM based nonlinear filtering approach demonstrates the effectiveness of the algorithm for improved positioning performance.

Ionospheric irregularities at Antarctic using GPS measurements

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Scintillation is a major problem in navigation application using GPS and in satellite ... ground ionization which leads to phase as well as amplitude scintillation as reported by ..... in satellite sig- nals which arise from the scattering of radio waves.

GPS-Based Exposure to Greenness and Walkability and Accelerometry-Based Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Peter; Hart, Jaime E; Hipp, J Aaron; Mitchell, Jonathan A; Kerr, Jacqueline; Hurvitz, Philip M; Glanz, Karen; Laden, Francine

2017-04-01

Background: Physical inactivity is a risk factor for cancer that may be influenced by environmental factors. Indeed, dense and well-connected built environments and environments with natural vegetation may create opportunities for higher routine physical activity. However, studies have focused primarily on residential environments to define exposure and self-reported methods to estimate physical activity. This study explores the momentary association between minute-level global positioning systems (GPS)-based greenness exposure and time-matched objectively measured physical activity. Methods: Adult women were recruited from sites across the United States. Participants wore a GPS device and accelerometer on the hip for 7 days to assess location and physical activity at minute-level epochs. GPS records were linked to 250 m resolution satellite-based vegetation data and Census Block Group-level U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Smart Location Database walkability data. Minute-level generalized additive mixed models were conducted to test for associations between GPS measures and accelerometer count data, accounting for repeated measures within participant and allowing for deviations from linearity using splines. Results: Among 360 adult women (mean age of 55.3 ± 10.2 years), we observed positive nonlinear relationships between physical activity and both greenness and walkability. In exploratory analyses, the relationships between environmental factors and physical activity were strongest among those who were white, had higher incomes, and who were middle-aged. Conclusions: Our results indicate that higher levels of physical activity occurred in areas with higher greenness and higher walkability. Impact: Findings suggest that planning and design policies should focus on these environments to optimize opportunities for physical activity. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(4); 525-32. ©2017 AACR See all the articles in this CEBP Focus section, "Geospatial

IAE-adaptive Kalman filter for INS/GPS integrated navigation system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Bian Hongwei; Jin Zhihua; Tian Weifeng

2006-01-01

A marine INS/GPS adaptive navigation system is presented in this paper. GPS with two antenna providing vessel's altitude is selected as the auxiliary system fusing with INS to improve the performance of the hybrid system. The Kalman filter is the most frequently used algorithm in the integrated navigation system, which is capable of estimating INS errors online based on the measured errors between INS and GPS. The standard Kalman filter (SKF) assumes that the statistics of the noise on each sensor are given. As long as the noise distributions do not change, the Kalman filter will give the optimal estimation. However GPS receiver will be disturbed easily and thus temporally changing measurement noise will join into the outputs of GPS, which will lead to performance degradation of the Kalman filter. Many researchers introduce fuzzy logic control method into innovation-based adaptive estimation adaptive Kalman filtering (IAE-AKF) algorithm, and accordingly propose various adaptive Kalman filters. However how to design the fuzzy logic controller is a very complicated problem still without a convincing solution. A novel IAE-AKF is proposed herein, which is based on the maximum likelihood criterion for the proper computation of the filter innovation covariance and hence of the filter gain. The approach is direct and simple without having to establish fuzzy inference rules. After having deduced the proposed IAE-AKF algorithm theoretically in detail, the approach is tested by the simulation based on the system error model of the developed INS/GPS integrated marine navigation system. Simulation results show that the adaptive Kalman filter outperforms the SKF with higher accuracy, robustness and less computation. It is demonstrated that this proposed approach is a valid solution for the unknown changing measurement noise exited in the Kalman filter.

Cancellation of OpAmp virtual ground imperfections by a negative conductance applied to improve RF receiver linearity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mahrof, D.H.; Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Ru, Z.; Oude Alink, M.S.; Nauta, Bram

2014-01-01

High linearity CMOS radio receivers often exploit linear V-I conversion at RF, followed by passive down-mixing and an OpAmp-based Transimpedance Amplifier at baseband. Due to nonlinearity and finite gain in the OpAmp, virtual ground is imperfect, inducing distortion currents. This paper proposes a

GPS/MEMS IMU/Microprocessor Board for Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Gender, Thomas K.; Chow, James; Ott, William E.

2009-01-01

A miniaturized instrumentation package comprising a (1) Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, (2) an inertial measurement unit (IMU) consisting largely of surface-micromachined sensors of the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) type, and (3) a microprocessor, all residing on a single circuit board, is part of the navigation system of a compact robotic spacecraft intended to be released from a larger spacecraft [e.g., the International Space Station (ISS)] for exterior visual inspection of the larger spacecraft. Variants of the package may also be useful in terrestrial collision-detection and -avoidance applications. The navigation solution obtained by integrating the IMU outputs is fed back to a correlator in the GPS receiver to aid in tracking GPS signals. The raw GPS and IMU data are blended in a Kalman filter to obtain an optimal navigation solution, which can be supplemented by range and velocity data obtained by use of (l) a stereoscopic pair of electronic cameras aboard the robotic spacecraft and/or (2) a laser dynamic range imager aboard the ISS. The novelty of the package lies mostly in those aspects of the design of the MEMS IMU that pertain to controlling mechanical resonances and stabilizing scale factors and biases.

Climatology of GPS signal loss observed by Swarm satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Xiong

2018-04-01

Full Text Available By using 3-year global positioning system (GPS measurements from December 2013 to November 2016, we provide in this study a detailed survey on the climatology of the GPS signal loss of Swarm onboard receivers. Our results show that the GPS signal losses prefer to occur at both low latitudes between ±5 and ±20° magnetic latitude (MLAT and high latitudes above 60° MLAT in both hemispheres. These events at all latitudes are observed mainly during equinoxes and December solstice months, while totally absent during June solstice months. At low latitudes the GPS signal losses are caused by the equatorial plasma irregularities shortly after sunset, and at high latitude they are also highly related to the large density gradients associated with ionospheric irregularities. Additionally, the high-latitude events are more often observed in the Southern Hemisphere, occurring mainly at the cusp region and along nightside auroral latitudes. The signal losses mainly happen for those GPS rays with elevation angles less than 20°, and more commonly occur when the line of sight between GPS and Swarm satellites is aligned with the shell structure of plasma irregularities. Our results also confirm that the capability of the Swarm receiver has been improved after the bandwidth of the phase-locked loop (PLL widened, but the updates cannot radically avoid the interruption in tracking GPS satellites caused by the ionospheric plasma irregularities. Additionally, after the PLL bandwidth increased larger than 0.5 Hz, some unexpected signal losses are observed even at middle latitudes, which are not related to the ionospheric plasma irregularities. Our results suggest that rather than 1.0 Hz, a PLL bandwidth of 0.5 Hz is a more suitable value for the Swarm receiver.

Climatology of GPS signal loss observed by Swarm satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Chao; Stolle, Claudia; Park, Jaeheung

2018-04-01

By using 3-year global positioning system (GPS) measurements from December 2013 to November 2016, we provide in this study a detailed survey on the climatology of the GPS signal loss of Swarm onboard receivers. Our results show that the GPS signal losses prefer to occur at both low latitudes between ±5 and ±20° magnetic latitude (MLAT) and high latitudes above 60° MLAT in both hemispheres. These events at all latitudes are observed mainly during equinoxes and December solstice months, while totally absent during June solstice months. At low latitudes the GPS signal losses are caused by the equatorial plasma irregularities shortly after sunset, and at high latitude they are also highly related to the large density gradients associated with ionospheric irregularities. Additionally, the high-latitude events are more often observed in the Southern Hemisphere, occurring mainly at the cusp region and along nightside auroral latitudes. The signal losses mainly happen for those GPS rays with elevation angles less than 20°, and more commonly occur when the line of sight between GPS and Swarm satellites is aligned with the shell structure of plasma irregularities. Our results also confirm that the capability of the Swarm receiver has been improved after the bandwidth of the phase-locked loop (PLL) widened, but the updates cannot radically avoid the interruption in tracking GPS satellites caused by the ionospheric plasma irregularities. Additionally, after the PLL bandwidth increased larger than 0.5 Hz, some unexpected signal losses are observed even at middle latitudes, which are not related to the ionospheric plasma irregularities. Our results suggest that rather than 1.0 Hz, a PLL bandwidth of 0.5 Hz is a more suitable value for the Swarm receiver.

Improved GPS-based Satellite Relative Navigation Using Femtosecond Laser Relative Distance Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyungjik Oh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This study developed an approach for improving Carrier-phase Differential Global Positioning System (CDGPS based realtime satellite relative navigation by applying laser baseline measurement data. The robustness against the space operational environment was considered, and a Synthetic Wavelength Interferometer (SWI algorithm based on a femtosecond laser measurement model was developed. The phase differences between two laser wavelengths were combined to measure precise distance. Generated laser data were used to improve estimation accuracy for the float ambiguity of CDGPS data. Relative navigation simulations in real-time were performed using the extended Kalman filter algorithm. The GPS and laser-combined relative navigation accuracy was compared with GPS-only relative navigation solutions to determine the impact of laser data on relative navigation. In numerical simulations, the success rate of integer ambiguity resolution increased when laser data was added to GPS data. The relative navigational errors also improved five-fold and two-fold, relative to the GPS-only error, for 250 m and 5 km initial relative distances, respectively. The methodology developed in this study is suitable for application to future satellite formation-flying missions.

A transportation security system applying RFID and GPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruijian Zhang

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper is about developing a centralized, internet based security tool which utilizes RFID and GPS technology to identify drivers and track the load integrity. Design/methodology/approach: The system will accomplish the security testing in real-time using the internet and the U.S. Customs’ database (ACE. A central database and the interfaces and communication between the database and ACE will be established. After the vehicle is loaded, all openings of the tanker are sealed with disposable RFID tag seals. Findings/value: An RFID reader and GPS tracker wirelessly connected with the databases will serve as testing grounds for the implementation of security measures that can help prevent future terrorist attacks and help in ensuring that the goods and products are not compromised while in transit. The system will also reduce the labor work of security check to its minimum. 

Overcoming the Challenges of BeiDou Receiver Implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Zahidul H. Bhuiyan

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS-based positioning is experiencing rapid changes. The existing GPS and the GLONASS systems are being modernized to better serve the current challenging applications under harsh signal conditions. These modernizations include increasing the number of transmission frequencies and changes to the signal components. In addition, the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite system (BDS and the European Galileo are currently under development for global operation. Therefore, in view of these new upcoming systems the research and development of GNSS receivers has been experiencing a new upsurge. In this article, the authors discuss the main functionalities of a GNSS receiver in view of BDS. While describing the main functionalities of a software-defined BeiDou receiver, the authors also highlight the similarities and differences between the signal characteristics of the BeiDou B1 open service signal and the legacy GPS L1 C/A signal, as in general they both exhibit similar characteristics. In addition, the authors implement a novel acquisition technique for long coherent integration in the presence of NH code modulation in BeiDou D1 signal. Furthermore, a simple phase-preserved coherent integration based acquisition scheme is implemented for BeiDou GEO satellite acquisition. Apart from the above BeiDou-specific implementations, a novel Carrier-to-Noise-density ratio estimation technique is also implemented in the software receiver, which does not necessarily require bit synchronization prior to estimation. Finally, the authors present a BeiDou-only position fix with the implemented software-defined BeiDou receiver considering all three satellite constellations from BDS. In addition, a true multi-GNSS position fix with GPS and BDS systems is also presented while comparing their performances for a static stand-alone code phase-based positioning.

Overcoming urban GPS navigation challenges through the use of MEMS inertial sensors and proper verification of navigation system performance

Science.gov (United States)

Vinande, Eric T.

This research proposes several means to overcome challenges in the urban environment to ground vehicle global positioning system (GPS) receiver navigation performance through the integration of external sensor information. The effects of narrowband radio frequency interference and signal attenuation, both common in the urban environment, are examined with respect to receiver signal tracking processes. Low-cost microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) inertial sensors, suitable for the consumer market, are the focus of receiver augmentation as they provide an independent measure of motion and are independent of vehicle systems. A method for estimating the mounting angles of an inertial sensor cluster utilizing typical urban driving maneuvers is developed and is able to provide angular measurements within two degrees of truth. The integration of GPS and MEMS inertial sensors is developed utilizing a full state navigation filter. Appropriate statistical methods are developed to evaluate the urban environment navigation improvement due to the addition of MEMS inertial sensors. A receiver evaluation metric that combines accuracy, availability, and maximum error measurements is presented and evaluated over several drive tests. Following a description of proper drive test techniques, record and playback systems are evaluated as the optimal way of testing multiple receivers and/or integrated navigation systems in the urban environment as they simplify vehicle testing requirements.

In Orbit Validation of the AAUSAT3 SDR based AIS receiver

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jesper Abildgaard; Mortensen, Hans Peter

2013-01-01

During the past years, there has been a high interest in monitoring the global ship traffic from space. The recently launched AAUSAT3 satellite carries an SDR based AIS receiver, which during the past months have been transmitting space based AIS data down to the Aalborg University Ground Station...

A GPS Phase-Locked Loop Performance Metric Based on the Phase Discriminator Output.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevanovic, Stefan; Pervan, Boris

2018-01-19

We propose a novel GPS phase-lock loop (PLL) performance metric based on the standard deviation of tracking error (defined as the discriminator's estimate of the true phase error), and explain its advantages over the popular phase jitter metric using theory, numerical simulation, and experimental results. We derive an augmented GPS phase-lock loop (PLL) linear model, which includes the effect of coherent averaging, to be used in conjunction with this proposed metric. The augmented linear model allows more accurate calculation of tracking error standard deviation in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) as compared to traditional linear models. The standard deviation of tracking error, with a threshold corresponding to half of the arctangent discriminator pull-in region, is shown to be a more reliable/robust measure of PLL performance under interference conditions than the phase jitter metric. In addition, the augmented linear model is shown to be valid up until this threshold, which facilitates efficient performance prediction, so that time-consuming direct simulations and costly experimental testing can be reserved for PLL designs that are much more likely to be successful. The effect of varying receiver reference oscillator quality on the tracking error metric is also considered.

Design and implementation of the GPS subsystem for the Radio Aurora eXplorer

Science.gov (United States)

Spangelo, Sara C.; Bennett, Matthew W.; Meinzer, Daniel C.; Klesh, Andrew T.; Arlas, Jessica A.; Cutler, James W.

2013-06-01

This paper presents the design and implementation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) subsystem for the Radio Aurora eXplorer (RAX) CubeSat. The GPS subsystem provides accurate temporal and spatial information necessary to satisfy the science objectives of the RAX mission. There are many challenges in the successful design and implementation of a GPS subsystem for a CubeSat-based mission, including power, size, mass, and financial constraints. This paper presents an approach for selecting and testing the individual and integrated GPS subsystem components, including the receiver, antenna, low noise amplifier, and supporting circuitry. The procedures to numerically evaluate the GPS link budget and test the subsystem components at various stages of system integration are described. Performance results for simulated tests in the terrestrial and orbital environments are provided, including start-up times, carrier-to-noise ratios, and orbital position accuracy. Preliminary on-orbit GPS results from the RAX-1 and RAX-2 spacecraft are presented to validate the design process and pre-flight simulations. Overall, this paper provides a systematic approach to aid future satellite designers in implementing and verifying GPS subsystems for resource-constrained small satellites.

Evaluation of a regional real-time precise positioning system based on GPS/BeiDou observations in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Wenwu; Tan, Bingfeng; Chen, Yongchang; Teferle, Felix Norman; Yuan, Yunbin

2018-02-01

The performance of real-time (RT) precise positioning can be improved by utilizing observations from multiple Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) instead of one particular system. Since the end of 2012, BeiDou, independently established by China, began to provide operational services for users in the Asia-Pacific regions. In this study, a regional RT precise positioning system is developed to evaluate the performance of GPS/BeiDou observations in Australia in providing high precision positioning services for users. Fixing three hourly updated satellite orbits, RT correction messages are generated and broadcasted by processing RT observation/navigation data streams from the national network of GNSS Continuously Operating Reference Stations in Australia (AUSCORS) at the server side. At the user side, RT PPP is realized by processing RT data streams and the RT correction messages received. RT clock offsets, for which the accuracy reached 0.07 and 0.28 ns for GPS and BeiDou, respectively, can be determined. Based on these corrections, an accuracy of 12.2, 30.0 and 45.6 cm in the North, East and Up directions was achieved for the BeiDou-only solution after 30 min while the GPS-only solution reached 5.1, 15.3 and 15.5 cm for the same components at the same time. A further improvement of 43.7, 36.9 and 45.0 percent in the three directions, respectively, was achieved for the combined GPS/BeiDou solution. After the initialization process, the North, East and Up positioning accuracies were 5.2, 8.1 and 17.8 cm, respectively, for the BeiDou-only solution, while 1.5, 3.0, and 4.7 cm for the GPS-only solution. However, we only noticed a 20.9% improvement in the East direction was obtained for the GPS/BeiDou solution, while no improvements in the other directions were detected. It is expected that such improvements may become bigger with the increasing accuracy of the BeiDou-only solution.

GP and pharmacist inter-professional learning - a grounded theory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, David E; Ferguson, Julie; Wakeling, Judy; Zlotos, Leon; Power, Ailsa

2016-05-01

Practice Based Small Group Learning (PBSGL) is an established learning resource for primary care clinicians in Scotland and is used by one-third of general practitioners (GPs). Scottish Government and UK professional bodies have called for GPs and pharmacists to work more closely together to improve care. To gain GPs' and pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of learning together in an inter-professional PBSGL pilot. Qualitative research methods involving established GP PBSGL groups in NHS Scotland recruiting one or two pharmacists to join them. A grounded theory method was used. GPs were interviewed in focus groups by a fellow GP, and pharmacists were interviewed individually by two researchers, neither being a GP or a pharmacist. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using grounded theory methods. Data saturation was achieved and confirmed. Three themes were identified: GPs' and pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of inter-professional learning; Inter-professional relationships and team-working; Group identity and purpose of existing GP groups. Pharmacists were welcomed into GP groups and both professions valued inter-professional PBSGL learning. Participants learned from each other and both professions gained a wider perspective of the NHS and of each others' roles in the organisation. Inter-professional relationships, communication and team-working were strengthened and professionals regarded each other as peers and friends.

An accurate Kriging-based regional ionospheric model using combined GPS/BeiDou observations

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelazeem, Mohamed; Çelik, Rahmi N.; El-Rabbany, Ahmed

2018-01-01

In this study, we propose a regional ionospheric model (RIM) based on both of the GPS-only and the combined GPS/BeiDou observations for single-frequency precise point positioning (SF-PPP) users in Europe. GPS/BeiDou observations from 16 reference stations are processed in the zero-difference mode. A least-squares algorithm is developed to determine the vertical total electron content (VTEC) bi-linear function parameters for a 15-minute time interval. The Kriging interpolation method is used to estimate the VTEC values at a 1 ° × 1 ° grid. The resulting RIMs are validated for PPP applications using GNSS observations from another set of stations. The SF-PPP accuracy and convergence time obtained through the proposed RIMs are computed and compared with those obtained through the international GNSS service global ionospheric maps (IGS-GIM). The results show that the RIMs speed up the convergence time and enhance the overall positioning accuracy in comparison with the IGS-GIM model, particularly the combined GPS/BeiDou-based model.

GPS Signal Corruption by the Discrete Aurora: Precise Measurements From the Mahali Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Semeter, Joshua; Mrak, Sebastijan; Hirsch, Michael; Swoboda, John; Akbari, Hassan; Starr, Gregory; Hampton, Don; Erickson, Philip; Lind, Frank; Coster, Anthea; Pankratius, Victor

2017-10-01

Measurements from a dense network of GPS receivers have been used to clarify the relationship between substorm auroras and GPS signal corruption as manifested by loss of lock on the received signal. A network of nine receivers was deployed along roadways near the Poker Flat Research Range in central Alaska, with receiver spacing between 15 and 30 km. Instances of large-amplitude phase fluctuations and signal loss of lock were registered in space and time with auroral forms associated with a sequence of westward traveling surges associated with a substorm onset over central Canada. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) The signal corruption originated in the ionospheric E region, between 100 and 150 km altitude, and (2) the GPS links suffering loss of lock were confined to a narrow band (<20 km wide) along the trailing edge of the moving auroral forms. The results are discussed in the context of mechanisms typically cited to account for GPS phase scintillation by auroral processes.

Comprehensive seismic monitoring of the Cascadia megathrust with real-time GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Melbourne, T. I.; Szeliga, W. M.; Santillan, V. M.; Scrivner, C. W.; Webb, F.

