Impacts of Satellite Orbit and Clock on Real-Time GPS Point and Relative Positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junbo Shi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Satellite orbit and clock corrections are always treated as known quantities in GPS positioning models. Therefore, any error in the satellite orbit and clock products will probably cause significant consequences for GPS positioning, especially for real-time applications. Currently three types of satellite products have been made available for real-time positioning, including the broadcast ephemeris, the International GNSS Service (IGS predicted ultra-rapid product, and the real-time product. In this study, these three predicted/real-time satellite orbit and clock products are first evaluated with respect to the post-mission IGS final product, which demonstrates cm to m level orbit accuracies and sub-ns to ns level clock accuracies. Impacts of real-time satellite orbit and clock products on GPS point and relative positioning are then investigated using the P3 and GAMIT software packages, respectively. Numerical results show that the real-time satellite clock corrections affect the point positioning more significantly than the orbit corrections. On the contrary, only the real-time orbit corrections impact the relative positioning. Compared with the positioning solution using the IGS final product with the nominal orbit accuracy of ~2.5 cm, the real-time broadcast ephemeris with ~2 m orbit accuracy provided <2 cm relative positioning error for baselines no longer than 216 km. As for the baselines ranging from 574 to 2982 km, the cm–dm level positioning error was identified for the relative positioning solution using the broadcast ephemeris. The real-time product could result in <5 mm relative positioning accuracy for baselines within 2982 km, slightly better than the predicted ultra-rapid product.

Accuracy of velocities from repeated GPS surveys: relative positioning is concerned

Science.gov (United States)

Duman, Huseyin; Ugur Sanli, D.

2016-04-01

Over more than a decade, researchers have been interested in studying the accuracy of GPS positioning solutions. Recently, reporting the accuracy of GPS velocities has been added to this. Researchers studying landslide motion, tectonic motion, uplift, sea level rise, and subsidence still report results from GPS experiments in which repeated GPS measurements from short sessions are used. This motivated some other researchers to study the accuracy of GPS deformation rates/velocities from various repeated GPS surveys. In one of the efforts, the velocity accuracy was derived from repeated GPS static surveys using short observation sessions and Precise Point Positioning mode of GPS software. Velocities from short GPS sessions were compared with the velocities from 24 h sessions. The accuracy of velocities was obtained using statistical hypothesis testing and quantifying the accuracy of least squares estimation models. The results reveal that 45-60 % of the horizontal and none of the vertical solutions comply with the results from 24 h solutions. We argue that this case in which the data was evaluated using PPP should also apply to the case in which the data belonging to long GPS base lengths is processed using fundamental relative point positioning. To test this idea we chose the two IGS stations ANKR and NICO and derive their velocities from the reference stations held fixed in the stable EURASIAN plate. The University of Bern's GNSS software BERNESE was used to produce relative positioning solutions, and the results are compared with those of GIPSY/OASIS II PPP results. First impressions indicate that it is worth designing a global experiment and test these ideas in detail.

High accuracy autonomous navigation using the global positioning system (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Son H.; Hart, Roger C.; Shoan, Wendy C.; Wood, Terri; Long, Anne C.; Oza, Dipak H.; Lee, Taesul

1997-01-01

The application of global positioning system (GPS) technology to the improvement of the accuracy and economy of spacecraft navigation, is reported. High-accuracy autonomous navigation algorithms are currently being qualified in conjunction with the GPS attitude determination flyer (GADFLY) experiment for the small satellite technology initiative Lewis spacecraft. Preflight performance assessments indicated that these algorithms are able to provide a real time total position accuracy of better than 10 m and a velocity accuracy of better than 0.01 m/s, with selective availability at typical levels. It is expected that the position accuracy will be increased to 2 m if corrections are provided by the GPS wide area augmentation system.

GPS-based satellite tracking system for precise positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Yunck, T. P.; Melbourne, W. G.; Thornton, C. L.

1985-01-01

NASA is developing a Global Positioning System (GPS) based measurement system to provide precise determination of earth satellite orbits, geodetic baselines, ionospheric electron content, and clock offsets between worldwide tracking sites. The system will employ variations on the differential GPS observing technique and will use a network of nine fixed ground terminals. Satellite applications will require either a GPS flight receiver or an on-board GPS beacon. Operation of the system for all but satellite tracking will begin by 1988. The first major satellite application will be a demonstration of decimeter accuracy in determining the altitude of TOPEX in the early 1990's. By then the system is expected to yield long-baseline accuracies of a few centimeters and instantaneous time synchronization to 1 ns.

Convergence Time and Positioning Accuracy Comparison between BDS and GPS Precise Point Positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHANG Xiaohong

2015-03-01

Full Text Available BDS/GPS data from MGEX were processed by TriP 2.0 software developed at Wuhan University. Both static and kinematic float PPP are tested by adopting precise satellite orbits and clocks provided by Research Center of GNSS, Wuhan University. The results show that the convergence time of BDS static PPP is about 80min while kinematic PPP is about 100min. For 3h observations, static positioning accuracy of 5 cm and kinematic positioning accuracy of 8 cm in horizontal, about 12 cm in vertical can be achieved. Similar to GPS PPP, precision in east component is worse than north. At present, BDS PPP needs longer convergence time than GPS PPP to reach an absolute positioning accuracy of cm~dm due to the lack of global tracking stations and the limited accuracy of orbit and clock products.

A novel fusion methodology to bridge GPS outages for land vehicle positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wei; Li, Xu; Song, Xiang; Xu, Qimin; Li, Bin; Song, Xianghui

2015-01-01

Many intelligent transportation system applications require accurate, reliable, and continuous vehicle position information whether in open-sky environments or in Global Positioning System (GPS) denied environments. However, there remains a challenging task for land vehicles to achieve such positioning performance using low-cost sensors, especially microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensors. In this paper, a novel and cost-effective fusion methodology to bridge GPS outages is proposed and applied in the Inertial Navigation System (INS)/GPS/ compass integrated positioning system. In the implementation of the proposed methodology, a key data preprocessing algorithm is first developed to eliminate the noise in inertial sensors in order to provide more accurate information for subsequent modeling. Then, a novel hybrid strategy incorporating the designed autoregressive model (AR model)-based forward estimator (ARFE) with Kalman filter (KF) is presented to predict the INS position errors during GPS outages. To verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology, real road tests with various scenarios were performed. The proposed methodology illustrates significant improvement in positioning accuracy during GPS outages. (paper)

Environmental radiation monitoring system with GPS (global positioning system)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komoto, Itsuro

2000-01-01

This system combines a radiation monitoring car with GPS and a data processor (personal computer). It distributes the position information acquired through GPS to the data such as measured environmental radiation dose rate and energy spectrum. It also displays and edits the data for each measuring position on a map. Transmitting the data to the power station through mobile phone enables plan managers to easily monitor the environmental radiation dose rate nearby and proper emergency monitoring. (author)

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.

Indoor/Outdoor Seamless Positioning Using Lighting Tags and GPS Cellular Phones for Personal Navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Namie, Hiromune; Morishita, Hisashi

The authors focused on the development of an indoor positioning system which is easy to use, portable and available for everyone. This system is capable of providing the correct position anywhere indoors, including onboard ships, and was invented in order to evaluate the availability of GPS indoors. Although the performance of GPS is superior outdoors, there has been considerable research regarding indoor GPS involving sensitive GPS, pseudolites (GPS pseudo satellite), RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags, and wireless LAN .However, the positioning rate and the precision are not high enough for general use, which is the reason why these technologies have not yet spread to personal navigation systems. In this regard, the authors attempted to implement an indoor positioning system using cellular phones with built-in GPS and infrared light data communication functionality, which are widely used in Japan. GPS is becoming increasingly popular, where GPGGS sentences of the NMEA outputted from the GPS receiver provide spatiotemporal information including latitude, longitude, altitude, and time or ECEF xyz coordinates. As GPS applications grow rapidly, spatiotemporal data becomes key to the ubiquitous outdoor and indoor seamless positioning services at least for the entire area of Japan, as well as to becoming familiar with satellite positioning systems (e.g. GPS). Furthermore, the authors are also working on the idea of using PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), as cellular phones with built-in GPS and PDA functionality are also becoming increasingly popular.

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

78 FR 13396 - 90th Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-27

... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the eighty-ninth meeting of the RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS). DATES...

78 FR 57672 - 91st Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-19

... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department... 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the ninety-first meeting of the RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) DATES...

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.

Daily GPS-Derived Estimates Of Axis Of Rotation Of Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Lindqwister, Ulf J.; Blewitt, Geoffrey; Freedman, Adam

1994-01-01

Report describes study in which data gathered by worldwide network of 21 Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers during 3-week experiment in January and February 1991 used to estimate location of axis of rotation of Earth.

GPS based daily activity patterns in European red deer and North American elk (Cervus elaphus: indication for a weak circadian clock in ungulates.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik P Ensing

Full Text Available Long-term tracking using global positioning systems (GPS is widely used to study vertebrate movement ecology, including fine-scale habitat selection as well as large-scale migrations. These data have the potential to provide much more information about the behavior and ecology of wild vertebrates: here we explore the potential of using GPS datasets to assess timing of activity in a chronobiological context. We compared two different populations of deer (Cervus elaphus, one in the Netherlands (red deer, the other in Canada (elk. GPS tracking data were used to calculate the speed of the animals as a measure for activity to deduce unbiased daily activity rhythms over prolonged periods of time. Speed proved a valid measure for activity, this being validated by comparing GPS based activity data with head movements recorded by activity sensors, and the use of GPS locations was effective for generating long term chronobiological data. Deer showed crepuscular activity rhythms with activity peaks at sunrise (the Netherlands or after sunrise (Canada and at the end of civil twilight at dusk. The deer in Canada were mostly diurnal while the deer in the Netherlands were mostly nocturnal. On an annual scale, Canadian deer were more active during the summer months while deer in the Netherlands were more active during winter. We suggest that these differences were mainly driven by human disturbance (on a daily scale and local weather (on an annual scale. In both populations, the crepuscular activity peaks in the morning and evening showed a stable timing relative to dawn and dusk twilight throughout the year, but marked periods of daily a-rhythmicity occurred in the individual records. We suggest that this might indicate that (changes in light levels around twilight elicit a direct behavioral response while the contribution of an internal circadian timing mechanism might be weak or even absent.

Development of position measuring technology by GPS; GPS ni yoru sokui gijutsu no kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishizaki, T [Ministry of Transportation, Tokyo (Japan)

1994-07-25

With regard to the GPS (global positioning system) which uses the satellites launched and administered by the U.S.A. and has been utilized worldwide for ships, automobiles and geodetic surveys in recent years, Ministry of Transport started investigation and research on the application of its position measuring system from FY 1989. In this fiscal year, a study on position measuring methods and selection of the position measuring system to be developed were made, in FY 1991, the real-time functioning and track display were developed, in FY 1992, the initialization aboard the ship, the measure to prevent cycle slip, and the radio data communication technology were developed, and in FY 1993, a long term demonstration experiment presuming its practical use was conducted attaining the expected purpose. In this article, the developed real-time kinematic position measuring system is introduced. Regarding the position measuring methods by the GPS, there are the one point position measuring method and the relative position measuring method. Regarding this newly developed position measuring device, its application to work ships and structures can be considered in various ways. 4 figs.

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.

76 FR 67019 - Eighty-Seventh: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-28

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S... System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) 87th meeting. DATES: The meeting will be held November 14-18...

77 FR 12106 - 88th Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-28

... 159, Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The..., Global Positioning System (GPS). DATES: The meeting will be held March 13-16, 2012, from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m...

Ground-Based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) GPS Broadcast Ephemeris Data (daily files) from NASA CDDIS

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This dataset consists of ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) GPS Broadcast Ephemeris Data (daily files) from the NASA Crustal Dynamics Data...

An investigation of airborne GPS/INS for high accuracy position and velocity determination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, H.; Cannon, M.E. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Dept. of Geomatics Engineering; Owen, T.E.; Meindl, M.A. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

1993-12-31

An airborne test using a differential GPS-INS system in a Twin Otter was conducted by Sandia National Laboratories to assess the feasibility of using the integrated system for cm-level position and cm/s velocity. The INS is a miniaturized ring-laser gyro IMU jointly developed by Sandia and Honeywell while the GPS system consists of the NovAtel GPSCard{trademark}. INS position, velocity and attitude data were computed using Sandia`s SANDAC flight computer system and logged at 4 Hz and GPS data was acquired at a 1 Hz rate. The mission was approximately 2.5 hours in duration and the aircraft reached separations of up to 19 km from the base station. The data was post-processed using a centralized Kalman filter approach in which the double differenced carrier phase measurements are used to update the INS data. The INS position is in turn used to detect and correct GPS carrier phase cycle slips and also to bridge GPS outages. Results are presented for the GPS-only case and also for integrated GPS/INS.

Considering high alcohol and violence neighborhood context using daily diaries and GPS: A pilot study among people living with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Theall, Katherine P; Felker-Kantor, Erica; Wallace, Maeve; Zhang, Xiao; Morrison, Christopher N; Wiebe, Douglas J

2018-06-01

Our understanding of how community-level context impacts care of persons living with HIV (PLWH), including antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and retention in care, is limited. The objective of this study was to characterize the activity spaces of PLWH from an urban area in Southeastern U.S., where the epidemic is among the nation's highest, and to examine how such activity spaces are associated with daily mood and health behaviors. In this small, pilot study, 11 participants were tracked with a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled application on their smartphones for 2 weeks. Activity spaces were created by connecting GPS points sequentially and adding buffers. Contextual exposure data (e.g., alcohol outlets) were connected to activity spaces. Participants also completed daily diary entry through texts 3 times per day regarding outcomes of substance use behaviors, mood, and medication adherence. This yielded a total of 18,007 GPS polyline records that we aggregated into 258 person-days that captured discrete occasions of exposure to contextual factors and subjects' behaviors and moods. On average, the participants spent 19% of their time awake during the 2-week periods in their residential census tract. Exposure to social and built environment factors such as alcohol outlets was greater when participants were outside versus inside their residential census tract. Exposures on daily routes were also significantly associated with ART adherence, alcohol consumption, and mood. Findings suggest substantial differences between activity spaces and residential contexts. Activity spaces are relevant for PLWH and may impact HIV care and behavioral outcomes such as ART adherence and substance use. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

GPS Software Packages Deliver Positioning Solutions

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

"To determine a spacecraft s position, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed an innovative software program called the GPS (global positioning system)-Inferred Positioning System and Orbit Analysis Simulation Software, abbreviated as GIPSY-OASIS, and also developed Real-Time GIPSY (RTG) for certain time-critical applications. First featured in Spinoff 1999, JPL has released hundreds of licenses for GIPSY and RTG, including to Longmont, Colorado-based DigitalGlobe. Using the technology, DigitalGlobe produces satellite imagery with highly precise latitude and longitude coordinates and then supplies it for uses within defense and intelligence, civil agencies, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, Internet portals, and navigation technology."

75 FR 2581 - Eighty-First Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-15

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159 meeting: Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is... System (GPS). DATES: The meeting will be held February 2-5, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (unless stated...

76 FR 27744 - Eighty-Fifth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-12

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159 meeting: Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is... System (GPS). DATES: The meeting will be held May 26, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. ADDRESSES: The...

76 FR 33022 - Eighty-Sixth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-07

... Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special Committee 159 meeting: Global Positioning System (GPS). SUMMARY: The FAA is... System (GPS). DATES: The meeting will be held June 13-17, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ADDRESSES: The...

Sub-seasonal temperature variability in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere observed with GPS radio occultation

Science.gov (United States)

Scherllin-Pirscher, Barbara; Randel, William J.; Kim, Joowan

2017-04-01

We investigate sub-seasonal temperature variability in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region using daily gridded fields of GPS radio occultation measurements. The unprecedented vertical resolution (from about 100 m in the troposphere to about 1.5 km in the stratosphere) and high accuracy and precision (0.7 K to 1 K between 8 km and 25 km) make these data ideal for characterizing temperature oscillations with short vertical wavelengths. Long-term behavior of sub-seasonal temperature variability is investigated using the entire RO record from January 2002 to December 2014 (13 years of data). Transient sub-seasonal waves including eastward-propagating Kelvin waves (isolated with space-time spectral analysis) dominate large-scale zonal temperature variability in the tropical tropopause region and in the lower stratosphere. Above 20 km, Kelvin waves are strongly modulated by the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). Enhanced wave activity can be found during the westerly shear phase of the QBO. In the tropical tropopause region, however, sub-seasonal waves are highly transient in time. Several peaks of Kelvin-wave activity coincide with short-term fluctuations in tropospheric deep convection, but other episodes are not evidently related. Also, there are no obvious relationships with zonal winds or stability fields near the tropical tropopause. Further investigations of convective forcing and atmospheric background conditions along the waves' trajectories are needed to better understand sub-seasonal temperature variability near the tropopause. For more details, see Scherllin-Pirscher, B., Randel, W. J., and Kim, J.: Tropical temperature variability and Kelvin-wave activity in the UTLS from GPS RO measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 793-806, doi:10.5194/acp-17-793-2017, 2017. http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/793/2017/acp-17-793-2017.html

Performance Analysis of Several GPS/Galileo Precise Point Positioning Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Afifi, Akram; El-Rabbany, Ahmed

2015-06-19

This paper examines the performance of several precise point positioning (PPP) models, which combine dual-frequency GPS/Galileo observations in the un-differenced and between-satellite single-difference (BSSD) modes. These include the traditional un-differenced model, the decoupled clock model, the semi-decoupled clock model, and the between-satellite single-difference model. We take advantage of the IGS-MGEX network products to correct for the satellite differential code biases and the orbital and satellite clock errors. Natural Resources Canada's GPSPace PPP software is modified to handle the various GPS/Galileo PPP models. A total of six data sets of GPS and Galileo observations at six IGS stations are processed to examine the performance of the various PPP models. It is shown that the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model, the GPS decoupled clock model, and the semi-decoupled clock GPS/Galileo PPP model improve the convergence time by about 25% in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only model. In addition, the semi-decoupled GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution precision by about 25% compared to the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model. Moreover, the BSSD GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution convergence time by about 50%, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS PPP model, regardless of the type of BSSD combination used. As well, the BSSD model improves the precision of the estimated parameters by about 50% and 25% when the loose and the tight combinations are used, respectively, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only model. Comparable results are obtained through the tight combination when either a GPS or a Galileo satellite is selected as a reference.

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,

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Technology to Study Vector-Pathogen-Host Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

Award Number: W81XWH-11-2-0175 TITLE: Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Technology to Study Vector-Pathogen-Host Interactions PRINCIPAL...Positioning Systems (GPS) Technology to Study Vector-Pathogen-Host Interactions 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-11-2-0175 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S...genetic diversity in the population, in hospitalized children with severe dengue illness and cluster investigation of their neighborhoods, and by using

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...

Contribution of various microenvironments to the daily personal exposure to ultrafine particles: Personal monitoring coupled with GPS tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Bekö, Gabriel; Kjeldsen, Birthe Uldahl; Olsen, Yulia; Schipperijn, Jasper; Wierzbicka, Aneta; Karottki, Dorina Gabriela; Toftum, Jørn; Loft, Steffen; Clausen, Geo

2015-06-01

Exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) may have adverse health effects. Central monitoring stations do not represent the personal exposure to UFP accurately. Few studies have previously focused on personal exposure to UFP. Sixty non-smoking residents living in Copenhagen, Denmark were asked to carry a backpack equipped with a portable monitor, continuously recording particle number concentrations (PN), in order to measure the real-time individual exposure over a period of ˜48 h. A GPS logger was carried along with the particle monitor and allowed us to estimate the contribution of UFP exposure occurring in various microenvironments (residence, during active and passive transport, other indoor and outdoor environments) to the total daily exposure. On average, the fractional contribution of each microenvironment to the daily integrated personal exposure roughly corresponded to the fractions of the day the subjects spent in each microenvironment. The home environment accounted for 50% of the daily personal exposure. Indoor environments other than home or vehicles contributed with ˜40%. The highest median UFP concentration was obtained during passive transport (vehicles). However, being in transit or outdoors contributed 5% or less to the daily exposure. Additionally, the subjects recorded in a diary the periods when they were at home. With this approach, 66% of the total daily exposure was attributable to the home environment. The subjects spent 28% more time at home according to the diary, compared to the GPS. These results may indicate limitations of using diaries, but also possible inaccuracy and miss-classification in the GPS data.

BDS/GPS Dual Systems Positioning Based on the Modified SR-UKF Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JaeHyok Kong

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The Global Navigation Satellite System can provide all-day three-dimensional position and speed information. Currently, only using the single navigation system cannot satisfy the requirements of the system’s reliability and integrity. In order to improve the reliability and stability of the satellite navigation system, the positioning method by BDS and GPS navigation system is presented, the measurement model and the state model are described. Furthermore, the modified square-root Unscented Kalman Filter (SR-UKF algorithm is employed in BDS and GPS conditions, and analysis of single system/multi-system positioning has been carried out, respectively. The experimental results are compared with the traditional estimation results, which show that the proposed method can perform highly-precise positioning. Especially when the number of satellites is not adequate enough, the proposed method combine BDS and GPS systems to achieve a higher positioning precision.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

A recurrent neural network approach to quantitatively studying solar wind effects on TEC derived from GPS; preliminary results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. B. Habarulema

2009-05-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to describe the search for the parameter(s to represent solar wind effects in Global Positioning System total electron content (GPS TEC modelling using the technique of neural networks (NNs. A study is carried out by including solar wind velocity (V<sub>sw>, proton number density (N<sub>p> and the B<sub>z> component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF B<sub>z> obtained from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE satellite as separate inputs to the NN each along with day number of the year (DN, hour (HR, a 4-month running mean of the daily sunspot number (R4 and the running mean of the previous eight 3-hourly magnetic A index values (A8. Hourly GPS TEC values derived from a dual frequency receiver located at Sutherland (32.38° S, 20.81° E, South Africa for 8 years (2000–2007 have been used to train the Elman neural network (ENN and the result has been used to predict TEC variations for a GPS station located at Cape Town (33.95° S, 18.47° E. Quantitative results indicate that each of the parameters considered may have some degree of influence on GPS TEC at certain periods although a decrease in prediction accuracy is also observed for some parameters for different days and seasons. It is also evident that there is still a difficulty in predicting TEC values during disturbed conditions. The improvements and degradation in prediction accuracies are both close to the benchmark values which lends weight to the belief that diurnal, seasonal, solar and magnetic variabilities may be the major determinants of TEC variability.

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 Technology (GPS for Psychological Research: A Test of Convergent and Nomological Validity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro eWolf

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to examine the convergent and nomological validity of a GPS-based measure of daily activity, operationalized as Number of Places Visited (NPV. Relations among the GPS-based measure and two self-report measures of NPV, as well as relations among NPV and two factors made up of self-reported individual differences were examined. The first factor was composed of variables related to an Active Lifestyle (AL (e.g. positive affect, extraversion… and the second factor was composed of variables related to a Sedentary Lifestyle (SL (e.g. depression, neuroticism…. NPV was measured over a four-day period. This timeframe was made up of two week and two weekend days. A bi-variate analysis established one level of convergent validity and a Split-Plot GLM examined convergent validity, nomological validity, and alternative hypotheses related to constraints on activity throughout the week simultaneously. The first analysis revealed significant correlations among NPV measures- weekday, weekend, and the entire four day blocks, supporting the convergent validity of the Diary-, Google Maps-, and GPS-NPV measures. Results from the second analysis, indicating non-significant mean differences in NPV regardless of method, also support this conclusion. We also found that AL is a statistically significant predictor of NPV no matter how NPV was measured. We did not find a statically significant relation among NPV and SL. These results permit us to infer that the GPS-based NPV measure has convergent and nomological validity.

PosQ: Unsupervised Fingerprinting and Visualization of GPS Positioning Quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun; Weckemann, Kay

. This paper proposes PosQ, a system for unsupervised fingerprinting and visualization of GPS positioning quality. PosQ provides quality maps to position-based applications and visual overlays to users and managers to reveal the positioning quality in a local environment. The system reveals the quality both...

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

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.

Application of Individualized Speed Thresholds to Interpret Position Specific Running Demands in Elite Professional Rugby Union: A GPS Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cillian Reardon

Full Text Available A number of studies have used GPS technology to categorise rugby union locomotive demands. However, the utility of the results of these studies is confounded by small sample sizes, sub-elite player status and the global application of absolute speed thresholds to all player positions. Furthermore, many of these studies have used GPS units with low sampling frequencies. The aim of the present study was to compare and contrast the high speed running (HSR demands of professional rugby union when utilizing micro-technology units sampling at 10 Hz and applying relative or individualised speed zones. The results of this study indicate that application of individualised speed zones results in a significant shift in the interpretation of the HSR demands of both forwards and backs and positional sub-categories therein. When considering the use of an absolute in comparison to an individualised HSR threshold, there was a significant underestimation for forwards of HSR distance (HSRD (absolute = 269 ± 172.02, individualised = 354.72 ± 99.22, p < 0.001, HSR% (absolute = 5.15 ± 3.18, individualised = 7.06 ± 2.48, p < 0.001 and HSR efforts (HSRE (absolute = 18.81 ± 12.25; individualised = 24.78 ± 8.30, p < 0.001. In contrast, there was a significant overestimation of the same HSR metrics for backs with the use of an absolute threshold (HSRD absolute = 697.79 ± 198.11, individualised = 570.02 ± 171.14, p < 0.001; HSR% absolute = 10.85 ± 2.82, individualised = 8.95 ± 2.76, p < 0.001; HSRE absolute = 41.55 ± 11.25; individualised = 34.54 ± 9.24, p < 0.001. This under- or overestimation associated with an absolute speed zone applies to varying degrees across the ten positional sub-categories analyzed and also to individuals within the same positional sub-category. The results of the present study indicated that although use of an individulised HSR threshold improves the interpretation of the HSR demands on a positional basis, inter

Video-Aided GPS/INS Positioning and Attitude Determination

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Brown, Alison; Silva, Randy

2006-01-01

... precise positioning and attitude information to be maintained, even during periods of extended GPS dropouts. This relies on information extracted from the video images of reference points and features to continue to update the inertial navigation solution. In this paper, the principles of the video-update method aredescribed.

Global optimization applied to GPS positioning by ambiguity functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baselga, Sergio

2010-01-01

Differential GPS positioning with carrier-phase observables is commonly done in a process that involves determination of the unknown integer ambiguity values. An alternative approach, named the ambiguity function method, was already proposed in the early days of GPS positioning. By making use of a trigonometric function ambiguity unknowns are eliminated from the functional model before the estimation process. This approach has significant advantages, such as ease of use and insensitivity to cycle slips, but requires such high accuracy in the initial approximate coordinates that its use has been practically dismissed from consideration. In this paper a novel strategy is proposed so that the need for highly accurate initial coordinates disappears: the application of a global optimization method to the ambiguity functions model. The use of this strategy enables the ambiguity function method to compete with the present prevailing approach of ambiguity resolution

A method of undifferenced ambiguity resolution for GPS+GLONASS precise point positioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Wenting; Song, Weiwei; Lou, Yidong; Shi, Chuang; Yao, Yibin

2016-05-25

Integer ambiguity resolution is critical for achieving positions of high precision and for shortening the convergence time of precise point positioning (PPP). However, GLONASS adopts the signal processing technology of frequency division multiple access and results in inter-frequency code biases (IFCBs), which are currently difficult to correct. This bias makes the methods proposed for GPS ambiguity fixing unsuitable for GLONASS. To realize undifferenced GLONASS ambiguity fixing, we propose an undifferenced ambiguity resolution method for GPS+GLONASS PPP, which considers the IFCBs estimation. The experimental result demonstrates that the success rate of GLONASS ambiguity fixing can reach 75% through the proposed method. Compared with the ambiguity float solutions, the positioning accuracies of ambiguity-fixed solutions of GLONASS-only PPP are increased by 12.2%, 20.9%, and 10.3%, and that of the GPS+GLONASS PPP by 13.0%, 35.2%, and 14.1% in the North, East and Up directions, respectively.

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.

Development of Real-Time Precise Positioning Algorithm Using GPS L1 Carrier Phase Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeong-Ho Joh

2002-12-01

Full Text Available We have developed Real-time Phase DAta Processor(RPDAP for GPS L1 carrier. And also, we tested the RPDAP's positioning accuracy compared with results of real time kinematic(RTK positioning. While quality of the conventional L1 RTK positioning highly depend on receiving condition, the RPDAP can gives more stable positioning result because of different set of common GPS satellites, which searched by elevation mask angle and signal strength. In this paper, we demonstrated characteristics of the RPDAP compared with the L1 RTK technique. And we discussed several improvement ways to apply the RPDAP to precise real-time positioning using low-cost GPS receiver. With correcting the discussed weak points in near future, the RPDAP will be used in the field of precise real-time application, such as precise car navigation and precise personal location services.

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

A new analytical method for the classification of time-location data obtained from the global positioning system (GPS).

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Taehyun; Lee, Kiyoung; Yang, Wonho; Yu, Seung Do

2012-08-01

Although the global positioning system (GPS) has been suggested as an alternative way to determine time-location patterns, its use has been limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new analytical method of classifying time-location data obtained by GPS. A field technician carried a GPS device while simulating various scripted activities and recorded all movements by the second in an activity diary. The GPS device recorded geological data once every 15 s. The daily monitoring was repeated 18 times. The time-location data obtained by the GPS were compared with the activity diary to determine selection criteria for the classification of the GPS data. The GPS data were classified into four microenvironments (residential indoors, other indoors, transit, and walking outdoors); the selection criteria used were used number of satellites (used-NSAT), speed, and distance from residence. The GPS data were classified as indoors when the used-NSAT was below 9. Data classified as indoors were further classified as residential indoors when the distance from the residence was less than 40 m; otherwise, they were classified as other indoors. Data classified as outdoors were further classified as being in transit when the speed exceeded 2.5 m s(-1); otherwise, they were classified as walking outdoors. The average simple percentage agreement between the time-location classifications and the activity diary was 84.3 ± 12.4%, and the kappa coefficient was 0.71. The average differences between the time diary and the GPS results were 1.6 ± 2.3 h for the time spent in residential indoors, 0.9 ± 1.7 h for the time spent in other indoors, 0.4 ± 0.4 h for the time spent in transit, and 0.8 ± 0.5 h for the time spent walking outdoors. This method can be used to determine time-activity patterns in exposure-science studies.

Combining Radar and Daily Precipitation Data to Estimate Meaningful Sub-daily Precipitation Extremes

Science.gov (United States)

Pegram, G. G. S.; Bardossy, A.

2016-12-01

Short duration extreme rainfalls are important for design. The purpose of this presentation is not to improve the day by day estimation of precipitation, but to obtain reasonable statistics for the subdaily extremes at gauge locations. We are interested specifically in daily and sub-daily extreme values of precipitation at gauge locations. We do not employ the common procedure of using time series of control station to determine the missing data values in a target. We are interested in individual rare events, not sequences. The idea is to use radar to disaggregate daily totals to sub-daily amounts. In South Arica, an S-band radar operated relatively continuously at Bethlehem from 1998 to 2003, whose scan at 1.5 km above ground [CAPPI] overlapped a dense (10 km spacing) set of 45 pluviometers recording in the same 6-year period. Using this valuable set of data, we are only interested in rare extremes, therefore small to medium values of rainfall depth were neglected, leaving 12 days of ranked daily maxima in each set per year, whose sum typically comprised about 50% of each annual rainfall total. The method presented here uses radar for disaggregating daily gauge totals in subdaily intervals down to 15 minutes in order to extract the maxima of sub-hourly through to daily rainfall at each of 37 selected radar pixels [1 km square in plan] which contained one of the 45 pluviometers not masked out by the radar foot-print. The pluviometer data were aggregated to daily totals, to act as if they were daily read gauges; their only other task was to help in the cross-validation exercise. The extrema were obtained as quantiles by ordering the 12 daily maxima of each interval per year. The unusual and novel goal was not to obtain the reproduction of the precipitation matching in space and time, but to obtain frequency distributions of the gauge and radar extremes, by matching their ranks, which we found to be stable and meaningful in cross-validation tests. We provide and

On the effect of ionospheric delay on geodetic relative GPS positioning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Georgiadou, P.Y.; Kleusberg, A.

1988-01-01

Uncorrected ionospheric delay is one of the factors limiting the accuracy in geodetic relative positioning with single frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) carrier phase observations. Dual frequency measurements can be combined to eliminate the ionospheric delay in the observations. A

Time Study of Harvesting Equipment Using GPS-Derived Positional Data

Science.gov (United States)

Tim McDonald

1999-01-01

The objectives in this study were to develop and test a data analysis system for calculating machine productivity from GPS-derived positional information alone. A technique was used where positions were `filtered' initially to locate specific events that were independent of what actually traveled the path, then these events were combined using user-specified rules...

Location - Global Positioning System (GPS) Photos

Data.gov (United States)

Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, Department of Defense — Digital photos tagged with GPS location information. The St. Paul District maintains a digital library of over 10,000 GPS photos. Photos are often associated with...

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 Users Positioning Errors during Disturbed Near-Earth Space Conditions

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Afraimovich, E. L; Demyanov, V. V; Tatarinov, P. V; Astafieva, E. I; Zhivetiev, I. V

2006-01-01

.... (GPS Solutions, 2003, V7, N2, 109) showed, that during geomagnetic disturbances in the near space deterioration of GNSS operation quality is appeared and, as consequence, reduction of positioning accuracy and occurrence of failures...

Integrating GPS, GYRO, vehicle speed sensor, and digital map to provide accurate and real-time position in an intelligent navigation system

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qingquan; Fang, Zhixiang; Li, Hanwu; Xiao, Hui

2005-10-01

The global positioning system (GPS) has become the most extensively used positioning and navigation tool in the world. Applications of GPS abound in surveying, mapping, transportation, agriculture, military planning, GIS, and the geosciences. However, the positional and elevation accuracy of any given GPS location is prone to error, due to a number of factors. The applications of Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning is more and more popular, especially the intelligent navigation system which relies on GPS and Dead Reckoning technology is developing quickly for future huge market in China. In this paper a practical combined positioning model of GPS/DR/MM is put forward, which integrates GPS, Gyro, Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) and digital navigation maps to provide accurate and real-time position for intelligent navigation system. This model is designed for automotive navigation system making use of Kalman filter to improve position and map matching veracity by means of filtering raw GPS and DR signals, and then map-matching technology is used to provide map coordinates for map displaying. In practical examples, for illustrating the validity of the model, several experiments and their results of integrated GPS/DR positioning in intelligent navigation system will be shown for the conclusion that Kalman Filter based GPS/DR integrating position approach is necessary, feasible and efficient for intelligent navigation application. Certainly, this combined positioning model, similar to other model, can not resolve all situation issues. Finally, some suggestions are given for further improving integrated GPS/DR/MM application.

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.

Analysis of Seasonal Signal in GPS Short-Baseline Time Series

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Kaihua; Jiang, Weiping; Chen, Hua; An, Xiangdong; Zhou, Xiaohui; Yuan, Peng; Chen, Qusen

2018-04-01

Proper modeling of seasonal signals and their quantitative analysis are of interest in geoscience applications, which are based on position time series of permanent GPS stations. Seasonal signals in GPS short-baseline (paper, to better understand the seasonal signal in GPS short-baseline time series, we adopted and processed six different short-baselines with data span that varies from 2 to 14 years and baseline length that varies from 6 to 1100 m. To avoid seasonal signals that are overwhelmed by noise, each of the station pairs is chosen with significant differences in their height (> 5 m) or type of the monument. For comparison, we also processed an approximately zero baseline with a distance of pass-filtered (BP) noise is valid for approximately 40% of the baseline components, and another 20% of the components can be best modeled by a combination of the first-order Gauss-Markov (FOGM) process plus white noise (WN). The TEM displacements are then modeled by considering the monument height of the building structure beneath the GPS antenna. The median contributions of TEM to the annual amplitude in the vertical direction are 84% and 46% with and without additional parts of the monument, respectively. Obvious annual signals with amplitude > 0.4 mm in the horizontal direction are observed in five short-baselines, and the amplitudes exceed 1 mm in four of them. These horizontal seasonal signals are likely related to the propagation of daily/sub-daily TEM displacement or other signals related to the site environment. Mismodeling of the tropospheric delay may also introduce spurious seasonal signals with annual amplitudes of 5 and 2 mm, respectively, for two short-baselines with elevation differences greater than 100 m. The results suggest that the monument height of the additional part of a typical GPS station should be considered when estimating the TEM displacement and that the tropospheric delay should be modeled cautiously, especially with station pairs with

Error Analysis System for Spacecraft Navigation Using the Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, S. H.; Hart, R. C.; Hartman, K. R.; Tomcsik, T. L.; Searl, J. E.; Bernstein, A.

1997-01-01

The Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is currently developing improved space-navigation filtering algorithms to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) for autonomous real-time onboard orbit determination. In connection with a GPS technology demonstration on the Small Satellite Technology Initiative (SSTI)/Lewis spacecraft, FDD analysts and programmers have teamed with the GSFC Guidance, Navigation, and Control Branch to develop the GPS Enhanced Orbit Determination Experiment (GEODE) system. The GEODE system consists of a Kalman filter operating as a navigation tool for estimating the position, velocity, and additional states required to accurately navigate the orbiting Lewis spacecraft by using astrodynamic modeling and GPS measurements from the receiver. A parallel effort at the FDD is the development of a GPS Error Analysis System (GEAS) that will be used to analyze and improve navigation filtering algorithms during development phases and during in-flight calibration. For GEAS, the Kalman filter theory is extended to estimate the errors in position, velocity, and other error states of interest. The estimation of errors in physical variables at regular intervals will allow the time, cause, and effect of navigation system weaknesses to be identified. In addition, by modeling a sufficient set of navigation system errors, a system failure that causes an observed error anomaly can be traced and accounted for. The GEAS software is formulated using Object Oriented Design (OOD) techniques implemented in the C++ programming language on a Sun SPARC workstation. The Phase 1 of this effort is the development of a basic system to be used to evaluate navigation algorithms implemented in the GEODE system. This paper presents the GEAS mathematical methodology, systems and operations concepts, and software design and implementation. Results from the use of the basic system to evaluate

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

Modelling of Sub-daily Hydrological Processes Using Daily Time-Step Models: A Distribution Function Approach to Temporal Scaling

Science.gov (United States)

Kandel, D. D.; Western, A. W.; Grayson, R. B.

2004-12-01

Mismatches in scale between the fundamental processes, the model and supporting data are a major limitation in hydrologic modelling. Surface runoff generation via infiltration excess and the process of soil erosion are fundamentally short time-scale phenomena and their average behaviour is mostly determined by the short time-scale peak intensities of rainfall. Ideally, these processes should be simulated using time-steps of the order of minutes to appropriately resolve the effect of rainfall intensity variations. However, sub-daily data support is often inadequate and the processes are usually simulated by calibrating daily (or even coarser) time-step models. Generally process descriptions are not modified but rather effective parameter values are used to account for the effect of temporal lumping, assuming that the effect of the scale mismatch can be counterbalanced by tuning the parameter values at the model time-step of interest. Often this results in parameter values that are difficult to interpret physically. A similar approach is often taken spatially. This is problematic as these processes generally operate or interact non-linearly. This indicates a need for better techniques to simulate sub-daily processes using daily time-step models while still using widely available daily information. A new method applicable to many rainfall-runoff-erosion models is presented. The method is based on temporal scaling using statistical distributions of rainfall intensity to represent sub-daily intensity variations in a daily time-step model. This allows the effect of short time-scale nonlinear processes to be captured while modelling at a daily time-step, which is often attractive due to the wide availability of daily forcing data. The approach relies on characterising the rainfall intensity variation within a day using a cumulative distribution function (cdf). This cdf is then modified by various linear and nonlinear processes typically represented in hydrological and

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.

On stochastic modeling of the modernized global positioning system (GPS) L2C signal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsobeiey, Mohamed; El-Rabbany, Ahmed

2010-01-01

In order to take full advantage of the modernized GPS L2C signal, it is essential that its stochastic characteristics and code bias be rigorously determined. In this paper, long sessions of GPS measurements are used to study the stochastic characteristics of the modernized GPS L2C signal. As a byproduct, the stochastic characteristics of the legacy GPS signals, namely C/A and P2 codes, are also determined, which are used to verify the developed stochastic model of the modernized signal. The differential code biases between P2 and C2, DCB P2-C2 , are also estimated using the Bernese GPS software. It is shown that the developed models improved the precise point positioning (PPP) solution and convergence time

Autonomous Navigation of the SSTI/Lewis Spacecraft Using the Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, R. C.; Long, A. C.; Lee, T.

1997-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) is pursuing the application of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to improve the accuracy and economy of spacecraft navigation. High-accuracy autonomous navigation algorithms are being flight qualified in conjunction with GSFC's GPS Attitude Determination Flyer (GADFLY) experiment on the Small Satellite Technology Initiative (SSTI) Lewis spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch in 1997. Preflight performance assessments indicate that these algorithms can provide a real-time total position accuracy of better than 10 meters (1 sigma) and velocity accuracy of better than 0.01 meter per second (1 sigma), with selective availability at typical levels. This accuracy is projected to improve to the 2-meter level if corrections to be provided by the GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) are included.

Application of TaiWan Ionosphere Model to Single-Frequency Ionospheric Delay Correction for GPS Static Position Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Macalalad, E. P.; Tsai, L.; Wu, J.

2011-12-01

Ionospheric delay is one of the major sources of error in GPS positioning and navigation. This error in both pseudorange and phase ranges can vary depending on the location of observation, local time, season, solar cycle and geomagnetic activity. This effect can be practically removed using dual-frequency receivers. However, these types of receivers are very expensive and thus, impractical for most users. Therefore, for single-frequency receivers, ionosphere is usually modeled to attempt to remove this effect analytically. Numerous ionosphere models have been introduced in the past. Some of which are the Klobuchar (or broadcast) model and the global ionosphere map (GIM) provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS). In this paper, another model, called the TaiWan Ionosphere Model (TWIM) was used to correct this effect. TWIM is a three dimensional ionospheric electron (ne) density model derived from FormoSat3/COSMIC GPS Radio Occultation measurements, was used to calculate ionospheric delay for GPS single-frequency positioning. The ne profiles were used to calculate the slant TEC (STEC) between a receiver and each GPS satellite and correct the pseudorange single-frequency observations. The corrected pseudorange for every epoch was used to calculate the position of the receiver. Observations were made in a low-latitude location near one of the peaks of the equatorial anomaly. It was shown that TEC maps generated using TWIM exhibited detailed structure of the ionosphere, whereas Klobuchar and GIM only provided the basic diurnal and geographic features of the ionosphere. Also, it was shown that for static point positioning TWIM provides more accurate and more precise positioning than the Klobuchar and GIM models. That is, on the average, the horizontal accuracy, represented by the circular error probable (CEP), distance RMS (DRMS) and twice the DRMS (2DRMS), were better by 15-18% as compared with the CEP, DRMS and 2DRMS of uncorrected, Klobuchar and GIM. Moreover

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.

Evaluation on the performance of single and dual frequency low cost GPS module observation using geodetic antenna

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dedi Atunggal

2018-06-01

Full Text Available GPS modules have been used for various applications in recent years. Its early development came in parallel with the advancement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV technology. Nowadays, it is also used in in geographic information system (GIS data acquisition/census, mapping surveys, structure stability monitoring systems and many other applications. GPS modules generally have several positioning features, including standard positioning service (SPS, static positioning, precise point positioning (PPP, post processing kinematic (PPK and real time kinematic (RTK GPS. GPS modules in general are only equipped with a microstrip-type antenna or better known as patch antenna. Results from related research show that GPS module with this type of antenna has sub meter accuracy when used for PPK or RTK GPS method. The use of geodetic antennas is very potential to increase GPS position accuracy by up to centimeter level. This paper discusses the evaluation of GPS module measurements with geodetic type antennas for precise positioning using RTK GPS. This paper is focused on the resolution of GPS cycle ambiguity that is often expressed by the term fixing ratio and the accuracy of measurement results obtained. To provide a comprehensive description of the performance of GPS module, in this research two types of GPS module were used; single and dual frequency. Both types of GPS modules were used to conduct simultaneous observation on an open and obstructed observation location.

PDOP values for simulated GPS/Galileo positioning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cederholm, Jens Peter

2005-01-01

The paper illustrates satellite coverage and PDOP values for a simulated combined GPS/Galileo system. The designed GPS satellite constellation and the planned Galileo satellite constellation are presented. The combined system is simulated and the number of visible satellites and PDOP values...

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

Ground-Based Global Positioning System (GPS) Meteorology Integrated Precipitable Water Vapor (IPW)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Ground-Based Global Positioning System (GPS) Meteorology Integrated Precipitable Water Vapor (IPW) data set measures atmospheric water vapor using ground-based...

Smart Device-Supported BDS/GNSS Real-Time Kinematic Positioning for Sub-Meter-Level Accuracy in Urban Location-Based Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Liang; Li, Zishen; Zhao, Jiaojiao; Zhou, Kai; Wang, Zhiyu; Yuan, Hong

2016-12-21

Using mobile smart devices to provide urban location-based services (LBS) with sub-meter-level accuracy (around 0.5 m) is a major application field for future global navigation satellite system (GNSS) development. Real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning, which is a widely used GNSS-based positioning approach, can improve the accuracy from about 10-20 m (achieved by the standard positioning services) to about 3-5 cm based on the geodetic receivers. In using the smart devices to achieve positioning with sub-meter-level accuracy, a feasible solution of combining the low-cost GNSS module and the smart device is proposed in this work and a user-side GNSS RTK positioning software was developed from scratch based on the Android platform. Its real-time positioning performance was validated by BeiDou Navigation Satellite System/Global Positioning System (BDS/GPS) combined RTK positioning under the conditions of a static and kinematic (the velocity of the rover was 50-80 km/h) mode in a real urban environment with a SAMSUNG Galaxy A7 smartphone. The results show that the fixed-rates of ambiguity resolution (the proportion of epochs of ambiguities fixed) for BDS/GPS combined RTK in the static and kinematic tests were about 97% and 90%, respectively, and the average positioning accuracies (RMS) were better than 0.15 m (horizontal) and 0.25 m (vertical) for the static test, and 0.30 m (horizontal) and 0.45 m (vertical) for the kinematic test.

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

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)

GPS Estimates of Integrated Precipitable Water Aid Weather Forecasters

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Angelyn W.; Gutman, Seth I.; Holub, Kirk; Bock, Yehuda; Danielson, David; Laber, Jayme; Small, Ivory

2013-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) meteorology provides enhanced density, low-latency (30-min resolution), integrated precipitable water (IPW) estimates to NOAA NWS (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis tration Nat ional Weather Service) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) to provide improved model and satellite data verification capability and more accurate forecasts of extreme weather such as flooding. An early activity of this project was to increase the number of stations contributing to the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) GPS meteorology observing network in Southern California by about 27 stations. Following this, the Los Angeles/Oxnard and San Diego WFOs began using the enhanced GPS-based IPW measurements provided by ESRL in the 2012 and 2013 monsoon seasons. Forecasters found GPS IPW to be an effective tool in evaluating model performance, and in monitoring monsoon development between weather model runs for improved flood forecasting. GPS stations are multi-purpose, and routine processing for position solutions also yields estimates of tropospheric zenith delays, which can be converted into mm-accuracy PWV (precipitable water vapor) using in situ pressure and temperature measurements, the basis for GPS meteorology. NOAA ESRL has implemented this concept with a nationwide distribution of more than 300 "GPSMet" stations providing IPW estimates at sub-hourly resolution currently used in operational weather models in the U.S.

Precision positioning of SuperKamiokande with GPS for a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noumi, H.; Ieiri, M.; Ishii, H.; Katoh, Y.; Minakawa, M.; Nakamura, K.; Nishikawa, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Takasaki, M.; Tanaka, K.H.; Yamanoi, Y.; Kurodai, M.; Kasa, H.; Yoshimura, K.

1997-01-01

A positioning of the neutrino detector superkamiokande (SK) was made for a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment planned at KEK. For positioning, global positioning system (GPS) was employed. It has been demonstrated that GPS is of practical use for measuring the positions of SK and KEK, being 250 km distance from each other, to a better resolution. The geodetic coordinates at the SK center were obtained to be Lat. 36 25'32.5862'' N., Long. 137 18'37.1241'' E., H. 371.839 m in the global ellipsoidal coordinate system, WGS-84. The obtained coordinates are based on the coordinates given at a triangulation point at the KEK site. The present work will be fed back for constructing the neutrino beam line. (orig.)

Global positioning systems (GPS) and microtechnology sensors in team sports: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cummins, Cloe; Orr, Rhonda; O'Connor, Helen; West, Cameron

2013-10-01

Use of Global positioning system (GPS) technology in team sport permits measurement of player position, velocity, and movement patterns. GPS provides scope for better understanding of the specific and positional physiological demands of team sport and can be used to design training programs that adequately prepare athletes for competition with the aim of optimizing on-field performance. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the depth and scope of reported GPS and microtechnology measures used within individual sports in order to present the contemporary and emerging themes of GPS application within team sports. A systematic review of the application of GPS technology in team sports was conducted. We systematically searched electronic databases from earliest record to June 2012. Permutations of key words included GPS; male and female; age 12-50 years; able-bodied; and recreational to elite competitive team sports. The 35 manuscripts meeting the eligibility criteria included 1,276 participants (age 11.2-31.5 years; 95 % males; 53.8 % elite adult athletes). The majority of manuscripts reported on GPS use in various football codes: Australian football league (AFL; n = 8), soccer (n = 7), rugby union (n = 6), and rugby league (n = 6), with limited representation in other team sports: cricket (n = 3), hockey (n = 3), lacrosse (n = 1), and netball (n = 1). Of the included manuscripts, 34 (97 %) detailed work rate patterns such as distance, relative distance, speed, and accelerations, with only five (14.3 %) reporting on impact variables. Activity profiles characterizing positional play and competitive levels were also described. Work rate patterns were typically categorized into six speed zones, ranging from 0 to 36.0 km·h⁻¹, with descriptors ranging from walking to sprinting used to identify the type of activity mainly performed in each zone. With the exception of cricket, no standardized speed zones or definitions were observed within or

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...

Smart Device-Supported BDS/GNSS Real-Time Kinematic Positioning for Sub-Meter-Level Accuracy in Urban Location-Based Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Wang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Using mobile smart devices to provide urban location-based services (LBS with sub-meter-level accuracy (around 0.5 m is a major application field for future global navigation satellite system (GNSS development. Real-time kinematic (RTK positioning, which is a widely used GNSS-based positioning approach, can improve the accuracy from about 10–20 m (achieved by the standard positioning services to about 3–5 cm based on the geodetic receivers. In using the smart devices to achieve positioning with sub-meter-level accuracy, a feasible solution of combining the low-cost GNSS module and the smart device is proposed in this work and a user-side GNSS RTK positioning software was developed from scratch based on the Android platform. Its real-time positioning performance was validated by BeiDou Navigation Satellite System/Global Positioning System (BDS/GPS combined RTK positioning under the conditions of a static and kinematic (the velocity of the rover was 50–80 km/h mode in a real urban environment with a SAMSUNG Galaxy A7 smartphone. The results show that the fixed-rates of ambiguity resolution (the proportion of epochs of ambiguities fixed for BDS/GPS combined RTK in the static and kinematic tests were about 97% and 90%, respectively, and the average positioning accuracies (RMS were better than 0.15 m (horizontal and 0.25 m (vertical for the static test, and 0.30 m (horizontal and 0.45 m (vertical for the kinematic test.

Analysis of web-based online services for GPS relative and precise point positioning techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taylan Ocalan

Full Text Available Nowadays, Global Positioning System (GPS has been used effectively in several engineering applications for the survey purposes by multiple disciplines. Web-based online services developed by several organizations; which are user friendly, unlimited and most of them are free; have become a significant alternative against the high-cost scientific and commercial software on achievement of post processing and analyzing the GPS data. When centimeter (cm or decimeter (dm level accuracies are desired, that can be obtained easily regarding different quality engineering applications through these services. In this paper, a test study was conducted at ISKI-CORS network; Istanbul-Turkey in order to figure out the accuracy analysis of the most used web based online services around the world (namely OPUS, AUSPOS, SCOUT, CSRS-PPP, GAPS, APPS, magicGNSS. These services use relative and precise point positioning (PPP solution approaches. In this test study, the coordinates of eight stations were estimated by using of both online services and Bernese 5.0 scientific GPS processing software from 24-hour GPS data set and then the coordinate differences between the online services and Bernese processing software were computed. From the evaluations, it was seen that the results for each individual differences were less than 10 mm regarding relative online service, and less than 20 mm regarding precise point positioning service. The accuracy analysis was gathered from these coordinate differences and standard deviations of the obtained coordinates from different techniques and then online services were compared to each other. The results show that the position accuracies obtained by associated online services provide high accurate solutions that may be used in many engineering applications and geodetic analysis.

A System to Produce Precise Global GPS Network Solutions for all Geodetic GPS Stations in the World

Science.gov (United States)

Blewitt, G.; Kreemer, C. W.

2010-12-01

We have developed an end-to-end system that automatically seeks and routinely retrieves geodetic GPS data from ~5000 stations (currently) around the globe, reduces the data into unique, daily global network solutions, and produces high precision time series for station coordinates ready for time-series analysis, geophysical modeling and interpretation. Moreover, “carrier range” data are produced for all stations, enabling epoch-by-epoch tracking of individual station motions by precise point positioning for investigation of sub-daily processes, such as post-seismic after-slip and ocean tidal loading. Solutions are computed in a global reference frame aligned to ITRF, and optionally in user-specified continental-scale reference frames that can filter out common-mode signals to enhance regional strain anomalies. We describe the elements of this system, the underlying signal processing theory, the products, operational statistics, and scientific applications of our system. The system is fundamentally based on precise point positioning using JPL's GIPSY OASIS II software, coupled with ambiguity resolution and a global network adjustment of ~300,000 parameters per day using our newly developed Ambizap3 software. The system is designed to easily and efficiently absorb stations that deliver data very late, by recycling prior computations in the network adjustment, such that the resulting network solution is identical to starting from scratch. Thus, it becomes possible to trawl continuously the Internet for late arriving data, or for newly discovered data, and seamlessly update all GPS station time series using the new information content. As new stations are added to the processing archive, automated e-mail requests are made to H.-G. Scherneck's server at Chalmers University to compute ocean loading coefficients used by the station motion model. Rinex file headers are parsed and compared with alias tables in order to infer the correct receiver type and antenna

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)

Fuzzy path tracking and position estimation of autonomous vehicles using differential GPS

OpenAIRE

Rodríguez Castaño, Ángel; Heredia Benot, José Guillermo; Ollero Baturone, Aníbal

2000-01-01

This paper presents an autonomous vehicle position estimation system based on GPS, that uses a fuzzy sensor fusion technique. A fuzzy path tracking algorithm is also proposed. Both systems have been implemented in the ROMEO-4R vehicle developed at the University of Seville.

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

OpenAIRE

Budi Triandi

2010-01-01

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...

A Police and Insurance Joint Management System Based on High Precision BDS/GPS Positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenwei Zuo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Car ownership in China reached 194 million vehicles at the end of 2016. The traffic congestion index (TCI exceeds 2.0 during rush hour in some cities. Inefficient processing for minor traffic accidents is considered to be one of the leading causes for road traffic jams. Meanwhile, the process after an accident is quite troublesome. The main reason is that it is almost always impossible to get the complete chain of evidence when the accident happens. Accordingly, a police and insurance joint management system is developed which is based on high precision BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS/Global Positioning System (GPS positioning to process traffic accidents. First of all, an intelligent vehicle rearview mirror terminal is developed. The terminal applies a commonly used consumer electronic device with single frequency navigation. Based on the high precision BDS/GPS positioning algorithm, its accuracy can reach sub-meter level in the urban areas. More specifically, a kernel driver is built to realize the high precision positioning algorithm in an Android HAL layer. Thus the third-party application developers can call the general location Application Programming Interface (API of the original standard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS to get high precision positioning results. Therefore, the terminal can provide lane level positioning service for car users. Next, a remote traffic accident processing platform is built to provide big data analysis and management. According to the big data analysis of information collected by BDS high precision intelligent sense service, vehicle behaviors can be obtained. The platform can also automatically match and screen the data that uploads after an accident to achieve accurate reproduction of the scene. Thus, it helps traffic police and insurance personnel to complete remote responsibility identification and survey for the accident. Thirdly, a rapid processing flow is established in this article to

A Police and Insurance Joint Management System Based on High Precision BDS/GPS Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Wenwei; Guo, Chi; Liu, Jingnan; Peng, Xuan; Yang, Min

2018-01-01

Car ownership in China reached 194 million vehicles at the end of 2016. The traffic congestion index (TCI) exceeds 2.0 during rush hour in some cities. Inefficient processing for minor traffic accidents is considered to be one of the leading causes for road traffic jams. Meanwhile, the process after an accident is quite troublesome. The main reason is that it is almost always impossible to get the complete chain of evidence when the accident happens. Accordingly, a police and insurance joint management system is developed which is based on high precision BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning to process traffic accidents. First of all, an intelligent vehicle rearview mirror terminal is developed. The terminal applies a commonly used consumer electronic device with single frequency navigation. Based on the high precision BDS/GPS positioning algorithm, its accuracy can reach sub-meter level in the urban areas. More specifically, a kernel driver is built to realize the high precision positioning algorithm in an Android HAL layer. Thus the third-party application developers can call the general location Application Programming Interface (API) of the original standard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to get high precision positioning results. Therefore, the terminal can provide lane level positioning service for car users. Next, a remote traffic accident processing platform is built to provide big data analysis and management. According to the big data analysis of information collected by BDS high precision intelligent sense service, vehicle behaviors can be obtained. The platform can also automatically match and screen the data that uploads after an accident to achieve accurate reproduction of the scene. Thus, it helps traffic police and insurance personnel to complete remote responsibility identification and survey for the accident. Thirdly, a rapid processing flow is established in this article to meet the

A Police and Insurance Joint Management System Based on High Precision BDS/GPS Positioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Wenwei; Guo, Chi; Liu, Jingnan; Peng, Xuan; Yang, Min

2018-01-10

Car ownership in China reached 194 million vehicles at the end of 2016. The traffic congestion index (TCI) exceeds 2.0 during rush hour in some cities. Inefficient processing for minor traffic accidents is considered to be one of the leading causes for road traffic jams. Meanwhile, the process after an accident is quite troublesome. The main reason is that it is almost always impossible to get the complete chain of evidence when the accident happens. Accordingly, a police and insurance joint management system is developed which is based on high precision BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning to process traffic accidents. First of all, an intelligent vehicle rearview mirror terminal is developed. The terminal applies a commonly used consumer electronic device with single frequency navigation. Based on the high precision BDS/GPS positioning algorithm, its accuracy can reach sub-meter level in the urban areas. More specifically, a kernel driver is built to realize the high precision positioning algorithm in an Android HAL layer. Thus the third-party application developers can call the general location Application Programming Interface (API) of the original standard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to get high precision positioning results. Therefore, the terminal can provide lane level positioning service for car users. Next, a remote traffic accident processing platform is built to provide big data analysis and management. According to the big data analysis of information collected by BDS high precision intelligent sense service, vehicle behaviors can be obtained. The platform can also automatically match and screen the data that uploads after an accident to achieve accurate reproduction of the scene. Thus, it helps traffic police and insurance personnel to complete remote responsibility identification and survey for the accident. Thirdly, a rapid processing flow is established in this article to meet the

Global Application of TaiWan Ionospheric Model to Single-Frequency GPS Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Macalalad, E.; Tsai, L. C.; Wu, J.

2012-04-01

Ionospheric delay is one the major sources of error in GPS positioning and navigation. This error in both pseudorange and phase ranges vary depending on the location of observation, local time, season, solar cycle and geomagnetic activity. For single-frequency receivers, this delay is usually removed using ionospheric models. Two of them are the Klobuchar, or broadcast, model and the global ionosphere map (GIM) provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS). In this paper, a three dimensional ionospheric electron (ne) density model derived from FormoSat3/COSMIC GPS Radio Occultation measurements, called the TaiWan Ionosphere Model, is used. It was used to calculate the slant total electron content (STEC) between receiver and GPS satellites to correct the pseudorange single-frequency observations. The corrected pseudorange for every epoch was used to determine a more accurate position of the receiver. Observations were made in July 2, 2011(Kp index = 0-2) in five randomly selected sites across the globe, four of which are IGS stations (station ID: cnmr, coso, irkj and morp) while the other is a low-cost single-frequency receiver located in Chungli City, Taiwan (ID: isls). It was illustrated that TEC maps generated using TWIM exhibited a detailed structure of the ionosphere, whereas Klobuchar and GIM only provided the basic diurnal and geographic features of the ionosphere. Also, it was shown that for single-frequency static point positioning TWIM provides more accurate and more precise positioning than the Klobuchar and GIM models for all stations. The average %error of the corrections made by Klobuchar, GIM and TWIM in DRMS are 3.88%, 0.78% and 17.45%, respectively. While the average %error in VRMS for Klobuchar, GIM and TWIM are 53.55%, 62.09%, 66.02%, respectively. This shows the capability of TWIM to provide a good global 3-dimensional ionospheric model.

The International GPS Service (IGS) as a Continuous Reference System for Precise GPS Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Neilan, Ruth; Heflin, Michael; Watkins, Michael; Zumberge, James

1996-01-01

The International GPS Service for Geodynamics (IGS) is an organization which operates under the auspices of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and has been operational since January 1994. The primary objective of the IGS is to provide precise GPS data and data products to support geodetic and geophysical research activities.

Bds/gps Integrated Positioning Method Research Based on Nonlinear Kalman Filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Y.; Yuan, W.; Sun, H.

2017-09-01

In order to realize fast and accurate BDS/GPS integrated positioning, it is necessary to overcome the adverse effects of signal attenuation, multipath effect and echo interference to ensure the result of continuous and accurate navigation and positioning. In this paper, pseudo-range positioning is used as the mathematical model. In the stage of data preprocessing, using precise and smooth carrier phase measurement value to promote the rough pseudo-range measurement value without ambiguity. At last, the Extended Kalman Filter(EKF), the Unscented Kalman Filter(UKF) and the Particle Filter(PF) algorithm are applied in the integrated positioning method for higher positioning accuracy. The experimental results show that the positioning accuracy of PF is the highest, and UKF is better than EKF.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) ADJACENT BAND COMPATIBILITY ASSESSMENT

Science.gov (United States)

2018-04-01

The goal of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Global Positioning System (GPS) Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment is to evaluate the maximum transmitted power levels of adjacent band radiofrequency (RF) systems that can be tolerated by G...

Tracking Small Satellites using Translated GPS

OpenAIRE

Lefevre, Don; Mulally, Daniel

1991-01-01

This paper discusses using translated GPS for tracking small satellites, the technical trade-offs involved, and the position and timing accuracies which are achievable using translated GPS. The Global Positioning System (GPS) uses the relative times-of-arrival of multiple spread-spectrum signals at an antenna to determine the position of the antenna. The system can also determine the time the antenna was at that position. The direct sequence spread spectrum signals are transmitted from GPS sa...

Forecasting Space Weather-Induced GPS Performance Degradation Using Random Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Filjar, R.; Filic, M.; Milinkovic, F.

2017-12-01

Space weather and ionospheric dynamics have a profound effect on positioning performance of the Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS). However, the quantification of that effect is still the subject of scientific activities around the world. In the latest contribution to the understanding of the space weather and ionospheric effects on satellite-based positioning performance, we conducted a study of several candidates for forecasting method for space weather-induced GPS positioning performance deterioration. First, a 5-days set of experimentally collected data was established, encompassing the space weather and ionospheric activity indices (including: the readings of the Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (SID) monitors, components of geomagnetic field strength, global Kp index, Dst index, GPS-derived Total Electron Content (TEC) samples, standard deviation of TEC samples, and sunspot number) and observations of GPS positioning error components (northing, easting, and height positioning error) derived from the Adriatic Sea IGS reference stations' RINEX raw pseudorange files in quiet space weather periods. This data set was split into the training and test sub-sets. Then, a selected set of supervised machine learning methods based on Random Forest was applied to the experimentally collected data set in order to establish the appropriate regional (the Adriatic Sea) forecasting models for space weather-induced GPS positioning performance deterioration. The forecasting models were developed in the R/rattle statistical programming environment. The forecasting quality of the regional forecasting models developed was assessed, and the conclusions drawn on the advantages and shortcomings of the regional forecasting models for space weather-caused GNSS positioning performance deterioration.

Evolution of offshore wind waves tracked by surface drifters with a point-positioning GPS sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Komatsu, K.

2009-12-01

Wind-generated waves have been recognized as one of the most important factors of the sea surface roughness which plays crucial roles in various air-sea interactions such as energy, momentum, heat and gas exchanges. At the same time, wind waves with extreme wave heights representatively called as freak or rogue waves have been a matter of great concern for many people involved in shipping, fishing, constracting, surfing and other marine activities, because such extreme waves frequently affect on the marine activities and sometimes cause serious disasters. Nevertheless, investigations of actual conditions for the evolution of wind waves in the offshore region are less and sparse in contrast to dense monitoring networks in the coastal regions because of difficulty of offshore observation with high accuracy. Recently accurate in situ observation of offshore wind waves is getting possible at low cost owing to a wave height and direction sensor developed by Harigae et al. (2004) by installing a point-positioning GPS receiver on a surface drifting buoy. The point-positioning GPS sensor can extract three dimensional movements of the buoy excited by ocean waves with minimizing effects of GPS point-positioning errors through the use of a high-pass filter. Two drifting buoys equipped with the GPS-based wave sensor charged by solar cells were drifted in the western North Pacific and one of them continued to observe wind waves during 16 months from Sep. 2007. The RMSE of the GPS-based wave sensor was less than 10cm in significant wave height and about 1s in significant wave period in comparison with other sensors, i.e. accelerometers installed on drifting buoys of Japan Meteorological Agency, ultrasonic sensors placed at the Hiratsuka observation station of the University of Tokyo and altimeter of the JASON-1. The GPS-based wave buoys enabled us to detect freak waves defined as waves whose height is more than twice the significant wave height. The observation conducted by the

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.

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.

Precise orbit determination and point positioning using GPS, Glonass, Galileo and BeiDou

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tegedor J.

2014-04-01

Full Text Available State of the art Precise Point Positioning (PPP is currently based on dual-frequency processing of GPS and Glonass navigation systems. The International GNSS Service (IGS is routinely providing the most accurate orbit and clock products for these constellations, allowing point positioning at centimeter-level accuracy. At the same time, the GNSS landscape is evolving rapidly, with the deployment of new constellations, such as Galileo and BeiDou. The BeiDou constellation currently consists of 14 operational satellites, and the 4 Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV satellites are transmitting initial Galileo signals. This paper focuses on the integration of Galileo and BeiDou in PPP, together with GPS and Glonass. Satellite orbits and clocks for all constellations are generated using a network adjustment with observation data collected by the IGS Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX, as well as from Fugro proprietary reference station network. The orbit processing strategy is described, and orbit accuracy for Galileo and BeiDou is assessed via orbit overlaps, for different arc lengths. Kinematic post-processed multi-GNSS positioning results are presented. The benefits of multiconstellation PPP are discussed in terms of enhanced availability and positioning accuracy.

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

Assessing the Performance of GPS Precise Point Positioning Under Different Geomagnetic Storm Conditions during Solar Cycle 24

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaomin Luo

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The geomagnetic storm, which is an abnormal space weather phenomenon, can sometimes severely affect GPS signal propagation, thereby impacting the performance of GPS precise point positioning (PPP. However, the investigation of GPS PPP accuracy over the global scale under different geomagnetic storm conditions is very limited. This paper for the first time presents the performance of GPS dual-frequency (DF and single-frequency (SF PPP under moderate, intense, and super storms conditions during solar cycle 24 using a large data set collected from about 500 international GNSS services (IGS stations. The global root mean square (RMS maps of GPS PPP results show that stations with degraded performance are mainly distributed at high-latitude, and the degradation level generally depends on the storm intensity. The three-dimensional (3D RMS of GPS DF PPP for high-latitude during moderate, intense, and super storms are 0.393 m, 0.680 m and 1.051 m, respectively, with respect to only 0.163 m on quiet day. RMS errors of mid- and low-latitudes show less dependence on the storm intensities, with values less than 0.320 m, compared to 0.153 m on quiet day. Compared with DF PPP, the performance of GPS SF PPP is inferior regardless of quiet or disturbed conditions. The degraded performance of GPS positioning during geomagnetic storms is attributed to the increased ionospheric disturbances, which have been confirmed by our global rate of TEC index (ROTI maps. Ionospheric disturbances not only lead to the deteriorated ionospheric correction but also to the frequent cycle-slip occurrence. Statistical results show that, compared with that on quiet day, the increased cycle-slip occurrence are 13.04%, 56.52%, and 69.57% under moderate, intense, and super storms conditions, respectively.

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.

Frequency Analysis of Extreme Sub-Daily Precipitation under Stationary and Non-Stationary Conditions across Two Contrasting Hydroclimatic Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Demaria, E. M.; Goodrich, D. C.; Keefer, T.

2017-12-01

Observed sub-daily precipitation intensities from contrasting hydroclimatic environments in the USA are used to evaluate temporal trends and to develop Intensity-Duration Frequency (IDF) curves under stationary and nonstationary climatic conditions. Analyses are based on observations from two United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) experimental watersheds located in a semi-arid and a temperate environment. We use an Annual Maximum Series (AMS) and a Partial Duration Series (PDS) approach to identify temporal trends in maximum intensities for durations ranging from 5- to 1440-minutes. A Bayesian approach with Monte Carlo techniques is used to incorporate the effect of non-stationary climatic assumptions in the IDF curves. The results show increasing trends in observed AMS sub-daily intensities in both watersheds whereas trends in the PDS observations are mostly positive in the semi-arid site and a mix of positive and negative in the temperate site. Stationary climate assumptions lead to much lower estimated sub-daily intensities than those under non-stationary assumptions with larger absolute differences found for shorter durations and smaller return periods. The risk of failure (R) of a hydraulic structure is increased for non-stationary effects over those of stationary effects, with absolute differences of 25% for a 100-year return period (T) and a project life (n) of 100 years. The study highlights the importance of considering non-stationarity, due to natural variability or to climate change, in storm design.