2013-12-01

We have developed a comprehensive real-time GPS-based seismic monitoring system for the Cascadia subduction zone based on 1- and 5-second point position estimates computed within the ITRF08 reference frame. A Kalman filter stream editor that uses a geometry-free combination of phase and range observables to speed convergence while also producing independent estimation of carrier phase biases and ionosphere delay pre-cleans raw satellite measurements. These are then analyzed with GIPSY-OASIS using satellite clock and orbit corrections streamed continuously from the International GNSS Service (IGS) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The resulting RMS position scatter is less than 3 cm, and typical latencies are under 2 seconds. Currently 31 coastal Washington, Oregon, and northern California stations from the combined PANGA and PBO networks are analyzed. We are now ramping up to include all of the remaining 400+ stations currently operating throughout the Cascadia subduction zone, all of which are high-rate and telemetered in real-time to CWU. These receivers span the M9 megathrust, M7 crustal faults beneath population centers, several active Cascades volcanoes, and a host of other hazard sources. To use the point position streams for seismic monitoring, we have developed an inter-process client communication package that captures, buffers and re-broadcasts real-time positions and covariances to a variety of seismic estimation routines running on distributed hardware. An aggregator ingests, re-streams and can rebroadcast up to 24 hours of point-positions and resultant seismic estimates derived from the point positions to application clients distributed across web. A suite of seismic monitoring applications has also been written, which includes position time series analysis, instantaneous displacement vectors, and peak ground displacement contouring and mapping. We have also implemented a continuous estimation of finite-fault slip along the Cascadia megathrust

Combining Real-Time Seismic and GPS Data for Earthquake Early Warning (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Boese, M.; Heaton, T. H.; Hudnut, K. W.

2013-12-01

Scientists at Caltech, UC Berkeley, the Univ. of SoCal, the Univ. of Washington, the US Geological Survey, and ETH Zurich have developed an earthquake early warning (EEW) demonstration system for California and the Pacific Northwest. To quickly determine the earthquake magnitude and location, 'ShakeAlert' currently processes and interprets real-time data-streams from ~400 seismic broadband and strong-motion stations within the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN). Based on these parameters, the 'UserDisplay' software predicts and displays the arrival and intensity of shaking at a given user site. Real-time ShakeAlert feeds are currently shared with around 160 individuals, companies, and emergency response organizations to educate potential users about EEW and to identify needs and applications of EEW in a future operational warning system. Recently, scientists at the contributing institutions have started to develop algorithms for ShakeAlert that make use of high-rate real-time GPS data to improve the magnitude estimates for large earthquakes (M>6.5) and to determine slip distributions. Knowing the fault slip in (near) real-time is crucial for users relying on or operating distributed systems, such as for power, water or transportation, especially if these networks run close to or across large faults. As shown in an earlier study, slip information is also useful to predict (in a probabilistic sense) how far a fault rupture will propagate, thus enabling more robust probabilistic ground-motion predictions at distant locations. Finally, fault slip information is needed for tsunami warning, such as in the Cascadia subduction-zone. To handle extended fault-ruptures of large earthquakes in real-time, Caltech and USGS Pasadena are currently developing and testing a two-step procedure that combines seismic and geodetic data; in the first step, high-frequency strong-motion amplitudes are used to rapidly classify near-and far-source stations. Then, the location and

Landmark-based robust navigation for tactical UGV control in GPS-denied communication-degraded environments

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, Yoichiro; Balloch, Jonathan C.; Grushin, Alexander; Lee, Mun Wai; Handelman, David

2016-05-01

Control of current tactical unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is typically accomplished through two alternative modes of operation, namely, low-level manual control using joysticks and high-level planning-based autonomous control. Each mode has its own merits as well as inherent mission-critical disadvantages. Low-level joystick control is vulnerable to communication delay and degradation, and high-level navigation often depends on uninterrupted GPS signals and/or energy-emissive (non-stealth) range sensors such as LIDAR for localization and mapping. To address these problems, we have developed a mid-level control technique where the operator semi-autonomously drives the robot relative to visible landmarks that are commonly recognizable by both humans and machines such as closed contours and structured lines. Our novel solution relies solely on optical and non-optical passive sensors and can be operated under GPS-denied, communication-degraded environments. To control the robot using these landmarks, we developed an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the operator to select landmarks in the robot's view and direct the robot relative to one or more of the landmarks. The integrated UGV control system was evaluated based on its ability to robustly navigate through indoor environments. The system was successfully field tested with QinetiQ North America's TALON UGV and Tactical Robot Controller (TRC), a ruggedized operator control unit (OCU). We found that the proposed system is indeed robust against communication delay and degradation, and provides the operator with steady and reliable control of the UGV in realistic tactical scenarios.

Development of GPS Receiver Kalman Filter Algorithms for Stationary, Low-Dynamics, and High-Dynamics Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

Filter Algorithms for Stationary, Low-Dynamics, and High-Dynamics Applications Executive Summary The Global Positioning system ( GPS ) is the primary...software that may need to be developed for performance prediction of current or future systems that incorporate GPS . The ultimate aim is to help inform...Defence Science and Technology Organisation in 1986. His major areas of work were adaptive tracking , sig- nal processing, and radar systems engineering

Ultra-low power high precision magnetotelluric receiver array based customized computer and wireless sensor network

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, R.; Xi, X.; Zhao, X.; He, L.; Yao, H.; Shen, R.

2016-12-01

Dense 3D magnetotelluric (MT) data acquisition owns the benefit of suppressing the static shift and topography effect, can achieve high precision and high resolution inversion for underground structure. This method may play an important role in mineral exploration, geothermal resources exploration, and hydrocarbon exploration. It's necessary to reduce the power consumption greatly of a MT signal receiver for large-scale 3D MT data acquisition while using sensor network to monitor data quality of deployed MT receivers. We adopted a series of technologies to realized above goal. At first, we designed an low-power embedded computer which can couple with other parts of MT receiver tightly and support wireless sensor network. The power consumption of our embedded computer is less than 1 watt. Then we designed 4-channel data acquisition subsystem which supports 24-bit analog-digital conversion, GPS synchronization, and real-time digital signal processing. Furthermore, we developed the power supply and power management subsystem for MT receiver. At last, a series of software, which support data acquisition, calibration, wireless sensor network, and testing, were developed. The software which runs on personal computer can monitor and control over 100 MT receivers on the field for data acquisition and quality control. The total power consumption of the receiver is about 2 watts at full operation. The standby power consumption is less than 0.1 watt. Our testing showed that the MT receiver can acquire good quality data at ground with electrical dipole length as 3 m. Over 100 MT receivers were made and used for large-scale geothermal exploration in China with great success.

A Kalman Filter Implementation for Precision Improvement in Low-Cost GPS Positioning of Tractors

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez-Gil, Jaime; Ruiz-Gonzalez, Ruben; Alonso-Garcia, Sergio; Gomez-Gil, Francisco Javier

2013-01-01

Low-cost GPS receivers provide geodetic positioning information using the NMEA protocol, usually with eight digits for latitude and nine digits for longitude. When these geodetic coordinates are converted into Cartesian coordinates, the positions fit in a quantization grid of some decimeters in size, the dimensions of which vary depending on the point of the terrestrial surface. The aim of this study is to reduce the quantization errors of some low-cost GPS receivers by using a Kalman filter. Kinematic tractor model equations were employed to particularize the filter, which was tuned by applying Monte Carlo techniques to eighteen straight trajectories, to select the covariance matrices that produced the lowest Root Mean Square Error in these trajectories. Filter performance was tested by using straight tractor paths, which were either simulated or real trajectories acquired by a GPS receiver. The results show that the filter can reduce the quantization error in distance by around 43%. Moreover, it reduces the standard deviation of the heading by 75%. Data suggest that the proposed filter can satisfactorily preprocess the low-cost GPS receiver data when used in an assistance guidance GPS system for tractors. It could also be useful to smooth tractor GPS trajectories that are sharpened when the tractor moves over rough terrain. PMID:24217355

Common Observations for Near-Source Ground Motions and Seismo-Traveling Ionosphere Disturbances Following the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake, Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bor-Shouh Huang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The time history and spatial dependence of seismic-wave propagation on the ground surface and through the ionosphere following the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake were reconstructed from dense seismic networks and from Global Positioning System (GPS array observations, respectively. Using total electron content (TEC data recorded by a dense GPS receiver network, the near-source ionosphere perturbations induced by this giant earthquake were analyzed and high-resolution images of seismic-wave propagation in the ionosphere are presented. Similar spatial images of ground motions were reconstructed from observations by a dense seismic array. Observations of this event provide, for the first time, the opportunity to compare near-source ground motions with the near-field seismo-traveling ionosphere disturbance (STID excited by the ground motions. Based on the results, the nature of the source rupture and seismic-wave propagation are discussed. Both seismic and ionosphere observations indicate that seismic energy propagated radially outward initially from the hypocenter, but that the circular shape of the propagation front became gradually distorted as the source rupture became extended. Coherent wavefronts from the two analyses show contrasting patterns during the later stage of propagation, possibly due to different patterns of spatial variations in the physical properties of the solid earth and of the ionosphere.

Comparison of GPS derived TEC with the TEC predicted by IRI 2012 model in the southern Equatorial Ionization Anomaly crest within the Eastern Africa region

Science.gov (United States)

Sulungu, Emmanuel D.; Uiso, Christian B. S.; Sibanda, Patrick

2018-04-01

We have compared the TEC obtained from the IRI-2012 model with the GPS derived TEC data recorded within southern crest of the EIA in the Eastern Africa region using the monthly means of the 5 international quiet days for equinoxes and solstices months for the period of 2012 - 2013. GPS-derived TEC data have been obtained from the Africa array and IGS network of ground based dual-frequency GPS receivers from four stations (Kigali (1.95°S, 30.09°E; Geom. Lat. 11.63°S), Malindi (2.99°S, 40.19°E; Geom. Lat. 12.42°S), Mbarara (0.60°S, 30.74°E; Geom. Lat. 10.22°S) and Nairobi (1.22°S, 36.89°E; Geom. Lat. 10.69°S)) located within the EIA crest in this region. All the three options for topside Ne of IRI-2012 model and ABT-2009 for bottomside thickness have been used to compute the IRI TEC. Also URSI coefficients were considered in this study. These results are compared with the TEC estimated from GPS measurements. Correlation Coefficients between the two sets of data, the Root-Mean Square Errors (RMSE) of the IRI-TEC from the GPS-TEC, and the percentage RMSE of the IRI-TEC from the GPS-TEC have been computed. Our general results show that IRI-2012 model with all three options overestimates the GPS-TEC for all seasons and at all stations, and IRI-2001 overestimates GPS-TEC more compared with other options. IRI-Neq and IRI-01-corr are closely matching in most of the time. The observation also shows that, GPS TEC are underestimated by TEC from IRI model during noon hours, especially during equinoctial months. Further, GPS-TEC values and IRI-TEC values using all the three topside Ne options show very good correlation (above 0.8). On the other hand, the TEC using IRI-Neq and IRI-01- corr had smaller deviations from the GPS-TEC compared to the IRI-2001.

Ionospheric correction for spaceborne single-frequency GPS based ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A modified ionospheric correction method and the corresponding approximate algorithm for spaceborne single-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) users are proposed in this study. Single Layer Model (SLM) mapping function for spaceborne GPS was analyzed. SLM mapping functions at different altitudes were ...

Ionospheric error analysis in gps measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Pugliano

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The results of an experiment aimed at evaluating the effects of the ionosphere on GPS positioning applications are presented in this paper. Specifically, the study, based upon a differential approach, was conducted utilizing GPS measurements acquired by various receivers located at increasing inter-distances. The experimental research was developed upon the basis of two groups of baselines: the first group is comprised of "short" baselines (less than 10 km; the second group is characterized by greater distances (up to 90 km. The obtained results were compared either upon the basis of the geometric characteristics, for six different baseline lengths, using 24 hours of data, or upon temporal variations, by examining two periods of varying intensity in ionospheric activity respectively coinciding with the maximum of the 23 solar cycle and in conditions of low ionospheric activity. The analysis revealed variations in terms of inter-distance as well as different performances primarily owing to temporal modifications in the state of the ionosphere.

GPS-Based AR Games Development Potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregorius Alvin Raditya Santoso

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The application of new technologies in a game is not a new thing. One example is the application of Augmented Reality (AR technology in game. Many people do not know the application of AR technology in game, although the application of this technology is able to produce a game with unique gameplay. In addition, since AR game is GPS-based, it offers new gaming experience, that is, playing outdoors in which the real world becomes the game arena. This advantage gives the AR technology a huge potential to be developed into a game

A web-based GPS system for displacement monitoring and failure mechanism analysis of reservoir landslide.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuanyao; Huang, Jinsong; Jiang, Shui-Hua; Huang, Faming; Chang, Zhilu

2017-12-07

It is important to monitor the displacement time series and to explore the failure mechanism of reservoir landslide for early warning. Traditionally, it is a challenge to monitor the landslide displacements real-timely and automatically. Globe Position System (GPS) is considered as the best real-time monitoring technology, however, the accuracies of the landslide displacements monitored by GPS are not assessed effectively. A web-based GPS system is developed to monitor the landslide displacements real-timely and automatically in this study. And the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is proposed to assess the accuracy of the GPS monitoring displacements. Wangmiao landslide in Three Gorges Reservoir area in China is used as case study. The results show that the web-based GPS system has advantages of high precision, real-time, remote control and automation for landslide monitoring; the Root Mean Square Errors of the monitoring landslide displacements are less than 5 mm. Meanwhile, the results also show that a rapidly falling reservoir water level can trigger the reactivation of Wangmiao landslide. Heavy rainfall is also an important factor, but not a crucial component.

INS/GPS/LiDAR Integrated Navigation System for Urban and Indoor Environments Using Hybrid Scan Matching Algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yanbin; Liu, Shifei; Atia, Mohamed M; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2015-09-15

This paper takes advantage of the complementary characteristics of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to provide periodic corrections to Inertial Navigation System (INS) alternatively in different environmental conditions. In open sky, where GPS signals are available and LiDAR measurements are sparse, GPS is integrated with INS. Meanwhile, in confined outdoor environments and indoors, where GPS is unreliable or unavailable and LiDAR measurements are rich, LiDAR replaces GPS to integrate with INS. This paper also proposes an innovative hybrid scan matching algorithm that combines the feature-based scan matching method and Iterative Closest Point (ICP) based scan matching method. The algorithm can work and transit between two modes depending on the number of matched line features over two scans, thus achieving efficiency and robustness concurrently. Two integration schemes of INS and LiDAR with hybrid scan matching algorithm are implemented and compared. Real experiments are performed on an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) for both outdoor and indoor environments. Experimental results show that the multi-sensor integrated system can remain sub-meter navigation accuracy during the whole trajectory.

Method of steering the gain of a multiple antenna global positioning system receiver

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Alan G.; Hermann, Bruce R.

1992-06-01

A method for steering the gain of a multiple antenna Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver toward a plurality of a GPS satellites simultaneously is provided. The GPS signals of a known wavelength are processed digitally for a particular instant in time. A range difference or propagation delay between each antenna for GPS signals received from each satellite is first resolved. The range difference consists of a fractional wavelength difference and an integer wavelength difference. The fractional wavelength difference is determined by each antenna's tracking loop. The integer wavelength difference is based upon the known wavelength and separation between each antenna with respect to each satellite position. The range difference is then used to digitally delay the GPS signals at each antenna with respect to a reference antenna. The signal at the reference antenna is then summed with the digitally delayed signals to generate a composite antenna gain. The method searches for the correct number of integer wavelengths to maximize the composite gain. The range differences are also used to determine the attitude of the array.

Modelling ground deformation patterns associated with volcanic processes at the Okataina Volcanic Centre

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, L.; Cas, R.; Fournier, N.; Ailleres, L.

2017-09-01

The Okataina Volcanic Centre (OVC) is one of two large active rhyolite centres in the modern Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located in a complex section of the Taupo rift, a tectonically active section of the TVZ. The most recent volcanic unrest at the OVC includes the 1315 CE Kaharoa and 1886 Tarawera eruptions. Current monitoring activity at the OVC includes the use of continuous GPS receivers (cGPS), lake levelling and seismographs. The ground deformation patterns preceding volcanic activity the OVC are poorly constrained and restricted to predictions from basic modelling and comparison to other volcanoes worldwide. A better understanding of the deformation patterns preceding renewed volcanic activity is essential to determine if observed deformation is related to volcanic, tectonic or hydrothermal processes. Such an understanding also means that the ability of the present day cGPS network to detect these deformation patterns can also be assessed. The research presented here uses the finite element (FE) modelling technique to investigate ground deformation patterns associated with magma accumulation and diking processes at the OVC in greater detail. A number of FE models are produced and tested using Pylith software and incorporate characteristics of the 1315 CE Kaharoa and 1886 Tarawera eruptions, summarised from the existing body of research literature. The influence of a simple ring fault structure at the OVC on the modelled deformation is evaluated. The ability of the present-day continuous GPS (cGPS) GeoNet monitoring network to detect or observe the modelled deformation is also considered. The results show the modelled horizontal and vertical displacement fields have a number of key features, which include prominent lobe based regions extending northwest and southeast of the OVC. The results also show that the ring fault structure increases the magnitude of the displacements inside the caldera, in particular in the

Implementation and Performance of a GPS/INS Tightly Coupled Assisted PLL Architecture Using MEMS Inertial Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youssef Tawk

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The use of global navigation satellite system receivers for navigation still presents many challenges in urban canyon and indoor environments, where satellite availability is typically reduced and received signals are attenuated. To improve the navigation performance in such environments, several enhancement methods can be implemented. For instance, external aid provided through coupling with other sensors has proven to contribute substantially to enhancing navigation performance and robustness. Within this context, coupling a very simple GPS receiver with an Inertial Navigation System (INS based on low-cost micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS inertial sensors is considered in this paper. In particular, we propose a GPS/INS Tightly Coupled Assisted PLL (TCAPLL architecture, and present most of the associated challenges that need to be addressed when dealing with very-low-performance MEMS inertial sensors. In addition, we propose a data monitoring system in charge of checking the quality of the measurement flow in the architecture. The implementation of the TCAPLL is discussed in detail, and its performance under different scenarios is assessed. Finally, the architecture is evaluated through a test campaign using a vehicle that is driven in urban environments, with the purpose of highlighting the pros and cons of combining MEMS inertial sensors with GPS over GPS alone.

Implementation and Performance of a GPS/INS Tightly Coupled Assisted PLL Architecture Using MEMS Inertial Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Tawk, Youssef; Tomé, Phillip; Botteron, Cyril; Stebler, Yannick; Farine, Pierre-André

2014-01-01

The use of global navigation satellite system receivers for navigation still presents many challenges in urban canyon and indoor environments, where satellite availability is typically reduced and received signals are attenuated. To improve the navigation performance in such environments, several enhancement methods can be implemented. For instance, external aid provided through coupling with other sensors has proven to contribute substantially to enhancing navigation performance and robustness. Within this context, coupling a very simple GPS receiver with an Inertial Navigation System (INS) based on low-cost micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) inertial sensors is considered in this paper. In particular, we propose a GPS/INS Tightly Coupled Assisted PLL (TCAPLL) architecture, and present most of the associated challenges that need to be addressed when dealing with very-low-performance MEMS inertial sensors. In addition, we propose a data monitoring system in charge of checking the quality of the measurement flow in the architecture. The implementation of the TCAPLL is discussed in detail, and its performance under different scenarios is assessed. Finally, the architecture is evaluated through a test campaign using a vehicle that is driven in urban environments, with the purpose of highlighting the pros and cons of combining MEMS inertial sensors with GPS over GPS alone. PMID:24569773

DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL GAS PRESSURIZED STRIPPING (GPS)-BASED TECHNOLOGY FOR CO₂ CAPTURE FROM POST-COMBUSTION FLUE GASES Topical Report: Techno-Economic Analysis of GPS-based Technology for CO₂ Capture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Shiaoguo

2015-09-30

This topical report presents the techno-economic analysis, conducted by Carbon Capture Scientific, LLC (CCS) and Nexant, for a nominal 550 MWe supercritical pulverized coal (PC) power plant utilizing CCS patented Gas Pressurized Stripping (GPS) technology for post-combustion carbon capture (PCC). Illinois No. 6 coal is used as fuel. Because of the difference in performance between the GPS-based PCC and the MEA-based CO2 absorption technology, the net power output of this plant is not exactly 550 MWe. DOE/NETL Case 11 supercritical PC plant without CO2 capture and Case 12 supercritical PC plant with benchmark MEA-based CO2 capture are chosen as references. In order to include CO2 compression process for the baseline case, CCS independently evaluated the generic 30 wt% MEA-based PCC process together with the CO2 compression section. The net power produced in the supercritical PC plant with GPS-based PCC is 647 MW, greater than the MEA-based design. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) over a 20-year period is adopted to assess techno-economic performance. The LCOE for the supercritical PC plant with GPS-based PCC, not considering CO2 transport, storage and monitoring (TS&M), is 97.4 mills/kWh, or 152% of the Case 11 supercritical PC plant without CO2 capture, equivalent to $39.6/tonne for the cost of CO2 capture. GPS-based PCC is also significantly superior to the generic MEA-based PCC with CO2 compression section, whose LCOE is as high as 109.6 mills/kWh.