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.

Precise Positioning of BDS, BDS/GPS: Implications for Tsunami Early Warning in South China Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kejie Chen

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Global Positioning System (GPS has been proved to be a powerful tool for measuring co-seismic ground displacements with an application to seismic source inversion. Whereas most of the tsunamis are triggered by large earthquakes, GPS can contribute to the tsunami early warning system (TEWS by helping to obtain tsunami source parameters in near real-time. Toward the end of 2012, the second phase of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS constellation was accomplished, and BDS has been providing regional positioning service since then. Numerical results indicate that precision of BDS nowadays is equivalent to that of the GPS. Compared with a single Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS, combined BDS/GPS real-time processing can improve accuracy and especially reliability of retrieved co-seismic displacements. In the present study, we investigate the potential of BDS to serve for the early warning system of tsunamis in the South China Sea region. To facilitate early warnings of tsunamis and forecasting capabilities in this region, we propose to distribute an array of BDS-stations along the Luzon Island (Philippines. By simulating an earthquake with Mw = 8 at the Manila trench as an example, we demonstrate that such an array will be able to detect earthquake parameters in real time with a high degree of accuracy and, hence, contribute to the fast and reliable tsunami early warning system in this region.

GPS, BDS and Galileo ionospheric correction models: An evaluation in range delay and position domain

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ningbo; Li, Zishen; Li, Min; Yuan, Yunbin; Huo, Xingliang

2018-05-01

The performance of GPS Klobuchar (GPSKlob), BDS Klobuchar (BDSKlob) and NeQuick Galileo (NeQuickG) ionospheric correction models are evaluated in the range delay and position domains over China. The post-processed Klobuchar-style (CODKlob) coefficients provided by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) and our own fitted NeQuick coefficients (NeQuickC) are also included for comparison. In the range delay domain, BDS total electrons contents (TEC) derived from 20 international GNSS Monitoring and Assessment System (iGMAS) stations and GPS TEC obtained from 35 Crust Movement Observation Network of China (CMONC) stations are used as references. Compared to BDS TEC during the short period (doy 010-020, 2015), GPSKlob, BDSKlob and NeQuickG can correct 58.4, 66.7 and 54.7% of the ionospheric delay. Compared to GPS TEC for the long period (doy 001-180, 2015), the three ionospheric models can mitigate the ionospheric delay by 64.8, 65.4 and 68.1%, respectively. For the two comparison cases, CODKlob shows the worst performance, which only reduces 57.9% of the ionospheric range errors. NeQuickC exhibits the best performance, which outperforms GPSKlob, BDSKlob and NeQuickG by 6.7, 2.1 and 6.9%, respectively. In the position domain, single-frequency stand point positioning (SPP) was conducted at the selected 35 CMONC sites using GPS C/A pseudorange with and without ionospheric corrections. The vertical position error of the uncorrected case drops significantly from 10.3 m to 4.8, 4.6, 4.4 and 4.2 m for GPSKlob, CODKlob, BDSKlob and NeQuickG, however, the horizontal position error (3.2) merely decreases to 3.1, 2.7, 2.4 and 2.3 m, respectively. NeQuickG outperforms GPSKlob and BDSKlob by 5.8 and 1.9% in vertical component, and by 25.0 and 3.2% in horizontal component.

GPS Monitoring of Surface Change During and Following the Fortuitous Occurrence of the M(sub w) = 7.3 Landers Earthquake in our Network

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, M. Meghan

1998-01-01

Accomplishments: (1) Continues GPS monitoring of surface change during and following the fortuitous occurrence of the M(sub w) = 7.3 Landers earthquake in our network, in order to characterize earthquake dynamics and accelerated activity of related faults as far as 100's of kilometers along strike. (2) Integrates the geodetic constraints into consistent kinematic descriptions of the deformation field that can in turn be used to characterize the processes that drive geodynamics, including seismic cycle dynamics. In 1991, we installed and occupied a high precision GPS geodetic network to measure transform-related deformation that is partitioned from the Pacific - North America plate boundary northeastward through the Mojave Desert, via the Eastern California shear zone to the Walker Lane. The onset of the M(sub w) = 7.3 June 28, 1992, Landers, California, earthquake sequence within this network poses unique opportunities for continued monitoring of regional surface deformation related to the culmination of a major seismic cycle, characterization of the dynamic behavior of continental lithosphere during the seismic sequence, and post-seismic transient deformation. During the last year, we have reprocessed all three previous epochs for which JPL fiducial free point positioning products available and are queued for the remaining needed products, completed two field campaigns monitoring approx. 20 sites (October 1995 and September 1996), begun modeling by development of a finite element mesh based on network station locations, and developed manuscripts dealing with both the Landers-related transient deformation at the latitude of Lone Pine and the velocity field of the whole experiment. We are currently deploying a 1997 observation campaign (June 1997). We use GPS geodetic studies to characterize deformation in the Mojave Desert region and related structural domains to the north, and geophysical modeling of lithospheric behavior. The modeling is constrained by our

Impact of a high density GPS network on the operational forecast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Faccani

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Global Positioning System Zenith Total Delay (GPS ZTD can provide information about the water vapour in atmosphere. Its assimilation into the analysis used to initialize a model can then improve the weather forecast, giving the right amount of moisture and reducing the model spinup. In the last year, an high density GPS network has been created on the Basilicata region (south of Italy by the Italian Space Agency in the framework of a national project named MAGIC2. MAGIC2 is the Italian follow on of the EC project MAGIC has. Daily operational data assimilation experiments are performed since December 2003. The results show that the assimilation of GPS ZTD improves the forecast especially during the transition from winter to spring even if a no very high model resolution (9km is used.

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)

Performance evaluation of GPS receiver under equatorial scintillation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

MDOT implementation plan for global positioning systems (GPS) technology in planning, design, and construction delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-13

Global Positioning System (GPS) technology offers advantages to transportation agencies in the planning, design and construction stages of project delivery. This research study will develop a guide for Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) ...

Comparison of global positioning system (GPS) tracking and parent-report diaries to characterize children's time-location patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Elgethun, Kai; Yost, Michael G; Fitzpatrick, Cole T E; Nyerges, Timothy L; Fenske, Richard A

2007-03-01

Respondent error, low resolution, and study participant burden are known limitations of diary timelines used in exposure studies such as the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS). Recent advances in global positioning system (GPS) technology have produced tracking devices sufficiently portable, functional and affordable to utilize in exposure assessment science. In this study, a differentially corrected GPS (dGPS) tracking device was compared to the NHEXAS diary timeline. The study also explored how GPS can be used to evaluate and improve such diary timelines by determining which location categories and which respondents are least likely to record "correct" time-location responses. A total of 31 children ages 3-5 years old wore a dGPS device for all waking hours on a weekend day while their parents completed the NHEXAS diary timeline to document the child's time-location pattern. Parents misclassified child time-location approximately 48% of the time using the NHEXAS timeline in comparison to dGPS. Overall concordance between methods was marginal (kappa=0.33-0.35). The dGPS device found that on average, children spent 76% of the 24-h study period in the home. The diary underestimated time the child spent in the home by 17%, while overestimating time spent inside other locations, outside at home, outside in other locations, and time spent in transit. Diary data for time spent outside at home and time in transit had the lowest response concordance with dGPS. The diaries of stay-at-home mothers and mothers working unskilled labor jobs had lower concordance with dGPS than did those of the other participants. The ability of dGPS tracking to collect continuous rather than categorical (ordinal) data was also demonstrated. It is concluded that automated GPS tracking measurements can improve the quality and collection efficiency of time-location data in exposure assessment studies, albeit for small cohorts.

Assessment of long-range kinematic GPS positioning errors by comparison with airborne laser altimetry and satellite altimetry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, X.H.; Forsberg, René

2007-01-01

Long-range airborne laser altimetry and laser scanning (LIDAR) or airborne gravity surveys in, for example, polar or oceanic areas require airborne kinematic GPS baselines of many hundreds of kilometers in length. In such instances, with the complications of ionospheric biases, it can be a real...... challenge for traditional differential kinematic GPS software to obtain reasonable solutions. In this paper, we will describe attempts to validate an implementation of the precise point positioning (PPP) technique on an aircraft without the use of a local GPS reference station. We will compare PPP solutions...... of the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland, near-coincident in time and space with the ICESat satellite laser altimeter. Both of these flights were more than 800 km long. Comparisons between different GPS methods and four different software packages do not suggest a clear preference for any one, with the heights...

Deformation analysis of Aceh April 11th 2012 earthquake using GPS observation data

Science.gov (United States)

Maulida, Putra; Meilano, Irwan; Sarsito, Dina A.; Susilo

2015-04-01

This research tries to estimate the co-seismic deformation of intraplate earthquake occurred off northern Sumatra coast which is about 100-200 km southwest of Sumatrasubduction zone. The earthquake mechanism was strike-slip with magnitude 8.6 and triggering aftershock with magnitude 8.2 two hours later. We estimated the co-seismic deformation by using the GPS (Global Positioning System) continuous data along western Sumatra coast. The GPS observation derived from Sumatran GPS Array (SuGAr) and Geospatial Information Agency (BIG). For data processing we used GPS Analyze at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (GAMIT) software and Global Kalman Filter (GLOBK) to estimate the co-seismic deformation. From the GPS daily solution, the result shows that the earthquake caused displacement for the GPS stations in Sumatra. GPS stations in northern Sumatra showed the displacement to the northeast with the average displacement was 15 cm. The biggest displacement was found at station BSIM which is located at Simeuleu Island off north west Sumatra coast. GPS station in middle part of Sumatra, the displacement was northwest. The earthquake also caused subsidence for stations in northern Sumatra, but from the time series there was not sign of subsidence was found at middle part of Sumatra. In addition, the effect of the earthquake was worldwide and affected the other GPS Stations around Hindia oceanic.

77 FR 56254 - 89th Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-12

... held March 16, 2012. Review Working Group (WG) Progress and Identify Issues for Resolution. GPS/3nd... Standards for Global Positioning System/Wide Area Augmentation System Airborne Equipment Assignment/Review of Future Work. Other Business. Date and Place of Next Meeting. Adjourn Attendance is open to the...

Standardization of GPS data processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Pil Ho

2001-06-01

A nationwide GPS network has been constructed with about 60 permanent GPS stations after late 1990s in Korea. For using the GPS in variety of application area like crustal deformation, positioning, or monitoring upper atmosphere, it is necessary to have ability to process the data precisely. Now Korea Astronomy Observatory has the precise GPS data processing technique in Korea because it is difficult to understand characteristics of the parameters we want to estimate, resolve the integer ambiguity, and analyze many errors. There are three reliable GPS data processing software in the world ; Bernese(University of Berne), GIPSY-OASIS(JPL), GAMIT(MIT). These software allow us to achieve millimeter accuracy in the horizontal position and about 1 cm accuracy vertically even for regional networks with a diameter of several thousand kilometers. But we established the standard of GPS data processing using Bernese as main tool and GIPSY O ASIS as side

A global dataset of sub-daily rainfall indices

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, H. J.; Lewis, E.; Blenkinsop, S.; Guerreiro, S.; Li, X.; Barbero, R.; Chan, S.; Lenderink, G.; Westra, S.

2017-12-01

It is still uncertain how hydrological extremes will change with global warming as we do not fully understand the processes that cause extreme precipitation under current climate variability. The INTENSE project is using a novel and fully-integrated data-modelling approach to provide a step-change in our understanding of the nature and drivers of global precipitation extremes and change on societally relevant timescales, leading to improved high-resolution climate model representation of extreme rainfall processes. The INTENSE project is in conjunction with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)'s Grand Challenge on 'Understanding and Predicting Weather and Climate Extremes' and the Global Water and Energy Exchanges Project (GEWEX) Science questions. A new global sub-daily precipitation dataset has been constructed (data collection is ongoing). Metadata for each station has been calculated, detailing record lengths, missing data, station locations. A set of global hydroclimatic indices have been produced based upon stakeholder recommendations including indices that describe maximum rainfall totals and timing, the intensity, duration and frequency of storms, frequency of storms above specific thresholds and information about the diurnal cycle. This will provide a unique global data resource on sub-daily precipitation whose derived indices will be freely available to the wider scientific community.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Energetic Particle Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Energetic particle data from the CXD and BDD instrument on the GPS constellation are available to the space weather research community. The release of these data...

Structural and luminescence properties of Gd{sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7}:Ce prepared by solution combustion followed by heat treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shinde, Seema; Pitale, Shreyas; Singh, S.G.; Ghosh, M.; Tiwari, B.; Sen, S.; Gadkari, S.C., E-mail: gadkari@barc.gov.in; Gupta, S.K.

2015-05-05

Highlights: • Synthesis of triclinic and orthorhombic phases of Gd{sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7}:Ce by a two step process. • Method involves solution combustion followed by a post heat treatment. • Ce concentration is found to affect the orthorhombic phase formation temperature. • First time reporting a double exponential decay in nano sized Gd{sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7}:Ce. - Abstract: A method comprising solution combustion followed by a heat treatment has been employed to synthesize cerium doped gadolinium pyrosilicate (Gd{sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7}:Ce, or GPS:Ce) compounds. The powder obtained after the combustion was annealed at 1200 °C for 4 h and 1600 °C for 3 h to synthesize triclinic and orthorhombic phases of the GPS, respectively. Structural and morphological characterizations of the synthesized compounds were carried out using X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) techniques. A change in the enthalpy was observed in the differential thermal analysis data as a consequence of triclinic to orthorhombic phase transition in the GPS. Luminescence spectra and fluorescence decay time were measured at room temperature to characterize emission centers created in GPS compounds doped with trivalent rare earth ion (Ce{sup 3+}). The triclinic GPS:Ce phase exhibited photoluminescence peaks at 379 nm and 410 nm while for the orthorhombic phase emissions at 353 nm and 380 nm were observed. A multi-component exponential decay pattern of the luminescence is observed for both the GPS:Ce phases. In addition, samples of the orthorhombic GPS:Ce were found to exhibit X-ray excited luminescence (XEL)

Challenges in using wearable GPS devices in low-income older adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Tanja; Kerr, Jacqueline; Kestens, Yan

2018-01-01

Daily mobility, defined as the ability to move oneself within one's neighborhood and regions beyond, is an important construct, which affects people as they age. Having a feasible and valid measure of daily mobility is essential to understand how it affects older adults' everyday life. Given......, of which 23 wore the GPS device. Remembering to wear and charge the GPS was difficult for 48% participants, whereas remembering street names and drawing routes in VERITAS was difficult for two. Both the GPS and VERITAS were able to measure 10 out of the 13 identified components of mobility; however...

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.

Deformation analysis of Aceh April 11{sup th} 2012 earthquake using GPS observation data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maulida, Putra, E-mail: putra.maulida@gmail.com [Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132 (Indonesia); Meilano, Irwan; Sarsito, Dina A. [Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132 (Indonesia); Geodesy Research Group, geodesy and geomatic Engineering, ITB (Indonesia); Susilo [Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132 (Indonesia); Geospatial Information Agency (BIG) (Indonesia)

2015-04-24

This research tries to estimate the co-seismic deformation of intraplate earthquake occurred off northern Sumatra coast which is about 100-200 km southwest of Sumatrasubduction zone. The earthquake mechanism was strike-slip with magnitude 8.6 and triggering aftershock with magnitude 8.2 two hours later. We estimated the co-seismic deformation by using the GPS (Global Positioning System) continuous data along western Sumatra coast. The GPS observation derived from Sumatran GPS Array (SuGAr) and Geospatial Information Agency (BIG). For data processing we used GPS Analyze at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (GAMIT) software and Global Kalman Filter (GLOBK) to estimate the co-seismic deformation. From the GPS daily solution, the result shows that the earthquake caused displacement for the GPS stations in Sumatra. GPS stations in northern Sumatra showed the displacement to the northeast with the average displacement was 15 cm. The biggest displacement was found at station BSIM which is located at Simeuleu Island off north west Sumatra coast. GPS station in middle part of Sumatra, the displacement was northwest. The earthquake also caused subsidence for stations in northern Sumatra, but from the time series there was not sign of subsidence was found at middle part of Sumatra. In addition, the effect of the earthquake was worldwide and affected the other GPS Stations around Hindia oceanic.

Results of daily monitoring of positioning MLC multileaf collimator for Siemens 160 with an array of cameras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez Fernandez, A.; Rodriguez Rodriguez, C.; Martin Martin, G.; Saez Beltran, M.

2011-01-01

Modern techniques of radiotherapy, and in particular the intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), require sub-millimeter accuracy in the positioning of multileaf collimators to ensure that patients receive the prescribed dose. It is difficult to include checks of positioning accuracy as high on the agendas of regular monitoring of the accelerators of a hospital. This paper presents the results of a method that enables rapid verification of the position of the sheets with an accuracy of tenths of a millimeter by using an ionization chamber array. The procedure has been applied to the daily control of the two accelerators of our service for 12 months.

A pilot study using global positioning systems (GPS) devices and surveys to ascertain older adults' travel patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, Irene H; Leung, Cindy W; Lan, Mars; Sarrafzadeh, Majid; Kayekjian, Karen C; Duru, O Kenrik

2015-04-01

Some studies indicate that older adults lead active lives and travel to many destinations including those not in their immediate residential neighborhoods. We used global positioning system (GPS) devices to track the travel patterns of 40 older adults (mean age: 69) in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Study participants wore the GPS devices for 7 days in fall 2010 and winter 2011. We collected survey responses concurrently about travel patterns. GPS data showed a mean of four trips/day, and a mean trip distance of 7.6 km. Survey data indicated that older adults commonly made trips for four activities (e.g., volunteering, work, visiting friends) at least once each week. Older adults regularly travel outside their residential neighborhoods. GPS can document the mode of travel, the path of travel, and the destinations. Surveys can document the purpose of the travel and the impressions or experiences in the specific locations. © The Author(s) 2013.

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

Crystal growth and scintillation properties of multi-component oxide single crystals: Ce:GGAG and Ce:La-GPS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshikawa, A., E-mail: yoshikawa@imr.tohoku.ac.jp [Institute for Materials Research (IMR), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); C& A Corporation, 6-6-40 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Kamada, K. [New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); C& A Corporation, 6-6-40 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Kurosawa, S. [Institute for Materials Research (IMR), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Shoji, Y. [Institute for Materials Research (IMR), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); C& A Corporation, 6-6-40 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Yokota, Y. [New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Chani, V.I. [Institute for Materials Research (IMR), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Nikl, M. [Institute of Physics, AS CR, Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Prague (Czech Republic)

2016-01-15

Crystal growth by micro-pulling-down, Czochralski, and floating zone methods and scintillation properties of Ce:Gd{sub 3}(Ga,Al){sub 5}O{sub 12} (Ce:GGAG) multi-component oxide garnets, and Ce:Gd{sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7} (Ce:GPS) or Ce:(La,Gd){sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7} (Ce:La-GPS) pyro-silicates are reviewed. GGAG crystals demonstrated practically linear dependences of some of the parameters including lattice constant, emission wavelength, and band gap on Ga content. However, emission intensity, light yield and energy resolution showed maxima for intermediate compositions. GGAG crystals had the highest light yield of 56,000 photon/MeV for Ga content of 2.7 atoms per garnet formula unit. Similarly the light yield and energy resolution of La-GPS showed the highest values of 40,000 photon/MeV and 4.4%@662 keV, respectively, for La-GPS containing 10% of La. Moreover, La-GPS demonstrated stable scintillation performance up to 200 °C.

GPS satellite surveying

CERN Document Server

Leick, Alfred; Tatarnikov, Dmitry

2015-01-01

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE, UP-TO-DATE GUIDE ON GPS TECHNOLOGY FOR SURVEYING Three previous editions have established GPS Satellite Surveying as the definitive industry reference. Now fully updated and expanded to reflect the newest developments in the field, this Fourth Edition features cutting-edge information on GNSS antennas, precise point positioning, real-time relative positioning, lattice reduction, and much more. Expert authors examine additional tools and applications, offering complete coverage of geodetic surveying using satellite technologies. The past decade has seen a major evolut

Applications of GPS technologies to field sports.

Science.gov (United States)

Aughey, Robert J

2011-09-01

Global positioning system (GPS) technology was made possible after the invention of the atomic clock. The first suggestion that GPS could be used to assess the physical activity of humans followed some 40 y later. There was a rapid uptake of GPS technology, with the literature concentrating on validation studies and the measurement of steady-state movement. The first attempts were made to validate GPS for field sport applications in 2006. While GPS has been validated for applications for team sports, some doubts continue to exist on the appropriateness of GPS for measuring short high-velocity movements. Thus, GPS has been applied extensively in Australian football, cricket, hockey, rugby union and league, and soccer. There is extensive information on the activity profile of athletes from field sports in the literature stemming from GPS, and this includes total distance covered by players and distance in velocity bands. Global positioning systems have also been applied to detect fatigue in matches, identify periods of most intense play, different activity profiles by position, competition level, and sport. More recent research has integrated GPS data with the physical capacity or fitness test score of athletes, game-specific tasks, or tactical or strategic information. The future of GPS analysis will involve further miniaturization of devices, longer battery life, and integration of other inertial sensor data to more effectively quantify the effort of athletes.

Determination of locational error associated with global positioning system (GPS) radio collars in relation to vegetation and topography in north-central New Mexico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennett, K.; Biggs, J.; Fresquez, P.R.

1997-02-01

In 1996, a study was initiated to assess seasonal habitat use and movement patterns of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) using global positioning system (GPS) radio collars. As part of this study, the authors attempted to assess the accuracies of GPS (non-differentially corrected) positions under various vegetation canopies and terrain conditions with the use of a GPS ``test`` collar. The test collar was activated every twenty minutes to obtain a position location and continuously uplinked to Argos satellites to transfer position data files. They used a Telonics, Inc. uplink receiver to intercept the transmission and view the results of the collar in real time. They placed the collar on a stand equivalent to the neck height of an adult elk and then placed the stand within three different treatment categories: (1) topographical influence (canyon and mesa tops), (2) canopy influence (open and closed canopy), and (3) vegetation type influence (ponderosa pine and pinion pine-juniper). The collar was kept at each location for one hour (usually obtaining three fixes). In addition, the authors used a hand-held GPS to obtain a position of the test collar at the same time and location.

High Classification Rates for Continuous Cow Activity Recognition using Low-cost GPS Positioning Sensors and Standard Machine Learning Techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Godsk, Torben; Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun

2011-01-01

activities. By preprocessing the raw cow position data, we obtain high classification rates using standard machine learning techniques to recognize cow activities. Our objectives were to (i) determine to what degree it is possible to robustly recognize cow activities from GPS positioning data, using low...... and their activities manually logged to serve as ground truth. For our dataset we managed to obtain an average classification success rate of 86.2% of the four activities: eating/seeking (90.0%), walking (100%), lying (76.5%), and standing (75.8%) by optimizing both the preprocessing of the raw GPS data...

Implementing GPS into Pave-IR.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

To further enhance the capabilities of the Pave-IR thermal segregation detection system developed at the Texas Transportation Institute, researchers incorporated global positioning system (GPS) data collection into the thermal profiles. This GPS capa...

The Effects of L2C Signal Tracking on High-Precision Carrier Phase GPS Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Berglund, H.; Blume, F.; Estey, L. H.; Borsa, A. A.

2010-12-01

In 2005, the L2C signal was introduced to improve the accuracy, tracking and redundancy of the GPS system for civilian users. The L2C signal also provides improved SNR data when compared with the L2P(Y) legacy signal, comparable to that of the L1 C/A-code, which allows for better tracking at lower elevations. With the recent launch of the first block II-F satellite (SVN62/PRN25), there are 8 healthy satellites broadcasting L2C signals, or 25% of the constellation. However, GNSS network operators such as the UNAVCO Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) have been hesitant to use the new signal as it is not well determined how tracking and logging L2C could affect the positions derived from L2 carrier phase measurements for a given receiver. The L2C carrier phase is in quadrature (90° out of phase) with the L2P(Y) phase that has been used by high-precision positioning software since the beginning of GPS. To complicate matters further, some receiver manufacturers (e.g. Trimble) correct for this when logging L2C phase while others (e.g. Topcon) do not. The L2C capability of receivers currently in widespread use in permanent networks can depend on firmware as well as hardware; in some cases receivers can simultaneously track L2C and L2P(Y) phases and some can track only one or the other, and the resulting observation files can depend on how individual operators configure the devices. In cases where both L2C and L2P(Y) are logged simultaneously, translation software (such as UNAVCO’s teqc) must be used carefully in order to select which L2 observation is written to RINEX (2.11) and used in positioning. Modifications were recently made to teqc to eliminate potential confusion in that part of the process; if L2C code observations appear in a RINEX (2.11) file produced by teqc, the L2 phase and S2 SNR observations were from the L2C carrier for those satellites. To date L2C analyses have been restricted to special applications such as snow depth and soil moisture using SNR data

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.

DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL GAS PRESSURIZED STRIPPING (GPS)-BASED TECHNOLOGY FOR CO<sub>2sub> CAPTURE FROM POST-COMBUSTION FLUE GASES Topical Report: Techno-Economic Analysis of GPS-based Technology for CO<sub>2sub> 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.

Exergames for health and fitness: the roles of GPS and geosocial apps

OpenAIRE

Boulos, Maged N Kamel; Yang, Stephen P

2013-01-01

Large numbers of children and adolescents in Canada, UK and USA are not getting their recommended daily dose of moderate to vigorous physical activity, and are thus more prone to obesity and its ill health effects. Exergames (video games that require physical activity to play) are rapidly gaining user acceptance, and may have the potential to increase physical activity levels among young people. Mobile exergames for GPS (global positioning system)-enabled smartphones and mini-tablets take pla...

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.

MIVIS image geocoding experience on merging position attitude system data and public domain GPS stream (ASI-GeoDAF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Pignatti

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The use of airborne scanners involves geo-referencing problems, which are difficult because of the need to know the exact platform position and attitude for each scan line. The errors of the onboard navigation system are normally corrected using ground control point on the image. This post-processing correction procedure is too long in case of multiple flight campaigns, and besides it implies the need to have available 1:10000 orthophotoimages or maps in digital format. To optimize the above procedure a new method to correct MIVIS navigational data in the post-processing phase has been implemented. The procedure takes into consideration the GPS stream in Rinex format of common knowledge and findable on the web, acquired at the ground stations of the Geodetic Data Archiving Facilities provided by ASI. The application of this correction entails the assumption that the environmental variables affecting both onboard and geodetic GPS equally affect the position measurements. The airborne data correction was carried out merging the two data sets (onboard and ground station GPS to achieve a more precise aircraft trajectory. The present study compares the geo-coded images obtained by means of the two post-processing methods.

Design and Implementation of Browser based GPS/GPRS Vehicle Positioning and Tracking System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Keqiang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper mainly describes a vehicle positioning and tracking system which is based on browser, GPS and GPRS. And this system takes advantage of Baidu Map as basic material to show vehicle status, which enables drivers and supervisor to monitor the vehicle’s current and past positions. The vehicle’s location data is got from satellites, and these data is sent to the central server through GPRS, the central server will store formatted data into the database after the data is parsed; Later, these data stored in the database will be used by web application and displayed on the map as markers. This paper also involves the implementation on mobile side, and this system used Baidu map JavaScript interface, Ajax, JSP and JSON to implement the vehicle positioning and tracking system.

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.

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.

GPS horizontal deformation model in the southern region of the Iberian Peninsula and northern Africa (SPINA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosado Moscoso, B.; Fernández-Ros, A.; Jiménez Jiménez, A.; Berrocoso Domínguez, M.

2017-01-01

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and in particular Global Positioning System (GPS) technology provides a powerful tool for studying geodynamic processes. As a consequence of GPS studies, it is now possible to analyze the interaction between tectonic plates in order to evaluate and establish the characteristics of their boundaries. In this study, our main interest is to focus on the time series analysis obtained from observations of GNSS-GPS satellites. Each GPS observation session provides topocentric geodetic coordinates (east, north, elevation) of the permanent stations that constitute the geodetic network established for this purpose. This paper shows a detailed topocentric coordinate time-series study for sites belonging to what we call the SPINA network, which stands for south of the Iberian Peninsula, north of Africa region. The series under study are processed by techniques of relative positioning with respect to the IGS (International GNSS Service) reference station located in Villafranca. These times series have been analyzed using filter processes, harmonic adjustments and wavelets. A surface velocity field is derived from the time series of daily solutions for each station, whose observations span 8 years or longer. This allows us to obtain a horizontal displacement model to show the regional geodynamic main characteristics. [es

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...

Workshop Builds Strategies to Address Global Positioning System Vulnerabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Genene

2011-01-01

When we examine the impacts of space weather on society, do we really understand the risks? Can past experiences reliably predict what will happen in the future? As the complexity of technology increases, there is the potential for it to become more fragile, allowing for a single point of failure to bring down the entire system. Take the Global Positioning System (GPS) as an example. GPS positioning, navigation, and timing have become an integral part of daily life, supporting transportation and communications systems vital to the aviation, merchant marine, cargo, cellular phone, surveying, and oil exploration industries. Everyday activities such as banking, mobile phone operations, and even the control of power grids are facilitated by the accurate timing provided by GPS. Understanding the risks of space weather to GPS and the many economic sectors reliant upon it, as well as how to build resilience, was the focus of a policy workshop organized by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and held on 13-14 October 2010 in Washington, D. C. The workshop brought together a select group of policy makers, space weather scientists, and GPS experts and users.

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.

The Statistics of GPS

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Matsakis, Demetrios

2007-01-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is an extremely effective satellite-based system that broadcasts sufficient information for a user to determine time and position from any location on or near the Earth...

Development of GPS survey data management protocols/policy.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

This project developed a statewide policy and criteria for collecting, analyzing, and managing global position system (GPS) survey data. The research project determined the needs of the Department in adopting the GPS real time kinetic (GPS RTK) stake...

Building resilience of the Global Positioning System to space weather

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Genene; Kunches, Joseph

2011-12-01

Almost every aspect of the global economy now depends on GPS. Worldwide, nations are working to create a robust Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which will provide global positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services for applications such as aviation, electric power distribution, financial exchange, maritime navigation, and emergency management. The U.S. government is examining the vulnerabilities of GPS, and it is well known that space weather events, such as geomagnetic storms, contribute to errors in single-frequency GPS and are a significant factor for differential GPS. The GPS industry has lately begun to recognize that total electron content (TEC) signal delays, ionospheric scintillation, and solar radio bursts can also interfere with daily operations and that these threats grow with the approach of the next solar maximum, expected to occur in 2013. The key challenges raised by these circumstances are, first, to better understand the vulnerability of GPS technologies and services to space weather and, second, to develop policies that will build resilience and mitigate risk.

DARPA looks beyond GPS for positioning, navigating, and timing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kramer, David

2014-10-01

Cold-atom interferometry, microelectromechanical systems, signals of opportunity, and atomic clocks are some of the technologies the defense agency is pursuing to provide precise navigation when GPS is unavailable.

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...

Daily positive events and diurnal cortisol rhythms: Examination of between-person differences and within-person variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sin, Nancy L; Ong, Anthony D; Stawski, Robert S; Almeida, David M

2017-09-01

Growing evidence from field studies has linked daily stressors to dysregulated patterns of diurnal cortisol. Less is known about whether naturally-occurring positive events in everyday life are associated with diurnal cortisol. The objectives of this study were to evaluate daily positive events as predictors of between-person differences and within-person (day-to-day) variations in diurnal cortisol parameters, in addition to daily positive events as buffers against the associations between daily stressors and cortisol. In the National Study of Daily Experiences, 1657 adults ages 33-84 (57% female) reported daily experiences during telephone interviews on 8 consecutive evenings. Saliva samples were collected 4 times per day on 4 interview days and assayed for cortisol. Multilevel models were used to estimate associations of daily positive events with cortisol awakening response (CAR), diurnal cortisol slope, and area under the curve (AUC). At the between-person level, people who experienced more frequent positive events exhibited a steeper diurnal cortisol slope, controlling for daily stressors, daily affect, and other covariates. At the within-person level, positive events in the morning (but not prior-night or afternoon/evening events) predicted steeper decline in cortisol across that day; positive events were also marginally associated with lower same-day AUC. Associations were not mediated by daily positive affect, and positive events did not buffer against stressor-related cortisol alterations. These findings indicate that individual differences and day-to-day variations in daily positive events are associated with diurnal cortisol patterns, independent of stressors and affect. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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...

Transportation mode recognition using GPS and accelerometer data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2013-01-01

Potential advantages of global positioning systems (GPS) in collecting travel behavior data have been discussed in several publications and evidenced in many recent studies. Most applications depend on GPS information only. However, transportation mode detection that relies only on GPS information

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...

Precise Orbit Determination of GPS Satellites Using Phase Observables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Myung-Kook Jee

1997-12-01

Full Text Available The accuracy of user position by GPS is heavily dependent upon the accuracy of satellite position which is usually transmitted to GPS users in radio signals. The real-time satellite position information directly obtained from broadcast ephimerides has the accuracy of 3 x 10 meters which is very unsatisfactory to measure 100km baseline to the accuracy of less than a few mili-meters. There are globally at present seven orbit analysis centers capable of generating precise GPS ephimerides and their orbit quality is of the order of about 10cm. Therefore, precise orbit model and phase processing technique were reviewed and consequently precise GPS ephimerides were produced after processing the phase observables of 28 global GPS stations for 1 day. Initial 6 orbit parameters and 2 solar radiation coefficients were estimated using batch least square algorithm and the final results were compared with the orbit of IGS, the International GPS Service for Geodynamics.

Evaluation of some software measuring displacements using GPS in real-time

Science.gov (United States)

Langbein, John

2006-01-01

(Langbein and Bock, 2004). But, not all locales include strain and tiltmeters. Thus, having the capability to extract signals with periods of less than a day is desirable since the distribution of GPS is more extensive than strain and tilt.At both Parkfield and Long Valley, the USGS has been using other software packages to process the GPS data at sub-daily intervals and in real-time. The underlying goal of these types of measurements is to detect any deformation event as it evolves; the 24 hour processing might not provide timely results if such a deformation event is precursory to a geologic hazard (an earthquake for Parkfield and either a volcanic event or an earthquake for Long Valley).In Long Valley, We use the software package called 3DTracker (http://www.3dtracker.com, http://www.condorearth.com) to estimate the changes of in position of a remote site relative to a “fixed” site. The 3DTracker software uses double difference GPS code measurements and receiversatellite-time triple differences from one epoch to the next of the GPS phase data (a proxy for travel-time measurements) and employs a Kalman filter to obtain stability in the estimate of position. That is, the estimate of the current position depends upon the estimate of the prior position. Hence, a time series of position looks fairly smooth depending upon the coefficient selected for the Kalman filter. With triple differences, the sometimes troublesome initial integer cycle ambiguity terms cancel (number of wavelengths between the receiver and each satellite), but only the incremental change in position is calculated. This triple difference Kalman filter solution is slow to converge and less accurate than a double difference (e.g., RTD, Track) solution, but it is robust and computationally efficient (Remondi and Brown, 2000). 3D-Tracker allows use of various single-frequency and dual-frequency GPS phase and code observables including the ionospheric-free combinations (known as LC or L3 and P(L3)) formed

Atmospheric pressure loading effects on Global Positioning System coordinate determinations

Science.gov (United States)

Vandam, Tonie M.; Blewitt, Geoffrey; Heflin, Michael B.

1994-01-01

Earth deformation signals caused by atmospheric pressure loading are detected in vertical position estimates at Global Positioning System (GPS) stations. Surface displacements due to changes in atmospheric pressure account for up to 24% of the total variance in the GPS height estimates. The detected loading signals are larger at higher latitudes where pressure variations are greatest; the largest effect is observed at Fairbanks, Alaska (latitude 65 deg), with a signal root mean square (RMS) of 5 mm. Out of 19 continuously operating GPS sites (with a mean of 281 daily solutions per site), 18 show a positive correlation between the GPS vertical estimates and the modeled loading displacements. Accounting for loading reduces the variance of the vertical station positions on 12 of the 19 sites investigated. Removing the modeled pressure loading from GPS determinations of baseline length for baselines longer than 6000 km reduces the variance on 73 of the 117 baselines investigated. The slight increase in variance for some of the sites and baselines is consistent with expected statistical fluctuations. The results from most stations are consistent with approximately 65% of the modeled pressure load being found in the GPS vertical position measurements. Removing an annual signal from both the measured heights and the modeled load time series leaves this value unchanged. The source of the remaining discrepancy between the modeled and observed loading signal may be the result of (1) anisotropic effects in the Earth's loading response, (2) errors in GPS estimates of tropospheric delay, (3) errors in the surface pressure data, or (4) annual signals in the time series of loading and station heights. In addition, we find that using site dependent coefficients, determined by fitting local pressure to the modeled radial displacements, reduces the variance of the measured station heights as well as or better than using the global convolution sum.

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.

Relationships between meaning in life, social and achievement events, and positive and negative affect in daily life.

Science.gov (United States)

Machell, Kyla A; Kashdan, Todd B; Short, Jerome L; Nezlek, John B

2015-06-01

Research on meaning in life has generally focused on global meaning judgments. This study examined how people's daily experiences, represented by events that occur in daily life, influence their perceived sense of meaning on a daily basis. One hundred sixty-two college students completed daily reports for 2 weeks. We examined the relationships among daily social and achievement events, daily positive and negative affect, and daily meaning in life. In addition, we tested the possible moderating influence of depressive symptoms on these relationships. Positive daily social and achievement events were related to greater daily meaning, above and beyond the contributions of daily positive and negative affect. Negative social and achievement events were related to less daily meaning, and negative achievement events covaried with daily meaning above and beyond positive and negative affect. Depression moderated the relationships between positive events and meaning, such that people who reported more depressive symptoms had greater increases in daily meaning in response to positive social and achievement events than individuals who reported fewer symptoms. These findings suggest the important role that daily events may play in fluctuations in people's affective experiences and sense of meaning in life. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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.

Comparison of attitude determination approaches using multiple Global Positioning System (GPS antennas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Bing

2013-02-01

Full Text Available GPS-based attitude system is an important research field, since it is a valuable technique for the attitude determination of platforms. There exist two classes approaches for attitude determination using the GPS. The one determines attitude via baseline estimates in two frames, the other one solves for attitude by incorporating the attitude parameters directly into the GPS measurements. However, comparisons between these two classes approaches have been unexplored. First of all, two algorithms are introduced in detail which on behalf of these two kinds of approaches. Then we present numerical simulations demonstrating the performance of our algorithms and provide a comparison evaluating.

Effect of removing the common mode errors on linear regression analysis of noise amplitudes in position time series of a regional GPS network & a case study of GPS stations in Southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Weiping; Ma, Jun; Li, Zhao; Zhou, Xiaohui; Zhou, Boye

2018-05-01

The analysis of the correlations between the noise in different components of GPS stations has positive significance to those trying to obtain more accurate uncertainty of velocity with respect to station motion. Previous research into noise in GPS position time series focused mainly on single component evaluation, which affects the acquisition of precise station positions, the velocity field, and its uncertainty. In this study, before and after removing the common-mode error (CME), we performed one-dimensional linear regression analysis of the noise amplitude vectors in different components of 126 GPS stations with a combination of white noise, flicker noise, and random walking noise in Southern California. The results show that, on the one hand, there are above-moderate degrees of correlation between the white noise amplitude vectors in all components of the stations before and after removal of the CME, while the correlations between flicker noise amplitude vectors in horizontal and vertical components are enhanced from un-correlated to moderately correlated by removing the CME. On the other hand, the significance tests show that, all of the obtained linear regression equations, which represent a unique function of the noise amplitude in any two components, are of practical value after removing the CME. According to the noise amplitude estimates in two components and the linear regression equations, more accurate noise amplitudes can be acquired in the two components.

Penerapan Teknologi GPS Tracker Untuk Identifikasi Kondisi Traffik Jalan Raya

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

IM. O. Widyantara

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Real time tracking system technology has been made possible by integrating three technologies, namely global positioning system (GPS, database technologies such as geographic information system (GIS and mobile telecommunications technologies such as general packet radio service (GPRS. This paper has proposed a vehicle tracking mechanism based on GPS tracker to build a real-time traffic information system. A GPS server is built to process data of position and speed of the vehicle for further processed into vehicle traffic information. The Server and GPS tracker is designed to communicate using GPRS services in real time. Furthermore, the server processes the data from the GPS tracker into traffic information such as traffic jam, dense, medium and smoothly. Test results showed that the GPS server is able to visualize the real position of the vehicle and is able to decide the category of traffic information in real time.

High-precision GPS autonomous platforms for sea ice dynamics and physical oceanography

Science.gov (United States)

Elosegui, P.; Wilkinson, J.; Olsson, M.; Rodwell, S.; James, A.; Hagan, B.; Hwang, B.; Forsberg, R.; Gerdes, R.; Johannessen, J.; Wadhams, P.; Nettles, M.; Padman, L.

2012-12-01

Project "Arctic Ocean sea ice and ocean circulation using satellite methods" (SATICE), is the first high-rate, high-precision, continuous GPS positioning experiment on sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The SATICE systems collect continuous, dual-frequency carrier-phase GPS data while drifting on sea ice. Additional geophysical measurements also collected include ocean water pressure, ocean surface salinity, atmospheric pressure, snow-depth, air-ice-ocean temperature profiles, photographic imagery, and others, enabling sea ice drift, freeboard, weather, ice mass balance, and sea-level height determination. Relatively large volumes of data from each buoy are streamed over a satellite link to a central computer on the Internet in near real time, where they are processed to estimate the time-varying buoy positions. SATICE system obtains continuous GPS data at sub-minute intervals with a positioning precision of a few centimetres in all three dimensions. Although monitoring of sea ice motions goes back to the early days of satellite observations, these autonomous platforms bring out a level of spatio-temporal detail that has never been seen before, especially in the vertical axis. These high-resolution data allows us to address new polar science questions and challenge our present understanding of both sea ice dynamics and Arctic oceanography. We will describe the technology behind this new autonomous platform, which could also be adapted to other applications that require high resolution positioning information with sustained operations and observations in the polar marine environment, and present results pertaining to sea ice dynamics and physical oceanography.

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...

Precise orbit determination of Multi-GNSS constellation including GPS GLONASS BDS and GALIEO

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Xiaolei

2014-05-01

In addition to the existing American global positioning system (GPS) and the Russian global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), the new generation of GNSS is emerging and developing, such as the Chinese BeiDou satellite navigation system (BDS) and the European GALILEO system. Multi-constellation is expected to contribute to more accurate and reliable positioning and navigation service. However, the application of multi-constellation challenges the traditional precise orbit determination (POD) strategy that was designed usually for single constellation. In this contribution, we exploit a more rigorous multi-constellation POD strategy for the ongoing IGS multi-GNSS experiment (MGEX) where the common parameters are identical for each system, and the frequency- and system-specified parameters are employed to account for the inter-frequency and inter-system biases. Since the authorized BDS attitude model is not yet released, different BDS attitude model are implemented and their impact on orbit accuracy are studied. The proposed POD strategy was implemented in the PANDA (Position and Navigation Data Analyst) software and can process observations from GPS, GLONASS, BDS and GALILEO together. The strategy is evaluated with the multi-constellation observations from about 90 MGEX stations and BDS observations from the BeiDou experimental tracking network (BETN) of Wuhan University (WHU). Of all the MGEX stations, 28 stations record BDS observation, and about 80 stations record GALILEO observations. All these data were processed together in our software, resulting in the multi-constellation POD solutions. We assessed the orbit accuracy for GPS and GLONASS by comparing our solutions with the IGS final orbit, and for BDS and GALILEO by overlapping our daily orbit solution. The stability of inter-frequency bias of GLONASS and inter-system biases w.r.t. GPS for GLONASS, BDS and GALILEO were investigated. At last, we carried out precise point positioning (PPP) using the multi

Why GPS makes distances bigger than they are.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranacher, Peter; Brunauer, Richard; Trutschnig, Wolfgang; Van der Spek, Stefan; Reich, Siegfried

2016-02-01

Global navigation satellite systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) is one of the most important sensors for movement analysis. GPS is widely used to record the trajectories of vehicles, animals and human beings. However, all GPS movement data are affected by both measurement and interpolation errors. In this article we show that measurement error causes a systematic bias in distances recorded with a GPS; the distance between two points recorded with a GPS is - on average - bigger than the true distance between these points. This systematic 'overestimation of distance' becomes relevant if the influence of interpolation error can be neglected, which in practice is the case for movement sampled at high frequencies. We provide a mathematical explanation of this phenomenon and illustrate that it functionally depends on the autocorrelation of GPS measurement error ( C ). We argue that C can be interpreted as a quality measure for movement data recorded with a GPS. If there is a strong autocorrelation between any two consecutive position estimates, they have very similar error. This error cancels out when average speed, distance or direction is calculated along the trajectory. Based on our theoretical findings we introduce a novel approach to determine C in real-world GPS movement data sampled at high frequencies. We apply our approach to pedestrian trajectories and car trajectories. We found that the measurement error in the data was strongly spatially and temporally autocorrelated and give a quality estimate of the data. Most importantly, our findings are not limited to GPS alone. The systematic bias and its implications are bound to occur in any movement data collected with absolute positioning if interpolation error can be neglected.

Supporting EarthScope Cyber-Infrastructure with a Modern GPS Science Data System

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, F. H.; Bock, Y.; Kedar, S.; Jamason, P.; Fang, P.; Dong, D.; Owen, S. E.; Prawirodirjo, L.; Squibb, M.

2008-12-01

Building on NASA's investment in the measurement of crustal deformation from continuous GPS, we are developing and implementing a Science Data System (SDS) that will provide mature, long-term Earth Science Data Records (ESDR's). This effort supports NASA's Earth Surface and Interiors (ESI) focus area and provide NASA's component to the EarthScope PBO. This multi-year development is sponsored by NASA's Making Earth System data records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program. The SDS integrates the generation of ESDRs with data analysis and exploration, product generation, and modeling tools based on daily GPS data that include GPS networks in western North America and a component of NASA's Global GPS Network (GGN) for terrestrial reference frame definition. The system is expandable to multiple regional and global networks. The SDS builds upon mature data production, exploration, and analysis algorithms developed under NASA's REASoN, ACCESS, and SENH programs. This SDS provides access to positions, time series, velocity fields, and strain measurements derived from continuous GPS data obtained at tracking stations in both the Plate Boundary Observatory and other regional Western North America GPS networks, dating back to 1995. The SDS leverages the IT and Web Services developments carried out under the SCIGN/REASoN and ACCESS projects, which have streamlined access to data products for researchers and modelers, and which have created a prototype an on-the-fly interactive research environment through a modern data portal, GPS Explorer. This IT system has been designed using modern IT tools and principles in order to be extensible to any geographic location, scale, natural hazard, and combination of geophysical sensor and related data. We have built upon open GIS standards, particularly those of the OGC, and have used the principles of Web Service-based Service Oriented Architectures to provide scalability and extensibility to new services and capabilities.

Walking Behavior of Zoo Elephants: Associations between GPS-Measured Daily Walking Distances and Environmental Factors, Social Factors, and Welfare Indicators.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew R Holdgate

Full Text Available Research with humans and other animals suggests that walking benefits physical health. Perhaps because these links have been demonstrated in other species, it has been suggested that walking is important to elephant welfare, and that zoo elephant exhibits should be designed to allow for more walking. Our study is the first to address this suggestion empirically by measuring the mean daily walking distance of elephants in North American zoos, determining the factors that are associated with variations in walking distance, and testing for associations between walking and welfare indicators. We used anklets equipped with GPS data loggers to measure outdoor daily walking distance in 56 adult female African (n = 33 and Asian (n = 23 elephants housed in 30 North American zoos. We collected 259 days of data and determined associations between distance walked and social, housing, management, and demographic factors. Elephants walked an average of 5.3 km/day with no significant difference between species. In our multivariable model, more diverse feeding regimens were correlated with increased walking, and elephants who were fed on a temporally unpredictable feeding schedule walked 1.29 km/day more than elephants fed on a predictable schedule. Distance walked was also positively correlated with an increase in the number of social groupings and negatively correlated with age. We found a small but significant negative correlation between distance walked and nighttime Space Experience, but no other associations between walking distances and exhibit size were found. Finally, distance walked was not related to health or behavioral outcomes including foot health, joint health, body condition, and the performance of stereotypic behavior, suggesting that more research is necessary to determine explicitly how differences in walking may impact elephant welfare.

Walking Behavior of Zoo Elephants: Associations between GPS-Measured Daily Walking Distances and Environmental Factors, Social Factors, and Welfare Indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Holdgate, Matthew R; Meehan, Cheryl L; Hogan, Jennifer N; Miller, Lance J; Soltis, Joseph; Andrews, Jeff; Shepherdson, David J

2016-01-01

Research with humans and other animals suggests that walking benefits physical health. Perhaps because these links have been demonstrated in other species, it has been suggested that walking is important to elephant welfare, and that zoo elephant exhibits should be designed to allow for more walking. Our study is the first to address this suggestion empirically by measuring the mean daily walking distance of elephants in North American zoos, determining the factors that are associated with variations in walking distance, and testing for associations between walking and welfare indicators. We used anklets equipped with GPS data loggers to measure outdoor daily walking distance in 56 adult female African (n = 33) and Asian (n = 23) elephants housed in 30 North American zoos. We collected 259 days of data and determined associations between distance walked and social, housing, management, and demographic factors. Elephants walked an average of 5.3 km/day with no significant difference between species. In our multivariable model, more diverse feeding regimens were correlated with increased walking, and elephants who were fed on a temporally unpredictable feeding schedule walked 1.29 km/day more than elephants fed on a predictable schedule. Distance walked was also positively correlated with an increase in the number of social groupings and negatively correlated with age. We found a small but significant negative correlation between distance walked and nighttime Space Experience, but no other associations between walking distances and exhibit size were found. Finally, distance walked was not related to health or behavioral outcomes including foot health, joint health, body condition, and the performance of stereotypic behavior, suggesting that more research is necessary to determine explicitly how differences in walking may impact elephant welfare.

Scintillation-Hardened GPS Receiver

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Donald R.

2015-01-01

CommLargo, Inc., has developed a scintillation-hardened Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver that improves reliability for low-orbit missions and complies with NASA's Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) architecture standards. A software-defined radio (SDR) implementation allows a single hardware element to function as either a conventional radio or as a GPS receiver, providing backup and redundancy for platforms such as the International Space Station (ISS) and high-value remote sensing platforms. The innovation's flexible SDR implementation reduces cost, weight, and power requirements. Scintillation hardening improves mission reliability and variability. In Phase I, CommLargo refactored an open-source GPS software package with Kalman filter-based tracking loops to improve performance during scintillation and also demonstrated improved navigation during a geomagnetic storm. In Phase II, the company generated a new field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based GPS waveform to demonstrate on NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) test bed.

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

GPS satellite clock determination in case of inter-frequency clock biases for triple-frequency precise point positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jiang; Geng, Jianghui

2017-12-01

Significant time-varying inter-frequency clock biases (IFCBs) within GPS observations prevent the application of the legacy L1/L2 ionosphere-free clock products on L5 signals. Conventional approaches overcoming this problem are to estimate L1/L5 ionosphere-free clocks in addition to their L1/L2 counterparts or to compute IFCBs between the L1/L2 and L1/L5 clocks which are later modeled through a harmonic analysis. In contrast, we start from the undifferenced uncombined GNSS model and propose an alternative approach where a second satellite clock parameter dedicated to the L5 signals is estimated along with the legacy L1/L2 clock. In this manner, we do not need to rely on the correlated L1/L2 and L1/L5 ionosphere-free observables which complicates triple-frequency GPS stochastic models, or account for the unfavorable time-varying hardware biases in undifferenced GPS functional models since they can be absorbed by the L5 clocks. An extra advantage over the ionosphere-free model is that external ionosphere constraints can potentially be introduced to improve PPP. With 27 days of triple-frequency GPS data from globally distributed stations, we find that the RMS of the positioning differences between our GPS model and all conventional models is below 1 mm for all east, north and up components, demonstrating the effectiveness of our model in addressing triple-frequency observations and time-varying IFCBs. Moreover, we can combine the L1/L2 and L5 clocks derived from our model to calculate precisely the L1/L5 clocks which in practice only depart from their legacy counterparts by less than 0.006 ns in RMS. Our triple-frequency GPS model proves convenient and efficient in combating time-varying IFCBs and can be generalized to more than three frequency signals for satellite clock determination.

Exergames for health and fitness: the roles of GPS and geosocial apps.

Science.gov (United States)

Boulos, Maged N Kamel; Yang, Stephen P

2013-04-05

Large numbers of children and adolescents in Canada, UK and USA are not getting their recommended daily dose of moderate to vigorous physical activity, and are thus more prone to obesity and its ill health effects. Exergames (video games that require physical activity to play) are rapidly gaining user acceptance, and may have the potential to increase physical activity levels among young people. Mobile exergames for GPS (global positioning system)-enabled smartphones and mini-tablets take players outdoors, in the open air, unlike console exergames, e.g., Xbox 360 Kinect exergames, which limit players to playing indoors in front of a TV set. In this paper and its companion 'Additional file 1', we review different examples of GPS exergames and of gamified geosocial apps and gadgets (mobile, location-aware apps and devices with social and gamification features), and briefly discuss some of the issues surrounding their use. Further research is needed to document best practices in this area, quantify the exact health and fitness benefits of GPS exergames and apps (under different settings and scenarios), and find out what is needed to improve them and the best ways to promote their adoption by the public.

In vivo measurements of daily UV exposure of human anterior teeth using CaF{sub 2}:Tb,Sm as a thermoluminescence dosimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saito, W., E-mail: saito-wataru@tsurumi-u.ac.j [Department of Operative Dentistry, Tsurumi University, School of Dental Medicine, 2-1-3, Tsurumi, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama (Japan); Ikejima, I. [Department of Operative Dentistry, Tsurumi University, School of Dental Medicine, 2-1-3, Tsurumi, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama (Japan); Fukuda, Y. [Department of Urban Environment, Faculty of Human Environment, Osaka Sangyo University, 3-1-1, Nakagaito, Daito, Osaka (Japan); Momoi, Y. [Department of Operative Dentistry, Tsurumi University, School of Dental Medicine, 2-1-3, Tsurumi, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama (Japan)

2011-03-15

Ultraviolet radiation (UV) has been indicated as one of the causes of discoloration of dental materials yet the standard requires that dental polymers be irradiated with light from a xenon lamp, which includes UV, to evaluate their color stability. It is doubtful that dental polymers in the mouth are exposed to large energy of UV on a daily basis, but there have been no reports concerning exposure. In the present study, we used thermoluminescence (TL) from sintered CaF{sub 2}:Tb,Sm, which is highly sensitive to UV, to measure the daily energy of UV exposure to the labial surface of the maxillary anterior teeth, which are regarded as receiving the maximum exposure among oral tissues. We produced disks of CaF{sub 2} co-doped with Tb{sub 4}O{sub 7} and Sm{sub 2}O{sub 3} (sintered CaF{sub 2}:Tb,Sm) that were 5 mm in diameter and 1 mm thick, and placed them inside glass cases that had a 7-mm external diameter, 3-mm height, and 1-mm thickness of glass made of synthetic silica with {>=}90% UV transmittance. These glass cases were fixed in dental mouthpieces in a position corresponding to the central maxillary incisors. These mouthpieces were worn by 11 subjects and UV measurements were carried out over a 24-h period in a uniform environment. The results of these TL measurements showed a TL glow peak in the region of 430 K. This was the same as that seen with irradiation from a xenon lamp as basic illumination. The daily UV radiant energy was 72.2 mJ/cm{sup 2} (32.7-143.8 mJ/cm{sup 2}), calculated from the relationship between TL intensity and UV radiant energy. This corresponded to 0.02% of the UV radiant energy contained in the light irradiation specified by ISO 4049.

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.

Evaluation of sub daily satellite rainfall estimates through flash flood modelling in the Lower Middle Zambezi Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Matingo

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Flash floods are experienced almost annually in the ungauged Mbire District of the Middle Zambezi Basin. Studies related to hydrological modelling (rainfall-runoff and flood forecasting require major inputs such as precipitation which, due to shortage of observed data, are increasingly using indirect methods for estimating precipitation. This study therefore evaluated performance of CMORPH and TRMM satellite rainfall estimates (SREs for 30 min, 1 h, 3 h and daily intensities through hydrologic and flash flood modelling in the Lower Middle Zambezi Basin for the period 2013–2016. On a daily timestep, uncorrected CMORPH and TRMM show Probability of Detection (POD of 61 and 59 %, respectively, when compared to rain gauge observations. The best performance using Correlation Coefficient (CC was 70 and 60 % on daily timesteps for CMORPH and TRMM, respectively. The best RMSE for CMORPH was 0.81 % for 30 min timestep and for TRMM was 2, 11 % on 3 h timestep. For the year 2014 to 2015, the HEC-HMS (Hydrological Engineering Centre-Hydrological Modelling System daily model calibration Nash Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE for Musengezi sub catchment was 59 % whilst for Angwa it was 55 %. Angwa sub-catchment daily NSE results for the period 2015–2016 was 61 %. HEC-RAS flash flood modeling at 100, 50 and 25 year return periods for Angwa sub catchment, inundated 811 and 867 ha for TRMM rainfall simulated discharge at 3 h and daily timesteps, respectively. For CMORPH generated rainfall, the inundation was 818, 876, 890 and 891 ha at daily, 3 h, 1 h and 30 min timesteps. The 30 min time step for CMORPH effectively captures flash floods with the measure of agreement between simulated flood extent and ground control points of 69 %. For TRMM, the 3 h timestep effectively captures flash floods with coefficient of 67 %. The study therefore concludes that satellite products are most effective in capturing localized

Evidential recovery from GPS devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Cusack

Full Text Available Global Positioning Systems (GPS have become more affordable, are now widely used in motor vehicles and in other frequently used applications. As a consequence GPS are increasingly becoming an important source of evidential data for digital forensic investigations. This paper acknowledges there are only disparate documents for the guidance of an investigator when extracting evidence form such systems. The focus of this paper is to provide the technical details of recovering artifacts from four GPS currently available to the New Zealand market. Navman brand GPS are used, following a forensically robust process. The steps of the process are described, results analysed and the associated risks are discussed. In addition, the paper discusses techniques related to the visual presentation of evidence suitable for Google Maps. Automation attempts to speed up the analysis to visualization steps are also included. The outcome is a road map that may assist digital forensic investigators develop GPS examination strategies for implementation in their own organizations.

Localization system for use in GPS denied environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trueblood, J. J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-02-01

The military uses to autonomous platforms to complete missions to provide standoff for the warfighters. However autonomous platforms rely on GPS to provide their global position. In many missions spaces the autonomous platforms may encounter GPS denied environments which limits where the platform operates and requires the warfighters to takes its place. GPS denied environments can occur due to tall building, trees, canyon wall blocking the GPS satellite signals or a lack of coverage. An Inertial Navigation System (INS) uses sensors to detect the vehicle movement and direction its traveling to calculate the vehicle. One of biggest challenges with an INS system is the accuracy and accumulation of errors over time of the sensors. If these challenges can be overcome the INS would provide accurate positioning information to the autonomous vehicle in GPS denied environments and allow them to provide the desired standoff for the warfighters.

Electron stimulated desorption of positive and negative oxygen ions from YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffman, A. [Technion-Israel Inst. of Tech., Haifa (Israel). Solid State Inst.; Moss, S.D.; Paterson, P.J.K. [Royal Melbourne Inst. of Tech., VIC (Australia); McCubbery, D. [La Trobe Univ., Bundoora, VIC (Australia); Petravic, M. [Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia)

1996-12-31

The electron stimulated desorption (ESD) of positive and negative oxygen ion from superconducting YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} surfaces was studied. Based on ion desorption yield measurements as function of electron kinetic energy, primary excitations leading to positive and negative oxygen ion desorption are suggested. To the best of the authors` knowledge this is the first study on electron energy dependent ESD from YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} surfaces. The YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} samples were prepared from BaCO{sub 3}, Y{sub 2}O{sub 3} and CuO using standard high temperature sintering and annealing procedures. Slices 2 mm thick were cut and further annealed at 400 C in flowing oxygen for 24 hours prior to insertion into the ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber for ESD. The near surface composition and chemical state of the annealed sample after exposure to air was examined by Auger and XPS analysis. These measurements suggest that the ESD experiments were performed on samples of similar near surface and bulk composition with some OH- chemisorbed groups and Cl surface contaminations and that negative and positive oxygen ion desorption may be initiated via a primary core level ionization. 10 refs., 3 figs.

Electron stimulated desorption of positive and negative oxygen ions from YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffman, A [Technion-Israel Inst. of Tech., Haifa (Israel). Solid State Inst.; Moss, S D; Paterson, P J.K. [Royal Melbourne Inst. of Tech., VIC (Australia); McCubbery, D [La Trobe Univ., Bundoora, VIC (Australia); Petravic, M [Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia)

1997-12-31

The electron stimulated desorption (ESD) of positive and negative oxygen ion from superconducting YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} surfaces was studied. Based on ion desorption yield measurements as function of electron kinetic energy, primary excitations leading to positive and negative oxygen ion desorption are suggested. To the best of the authors` knowledge this is the first study on electron energy dependent ESD from YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} surfaces. The YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} samples were prepared from BaCO{sub 3}, Y{sub 2}O{sub 3} and CuO using standard high temperature sintering and annealing procedures. Slices 2 mm thick were cut and further annealed at 400 C in flowing oxygen for 24 hours prior to insertion into the ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber for ESD. The near surface composition and chemical state of the annealed sample after exposure to air was examined by Auger and XPS analysis. These measurements suggest that the ESD experiments were performed on samples of similar near surface and bulk composition with some OH- chemisorbed groups and Cl surface contaminations and that negative and positive oxygen ion desorption may be initiated via a primary core level ionization. 10 refs., 3 figs.

TAO/TRITON, RAMA, and PIRATA Buoys, Daily, 1980-present, Position

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset has daily Position data from the TAO/TRITON (Pacific Ocean, https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/gtmba/ ), RAMA (Indian Ocean,...

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.

GPS Navigation and Tracking Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahya Salameh Khraisat

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Since the introduction of GPS Navigation systems in the marketplace, consumers and businesses have been coming up with innovative ways to use the technology in their everyday life. GPS Navigation and Tracking systems keep us from getting lost when we are in strange locations, they monitor children when they are away from home, keep track of business vehicles and can even let us know where a philandering partner is at all times. Because of this we attend to build a GPS tracking device to solve the mentioned problems. Our work consists of the GPS module that collects data from satellites and calculates the position information before transmitting them to the user’s PC (of Navigation system or observers (of Tracking System using wireless technology (GSM.

The integration of GPS, vegetation mapping and GIS in ecological and behavioural studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven Mark Rutter

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Global Positioning System (GPS satellite navigation receivers are increasingly being used in ecological and behavioural studies to track the movements of animals in relation to the environments in which they live and forage. Concurrent recording of the animal's foraging behaviour (e.g. from jaw movement recording allows foraging locations to be determined. By combining the animal GPS movement and foraging data with habitat and vegetation maps using a Geographical Information System (GIS it is possible to relate animal movement and foraging location to landscape and habitat features and vegetation types. This powerful approach is opening up new opportunities to study the spatial aspects of animal behaviour, especially foraging behaviour, with far greater precision and objectivity than before. Advances in GPS technology now mean that sub-metre precision systems can be used to track animals, extending the range of application of this technology from landscape and habitat scale to paddock and patch scale studies. As well as allowing ecological hypotheses to be empirically tested at the patch scale, the improvements in precision are also leading to the approach being increasing extended from large scale ecological studies to smaller (paddock scale agricultural studies. The use of sub-metre systems brings both new scientific opportunities and new technological challenges. For example, fitting all of the animals in a group with sub-metre precision GPS receivers allows their relative inter-individual distances to be precisely calculated, and their relative orientations can be derived from data from a digital compass fitted to each receiver. These data, analyzed using GIS, could give new insights into the social behaviour of animals. However, the improvements in precision with which the animals are being tracked also needs equivalent improvements in the precision with which habitat and vegetation are mapped. This needs some degree of automation, as

Analysis of Radiosonde Daily Bias by Comparing Precipitable Water Vapor Obtained from Global Positioning System and Radiosonde

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang-Geun Park

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, we compared the precipitable water vapor (PWV data derived from the radiosonde observation data at Sokcho Observatory and the PWV data at Sokcho Global Positioning System (GPS Observatory provided by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, from 0000 UTC, June 1, 2007 to 1200 UTC, May 31, 2009, and analyzed the radiosonde bias between the day and the night. In the scatter diagram of the daytime and nighttime radiosonde PWV data and the GPS PWV data, dry bias was found in the daytime radiosonde observation as known in the previous study. In addition, for all the rainfall events, the tendency that the wet bias of the radiosonde PWV increased as the GPS PWV decreased and the dry bias of the radiosonde PWV increased as the GPS PWV increased was significantly less distinctive in nighttime than in daytime. The quantitative analysis of the bias and error of the radiosonde PWV data showed that the mean bias decreased in the second year, regardless of nighttime or daytime rainfall, and the non-rainfall root mean square error (RMSE was similar to that of the previous studies, while the rainfall RMSE was larger to a certain extent.

Daily positive spillover and crossover from mothers' work to youth health.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, Katie M; Davis, Kelly D; McHale, Susan M; Hammer, Leslie B; Buxton, Orfeu M

2014-12-01

Prior research shows that employees' work experiences can "spill over" into their family lives and "cross over" to affect family members. Expanding on studies that emphasize negative implications of work for family life, this study examined positive work-to-family spillover and positive and negative crossover between mothers and their children. Participants were 174 mothers in the extended care (nursing home) industry and their children (ages 9-17), both of whom completed daily diaries on the same 8 consecutive evenings. On each workday, mothers reported whether they had a positive experience at work, youth reported on their mothers' positive and negative mood after work, and youth rated their own mental (positive and negative affect) and physical health (physical health symptoms, sleep quality, sleep duration). Results of 2-level models showed that mothers' positive mood after work, on average, was directly related to youth reports of more positive affect, better sleep quality, and longer sleep duration. In addition, mothers with more positive work experiences, on average, displayed less negative mood after work, and in turn, adolescents reported less negative affect and fewer physical health symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of daily family system dynamics.

Daily Positive Spillover and Crossover from Mothers’ Work to Youth Health

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, Katie M.; Davis, Kelly D.; McHale, Susan M.; Hammer, Leslie B.; Buxton, Orfeu M.

2016-01-01

Prior research shows that employees’ work experiences can “spill over” into their family lives and “cross over” to affect family members. Expanding on studies that emphasize negative implications of work for family life, this study examined positive work-to-family spillover and positive and negative crossover between mothers and their children. Participants were 174 mothers in the extended care (nursing home) industry and their children (ages 9-17), both of whom completed daily diaries on the same, eight, consecutive evenings. On each workday, mothers reported whether they had a positive experience at work, youth reported on their mothers’ positive and negative mood after work, and youth rated their own mental (positive and negative affect) and physical health (physical health symptoms, sleep quality, sleep duration). Results of two-level models showed that mothers’ positive mood after work, on average, was directly related to youth reports of more positive affect, better sleep quality, and longer sleep duration. In addition, mothers with more positive work experiences, on average, displayed less negative mood after work, and in turn, adolescents reported less negative affect and fewer physical health symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of daily family system dynamics. PMID:25243577

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.

The reciprocity of prosocial behavior and positive affect in daily life

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Snippe, Evelien; Jeronimus, Bertus F; Aan Het Rot, Marije; Bos, Elisabeth H; de Jonge, Peter; Wichers, Marieke

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether prosocial behaviors help sustain a positive mood, we tested the dynamic reciprocal associations between prosocial behavior and positive affect (PA) in daily life. A second aim was to examine whether the personality traits neuroticism and extraversion moderate these

Characteristics of sub-daily precipitation extremes in observed data and regional climate model simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Beranová, Romana; Kyselý, Jan; Hanel, Martin

2018-04-01

The study compares characteristics of observed sub-daily precipitation extremes in the Czech Republic with those simulated by Hadley Centre Regional Model version 3 (HadRM3) and Rossby Centre Regional Atmospheric Model version 4 (RCA4) regional climate models (RCMs) driven by reanalyses and examines diurnal cycles of hourly precipitation and their dependence on intensity and surface temperature. The observed warm-season (May-September) maxima of short-duration (1, 2 and 3 h) amounts show one diurnal peak in the afternoon, which is simulated reasonably well by RCA4, although the peak occurs too early in the model. HadRM3 provides an unrealistic diurnal cycle with a nighttime peak and an afternoon minimum coinciding with the observed maximum for all three ensemble members, which suggests that convection is not captured realistically. Distorted relationships of the diurnal cycles of hourly precipitation to daily maximum temperature in HadRM3 further evidence that underlying physical mechanisms are misrepresented in this RCM. Goodness-of-fit tests indicate that generalised extreme value distribution is an applicable model for both observed and RCM-simulated precipitation maxima. However, the RCMs are not able to capture the range of the shape parameter estimates of distributions of short-duration precipitation maxima realistically, leading to either too many (nearly all for HadRM3) or too few (RCA4) grid boxes in which the shape parameter corresponds to a heavy tail. This means that the distributions of maxima of sub-daily amounts are distorted in the RCM-simulated data and do not match reality well. Therefore, projected changes of sub-daily precipitation extremes in climate change scenarios based on RCMs not resolving convection need to be interpreted with caution.