First light from a kilometer-baseline Scintillation Auroral GPS Array.

Science.gov (United States)

Datta-Barua, S; Su, Y; Deshpande, K; Miladinovich, D; Bust, G S; Hampton, D; Crowley, G

2015-05-28

We introduce and analyze the first data from an array of closely spaced Global Positioning System (GPS) scintillation receivers established in the auroral zone in late 2013 to measure spatial and temporal variations in L band signals at 100-1000 m and subsecond scales. The seven receivers of the Scintillation Auroral GPS Array (SAGA) are sited at Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska. The receivers produce 100 s scintillation indices and 100 Hz carrier phase and raw in-phase and quadrature-phase samples. SAGA is the largest existing array with baseline lengths of the ionospheric diffractive Fresnel scale at L band. With an initial array of five receivers, we identify a period of simultaneous amplitude and phase scintillation. We compare SAGA power and phase data with collocated 630.0 nm all-sky images of an auroral arc and incoherent scatter radar electron precipitation measurements, to illustrate how SAGA can be used in multi-instrument observations for subkilometer-scale studies. A seven-receiver Scintillation Auroral GPS Array (SAGA) is now at Poker Flat, Alaska SAGA is the largest subkilometer array to enable phase/irregularities studies Simultaneous scintillation, auroral arc, and electron precipitation are observed.

Advancing Technology: GPS and GIS Outreach Training for Agricultural Producers

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Allison; Arnold, Shannon

2010-01-01

The use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Information Systems (GIS) has made significant impacts on agricultural production practices. However, constant changes in the technologies require continuing educational updates. The outreach program described here introduces the operation, use, and applications of GPS receivers and GIS…

On the feasibility to integrate low-cost MEMS accelerometers and GNSS receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Benedetti, Elisa; Dermanis, Athanasios; Crespi, Mattia

2017-06-01

The aim of this research was to investigate the feasibility of merging the benefits offered by low-cost GNSS and MEMS accelerometers technology, in order to promote the diffusion of low-cost monitoring solutions. A merging approach was set up at the level of the combination of kinematic results (velocities and displacements) coming from the two kinds of sensors, whose observations were separately processed, following to the so called loose integration, which sounds much more simple and flexible thinking about the possibility of an easy change of the combined sensors. At first, the issues related to the difference in reference systems, time systems and measurement rate and epochs for the two sensors were faced with. An approach was designed and tested to transform into unique reference and time systems the outcomes from GPS and MEMS and to interpolate the usually (much) more dense MEMS observation to common (GPS) epochs. The proposed approach was limited to time-independent (constant) orientation of the MEMS reference system with respect to the GPS one. Then, a data fusion approach based on the use of Discrete Fourier Transform and cubic splines interpolation was proposed both for velocities and displacements: MEMS and GPS derived solutions are firstly separated by a rectangular filter in spectral domain, and secondly back-transformed and combined through a cubic spline interpolation. Accuracies around 5 mm for slow and fast displacements and better than 2 mm/s for velocities were assessed. The obtained solution paves the way to a powerful and appealing use of low-cost single frequency GNSS receivers and MEMS accelerometers for structural and ground monitoring applications. Some additional remarks and prospects for future investigations complete the paper.

How and Why to Do VLBI on GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Dickey, J. M.

2010-01-01

In order to establish the position of the center of mass of the Earth in the International Celestial Reference Frame, observations of the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) constellation using the IVS network are important. With a good frame-tie between the coordinates of the IVS telescopes and nearby GPS receivers, plus a common local oscillator reference signal, it should be possible to observe and record simultaneously signals from the astrometric calibration sources and the GPS satellites. The standard IVS solution would give the atmospheric delay and clock offsets to use in analysis of the GPS data. Correlation of the GPS signals would then give accurate orbital parameters of the satellites in the ICRF reference frame, i.e., relative to the positions of the astrometric sources. This is particularly needed to determine motion of the center of mass of the earth along the rotation axis.

GPS Time Synchronization in School-Network Cosmic Ray Detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Berns, H.-G.; Burnett, T. H.; Gran, R.; Wilkes, R. J.

2004-06-01

The QuarkNet DAQ card for school-network cosmic ray detectors provides a low-cost alternative to using standard particle and nuclear physics fast pulse electronics modules. The board, which can be produced at a cost of less than $500.00 (USD), produces trigger time and pulse edge time data for 2- to 4-fold coincidence levels via a universal RS232 serial port interface, usable with any PC. Individual detector stations, each consisting of four scintillation counter modules, front-end electronics, and a GPS receiver, produce a stream of data in form of ASCII text strings in identifiable set of formats for different functions. The card includes a low-cost GPS receiver module, which permits time-stamping event triggers to about 50 nanosecond accuracy in UTC between widely separated sites. The technique used for obtaining precise GPS time employs the 1PPS signal, which is not normally available to users of the commercial GPS module. We had the stock model slightly custom-modified to access this signal. The method for deriving time values was adapted from methods developed for the K2K long-baseline neutrino experiment. Performance of the low-cost GPS module used is compared to that of a more expensive unit with known quality.

On the Realistic Stochastic Model of GPS Observables: Implementation and Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Zangeneh-Nejad, F.; Amiri-Simkooei, A. R.; Sharifi, M. A.; Asgari, J.

2015-12-01

High-precision GPS positioning requires a realistic stochastic model of observables. A realistic GPS stochastic model of observables should take into account different variances for different observation types, correlations among different observables, the satellite elevation dependence of observables precision, and the temporal correlation of observables. Least-squares variance component estimation (LS-VCE) is applied to GPS observables using the geometry-based observation model (GBOM). To model the satellite elevation dependent of GPS observables precision, an exponential model depending on the elevation angles of the satellites are also employed. Temporal correlation of the GPS observables is modelled by using a first-order autoregressive noise model. An important step in the high-precision GPS positioning is double difference integer ambiguity resolution (IAR). The fraction or percentage of success among a number of integer ambiguity fixing is called the success rate. A realistic estimation of the GNSS observables covariance matrix plays an important role in the IAR. We consider the ambiguity resolution success rate for two cases, namely a nominal and a realistic stochastic model of the GPS observables using two GPS data sets collected by the Trimble R8 receiver. The results confirm that applying a more realistic stochastic model can significantly improve the IAR success rate on individual frequencies, either on L1 or on L2. An improvement of 20% was achieved to the empirical success rate results. The results also indicate that introducing the realistic stochastic model leads to a larger standard deviation for the baseline components by a factor of about 2.6 on the data sets considered.

A Bridge Deflection Monitoring with GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Figurski, M.; Gałuszkiewicz, M.; Wrona, M.

2007-01-01

This paper introduces results of investigation carried on by The Applied Geomatics Section in Military University of Technology. Research includes possibilities of monitoring dynamic behavior of a bridge using high rate GPS data. Whole event was executed with collaboration of The Road and Bridge Management and The Warsaw Geodesy Company. Interdisciplinary approach with this project allows authors to get reliable information about investigating constructions and their respond for true traffic loading detected by GPS receivers. Way of compute data and used software (TRACK) are also shown in this paper.

A Robust High-Performance GPS L1 Receiver with Single-stage Quadrature Redio-Frequency Circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jianghua; Xu, Weilin; Wan, Qinq; Liu, Tianci

2018-03-01

A low power current reuse single-stage quadrature raido-frequency part (SQRF) is proposed for GPS L1 receiver in 180nm CMOS process. The proposed circuit consists of LNA, Mixer, QVCO, is called the QLMV cell. A two blocks stacked topology is adopted in this design. The parallel QVCO and mixer placed on the top forms the upper stacked block, and the LNA placed on the bottom forms the other stacked block. The two blocks share the current and achieve low power performance. To improve the stability, a float current source is proposed. The float current isolated the local oscillation signal and the input RF signal, which bring the whole circuit robust high-performance. The result shows conversion gain is 34 dB, noise figure is three dB, the phase noise is -110 dBc/Hz at 1MHz and IIP3 is -20 dBm. The proposed circuit dissipated 1.7mW with 1 V supply voltage.

Palliative care for patients with cancer: do patients receive the care they consider important? A survey study.

Science.gov (United States)

Heins, Marianne; Hofstede, Jolien; Rijken, Mieke; Korevaar, Joke; Donker, Gé; Francke, Anneke

2018-04-17

In many countries, GPs and home care nurses are involved in care for patients with advanced cancer. Given the varied and complex needs of these patients, providing satisfactory care is a major challenge for them. We therefore aimed to study which aspects of care patients, GPs and home care nurses consider important and whether patients receive these aspects. Seventy-two Dutch patients with advanced cancer, 87 GPs and 26 home care nurses rated the importance of support when experiencing symptoms, respect for patients' autonomy and information provision. Patients also rated whether they received these aspects. Questionnaires were based on the CQ index palliative care. Almost all patients rated information provision and respect for their autonomy as important. The majority also rated support when suffering from specific symptoms as important, especially support when in pain. In general, patients received the care they considered important. However, 49% of those who considered it important to receive support when suffering from fatigue and 23% of those who wanted to receive information on the expected course of their illness did not receive this or only did so sometimes. For most patients with advanced cancer, the palliative care that they receive matches what they consider important. Support for patients experiencing fatigue may need more attention. When symptoms are difficult to control, GPs and nurses may still provide emotional support and practical advice. Furthermore, we recommend that GPs discuss patients' need for information about the expected course of their illness.

GPS tomography tests for DInSAR applications on Mt. Etna

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Massimo Aranzulla

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Tropospheric artifacts of SAR images in a volcanic area like Mt. Etna cause ambiguity in the interpretation of deformations with such technique. It would be useful to measure the delay caused by tropospheric anomalies in synthetic aperture radar (SAR satellite signals (phase of the back-scattered radar wave that could be interpreted as deformation. From the delay estimated through the GPS data processing, the tropospheric tomography of electromagnetic waves refractivity, has been performed using the SIMULps12 software. The aim of this study was to perform software synthetic tests by using SIMULps12 applied to atmospheric tomography and to verify the influence of the different GPS geodetic network configurations on obtaining a reliable tomography. Three different anomalies of increasing complexity have been investigated in order to understand the representative parameters of a correct tomography, the best spatial resolution and the portions of space in which the tomography is reliable. The tests also focused on fixing/establishing the a-priori atmospheric model and the critical values of the main parameters involved in the tomographic inversion. To this end, we made a random choice of two days, necessary to define the tomographic problem. Three different network configurations with 15, 30 and 90 GPS receivers were studied. The results indicate that the well-resolved area of tomographic images increases with the number of GPS receivers not linearly, and that the actual GPS network of 42 receivers is capable of revealing/detecting the atmospheric anomalies.

GPs and end of life decisions : views and experiences

OpenAIRE

Abela, Jurgen

2015-01-01

The views and experiences of GPs with respect to end of life (EoL) care are seldom addressed. The aim of this article is to better understand this aspect of care. A cross-sectional survey of all doctors in the country was designed and set up. The overall response was 396 (39.7%), 160 of which were GPs. 28.7% of GPs received no formal training in palliative medicine. 89.8% of respondents declared that their religion was important in EoL care. 45.3% agreed with the right of a patient to decide ...

A Self-Tuning Kalman Filter for Autonomous Navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, S. H.

1999-01-01

Most navigation systems currently operated by NASA are ground-based, and require extensive support to produce accurate results. Recently developed systems that use Kalman filter and GPS data for orbit determination greatly reduce dependency on ground support, and have potential to provide significant economies for NASA spacecraft navigation. These systems, however, still rely on manual tuning from analysts. A sophisticated neuro-fuzzy component fully integrated with the flight navigation system can perform the self-tuning capability for the Kalman filter and help the navigation system recover from estimation errors in real time.

Operational aspects of CASA UNO '88-The first large scale international GPS geodetic network

Science.gov (United States)

Neilan, Ruth E.; Dixon, T. H.; Meehan, Thomas K.; Melbourne, William G.; Scheid, John A.; Kellogg, J. N.; Stowell, J. L.

1989-01-01

For three weeks, from January 18 to February 5, 1988, scientists and engineers from 13 countries and 30 international agencies and institutions cooperated in the most extensive GPS (Global Positioning System) field campaign, and the largest geodynamics experiment, in the world to date. This collaborative eperiment concentrated GPS receivers in Central and South America. The predicted rates of motions are on the order of 5-10 cm/yr. Global coverage of GPS observations spanned 220 deg of longitude and 125 deg of latitude using a total of 43 GPS receivers. The experiment was the first civilian effort at implementing an extended international GPS satellite tracking network. Covariance analyses incorporating the extended tracking network predicted significant improvement in precise orbit determination, allowing accurate long-baseline geodesy in the science areas.

75 FR 8928 - Announcement of IS-GPS-200, IS-GPS-705, IS-GPS-800 Interface Control Working Group (ICWG...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-26

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Air Force Announcement of IS-GPS-200, IS-GPS-705, IS-GPS... document/s IS-GPS-200E (NAVSTAR GPS Space Segment/Navigation User Interfaces), IS-GPS-705A (NAVSTAR GPS Space Segment/User Segment L5 Interfaces), and IS-GPS-800A (NAVSTAR GPS Space Segment/User Segment L1C...

The ground based plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

The paper presents a report of ''The Ground Based Plan'' of the United Kingdom Science and Engineering Research Council. The ground based plan is a plan for research in astronomy and planetary science by ground based techniques. The contents of the report contains a description of:- the scientific objectives and technical requirements (the basis for the Plan), the present organisation and funding for the ground based programme, the Plan, the main scientific features and the further objectives of the Plan. (U.K.)

Precise Positioning of Uavs - Dealing with Challenging Rtk-Gps Measurement Conditions during Automated Uav Flights

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, F.; Eling, C.; Klingbeil, L.; Kuhlmann, H.

2017-08-01

For some years now, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are commonly used for different mobile mapping applications, such as in the fields of surveying, mining or archeology. To improve the efficiency of these applications an automation of the flight as well as the processing of the collected data is currently aimed at. One precondition for an automated mapping with UAVs is that the georeferencing is performed directly with cm-accuracies or better. Usually, a cm-accurate direct positioning of UAVs is based on an onboard multi-sensor system, which consists of an RTK-capable (real-time kinematic) GPS (global positioning system) receiver and additional sensors (e.g. inertial sensors). In this case, the absolute positioning accuracy essentially depends on the local GPS measurement conditions. Especially during mobile mapping applications in urban areas, these conditions can be very challenging, due to a satellite shadowing, non-line-of sight receptions, signal diffraction or multipath effects. In this paper, two straightforward and easy to implement strategies will be described and analyzed, which improve the direct positioning accuracies for UAV-based mapping and surveying applications under challenging GPS measurement conditions. Based on a 3D model of the surrounding buildings and vegetation in the area of interest, a GPS geometry map is determined, which can be integrated in the flight planning process, to avoid GPS challenging environments as far as possible. If these challenging environments cannot be avoided, the GPS positioning solution is improved by using obstruction adaptive elevation masks, to mitigate systematic GPS errors in the RTK-GPS positioning. Simulations and results of field tests demonstrate the profit of both strategies.

A New Real-Time Cycle Slip Detection and Repair Method under High Ionospheric Activity for a Triple-Frequency GPS/BDS Receiver.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wanke; Jin, Xueyuan; Wu, Mingkui; Hu, Jie; Wu, Yun

2018-02-01

Cycle slip detection and repair is a prerequisite for high-precision global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based positioning. With the modernization and development of GNSS systems, more satellites are available to transmit triple-frequency signals, which allows the introduction of additional linear combinations and provides new opportunities for cycle slip detection and repair. In this paper, we present a new real-time cycle slip detection and repair method under high ionospheric activity for undifferenced Global Positioning System (GPS)/BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) triple-frequency observations collected with a single receiver. First, three optimal linearly independent geometry-free pseudorange minus phase combinations are selected to correctly and uniquely determine the cycle slips on the original triple-frequency carrier phase observations. Then, a second-order time-difference algorithm is employed for the pseudorange minus phase combinations to mitigate the impact of between-epoch ionospheric residuals on cycle slip detection, which is especially beneficial under high ionospheric activity. The performance of the approach is verified with static GPS/BDS triple-frequency observations that are collected with a 30 s sampling interval under active ionospheric conditions, and observations are manually inserted with simulated cycle slips. The results show that the method can correctly detect and repair cycle slips at a resolution as small as 1 cycle. Moreover, kinematic data collected from car-driven and airborne experiments are also processed to verify the performance of the method. The experimental results also demonstrate that the method is effective in processing kinematic data.

USGS earthquake hazards program (EHP) GPS use case : earthquake early warning (EEW) and shake alert

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-30

GPS Adjacent Band Workshop VI RTCA Inc., Washington D.C., 30 March 2017. USGS GPS receiver use case - Real-Time GPS for EEW -Continued: CRITICAL EFFECT - The GNSS component of the Shake Alert system augments the inertial sensors and is especial...

Artillery localization using networked wireless ground sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, David C.

2002-08-01

This paper presents the results of an installation of four acoustic/seismic ground sensors built using COTS computers and networking gear and operating on a continuous basis at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona. A description of the design can be found as well, which is essentially a Windows 2000 PC with 24-bit data acquisition, GPS timing, and environmental sensors for wind and temperature. A 4-element square acoustic array 1.8m on a side can be used to detect the time and angle of arrival of the muzzle blast and the impact explosion. A 3-component geophone allows the seismic wave direction to be estimated. The 8th channel of the 24-bit data acquisition system has a 1-pulse-per-second time signal from the GPS. This allows acoustic/seismic 'snapshots' to be coherently related from multiple disconnected ground sensor nodes. COTS 2.4 GHz frequency hopping radios (802.11 standard) are used with either omni or yagi antennas depending on the location on the range. Localization of the artillery or impact can be done by using the time and angle of arrival of the waves at 2 or more ground sensor locations. However, this straightforward analysis can be significantly complicated by weather and wind noise and is also the subject of another research contract. This work will present a general description of the COTS ground sensor installation, show example data autonomously collected including agent-based atmospheric data, and share some of the lessons learned from operating a Windows 2000 based system continuously outdoors.

Precision GPS orbit determination strategies for an earth orbiter and geodetic tracking system

Science.gov (United States)

Lichten, Stephen M.; Bertiger, Willy I.; Border, James S.

1988-01-01

Data from two 1985 GPS field tests were processed and precise GPS orbits were determined. With a combined carrier phase and pseudorange, the 1314-km repeatability improves substantially to 5 parts in 10 to the 9th (0.6 cm) in the north and 2 parts in 10 to the 8th (2-3 cm) in the other components. To achieve these levels of repeatability and accuracy, it is necessary to fine-tune the GPS solar radiation coefficients and ground station zenith tropospheric delays.

Derivation of some geometric parameters from GPS measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcel Mojzeš

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Combining GPS and terrestrial data requires a common coordinate system. When the original GPS vectors do not form a network, the 3D network adjustment can not be performed. In this case, in order to integrate the GPS measurements with the terrestrial observations and to perform a combined network adjustment, the GPS measurements should be transformed to this common system. The GPS measurements which are the usual output of the GPS post processing softwares are based on the WGS84 ellipsoid and the S-JTSK local datum is based on the Bessel ellipsoid. Thus, the reduction of measurements to the S-JTSK mapping plane can not be started from the measurements resulting from GPS post processing softwares because GPS and S-JTSK don’t have the same ellipsoid. Another view of this reduction will be described in this paper.

Analyzing the Impact of Different Pcv Calibration Models on Height Determination Using Gps/Glonass Observations from Asg-Eupos Network

Science.gov (United States)

Dawidowicz, Karol

2014-12-01

The integration of GPS with GLONASS is very important in satellite-based positioning because it can clearly improve reliability and availability. However, unlike GPS, GLONASS satellites transmit signals at different frequencies. This results in significant difficulties in modeling and ambiguity resolution for integrated GNSS positioning. There are also some difficulties related to the antenna Phase Center Variations (PCV) problem because, as is well known, the PCV is dependent on the received signal frequency dependent. Thus, processing simultaneous observations from different positioning systems, e.g. GPS and GLONASS, we can expect complications resulting from the different structure of signals and differences in satellite constellations. The ASG-EUPOS multifunctional system for precise satellite positioning is a part of the EUPOS project involving countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The number of its users is increasing rapidly. Currently 31 of 101 reference stations are equipped with GPS/GLONASS receivers and the number is still increasing. The aim of this paper is to study the height solution differences caused by using different PCV calibration models in integrated GPS/GLONASS observation processing. Studies were conducted based on the datasets from the ASG-EUPOS network. Since the study was intended to evaluate the impact on height determination from the users' point of view, a so-called "commercial" software was chosen for post-processing. The analysis was done in a baseline mode: 3 days of GNSS data collected with three different receivers and antennas were used. For the purposes of research the daily observations were divided into different sessions with a session length of one hour. The results show that switching between relative and absolute PCV models may cause an obvious effect on height determination. This issue is particularly important when mixed GPS/GLONASS observations are post-processed.