Tightly Coupled Integration of GPS Ambiguity Fixed Precise Point Positioning and MEMS-INS through a Troposphere-Constrained Adaptive Kalman Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Houzeng Han

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Precise Point Positioning (PPP makes use of the undifferenced pseudorange and carrier phase measurements with ionospheric-free (IF combinations to achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy. Conventionally, the IF ambiguities are estimated as float values. To improve the PPP positioning accuracy and shorten the convergence time, the integer phase clock model with between-satellites single-difference (BSSD operation is used to recover the integer property. However, the continuity and availability of stand-alone PPP is largely restricted by the observation environment. The positioning performance will be significantly degraded when GPS operates under challenging environments, if less than five satellites are present. A commonly used approach is integrating a low cost inertial sensor to improve the positioning performance and robustness. In this study, a tightly coupled (TC algorithm is implemented by integrating PPP with inertial navigation system (INS using an Extended Kalman filter (EKF. The navigation states, inertial sensor errors and GPS error states are estimated together. The troposphere constrained approach, which utilizes external tropospheric delay as virtual observation, is applied to further improve the ambiguity-fixed height positioning accuracy, and an improved adaptive filtering strategy is implemented to improve the covariance modelling considering the realistic noise effect. A field vehicular test with a geodetic GPS receiver and a low cost inertial sensor was conducted to validate the improvement on positioning performance with the proposed approach. The results show that the positioning accuracy has been improved with inertial aiding. Centimeter-level positioning accuracy is achievable during the test, and the PPP/INS TC integration achieves a fast re-convergence after signal outages. For troposphere constrained solutions, a significant improvement for the height component has been obtained. The overall positioning accuracies

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,

Challenges in using wearable GPS devices in low-income older adults: Can map-based interviews help with assessments of mobility?

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Tanja; Kerr, Jacqueline; Kestens, Yan; Schipperijn, Jasper

2018-03-15

Daily mobility, defined as the ability to move oneself within one's neighborhood and regions beyond, is an important construct, which affects people as they age. Having a feasible and valid measure of daily mobility is essential to understand how it affects older adults' everyday life. Given the limitations of existing measures, new tools may be needed. The purpose of the study is to assess the feasibility and practicality of using the map-based questionnaire system VERITAS and GPS devices to measure daily mobility in older adults living in a deprived neighborhood in Denmark. Older adults were recruited from two senior housing areas, completed an interview using VERITAS and wore a GPS for 7 days. Feasibility of both methods was assessed by looking at practicalities, recruitment and compliance, and ability to measure daily mobility.Thirty-four older adults completed the VERITAS questionnaire, of which 23 wore the GPS device. Remembering to wear and charge the GPS was difficult for 48% participants, whereas remembering street names and drawing routes in VERITAS was difficult for two. Both the GPS and VERITAS were able to measure 10 out of the 13 identified components of mobility; however, VERITAS seemed more qualified at measuring daily mobility for this target population. The feasibility of assessing mobility may vary by specific context and study population being investigated. Wearable technology like a GPS may not be acceptable to low socioeconomic older adults, whereas interview led self-reported measurements like VERITAS might be more suitable for a low socioeconomic elderly population.

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...

Cerebrospinal fluid abacavir concentrations in HIV-positive patients following once-daily administration.

Science.gov (United States)

Calcagno, A; Pinnetti, C; De Nicolò, A; Scarvaglieri, E; Gisslen, M; Tempestilli, M; D'Avolio, A; Fedele, V; Di Perri, G; Antinori, A; Bonora, S

2018-06-01

Abacavir is a widely used nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor, for which cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) exposure has been previously assessed in twice-daily recipients. We studied abacavir CSF concentrations in 61 and nine HIV-positive patients taking abacavir once daily and twice daily, respectively. Patients on once-daily abacavir had higher plasma and CSF concentrations (96 vs. 22 ng ml -1 , P = 0.038 and 123 vs. 49 ng ml -1 , P = 0.038) but similar CSF-to-plasma ratios (0.8 vs. 0.5, P = 0.500). CSF abacavir concentrations were adequate in patients receiving once-daily treatment. © 2018 The British Pharmacological Society.

77 FR 23668 - GPS Satellite Simulator Working Group Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-20

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Air Force GPS Satellite Simulator Working Group Notice of... inform the public that the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Directorate will be hosting an open GPS Satellite Simulator Working Group (SSWG) meeting for manufacturers of GPS constellation simulators utilized...

Real-Time Vehicle Data Logging System Using GPS And GSM

OpenAIRE

Win Minn Thet; MyoMaung Maung; Hla Myo Tun

2015-01-01

Abstract This paper proposes and implements a low cost Vehicle Data Logging System using GPS and GSM. This system allows a user to trace the present and past positions recorded in SD card. This system also reads the current position of the vehicle using GPS the data is sent via GSM service from the GSM network. The vehicles position including the driving speed the UTC time and data are stored in the SD card for live and past tracking. All of that GPS data is sent to PIC 18F4520 by the Uni...

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.

Daily Stress, Coping, and Negative and Positive Affect in Depression: Complex Trigger and Maintenance Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkley, David M; Lewkowski, Maxim; Lee, Ihno A; Preacher, Kristopher J; Zuroff, David C; Berg, Jody-Lynn; Foley, J Elizabeth; Myhr, Gail; Westreich, Ruta

2017-05-01

Major depressive disorder is characterized by emotional dysfunction, but mood states in daily life are not well understood. This study examined complex explanatory models of daily stress and coping mechanisms that trigger and maintain daily negative affect and (lower) positive affect in depression. Sixty-three depressed patients completed perfectionism measures, and then completed daily questionnaires of stress appraisals, coping, and affect for 7 consecutive days. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) demonstrated that, across many stressors, when the typical individual with depression perceives more criticism than usual, he/she uses more avoidant coping and experiences higher event stress than usual, and this is connected to daily increases in negative affect as well as decreases in positive affect. In parallel, results showed that perceived control, less avoidant coping, and problem-focused coping commonly operate together when daily positive affect increases. MSEM also showed that avoidant coping tendencies and ongoing stress, in combination, explain why people with depression and higher self-critical perfectionism maintain daily negative affect and lower positive affect. These findings advance a richer and more detailed understanding of specific stress and coping patterns to target in order to more effectively accomplish the two predominant therapy goals of decreasing patients' distress and strengthening resilience. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

USGS Menlo Park GPS Data Processing Techniques and Derived North America Velocity Field (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Svarc, J. L.; Murray-Moraleda, J. R.; Langbein, J. O.

2010-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park routinely conducts repeated GPS surveys of geodetic markers throughout the western United States using dual-frequency geodetic GPS receivers. We combine campaign, continuous, and semi-permanent data to present a North America fixed velocity field for regions in the western United States. Mobile campaign-based surveys require less up-front investment than permanently monumented and telemetered GPS systems, and hence have achieved a broad and dense spatial coverage. The greater flexibility and mobility comes at the cost of greater uncertainties in individual daily position solutions. We also routinely process continuous GPS data collected at PBO stations operated by UNAVCO along with data from other continuous GPS networks such as BARD, PANGA, and CORS operated by other agencies. We have broken the Western US into several subnetworks containing approximately 150-250 stations each. The data are processed using JPL’s GIPSY-OASIS II release 5.0 software using a modified precise positioning strategy (Zumberge and others, 1997). We use the “ambizap” code provided by Geoff Blewitt (Blewitt, 2008) to fix phase ambiguities in continuous networks. To mitigate the effect of common mode noise we use the positions of stations in the network with very long, clean time series (i.e. those with no large outliers or offsets) to transform all position estimates into “regionally filtered” results following the approach of Hammond and Thatcher (2007). Velocity uncertainties from continuously operated GPS stations tend to be about 3 times smaller than those from campaign data. Langbein (2004) presents a maximum likelihood method for fitting a time series employing a variety of temporal noise models. We assume that GPS observations are contaminated by a combination of white, flicker, and random walk noise. For continuous and semi-permanent time series longer than 2 years we estimate these values, otherwise we fix the amplitudes of these

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.

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...

77 FR 70421 - GPS Satellite Simulator Control Working Group Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-26

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Air Force GPS Satellite Simulator Control Working Group Meeting AGENCY: Space and Missile Systems Center, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Directorate, Department of the Air Force, DoD. ACTION: Meeting Notice. SUMMARY: This meeting notice is to inform GPS...

Accuracy, intra- and inter-unit reliability, and comparison between GPS and UWB-based position-tracking systems used for time-motion analyses in soccer.

Science.gov (United States)

Bastida Castillo, Alejandro; Gómez Carmona, Carlos D; De la Cruz Sánchez, Ernesto; Pino Ortega, José

2018-05-01

There is interest in the accuracy and inter-unit reliability of position-tracking systems to monitor players. Research into this technology, although relatively recent, has grown exponentially in the last years, and it is difficult to find professional team sport that does not use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology at least. The aim of this study is to know the accuracy of both GPS-based and Ultra Wide Band (UWB)-based systems on a soccer field and their inter- and intra-unit reliability. A secondary aim is to compare them for practical applications in sport science. Following institutional ethical approval and familiarization, 10 healthy and well-trained former soccer players (20 ± 1.6 years, 1.76 ± 0.08 cm, and 69.5 ± 9.8 kg) performed three course tests: (i) linear course, (ii) circular course, and (iii) a zig-zag course, all using UWB and GPS technologies. The average speed and distance covered were compared with timing gates and the real distance as references. The UWB technology showed better accuracy (bias: 0.57-5.85%), test-retest reliability (%TEM: 1.19), and inter-unit reliability (bias: 0.18) in determining distance covered than the GPS technology (bias: 0.69-6.05%; %TEM: 1.47; bias: 0.25) overall. Also, UWB showed better results (bias: 0.09; ICC: 0.979; bias: 0.01) for mean velocity measurement than GPS (bias: 0.18; ICC: 0.951; bias: 0.03).

GPS/DR Error Estimation for Autonomous Vehicle Localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Byung-Hyun; Song, Jong-Hwa; Im, Jun-Hyuck; Im, Sung-Hyuck; Heo, Moon-Beom; Jee, Gyu-In

2015-08-21

Autonomous vehicles require highly reliable navigation capabilities. For example, a lane-following method cannot be applied in an intersection without lanes, and since typical lane detection is performed using a straight-line model, errors can occur when the lateral distance is estimated in curved sections due to a model mismatch. Therefore, this paper proposes a localization method that uses GPS/DR error estimation based on a lane detection method with curved lane models, stop line detection, and curve matching in order to improve the performance during waypoint following procedures. The advantage of using the proposed method is that position information can be provided for autonomous driving through intersections, in sections with sharp curves, and in curved sections following a straight section. The proposed method was applied in autonomous vehicles at an experimental site to evaluate its performance, and the results indicate that the positioning achieved accuracy at the sub-meter level.

Retained satellite information influences performance of GPS devices in a forested ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Katie M. Moriarty; Clinton W. Epps

2015-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) units used in animal telemetry often suffer from nonrandom data loss and location error. GPS units use stored satellite information to estimate locations, including almanac and ephemeris data reflecting satellite positions at weekly and at <4-hr temporal scales, respectively. Using the smallest GPS collars (45–51 g) available for...

GPS system simulation methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Ewing, Thomas F.

1993-01-01

The following topics are presented: background; Global Positioning System (GPS) methodology overview; the graphical user interface (GUI); current models; application to space nuclear power/propulsion; and interfacing requirements. The discussion is presented in vugraph form.

GPS sledovací systém

OpenAIRE

Hofman, Jan

2010-01-01

V práci je popsán základní princip a vlastnosti globálního pozičního systému GPS. Je zde přiblížena problematika určování polohy, rychlosti a nadmořské výšky. Tyto poznatky jsou dále použity pro návrh zařízení, které komunikuje s běžně vyráběným GPS přijímačem a z něj získané informace zpracovává a ukládá do paměti pro pozdější vyhodnocení The keystone and properties of Global Position System (GPS) are described in this thesis. The thesis explains questions of position, speed and elevation...

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<sub>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<sub>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<sub>m> in terms of surface temperature (T<sub>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<sub>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<sub>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<sub>m>-based model is found to be in par with if not better than a

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 ...

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...

Assessing the role of GPs in Nordic health care systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Quaye, Randolph K

2016-05-03

Purpose This paper examines the changing role of general practitioners (GPs) in Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It aims to explore the "gate keeping" role of GPs in the face of current changes in the health care delivery systems in these countries. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from existing literature, interviews with GPs, hospital specialists and representatives of Danish regions and Norwegian Medical Association. Findings The paper contends that in all these changes, the position of the GPs in the medical division of labor has been strengthened, and patients now have increased and broadened access to choice. Research limitations/implications Health care cost and high cancer mortality rates have forced Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark to rethink their health care systems. Several attempts have been made to reduce health care cost through market reform and by strenghtening the position of GPs. The evidence suggests that in Norway and Denmark, right incentives are in place to achieve this goal. Sweden is not far behind. The paper has limitations of a small sample size and an exclusive focus on GPs. Practical implications Anecdotal evidence suggests that physicians are becoming extremely unhappy. Understanding the changing status of primary care physicians will yield valuable information for assessing the effectiveness of Nordic health care delivery systems. Social implications This study has wider implications of how GPs see their role as potential gatekeepers in the Nordic health care systems. The role of GPs is changing as a result of recent health care reforms. Originality/value This paper contends that in Norway and Denmark, right incentives are in place to strengthen the position of GPs.

The covariance of GPS coordinates and frames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lachieze-Rey, Marc

2006-01-01

We explore, in the general relativistic context, the properties of the recently introduced global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, as well as those of the associated frames and coframes that they define. We show that they are covariant and completely independent of any observer. We show that standard spectroscopic and astrometric observations allow any observer to measure (i) the values of the GPS coordinates at his position (ii) the components of his 4-velocity and (iii) the components of the metric in the GPS frame. This provides this system with a unique value both for conceptual discussion (no frame dependence) and for practical use (involved quantities are directly measurable): localization, motion monitoring, astrometry, cosmography and tests of gravitation theories. We show explicitly, in the general relativistic context, how an observer may estimate his position and motion, and reconstruct the components of the metric. This arises from two main results: the extension of the velocity fields of the probes to the whole (curved) spacetime, and the identification of the components of the observer's velocity in the GPS frame with the (inversed) observed redshifts of the probes. Specific cases (non-relativistic velocities, Minkowski and Friedmann-Lemaitre spacetimes, geodesic motions) are studied in detail

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.

Effect of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticles on positive streamer propagation in transformer oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lv, Yuzhen, E-mail: yzlv@ncepu.edu.cn [Beijing Key Laboratory of High Voltage and EMC, School of Electric and Electronic Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206 (China); School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206 (China); Wang, Qi; Ge, Yang [Beijing Key Laboratory of High Voltage and EMC, School of Electric and Electronic Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206 (China); Zhou, You [Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Smart Grids Operation and Control, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, 410076 (China); Li, Chengrong, E-mail: lcr@ncepu.edu.cn; Qi, Bo [Beijing Key Laboratory of High Voltage and EMC, School of Electric and Electronic Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206 (China); State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206 (China)

2016-03-15

Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticles with an average diameter of 10 nm were prepared and used to modify streamer characteristic of transformer oil. It was found that positive streamer propagation velocity in transformer oil-based Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanofluid is greatly reduced by 51% in comparison with that in pure oil. The evolution of streamer shape is also dramatically affected by the presence of nanoparticles, changing from a tree-like shape with sharp branches in pure oil to a bush-like structure with thicker and denser branches in nanofluid. The TSC results reveal that the modification of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticle can greatly increase the density of shallow trap and change space charge distribution in nanofluid by converting fast electrons into slow electrons via trapping and de-trapping process in shallow traps. These negative space charges induced by nanoparticles greatly alleviate the electric field distortion in front of the positive streamer tip and significantly hinder the propagation of positive streamer.

Trends in characteristics of sub-daily heavy precipitation and rainfall erosivity in the Czech Republic

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hanel, M.; Pavlásková, A.; Kyselý, Jan

2016-01-01

Roč. 36, č. 4 (2016), s. 1833-1845 ISSN 0899-8418 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : sub-daily precipitation * fainfall events * erosivity * extremes * climate variability * Central Europe Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 3.760, year: 2016

Monitoring daily and sub-daily variations in crustal strain with seismic arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, S.; Campillo, M.; van der Hilst, R. D.; Brenguier, F.; Hillers, G.

2017-12-01

We demonstrate that we can monitor deformation of the shallow crust (with hourly temporal resolution) directly with seismic waves, by measuring relative seismic wave speed changes (dv/v) due to relatively known periodical forcing (tides and changes in atmospheric temperature) at Piton de la Fournaise Volcano (PdF), La Réunion. We use ambient seismic noise recorded (for one month) at VolcArray, an experiment with three arrays of 49 vertical-component geophones deployed on a 7x7 grid of approximately 80 m spacing. Through noise-based coda wave interferometry we infer for each array the average relative changes in propagation speed of seismic waves (dv/v) as a function of time, which relate to temporal changes in medium properties within 100m depth. The variations in dv/v ( 0.05%) on time-scales longer than a day are best explained by effects of precipitation on pore pressure. In contrast, the (weaker) daily and sub-daily fluctuations of dv/v ( 0.01%) are likely to be caused by tidal and thermal effects. We verify that the inferred variations of dv/v are unrelated to spatiotemporal changes of noise wavefields. We further compare the power spectrum of dv/v with spectra of simulated tide-induced volumetric strain, temperature records, very broadband (VBB) seismograms, and borehole tilt records. In all five types of data, dominant peaks are found at around diurnal, semi-diurnal, and ter-diurnal frequencies. A comparison of phase and spectra of the data suggests that the tidal and thermal effects on dv/v are of similar magnitude but vary with frequency. Theoretical modeling of tide- and temperature-induced strain in different frequency bands agrees with the relative magnitude of the two effects on dv/v from passive monitoring.

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

Dealing with Daily Challenges in Dementia (Deal-id Study): An Experience Sampling Study to Assess Caregivers' Sense of Competence and Experienced Positive Affect in Daily Life.

Science.gov (United States)

van Knippenberg, Rosalia J M; de Vugt, Marjolein E; Ponds, Rudolf W; Myin-Germeys, Inez; Verhey, Frans R J

2017-08-01

Positive emotions and feelings of competence seem to play an important role in the well-being of caregivers of people with dementia. Both are likely to fluctuate constantly throughout the caretaking process. Unlike standard retrospective methods, momentary assessments in daily life can provide insight into these moment-to-moment fluctuations. Therefore, in this study both retrospective and momentary assessments were used to examine the relationship between caregivers' sense of competence and their experienced positive affect (PA) in daily life. Thirty Dutch caregivers provided momentary data on PA and daily sense of competence ratings for 6 consecutive days using the experience sampling methodology. Additionally, they reported retrospectively on their sense of competence with a traditional questionnaire. A positive association was found between retrospective and daily measured sense of competence. Caregivers reported corresponding levels of sense of competence on both measures. Both daily and retrospective sense of competence were positively associated with the experienced levels of PA. However, daily sense of competence appeared to be the strongest predictor. Regarding the variability in PA, only daily sense of competence showed a significant association, with a higher daily sense of competence predicting a more stable PA pattern. This study provides support for redirecting caregiver support interventions toward enhancement of positive rather than negative experiences and focusing more on caregivers' momentary emotional experiences. Momentary assessments are a valuable addition to standard retrospective measures and provide a more comprehensive and dynamic view of caregiver functioning. Copyright © 2016 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of habitat-specific GPS positional error on detection of movement scales by first-passage time analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David M Williams

Full Text Available Advances in animal tracking technologies have reduced but not eliminated positional error. While aware of such inherent error, scientists often proceed with analyses that assume exact locations. The results of such analyses then represent one realization in a distribution of possible outcomes. Evaluating results within the context of that distribution can strengthen or weaken our confidence in conclusions drawn from the analysis in question. We evaluated the habitat-specific positional error of stationary GPS collars placed under a range of vegetation conditions that produced a gradient of canopy cover. We explored how variation of positional error in different vegetation cover types affects a researcher's ability to discern scales of movement in analyses of first-passage time for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus. We placed 11 GPS collars in 4 different vegetative canopy cover types classified as the proportion of cover above the collar (0-25%, 26-50%, 51-75%, and 76-100%. We simulated the effect of positional error on individual movement paths using cover-specific error distributions at each location. The different cover classes did not introduce any directional bias in positional observations (1 m≤mean≤6.51 m, 0.24≤p≤0.47, but the standard deviation of positional error of fixes increased significantly with increasing canopy cover class for the 0-25%, 26-50%, 51-75% classes (SD = 2.18 m, 3.07 m, and 4.61 m, respectively and then leveled off in the 76-100% cover class (SD = 4.43 m. We then added cover-specific positional errors to individual deer movement paths and conducted first-passage time analyses on the noisy and original paths. First-passage time analyses were robust to habitat-specific error in a forest-agriculture landscape. For deer in a fragmented forest-agriculture environment, and species that move across similar geographic extents, we suggest that first-passage time analysis is robust with regard to

An Extended ADOP for Performance Evaluation of Single-Frequency Single-Epoch Positioning by BDS/GPS in Asia-Pacific Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Liu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Single-Frequency Single-Epoch (SFSE high-precision positioning has always been the hot spot of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS, and ambiguity dilution of precision (ADOP is a well-known scalar measure for success rate of ambiguity resolution. Traditional ADOP expression is complicated, thus the SFSE extended ADOP (E-ADOP, with the newly defined Summation-Multiplication Ratio of Weight (SMRW and two theorems for short baseline, was developed. This simplifies the ADOP expression; gives a clearer insight into the influences of SMRW and number of satellites on E-ADOP; and makes theoretical analysis of E-ADOP more convenient than that of ADOP, and through that the E-ADOP value can be predicted more accurately than through the ADOP expression for ADOP value. E-ADOP reveals that number of satellites and SMRW or high-elevation satellite are important for ADOP and, through E-ADOP, we studied which factor is dominant to control ADOP in different conditions and make ADOP different between BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS, Global Positioning System (GPS, and BDS/GPS. Based on experimental results of SFSE positioning with different baselines, some conclusions are made: (1 ADOP decreases when new satellites are added mainly because the number of satellites becomes larger; (2 when the number of satellites is constant, ADOP is mainly affected by SMRW; (3 in contrast to systems where the satellites with low-elevation are the majority or where low- and high-elevation satellites are equally distributed, in systems where the high-elevation satellites are the majority, the SMRW mainly makes ADOP smaller, even if there are fewer satellites than in the two previous cases, and the difference in numbers of satellites can be expanded as the proportion of high-elevation satellites becomes larger; and (4 ADOP of BDS is smaller than ADOP of GPS mainly because of its SMRW.

Arctic Tides from GPS on sea-ice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kildegaard Rose, Stine; Skourup, Henriette; Forsberg, René

2013-01-01

The presence of sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean plays a significant role in the Arctic climate. Sea-ice dampens the ocean tide amplitude with the result that global tidal models perform less accurately in the polar regions. This paper presents, a kinematic processing of global positioning system (GPS....... The results show coherence between the GPS buoy measurements, and the tide model. Furthermore, we have proved that the reference ellipsoid of WGS84, can be interpolated to the tidal defined zero level by applying geophysical corrections to the GPS data....

Real-time reconstruction of topside ionosphere scale height from coordinated GPS-TEC and ionosonde observations

Science.gov (United States)

Gulyaeva, Tamara; Poustovalova, Ljubov

The International Reference Ionosphere model extended to the plasmasphere, IRI-Plas, has been recently updated for assimilation of total electron content, TEC, derived from observations with Global Navigation Satellite System, GNSS. The ionosonde products of the F2 layer peak density (NmF2) and height (hmF2) ensure true electron density maximum at the F2 peak. The daily solar and magnetic indices used by IRI-Plas code are compiled in data files including the 3-hour ap and kp magnetic index from 1958 onward, 12-monthly smoothed sunspot number R12 and Global Electron Content GEC12, daily solar radio flux F10.7 and daily sunspot number Ri. The 3-h ap-index is available in Real Time, RT, mode from GFZ, Potsdam, Germany, daily update of F10.7 is provided by Space Weather Canada service, and daily estimated international sunspot number Ri is provided by Solar Influences Data Analysis Center, SIDC, Belgium. For IRI-Plas-RT operation in regime of the daily update and prediction of the F2 layer peak parameters, the proxy kp and ap forecast for 3 to 24 hours ahead based on data for preceding 12 hours is applied online at http://www.izmiran.ru/services/iweather/. The topside electron density profile of IRI-Plas code is expressed with complementary half-peak density anchor height above hmF2 which corresponds to transition O+/H+ height. The present investigation is focused on reconstruction of topside ionosphere scale height using vertical total electron content (TEC) data derived from the Global Positioning System GPS observations and the ionosonde derived F2 layer peak parameters from 25 observatories ingested into IRI-Plas model. GPS-TEC and ionosonde measurements at solar maximum (September, 2002, and October, 2003) for quiet, positively disturbed, and negatively disturbed days of the month are used to obtain the topside scale height, Htop, representing the range of altitudes from hmF2 to the height where NmF2 decay by e times occurs. Mapping of the F2 layer peak parameters

Evaluating the performance of a low-cost GPS in precision agriculture applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kjeld; Larsen, Morten; Simonsen, Tom

2012-01-01

Field Robots are often equipped with a Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS to obtain precise positioning. In many precision agriculture applications, however, the robot operates in semi-structured environments like orchards and row crops, where local sensors such as computer vision and laser range...... scanners can produce accurate positioning relative to the crops. GPS is then primarily needed for robust inter-row navigation. This work evaluates a new low-cost GPS. Static tests were used to test the absolute accuracy. To test the GPS in a precision agriculture environment it was installed on a robot...

GPS/DR Error Estimation for Autonomous Vehicle Localization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Byung-Hyun Lee

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Autonomous vehicles require highly reliable navigation capabilities. For example, a lane-following method cannot be applied in an intersection without lanes, and since typical lane detection is performed using a straight-line model, errors can occur when the lateral distance is estimated in curved sections due to a model mismatch. Therefore, this paper proposes a localization method that uses GPS/DR error estimation based on a lane detection method with curved lane models, stop line detection, and curve matching in order to improve the performance during waypoint following procedures. The advantage of using the proposed method is that position information can be provided for autonomous driving through intersections, in sections with sharp curves, and in curved sections following a straight section. The proposed method was applied in autonomous vehicles at an experimental site to evaluate its performance, and the results indicate that the positioning achieved accuracy at the sub-meter level.

75 FR 28318 - Eighty-Second Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-20

..., GPS/Inertial, Colson Board Room. Wednesday, June 9th All Day, Working Group 2, GPS/WAAS, Hilton-ATA...-NBAA Room & Hilton-ATA Room. Friday, June 11th Plenary Session--See Agenda Below Agenda--Plenary Session--Agenda June 11th, 2010--starting at 9 a.m. MacIntosh-NBAA & Hilton-ATA Rooms Chairman's...

GPS Usage in a Population of Low-Vision Drivers.

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Cucuras, Maria; Chun, Robert; Lee, Patrick; Jay, Walter M; Pusateri, Gregg

2017-01-01

We surveyed bioptic and non-bioptic low-vision drivers in Illinois, USA, to determine their usage of global positioning system (GPS) devices. Low-vision patients completed an IRB-approved phone survey regarding driving demographics and usage of GPS while driving. Participants were required to be active drivers with an Illinois driver's license, and met one of the following criteria: best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) less than or equal to 20/40, central or significant peripheral visual field defects, or a combination of both. Of 27 low-vision drivers, 10 (37%) used GPS while driving. The average age for GPS users was 54.3 and for non-users was 77.6. All 10 drivers who used GPS while driving reported increased comfort or safety level. Since non-GPS users were significantly older than GPS users, it is likely that older participants would benefit from GPS technology training from their low-vision eye care professionals.

Overview of GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-18

January 13, 2012 National SpaceBased Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee (EXCOM) cochair letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) proposed to draft new Global Positioning System (GPS)...

LADOTD GPS technology management plan.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

Over many years, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has been adopted by different sections within the Louisiana : Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), with no uniform standards for accuracy, operation, hardware, or : software....

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.

Precise positioning with current multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite Systems: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xingxing; Zhang, Xiaohong; Ren, Xiaodong; Fritsche, Mathias; Wickert, Jens; Schuh, Harald

2015-02-09

The world of satellite navigation is undergoing dramatic changes with the rapid development of multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs). At the moment more than 70 satellites are already in view, and about 120 satellites will be available once all four systems (BeiDou + Galileo + GLONASS + GPS) are fully deployed in the next few years. This will bring great opportunities and challenges for both scientific and engineering applications. In this paper we develop a four-system positioning model to make full use of all available observations from different GNSSs. The significant improvement of satellite visibility, spatial geometry, dilution of precision, convergence, accuracy, continuity and reliability that a combining utilization of multi-GNSS brings to precise positioning are carefully analyzed and evaluated, especially in constrained environments.

Geomagnetic Storm Impact On GPS Code Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Uray, Fırat; Varlık, Abdullah; Kalaycı, İbrahim; Öǧütcü, Sermet

2017-04-01

This paper deals with the geomagnetic storm impact on GPS code processing with using GIPSY/OASIS research software. 12 IGS stations in mid-latitude were chosen to conduct the experiment. These IGS stations were classified as non-cross correlation receiver reporting P1 and P2 (NONCC-P1P2), non-cross correlation receiver reporting C1 and P2 (NONCC-C1P2) and cross-correlation (CC-C1P2) receiver. In order to keep the code processing consistency between the classified receivers, only P2 code observations from the GPS satellites were processed. Four extreme geomagnetic storms October 2003, day of the year (DOY), 29, 30 Halloween Storm, November 2003, DOY 20, November 2004, DOY 08 and four geomagnetic quiet days in 2005 (DOY 92, 98, 99, 100) were chosen for this study. 24-hour rinex data of the IGS stations were processed epoch-by-epoch basis. In this way, receiver clock and Earth Centered Earth Fixed (ECEF) Cartesian Coordinates were solved for a per-epoch basis for each day. IGS combined broadcast ephemeris file (brdc) were used to partly compensate the ionospheric effect on the P2 code observations. There is no tropospheric model was used for the processing. Jet Propulsion Laboratory Application Technology Satellites (JPL ATS) computed coordinates of the stations were taken as true coordinates. The differences of the computed ECEF coordinates and assumed true coordinates were resolved to topocentric coordinates (north, east, up). Root mean square (RMS) errors for each component were calculated for each day. The results show that two-dimensional and vertical accuracy decreases significantly during the geomagnetic storm days comparing with the geomagnetic quiet days. It is observed that vertical accuracy is much more affected than the horizontal accuracy by geomagnetic storm. Up to 50 meters error in vertical component has been observed in geomagnetic storm day. It is also observed that performance of Klobuchar ionospheric correction parameters during geomagnetic storm

Triple-frequency GPS precise point positioning with rapid ambiguity resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, Jianghui; Bock, Yehuda

2013-05-01

At present, reliable ambiguity resolution in real-time GPS precise point positioning (PPP) can only be achieved after an initial observation period of a few tens of minutes. In this study, we propose a method where the incoming triple-frequency GPS signals are exploited to enable rapid convergences to ambiguity-fixed solutions in real-time PPP. Specifically, extra-wide-lane ambiguity resolution can be first achieved almost instantaneously with the Melbourne-Wübbena combination observable on L2 and L5. Then the resultant unambiguous extra-wide-lane carrier-phase is combined with the wide-lane carrier-phase on L1 and L2 to form an ionosphere-free observable with a wavelength of about 3.4 m. Although the noise of this observable is around 100 times the raw carrier-phase noise, its wide-lane ambiguity can still be resolved very efficiently, and the resultant ambiguity-fixed observable can assist much better than pseudorange in speeding up succeeding narrow-lane ambiguity resolution. To validate this method, we use an advanced hardware simulator to generate triple-frequency signals and a high-grade receiver to collect 1-Hz data. When the carrier-phase precisions on L1, L2 and L5 are as poor as 1.5, 6.3 and 1.5 mm, respectively, wide-lane ambiguity resolution can still reach a correctness rate of over 99 % within 20 s. As a result, the correctness rate of narrow-lane ambiguity resolution achieves 99 % within 65 s, in contrast to only 64 % within 150 s in dual-frequency PPP. In addition, we also simulate a multipath-contaminated data set and introduce new ambiguities for all satellites every 120 s. We find that when multipath effects are strong, ambiguity-fixed solutions are achieved at 78 % of all epochs in triple-frequency PPP whilst almost no ambiguities are resolved in dual-frequency PPP. Therefore, we demonstrate that triple-frequency PPP has the potential to achieve ambiguity-fixed solutions within a few minutes, or even shorter if raw carrier-phase precisions are

Managing barriers to empathy in the clinical encounter: a qualitative interview study with GPs.

Science.gov (United States)

Derksen, Frans Awm; Olde Hartman, Tim C; Bensing, Jozien M; Lagro-Janssen, Antoine Lm

2016-12-01

Current daily general practice has become increasingly technical and somatically oriented (where attention to patients' feelings is decreased) due to an increase in protocol-based guidelines. Priorities in GP-patient communication have shifted from a focus on listening and empathy to task-oriented communication. To explore what barriers GPs experience when applying empathy in daily practice, and how these barriers are managed. Thirty Dutch GPs with sufficient heterogeneity in sex, age, type of practice, and rural or urban setting were interviewed. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) were applied. The verbatim transcripts were then analysed. According to participating GPs, the current emphasis on protocol-driven care can be a significant barrier to genuineness in communication. Other potential barriers mentioned were time pressures and constraints, and dealing with patients displaying 'unruly behaviour' or those with personality disorders. GPs indicated that it can be difficult to balance emotional involvement and professional distance. Longer consulting times, smaller practice populations, and efficient practice organisation were described as practical solutions. In order to focus on a patient-as-person approach, GPs strongly suggested that deviating from guidelines should be possible when necessary as an element of good-quality care. Joining intercollegiate counselling groups was also discussed. In addition to practical solutions for barriers to behaving empathically, GPs indicated that they needed more freedom to balance working with protocols and guidelines, as well as a patient-as-person and patient-as-partner approach. This balance is necessary to remain connected with patients and to deliver care that is truly personal. © British Journal of General Practice 2016.

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

Comparing Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Measures of Team Sport Movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Benjamin M; Polglaze, Ted; Dawson, Brian; King, Trish; Peeling, Peter

2018-02-21

To compare data from conventional GPS and new GNSS-enabled tracking devices, and to examine the inter-unit reliability of GNSS devices. Inter-device differences between 10 Hz GPS and GNSS devices were examined during laps (n=40) of a simulated game circuit (SGC) and during elite hockey matches (n=21); GNSS inter-unit reliability was also examined during the SGC laps. Differences in distance values and measures in three velocity categories (low 5 m.s -1 ) and acceleration/deceleration counts (>1.46 m.s -2 and GPS devices in all conditions. These findings suggest that GNSS devices may be more sensitive than GPS in quantifying the physical demands of team sport movements, but further study into the accuracy of GNSS devices is required.

Backyard Botany: Using GPS Technology in the Science Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

March, Kathryn A.

2012-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) technology can be used to connect students to the natural world and improve their skills in observation, identification, and classification. Using GPS devices in the classroom increases student interest in science, encourages team-building skills, and improves biology content knowledge. Additionally, it helps…

Bidirectional, Temporal Associations of Sleep with Positive Events, Affect, and Stressors in Daily Life Across a Week.

Science.gov (United States)

Sin, Nancy L; Almeida, David M; Crain, Tori L; Kossek, Ellen Ernst; Berkman, Lisa F; Buxton, Orfeu M

2017-06-01

Sleep is intricately tied to emotional well-being, yet little is known about the reciprocal links between sleep and psychosocial experiences in the context of daily life. The aim of this study is to evaluate daily psychosocial experiences (positive and negative affect, positive events, and stressors) as predictors of same-night sleep quality and duration, in addition to the reversed associations of nightly sleep predicting next-day experiences. Daily experiences and self-reported sleep were assessed via telephone interviews for eight consecutive evenings in two replicate samples of US employees (131 higher-income professionals and 181 lower-income hourly workers). Multilevel models evaluated within-person associations of daily experiences with sleep quality and duration. Analyses controlled for demographics, insomnia symptoms, the previous day's experiences and sleep measures, and additional day-level covariates. Daily positive experiences were associated with improved as well as disrupted subsequent sleep. Specifically, positive events at home predicted better sleep quality in both samples, whereas greater positive affect was associated with shorter sleep duration among the higher-income professionals. Negative affect and stressors were unrelated to subsequent sleep. Results for the reversed direction revealed that better sleep quality (and, to a lesser degree, longer sleep duration) predicted emotional well-being and lower odds of encountering stressors on the following day. Given the reciprocal relationships between sleep and daily experiences, efforts to improve well-being in daily life should reflect the importance of sleep.

Briefing Highlights Vulnerability of GPS to Adverse Space Weather

Science.gov (United States)

Balcerak, Ernie

2011-08-01

Through its effects on GPS and other technologies, space weather can affect a variety of industries, including agriculture, commercial air travel, and emergency response. Speakers focused on these topics at a 22 June briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. Solar flares can produce radio bursts that directly interfere with GPS signals. Solar activity can also cause ionospheric disturbances that produce distortions and delays in GPS signals, degrading the accuracy of positioning and navigation systems.

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 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.

Routing Unmanned Vehicles in GPS-Denied Environments

OpenAIRE

Sundar, Kaarthik; Misra, Sohum; Rathinam, Sivakumar; Sharma, Rajnikant

2017-01-01

Most of the routing algorithms for unmanned vehicles, that arise in data gathering and monitoring applications in the literature, rely on the Global Positioning System (GPS) information for localization. However, disruption of GPS signals either intentionally or unintentionally could potentially render these algorithms not applicable. In this article, we present a novel method to address this difficulty by combining methods from cooperative localization and routing. In particular, the article...

Accelerometer and GPS Analysis of Trail Use and Associations With Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamura, Kosuke; Wilson, Jeffrey S; Puett, Robin C; Klenosky, David B; Harper, William A; Troped, Philip J

2018-03-26

Concurrent use of accelerometers and global positioning system (GPS) data can be used to quantify physical activity (PA) occurring on trails. This study examined associations of trail use with PA and sedentary behavior (SB) and quantified on trail PA using a combination of accelerometer and GPS data. Adults (N = 142) wore accelerometer and GPS units for 1-4 days. Trail use was defined as a minimum of 2 consecutive minutes occurring on a trail, based on GPS data. We examined associations between trail use and PA and SB. On trail minutes of light-intensity, moderate-intensity, and vigorous-intensity PA, and SB were quantified in 2 ways, using accelerometer counts only and with a combination of GPS speed and accelerometer data. Trail use was positively associated with total PA, moderate-intensity PA, and light-intensity PA (P GPS and accelerometer data for quantifying on trail activity may be more accurate than accelerometer data alone and is useful for classifying intensity of activities such as bicycling.

Diagnosing skin disease in primary care: a qualitative study of GPs' approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Rübsam, Marie-Luise; Esch, Maximilian; Baum, Erika; Bösner, Stefan

2015-10-01

Skin diseases are a common reason for consulting a GP. This regular occurrence happens despite most GPs' lack of knowledge and training in skin disease. We aimed to explore different diagnostic approaches of GPs in patients presenting with a dermatological problem. In addition, we aimed to identify strategies used by GPs to handle diagnostic uncertainty in these patients. We conducted interviews (20-40 minutes) with 14 GPs using a semi-structured guideline. Recalling encounters with patients with skin disease, GPs described their individual diagnostic strategies. Interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative analysis was conducted by two independent raters using a deductive-inductive approach. We identified several aspects of a complex decision-making process in GPs' diagnostic management of patients with dermatological problems. In the general diagnostic workup, GPs used a broad spectrum of different strategies such as spot diagnosis, stepwise refinement, pattern recognition trigger or test of treatment. GPs reduced diagnostic uncertainty through the identification of red flags, the application of the test of time, therapeutic trials and asking for further advice, including patient referral. GPs encounter a broad range of dermatological problems in their daily work using a variety of strategies in the workup of these patients. However, in a significant number of patients, there remains diagnostic uncertainty that is mainly reduced by specialist referral. Regular training in the diagnosis and treatment of common dermatological diseases should be offered to all GPs. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Position of Sub-Saharan Countries in the World Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baumgartner Boris

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Most of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa belong to the most underdeveloped and poorest countries in the world economy. This region consists of forty-nine countries but at world GDP, world export, world import and inflow of foreign direct investment share only by small percent. There are some positive facts in the recent history of sub- Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has grown faster than the world economy in the past ten years. The predictions are also positive. There is an expectation of another growth till the 2020. If the sub-Saharan countries want to keep the growth in the future they have to invest to infrastructure, in educational system, in research and science to make their economies more competitive.

Seasonal and circadian biases in bird tracking with solar GPS-tags

OpenAIRE

Silva, Rafa; Afán, Isabel; Gil, Juan A.; Bustamante, Javier

2017-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) tags are nowadays widely used in wildlife tracking. This geolocation technique can suffer from fix loss biases due to poor satellite GPS geometry, that result in tracking data gaps leading to wrong research conclusions. In addition, new solar-powered GPS tags deployed on birds can suffer from a new "battery drain bias" currently ignored in movement ecology analyses. We use a GPS tracking dataset of bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus), tracked for several years...

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...

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

Indirect effect of financial strain on daily cortisol output through daily negative to positive affect index in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Puterman, Eli; Haritatos, Jana; Adler, Nancy E; Sidney, Steve; Schwartz, Joseph E; Epel, Elissa S

2013-12-01

Daily affect is important to health and has been linked to cortisol. The combination of high negative affect and low positive affect may have a bigger impact on increasing HPA axis activity than either positive or negative affect alone. Financial strain may both dampen positive affect as well as increase negative affect, and thus provides an excellent context for understanding the associations between daily affect and cortisol. Using random effects mixed modeling with maximum likelihood estimation, we examined the relationship between self-reported financial strain and estimated mean daily cortisol level (latent cortisol variable), based on six salivary cortisol assessments throughout the day, and whether this relationship was mediated by greater daily negative to positive affect index measured concurrently in a sample of 776 Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study participants. The analysis revealed that while no total direct effect existed for financial strain on cortisol, there was a significant indirect effect of high negative affect to low positive affect, linking financial strain to elevated cortisol. In this sample, the effects of financial strain on cortisol through either positive affect or negative affect alone were not significant. A combined affect index may be a more sensitive and powerful measure than either negative or positive affect alone, tapping the burden of chronic financial strain, and its effects on biology. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethics support for GPs: what should it look like?

Science.gov (United States)

Clark-Grill, Monika

2016-03-01

INTRODUCTION Ethics support services for hospital clinicians have become increasingly common globally but not as yet in New Zealand. However, an initiative to change this is gathering momentum. Its slogan 'Clinical ethics is everyone's business' indicates that the aim is to encompass all of health care, not just the hospital sector. General Practitioners (GPs) deal with ethical issues on a daily basis. These issues are often quite different from ethical issues in hospitals. To make future ethics support relevant for primary care, local GPs were interviewed to find out how they might envisage ethics support services that could be useful to them. METHODS A focus group interview with six GPs and semi-structured individual interviews with three GPs were conducted. Questions included how they made decisions on ethical issues at present, what they perceived as obstacles to ethical reflection and decision-making, and what support might be helpful. FINDINGS Three areas of ethics support were considered potentially useful: Formal ethics education during GP training, access to an ethicist for assistance with analysing an ethical issue, and professional guidance with structured ethics conversations in peer groups. CONCLUSION The complex nature of general practice requires GPs to be well educated and supported for handling ethical issues. The findings from this study could serve as input to the development of ethics support services. KEYWORDS General practice; primary care; ethics; support; education.

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...

An alternative methodology for the mathematical treatment of GPS positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aly M. El-naggar

2011-12-01

In this paper a simple alternative method is developed to solve the GPS navigation equations directly without linearization and iteration. A practical study was done to evaluate the new model. Performance analysis was conducted using data collected by Trimble 4000SSE dual frequency receiver. The results indicated that the alternative methodology is simple, fast, and accurate as compared to Taylor method.

Improve wildlife species tracking—Implementing an enhanced global positioning system data management system for California condors

Science.gov (United States)

Waltermire, Robert G.; Emmerich, Christopher U.; Mendenhall, Laura C.; Bohrer, Gil; Weinzierl, Rolf P.; McGann, Andrew J.; Lineback, Pat K.; Kern, Tim J.; Douglas, David C.

2016-05-03

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff in the Pacific Southwest Region and at the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex requested technical assistance to improve their global positioning system (GPS) data acquisition, management, and archive in support of the California Condor Recovery Program. The USFWS deployed and maintained GPS units on individual Gymnogyps californianus (California condor) in support of long-term research and daily operational monitoring and management of California condors. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obtained funding through the Science Support Program to provide coordination among project participants, provide GPS Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) transmitters for testing, and compare GSM/GPS with existing Argos satellite GPS technology. The USFWS staff worked with private companies to design, develop, and fit condors with GSM/GPS transmitters. The Movebank organization, an online database of animal tracking data, coordinated with each of these companies to automatically stream their GPS data into Movebank servers and coordinated with USFWS to improve Movebank software for managing transmitter data, including proofing/error checking of incoming GPS data. The USGS arranged to pull raw GPS data from Movebank into the USGS California Condor Management and Analysis Portal (CCMAP) (https://my.usgs.gov/ccmap) for production and dissemination of a daily map of condor movements including various automated alerts. Further, the USGS developed an automatic archiving system for pulling raw and proofed Movebank data into USGS ScienceBase to comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. This improved data management system requires minimal manual intervention resulting in more efficient data flow from GPS data capture to archive status. As a result of the project’s success, Pinnacles National Park and the Ventana Wildlife Society California condor programs became partners and adopted the same

Daily Positive Spillover and Crossover from Mothers’ Work to Youth Health

OpenAIRE

Lawson, Katie M.; Davis, Kelly D.; McHale, Susan M.; Hammer, Leslie B.; Buxton, Orfeu M.

2014-01-01

Prior research shows that employees’ work experiences can “spill over” into their family lives and “cross over” to affect family members. Expanding on studies that emphasize negative implications of work for family life, this study examined positive work-to-family spillover and positive and negative crossover between mothers and their children. Participants were 174 mothers in the extended care (nursing home) industry and their children (ages 9-17), both of whom completed daily diaries on the...

GPs' mental wellbeing and psychological resources: a cross-sectional survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Marylou Anna; Cardwell, Chris; Donnelly, Michael

2017-08-01

The negative impact of work has been the traditional focus of GP surveys. We know little about GP positive mental health and psychological resources. To profile and contextualise GP positive mental health and personal psychological resources. Cross-sectional survey of GPs working in Northern Ireland (NI). A questionnaire comprising the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) and measures of resilience, optimism, self-efficacy, and hope, and sociodemographic information was posted to 400 GPs randomly selected from a publicly available GP register. The response rate was 55% (n = 221 out of 400). Mean value for GP wellbeing (WEMWBS) was 50.2 (standard deviation [SD] 8) compared to UK vets 48.8 (SD 9), UK teachers 47.2 (SD 9), and the population of NI 50.8 (SD 9). After adjustment for confounding, mean WEMWBS was 2.4 units (95% CI = 0.02 to 4.7) higher in female GPs than males ( P = 0.05), and 4.0 units (95% CI = 0.8 to 7.3) higher in GPs ≥55 years than GPs ≤44 years ( P = 0.02). Optimism was 1.1 units higher in female GPs than male GPs (95% CI = 0.1 to 2.0), and 1.56 units higher in GPs ≥55 years (95% CI = 0.2 to 2.9) than in those ≤44 years. Hope was 3 units higher in GPs ≥55 years (95% CI = 0.4 to 5.7) than in those aged 45-54 years. Correlation between WEMWBS and psychological resources was highest with hope ( r = 0.65, P mental health that are comparable to the local population and better than other occupational groups, such as vets and teachers. Male and younger GPs may have most to gain from wellbeing interventions. © British Journal of General Practice 2017.

Briefing highlights space weather risks to GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Tretkoff, Ernie

2011-07-01

Solar storms, which are expected to increase as the Sun nears the most active phase of the solar cycle, can disrupt a variety of technologies on which society relies. Speakers at a 22 June briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C., focused on how space weather can affect the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is used in a wide range of industries, including commercial air travel, agriculture, national security, and emergency response. Rocky Stone, chief technical pilot for United Airlines, noted that GPS allows more aircraft to be in airspace, saves fuel, and helps aircraft move safely on runways. “Improvements in space weather forecasting need to be pursued,” he said. Precision GPS has also “changed the whole nature of farming,” said Ron Hatch, Director of Navigation Systems, NavCom Technology/John Deere. GPS makes it possible for tractors to be driven in the most efficient paths and for fertilizer and water to be applied precisely to the areas that most need them. Space weather-induced degradation of GPS signals can cause significant loss to farms that rely on GPS. Elizabeth Zimmerman, Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), described how FEMA relies on GPS for disaster recovery. The agency is developing an operations plan for dealing with space weather, she said.

Calculation of new snow densities from sub-daily automated snow measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Helfricht, Kay; Hartl, Lea; Koch, Roland; Marty, Christoph; Lehning, Michael; Olefs, Marc

2017-04-01

In mountain regions there is an increasing demand for high-quality analysis, nowcasting and short-range forecasts of the spatial distribution of snowfall. Operational services, such as for avalanche warning, road maintenance and hydrology, as well as hydropower companies and ski resorts need reliable information on the depth of new snow (HN) and the corresponding water equivalent (HNW). However, the ratio of HNW to HN can vary from 1:3 to 1:30 because of the high variability of new snow density with respect to meteorological conditions. In the past, attempts were made to calculate new snow densities from meteorological parameters mainly using daily values of temperature and wind. Further complex statistical relationships have been used to calculate new snow densities on hourly to sub-hourly time intervals to drive multi-layer snow cover models. However, only a few long-term in-situ measurements of new snow density exist for sub-daily time intervals. Settling processes within the new snow due to loading and metamorphism need to be considered when computing new snow density. As the effect of these processes is more pronounced for long time intervals, a high temporal resolution of measurements is desirable. Within the pluSnow project data of several automatic weather stations with simultaneous measurements of precipitation (pluviometers), snow water equivalent (SWE) using snow pillows and snow depth (HS) measurements using ultrasonic rangers were analysed. New snow densities were calculated for a set of data filtered on the basis of meteorological thresholds. The calculated new snow densities were compared to results from existing new snow density parameterizations. To account for effects of settling of the snow cover, a case study based on a multi-year data set using the snow cover model SNOWPACK at Weissfluhjoch was performed. Measured median values of hourly new snow densities at the different stations range from 54 to 83 kgm-3. This is considerably lower than a 1

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...

Scintillation properties of Ce:(La,Gd){sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7} at high temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurosawa, Shunsuke, E-mail: kurosawa@imr.tohoku.ac.jp [Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Miyagi (Japan); New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, 6-6-10 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Miyagi (Japan); Shishido, Toetsu; Sugawara, Takamasa; Nomura, Akiko; Yubuta, Kunio; Suzuki, Akira; Murakami, Rikito [Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Miyagi (Japan); Pejchal, Jan [New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, 6-6-10 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Miyagi (Japan); Institute of Physics, AS CR, Cukrovarnická 10, 162 53 Prague (Czech Republic); Yokota, Yuui; Kamada, Kei [New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, 6-6-10 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Miyagi (Japan); Yoshikawa, Akira [Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Miyagi (Japan); New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, 6-6-10 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Miyagi (Japan); C and A Corporation, 6-6-40 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577 (Japan)

2015-02-01

Temperature dependence of scintillation properties was investigated for (Ce{sub 0.01}, Gd{sub 0.90}, La{sub 0.09}){sub 2}Si{sub 2}O{sub 7} grown by floating zone method. The light output over 35,000 photons/MeV was found constant in the temperature range from 0 °C to 150 °C. In addition, FWHM energy resolution of Ce:La-GPS (roughly 7–8%) at 662 keV remained constant up to 100 °C. Thus, this crystal can be applied to oil well logging or other radiation detection application at high temperature conditions.

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.

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.

A Simultaneously Calibration Approach for Installation and Attitude Errors of an INS/GPS/LDS Target Tracker

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhua Cheng

2015-02-01

Full Text Available To obtain the absolute position of a target is one of the basic topics for non-cooperated target tracking problems. In this paper, we present a simultaneously calibration method for an Inertial navigation system (INS/Global position system (GPS/Laser distance scanner (LDS integrated system based target positioning approach. The INS/GPS integrated system provides the attitude and position of observer, and LDS offers the distance between the observer and the target. The two most significant errors are taken into jointly consideration and analyzed: (1 the attitude measure error of INS/GPS; (2 the installation error between INS/GPS and LDS subsystems. Consequently, a INS/GPS/LDS based target positioning approach considering these two errors is proposed. In order to improve the performance of this approach, a novel calibration method is designed to simultaneously estimate and compensate these two main errors. Finally, simulations are conducted to access the performance of the proposed target positioning approach and the designed simultaneously calibration method.

A simultaneously calibration approach for installation and attitude errors of an INS/GPS/LDS target tracker.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Jianhua; Chen, Daidai; Sun, Xiangyu; Wang, Tongda

2015-02-04

To obtain the absolute position of a target is one of the basic topics for non-cooperated target tracking problems. In this paper, we present a simultaneously calibration method for an Inertial navigation system (INS)/Global position system (GPS)/Laser distance scanner (LDS) integrated system based target positioning approach. The INS/GPS integrated system provides the attitude and position of observer, and LDS offers the distance between the observer and the target. The two most significant errors are taken into jointly consideration and analyzed: (1) the attitude measure error of INS/GPS; (2) the installation error between INS/GPS and LDS subsystems. Consequently, a INS/GPS/LDS based target positioning approach considering these two errors is proposed. In order to improve the performance of this approach, a novel calibration method is designed to simultaneously estimate and compensate these two main errors. Finally, simulations are conducted to access the performance of the proposed target positioning approach and the designed simultaneously calibration method.

Combined ecological momentary assessment and global positioning system tracking to assess smoking behavior: a proof of concept study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, John T; Schick, Robert S; Hallyburton, Matt; Dennis, Michelle F; Kollins, Scott H; Beckham, Jean C; McClernon, F Joseph

2014-01-01

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods have provided a rich assessment of the contextual factors associated with a wide range of behaviors including alcohol use, eating, physical activity, and smoking. Despite this rich database, this information has not been linked to specific locations in space. Such location information, which can now be easily acquired from global positioning system (GPS) tracking devices, could provide unique information regarding the space-time distribution of behaviors and new insights into their determinants. In a proof of concept study, we assessed the acceptability and feasibility of acquiring and combining EMA and GPS data from adult smokers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were adults with ADHD who were enrolled in a larger EMA study on smoking and psychiatric symptoms. Among those enrolled in the latter study who were approached to participate (N = 11), 10 consented, provided daily EMA entries, and carried a GPS device with them during a 7-day assessment period to assess aspects of their smoking behavior. The majority of those eligible to participate were willing to carry a GPS device and signed the consent (10 out of 11, 91%). Of the 10 who consented, 7 participants provided EMA entries and carried the GPS device with them daily for at least 70% of the sampling period. Data are presented on the spatial distribution of smoking episodes and ADHD symptoms on a subset of the sample to demonstrate applications of GPS data. We conclude by discussing how EMA and GPS might be used to study the ecology of smoking and make recommendations for future research and analysis.

Daily and Sub-daily Precipitation for the Former USSR

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset is a compilation of in situ daily and hourly meteorological observations for the former USSR initially obtained within the framework of several joint...

A RLS-SVM Aided Fusion Methodology for INS during GPS Outages.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yiqing; Xu, Xiaosu

2017-02-24

In order to maintain a relatively high accuracy of navigation performance during global positioning system (GPS) outages, a novel robust least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM)-aided fusion methodology is explored to provide the pseudo-GPS position information for the inertial navigation system (INS). The relationship between the yaw, specific force, velocity, and the position increment is modeled. Rather than share the same weight in the traditional LS-SVM, the proposed algorithm allocates various weights for different data, which makes the system immune to the outliers. Field test data was collected to evaluate the proposed algorithm. The comparison results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively provide position corrections for standalone INS during the 300 s GPS outage, which outperforms the traditional LS-SVM method. Historical information is also involved to better represent the vehicle dynamics.

A RLS-SVM Aided Fusion Methodology for INS during GPS Outages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiqing Yao

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In order to maintain a relatively high accuracy of navigation performance during global positioning system (GPS outages, a novel robust least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM-aided fusion methodology is explored to provide the pseudo-GPS position information for the inertial navigation system (INS. The relationship between the yaw, specific force, velocity, and the position increment is modeled. Rather than share the same weight in the traditional LS-SVM, the proposed algorithm allocates various weights for different data, which makes the system immune to the outliers. Field test data was collected to evaluate the proposed algorithm. The comparison results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively provide position corrections for standalone INS during the 300 s GPS outage, which outperforms the traditional LS-SVM method. Historical information is also involved to better represent the vehicle dynamics.

Evaluating the lower-tropospheric COSMIC GPS radio occultation sounding quality over the Arctic

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Xiao; Xie, Feiqin; Ao, Chi O.

2018-04-01

Lower-tropospheric moisture and temperature measurements are crucial for understanding weather prediction and climate change. Global Positioning System radio occultation (GPS RO) has been demonstrated as a high-quality observation technique with high vertical resolution and sub-kelvin temperature precision from the upper troposphere to the stratosphere. In the tropical lower troposphere, particularly the lowest 2 km, the quality of RO retrievals is known to be degraded and is a topic of active research. However, it is not clear whether similar problems exist at high latitudes, particularly over the Arctic, which is characterized by smooth ocean surface and often negligible moisture in the atmosphere. In this study, 3-year (2008-2010) GPS RO soundings from COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) over the Arctic (65-90° N) show uniform spatial sampling with average penetration depth within 300 m above the ocean surface. Over 70 % of RO soundings penetrate deep into the lowest 300 m of the troposphere in all non-summer seasons. However, the fraction of such deeply penetrating profiles reduces to only about 50-60 % in summer, when near-surface moisture and its variation increase. Both structural and parametric uncertainties of GPS RO soundings were also analyzed. The structural uncertainty (due to different data processing approaches) is estimated to be within ˜ 0.07 % in refractivity, ˜ 0.72 K in temperature, and ˜ 0.05 g kg-1 in specific humidity below 10 km, which is derived by comparing RO retrievals from two independent data processing centers. The parametric uncertainty (internal uncertainty of RO sounding) is quantified by comparing GPS RO with near-coincident radiosonde and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim profiles. A systematic negative bias up to ˜ 1 % in refractivity below 2 km is only seen in the summer, which confirms the moisture impact on GPS RO quality.

Capitalizing on Everyday Positive Events Uniquely Predicts Daily Intimacy and Well-Being in Couples Coping with Breast Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Amy K.; Laurenceau, Jean-Philippe; Siegel, Scott D.; Belcher, Amber J.

2017-01-01

Capitalization is the relational process of savoring positive life events by sharing them with responsive relationship partners. The purpose of the present study was to use dyadic intensive longitudinal methods to examine novel hypotheses regarding links between capitalization processes and daily intimacy and well-being in women with breast cancer and their intimate partners. While couples coping with cancer often experience an increase in negative daily life events, we hypothesized that it would be important for them also to share and capitalize on positive events in addition to sharing negative events. Female patients with early-stage breast cancer and their intimate partners (99 couples) completed electronic daily diaries for 7 to 10 consecutive days tapping everyday processes of sharing negative and positive events with each other. Dyadic multilevel process modeling revealed that on days when capitalization attempts (i.e., sharing the best event of the day) occurred, daily feelings of intimacy in the sharer were higher for both patients and partners. Moreover, greater perceived partner responsiveness (PPR) to capitalization attempts was associated with increases in the sharer’s daily feelings of intimacy and decreases in the sharer’s daily negative affect. When the patient’s partner was the sharer, PPR was also associated with increased daily positive affect. Importantly, all effects of capitalization were observed above and beyond the effects of event positivity and sharing negative events (i.e., social support attempts). Findings suggest that, even in the midst of significant life adversity, sharing daily good news with intimate partners enhances relationship well-being independently of sharing bad news. PMID:25528074

Performance of GPS-devices for environmental exposure assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Beekhuizen, Johan; Kromhout, Hans; Huss, Anke; Vermeulen, Roel

2013-01-01

Integration of individual time-location patterns with spatially resolved exposure maps enables a more accurate estimation of personal exposures to environmental pollutants than using estimates at fixed locations. Current global positioning system (GPS) devices can be used to track an individual's location. However, information on GPS-performance in environmental exposure assessment is largely missing. We therefore performed two studies. First, a commute-study, where the commute of 12 individuals was tracked twice, testing GPS-performance for five transport modes and two wearing modes. Second, an urban-tracking study, where one individual was tracked repeatedly through different areas, focused on the effect of building obstruction on GPS-performance. The median error from the true path for walking was 3.7 m, biking 2.9 m, train 4.8 m, bus 4.9 m, and car 3.3 m. Errors were larger in a high-rise commercial area (median error=7.1 m) compared with a low-rise residential area (median error=2.2 m). Thus, GPS-performance largely depends on the transport mode and urban built-up. Although ~85% of all errors were 50 m. Modern GPS-devices are useful tools for environmental exposure assessment, but large GPS-errors might affect estimates of exposures with high spatial variability.

Characteristics of sub-daily precipitation extremes in observed data and regional climate model simulations

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Beranová, Romana; Kyselý, Jan; Hanel, M.

2018-01-01

Roč. 132, 1-2 (2018), s. 515-527 ISSN 0177-798X R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-18675S Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : sub-daily precipitation * regional climate models * extremes * Czech Republic Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology OBOR OECD: Meteorology and atmospheric sciences Impact factor: 2.640, year: 2016 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00704-017-2102-0

Assessment Study of Using Online (CSRS) GPS-PPP Service for Mapping Applications in Egypt

Science.gov (United States)

Abd-Elazeem, Mohamed; Farah, Ashraf; Farrag, Farrag

2011-09-01

Many applications in navigation, land surveying, land title definitions and mapping have been made simpler and more precise due to accessibility of Global Positioning System (GPS) data, and thus the demand for using advanced GPS techniques in surveying applications has become essential. The differential technique was the only source of accurate positioning for many years, and remained in use despite of its cost. The precise point positioning (PPP) technique is a viable alternative to the differential positioning method in which a user with a single receiver can attain positioning accuracy at the centimeter or decimeter scale. In recent years, many organizations introduced online (GPS-PPP) processing services capable of determining accurate geocentric positions using GPS observations. These services provide the user with receiver coordinates in free and unlimited access formats via the internet. This paper investigates the accuracy of the Canadian Spatial Reference System (CSRS) Precise Point Positioning (PPP) (CSRS-PPP) service supervised by the Geodetic Survey Division (GSD), Canada. Single frequency static GPS observations have been collected at three points covering time spans of 60, 90 and 120 minutes. These three observed sites form baselines of 1.6, 7, and 10 km, respectively. In order to assess the CSRS-PPP accuracy, the discrepancies between the CSRS-PPP estimates and the regular differential GPS solutions were computed. The obtained results illustrate that the PPP produces a horizontal error at the scale of a few decimeters; this is accurate enough to serve many mapping applications in developing countries with a savings in both cost and experienced labor.

The Impact of the Processing Batch Length in GNSS Data Analysis on the Estimates of Earth Rotation Parameters with Daily and Subdaily Time Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Meindl, M.; Dach, R.; Thaller, D.; Schaer, S.; Beutler, G.; Jaeggi, A.

2012-04-01

Microwave observations from GNSS are traditionally analyzed in the post-processing mode using (solar) daily data batches. The 24-hour session length differs by only about four minutes from two revolution periods of a GPS satellite (corresponding to one sidereal day). The deep 2:1 resonance of the GPS revolution period with the length of the sidereal day may cause systematic effects in parameter estimates and spurious periodic signals in the resulting parameter time series. The selection of other (than daily) session lengths may help to identify systematic effects and to study their impact on GNSS-derived products. Such investigations are of great interest in a combined multi-GNSS analysis because of substantial differences in the satellites' revolution periods. Three years (2008-2010) of data from a global network of about 90 combined GPS/GLONASS receivers have been analyzed. Four different session lengths were used, namely the traditional 24 hours (UTC), two revolutions of a GLONASS satellite (16/17 sidereal days), two revolutions of a GPS satellite (one sidereal day), and a session length of 18/17 sidereal days, which does not correspond to either two GPS or two GLONASS revolution periods. GPS-only, GLONASS-only, and GPS/GLONASS-combined solution are established for each of the session lengths. Special care was taken to keep the GPS and GLONASS solutions fully consistent and comparable in particular where the station selection is concerned. We generate ERPs with a subdaily time resolution of about 1.4 hours (1/17 sidereal day). Using the session-specific normal equation systems (NEQs) containing the Earth rotation parameters with the 1.4 hours time resolution we derive in addition ERPs with a (sidereal) daily resolution. Note that this step requires the combination of the daily NEQs and a subsequent re-binning of 17 consecutive ERPs with 1/17 day time resolution into one (sidereal) daily parameter. These tests will reveal the impact of the session length on ERP

Measuring Fine-Scale White-Tailed Deer Movements and Environmental Influences Using GPS Collars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, S.L.; Strickland, B.K.; Demarais, S.; Webb, S.L.; Gee, K.L.; DeYoung, R.W.

2010-01-01

Few studies have documented fine-scale movements of ungulate species, including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), despite the advent of global positioning system (GPS) technology incorporated into tracking devices. We collected fine-scale temporal location estimates (i.e., 15 min/relocation attempt) from 17 female and 15 male white-tailed deer over 7 years and 3 seasons in Oklahoma, USA. Our objectives were to document fine-scale movements of females and males and determine effects of reproductive phase, moon phase, and short-term weather patterns on movements. Female and male movements were primarily crepuscular. Male total daily movements were 20% greater during rut (7,363? 364) than postrut (6,156 m±260). Female daily movements were greatest during post parturition (3,357 91), followed by parturition (2,902 m±107), and pre parturition (2,682 m±121). We found moon phase had no effect on daily, nocturnal, and diurnal deer movements and fine-scale temporal weather conditions had an inconsistent influence on deer movement patterns within season. Our data suggest that hourly and daily variation in weather events have minimal impact on movements of white-tailed deer in southern latitudes. Instead, routine crepuscular movements, presumed to maximize thermoregulation and minimize predation risk, appear to be the most important factors influencing movements.

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…

Monitoring distances travelled by horses using GPS tracking collars.

Science.gov (United States)

Hampson, B A; Morton, J M; Mills, P C; Trotter, M G; Lamb, D W; Pollitt, C C

2010-05-01

The aims of this work were to (1) develop a low-cost equine movement tracking collar based on readily available components, (2) conduct preliminary studies assessing the effects of both paddock size and internal fence design on the movements of domestic horses, with and without foals at foot, and (3) describe distances moved by mares and their foals. Additional monitoring of free-ranging feral horses was conducted to allow preliminary comparisons with the movement of confined domestic horses. A lightweight global positioning system (GPS) data logger modified from a personal/vehicle tracker and mounted on a collar was used to monitor the movement of domestic horses in a range of paddock sizes and internal fence designs for 6.5-day periods. In the paddocks used (0.8-16 ha), groups of domestic horses exhibited a logarithmic response in mean daily distance travelled as a function of increasing paddock size, tending asymptotically towards approximately 7.5 km/day. The distance moved by newborn foals was similar to their dams, with total distance travelled also dependent on paddock size. Without altering available paddock area, paddock design, with the exception of a spiral design, did not significantly affect mean daily distance travelled. Feral horses (17.9 km/day) travelled substantially greater mean daily distances than domestic horses (7.2 km/day in 16-ha paddock), even when allowing for larger paddock size. Horses kept in stables or small yards and paddocks are quite sedentary in comparison with their feral relatives. For a given paddock area, most designs did not significantly affect mean daily distance travelled.

Fundamentals of GPS Receivers A Hardware Approach

CERN Document Server

Doberstein, Dan

2012-01-01

While much of the current literature on GPS receivers is aimed at those intimately familiar with their workings, this volume summarizes the basic principles using as little mathematics as possible, and details the necessary specifications and circuits for constructing a GPS receiver that is accurate to within 300 meters. Dedicated sections deal with the features of the GPS signal and its data stream, the details of the receiver (using a hybrid design as exemplar), and more advanced receivers and topics including time and frequency measurements. Later segments discuss the Zarlink GPS receiver chip set, as well as providing a thorough examination of the TurboRogue receiver, one of the most accurate yet made. Guiding the reader through the concepts and circuitry, from the antenna to the solution of user position, the book’s deployment of a hybrid receiver as a basis for discussion allows for extrapolation of the core ideas to more complex, and more accurate designs. Digital methods are used, but any analogue c...

GPS-deprived localisation for underground mines

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Hlophe, K

2010-08-31

Full Text Available robots. Opencast mines utilise the global positioning system (GPS) to obtain location information. The unavailability of this technology in underground mining has actuated numerous researchers to investigate possible alternatives. These attempts exploit...

Global Positioning System (GPS) survey of Augustine Volcano, Alaska, August 3-8, 2000: data processing, geodetic coordinates and comparison with prior geodetic surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Pauk, Benjamin A.; Power, John A.; Lisowski, Mike; Dzurisin, Daniel; Iwatsubo, Eugene Y.; Melbourne, Tim

2001-01-01

Between August 3 and 8,2000,the Alaska Volcano Observatory completed a Global Positioning System (GPS) survey at Augustine Volcano, Alaska. Augustine is a frequently active calcalkaline volcano located in the lower portion of Cook Inlet (fig. 1), with reported eruptions in 1812, 1882, 1909?, 1935, 1964, 1976, and 1986 (Miller et al., 1998). Geodetic measurements using electronic and optical surveying techniques (EDM and theodolite) were begun at Augustine Volcano in 1986. In 1988 and 1989, an island-wide trilateration network comprising 19 benchmarks was completed and measured in its entirety (Power and Iwatsubo, 1998). Partial GPS surveys of the Augustine Island geodetic network were completed in 1992 and 1995; however, neither of these surveys included all marks on the island.Additional GPS measurements of benchmarks A5 and A15 (fig. 2) were made during the summers of 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1996. The goals of the 2000 GPS survey were to:1) re-measure all existing benchmarks on Augustine Island using a homogeneous set of GPS equipment operated in a consistent manner, 2) add measurements at benchmarks on the western shore of Cook Inlet at distances of 15 to 25 km, 3) add measurements at an existing benchmark (BURR) on Augustine Island that was not previously surveyed, and 4) add additional marks in areas of the island thought to be actively deforming. The entire survey resulted in collection of GPS data at a total of 24 sites (fig. 1 and 2). In this report we describe the methods of GPS data collection and processing used at Augustine during the 2000 survey. We use this data to calculate coordinates and elevations for all 24 sites surveyed. Data from the 2000 survey is then compared toelectronic and optical measurements made in 1988 and 1989. This report also contains a general description of all marks surveyed in 2000 and photographs of all new marks established during the 2000 survey (Appendix A).