Monitoring Bare Soil Freeze–Thaw Process Using GPS-Interferometric Reflectometry: Simulation and Validation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuerui Wu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Frozen soil and permafrost affect ecosystem diversity and productivity as well as global energy and water cycles. Although some space-based Radar techniques or ground-based sensors can monitor frozen soil and permafrost variations, there are some shortcomings and challenges. For the first time, we use GPS-Interferometric Reflectometry (GPS-IR to monitor and investigate the bare soil freeze–thaw process as a new remote sensing tool. The mixed-texture permittivity models are employed to calculate the frozen and thawed soil permittivities. When the soil freeze/thaw process occurs, there is an abrupt change in the soil permittivity, which will result in soil scattering variations. The corresponding theoretical simulation results from the forward GPS multipath simulator show variations of GPS multipath observables. As for the in-situ measurements, virtual bistatic radar is employed to simplify the analysis. Within the GPS-IR spatial resolution, one SNOTEL site (ID 958 and one corresponding PBO (plate boundary observatory GPS site (AB33 are used for analysis. In 2011, two representative days (frozen soil on Doy of Year (DOY 318 and thawed soil on DOY 322 show the SNR changes of phase and amplitude. The GPS site and the corresponding SNOTEL site in four different years are analyzed for comparisons. When the soil freeze/thaw process occurred and no confounding snow depth and soil moisture effects existed, it exhibited a good absolute correlation (|R| = 0.72 in 2009, |R| = 0.902 in 2012, |R| = 0.646 in 2013, and |R| = 0.7017 in 2014 with the average detrended SNR data. Our theoretical simulation and experimental results demonstrate that GPS-IR has potential for monitoring the bare soil temperature during the soil freeze–thaw process, while more test works should be done in the future. GNSS-R polarimetry is also discussed as an option for detection. More retrieval work about elevation and polarization combinations are the focus of future development.

Variation of GPS-TEC in a low latitude Indian region during the year 2012 and 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Nilesh C.; Karia, Sheetal P.; Pathak, Kamlesh N.

2018-05-01

The paper is based on the ionospheric variations in terms of vertical total electron content (VTEC) for the period from January 2012 to December 2013 based on the analysis of dual frequency signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites recorded at ground stations Surat (21.16°N, 72.78°E Geog.), situated under the northern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly region (EIA) and other three International GNSS Service (IGS) stations Bangalore (13.02°N, 77.57°E Geog.), Hyderabad (17.25°N, 78.30°E Geog.), and Lucknow (26.91°N, 80.95°E Geog.) in India. We describe the diurnal and seasonal characteristics. It was observed that GPS-TEC reaches its maximum value between 12:00 and 16:00 IST. Further, Seasonal variations of GPS-TEC is categorized into four seasons, i.e., March equinox (February, March, and April), June solstice (May, June, and July), September equinox (August, September, and October) and December solstice (November, December and January). The forenoon rate of production in Lucknow (beyond EIA crest) is faster than Bangalore, Hyderabad and Surat station. It is found that September equinox shows GPS-TEC slightly higher than the March equinox, followed by June solstice and the lowest GPS-TEC are in winter solstice at four stations. The equinoctial asymmetry clearly observed in the current study. Also GPS-TEC shows a semiannual variation.

Evaluation of Mobile Phone Interference With Aircraft GPS Navigation Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pace, Scott; Oria, A. J.; Guckian, Paul; Nguyen, Truong X.

2004-01-01

This report compiles and analyzes tests that were conducted to measure cell phone spurious emissions in the Global Positioning System (GPS) radio frequency band that could affect the navigation system of an aircraft. The cell phone in question had, as reported to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), caused interference to several GPS receivers on-board a small single engine aircraft despite being compliant with data filed at the time with the FCC by the manufacturer. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and industry tests show that while there is an emission in the 1575 MHz GPS band due to a specific combination of amplifier output impedance and load impedance that induces instability in the power amplifier, these spurious emissions (i.e., not the intentional transmit signal) are similar to those measured on non-intentionally transmitting devices such as, for example, laptop computers. Additional testing on a wide sample of different commercial cell phones did not result in any emission in the 1575 MHz GPS Band above the noise floor of the measurement receiver.

Global Ionospheric Modelling using Multi-GNSS: BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS and GPS.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Xiaodong; Zhang, Xiaohong; Xie, Weiliang; Zhang, Keke; Yuan, Yongqiang; Li, Xingxing

2016-09-15

The emergence of China's Beidou, Europe's Galileo and Russia's GLONASS satellites has multiplied the number of ionospheric piercing points (IPP) offered by GPS alone. This provides great opportunities for deriving precise global ionospheric maps (GIMs) with high resolution to improve positioning accuracy and ionospheric monitoring capabilities. In this paper, the GIM is developed based on multi-GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo) observations in the current multi-constellation condition. The performance and contribution of multi-GNSS for ionospheric modelling are carefully analysed and evaluated. Multi-GNSS observations of over 300 stations from the Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) and International GNSS Service (IGS) networks for two months are processed. The results show that the multi-GNSS GIM products are better than those of GIM products based on GPS-only. Differential code biases (DCB) are by-products of the multi-GNSS ionosphere modelling, the corresponding standard deviations (STDs) are 0.06 ns, 0.10 ns, 0.18 ns and 0.15 ns for GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo, respectively in satellite, and the STDs for the receiver are approximately 0.2~0.4 ns. The single-frequency precise point positioning (SF-PPP) results indicate that the ionospheric modelling accuracy of the proposed method based on multi-GNSS observations is better than that of the current dual-system GIM in specific areas.

Controlador para un Reloj GPS de Referencia en el Protocolo NTP

Science.gov (United States)

Hauscarriaga, F.; Bareilles, F. A.

The synchronization between computers in a local network plays a very important role on enviroments similar to IAR. Calculations for exact time are needed before, during and after an observation. For this purpose the IAR's GNU/Linux Software Development Team implemented a driver inside NTP protocol (an internet standard for time synchronization of computers) for a GPS receiver acquired a few years ago by IAR, which did not have support in such protocol. Today our Institute has a stable and reliable time base synchronized to atomic clocks on board GPS Satellites according to computers's synchronization standard, offering precise time services to all scientific community and particularly to the University of La Plata. FULL TEXT IN SPANISH

Comparison of GLONASS and GPS time transfers between two west European time laboratories and VNIIFTRI

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, P.; Koshelyaevsky, N. B.; Lewandowski, Wlodzimierz; Petit, Gerard; Thomas, Claudine

1992-01-01

The University of Leeds built a Global Positioning System/Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System (GPS/GLONASS) receiver about five years ago and since then has provided continuous information about GLONASS time and its comparison with GPS time. For the last two years, VNIIFTRI (All Union Institute for Physical, Technical and Radiotechnical Measurements) and some other Soviet time laboratories have used Soviet built GLONASS navigation receivers for time comparisons. Since June 1991, VNIIFTIR has been operating a GPS time receiver on loan from the BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures). This offered, for the first time, an opportunity for direct comparison of time transfers using GPS and GLONASS. This experiment shows that even with relatively imprecise data recording and processing, in terms of time metrology, GLONASS can provide continental time transfer at a level of several tens of nanoseconds.

The GPS odograph user's guide

Science.gov (United States)

The GPS-based Odograph Prototype (GOP or GPS Odograph) was developed in an effort sponsored by The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The purpose of this effort was to develop a means of using inexpensive commercial off-the-self laptop (or notebo...

IMPELEMENTASI SISTEM PEMANTAUAN OBJEK BERGERAK DENGAN MEMANFAATKAN FREKUENSI RADIO MENGGUNAKAN GPS (GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Budi Triandi

2010-05-01

Full Text Available GPS was developed by the United States Department of Defense as a reliable means for accurate navigation. The system provides highly accurate position and velocity information and precise time on a continuous global basis to an unlimited number of properly equipped users. By using combined GPS receiver and microcontroller together with radio system, we can design a monitoring system for our vehicles and display the result on the computer. This system consists of a master module that transmits and receives signals from computer and two slave modules to collect GPS data from vehicles. The result of experiment shows that this system is able to track the vehicle on digital map with accuracy as high as 95%.Keywords: GPS, microcontroller, monitoring, RF

Laser-based Relative Navigation Using GPS Measurements for Spacecraft Formation Flying

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kwangwon; Oh, Hyungjik; Park, Han-Earl; Park, Sang-Young; Park, Chandeok

2015-12-01

This study presents a precise relative navigation algorithm using both laser and Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements in real time. The measurement model of the navigation algorithm between two spacecraft is comprised of relative distances measured by laser instruments and single differences of GPS pseudo-range measurements in spherical coordinates. Based on the measurement model, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is applied to smooth the pseudo-range measurements and to obtain the relative navigation solution. While the navigation algorithm using only laser measurements might become inaccurate because of the limited accuracy of spacecraft attitude estimation when the distance between spacecraft is rather large, the proposed approach is able to provide an accurate solution even in such cases by employing the smoothed GPS pseudo-range measurements. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the errors of the proposed algorithm are reduced by more than about 12% compared to those of an algorithm using only laser measurements, as the accuracy of angular measurements is greater than 0.001° at relative distances greater than 30 km.

Performance Analysis of Constrained Loosely Coupled GPS/INS Integration Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Dovis

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The paper investigates approaches for loosely coupled GPS/INS integration. Error performance is calculated using a reference trajectory. A performance improvement can be obtained by exploiting additional map information (for example, a road boundary. A constrained solution has been developed and its performance compared with an unconstrained one. The case of GPS outages is also investigated showing how a Kalman filter that operates on the last received GPS position and velocity measurements provides a performance benefit. Results are obtained by means of simulation studies and real data.

An Analysis of Stand-alone GPS Quality and Simulated GNSS Quality for Road Pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zabic, Martina; Nielsen, Otto Anker

2006-01-01

Use of GPS for road pricing has often been suggested as the way of creating more efficient charging strategies than existing systems based on cordon lines or time use. In Denmark, Copenhagen participated with the AKTA project in the PRoGRESS programme, sponsored by the EU. The major part...... of the AKTA project was to equip 500 cars with GPS receivers. The paper presents the methods and results from a study of GPS quality in relation to road pricing in a dense urban area. The collected data from 500 cars over a two-year period in the Copenhagen region was analyzed in order to determine whether...... the stand alone GPS quality and reliability is adequate for implementation of an operational road pricing system in Copenhagen. The results from the analysis show that the satellite availability in Copenhagen is not sufficient to form the basis for a reliable operational road pricing system. The narrow...

PRECISE POSITIONING OF UAVS – DEALING WITH CHALLENGING RTK-GPS MEASUREMENT CONDITIONS DURING AUTOMATED UAV FLIGHTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Zimmermann

2017-08-01

Full Text Available For some years now, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles are commonly used for different mobile mapping applications, such as in the fields of surveying, mining or archeology. To improve the efficiency of these applications an automation of the flight as well as the processing of the collected data is currently aimed at. One precondition for an automated mapping with UAVs is that the georeferencing is performed directly with cm-accuracies or better. Usually, a cm-accurate direct positioning of UAVs is based on an onboard multi-sensor system, which consists of an RTK-capable (real-time kinematic GPS (global positioning system receiver and additional sensors (e.g. inertial sensors. In this case, the absolute positioning accuracy essentially depends on the local GPS measurement conditions. Especially during mobile mapping applications in urban areas, these conditions can be very challenging, due to a satellite shadowing, non-line-of sight receptions, signal diffraction or multipath effects. In this paper, two straightforward and easy to implement strategies will be described and analyzed, which improve the direct positioning accuracies for UAV-based mapping and surveying applications under challenging GPS measurement conditions. Based on a 3D model of the surrounding buildings and vegetation in the area of interest, a GPS geometry map is determined, which can be integrated in the flight planning process, to avoid GPS challenging environments as far as possible. If these challenging environments cannot be avoided, the GPS positioning solution is improved by using obstruction adaptive elevation masks, to mitigate systematic GPS errors in the RTK-GPS positioning. Simulations and results of field tests demonstrate the profit of both strategies.

GPS deformation measurements at Olkiluoto in 2013

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyberg, S.; Kallio, U.; Koivula, H.

2014-08-01

The Finnish Geodetic Institute has monitored crustal deformations since mid-1990s at Olkiluoto, Kivetty and Romuvaara. The research was focused on the Olkiluoto area in 2001, when Olkiluoto was chosen to the site for the final disposal facility of the spent nuclear fuel. The work and the results of the GPS deformation monitoring at Olkiluoto in 2013 are presented. The measurement consisted of two GPS measurement campaigns, observations at local permanent stations and control markers measurements at four stations. In spring six new stations were set up for permanent tracking. In total 12 permanent stations were operating continuously from April to the end of the year. The residual time series of the stations showed periodic trends up to 3 mm in height and 1 mm in horizontal component relative to the GPS1 station. A few stations were still measured as campaign-based and analysed baseline by baseline. The data from permanent stations (GPS1-GPS9, and GPS13) were included. The analysis of the inner network based on campaign sessions showed very small motions as in previous years: 75 % of change rates are smaller than 0.10 mm/y. Roughly one third of the change rates could be considered statistically significant at 1 % significance level. Statistically significant change rates were estimated for baselines from GPS1 and GPS5. The trends and strains differed at some baselines clearly from the earlier analysis because of different troposphere modelling. The results of the outer network showed the largest difference on the baseline GPS1-GPS11 where the trend decreased from -0.42 mm/y to -0.28 mm/y. The strain pattern of the outer network shows an eastwards motion of GPS1. The estimated strains for the baselines east of GPS1 were -0.03/-0.04 ppm/y. The control marker measurements were carried at the stations GPS1, GPS2, GPS4 and GPS6. A comparison of the results with the previous measurements showed that the distance between control markers at GPS6 continues to increase. Also

GPS deformation measurements at Olkiluoto in 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nyberg, S.; Kallio, U.; Koivula, H. [Finnish Geodetic Institute, Masala (Finland)

2014-08-15

The Finnish Geodetic Institute has monitored crustal deformations since mid-1990s at Olkiluoto, Kivetty and Romuvaara. The research was focused on the Olkiluoto area in 2001, when Olkiluoto was chosen to the site for the final disposal facility of the spent nuclear fuel. The work and the results of the GPS deformation monitoring at Olkiluoto in 2013 are presented. The measurement consisted of two GPS measurement campaigns, observations at local permanent stations and control markers measurements at four stations. In spring six new stations were set up for permanent tracking. In total 12 permanent stations were operating continuously from April to the end of the year. The residual time series of the stations showed periodic trends up to 3 mm in height and 1 mm in horizontal component relative to the GPS1 station. A few stations were still measured as campaign-based and analysed baseline by baseline. The data from permanent stations (GPS1-GPS9, and GPS13) were included. The analysis of the inner network based on campaign sessions showed very small motions as in previous years: 75 % of change rates are smaller than 0.10 mm/y. Roughly one third of the change rates could be considered statistically significant at 1 % significance level. Statistically significant change rates were estimated for baselines from GPS1 and GPS5. The trends and strains differed at some baselines clearly from the earlier analysis because of different troposphere modelling. The results of the outer network showed the largest difference on the baseline GPS1-GPS11 where the trend decreased from -0.42 mm/y to -0.28 mm/y. The strain pattern of the outer network shows an eastwards motion of GPS1. The estimated strains for the baselines east of GPS1 were -0.03/-0.04 ppm/y. The control marker measurements were carried at the stations GPS1, GPS2, GPS4 and GPS6. A comparison of the results with the previous measurements showed that the distance between control markers at GPS6 continues to increase. Also

Applying the GNSS Volcanic Ash Plume Detection Technique to Consumer Navigation Receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Rainville, N.; Palo, S.; Larson, K. M.

2017-12-01

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) rely on predictably structured and constant power RF signals to fulfill their primary use for navigation and timing. When the received strength of GNSS signals deviates from the expected baseline, it is typically due to a change in the local environment. This can occur when signal reflections from the ground are modified by changes in snow or soil moisture content, as well as by attenuation of the signal from volcanic ash. This effect allows GNSS signals to be used as a source for passive remote sensing. Larson et al. (2017) have developed a detection technique for volcanic ash plumes based on the attenuation seen at existing geodetic GNSS sites. Since these existing networks are relatively sparse, this technique has been extended to use lower cost consumer GNSS receiver chips to enable higher density measurements of volcanic ash. These low-cost receiver chips have been integrated into a fully stand-alone sensor, with independent power, communications, and logging capabilities as part of a Volcanic Ash Plume Receiver (VAPR) network. A mesh network of these sensors transmits data to a local base-station which then streams the data real-time to a web accessible server. Initial testing of this sensor network has uncovered that a different detection approach is necessary when using consumer GNSS receivers and antennas. The techniques to filter and process the lower quality data from consumer receivers will be discussed and will be applied to initial results from a functioning VAPR network installation.

Demonstration of coherent Doppler lidar for navigation in GPS-denied environments

Science.gov (United States)

Amzajerdian, Farzin; Hines, Glenn D.; Pierrottet, Diego F.; Barnes, Bruce W.; Petway, Larry B.; Carson, John M.

2017-05-01

A coherent Doppler lidar has been developed to address NASA's need for a high-performance, compact, and cost-effective velocity and altitude sensor onboard its landing vehicles. Future robotic and manned missions to solar system bodies require precise ground-relative velocity vector and altitude data to execute complex descent maneuvers and safe, soft landing at a pre-designated site. This lidar sensor, referred to as a Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL), meets the required performance of the landing missions while complying with vehicle size, mass, and power constraints. Operating from up to four kilometers altitude, the NDL obtains velocity and range precision measurements reaching 2 cm/sec and 2 meters, respectively, dominated by the vehicle motion. Terrestrial aerial vehicles will also benefit from NDL data products as enhancement or replacement to GPS systems when GPS is unavailable or redundancy is needed. The NDL offers a viable option to aircraft navigation in areas where the GPS signal can be blocked or jammed by intentional or unintentional interference. The NDL transmits three laser beams at different pointing angles toward the ground to measure range and velocity along each beam using a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) technique. The three line-of-sight measurements are then combined in order to determine the three components of the vehicle velocity vector and its altitude relative to the ground. This paper describes the performance and capabilities that the NDL demonstrated through extensive ground tests, helicopter flight tests, and onboard an autonomous rocket-powered test vehicle while operating in closedloop with a guidance, navigation, and control (GN and C) system.

GPS TEC Fluctuations in the Low and High Latitudes During the 2015 St. Patrick`s Day Storm

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Jong-Kyun; Hong, Junseok; Yoo, Sung-Moon; Kim, Jeong-Han; Jee, Geonhwa; Hegai, Valery V.

2017-12-01

As a part of collaborative efforts to understand ionospheric irregularities, the Korea ionospheric scintillation sites (KISS) network has been built based on global positioning system (GPS) receivers with sampling rates higher than 1 Hz. We produce the rate of TEC index (ROTI) to represent GPS TEC fluctuations related to ionospheric irregularities. In the KISS network, two ground-based GPS sites at Kiruna (marker: KIRN; geographic: 67.9° N, 21.4° E; geomagnetic: 65.2° N) and Chuuk (marker: CHUK; geographic: 7.5° N, 151.9° E; geomagnetic: 0.4° N) were selected to evaluate the ROTI value for ionospheric irregularities during the occurrence of the 2015 St. Patrick’s Day storm. The KIRN ROTI values in the aurora region appear to be generally much higher than the CHUK ROTI values in the EIA region. The CHUK ROTI values increased to 0.5 TECU/min around UT=13:00 (LT=23:00) on March 16 in the quiet geomagnetic condition. On March 17, 2015, CHUK ROTI values more than 1.0 TECU/min were measured between UT=9:00 and 12:00 (LT=19:00 and 22:00) during the first main phase of the St. Patrick’s Day storm. This may be due to ionospheric irregularities by increased pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) after sunset during the geomagnetic storm. Post-midnight, the CHUK ROTI showed two peaks of 0.5 TECU/min and 0.3 TECU/min near UT=15:00 (LT=01:00) and UT=18:00 (LT=04:00) at the second main phase. The KIRN site showed significant peaks of ROTI around geomagnetic latitude=63.3° N and MLT=15:40 on the same day. These can be explained by enhanced ionospheric irregularities in the auroral oval at the maximum of AE index

BioGPS descriptors for rational engineering of enzyme promiscuity and structure based bioinformatic analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerio Ferrario

Full Text Available A new bioinformatic methodology was developed founded on the Unsupervised Pattern Cognition Analysis of GRID-based BioGPS descriptors (Global Positioning System in Biological Space. The procedure relies entirely on three-dimensional structure analysis of enzymes and does not stem from sequence or structure alignment. The BioGPS descriptors account for chemical, geometrical and physical-chemical features of enzymes and are able to describe comprehensively the active site of enzymes in terms of "pre-organized environment" able to stabilize the transition state of a given reaction. The efficiency of this new bioinformatic strategy was demonstrated by the consistent clustering of four different Ser hydrolases classes, which are characterized by the same active site organization but able to catalyze different reactions. The method was validated by considering, as a case study, the engineering of amidase activity into the scaffold of a lipase. The BioGPS tool predicted correctly the properties of lipase variants, as demonstrated by the projection of mutants inside the BioGPS "roadmap".