Trends in characteristics of sub-daily heavy precipitation and rainfall erosivity in the Czech Republic

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hanel, M.; Pavlásková, A.; Kyselý, Jan

2016-01-01

Roč. 36, č. 4 (2016), s. 1833-1845 ISSN 0899-8418 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-18675S Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : sub-daily precipitation * rainfall events * erosivity * extremes * climate variability * Central Europe Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 3.760, year: 2016 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.4463/abstract

Capitalizing on everyday positive events uniquely predicts daily intimacy and well-being in couples coping with breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Amy K; Laurenceau, Jean-Philippe; Siegel, Scott D; Belcher, Amber J

2015-02-01

Capitalization is the relational process of savoring positive life events by sharing them with responsive relationship partners. The purpose of the present study was to use dyadic intensive longitudinal methods to examine novel hypotheses regarding links between capitalization processes and daily intimacy and well-being in women with breast cancer and their intimate partners. Although couples coping with cancer often experience an increase in negative daily life events, we hypothesized that it would be important for them to share and capitalize on positive events in addition to sharing negative events. Female patients with early stage breast cancer and their intimate partners (99 couples) completed electronic daily diaries for 7 to 10 consecutive days tapping everyday processes of sharing negative and positive events with each other. Dyadic multilevel process modeling revealed that on days when capitalization attempts (i.e., sharing the best event of the day) occurred, daily feelings of intimacy in the sharer were higher for both patients and partners. Moreover, greater perceived partner responsiveness to capitalization attempts was associated with increases in the sharer's daily feelings of intimacy and decreases in the sharer's daily negative affect. When the patient's partner was the sharer, perceived partner responsiveness also was associated with increased daily positive affect. More important, all effects of capitalization were observed above and beyond the effects of event positivity and sharing negative events (i.e., social support attempts). Findings suggest that, even in the midst of significant life adversity, sharing daily good news with intimate partners enhances relationship well-being independently of sharing bad news. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Autonomous GPS/INS navigation experiment for Space Transfer Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Upadhyay, Triveni N.; Cotterill, Stephen; Deaton, A. W.

1993-01-01

An experiment to validate the concept of developing an autonomous integrated spacecraft navigation system using on board Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) measurements is described. The feasibility of integrating GPS measurements with INS measurements to provide a total improvement in spacecraft navigation performance, i.e. improvement in position, velocity and attitude information, was previously demonstrated. An important aspect of this research is the automatic real time reconfiguration capability of the system designed to respond to changes in a spacecraft mission under the control of an expert system.

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

OpenAIRE

Yazid Dul Muchlisin; Jazi Eko Istiyanto

2011-01-01

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...

Variations of TEC near the Indian Equatorial Ionospheric anomaly (EIA) stations by GPS measurements during descending phase of solar activity (2005 -2009)

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sanjay; Singh, Abhay Kumar

The dual frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) data recorded at Varanasi (geographic latitude 250, 16 N longitude 820, 59 E) and Kanpur (geographic latitude 260, 30 N longitude 800, 12 E) stations, near the equatorial ionosphere anomaly (EIA) in India, have been analyzed to retrieve total electron content (TEC). The daily peak value of vertical total electron content (VTEC) has been utilized to study the variability of EIA. Present paper studied monthly, seasonal and annual variations as well as solar and geomagnetic effects on EIA. It has been found that EIA yield their maximum values during the equinox months and minimum during summer and winter. The correlations of EIA with solar as well as geomagnetic indices have been also discussed. Key words: Total electron contents (TECs), EIA, GPS.

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.

Bounds on the g/sub K//sub N//sub Σ/ 2 coupling constant from positivity and charge-exchange data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antolin, J.

1987-01-01

Positivity of the imaginary part of the forward K - n elastic amplitude on the unphysical cut allows the calculation of bounds on the g/sub K//sub N//sub Σ/ 2 coupling constant using the forward differential cross sections of the charge-exchange reaction K - p→K-bar 0 n, the scarce K - n real-part data, and a Stieltjes parametrization of the K - p real-part data. The bounds on the coupling constant are 2.11 2 - n amplitude: (0.35 +- 0.05) +- (0.16 +- 0.04)i GeV/c

GPS radio collar 3D performance as influenced by forest structure and topography

Science.gov (United States)

R. Scott Gamo; Mark A. Rumble; Fred Lindzey; Matt Stefanich

2000-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry enables biologists to obtain accurate and systematic locations of animals. Vegetation can block signals from satellites to GPS radio collars. Therefore, a vegetation dependent bias to telemetry data may occur which if quantified, could be accounted for. We evaluated the performance of GPS collars in 6 structural stage...

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.

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.

Pretty Easy Pervasive Positioning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Rene; Wind, Rico; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard

2009-01-01

With the increasing availability of positioning based on GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular technologies and the proliferation of mobile devices with GPS, Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity, ubiquitous positioning is becoming a reality. While offerings by companies such as Google, Skyhook, and Spotigo render...... positioning possible in outdoor settings, including urban environments with limited GPS coverage, they remain unable to offer accurate indoor positioning. We will demonstrate a software infrastructure that makes it easy for anybody to build support for accurate Wi-Fi based positioning in buildings. All...... that is needed is a building with Wi-Fi coverage, access to the building, a floor plan of the building, and a Wi-Fi enabled device. Specifically, we will explain the software infrastructure and the steps that must be completed to obtain support for positioning. And we will demonstrate the positioning obtained...

GPs' attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding exercise for chronic knee pain: a questionnaire survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Cottrell, Elizabeth; Foster, Nadine E; Porcheret, Mark; Rathod, Trishna; Roddy, Edward

2017-06-17

The aim of this study was to investigate general practitioners' (GPs) attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding the use of exercise for patients with chronic knee pain (CKP) attributable to osteoarthritis. Primary care GPs in the UK. 5000 GPs, randomly selected from Binley's database, were mailed a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. GPs' attitudes and beliefs were investigated using attitude statements, and reported behaviours were identified using vignette-based questions. GPs were invited to report barriers experienced when initiating exercise with patients with CKP RESULTS: 835 (17%) GPs responded. Overall, GPs were positive about general exercise for CKP. 729 (87%) reported using exercise, of which, 538 (74%) reported that they would use both general and local (lower limb) exercises. However, only 92 (11% of all responding) GPs reported initiating exercise in ways aligning with best-evidence recommendations. 815 (98%) GPs reported barriers in using exercise for patients with CKP, most commonly, insufficient time in consultations (n=419; 51%) and insufficient expertise (n=337; 41%). While GPs' attitudes and beliefs regarding exercise for CKP were generally positive, initiation of exercise was often poorly aligned with current recommendations, and barriers and uncertainties were reported. GPs' use of exercise may be improved by addressing the key barriers of time and expertise, by developing a pragmatic approach that supports GPs to initiate individualised exercise, and/or by other professionals taking on this role. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

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

Software Defined GPS Receiver for International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Steenburgh, R. A.; Smithtro, C.; Groves, K.

2007-12-01

. Ionospheric scintillation of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals threatens navigation and military operations by degrading performance or making GPS unavailable. Scintillation is particularly active, although not limited to, a belt encircling the earth within 20 degrees of the geomagnetic equator. As GPS applications and users increases, so does the potential for detrimental impacts from scintillation. We examined amplitude scintillation data spanning seven years from Ascension Island, U.K.; Ancon, Peru; and Antofagasta, Chile in the Atlantic/Americas longitudinal sector at as well as data from Parepare, Indonesia; Marak Parak, Malaysia; Pontianak, Indonesia; Guam; and Diego Garcia, U.K.; in the Pacific longitudinal sector. From these data, we calculate percent probability of occurrence of scintillation at various intensities described by the S4 index. Additionally, we determine Dilution of Precision at one minute resolution. We examine diurnal, seasonal and solar cycle characteristics and make spatial comparisons. In general, activity was greatest during the equinoxes and solar maximum, although scintillation at Antofagasta, Chile was higher during 1998 rather than at solar maximum.

Advancing complex explanatory conceptualizations of daily negative and positive affect: trigger and maintenance coping action patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkley, David M; Ma, Denise; Lee, Ihno A; Preacher, Kristopher J; Zuroff, David C

2014-01-01

The present study addressed a fundamental gap between research and clinical work by advancing complex explanatory conceptualizations of coping action patterns that trigger and maintain daily negative affect and (low) positive affect. One hundred ninety-six community adults completed measures of perfectionism, and then 6 months later completed questionnaires at the end of the day for 14 consecutive days to provide simultaneous assessments of appraisals, coping, and affect across different stressful situations in everyday life. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) supported complex explanatory conceptualizations that demonstrated (a) disengagement trigger patterns consisting of several distinct appraisals (e.g., event stress) and coping strategies (e.g., avoidant coping) that commonly operate together across many different stressors when the typical individual experiences daily increases in negative affect and drops in positive affect; and (b) disengagement maintenance patterns composed of different appraisal and coping maintenance factors that, in combination, can explain why individuals with higher levels of self-critical perfectionism have persistent daily negative affect and low positive mood 6 months later. In parallel, engagement patterns (triggers and maintenance) composed of distinct appraisals (e.g., perceived social support) and coping strategies (e.g., problem-focused coping) were linked to compensatory experiences of daily positive affect. These findings demonstrate the promise of using daily diary methodologies and MSEM to promote a shared understanding between therapists and clients of trigger and maintenance coping action patterns that explain what precipitates and perpetuates clients' difficulties, which, in turn, can help achieve the 2 overarching therapy goals of reducing clients' distress and bolstering resilience. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Kalman filter implementation for small satellites using constraint GPS data

Science.gov (United States)

Wesam, Elmahy M.; Zhang, Xiang; Lu, Zhengliang; Liao, Wenhe

2017-06-01

Due to the increased need for autonomy, an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) has been designed to autonomously estimate the orbit using GPS data. A propagation step models the satellite dynamics as a two body with J2 (second zonal effect) perturbations being suitable for orbits in altitudes higher than 600 km. An onboard GPS receiver provides continuous measurement inputs. The continuity of measurements decreases the errors of the orbit determination algorithm. Power restrictions are imposed on small satellites in general and nanosatellites in particular. In cubesats, the GPS is forced to be shut down most of the mission’s life time. GPS is turned on when experiments like atmospheric ones are carried out and meter level accuracy for positioning is required. This accuracy can’t be obtained by other autonomous sensors like magnetometer and sun sensor as they provide kilometer level accuracy. Through simulation using Matlab and satellite tool kit (STK) the position accuracy is analyzed after imposing constrained conditions suitable for small satellites and a very tight one suitable for nanosatellite missions.

Thermal structure of intense convective clouds derived from GPS radio occultations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biondi, Riccardo; Randel, W. J.; Ho, S. -P.

2012-01-01

Thermal structure associated with deep convective clouds is investigated using Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation measurements. GPS data are insensitive to the presence of clouds, and provide high vertical resolution and high accuracy measurements to identify associated temperature...... behavior. Deep convective systems are identified using International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) satellite data, and cloud tops are accurately measured using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIPSO) lidar observations; we focus on 53 cases of near-coincident GPS...

Thermal structure of intense convective clouds derived from GPS radio occultations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biondi, Riccardo; Randel, W. J.; Ho, S.-P.

2011-01-01

Thermal structure associated with deep convective clouds is investigated using Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation measurements. GPS data are insensitive to the presence of clouds, and provide high vertical resolution and high accuracy measurements to identify associated temperature...... behavior. Deep convective systems are identified using International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) satellite data, and cloud tops are accurately measured using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIPSO) lidar observations; we focus on 53 cases of near-coincident GPS...

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

2 common-view satellites for each tracking period when the elevation angle is 30°. Data processing used precise GPS satellite ephemeris, double-frequency P-code combination observations without ionosphere effects and the correction of the Black troposphere Delay Model. the weighted average of all common-viewed GPS satellites in the same tracking period is taken by weighting the root-mean-square error of each satellite, finally a time comparison data between two stations is obtained, and then the time synchronization result between the two stations (PTB and USNO) is obtained. It can be seen from the analysis of time synchronization result that the root mean square error of REFSV (the difference between the local frequency standard at the mid-point of the actual tracking length and the tracked satellite time in unit of 0.1 ns) shows a linear change within one day, However the jump occurs when jumping over the day which is mainly caused by satellites position being changed due to the interpolation of two-day precise satellite ephemeris across the day. the overall trend of time synchronization result is declining and tends to be stable within a week-long time. We compared the time synchronization results (without considering the hardware delay correction) with those published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), and the comparing result from a week earlier shows that the trend is same but there is a systematic bias which was mainly caused by hardware delays of geodetic GPS receiver. Regardless of the hardware delay, the comparing result is about between 102 ns and 106 ns. the vast majority of the difference within 2 ns but the difference of individual moment does not exceed 4ns when taking into account the systemic bias which mainly caused by hardware delay. Therefore, it is feasible to use the geodetic GPS receiver to achieve the time synchronization result in nanosecond order between two stations which separated by thousands kilometers, and

RESEARCH IN APPLICATION OF GEODETIC GPS RECEIVERS IN TIME SYNCHRONIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Q. Zhang

2018-04-01

there will be at least 2 common-view satellites for each tracking period when the elevation angle is 30°. Data processing used precise GPS satellite ephemeris, double-frequency P-code combination observations without ionosphere effects and the correction of the Black troposphere Delay Model. the weighted average of all common-viewed GPS satellites in the same tracking period is taken by weighting the root-mean-square error of each satellite, finally a time comparison data between two stations is obtained, and then the time synchronization result between the two stations (PTB and USNO is obtained. It can be seen from the analysis of time synchronization result that the root mean square error of REFSV (the difference between the local frequency standard at the mid-point of the actual tracking length and the tracked satellite time in unit of 0.1 ns shows a linear change within one day, However the jump occurs when jumping over the day which is mainly caused by satellites position being changed due to the interpolation of two-day precise satellite ephemeris across the day. the overall trend of time synchronization result is declining and tends to be stable within a week-long time. We compared the time synchronization results (without considering the hardware delay correction with those published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM, and the comparing result from a week earlier shows that the trend is same but there is a systematic bias which was mainly caused by hardware delays of geodetic GPS receiver. Regardless of the hardware delay, the comparing result is about between 102 ns and 106 ns. the vast majority of the difference within 2 ns but the difference of individual moment does not exceed 4ns when taking into account the systemic bias which mainly caused by hardware delay. Therefore, it is feasible to use the geodetic GPS receiver to achieve the time synchronization result in nanosecond order between two stations which separated by

Identification of AR(I)MA processes for modelling temporal correlations of GPS observations

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, X.; Mayer, M.; Heck, B.

2009-04-01

In many geodetic applications observations of the Global Positioning System (GPS) are routinely processed by means of the least-squares method. However, this algorithm delivers reliable estimates of unknown parameters und realistic accuracy measures only if both the functional and stochastic models are appropriately defined within GPS data processing. One deficiency of the stochastic model used in many GPS software products consists in neglecting temporal correlations of GPS observations. In practice the knowledge of the temporal stochastic behaviour of GPS observations can be improved by analysing time series of residuals resulting from the least-squares evaluation. This paper presents an approach based on the theory of autoregressive (integrated) moving average (AR(I)MA) processes to model temporal correlations of GPS observations using time series of observation residuals. A practicable integration of AR(I)MA models in GPS data processing requires the determination of the order parameters of AR(I)MA processes at first. In case of GPS, the identification of AR(I)MA processes could be affected by various factors impacting GPS positioning results, e.g. baseline length, multipath effects, observation weighting, or weather variations. The influences of these factors on AR(I)MA identification are empirically analysed based on a large amount of representative residual time series resulting from differential GPS post-processing using 1-Hz observation data collected within the permanent SAPOS® (Satellite Positioning Service of the German State Survey) network. Both short and long time series are modelled by means of AR(I)MA processes. The final order parameters are determined based on the whole residual database; the corresponding empirical distribution functions illustrate that multipath and weather variations seem to affect the identification of AR(I)MA processes much more significantly than baseline length and observation weighting. Additionally, the modelling

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.

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

Age-related differences in working hours among male and female GPs: an SMS-based time use study.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-12-19

In several countries, the number of hours worked by general practitioners (GPs) has decreased, raising concern about current and impending workforce shortages. This shorter working week has been ascribed both to the feminisation of the workforce and to a younger generation of GPs who prefer more flexible working arrangements. There is, however, limited insight into how the impact of these determinants interact. We investigated the relative importance of differences in GPs' working hours in relation to gender, age, and employment position. An analysis was performed on real-time monitoring data collected by sending SMS text messages to 1051 Dutch GPs, who participated during a 1-week time use study. We used descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and one-way ANOVA analysis to compare the working time of different GP groups. A path analysis was conducted to examine the difference in working time by gender, age, employment position, and their combinations. Female GPs worked significantly fewer hours than their male peers. GPs in their 50s worked the highest number of hours, followed by GPs age 60 and older. GPs younger than 40 worked the lowest number of hours. This relationship between working hours and age was not significantly different for women and men. As shown by path analysis, female GPs consistently worked fewer hours than their male counterparts, regardless of their age and employment position. The relationship between age and working hours was largely influenced by gender and employment position. The variation in working hours among GPs can be explained by the combination of gender, age, and employment position. Gender appears to be the most important predictor as the largest part of the variation in working hours is explained by a direct effect of this variable. It has previously been reported that the difference in working hours between male and female GPs had decreased over time. However, our findings suggest that gender remains a critical

Study of ionospheric disturbances over the China mid- and low-latitude region with GPS observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, Yafei; Tang, Jun

2018-01-01

Ionospheric disturbances constitute the main restriction factor for precise positioning techniques based on global positioning system (GPS) measurements. Simultaneously, GPS observations are widely used to determine ionospheric disturbances with total electron content (TEC). In this paper, we present an analysis of ionospheric disturbances over China mid- and low-latitude area before and during the magnetic storm on 17 March 2015. The work analyses the variation of magnetic indices, the amplitude of ionospheric irregularities observed with four arrays of GPS stations and the influence of geomagnetic storm on GPS positioning. The results show that significant ionospheric TEC disturbances occurred between 10:30 and 12:00 UT during the main phase of the large storm, and the static position reliability for this period are little affected by these disturbances. It is observed that the positive and negative disturbances propagate southward along the meridian from mid-latitude to low-latitude regions. The propagation velocity is from about 200 to 700 m s-1 and the amplitude of ionospheric disturbances is from about 0.2 to 0.9 TECU min-1. Moreover, the position dilution of precession (PDOP) with static precise point positioning (PPP) on storm and quiet days is 1.8 and 0.9 cm, respectively. This study is based on the analysis of ionospheric variability with differential rate of vertical TEC (DROVT) and impact of ionospheric storm on positioning with technique of GPS PPP.

Use of GPS TEC Maps for Calibrating Single Band VLBI Sessions

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, David

2010-01-01

GPS TEC ionosphere maps were first applied to a series of K and Q band VLBA astrometry sessions to try to eliminate a declination bias in estimated source positions. Their usage has been expanded to calibrate X-band only VLBI observations as well. At K-band, approx.60% of the declination bias appears to be removed with the application of GPS ionosphere calibrations. At X-band however, it appears that up to 90% or more of the declination bias is removed, with a corresponding increase in RA and declination uncertainties of approx.0.5 mas. GPS ionosphere calibrations may be very useful for improving the estimated positions of the X-only and S-only sources in the VCS and RDV sessions.

The Mean Sea Surface DTU10mss - Comparison With Gps And Tide Gauges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Knudsen, Per; Bondo, Torsten

2010-01-01

Satellite altimetry and the Global Position System (GPS) are conveniently given in the same reference frame and can therefore be used to construct a vertical reference surface for offshore navigation. Here a new Mean Sea Surface DTU10MSS is presented with a vertical accuracy better than 10 cm...... in most areas of the world confirmed by extensive comparison with GPS leveled tide gauges around Britain and Norway. It is proposed that this model is used as a global vertical reference. This paper briefly outlines the update of the previous DTU model to DTU10MSS and presents comparisons on GPS positions...

Autonomous GPS/INS navigation experiment for Space Transfer Vehicle (STV)

Science.gov (United States)

Upadhyay, Triveni N.; Cotterill, Stephen; Deaton, A. Wayne

1991-01-01

An experiment to validate the concept of developing an autonomous integrated spacecraft navigation system using on board Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) measurements is described. The feasibility of integrating GPS measurements with INS measurements to provide a total improvement in spacecraft navigation performance, i.e. improvement in position, velocity and attitude information, was previously demonstrated. An important aspect of this research is the automatic real time reconfiguration capability of the system designed to respond to changes in a spacecraft mission under the control of an expert system.

Measuring Fine-Scale White-Tailed Deer Movements and Environmental Influences Using GPS Collars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen L. Webb

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Few studies have documented fine-scale movements of ungulate species, including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus, despite the advent of global positioning system (GPS technology incorporated into tracking devices. We collected fine-scale temporal location estimates (i.e., 15 min/relocation attempt from 17 female and 15 male white-tailed deer over 7 years and 3 seasons in Oklahoma, USA. Our objectives were to document fine-scale movements of females and males and determine effects of reproductive phase, moon phase, and short-term weather patterns on movements. Female and male movements were primarily crepuscular. Male total daily movements were 20% greater during rut (7,363m±364 than postrut (6,156m±260. Female daily movements were greatest during postparturition (3,357m±91, followed by parturition (2,902m±107, and preparturition (2,682m±121. We found moon phase had no effect on daily, nocturnal, and diurnal deer movements and fine-scale temporal weather conditions had an inconsistent influence on deer movement patterns within season. Our data suggest that hourly and daily variation in weather events have minimal impact on movements of white-tailed deer in southern latitudes. Instead, routine crepuscular movements, presumed to maximize thermoregulation and minimize predation risk, appear to be the most important factors influencing movements.

Daily events are important for age differences in mean and duration for negative affect but not positive affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Charles, Susan T; Mogle, Jacqueline; Urban, Emily J; Almeida, David M

2016-11-01

Across midlife and into old age, older adults often report lower levels of negative affect and similar if not higher levels of positive affect than relatively younger adults. Researchers have offered a simple explanation for this result: Age is related to reductions in stressors and increases in pleasurable activities that result in higher levels of well-being. The current study examines subjective reports of emotional experience assessed across 8 days in a large sample of adults (N = 2,022) ranging from 35 to 84 years old. By modeling age differences before and after adjusting for daily positive uplifts and negative stressors, this article assesses the extent to which daily events account for age differences in positive and negative affect reports. Consistent with previous research, the authors found that older age is related to lower mean levels and shorter duration of a negative emotional experience in a model only adjusting for gender, education, and ethnicity. After adjusting for daily events, however, the linear age-related effects were no longer significant. For positive affect, adjusting for daily events did not alter age-related patterns of experiencing higher mean levels and longer positive experience duration, suggesting that other factors underlie age-related increases in positive affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Radiotracking large wilderness mammals: Integration of GPS and Argos technology

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Charles C.; Arthur, Steve M.

1999-01-01

We tested 30 prototype global positioning system (GPS) radiocollars on brown bears (Ursus arctos) over a 3-year period on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Collars were of 2 design types: GPS with an Argos (Argos Data collection and Location System) satellite uplink (n=19) and GPS unites where the data were stored on board (n=10) for retrieval at a later date. All units also contained a conventional VHF (very high frequency) transmitter and weighed 1.7 kg. GPS-Argos united obtained 10-82% of expected GPS fixes, and fix rate declined significantly (Pbears varied more and were lower than fix rates for stationary collars placed in various vegetation types, suggesting that the bear, terrain, and movement all influence both fix and uplink success rate. Application of this new technology to grizzly and brown bear research and comparisons to studies with moose (Alces alces) are discussed.

A Mobile GPS Application: Mosque Tracking with Prayer Time Synchronization

Science.gov (United States)

Hashim, Rathiah; Ikhmatiar, Mohammad Sibghotulloh; Surip, Miswan; Karmin, Masiri; Herawan, Tutut

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a popular technology applied in many areas and embedded in many devices, facilitating end-users to navigate effectively to user's intended destination via the best calculated route. The ability of GPS to track precisely according to coordinates of specific locations can be utilized to assist a Muslim traveler visiting or passing an unfamiliar place to find the nearest mosque in order to perform his prayer. However, not many techniques have been proposed for Mosque tracking. This paper presents the development of GPS technology in tracking the nearest mosque using mobile application software embedded with the prayer time's synchronization system on a mobile application. The prototype GPS system developed has been successfully incorporated with a map and several mosque locations.

Connect Global Positioning System RF Module

Science.gov (United States)

Franklin, Garth W.; Young, Lawrence E.; Ciminera, Michael A.; Tien, Jeffrey Y.; Gorelik, Jacob; Okihiro, Brian Bachman; Koelewyn, Cynthia L.

2012-01-01

The CoNNeCT Global Positioning System RF Module (GPSM) slice is part of the JPL CoNNeCT Software Defined Radio (SDR). CoNNeCT is the Communications, Navigation, and Net working reconfigurable Testbed project that is part of NASA's Space Communication and Nav igation (SCaN) Program. The CoNNeCT project is an experimental dem onstration that will lead to the advancement of SDRs and provide a path for new space communication and navigation systems for future NASA exploration missions. The JPL CoNNeCT SDR will be flying on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012 in support of the SCaN CoNNeCT program. The GPSM is a radio-frequency sampler module (see Figure 1) that directly sub-harmonically samples the filtered GPS L-band signals at L1 (1575.42 MHz), L2 (1227.6 MHz), and L5 (1176.45 MHz). The JPL SDR receives GPS signals through a Dorne & Margolin antenna mounted onto a choke ring. The GPS signal is filtered against interference, amplified, split, and fed into three channels: L1, L2, and L5. In each of the L-band channels, there is a chain of bandpass filters and amplifiers, and the signal is fed through each of these channels to where the GPSM performs a one-bit analog-to-digital conversion (see Figure 2). The GPSM uses a sub-harmonic, single-bit L1, L2, and L5 sampler that samples at a clock rate of 38.656 MHz. The new capability is the down-conversion and sampling of the L5 signal when previous hardware did not provide this capability. The first GPS IIF Satellite was launched in 2010, providing the new L5 signal. With the JPL SDR flying on the ISS, it will be possible to demonstrate navigation solutions with 10-meter 3-D accuracy at 10-second intervals using a field-program mable gate array (FPGA)-based feedback loop running at 50 Hz. The GPS data bits will be decoded and used in the SDR. The GPSM will also allow other waveforms that are installed in the SDR to demonstrate various GNSS tracking techniques.

LADOTD GPS technology management plan : tech summary.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has been adopted by diff erent sections within the Louisiana : Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) over the last decade with no uniform standards : for their use, procurement, training, and...

Association between neighborhood walkability and GPS-measured walking, bicycling and vehicle time in adolescents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carlson, Jordan A.; Saelens, Brian E.; Kerr, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

, intersection density, retail density, entertainment density and walkability were derived using GIS. Minutes/day of walking, bicycling and vehicle time were derived from processing algorithms applied to GPS. Accelerometers estimated total daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Models were adjusted...

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...

Positive affective functioning in anhedonic individuals' daily life : Anything but Flat and Blunted

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heininga, V E; Van Roekel, E; Ahles, J J; Oldehinkel, A J; Mezulis, A H

2017-01-01

Background Anhedonia, the decreased interest and pleasure, is often described as 'flat' or 'blunted' positive affect (PA). Yet, little is known about PA functioning in anhedonic individuals' daily lives. The current study investigates PA reactivity to pleasurable experiences in anhedonia together

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.

Design and testing of a GPS/GSM collar prototype to combat cattle rustling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco M. Tangorra

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Rustling is an age-old practice that was widespread in Italy until the first half of the 20th century. Today, incidents of cattle rustling are again being reported. However, the problem is not only found in Italy. It is also becoming a plague for ranchers in the US and is still rampant in East Africa. In Italy, the cattle rustling phenomena have usually been limited through the direct control of the herdsmen. Global positioning system (GPS and geographic information system (GIS combined technologies are increasingly applied for tracking and monitoring livestock with greater spatial and temporal resolution. However, so far, no case studies of the use of GPS technology to combat cattle rustling have been reported in the literature. The aim of this research was to develop a GPS/GSM (global system for mobile communication collar, using commercial hardware and implementing a specific software [ARVAshepherd 1.0; ARVAtec Srl, Rescaldina (MI, Italy] to track animals’ movements outside their grazing area and to signal when animals are straying outside virtual perimeters. A phase I study was conducted from January to June 2011 to build the GPS/GSM collar and to assess its performances in terms of GPS accuracy and precision, while a phase II study was conducted in July 2011 to test the GPS collar under real-life operating conditions. The static GPS positioning error achieved a circular error probable (50% and horizontal 95% accuracy of 1.462 m and 4.501 m, respectively. This is comparable with values obtained by other authors in static tests of a commercial GPS collar for grazing studies. In field tests, the system was able to identify the incorrect position of the cattle and the warning messages were sent promptly to the farmer, continuing until the animals had been repositioned inside the fence, thus highlighting the potential of the GPS/GSM collar as an anti-theft system.

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

Plate rotations, fault slip rates, fault locking, and distributed deformation in northern Central America from 1999-2017 GPS observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, A. P.; DeMets, C.; Briole, P.; Cosenza, B.; Flores, O.; Guzman-Speziale, M.; Hernandez, D.; Kostoglodov, V.; La Femina, P. C.; Lord, N. E.; Lasserre, C.; Lyon-Caen, H.; McCaffrey, R.; Molina, E.; Rodriguez, M.; Staller, A.; Rogers, R.

2017-12-01

We describe plate rotations, fault slip rates, and fault locking estimated from a new 100-station GPS velocity field at the western end of the Caribbean plate, where the Motagua-Polochic fault zone, Middle America trench, and Central America volcanic arc faults converge. In northern Central America, fifty-one upper-plate earthquakes caused approximately 40,000 fatalities since 1900. The proximity of main population centers to these destructive earthquakes and the resulting loss of human life provide strong motivation for studying the present-day tectonics of Central America. Plate rotations, fault slip rates, and deformation are quantified via a two-stage inversion of daily GPS position time series using TDEFNODE modeling software. In the first stage, transient deformation associated with three M>7 earthquakes in 2009 and 2012 is estimated and removed from the GPS position time series. In Stage 2, linear velocities determined from the corrected GPS time series are inverted to estimate deformation within the western Caribbean plate, slip rates along the Motagua-Polochic faults and faults in the Central America volcanic arc, and the gradient of extension in the Honduras-Guatemala wedge. Major outcomes of the second inversion include the following: (1) Confirmation that slip rates on the Motagua fault decrease from 17-18 mm/yr at its eastern end to 0-5 mm/yr at its western end, in accord with previous results. (2) A transition from moderate subduction zone locking offshore from southern Mexico and parts of southern Guatemala to weak or zero coupling offshore from El Salvador and parts of Nicaragua along the Middle America trench. (3) Evidence for significant east-west extension in southern Guatemala between the Motagua fault and volcanic arc. Our study also shows evidence for creep on the eastern Motagua fault that diminishes westward along the North America-Caribbean plate boundary.

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.

GPS surveying method applied to terminal area navigation flight experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murata, M; Shingu, H; Satsushima, K; Tsuji, T; Ishikawa, K; Miyazawa, Y; Uchida, T [National Aerospace Laboratory, Tokyo (Japan)

1993-03-01

With an objective of evaluating accuracy of new landing and navigation systems such as microwave landing guidance system and global positioning satellite (GPS) system, flight experiments are being carried out using experimental aircraft. This aircraft mounts a GPS and evaluates its accuracy by comparing the standard orbits spotted by a Kalman filter from the laser tracing data on the aircraft with the navigation results. The GPS outputs position and speed information from an earth-centered-earth-fixed system called the World Geodetic System, 1984 (WGS84). However, in order to compare the navigation results with output from a reference orbit sensor or other navigation sensor, it is necessary to structure a high-precision reference coordinates system based on the WGS84. A method that applies the GPS phase interference measurement for this problem was proposed, and used actually in analyzing a flight experiment data. As referred to a case of the method having been applied to evaluating an independent navigation accuracy, the method was verified sufficiently effective and reliable not only in navigation method analysis, but also in the aspect of navigational operations. 12 refs., 10 figs., 5 tabs.

GPs' attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding exercise for chronic knee pain: a questionnaire survey

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Nadine E; Porcheret, Mark; Rathod, Trishna; Roddy, Edward

2017-01-01

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate general practitioners’ (GPs) attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding the use of exercise for patients with chronic knee pain (CKP) attributable to osteoarthritis. Setting Primary care GPs in the UK. Participants 5000 GPs, randomly selected from Binley’s database, were mailed a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Outcome measures GPs’ attitudes and beliefs were investigated using attitude statements, and reported behaviours were identified using vignette-based questions. GPs were invited to report barriers experienced when initiating exercise with patients with CKP Results 835 (17%) GPs responded. Overall, GPs were positive about general exercise for CKP. 729 (87%) reported using exercise, of which, 538 (74%) reported that they would use both general and local (lower limb) exercises. However, only 92 (11% of all responding) GPs reported initiating exercise in ways aligning with best-evidence recommendations. 815 (98%) GPs reported barriers in using exercise for patients with CKP, most commonly, insufficient time in consultations (n=419; 51%) and insufficient expertise (n=337; 41%). Conclusions While GPs’ attitudes and beliefs regarding exercise for CKP were generally positive, initiation of exercise was often poorly aligned with current recommendations, and barriers and uncertainties were reported. GPs’ use of exercise may be improved by addressing the key barriers of time and expertise, by developing a pragmatic approach that supports GPs to initiate individualised exercise, and/or by other professionals taking on this role. PMID:28624759

Effect of GPS errors on Emission model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehmann, Anders; Gross, Allan

n this paper we will show how Global Positioning Services (GPS) data obtained from smartphones can be used to model air quality in urban settings. The paper examines the uncertainty of smartphone location utilising GPS, and ties this location uncertainty to air quality models. The results presented...... in this paper indicates that the location error from using smartphones is within the accuracy needed to use the location data in air quality modelling. The nature of smartphone location data enables more accurate and near real time air quality modelling and monitoring. The location data is harvested from user...

Applying GPS to enhance understanding of transport-related physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Mitch J; Badland, Hannah M; Mummery, W Kerry

2009-09-01

The purpose of the paper is to review the utility of the global positioning system (GPS) in the study of health-related physical activity. The paper draws from existing literature to outline the current work performed using GPS to examine transport-related physical activity, with a focus on the relative utility of the approach when combined with geographic information system (GIS) and other data sources including accelerometers. The paper argues that GPS, especially when used in combination with GIS and accelerometery, offers great promise in objectively measuring and studying the relationship of numerous environmental attributes to human behaviour in terms of physical activity and transport-related activity. Limitations to the use of GPS for the purpose of monitoring health-related physical activity are presented, and recommendations for future avenues of research are discussed.