Positioning performance of the NTCM model driven by GPS Klobuchar model parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Hoque, Mohammed Mainul; Jakowski, Norbert; Berdermann, Jens

2018-03-01

Users of the Global Positioning System (GPS) utilize the Ionospheric Correction Algorithm (ICA) also known as Klobuchar model for correcting ionospheric signal delay or range error. Recently, we developed an ionosphere correction algorithm called NTCM-Klobpar model for single frequency GNSS applications. The model is driven by a parameter computed from GPS Klobuchar model and consecutively can be used instead of the GPS Klobuchar model for ionospheric corrections. In the presented work we compare the positioning solutions obtained using NTCM-Klobpar with those using the Klobuchar model. Our investigation using worldwide ground GPS data from a quiet and a perturbed ionospheric and geomagnetic activity period of 17 days each shows that the 24-hour prediction performance of the NTCM-Klobpar is better than the GPS Klobuchar model in global average. The root mean squared deviation of the 3D position errors are found to be about 0.24 and 0.45 m less for the NTCM-Klobpar compared to the GPS Klobuchar model during quiet and perturbed condition, respectively. The presented algorithm has the potential to continuously improve the accuracy of GPS single frequency mass market devices with only little software modification.

Remote landslide mapping using a laser rangefinder binocular and GPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Santangelo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available We tested a high-quality laser rangefinder binocular coupled with a GPS receiver connected to a Tablet PC running dedicated software to help recognize and map in the field recent rainfall-induced landslides. The system was tested in the period between March and April 2010, in the Monte Castello di Vibio area, Umbria, Central Italy. To test the equipment, we measured thirteen slope failures that were mapped previously during a visual reconnaissance field campaign conducted in February and March 2010. For reference, four slope failures were also mapped by walking the GPS receiver along the landslide perimeter. Comparison of the different mappings revealed that the geographical information obtained remotely for each landslide by the rangefinder binocular and GPS was comparable to the information obtained by walking the GPS around the landslide perimeter, and was superior to the information obtained through the visual reconnaissance mapping. Although our tests were not exhaustive, we maintain that the system is effective to map recent rainfall induced landslides in the field, and we foresee the possibility of using the same (or similar system to map landslides, and other geomorphological features, in other areas.

GPS operations at Olkiluoto in 2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kallio, U.; Nyberg, S.; Koivula, H.; Jokela, J.; Poutanen, M.; Ahola, J. (Finnish Geodetic Institute, Masala (Finland))

2010-06-15

The GPS based deformation studies have been made at the investigation areas of Posiva since 1995, when the network of ten GPS pillars was established at Olkiluoto. One pillar in the investigation area belongs to the Finnish permanent GPS network, FinnRef. 28 GPS measurement campaigns have been carried out at Olkiluoto since 1995. According to the time series of the GPS results 1/3 of the baselines at Olkiluoto have statistically significant change rates. However, the observed movements are smaller than +-0.20 mm/a. There are five pillars, which have statistically significant horizontal velocities at Olkiluoto. These local velocity components are small but taking into account the standard deviations the largest velocity components seems to be reliably determined. At Olkiluoto a baseline for electronic distance measurements (EDM) was built in 2002. The baseline has been measured using EDM instruments in connection to the GPS observations. Changes in he difference between the GPS and EDM results indicate the systematic change in GPS results. No corrections based on only one baseline were not applied to GPS vectors. The GPS network at Olkiluoto was extended in 2003. The new pillars were built close to Kuivalahti village and on a small island of Iso Pyrekari. According to the geological evidence it is expected that a fracture zone is located between the new stations, thus enabling the determination of possible deformations along the fracture zone. The new pillars have been observed since 2003 and now we have computed the first deformation analysis from the six years data. Four new permanent stations will be established in summer 2010 at Olkiluoto. We have automated the processing of the campaign data by using the Bernese processing engine (BPE) together with our own Perl scripts. The local crustal deformations have been studied in GeoSatakunta project, too. This GPS network is located in Cities of Pori and Rauma and their neighbouring municipalities. Two new pillars

GPS operations at Olkiluoto in 2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kallio, U.; Nyberg, S.; Koivula, H.; Jokela, J.; Poutanen, M.; Ahola, J.

2010-06-01

The GPS based deformation studies have been made at the investigation areas of Posiva since 1995, when the network of ten GPS pillars was established at Olkiluoto. One pillar in the investigation area belongs to the Finnish permanent GPS network, FinnRef. 28 GPS measurement campaigns have been carried out at Olkiluoto since 1995. According to the time series of the GPS results 1/3 of the baselines at Olkiluoto have statistically significant change rates. However, the observed movements are smaller than ±0.20 mm/a. There are five pillars, which have statistically significant horizontal velocities at Olkiluoto. These local velocity components are small but taking into account the standard deviations the largest velocity components seems to be reliably determined. At Olkiluoto a baseline for electronic distance measurements (EDM) was built in 2002. The baseline has been measured using EDM instruments in connection to the GPS observations. Changes in he difference between the GPS and EDM results indicate the systematic change in GPS results. No corrections based on only one baseline were not applied to GPS vectors. The GPS network at Olkiluoto was extended in 2003. The new pillars were built close to Kuivalahti village and on a small island of Iso Pyrekari. According to the geological evidence it is expected that a fracture zone is located between the new stations, thus enabling the determination of possible deformations along the fracture zone. The new pillars have been observed since 2003 and now we have computed the first deformation analysis from the six years data. Four new permanent stations will be established in summer 2010 at Olkiluoto. We have automated the processing of the campaign data by using the Bernese processing engine (BPE) together with our own Perl scripts. The local crustal deformations have been studied in GeoSatakunta project, too. This GPS network is located in Cities of Pori and Rauma and their neighbouring municipalities. Two new pillars

GPS in Travel and Activity Surveys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Hovgesen, Henrik Harder

2004-01-01

The use of GPS-positioning as a monitoring tool in travel and activity surveys opens up a range of possibilities. Using a personal GPS device, the locations and movements of respondents can be followed over a longer period of time. It will then be possible to analyse how the use of urban spaces...... are embedded in the wider context of activity patterns (work, school etc.). The general pattern of everyday itineraries, including route choice and time spent at different locations ?on the way? can also be analysed. If the personal GPS device is combined with an electronic questionnaire, for example...... area. The paper presents the possibilities in travel and activity surveys with GPS and electronic questionnaires. Demonstrative mapping of test data from passive GPS registration of Copenhagen respondents is presented. The different survey possibilities given a combination of GPS and PDA based...

Perancangan Dan Realisasi Sistem Transmisi Data GPS Menggunakan Teknologi SMS (Short Messaging Service Sebagai Aplikasi Sistem Personal Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DECY NATALIANA

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstrak Berprinsip pada pengembangan teknologi dan aplikasi dari sistem penjejakan posisi (tracking, maka dibuatlah sistem personal tracking dengan mentransmisikan data GPS (Global Positioning System dengan menggunakan teknologi SMS (Short Messaging Service pada jaringan GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications sebagai media transmisinya.  Dengan sistem GPS akan diperoleh data garis lintang, serta garis bujur dari GPS receiver.  Data tersebut akan diteruskan oleh mikrokontroler untuk dikirim ke ponsel pengamat melalui komunikasi SMS.  Hasil pengujian menunjukkan bahwa device personal tracking berhasil mengirimkan data berupa IMEI, Tanggal satelit, waktu satelit, koordinat longitude, koordinat latitude, dan jumlah satelit yang berhasil ditangkap oleh device ke ponsel pengamat.  Dari data koordinat tersebut pengamat dapat memantau posisi device personal tracking berada dengan bantuan aplikasi pendukung yaitu Google Maps. Kata kunci: GPS, Personal Tracking, SMS, Google Maps.   Abstract Base on technology and application development of tracking, personal tracking system was made by transmiting GPS (Global Positioning System data using SMS (Short Messaging Service technology with GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications network as transmitter media.  BY GPS system, we can get datas such as latitude and longitude of GPS receiver.  Those datas will be processed by microcontroller to be sent from GSM/GPRS module to user cellular phone through SMS communication.  The test result showed that the device can be sending datas such as IMEI, UTC date, UTC time, longitude coordinate, latitude coordinate, and number sattelite which detected by device to user’s phonecell.  From those coordinate, user can be monitoring the device’s position with the Google Maps application. Keywords: GPS, Personal Tracking, SMS, Google Maps.

Self-monitoring blood pressure in patients with hypertension: an internet-based survey of UK GPs.

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, Benjamin R; Hinton, Lisa; Bray, Emma P; Hayen, Andrew; Hobbs, Fd Richard; Mant, Jonathan; Potter, John F; McManus, Richard J

2016-11-01

Previous research suggests that most GPs in the UK use self-monitoring of blood pressure (SMBP) to monitor the control of hypertension rather than for diagnosis. This study sought to assess current practice in the use of self-monitoring and any changes in practice following more recent guideline recommendations. To survey the views and practice of UK GPs in 2015 with regard to SMBP and compare them with a previous survey carried out in 2011. Web-based survey of a regionally representative sample of 300 UK GPs. GPs completed an online questionnaire concerning the use of SMBP in the management of hypertension. Analyses comprised descriptive statistics, tests for between-group differences (z, Wilcoxon signed-rank, and χ 2 tests), and multivariate logistic regression. Results were available for 300 GPs (94% of those who started the survey). GPs reported using self-monitoring to diagnose hypertension (169/291; 58%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 52 to 64) and to monitor control (245/291; 84%; 95% CI = 80 to 88), the former having significantly increased since 2011 (from 37%; 95% CI = 33 to 41; Pmonitoring for control. More than half of GPs used higher systolic thresholds for diagnosis (118/169; 70%; 95% CI = 63 to 77) and treatment (168/225; 75%; 95% CI = 69 to 80) than recommended in guidelines, and under half (120/289; 42%; 95% CI = 36 to 47) adjusted the SMBP results to guide treatment decisions. Since new UK national guidance in 2011, GPs are more likely to use SMBP to diagnose hypertension. However, significant proportions of GPs continue to use non-standard diagnostic and monitoring thresholds. The use of out-of-office methods to improve the accuracy of diagnosis is unlikely to be beneficial if suboptimal thresholds are used. © British Journal of General Practice 2016.

Aerial photography flight quality assessment with GPS/INS and DEM data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Haitao; Zhang, Bing; Shang, Jiali; Liu, Jiangui; Li, Dong; Chen, Yanyan; Zuo, Zhengli; Chen, Zhengchao

2018-01-01

The flight altitude, ground coverage, photo overlap, and other acquisition specifications of an aerial photography flight mission directly affect the quality and accuracy of the subsequent mapping tasks. To ensure smooth post-flight data processing and fulfill the pre-defined mapping accuracy, flight quality assessments should be carried out in time. This paper presents a novel and rigorous approach for flight quality evaluation of frame cameras with GPS/INS data and DEM, using geometric calculation rather than image analysis as in the conventional methods. This new approach is based mainly on the collinearity equations, in which the accuracy of a set of flight quality indicators is derived through a rigorous error propagation model and validated with scenario data. Theoretical analysis and practical flight test of an aerial photography mission using an UltraCamXp camera showed that the calculated photo overlap is accurate enough for flight quality assessment of 5 cm ground sample distance image, using the SRTMGL3 DEM and the POSAV510 GPS/INS data. An even better overlap accuracy could be achieved for coarser-resolution aerial photography. With this new approach, the flight quality evaluation can be conducted on site right after landing, providing accurate and timely information for decision making.

An intervention modelling experiment to change GPs' intentions to implement evidence-based practice: using theory-based interventions to promote GP management of upper respiratory tract infection without prescribing antibiotics #2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaner Eileen FS

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Psychological theories of behaviour may provide a framework to guide the design of interventions to change professional behaviour. Behaviour change interventions, designed using psychological theory and targeting important motivational beliefs, were experimentally evaluated for effects on the behavioural intention and simulated behaviour of GPs in the management of uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infection (URTI. Methods The design was a 2 × 2 factorial randomised controlled trial. A postal questionnaire was developed based on three theories of human behaviour: Theory of Planned Behaviour; Social Cognitive Theory and Operant Learning Theory. The beliefs and attitudes of GPs regarding the management of URTI without antibiotics and rates of prescribing on eight patient scenarios were measured at baseline and post-intervention. Two theory-based interventions, a "graded task" with "action planning" and a "persuasive communication", were incorporated into the post-intervention questionnaire. Trial groups were compared using co-variate analyses. Results Post-intervention questionnaires were returned for 340/397 (86% GPs who responded to the baseline survey. Each intervention had a significant effect on its targeted behavioural belief: compared to those not receiving the intervention GPs completing Intervention 1 reported stronger self-efficacy scores (Beta = 1.41, 95% CI: 0.64 to 2.25 and GPs completing Intervention 2 had more positive anticipated consequences scores (Beta = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.46 to 1.98. Intervention 2 had a significant effect on intention (Beta = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.41 to 1.38 and simulated behaviour (Beta = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.74. Conclusion GPs' intended management of URTI was significantly influenced by their confidence in their ability to manage URTI without antibiotics and the consequences they anticipated as a result of doing so. Two targeted behaviour change interventions differentially affected

An intervention modelling experiment to change GPs' intentions to implement evidence-based practice: using theory-based interventions to promote GP management of upper respiratory tract infection without prescribing antibiotics #2

Science.gov (United States)

Hrisos, Susan; Eccles, Martin; Johnston, Marie; Francis, Jill; Kaner, Eileen FS; Steen, Nick; Grimshaw, Jeremy

2008-01-01

Background Psychological theories of behaviour may provide a framework to guide the design of interventions to change professional behaviour. Behaviour change interventions, designed using psychological theory and targeting important motivational beliefs, were experimentally evaluated for effects on the behavioural intention and simulated behaviour of GPs in the management of uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Methods The design was a 2 × 2 factorial randomised controlled trial. A postal questionnaire was developed based on three theories of human behaviour: Theory of Planned Behaviour; Social Cognitive Theory and Operant Learning Theory. The beliefs and attitudes of GPs regarding the management of URTI without antibiotics and rates of prescribing on eight patient scenarios were measured at baseline and post-intervention. Two theory-based interventions, a "graded task" with "action planning" and a "persuasive communication", were incorporated into the post-intervention questionnaire. Trial groups were compared using co-variate analyses. Results Post-intervention questionnaires were returned for 340/397 (86%) GPs who responded to the baseline survey. Each intervention had a significant effect on its targeted behavioural belief: compared to those not receiving the intervention GPs completing Intervention 1 reported stronger self-efficacy scores (Beta = 1.41, 95% CI: 0.64 to 2.25) and GPs completing Intervention 2 had more positive anticipated consequences scores (Beta = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.46 to 1.98). Intervention 2 had a significant effect on intention (Beta = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.41 to 1.38) and simulated behaviour (Beta = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.74). Conclusion GPs' intended management of URTI was significantly influenced by their confidence in their ability to manage URTI without antibiotics and the consequences they anticipated as a result of doing so. Two targeted behaviour change interventions differentially affected these beliefs. One

Bridge Performance Assessment Based on an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System with Wavelet Filter for the GPS Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mosbeh R. Kaloop

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This study describes the performance assessment of the Huangpu Bridge in Guangzhou, China based on long-term monitoring in real-time by the kinematic global positioning system (RTK-GPS technique. Wavelet transformde-noising is applied to filter the GPS measurements, while the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS time series output-only model is used to predict the deformations of GPS-bridge monitoring points. In addition, GPS and accelerometer monitoring systems are used to evaluate the bridge oscillation performance. The conclusions drawn from investigating the numerical results show that: (1the wavelet de-noising of the GPS measurements of the different recording points on the bridge is a suitable tool to efficiently eliminate the signal noise and extract the different deformation components such as: semi-static and dynamic displacements; (2 the ANFIS method with two multi-input single output model is revealed to powerfully predict GPS movement measurements and assess the bridge deformations; and (3 The installed structural health monitoring system and the applied ANFIS movement prediction performance model are solely sufficient to assure bridge safety based on the analyses of the different filtered movement components.

Where on Earth am I? Don't Worry,. GPS Satellites will Guide you ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

ordinate frame shown is the reference frame used by GPS, it is called earth .... the satellite clock offsets five monitoring stations are spread over the earth ..... (P 2) GPS receiver for armoured vehicles (on the right is auxiliary display). ( P 3) GPS ...

On Fast Post-Processing of Global Positioning System Simulator Truth Data and Receiver Measurements and Solutions Data

Science.gov (United States)

Kizhner, Semion; Day, John H. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Post-Processing of data related to a Global Positioning System (GPS) simulation is an important activity in qualification of a GPS receiver for space flight. Because a GPS simulator is a critical resource it is desirable to move off the pertinent simulation data from the simulator as soon as a test is completed. The simulator data files are usually moved to a Personal Computer (PC), where the post-processing of the receiver logged measurements and solutions data and simulated data is performed. Typically post-processing is accomplished using PC-based commercial software languages and tools. Because of commercial software systems generality their general-purpose functions are notoriously slow and more than often are the bottleneck problem even for short duration experiments. For example, it may take 8 hours to post-process data from a 6-hour simulation. There is a need to do post-processing faster, especially in order to use the previous test results as feedback for a next simulation setup. This paper demonstrates that a fast software linear interpolation algorithm is applicable to a large class of engineering problems, like GPS simulation data post-processing, where computational time is a critical resource and is one of the most important considerations. An approach is developed that allows to speed-up post-processing by an order of magnitude. It is based on improving the post-processing bottleneck interpolation algorithm using apriori information that is specific to the GPS simulation application. The presented post-processing scheme was used in support of a few successful space flight missions carrying GPS receivers. A future approach to solving the post-processing performance problem using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology is described.

Towards 10(exp 9) GPS geodesy: Vector baselines, Earth rotation and reference frames

Science.gov (United States)

Schutz, Bob E.

1994-01-01

Effort during the period form January 1, 1993 to December 31, 1993 were in the following areas: GPS orbit accuracy assessments and efforts to improve the accuracy; analysis and effects of GPS receiver antenna phase center variation; analysis of global GPS data being collected for the IGS campaign; and analysis of regional (south west Pacific) campaign data. A brief summary of each of the above activities is presented.

Instantaneous emission modeling with GPS-based vehicle activity data: results of diesel trucks for one-day trips

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Feng, T.; Arentze, T.A.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2011-01-01

This paper presents an instantaneous analysis for traffic emissions using GPS-based vehicle activity data. The different driving conditions, including real-time and average speed, short-time stops and long-time stops, acceleration and deceleration, etc., are extracted from GPS data. The hot

Characteristics of equatorial plasma bubbles observed by TEC map based on ground-based GNSS receivers over South America

Science.gov (United States)

Barros, Diego; Takahashi, Hisao; Wrasse, Cristiano M.; Figueiredo, Cosme Alexandre O. B.

2018-01-01

A ground-based network of GNSS receivers has been used to monitor equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) by mapping the total electron content (TEC map). The large coverage of the TEC map allowed us to monitor several EPBs simultaneously and get characteristics of the dynamics, extension and longitudinal distributions of the EPBs from the onset time until their disappearance. These characteristics were obtained by using TEC map analysis and the keogram technique. TEC map databases analyzed were for the period between November 2012 and January 2016. The zonal drift velocities of the EPBs showed a clear latitudinal gradient varying from 123 m s-1 at the Equator to 65 m s-1 for 35° S latitude. Consequently, observed EPBs are inclined against the geomagnetic field lines. Both zonal drift velocity and the inclination of the EPBs were compared to the thermospheric neutral wind, which showed good agreement. Moreover, the large two-dimensional coverage of TEC maps allowed us to study periodic EPBs with a wide longitudinal distance. The averaged values observed for the inter-bubble distances also presented a clear latitudinal gradient varying from 920 km at the Equator to 640 km at 30° S. The latitudinal gradient in the inter-bubble distances seems to be related to the difference in the zonal drift velocity of the EPB from the Equator to middle latitudes and to the difference in the westward movement of the terminator. On several occasions, the distances reached more than 2000 km. Inter-bubble distances greater than 1000 km have not been reported in the literature.

A Real Time Differential GPS Tracking System for NASA Sounding Rockets

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Barton; Bauer, Frank (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Sounding rockets are suborbital launch vehicles capable of carrying scientific payloads to several hundred miles in altitude. These missions return a variety of scientific data including: chemical makeup and physical processes taking place in the atmosphere, natural radiation surrounding the Earth, data on the Sun, stars, galaxies and many other phenomena. In addition, sounding rockets provide a reasonably economical means of conducting engineering tests for instruments and devices to be used on satellites and other spacecraft prior to their use in these more expensive missions. Typically around thirty of these rockets are launched each year, from established ranges at Wallops Island, Virginia; Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska; White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico and from a number of ranges outside the United States. Many times launches are conducted from temporary launch ranges in remote parts of the world requiring considerable expense to transport and operate tracking radars. In order to support these missions, an inverse differential GPS system has been developed. The flight system consists of a small, inexpensive receiver, a preamplifier and a wrap-around antenna. A rugged, compact, portable ground station extracts GPS data from the raw payload telemetry stream, performs a real time differential solution and graphically displays the rocket's path relative to a predicted trajectory plot. In addition to generating a real time navigation solution, the system has been used for payload recovery, timing, data timetagging, precise tracking of multiple payloads and slaving of optical tracking systems for over the horizon acquisition. This paper discusses, in detail, the flight and ground hardware, as well as data processing and operational aspects of the system, and provides evidence of the system accuracy.

Miniaturized GPS/MEMS IMU integrated board

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Ching-Fang (Inventor)

2012-01-01

This invention documents the efforts on the research and development of a miniaturized GPS/MEMS IMU integrated navigation system. A miniaturized GPS/MEMS IMU integrated navigation system is presented; Laser Dynamic Range Imager (LDRI) based alignment algorithm for space applications is discussed. Two navigation cameras are also included to measure the range and range rate which can be integrated into the GPS/MEMS IMU system to enhance the navigation solution.

GPS Navigation Above 76,000 km for the MMS Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Winternitz, Luke; Bamford, Bill; Price, Samuel; Long, Anne; Farahmand, Mitra; Carpenter, Russell

2016-01-01

NASA's MMS mission, launched in March of 2015,consists of a controlled formation of four spin-stabilized spacecraft in similar highly elliptic orbits reaching apogee at radial distances of 12and 25 Earth radii in the first and second phases of the mission. Navigation for MMS is achieved independently onboard each spacecraft by processing GPS observables using NASA GSFC's Navigator GPS receiver and the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS) extended Kalman filter software. To our knowledge, MMS constitutes, by far, the highest-altitude operational use of GPS to date and represents the culmination of over a decade of high-altitude GPS navigation research and development at NASA GSFC. In this paper we will briefly describe past and ongoing high-altitude GPS research efforts at NASA GSFC and elsewhere, provide details on the design of the MMS GPS navigation system, and present on-orbit performance data. We extrapolate these results to predict performance in the Phase 2b mission orbit, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of the MMS results for future high-altitude GPS navigation, which we believe to be broad and far-reaching.

Uav Onboard Photogrammetry and GPS Positionning for Earthworks

Science.gov (United States)

Daakir, M.; Pierrot-Deseilligny, M.; Bosser, P.; Pichard, F.; Thom, C.

2015-08-01

Over the last decade, Unmanned Airbone Vehicles (UAVs) have been largely used for civil applications. Airborne photogrammetry has found place in these applications not only for 3D modeling but also as a measurement tool. Vinci-Construction-Terrassement is a private company specialized in public works sector and uses airborn photogrammetry as a mapping solution and metrology investigation tool on its sites. This technology is very efficient for the calculation of stock volumes for instance, or for time tracking of specific areas with risk of landslides. The aim of the present work is to perform a direct georeferencing of images acquired by the camera leaning on an embedded GPS receiver. UAV, GPS receiver and camera used are low-cost models and therefore data processing is adapted to this particular constraint.

TLALOCNet continuous GPS-Met Array in Mexico supporting the 2017 NAM GPS Hydrometeorological Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabral-Cano, E.; Salazar-Tlaczani, L.; Adams, D. K.; Vivoni, E. R.; Grutter, M.; Serra, Y. L.; DeMets, C.; Galetzka, J.; Feaux, K.; Mattioli, G. S.; Miller, M. M.

2017-12-01

TLALOCNet is a network of continuous GPS and meteorology stations in Mexico to study atmospheric and solid earth processes. This recently completed network spans most of Mexico with a strong coverage emphasis on southern and western Mexico. This network, funded by NSF, CONACyT and UNAM, recently built 40 cGPS-Met sites to EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory standards and upgraded 25 additional GPS stations. TLALOCNet provides open and freely available raw GPS data, and high frequency surface meteorology measurements, and time series of daily positions. This is accomplished through the development of the TLALOCNet data center (http://tlalocnet.udg.mx) that serves as a collection and distribution point. This data center is based on UNAVCO's Dataworks-GSAC software and also works as part of UNAVCO's seamless archive for discovery, sharing, and access to GPS data. The TLALOCNet data center also contains contributed data from several regional GPS networks in Mexico for a total of 100+ stations. By using the same protocols and structure as the UNAVCO and other COCONet regional data centers, the scientific community has the capability of accessing data from the largest Mexican GPS network. This archive provides a fully queryable and scriptable GPS and Meteorological data retrieval point. In addition, real-time 1Hz streams from selected TLALOCNet stations are available in BINEX, RTCM 2.3 and RTCM 3.1 formats via the Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (NTRIP) for real-time seismic and weather forecasting applications. TLALOCNet served as a GPS-Met backbone for the binational Mexico-US North American Monsoon GPS Hydrometeorological Network 2017 campaign experiment. This innovative experiment attempts to address water vapor source regions and land-surface water vapor flux contributions to precipitation (i.e., moisture recycling) during the 2017 North American Monsoon in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Arizona. Models suggest that moisture recycling is

Flight Test Result for the Ground-Based Radio Navigation System Sensor with an Unmanned Air Vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Jaegyu; Ahn, Woo-Guen; Seo, Seungwoo; Lee, Jang Yong; Park, Jun-Pyo

2015-11-11

The Ground-based Radio Navigation System (GRNS) is an alternative/backup navigation system based on time synchronized pseudolites. It has been studied for some years due to the potential vulnerability issue of satellite navigation systems (e.g., GPS or Galileo). In the framework of our study, a periodic pulsed sequence was used instead of the randomized pulse sequence recommended as the RTCM (radio technical commission for maritime services) SC (special committee)-104 pseudolite signal, as a randomized pulse sequence with a long dwell time is not suitable for applications requiring high dynamics. This paper introduces a mathematical model of the post-correlation output in a navigation sensor, showing that the aliasing caused by the additional frequency term of a periodic pulsed signal leads to a false lock (i.e., Doppler frequency bias) during the signal acquisition process or in the carrier tracking loop of the navigation sensor. We suggest algorithms to resolve the frequency false lock issue in this paper, relying on the use of a multi-correlator. A flight test with an unmanned helicopter was conducted to verify the implemented navigation sensor. The results of this analysis show that there were no false locks during the flight test and that outliers stem from bad dilution of precision (DOP) or fluctuations in the received signal quality.

GPS Composite Clock Analysis

OpenAIRE

Wright, James R.

2008-01-01

The GPS composite clock defines GPS time, the timescale used today in GPS operations. GPS time is illuminated by examination of its role in the complete estimation and control problem relative to UTC/TAI. The phase of each GPS clock is unobservable from GPS pseudorange measurements, and the mean phase of the GPS clock ensemble (GPS time) is unobservable. A new and useful observability definition is presented, together with new observability theorems, to demonstrate explicitly that GPS time is...

Multi-instrument observations of midlatitude summer nighttime anomaly from satellite and ground

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Mamoru; Thampi, Smitha V.; Liu, Huixin; Lin, Charles

"Midlatitude Summer Nighttime Anomaly (MSNA)" is a phenomenon that the nighttime elec-tron densities exceed the daytime values on almost all days in summer over latitudes of 33-34N of more. We recently found the MSNA over the northeast Asian region from multi-instrument observations. The observations include the tomography analysis based on the chain of digital beacon receivers at Shionomisaki (33.45N, 135.8E), Shigaraki (34.85N, 136.1E), and Fukui (36.06N,136E), the ionosonde network over Japan (especially data from Wakkanai (45.4N, 141.7E)), ground-based GPS TEC observations using the GEONET. Also from satellites, CHAMP in situ electron density measurements, and Formosat3/COSMIC (F3/C) occultation measurements are useful to confirm the presence of MSNA over this region. In the presen-tation we show detailed features of the MSNA based on these multi-instrument, and discuss importance of the neutral atmosphere as a driver of the phenomenon.

Comparison of two-way satellite time transfer and GPS common-view time transfer between OCA and TUG

Science.gov (United States)

Kirchner, Dieter; Thyr, U.; Ressler, H.; Robnik, R.; Grudler, P.; Baumont, Francoise S.; Veillet, Christian; Lewandowski, Wlodzimierz W.; Hanson, W.; Clements, A.

1992-01-01

For about one year the time scales UTC(OCA) and UTC(TUG) were compared by means of GPS and two-way satellite time transfer. At the end of the experiment both links were independently 'calibrated' by measuring the differential delays of the GPS receivers and of the satellite earth stations by transportation of a GPS receiver and of one of the satellite terminals. The results obtained by both methods differ by about 3 ns, but reveal a seasonal variation of about 8 ns peak-to-peak which is likely the result of a temperature-dependence of the delays of the GPS receivers used. For the comparison of both methods the stabilities of the timescales are of great importance. Unfortunately, during the last three months of the experiment a less stable clock had to be used for the generation of UTC(TUG).

GPS-based household interview survey for the Cincinnati, Ohio Region.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

Methods for Conducting a Large-Scale GPS-Only Survey of Households: Past Household Travel Surveys (HTS) in the United States have only piloted small subsamples of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) completes compared with 1-2 day self-reported travel i...

Phase Center Interpolation Algorithm for Airborne GPS through the Kalman Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edson A. Mitishita

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The aerial triangulation is a fundamental step in any photogrammetric project. The surveying of the traditional control points, depending on region to be mapped, still has a high cost. The distribution of control points at the block, and its positional quality, influence directly in the resulting precisions of the aero triangulation processing. The airborne GPS technique has as key objectives cost reduction and quality improvement of the ground control in the modern photogrammetric projects. Nowadays, in Brazil, the greatest photogrammetric companies are acquiring airborne GPS systems, but those systems are usually presenting difficulties in the operation, due to the need of human resources for the operation, because of the high technology involved. Inside the airborne GPS technique, one of the fundamental steps is the interpolation of the position of the phase center of the GPS antenna, in the photo shot instant. Traditionally, low degree polynomials are used, but recent studies show that those polynomials is reduced in turbulent flights, which are quite common, mainly in great scales flights. This paper has as objective to present a solution for that problem, through an algorithm based on the Kalman Filter, which takes into account the dynamic aspect of the problem. At the end of the paper, the results of a comparison between experiments done with the proposed methodology and a common linear interpolator are shown. These results show a significant accuracy gain at the procedure of linear interpolation, when the Kalman filter is used.

GPS & Galileo. Friendly Foes?

Science.gov (United States)

2007-04-01

some of their data, others employ different techniques. United States defense contractor Lockheed Martin developed an anti-jam GPS receiver in 2000 for...Europe in a New Generation of Satellite Navigation Services,” European Commission (9 Feb 1999): 16. 25. Ibid. 26. Anne Jolis , “Problems Run Rampant...European Outer Space,” Euro Topics (19 March 2007), found at http://www.eurotopics.net/en/presseschau/archiv/archiv_dossier/DOSSIER15435. 40. Jolis

Data Integration from GPS and Inertial Navigation Systems for Pedestrians in Urban Area

OpenAIRE

Krzysztof Bikonis; Jerzy Demkowicz

2013-01-01

The GPS system is widely used in navigation and the GPS receiver can offer long-term stable absolute positioning information. The overall system performance depends largely on the signal environments. The position obtained from GPS is often degraded due to obstruction and multipath effect caused by buildings, city infrastructure and vegetation, whereas, the current performance achieved by inertial navigation systems (INS) is still relatively poor due to the large inertial sensor errors. The c...

Roll Attitude Determination of Spin Projectile Based on GPS and Magnetoresistive Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dandan Yuan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Improvement in attack accuracy of the spin projectiles is a very significant objective, which increases the overall combat efficiency of projectiles. The accurate determination of the projectile roll attitude is the recent objective of the efficient guidance and control. The roll measurement system for the spin projectile is commonly based on the magnetoresistive sensor. It is well known that the magnetoresistive sensor produces a sinusoidally oscillating signal whose frequency slowly decays with time, besides the possibility of blind spot. On the other hand, absolute sensors such as GPS have fixed errors even though the update rates are generally low. To earn the benefit while eliminating weaknesses from both types of sensors, a mathematical model using filtering technique can be designed to integrate the magnetoresistive sensor and GPS measurements. In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to integrate the magnetoresistive sensor and GPS measurements in order to get an accurate prediction of projectile roll attitude in a real flight time. The proposed model is verified using numerical simulations, which illustrated that the accuracy of the roll attitude measurement is improved.

GPR and GPS data integration: examples of application in Antarctica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Gandolfi

2001-06-01

Full Text Available Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR and Global Positioning System (GPS techniques were employed in snow accumulation studies during the Italian leg of the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE. The acquired data were useful both for glaciological and climatological studies. This paper presents some results obtained by GPR and GPS data integration employed to determine accumulation/ablation processes along the profile of the traverse that show how the snow-sublayer thickness can vary quickly in just a few kilometres. Some examples of data integration employed in detection and characterisation of buried crevasses are also presented.

Strong Sporadic E Occurrence Detected by Ground-Based GNSS

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Wenjie; Ning, Baiqi; Yue, Xinan; Li, Guozhu; Hu, Lianhuan; Chang, Shoumin; Lan, Jiaping; Zhu, Zhengping; Zhao, Biqiang; Lin, Jian

2018-04-01

The ionospheric sporadic E (Es) layer has significant impact on radio wave propagation. The traditional techniques employed for Es layer observation, for example, ionosondes, are not dense enough to resolve the morphology and dynamics of Es layer in spatial distribution. The ground-based Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) technique is expected to shed light on the understanding of regional strong Es occurrence, owing to the facts that the critical frequency (foEs) of strong Es structure is usually high enough to cause pulse-like disturbances in GNSS total electron content (TEC), and a large number of GNSS receivers have been deployed all over the world. Based on the Chinese ground-based GNSS networks, including the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China and the Beidou Ionospheric Observation Network, a large-scale strong Es event was observed in the middle latitude of China. The strong Es shown as a band-like structure in the southwest-northeast direction extended more than 1,000 km. By making a comparative analysis of Es occurrences identified from the simultaneous observations by ionosondes and GNSS TEC receivers over China middle latitude statistically, we found that GNSS TEC can be well employed to observe strong Es occurrence with a threshold value of foEs, 14 MHz.

GPS operations at Olkiluoto in 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koivula, H.; Kallio, U.; Nyberg, S.; Jokela, J.; Poutanen, M.

2012-06-01

The Finnish Geodetic Institute has studied crustal deformations at Olkiluoto, Kivetty and Romuvaara in co-operation with Posiva Oy since 1995. At Olkiluoto a total of 32 GPS campaigns have been carried out at inner network since 1995 and 17 campaigns at outer network since 2003. Kivetty and Romuvaara were not measured in 2011. In the Olkiluoto inner network 80 percent of the estimated change rates are smaller than 0.10 mm/a. One third of the change rates are statistically significant. They are mainly related to the Olkiluoto permanent station (GPS1) and to the pillars GPS6 and GPS13. The change rates related to GPS6 are not realistic due to the site-specific changes affecting the time series. The maximum change rate (-0.20 mm/a ± 0.05 mm/a) is related to GPS13. The time series of GPS13 is half the length of other pillars and therefore, the change rates are more uncertain. In the Olkiluoto outer network the maximum and statistically significant change rate is between GPS1-GPS11 (0.39 mm/a ± 0.06 mm/a). Pillar GPS12 was not observed this year. The change rates of baselines GPS1-GPS14 and GPS1-GPS15 are first time statistically significant. The change rates indicate a small movement of the GPS1 pillar. The baseline GPS1-GPS11 crosses an old fracture zone locating in the direction of the Eurajoensalmi, which might be a reason for the deformation. On the other hand, the Onkalo excavations in the vicinity of the Olkiluoto permanent station (GPS1) may cause some movement. Electronic distance measurements have been performed at Olkiluoto at the baseline GPS7-GPS8 using the Mekometer since 2002. The measurements have been carried out simultaneously with GPS campaigns. Based on 19 measurements in 10 years, the trends of the two time series seems to be similar. Due to unmodelled or dismodelled geometrical offsets and the scale difference between GPS measurements and EDM there is about 0.3 mm difference between distances GPS7-GPS8 derived from GPS measurements and EDM. It is

GPS operations at Olkiluoto in 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koivula, H.; Kallio, U.; Nyberg, S.; Jokela, J.; Poutanen, M. [Finnish Geodetic Institute, Masala (Finland)

2012-06-15

The Finnish Geodetic Institute has studied crustal deformations at Olkiluoto, Kivetty and Romuvaara in co-operation with Posiva Oy since 1995. At Olkiluoto a total of 32 GPS campaigns have been carried out at inner network since 1995 and 17 campaigns at outer network since 2003. Kivetty and Romuvaara were not measured in 2011. In the Olkiluoto inner network 80 percent of the estimated change rates are smaller than 0.10 mm/a. One third of the change rates are statistically significant. They are mainly related to the Olkiluoto permanent station (GPS1) and to the pillars GPS6 and GPS13. The change rates related to GPS6 are not realistic due to the site-specific changes affecting the time series. The maximum change rate (-0.20 mm/a {+-} 0.05 mm/a) is related to GPS13. The time series of GPS13 is half the length of other pillars and therefore, the change rates are more uncertain. In the Olkiluoto outer network the maximum and statistically significant change rate is between GPS1-GPS11 (0.39 mm/a {+-} 0.06 mm/a). Pillar GPS12 was not observed this year. The change rates of baselines GPS1-GPS14 and GPS1-GPS15 are first time statistically significant. The change rates indicate a small movement of the GPS1 pillar. The baseline GPS1-GPS11 crosses an old fracture zone locating in the direction of the Eurajoensalmi, which might be a reason for the deformation. On the other hand, the Onkalo excavations in the vicinity of the Olkiluoto permanent station (GPS1) may cause some movement. Electronic distance measurements have been performed at Olkiluoto at the baseline GPS7-GPS8 using the Mekometer since 2002. The measurements have been carried out simultaneously with GPS campaigns. Based on 19 measurements in 10 years, the trends of the two time series seems to be similar. Due to unmodelled or dismodelled geometrical offsets and the scale difference between GPS measurements and EDM there is about 0.3 mm difference between distances GPS7-GPS8 derived from GPS measurements and EDM

Real-Time Magnitude Characterization of Large Earthquakes Using the Predominant Period Derived From 1 Hz GPS Data

Science.gov (United States)

Psimoulis, Panos A.; Houlié, Nicolas; Behr, Yannik

2018-01-01

Earthquake early warning (EEW) systems' performance is driven by the trade-off between the need for a rapid alert and the accuracy of each solution. A challenge for many EEW systems has been the magnitude saturation for large events (MW > 7) and the resulting underestimation of seismic moment magnitude. In this study, we test the performance of high-rate (1 Hz) GPS, based on seven seismic events, to evaluate whether long-period ground motions can be measured well enough to infer reliably earthquake predominant periods. We show that high-rate GPS data allow the computation of a GPS-based predominant period (τg) to estimate lower bounds for the magnitude of earthquakes and distinguish between large (MW > 7) and great (MW > 8) events and thus extend the capability of EEW systems for larger events. It has also identified the impact of the different values of the smoothing factor α on the τg results and how the sampling rate and the computation process differentiate τg from the commonly used τp.

Monitoring the bedrock stability in Olkiluoto. Summary of campaign based GPS measurements in 1996-2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyberg, S.; Kallio, U.; Haekli, P.; Jokela, J.; Koivula, H.; Saaranen, V.; Rouhiainen, P.

2013-12-01

The Finnish Geodetic Institute has monitored crustal deformations in Olkiluoto since mid-1990s. This is a final report of campaign based GPS measurements carried out in 1996-2011. The aim of the research has been monitoring the bedrock stability in the Olkiluoto area. The research were started in 1995, when a local GPS network of ten pillars, called inner network, was established on Olkiluoto Island. The research area was expanded in 2003- 2005 with four new pillars (outer network) established at 5-10 km distances from the inner network. One of the pillar points is the Olkiluoto permanent GPS station. Regular biannual measurement campaigns have been carried out on other pillar points

Combined GPS and seismic monitoring of a 12-story structure in a region of induced seismicity in Oklahoma

Science.gov (United States)

Haase, J. S.; Soliman, M.; Kim, H.; Jaiswal, P.; Saunders, J. K.; Vernon, F.; Zhang, W.

2017-12-01

This work focuses on quantifying ground motions and their effects in Oklahoma near the location of the 2016 Mw 5.8 Pawnee earthquake, where seismicity has been increasing due to wastewater injection related to oil and natural gas production. Much of the building inventory in Oklahoma was constructed before the increase in seismicity and before the implementation of earthquake design and detailing provisions for reinforced concrete (RC) structures. We will use combined GPS/seismic monitoring techniques to measure ground motion in the field and the response of structures to this ground motion. Several Oklahoma State University buildings experienced damage due to the Pawnee earthquake. The USGS Shake Map product estimated peak ground acceleration (PGA) ranging from 0.12g to 0.15g at campus locations. We are deploying a high-rate GPS sensor and accelerometer on the roof and another accelerometer at ground level of a 12-story RC structure and at selected field sites in order to collect ambient noise data and nearby seismicity. The longer period recording characteristics of the GPS/seismic system are particularly well adapted to monitoring these large structures in the event of a significant earthquake. Gross characteristics of the structural system are described, which consists of RC columns and RC slabs in all stories. We conducted a preliminary structural analysis including modal analysis and response spectrum analysis based on a finite element (FE) simulation, which indicated that the period associated with the first X-axis bending, first torsional, and first Y-axis bending modes are 2.2 s, 2.1 s, and 1.8 s, respectively. Next, a preliminary analysis was conducted to estimate the range of expected deformation at the roof level for various earthquake excitations. The earthquake analysis shows a maximum roof displacement of 5 and 7 cm in the horizontal directions resulting from earthquake loads with PGA of 0.2g, well above the noise level of the combined GPS

Dynamic accuracy of GPS receivers for use in health research: a novel method to assess GPS accuracy in real-world settings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schipperijn, Jasper; Kerr, Jacqueline; Duncan, Scott

2014-01-01

. For each trip, we calculated the percentage that actually fell within the lane polygon, and within the 2.5, 5, and 10 m buffers respectively, as well as the mean and median error in meters. Our results showed that 49.6% of all ≈68,000 GPS points fell within 2.5 m of the expected location, 78.7% fell within...

SMS-based time use research among Dutch GPs: an experiment.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Batenburg, R.; Hassel, D. van; Velden, L. van der

2013-01-01

Context: It has become a critical challenge in many countries to ensure sufficient capacity of primary care providers, specifically the capacity of General Practitioners (GPs). In a number of countries, health workforce planning is specifically developed for GPs, increasing the need for reliable and

Influence of Ephemeris Error on GPS Single Point Positioning Accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Lihua, Ma; Wang, Meng

2013-09-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) user makes use of the navigation message transmitted from GPS satellites to achieve its location. Because the receiver uses the satellite's location in position calculations, an ephemeris error, a difference between the expected and actual orbital position of a GPS satellite, reduces user accuracy. The influence extent is decided by the precision of broadcast ephemeris from the control station upload. Simulation analysis with the Yuma almanac show that maximum positioning error exists in the case where the ephemeris error is along the line-of-sight (LOS) direction. Meanwhile, the error is dependent on the relationship between the observer and spatial constellation at some time period.

Evaluation of Refractivity Profiles from CHAMP and SAC-C GPS Radio Occultation

Science.gov (United States)

Poli, Paul; Ao, Chi On; Joiner, Joanna; delaTorreJuarez, Manuel; Hoff, Raymond

2002-01-01

The GeoForschungsZentrum's Challenging Minisatellite Payload for Geophysical Research and Application (CHAMP, Germany-US) and the Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales' Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-C (SAC-C, Argentina-US) missions are the first missions to carry a second-generation Blackjack Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. One of the new features of this receiver is its ability to sense the lower troposphere closer to the surface than the proof-of-concept GPS Meteorology experiment (GPS/MET). Since their launch, CHAMP and SAC-C have collected thousands of GPS radio occultations, representing a wealth of measurements available for data assimilation and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). In order to evaluate the refractivity data derived by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from raw radio occultation measurements, we use Data Assimilation Office (DAO) 6-hour forecasts as an independent state of the atmosphere. We compare CHAMP and SAC-C refractivity (processed by JPL) with refractivity calculated from the DAO global fields of temperature, water vapor content and humidity. We show statistics of the differences as well as histograms of the differences.

GNSS Software Receiver for UAVs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Daniel Madelung; Jakobsen, Jakob; von Benzon, Hans-Henrik

2016-01-01

This paper describes the current activities of GPS/GNSS Software receiver development at DTU Space. GNSS Software receivers have received a great deal of attention in the last two decades and numerous implementations have already been presented. DTU Space has just recently started development of ...... of our own GNSS software-receiver targeted for mini UAV applications, and we will in in this paper present our current progress and briefly discuss the benefits of Software Receivers in relation to our research interests....

Data Integration from GPS and Inertial Navigation Systems for Pedestrians in Urban Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof Bikonis

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The GPS system is widely used in navigation and the GPS receiver can offer long-term stable absolute positioning information. The overall system performance depends largely on the signal environments. The position obtained from GPS is often degraded due to obstruction and multipath effect caused by buildings, city infrastructure and vegetation, whereas, the current performance achieved by inertial navigation systems (INS is still relatively poor due to the large inertial sensor errors. The complementary features of GPS and INS are the main reasons why integrated GPS/INS systems are becoming increasingly popular. GPS/INS systems offer a high data rate, high accuracy position and orientation that can work in all environments, particularly those where satellite availability is restricted. In the paper integration algorithm of GPS and INS systems data for pedestrians in urban area is presented. For data integration an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF algorithm is proposed. Complementary characteristics of GPS and INS with EKF can overcome the problem of huge INS drifts, GPS outages, dense multipath effect and other individual problems associated with these sensors.

Integrating GPS with Dead Reckoning Sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cederholm, Jens Peter

2000-01-01

A vehicle positioning system comprising a GPS receiver, a digital compass, and an odometer was tested on a 2.8-km stretch in Aalborg, Denmark. The system, which merges observations from the three instruments using a Kalman filter, has an update rate of 1 Hz and is intended for use in both urban a...

The Effect of high temperature plasma on GPS satellite signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghanajafi, C.; Alizadeh, M.M.

2002-01-01

Ionospheric disturbances caused by pulses of electromagnetic radiation are observed in the propagation of radio signals. Specific events affecting particular aspects of radio propagation are sudden phase anomaly; sudden frequency deviation, sudden cosmic noise and short wave fade out. Global positioning System (GPS) is a space-based navigation system, developed by the United States, to satisfy the requirements for the military forces and the civilians to determine their position, velocity and time in a common reference system anywhere on or near the earth. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the effect of ionosphere on GPS satellite signals. In order to find this effects, calculation of the total column electron content is needed. The lack of data necessary to generate real Electron Density Profile versus altitude, latitude, time, season and solar activity; causes the introduction of a new method to reproduce the topside and bottom side component of the peak electron density. Electron density profiles computed in this method are compared with GPS derived profiles, which use observations of dual frequency receivers. Ionospheric range corrections, for signal point positioning, using two methods have also been discussed

Measuring Magnetic Declination With Compass, GPS and Virtual Globes

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, W. P.

2006-12-01

Using virtual globe (VG) imagery to determine geographic bearing and a compass to determine magnetic bearing yielded acceptable experimental magnetic declination values for large linear physical features at 13 sites in the western continental United States. The geographic bearing of each feature was determined from measurements involving the latitude/longitude coordinate system associated with the VG image (from World Wind or Google Earth). The corresponding magnetic bearing was measured on the ground at the feature with a hand-bearing compass calibrated in 1-degree subdivisions. A sequence of GPS trackpoints, recorded while traveling along the feature either in an automobile or on foot, unambiguously identified the pertinent portion of the feature (a straight segment of a road, for example) when plotted on the VG image. For each physical feature located on a VG image, its geographic bearing was determined directly using on-screen measurement tools available with the VG program or by hand using ruler/protractor methods with printed copies of the VG image. An independent (no use of VG) geographic bearing was also extracted from the slope of a straight-line fit to a latitude/longitude plot of each feature's GPS coordinates, a value that was the same (to within the inherent uncertainty of the data) as the VG-determined bearing, thus validating this procedure for finding geographic bearings. Differences between the VG bearings and the magnetic bearings yielded experimental magnetic declination values within one degree (8 within 0.5 degree) of expected values. From the point of view of physics and geophysics pedagogy, this project affords students a simple magnetism/geodesy field experiment requiring only a good compass and a GPS receiver with memory and a data port. The novel and straightforward data analysis with VG software yields reliable experimental values for an important abstract geophysical quantity, magnetic declination. Just as the compass has long provided

Saved by Iridium? An Alternative to GPS

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-17

know this. The enemy presents itself at any time, at any place, in many shapes and forms, often for no apparent reason. As Ecclesiastes 9:18 states...These physical architectures correspond to ground operations in scenarios ranging from complete air superiority to completely denied airspace.”86 A...not interfere with today’s GPS architectures .88 The second developed alternative from Dr. Asher’s group is the Rapidly Deployable Satellite

Scanning Raman lidar for tropospheric water vapor profiling and GPS path delay correction

Science.gov (United States)

Tarniewicz, Jerome; Bock, Olivier; Pelon, Jacques R.; Thom, Christian

2002-01-01

The design of a ground based and transportable combined Raman elastic-backscatter lidar for the remote sensing of lower tropospheric water vapor and nitrogen concentration is described. This lidar is intended to be used for an external calibration of the wet path delay of GPS signals. A description of the method used to derive water vapor and nitrogen profiles in the lower troposphere is given. The instrument has been tested during the ESCOMPTE campaign in June 2001 and first measurements are presented.

Design of γ-ray vehicle patrol system based on GPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Wen; Li Changjin

2011-01-01

In order to detect the radiation in the surrounding environment of Nuclear facilities in a wide range, the γ-Ray vehicle patrol system based radiation on GPS and composed of γ-Ray detection terminal and PC is designed. The γ-Ray detection terminal uses controller ATmega128L as control core, detecting the radiation intensity of γ-Ray with G-M counter tube and getting the location with GPS module LR9548S, packing a data frame with γ-Ray radiation and location information according to the agreed protocol which will be sent to PC through UART interface; The PC can processes, display and analyze the data, backup to database Access2003, also can paint the measuring track and distributed picture of radiation intensity. The system can be equipped with a variety of vehicles for mobile patrol to use in the fields of searching radioactive sources, emergency monitoring and measurement of environmental radiation levels. (authors)

Design of Mobile Operation and Maintenance System Based on Power GIS and GPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing TAO

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In order to solve the low efficiency of operation and maintenance and the problems of management coordination caused by the coexistence of off-line operation and maintenance and multi system coexistence in current power telecommunication operation and maintenance, this paper proposes a mobile operation and maintenance system based on power GIS and GPS location technology. The system is based on the C/S architecture, and the mobile operation and maintenance terminal is connected with the operation and maintenance management terminal through wireless and wired network. In addition to meeting basic business requirements, the system integrates power GIS functions to visually demonstrate communication resources, personnel, and failures. The staff can use the wireless mobile terminal which integrated GPS module for to operate and maintain, and can locate accurately in real time.

GPS queues with heterogeneous traffic classes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Borst, Sem; Mandjes, M.R.H.; van Uitert, Miranda

2002-01-01

We consider a queue fed by a mixture of light-tailed and heavy-tailed traffic. The two traffic classes are served in accordance with the generalized processor sharing (GPS) discipline. GPS-based scheduling algorithms, such as weighted fair queueing (WFQ), have emerged as an important mechanism for

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles as an Opportunity to Consolidate and Calibrate Ground Based and Satellite Instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Papadopoulos, K.

2014-12-01

XCOR Aerospace, a commercial space company, is planning to provide frequent, low cost access to near-Earth space on the Lynx suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicle (sRLV). Measurements in the external vacuum environment can be made and can launch from most runways on a limited lead time. Lynx can operate as a platform to perform suborbital in situ measurements and remote sensing to supplement models and simulations with new data points. These measurements can serve as a quantitative link to existing instruments and be used as a basis to calibrate detectors on spacecraft. Easier access to suborbital data can improve the longevity and cohesiveness of spacecraft and ground-based resources. A study of how these measurements can be made on Lynx sRLV will be presented. At the boundary between terrestrial and space weather, measurements from instruments on Lynx can help develop algorithms to optimize the consolidation of ground and satellite based data as well as assimilate global models with new data points. For example, current tides and the equatorial electrojet, essential to understanding the Thermosphere-Ionosphere system, can be measured in situ frequently and on short notice. Furthermore, a negative-ion spectrometer and a Faraday cup, can take measurements of the D-region ion composition. A differential GPS receiver can infer the spatial gradient of ionospheric electron density. Instruments and optics on spacecraft degrade over time, leading to calibration drift. Lynx can be a cost effective platform for deploying a reference instrument to calibrate satellites with a frequent and fast turnaround and a successful return of the instrument. A calibrated reference instrument on Lynx can make collocated observations as another instrument and corrections are made for the latter, thus ensuring data consistency and mission longevity. Aboard a sRLV, atmospheric conditions that distort remotely sensed data (ground and spacecraft based) can be measured in situ. Moreover, an

Integration of GPS precise point positioning and MEMS-based INS using unscented particle filter.

Science.gov (United States)

Abd Rabbou, Mahmoud; El-Rabbany, Ahmed

2015-03-25

Integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) integrated system involves nonlinear motion state and measurement models. However, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is commonly used as the estimation filter, which might lead to solution divergence. This is usually encountered during GPS outages, when low-cost micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS) inertial sensors are used. To enhance the navigation system performance, alternatives to the standard EKF should be considered. Particle filtering (PF) is commonly considered as a nonlinear estimation technique to accommodate severe MEMS inertial sensor biases and noise behavior. However, the computation burden of PF limits its use. In this study, an improved version of PF, the unscented particle filter (UPF), is utilized, which combines the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and PF for the integration of GPS precise point positioning and MEMS-based inertial systems. The proposed filter is examined and compared with traditional estimation filters, namely EKF, UKF and PF. Tightly coupled mechanization is adopted, which is developed in the raw GPS and INS measurement domain. Un-differenced ionosphere-free linear combinations of pseudorange and carrier-phase measurements are used for PPP. The performance of the UPF is analyzed using a real test scenario in downtown Kingston, Ontario. It is shown that the use of UPF reduces the number of samples needed to produce an accurate solution, in comparison with the traditional PF, which in turn reduces the processing time. In addition, UPF enhances the positioning accuracy by up to 15% during GPS outages, in comparison with EKF. However, all filters produce comparable results when the GPS measurement updates are available.

Applying the Water Vapor Radiometer to Verify the Precipitable Water Vapor Measured by GPS

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Ta-Kang Yeh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Taiwan is located at the land-sea interface in a subtropical region. Because the climate is warm and moist year round, there is a large and highly variable amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. In this study, we calculated the Zenith Wet Delay (ZWD of the troposphere using the ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS. The ZWD measured by two Water Vapor Radiometers (WVRs was then used to verify the ZWD that had been calculated using GPS. We also analyzed the correlation between the ZWD and the precipitation data of these two types of station. Moreover, we used the observational data from 14 GPS and rainfall stations to evaluate three cases. The offset between the GPS-ZWD and the WVR-ZWD ranged from 1.31 to 2.57 cm. The correlation coefficient ranged from 0.89 to 0.93. The results calculated from GPS and those measured using the WVR were very similar. Moreover, when there was no rain, light rain, moderate rain, or heavy rain, the flatland station ZWD was 0.31, 0.36, 0.38, or 0.40 m, respectively. The mountain station ZWD exhibited the same trend. Therefore, these results have demonstrated that the potential and strength of precipitation in a region can be estimated according to its ZWD values. Now that the precision of GPS-ZWD has been confirmed, this method can eventually be expanded to the more than 400 GPS stations in Taiwan and its surrounding islands. The near real-time ZWD data with improved spatial and temporal resolution can be provided to the city and countryside weather-forecasting system that is currently under development. Such an exchange would fundamentally improve the resources used to generate weather forecasts.

Using GPS, accelerometry and heart rate to predict outdoor graded walking energy expenditure.

Science.gov (United States)

de Müllenheim, P-Y; Chaudru, S; Emily, M; Gernigon, M; Mahé, G; Bickert, S; Prioux, J; Noury-Desvaux, B; Le Faucheur, A

2018-02-01

To determine the best method and combination of methods among global positioning system (GPS), accelerometry, and heart rate (HR) for estimating energy expenditure (EE) during level and graded outdoor walking. Thirty adults completed 6-min outdoor walks at speeds of 2.0, 3.5, and 5.0kmh -1 during three randomized outdoor walking sessions: one level walking session and two graded (uphill and downhill) walking sessions on a 3.4% and a 10.4% grade. EE was measured using a portable metabolic system (K4b 2 ). Participants wore a GlobalSat ® DG100 GPS receiver, an ActiGraph™ wGT3X+ accelerometer, and a Polar ® HR monitor. Linear mixed models (LMMs) were tested for EE predictions based on GPS speed and grade, accelerometer counts or HR-related parameters (alone and combined). Root-mean-square error (RMSE) was used to determine the accuracy of the models. Published speed/grade-, count-, and HR-based equations were also cross-validated. According to the LMMs, GPS was as accurate as accelerometry (RMSE=0.89-0.90kcalmin -1 ) and more accurate than HR (RMSE=1.20kcalmin -1 ) for estimating EE during level walking; GPS was the most accurate method for estimating EE during both level and uphill (RMSE=1.34kcalmin -1 )/downhill (RMSE=0.84kcalmin -1 ) walking; combining methods did not increase the accuracy reached using GPS (or accelerometry for level walking). The cross-validation results were in accordance with the LMMs, except for downhill walking. Our study provides useful information regarding the best method(s) for estimating EE with appropriate equations during level and graded outdoor walking. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Comfort and discomfort: the role of emotions in GPs' prescription practices].

Science.gov (United States)

Henriksen, Kristin; Hansen, Ebba Holme

2005-12-05

The role of emotions in GPs' prescribing has been ignored. The present article describes 20 GPs' reflections about what precedes comfort and discomfort in prescribing situations. In-depth interviews were done with 20 GPs who contributed with examples on an open comfort-discomfort scale. Analysis of the data was inspired by grounded theory. The GPs experienced a broad spectrum of emotions when prescribing. In every prescribing situation, conditions could pull towards both comfort and discomfort. Comfort appeared when the indication was correct and the patient's condition was serious, when the patient experienced the problem as serious, when the situation was acute and the medicine effective, and when the GP experienced himself as competent. Medicines were placed between comfort and discomfort when prescribing was perceived as indifferent, unproblematic and easy, when the GP was concerned about inflicting a sick role on the patients, and when patients were not convinced about the appropriateness of the medication. Discomfort appeared when there was a great risk of dependence, when GPs experienced and gave in to pressure, when they had to convince patients, and when they prescribed addictive medicine regularly. The totality of conditions in the situation determined the emotional state in the prescribing situation. The GPs' emotions reflected how they evaluated the appropriateness of their prescribing. This should be taken advantage of in rational pharmacotherapy. Future interventions should address both the rationality of GPs and their emotions.

VEHICLE TRACKING AND MONITORING SYSTEM USING GPS AND GSM/GPRS.

OpenAIRE

*Arsheen Barnagarwala, *Aziz Buriwala

2017-01-01

Abstract: This system offers an affordable and compact design implemented for tracking and monitoring vehicle’s Instantaneous speed, peak speed, distance and current location with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). The system consist of two parts, one is ambulatory and incorporated in the target vehicle which comprises of a GPS receiver, a microcontroller and a GSM modem with periphery display and power units. Other is stable at a rem...

Assessing the precision of a time-sampling-based study among GPs: balancing sample size and measurement frequency.

Science.gov (United States)

van Hassel, Daniël; van der Velden, Lud; de Bakker, Dinny; van der Hoek, Lucas; Batenburg, Ronald

2017-12-04

Our research is based on a technique for time sampling, an innovative method for measuring the working hours of Dutch general practitioners (GPs), which was deployed in an earlier study. In this study, 1051 GPs were questioned about their activities in real time by sending them one SMS text message every 3 h during 1 week. The required sample size for this study is important for health workforce planners to know if they want to apply this method to target groups who are hard to reach or if fewer resources are available. In this time-sampling method, however, standard power analyses is not sufficient for calculating the required sample size as this accounts only for sample fluctuation and not for the fluctuation of measurements taken from every participant. We investigated the impact of the number of participants and frequency of measurements per participant upon the confidence intervals (CIs) for the hours worked per week. Statistical analyses of the time-use data we obtained from GPs were performed. Ninety-five percent CIs were calculated, using equations and simulation techniques, for various different numbers of GPs included in the dataset and for various frequencies of measurements per participant. Our results showed that the one-tailed CI, including sample and measurement fluctuation, decreased from 21 until 3 h between one and 50 GPs. As a result of the formulas to calculate CIs, the increase of the precision continued and was lower with the same additional number of GPs. Likewise, the analyses showed how the number of participants required decreased if more measurements per participant were taken. For example, one measurement per 3-h time slot during the week requires 300 GPs to achieve a CI of 1 h, while one measurement per hour requires 100 GPs to obtain the same result. The sample size needed for time-use research based on a time-sampling technique depends on the design and aim of the study. In this paper, we showed how the precision of the

GPS-based PWV for precipitation forecasting and its application to a typhoon event

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Qingzhi; Yao, Yibin; Yao, Wanqiang

2018-01-01

The temporal variability of precipitable water vapour (PWV) derived from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations can be used to forecast precipitation events. A number of case studies of precipitation events have been analysed in Zhejiang Province, and a forecasting method for precipitation events was proposed. The PWV time series retrieved from the Global Positioning System (GPS) observations was processed by using a least-squares fitting method, so as to obtain the line tendency of ascents and descents over PWV. The increment of PWV for a short time (two to six hours) and PWV slope for a longer time (a few hours to more than ten hours) during the PWV ascending period are considered as predictive factors with which to forecast the precipitation event. The numerical results show that about 80%-90% of precipitation events and more than 90% of heavy rain events can be forecasted two to six hours in advance of the precipitation event based on the proposed method. 5-minute PWV data derived from GPS observations based on real-time precise point positioning (RT-PPP) were used for the typhoon event that passed over Zhejiang Province between 10 and 12 July, 2015. A good result was acquired using the proposed method and about 74% of precipitation events were predicted at some ten to thirty minutes earlier than their onset with a false alarm rate of 18%. This study shows that the GPS-based PWV was promising for short-term and now-casting precipitation forecasting.

GPS-Aided Video Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Udo Feuerhake

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Tracking moving objects is both challenging and important for a large variety of applications. Different technologies based on the global positioning system (GPS and video or radio data are used to obtain the trajectories of the observed objects. However, in some use cases, they fail to provide sufficiently accurate, complete and correct data at the same time. In this work we present an approach for fusing GPS- and video-based tracking in order to exploit their individual advantages. In this way we aim to combine the reliability of GPS tracking with the high geometric accuracy of camera detection. For the fusion of the movement data provided by the different devices we use a hidden Markov model (HMM formulation and the Viterbi algorithm to extract the most probable trajectories. In three experiments, we show that our approach is able to deal with challenging situations like occlusions or objects which are temporarily outside the monitored area. The results show the desired increase in terms of accuracy, completeness and correctness.

GNSS-based receiver autonomous integrity monitoring for aircraft navigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Imparato, D.

2016-01-01

Nowadays, GNSS-based navigation is moving more and more to critical applications. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which in the past used to be represented by the American GPS and the Russian GLONASS are now growing in number and performance. The European systemGalileo and the Chinese

GPS-based Microenvironment Tracker (MicroTrac) Model to ...

Science.gov (United States)

A critical aspect of air pollution exposure assessment is the estimation of the time spent by individuals in various microenvironments (ME). Accounting for the time spent in different ME with different pollutant concentrations can reduce exposure misclassifications, while failure to do so can add uncertainty and bias to risk estimates. In this study, a classification model, called MicroTrac, was developed to estimate time of day and duration spent in eight ME (indoors and outdoors at home, work, school; inside vehicles; other locations) from global positioning system (GPS) data and geocoded building boundaries. Based on a panel study, MicroTrac estimates were compared to 24 h diary data from 7 participants on workdays and 2 participants on nonworkdays, with corresponding GPS data and building boundaries of home, school, and work. MicroTrac correctly classified the ME for 99.5% of the daily time spent by the participants. The capability of MicroTrac could help to reduce the time-location uncertainty in air pollution exposure models and exposure metrics for individuals in health studies. The National Exposure Research Laboratory’s (NERL’s) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD’s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA’s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize

Spatial scale of deformation constrained by combinations of InSAR and GPS observations in Southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Lohman, R. B.; Scott, C. P.

2014-12-01

Efforts to understand the buildup and release of strain within the Earth's crust often rely on well-characterized observations of ground deformation, over time scales that include interseismic periods, earthquakes, and transient deformation episodes. Constraints on current rates of surface deformation in 1-, 2- or 3-dimensions can be obtained by examining sets of GPS and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) observations, both alone and in combination. Contributions to the observed signal often include motion along faults, seasonal cycles of subsidence and recharge associated with aquifers, anthropogenic extraction of hydrocarbons, and variations in atmospheric water vapor and ionospheric properties. Here we examine methods for extracting time-varying ground deformation signals from combinations of InSAR and GPS data, real and synthetic, applied to Southern California. We show that two methods for combining the data through removal of a GPS-constrained function (a plane, and filtering) from the InSAR result in a clear tradeoff between the contribution from the two datatypes at diffferent spatial scales. We also show that the contribution to the secular rates at GPS sites from seasonal signals is large enough to be a significant error in this estimation process, and should be accounted for.

Kinematic GPS survey as validation of LIDAR strips accuracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Gordini

2006-06-01

Full Text Available As a result of the catastrophic hydrogeological events which occurred in May 1998 in Campania, in the south of Italy, the distinctive features of airborne laser scanning mounted on a helicopter were used to survey the landslides at Sarno and Quindici. In order to survey the entire zone of interest, approximately 21 km2, it was necessary to scan 12 laser strips. Many problems arose during the survey: difficulties in receiving the GPS signal, complex terrain features and unfavorable atmospheric conditions. These problems were investigated and it emerged that one of the most influential factors is the quality of GPS signals. By analysing the original GPS data, the traces obtained by fixing phase ambiguity with an On The Fly (OTF algorithm were isolated from those with smoothed differential GPS solution (DGPS. Processing and analysis of laser data showed that not all the overlapping laser strips were congruent with each other. Since an external survey to verify the laser data accuracy was necessary, it was decided to utilize the kinematic GPS technique. The laser strips were subsequently adjusted, using the kinematic GPS data as reference points. Bearing in mind that in mountainous areas like the one studied here it is not possible to obtain nominal precision and accuracy, a good result was nevertheless obtained with a Digital Terrain Model (DTM of all the zones of interest.

GPS Water Vapor Tomography: First results from the ESCOMPTE Field Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Masson, F.; Champollion, C.; Bouin, M.-N.; Walpersdorf, A.; van Baelen, J.; Doerflinger, E.; Bock, O.

2003-04-01

We develop a tomographic software to model the spatial distribution of the tropospheric water vapor from GPS data. First we present simulations based on a real GPS station distribution and simple tropospheric models, which prove the potentiality of the method. Second we apply the software to the ESCOMPTE data. During the ESCOMPTE field experiment, a dense network of 17 dual frequency GPS receivers has been operated for two weeks within a 20 km x 20 km area around Marseille (Southern France). The network extends from the sea level to the top of the Etoile chain (~700 m high). The input data are the slant delay values obtained by combining the estimated zenith delay values with the horizontal gradients. The effect of the initial tropospheric water vapor model, the number and thickness of the layers of the model, the a priori model and data covariance and some other parameters will be discussed. Simultaneously water vapor radiometer, solar spectrometer, Raman lidar and radiosondes have been deployed to get a data set usable for comparison with the tomographic inversion results and validation of the method. Comparison with meteorological models (MesoNH - Meteo-France) will be shown.

Chang?E-5T Orbit Determination Using Onboard GPS Observations

OpenAIRE

Su, Xing; Geng, Tao; Li, Wenwen; Zhao, Qile; Xie, Xin

2017-01-01

In recent years, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has played an important role in Space Service Volume, the region enclosing the altitudes above 3000 km up to 36,000 km. As an in-flight test for the feasibility as well as for the performance of GNSS-based satellite orbit determination (OD), the Chinese experimental lunar mission Chang?E-5T had been equipped with an onboard high-sensitivity GNSS receiver with GPS and GLONASS tracking capability. In this contribution, the 2-h onboard G...

Multi-Flight-Phase GPS Navigation Filter Applications to Terrestrial Vehicle Navigation and Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Young W.; Montez, Moises N.

1994-01-01

A candidate onboard space navigation filter demonstrated excellent performance (less than 8 meter level RMS semi-major axis accuracy) in performing orbit determination of a low-Earth orbit Explorer satellite using single-frequency real GPS data. This performance is significantly better than predicted by other simulation studies using dual-frequency GPS data. The study results revealed the significance of two new modeling approaches evaluated in the work. One approach introduces a single-frequency ionospheric correction through pseudo-range and phase range averaging implementation. The other approach demonstrates a precise axis-dependent characterization of dynamic sample space uncertainty to compute a more accurate Kalman filter gain. Additionally, this navigation filter demonstrates a flexibility to accommodate both perturbational dynamic and observational biases required for multi-flight phase and inhomogeneous application environments. This paper reviews the potential application of these methods and the filter structure to terrestrial vehicle and positioning applications. Both the single-frequency ionospheric correction method and the axis-dependent state noise modeling approach offer valuable contributions in cost and accuracy improvements for terrestrial GPS receivers. With a modular design approach to either 'plug-in' or 'unplug' various force models, this multi-flight phase navigation filter design structure also provides a versatile GPS navigation software engine for both atmospheric and exo-atmospheric navigation or positioning use, thereby streamlining the flight phase or application-dependent software requirements. Thus, a standardized GPS navigation software engine that can reduce the development and maintenance cost of commercial GPS receivers is now possible.

Lane-Level Road Information Mining from Vehicle GPS Trajectories Based on Naïve Bayesian Classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luliang Tang

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a novel approach for mining lane-level road network information from low-precision vehicle GPS trajectories (MLIT, which includes the number and turn rules of traffic lanes based on naïve Bayesian classification. First, the proposed method (MLIT uses an adaptive density optimization method to remove outliers from the raw GPS trajectories based on their space-time distribution and density clustering. Second, MLIT acquires the number of lanes in two steps. The first step establishes a naïve Bayesian classifier according to the trace features of the road plane and road profiles and the real number of lanes, as found in the training samples. The second step confirms the number of lanes using test samples in reference to the naïve Bayesian classifier using the known trace features of test sample. Third, MLIT infers the turn rules of each lane through tracking GPS trajectories. Experiments were conducted using the GPS trajectories of taxis in Wuhan, China. Compared with human-interpreted results, the automatically generated lane-level road network information was demonstrated to be of higher quality in terms of displaying detailed road networks with the number of lanes and turn rules of each lane.

Cubesat-Based Dtv Receiver Constellation for Ionospheric Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Bahcivan, H.; Leveque, K.; Doe, R. A.

2013-12-01

The Radio Aurora Explorer mission, funded by NSF's Space Weather and Atmospheric Research program, has demonstrated the utility of CubeSat-based radio receiver payloads for ionospheric research. RAX has primarily been an investigation of microphysics of meter-scale ionospheric structures; however, the data products are also suitable for research on ionospheric effects on radio propagation. To date, the spacecraft has acquired (1) ground-based UHF radar signals that are backscattered from meter-scale ionospheric irregularities, which have been used to measure the dispersion properties of meter-scale plasma waves and (2) ground-based signals, directly on the transmitter-spacecraft path, which have been used to measure radio propagation disturbances (scintillations). Herein we describe the application of a CubeSat constellation of UHF receivers to expand the latter research topic for global-scale ionospheric tomography. The enabling factor for this expansion is the worldwide availability of ground-based digital television (DTV) broadcast signals whose characteristics are optimal for scintillation analysis. A significant part of the populated world have transitioned, or soon to be transitioned, to DTV. The DTV signal has a standard format that contains a highly phase-stable pilot carrier that can be readily adapted for propagation diagnostics. A multi-frequency software-defined radar receiver, similar to the RAX payload, can measure these signals at a large number of pilot carrier frequencies to make radio ray and diffraction tomographic measurements of the ionosphere and the irregularities contained in it. A constellation of CubeSats, launched simultaneously, or in sequence over years, similar to DMSPs, can listen to the DTV stations, providing a vast and dense probing of the ionosphere. Each spacecraft can establish links to a preprogrammed list of DTV stations and cycle through them using time-division frequency multiplexing (TDFM) method. An on board program can

Forsmark site investigation. A deformation analysis of the Forsmark GPS monitoring network from 2005 to 2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustafson, Lars; Ljungberg, Annika (Caliterra AB (Sweden))

2010-10-15

The objective of the study is to identify possible movements in the bedrock within and outside the candidate area at Forsmark. Seven physically stable stations were built in the Forsmark area in the autumn of 2005. Stations were established within a ten-kilometer radius. The stations were placed in three different areas separated by regional deformation zones: NE of the Singoe zone, within the candidate area, and SW of the Forsmark zone. Data have been collected in eighteen campaigns, each with a duration of about five days, from November 2005 to December 2009. Stations consist of a stainless steel rod fixed in the bedrock on which the GPS antenna mounts. Each station has dedicated GPS equipment only used at the specific site. Sets consist of a GPS receiver collecting raw GPS data and a choke ring antenna linked to the receiver using a coaxial cable. The receivers and antennas are dual frequency high precision geodetic grade. During each campaign the GPS receiver saves a reading every second for the duration of the five days campaign. The antennas remain mounted on the stations during the entire project, whereas all other equipment is in place at the station only during the campaigns. The measurements were related to the SWEPOS network stations Lovoe, Uppsala and Maartsbo that are defined as stations with stable fundaments by the National Land Survey of Sweden (Lantmaeteriet). This report deals with altogether 18 campaigns. The first 13 campaigns were performed during the period November 2005 to August 2008. However, the number of campaigns has been extended by adding a fourth year to the project. Optimization of the data processing depends on the properties of the entire data set comprising a period of four years. We divided the data into periods of 24 hours with each period processed as a separate session in the Bernese post processing software, after which we analyzed the residuals to conclude that data are of the expected quality. The entire data set from four

A Kalman filter-based short baseline RTK algorithm for single-frequency combination of GPS and BDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Sihao; Cui, Xiaowei; Guan, Feng; Lu, Mingquan

2014-08-20

The emerging Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) including the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) offer more visible satellites for positioning users. To employ those new satellites in a real-time kinematic (RTK) algorithm to enhance positioning precision and availability, a data processing model for the dual constellation of GPS and BDS is proposed and analyzed. A Kalman filter-based algorithm is developed to estimate the float ambiguities for short baseline scenarios. The entire work process of the high-precision algorithm based on the proposed model is deeply investigated in detail. The model is validated with real GPS and BDS data recorded from one zero and two short baseline experiments. Results show that the proposed algorithm can generate fixed baseline output with the same precision level as that of either a single GPS or BDS RTK algorithm. The significantly improved fixed rate and time to first fix of the proposed method demonstrates a better availability and effectiveness on processing multi-GNSSs.

A Kalman Filter-Based Short Baseline RTK Algorithm for Single-Frequency Combination of GPS and BDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sihao Zhao

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The emerging Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS including the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS offer more visible satellites for positioning users. To employ those new satellites in a real-time kinematic (RTK algorithm to enhance positioning precision and availability, a data processing model for the dual constellation of GPS and BDS is proposed and analyzed. A Kalman filter-based algorithm is developed to estimate the float ambiguities for short baseline scenarios. The entire work process of the high-precision algorithm based on the proposed model is deeply investigated in detail. The model is validated with real GPS and BDS data recorded from one zero and two short baseline experiments. Results show that the proposed algorithm can generate fixed baseline output with the same precision level as that of either a single GPS or BDS RTK algorithm. The significantly improved fixed rate and time to first fix of the proposed method demonstrates a better availability and effectiveness on processing multi-GNSSs.

A Navigation/Positioning Service Based on Pseudolites Installed on Stratospheric Airships

OpenAIRE

辻井, 利昭; TSUJII, Toshiaki; 張替, 正敏; HARIGAE, Masatoshi

2002-01-01

Transmitters of GPS-like signals, called pseudolites (PL) or "pseudo-satellites" have been widely investigated as an additional ranging source for performance enhancement of GPS. Ground-based GPS augmentation systems using pseudolites have been investigated for several applications such as vehicle navigation in downtown urban canyons, positioning in deep open-cut pits and mines and precision landing of aircraft. The concept of an innovative GPS navigation/ positioning system augmented by airs...

A method of estimating GPS instrumental biases with a convolution algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qi; Ma, Guanyi; Lu, Weijun; Wan, Qingtao; Fan, Jiangtao; Wang, Xiaolan; Li, Jinghua; Li, Changhua

2018-03-01

This paper presents a method of deriving the instrumental differential code biases (DCBs) of GPS satellites and dual frequency receivers. Considering that the total electron content (TEC) varies smoothly over a small area, one ionospheric pierce point (IPP) and four more nearby IPPs were selected to build an equation with a convolution algorithm. In addition, unknown DCB parameters were arranged into a set of equations with GPS observations in a day unit by assuming that DCBs do not vary within a day. Then, the DCBs of satellites and receivers were determined by solving the equation set with the least-squares fitting technique. The performance of this method is examined by applying it to 361 days in 2014 using the observation data from 1311 GPS Earth Observation Network (GEONET) receivers. The result was crosswise-compared with the DCB estimated by the mesh method and the IONEX products from the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE). The DCB values derived by this method agree with those of the mesh method and the CODE products, with biases of 0.091 ns and 0.321 ns, respectively. The convolution method's accuracy and stability were quite good and showed improvements over the mesh method.

Ground-based photo monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Frederick C. Hall

2000-01-01

Ground-based photo monitoring is repeat photography using ground-based cameras to document change in vegetation or soil. Assume those installing the photo location will not be the ones re-photographing it. This requires a protocol that includes: (1) a map to locate the monitoring area, (2) another map diagramming the photographic layout, (3) type and make of film such...

Implementasi Sistem Pelacakan Kendaraan Bermotor Menggunakan Gps Dan Gprs Dengan Integrasi Googlemap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yazid Dul Muchlisin

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract— Vehicle tracking system using GPS and GPRS integration googlemap provide information that is maximized with the technology of GPS (Global Positioning System receiver which can indicate the position of the vehicle with the map and the ability of the appointment of direction and position coordinates (x, y or latitude, longitude textually and visual at any location. Vehicle tracking system is built using equipment GIS (Geographic Information System and dedicated to smartphones which support Global Positioning System (GPS, as well as portable computers, using General Packet Radio Service (GPRS as a connection to the internet. The hardware used is a smartphone that supports GPS with supporting tools used are GoogleMaps, Notepad + +, NetBeans IDE 6.5.1, Mysql, Java (J2ME, PHP, JavaScript. The results of this system in the form of tracking system capable of monitoring the movement of vehicles on an ongoing position by utilizing GPS and GPRS as the sender of the wireless data and Internet connections.   Keywords— GIS, GPS, GPRS, googlemaps, J2ME,

Enhancing the accuracy of GPS point positioning by converting the single frequency data to dual frequency data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aly M. El-naggar

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The global positioning system (GPS has been used to support a wide variety of applications, such as high-accuracy positioning and navigation. Differential GPS techniques can largely eliminate common-mode errors between the reference and the rover GPS stations resulting from ionospheric and tropospheric refraction and delays, satellite and receiver clock biases, and orbital errors [1]. The ionospheric delay in the propagation of global positioning system (GPS signals is one of the main sources of error in GPS precise positioning and navigation. A dual-frequency GPS receiver can eliminate (to the first order the ionospheric delay through a linear combination of the L1 and L2 observations [2]. The most significant effect of ionospheric delay appear in case of using single frequency data. In this paper the single frequency data of concerned station are converted to dual frequency data by employing dual frequency data from 11 regional GPS stations distributed around it. Total electron content (TEC was calculated at every GPS station to produce the mathematical model of TEC which is a function of latitude (Φ and longitude (λ. By using this mathematical model the values of TEC and L2 can be predicted at the single frequency GPS station for each satellite, after that the comparison between predicted and observation values of TEC and L2 was performed. The estimation method and test results of the proposed method indicates that the difference between predicted and observation values is very small.

Crustal Deformation along San Andreas Fault System revealed by GPS and Sentinel-1 InSAR

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, X.; Sandwell, D. T.

2017-12-01

We present a crustal deformation velocity map along the San Andreas Fault System by combining measurements from Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity models (CGM V1). We assembled 5 tracks of descending Sentinel-1 InSAR data spanning 2014.11-2017.02, and produced 545 interferograms, each of which covers roughly 250km x 420km area ( 60 bursts). These interferograms are unwrapped using SNAPHU [Chen & Zebker, 2002], with the 2Npi unwrapping ambiguity corrected with a sparse recovery method. We used coherence-based small baseline subset (SBAS) method [Tong & Schmidt, 2016] together with atmospheric correction by common-point stacking [Tymofyeyeva and Fialko, 2015] to construct deformation time series [Xu et. al., 2017]. Then we project the horizontal GPS model and vertical GPS data into satellite line-of-sight directions separately. We first remove the horizontal GPS model from InSAR measurements and perform elevation-dependent atmospheric phase correction. Then we compute the discrepancy between the remaining InSAR measurements and vertical GPS data. We interpolate this discrepancy and remove it from the residual InSAR measurements. Finally, we restore the horizontal GPS model. Preliminary results show that fault creep over the San Jacinto fault, the Elsinore fault, and the San Andreas creeping section is clearly resolved. During the period of drought, the Central Valley of California was subsiding at a high rate (up to 40 cm/yr), while the city of San Jose is uplifting due to recharge, with a quaternary fault acting as a ground water barrier. These findings will be reported during the meeting.

A Usability Survey of GPS Avionics Equipment: Some Preliminary Findings

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library