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.

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.

SMEX02 Airborne GPS Bistatic Radar Data, Iowa

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set contains measurements of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals reflected from the Earth’s surface and collected on an airborne platform. The...

Tightly coupled low cost 3D RISS/GPS integration using a mixture particle filter for vehicular navigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Georgy, Jacques; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2011-01-01

Satellite navigation systems such as the global positioning system (GPS) are currently the most common technique used for land vehicle positioning. However, in GPS-denied environments, there is an interruption in the positioning information. Low-cost micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial sensors can be integrated with GPS and enhance the performance in denied GPS environments. The traditional technique for this integration problem is Kalman filtering (KF). Due to the inherent errors of low-cost MEMS inertial sensors and their large stochastic drifts, KF, with its linearized models, has limited capabilities in providing accurate positioning. Particle filtering (PF) was recently suggested as a nonlinear filtering technique to accommodate for arbitrary inertial sensor characteristics, motion dynamics and noise distributions. An enhanced version of PF called the Mixture PF is utilized in this study to perform tightly coupled integration of a three dimensional (3D) reduced inertial sensors system (RISS) with GPS. In this work, the RISS consists of one single-axis gyroscope and a two-axis accelerometer used together with the vehicle's odometer to obtain 3D navigation states. These sensors are then integrated with GPS in a tightly coupled scheme. In loosely-coupled integration, at least four satellites are needed to provide acceptable GPS position and velocity updates for the integration filter. The advantage of the tightly-coupled integration is that it can provide GPS measurement update(s) even when the number of visible satellites is three or lower, thereby improving the operation of the navigation system in environments with partial blockages by providing continuous aiding to the inertial sensors even during limited GPS satellite availability. To effectively exploit the capabilities of PF, advanced modeling for the stochastic drift of the vertically aligned gyroscope is used. In order to benefit from measurement updates for such drift, which are

Tightly Coupled Low Cost 3D RISS/GPS Integration Using a Mixture Particle Filter for Vehicular Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Georgy

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Satellite navigation systems such as the global positioning system (GPS are currently the most common technique used for land vehicle positioning. However, in GPS-denied environments, there is an interruption in the positioning information. Low-cost micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS-based inertial sensors can be integrated with GPS and enhance the performance in denied GPS environments. The traditional technique for this integration problem is Kalman filtering (KF. Due to the inherent errors of low-cost MEMS inertial sensors and their large stochastic drifts, KF, with its linearized models, has limited capabilities in providing accurate positioning. Particle filtering (PF was recently suggested as a nonlinear filtering technique to accommodate for arbitrary inertial sensor characteristics, motion dynamics and noise distributions. An enhanced version of PF called the Mixture PF is utilized in this study to perform tightly coupled integration of a three dimensional (3D reduced inertial sensors system (RISS with GPS. In this work, the RISS consists of one single-axis gyroscope and a two-axis accelerometer used together with the vehicle’s odometer to obtain 3D navigation states. These sensors are then integrated with GPS in a tightly coupled scheme. In loosely-coupled integration, at least four satellites are needed to provide acceptable GPS position and velocity updates for the integration filter. The advantage of the tightly-coupled integration is that it can provide GPS measurement update(s even when the number of visible satellites is three or lower, thereby improving the operation of the navigation system in environments with partial blockages by providing continuous aiding to the inertial sensors even during limited GPS satellite availability. To effectively exploit the capabilities of PF, advanced modeling for the stochastic drift of the vertically aligned gyroscope is used. In order to benefit from measurement updates for such drift

Factors associated with GPs' knowledge of their patients' socio-economic circumstances: a multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Casanova, Ludovic; Ringa, Virginie; Bloy, Géraldine; Falcoff, Hector; Rigal, Laurent

2015-12-01

To determine appropriate management for individual patients, GPs are supposed to use their knowledge of the patient's socio-economic circumstances. To analyse factors associated with GPs' knowledge of these circumstances. Observational survey of GPs who were internship supervisors in the Paris metropolitan area. Each of 52 volunteer GPs completed a self-administered questionnaire about their own characteristics and randomly selected 70 patients from their patient list. Their knowledge was analysed as the agreement between the patients' and GPs' responses to questions about the patients' socio-economic characteristics in questionnaires completed by both groups. The association between agreement and the GPs' characteristics was analysed with a multilevel model adjusted for age, sex and the duration of the GP-patient relationship. Agreement varied according to the socio-economic characteristics considered (from 51% to 90%) and between GPs. Globally, the GPs overestimated their patients' socio-economic level. GP characteristics associated with better agreement were sex (female), long consultations, the use of paper records or an automatic reminder system and participation in continuing medical education and in meetings to discuss difficult cases. Knowledge of some patient characteristics, such as their complementary health insurance coverage or perceived financial situation, should be improved because their overestimation may lead to care that is too expensive and thus result in the patients' abandonment of the treatment. Besides determining ways to help GPs to organize their work more effectively, it is important to study methods to help doctors identify their patients' social-economic circumstances more accurately in daily practice. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Transport on prescription: How can GPs contribute to the promotion of active transport?

Science.gov (United States)

Pistoll, Chance; Furler, John

2017-10-01

Active transport (ie walking, cycling, using public transport) can play a part in reducing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Very little is known about how general practitioners (GPs) can contribute to promoting active transport. We explored GPs' ideas around active transport, and potential barriers and facilitators to its promotion in the clinical setting. Using a maximal variation sample, we conducted 10 semi-structured interviews with GPs in Victoria, Australia. The socioecological model informed data collection and analysis. The idea of active transport resonated with GPs. Limited awareness around active transport and safety concerns regarding commuter cycling were barriers to clinical promotion. GPs believed patients' health, cultural norms, socioeconomic position and access to supportive environments could facilitate participation. Future efforts should prioritise awareness of active transport among GPs. The perspectives of GPs would be valuable to policymakers, particularly in designing programs to mitigate inequalities around active transport access and use.

Current and potential distributions on positive plates with conductive Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4} and BaPbO{sub 3} in their formation and discharge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Yonglang; Liu, Huan [College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108 (China)

2008-08-15

The positive plates with conductive materials, Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4} and BaPbO{sub 3}, in automotive lead-acid batteries were investigated by measuring their current and potential distributions in the course of formation and discharge. It is found that these two conductive materials, especially Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4}, enhance the formation in the initial stage greatly and that they make the current and potential distributions more uniform. In the discharge, the addition of Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4} increases the capacity of the positive plate, but it is unfavorable to the paste curing and causes poor contact between active mass (AM) particles so that the polarization increases greatly at 3 C discharge rate. The BaPbO{sub 3} additive improves not only the formation but also the discharge performance because of its stability in acidic media and at high polarization. The violent charge at high polarization around the plates in the initial formation can lead to poor AM contact and high polarization resistance. (author)

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.

Reinforced Ultra-Tightly Coupled GPS/INS System for Challenging Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xueyun Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Among all integration levels currently available for Global Positioning System (GPS and Inertial Navigation System (INS Integrated System, ultra-tightly coupled (UTC GPS/INS system is the best choice for accurate and reliable navigation. Nevertheless the performance of UTC GPS/INS system degrades in challenging environments, such as jamming, changing noise of GPS signals, and high dynamic maneuvers. When low-end Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs based on MEMS sensors are employed, the performance degradation will be more severe. To solve this problem, a reinforced UTC GPS/INS system is proposed. Two techniques are adopted to deal with jamming and high dynamics. Firstly, adaptive integration Kalman filter (IKF based on fuzzy logics is developed to reinforce the antijamming ability. The parameters of membership functions (MFs are adjusted and optimized through self-developed neutral network. Secondly, a Doppler frequency error estimator based on Kalman filter is designed to improve the navigation performance under high dynamics. A complete simulation platform is established to evaluate the reinforced system. Results demonstrate that the proposed system architecture significantly improves navigation performance in challenging environments and it is a more advanced solution to accurate and reliable navigation than traditional UTC GPS/INS system.

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

Empirical model of subdaily variations in the Earth rotation from GPS and its stability

Science.gov (United States)

Panafidina, N.; Kurdubov, S.; Rothacher, M.

2012-12-01

The model recommended by the IERS for these variations at diurnal and semidiurnal periods has been computed from an ocean tide model and comprises 71 terms in polar motion and Universal Time. In the present study we compute an empirical model of variations in the Earth rotation on tidal frequencies from homogeneously re-processed GPS-observations over 1994-2007 available as free daily normal equations. We discuss the reliability of the obtained amplitudes of the ERP variations and compare results from GPS and VLBI data to identify technique-specific problems and instabilities of the empirical tidal models.

Radio-tracking large wilderness mammals: integration of GPS and Argos technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Charles C.; Arthur, Steve M.

1999-01-01

We tested 30 prototype global positioning system (GPS) radiocollars on brown bears (Ursus arctos) over a 3-year period on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Collars were of 2 design types: GPS units with an Argos (Argos Data collection and Location System) satellite uplink (n = 19) and GPS units where the data were stored on board (n = 10) for retrieval at a later date. All units also contained a conventional VHF (very high frequency) transmitter and weighed 1.7 kg. GPS-Argos units obtained 10-82% of expected GPS fixes, and fix rate declined significantly (P bears varied more and were lower than fix rates for stationary collars placed in various vegetation types, suggesting that the bear, terrain, and movement all influence both fix and uplink success rate. Application of this new technology to grizzly and brown bear research and comparisons to studies with moose (Alces alces) are discussed.

Some quantum Lie algebras of type D{sub n} positive

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bautista, Cesar [Facultad de Ciencias de la Computacion, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Edif 135, 14 sur y Av San Claudio, Ciudad Universitaria, Puebla Pue. CP 72570 (Mexico); Juarez-Ramirez, Maria Araceli [Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Edif 158 Av San Claudio y Rio Verde sn Ciudad Universitaria, Puebla Pue. CP 72570 (Mexico)

2003-03-07

A quantum Lie algebra is constructed within the positive part of the Drinfeld-Jimbo quantum group of type D{sub n}. Our quantum Lie algebra structure includes a generalized antisymmetry property and a generalized Jacobi identity closely related to the braid equation. A generalized universal enveloping algebra of our quantum Lie algebra of type D{sub n} positive is proved to be the Drinfeld-Jimbo quantum group of the same type. The existence of such a generalized Lie algebra is reduced to an integer programming problem. Moreover, when the integer programming problem is feasible we show, by means of the generalized Jacobi identity, that the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorem (basis) is still true.

Hurricane Inner-Core Structure as Revealed by GPS Dropwindsondes

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Leejoice, Robert

2000-01-01

New high-resolution information of the vertical thermodynamic and kinematic structure of the hurricane inner-core is now available from aircraft released Global Positioning System (GPS) dropwindsondes...

Real-time multi-GNSS single-frequency precise point positioning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Bakker, P.F.; Tiberius, C.C.J.M.

2017-01-01

Precise Point Positioning (PPP) is a popular Global Positioning System (GPS) processing strategy, thanks to its high precision without requiring additional GPS infrastructure. Single-Frequency PPP (SF-PPP) takes this one step further by no longer relying on expensive dual-frequency GPS receivers,

78 FR 22554 - Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (NDGPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-16

... accuracy and integrity of the Global Positioning System (GPS) derived positions for surface transportation..., contact LT Luke Byrd, Coast Guard, NDGPS Program Manager, telephone 202-372-1547 or email Robert.l.byrd... The NDGPS augments GPS with an additional differential correction signal. Differential GPS (DGPS...

Triple-Frequency GPS Precise Point Positioning Ambiguity Resolution Using Dual-Frequency Based IGS Precise Clock Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the availability of the third civil signal in the Global Positioning System, triple-frequency Precise Point Positioning ambiguity resolution methods have drawn increasing attention due to significantly reduced convergence time. However, the corresponding triple-frequency based precise clock products are not widely available and adopted by applications. Currently, most precise products are generated based on ionosphere-free combination of dual-frequency L1/L2 signals, which however are not consistent with the triple-frequency ionosphere-free carrier-phase measurements, resulting in inaccurate positioning and unstable float ambiguities. In this study, a GPS triple-frequency PPP ambiguity resolution method is developed using the widely used dual-frequency based clock products. In this method, the interfrequency clock biases between the triple-frequency and dual-frequency ionosphere-free carrier-phase measurements are first estimated and then applied to triple-frequency ionosphere-free carrier-phase measurements to obtain stable float ambiguities. After this, the wide-lane L2/L5 and wide-lane L1/L2 integer property of ambiguities are recovered by estimating the satellite fractional cycle biases. A test using a sparse network is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the method. The results show that the ambiguity resolution can be achieved in minutes even tens of seconds and the positioning accuracy is in decimeter level.

High-rate multi-GNSS: what does it mean to seismology?

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, J.

2017-12-01

GNSS precise point positioning (PPP) is capable of measuring centimeter-level positions epoch by epoch at a single station, and is thus treasured in tsunami/earthquake early warning where static displacements in the near field are critical to rapidly and reliably determining the magnitude of destructive events. However, most operational real-time PPP systems at present rely on only GPS data. The deficiency of such systems is that the high reliability and availability of precise displacements cannot be maintained continuously in real time, which is however a crucial requirement for disaster resistance and response. Multi-GNSS, including GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo and QZSS other than only GPS, can be a solution to this problem because much more satellites per epoch (e.g. 30-40) will be available. In this case, positioning failure due to data loss or blunders can be minimized, and on the other hand, positioning initializations can be accelerated to a great extent since the satellite geometry for each epoch will be enhanced enormously. We established a prototype real-time multi-GNSS PPP service based on Asia-Pacific real-time network which can collect and stream high-rate data from all five navigation systems above. We estimated high-rate satellite clock corrections and enabled undifferenced ambiguity fixing for multi-GNSS, which therefore ensures high availability and reliability of precise displacement estimates in contrast to GPS-only systems. We will report how we can benefit from multi-GNSS for seismology, especially the noise characteristics of high-rate and sub-daily displacements. We will also use storm surge loading events to demonstrate the contribution of multi-GNSS to sub-daily transient signals.

Application and Limitations of GPS Radio Occultation (GPS-RO) Data for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Height Detection over the Arctic.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganeshan, M.; Wu, D. L.

2014-12-01

Due to recent changes in the Arctic environment, it is important to monitor the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) properties over the Arctic Ocean, especially to explore the variability in ABL clouds (such as sensitivity and feedback to sea ice loss). For example, radiosonde and satellite observations of the Arctic ABL height (and low-cloud cover) have recently suggested a positive response to sea ice loss during October that may not occur during the melt season (June-September). Owing to its high vertical and spatiotemporal resolution, an independent ABL height detection algorithm using GPS Radio Occultation (GPS-RO) refractivity in the Arctic is explored. Similar GPS-RO algorithms developed previously typically define the level of the most negative moisture gradient as the ABL height. This definition is favorable for subtropical oceans where a stratocumulus-topped ABL is often capped by a layer of sharp moisture lapse rate (coincident with the temperature inversion). The Arctic Ocean is also characterized by stratocumulus cloud cover, however, the specific humidity does not frequently decrease in the ABL capping inversion. The use of GPS-RO refractivity for ABL height retrieval therefore becomes more complex. During winter months (December-February), when the total precipitable water in the troposphere is a minimum, a fairly straightforward algorithm for ABL height retrieval is developed. The applicability and limitations of this method for other seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall) is determined. The seasonal, interannual and spatial variability in the GPS-derived ABL height over the Arctic Ocean, as well as its relation to the underlying surface (ice vs. water), is investigated. The GPS-RO profiles are also explored for the evidence of low-level moisture transport in the cold Arctic environment.

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.

Mw 8.5 BENGKULU EARTHQUAKES FROM CONTINUOUS GPS DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. A. W. Aris

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The Mw 8.5 Bengkulu earthquake of 30 September 2007 and the Mw8.6 28 March 2005 are considered amongst large earthquake ever recorded in Southeast Asia. The impact into tectonic deformation was recorded by a network of Global Positioning System (GPS Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS within southern of Sumatra and west-coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The GPS data from the GPS CORS network has been deployed to investigate the characteristic of postseismic deformation due to the earthquakes. Analytical logarithmic and exponential function was applied to investigate the deformation decay period of postseismic deformation. This investigation provides a preliminary insight into postseismic cycle along the Sumatra subduction zone in particular and on the dynamics Peninsular Malaysia in general.

Development of Sub-Daily Intensity Duration Frequency (IDF) Curves for Major Urban Areas in India

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, H.; Mishra, V.

2014-12-01

Extreme precipitation events disrupt urban transportation and cause enormous damage to infrastructure. Urban areas are fast responding catchments due to significant impervious surface. Stormwater designs based on daily rainfall data provide inadequate information. We, therefore, develop intensity-duration-frequency curves using sub-daily (1 hour to 12 hour) rainfall data for 57 major urban areas in India. While rain gage stations data from urban areas are most suitable, but stations are unevenly distributed and their data have gaps and inconsistencies. Therefore, we used hourly rainfall data from the Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), which provides a long term data (1979 onwards). Since reanalysis products have uncertainty associated with them we need to enhance their accuracy before their application. We compared daily rain gage station data obtained from Global Surface Summary of Day Data (GSOD) available for 65 stations for the period of 2000-2010 with gridded daily rainfall data provided by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). 3-hourly data from NOAA/Climate Prediction Center morphing technique (CMORPH), Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN), and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) were aggregated to daily for comparison with GSOD station data . TMPA is found to be best correlated with GSOD data. We used TMPA data to correct MERRA's hourly precipitation, which were applied to develop IDF curves. We compared results with IDF curves from empirical methods and found substantial disparities in the existing stormwater designs in India.

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

Accuracy of Single Frequency GPS Observations Processing In Near Real-time With Use of Code Predicted Products

Science.gov (United States)

Wielgosz, P. A.

In this year, the system of active geodetic GPS permanent stations is going to be estab- lished in Poland. This system should provide GPS observations for a wide spectrum of users, especially it will be a great opportunity for surveyors. Many of surveyors still use cheaper, single frequency receivers. This paper focuses on processing of single frequency GPS observations only. During processing of such observations the iono- sphere plays an important role, so we concentrated on the influence of the ionosphere on the positional coordinates. Twenty consecutive days of GPS data from 2001 year were processed to analyze the accuracy of a derived three-dimensional relative vec- tor position between GPS stations. Observations from two Polish EPN/IGS stations: BOGO and JOZE were used. In addition to, a new test station - IGIK was created. In this paper, the results of single frequency GPS observations processing in near real- time are presented. Baselines of 15, 27 and 42 kilometers and sessions of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 hours long were processed. While processing we used CODE (Centre for Orbit De- termination in Europe, Bern, Switzerland) predicted products: orbits and ionosphere info. These products are available in real-time and enable near real-time processing. Software Bernese v. 4.2 for Linux and BPE (Bernese Processing Engine) mode were used. These results are shown with a reference to dual frequency weekly solution (the best solution). Obtained GPS positional time and GPS baseline length dependency accuracy is presented for single frequency GPS observations.

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.

The use of GPS and SMS data in illuminating the Mobility of Families

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reinau, Kristian Hegner; Harder, Henrik

, and these are for example how complex questions the respondents can answer through SMS's and how respondents can be motivated to send SMS's during their daily routines. This methodological discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the combination of GPS data and SMS data in this paper is of value to all researchers...

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

On the issues of probability distribution of GPS carrier phase observations

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, X.; Mayer, M.; Heck, B.

2009-04-01

In common practice the observables related to Global Positioning System (GPS) are assumed to follow a Gauss-Laplace normal distribution. Actually, full knowledge of the observables' distribution is not required for parameter estimation by means of the least-squares algorithm based on the functional relation between observations and unknown parameters as well as the associated variance-covariance matrix. However, the probability distribution of GPS observations plays a key role in procedures for quality control (e.g. outlier and cycle slips detection, ambiguity resolution) and in reliability-related assessments of the estimation results. Under non-ideal observation conditions with respect to the factors impacting GPS data quality, for example multipath effects and atmospheric delays, the validity of the normal distribution postulate of GPS observations is in doubt. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the distribution properties of GPS carrier phase observations using double difference residuals. For this purpose 1-Hz observation data from the permanent SAPOS

Seasonal Hydrological Loading in Southern Tibet Detected by Joint Analysis of GPS and GRACE.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Rong; Wang, Qi; Freymueller, Jeffrey T; Poutanen, Markku; Cao, Xuelian; Zhang, Caihong; Yang, Shaomin; He, Ping

2015-12-04

In southern Tibet, ongoing vertical and horizontal motions due to the collision between India and Eurasia are monitored by large numbers of global positioning system (GPS) continuous and campaign sites installed in the past decade. Displacements measured by GPS usually include tectonic deformation as well as non-tectonic, time-dependent signals. To estimate the regional long-term tectonic deformation using GPS more precisely, seasonal elastic deformation signals associated with surface loading must be removed from the observations. In this study, we focus on seasonal variation in vertical and horizontal motions of southern Tibet by performing a joint analysis of GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) and GPS data, not only using continuous sites but also GPS campaign-mode sites. We found that the GPS-observed and GRACE-modeled seasonal oscillations are in good agreements, and a seasonal displacement model demonstrates that the main reason for seasonal variations in southern Tibet is from the summer monsoon and its precipitation. The biggest loading appears from July to August in the summer season. Vertical deformations observed by GPS and modeled by GRACE are two to three times larger than horizontal oscillations, and the north components demonstrate larger amplitudes than the east components. We corrected the GPS position time series using the GRACE-modeled seasonal variations, which gives significant reductions in the misfit and weighted root-mean-squares (WRMS). Misfit (χ2 divided by degree of freedom) reductions for campaign sites range between 20% and 56% for the vertical component, and are much smaller for the horizontal components. Moreover, time series of continuous GPS (cGPS) sites near the 2015 Nepal earthquakes must be corrected using appropriate models of seasonal loading for analyzing postseismic deformation to avoid biasing estimates of the postseismic relaxation.

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...

Integrated INS/GPS Navigation from a Popular Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Omerbashich, Mensur

2002-01-01

Inertial navigation, blended with other navigation aids, Global Positioning System (GPS) in particular, has gained significance due to enhanced navigation and inertial reference performance and dissimilarity for fault tolerance and anti-jamming. Relatively new concepts based upon using Differential GPS (DGPS) blended with Inertial (and visual) Navigation Sensors (INS) offer the possibility of low cost, autonomous aircraft landing. The FAA has decided to implement the system in a sophisticated form as a new standard navigation tool during this decade. There have been a number of new inertial sensor concepts in the recent past that emphasize increased accuracy of INS/GPS versus INS and reliability of navigation, as well as lower size and weight, and higher power, fault tolerance, and long life. The principles of GPS are not discussed; rather the attention is directed towards general concepts and comparative advantages. A short introduction to the problems faced in kinematics is presented. The intention is to relate the basic principles of kinematics to probably the most used navigation method in the future-INS/GPS. An example of the airborne INS is presented, with emphasis on how it works. The discussion of the error types and sources in navigation, and of the role of filters in optimal estimation of the errors then follows. The main question this paper is trying to answer is 'What are the benefits of the integration of INS and GPS and how is this, navigation concept of the future achieved in reality?' The main goal is to communicate the idea about what stands behind a modern navigation method.

A Framework For Using GPS Data In Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jankowska, Marta M; Schipperijn, Jasper; Kerr, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are increasingly applied in activity studies, yet significant theoretical and methodological challenges remain. This paper presents a framework for integrating GPS data with other technologies to create dynamic representations of behaviors in context. Utilizing more...... accurate and sensitive measures to link behavior and environmental exposures allows for new research questions and methods to be developed. SUMMARY: Global Positioning Systems can be linked with other technologies to create dynamic representations of behaviors in context....

Using cluster analysis to organize and explore regional GPS velocities

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Robert W.; Thatcher, Wayne; Savage, James C.

2012-01-01

Cluster analysis offers a simple visual exploratory tool for the initial investigation of regional Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity observations, which are providing increasingly precise mappings of actively deforming continental lithosphere. The deformation fields from dense regional GPS networks can often be concisely described in terms of relatively coherent blocks bounded by active faults, although the choice of blocks, their number and size, can be subjective and is often guided by the distribution of known faults. To illustrate our method, we apply cluster analysis to GPS velocities from the San Francisco Bay Region, California, to search for spatially coherent patterns of deformation, including evidence of block-like behavior. The clustering process identifies four robust groupings of velocities that we identify with four crustal blocks. Although the analysis uses no prior geologic information other than the GPS velocities, the cluster/block boundaries track three major faults, both locked and creeping.

GPS IPW as a Meteorological Parameter and Climate Global Change Indicator

Science.gov (United States)

Kruczyk, M.; Liwosz, T.

2011-12-01

Paper focuses on comprehensive investigation of the GPS derived IPW (Integrated Precipitable Water, also IWV) as a geophysical tool. GPS meteorology is now widely acknowledged indirect method of atmosphere sensing. First we demonstrate GPS IPW quality. Most thorough inter-technique comparisons of directly measured IPW are attainable only for some observatories (note modest percentage of GPS stations equipped with meteorological devices). Nonetheless we have managed to compare IPW series derived from GPS tropospheric solutions (ZTD mostly from IGS and EPN solutions) and some independent techniques. IPW values from meteorological sources we used are: radiosoundings, sun photometer and input fields of numerical weather prediction model. We can treat operational NWP models as meteorological database within which we can calculate IWV for all GPS stations independently from network of direct measurements (COSMO-LM model maintained by Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management was tried). Sunphotometer (CIMEL-318, Central Geophysical Observatory IGF PAS, Belsk, Poland) data seems the most genuine source - so we decided for direct collocation of GPS measurements and sunphotometer placing permanent GPS receiver on the roof of Belsk Observatory. Next we analyse IPW as geophysical parameter: IPW demonstrates some physical effects evoked by station location (height and series correlation coefficient as a function of distance) and weather patterns like dominant wind directions (in case of neighbouring stations). Deficiency of surface humidity data to model IPW is presented for different climates. This inadequacy and poor humidity data representation in NWP model extremely encourages investigating information exchange potential between Numerical Model and GPS network. The second and most important aspect of this study concerns long series of IPW (daily averaged) which can serve as climatological information indicator (water vapour role in climate system is hard to

GPs' and community pharmacists' opinions on medication management at transitions of care in Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Redmond, Patrick; Carroll, Hailey; Grimes, Tamasine; Galvin, Rose; McDonnell, Ronan; Boland, Fiona; McDowell, Ronald; Hughes, Carmel; Fahey, Tom

2016-04-01

The aim of this study was to survey GPs and community pharmacists (CPs) in Ireland regarding current practices of medication management, specifically medication reconciliation, communication between health care providers and medication errors as patients transition in care. A national cross-sectional survey was distributed electronically to 2364 GPs, 311 GP Registrars and 2382 CPs. Multivariable associations comparing GPs to CPs were generated and content analysis of free text responses was undertaken. There was an overall response rate of 17.7% (897 respondents-554 GPs/Registrars and 343 CPs). More than 90% of GPs and CPs were positive about the effects of medication reconciliation on medication safety and adherence. Sixty per cent of GPs reported having no formal system of medication reconciliation. Communication between GPs and CPs was identified as good/very good by >90% of GPs and CPs. The majority (>80%) of both groups could clearly recall prescribing errors, following a transition of care, they had witnessed in the previous 6 months. Free text content analysis corroborated the positive relationship between GPs and CPs, a frustration with secondary care communication, with many examples given of prescribing errors. While there is enthusiasm for the benefits of medication reconciliation there are limited formal structures in primary care to support it. Challenges in relation to systems that support inter-professional communication and reduce medication errors are features of the primary/secondary care transition. There is a need for an improved medication management system. Future research should focus on the identified barriers in implementing medication reconciliation and systems that can improve it. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Inversion of GPS-measured coseismic displacements for source parameters of Taiwan earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, J. T.; Chang, W. L.; Hung, H. K.; Yu, W. C.

2016-12-01

We performed a method of determining earthquake location, focal mechanism, and centroid moment tensor by coseismic surface displacements from daily and high-rate GPS measurements. Unlike commonly used dislocation model where fault geometry is calculated nonlinearly, our method makes a point source approach to evaluate these parameters in a solid and efficient way without a priori fault information and can thus provide constrains to subsequent finite source modeling of fault slip. In this study, we focus on the resolving ability of GPS data for moderate (Mw=6.0 7.0) earthquakes in Taiwan, and four earthquakes were investigated in detail: the March 27 2013 Nantou (Mw=6.0), the June 2 2013 Nantou (Mw=6.3) , the October 31 2013 Ruisui (Mw=6.3), and the March 31 2002 Hualien (ML=6.8) earthquakes. All these events were recorded by the Taiwan continuous GPS network with data sampling rates of 30-second and 1 Hz, where the Mw6.3 Ruisui earthquake was additionally recorded by another local GPS network with a sampling rate of 20 Hz. Our inverted focal mechanisms of all these earthquakes are consistent with the results of GCMT and USGS that evaluates source parameters by dynamic information from seismic waves. We also successfully resolved source parameters of the Mw6.3 Ruisui earthquake within only 10 seconds following the earthquake occurrence, demonstrating the potential of high-rate GPS data on earthquake early warning and real-time determination of earthquake source parameters.

Pengembangan Sistem Navigasi Otomatis Pada UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle dengan GPS(Global Positioning System Waypoint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahmad Hidayat

2017-01-01

Full Text Available UAV adalah salah satu wahana tanpa awak di udara yang mana dapat terbang tanpa pilot, menggunakan gaya aerodinamik untuk menghasilkan gaya angkat (lift, dapat terbang secara autonomous atau dioperasikan dengan radio kontrol. UAV digunakan untuk berbagai keperluan baik di lingkup militer maupun sipil. Pada tugas akhir ini dirancang dan direalisasikan pengembangan sistem navigasi otomatis pada UAV dengan GPS waypoint. Sistem ini menggunakan kontrol manual dan autopilot. Pada mode manual, pengguna secara manual mengendalikan pergerakan pesawat melalui radio kontroler sedangkan pada mode autopilot pesawat dikendalikan oleh mikrokontroler Arduino Mega 2560 yang mengolah data-data sensor IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit yang didalamnya terdapat gyroscope dan accelerometer, GPS dan barometric altimeter sehingga dapat terbang secara otomatis dengan sesuai waypoint GPS yang dimasukkan. Mikrokontroler menerima dan menolah data dari sensor dan menghasilkan keluaran untuk menggerakkan servo aktuator. Pengolahan data dari sensor menggunakan kontrol PID (Proportional Integral Derivative. Pesawat akan terkoneksi dengan ground station melalui perangkat telemetri untuk mengirimkan data penerbangan ke darat. Sistem navigasi ini diharapkan dapat secara tepat mengarahkan pesawat menuju satu titik atau lebih dengan toleransi kesalahan ≤ 30 meter pada ketinggian 30-100 meter. Selain itu pesawat diharapkan dapat terbang dengan radius ± 2 km dari ground station. Hasil dari pengujian dapat dilaksanakan kontrol manual dan otomatis pada UAV melalui 5 channel (aileron, elevator, throttle, rudder dan saklar. Distorsi pada kontrol manual diminimalisir dengan memperbesar faktor pembagi sinyal PWM sebesar 50μs-100μs. Kontrol otomatis dapat menstabilkan sikap pesawat di udara (sudut roll 45° dan sudut pitch 30° Setting Kp 1,2 dan Ki 0,01, setting Kp navigasi GPS 0,2 Ki 0,01 dan Kd 4 dengan sudut roll maksimal 15°.

WGS 84 Coordinate Validation and Improvement for the NIMA and Air Force GPS Tracking Stations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cunningham, James

1996-01-01

Using 10 days of Global Positioning System (GPS) pseudorange and carrier phase data collected in 1995 from 31 stations and 24 Block II/IIA satellites, estimates of GPS clocks, orbits, and tracking station coordinates were generated...

Cross-cultural differences in GPs' attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine: a survey comparing regions of the UK and Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, K; Jacobs, P A; Barton, A

2002-09-01

To investigate whether there is a difference in general practitioners' attitudes towards CAM in the UK and Germany. A descriptive questionnaire was developed and sent to 97 GPs in the UK and 99 GPs in Germany. The overall response rate was 68%. German GPs showed a (non-significant) overall more positive attitude towards CAM than did British GPs. British GPs made more referrals to complementary practitioners. The most popular CAM therapies that UK GPs referred their patients to were chiropractic treatment, acupuncture and osteopathy. German GPs referred their patients mainly to acupuncture treatment, chiropractic treatment and herbal medicine. A significantly higher number of German GPs reported having practised as a CAM practitioner before and having personally used CAM themselves. Seventy percent of British GPs and 76% of German GPs thought it is safe to prescribe complementary medicine and therapies to patients. There are small national differences in referring patients to various CAM modalities. Both nations have an overall positive attitude toward and a high interest in CAM. Lack of scientific evidence and information on training opportunities were important points that were continuously raised by GPs in both countries.

Affective reactivity to daily stressors is associated with elevated inflammation

Science.gov (United States)

Sin, Nancy L.; Graham-Engeland, Jennifer E.; Ong, Anthony D.; Almeida, David M.

2015-01-01

Objective Inflammation increases the risk of chronic diseases, but the links between emotional responses to daily events and inflammation are unknown. We examined individual differences in affective reactivity to daily stressors (i.e., changes in positive and negative affect in response to stressors) as predictors of inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Methods A cross-sectional sample of 872 adults from the National Study of Daily Experiences (sub-study of Midlife in the United States II) reported daily stressors and affect during telephone interviews for 8 days. Blood samples were obtained at a separate clinic visit and assayed for inflammatory markers. Multilevel models estimated trait affective reactivity slopes for each participant, which were inputted into regression models to predict inflammation. Results People who experienced greater decreases in positive affect on days when stressors occurred (i.e, positive affect reactivity) had elevated log IL-6, independent of demographic, physical, psychological, and behavioral factors (B = 1.12, SE = 0.45, p = 0.01). Heightened negative affect reactivity was associated with higher log CRP among women (p = 0.03) but not men (p = 0.57); health behaviors accounted for this association in women. Conclusions Adults who fail to maintain positive affect when faced with minor stressors in everyday life appear to have elevated levels of IL-6, a marker of inflammation. Women who experience increased negative affect when faced with minor stressors may be at particular risk of elevated inflammation. These findings add to growing evidence regarding the health implications of affective reactivity to daily stressors. PMID:26030309

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' experiences with out-of-hours GP cooperatives: a survey study from the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Smits, Marleen; Keizer, Ellen; Huibers, Linda; Giesen, Paul

2014-09-01

Out-of-hours primary care has been provided by general practitioner (GP) cooperatives since the year 2000 in the Netherlands. Early studies in countries with similar organizational structures showed positive GP experiences. However, nowadays it is said that GPs experience a high workload at the cooperative and that they outsource a considerable part of their shifts. To examine positive and negative experiences of GPs providing out-of-hours primary care, and the frequency and reasons for outsourcing shifts. A cross-sectional observational survey among 688 GPs connected to six GP cooperatives in the Netherlands, using a web-based questionnaire. The response was 55% (n = 378). The main reasons for working in GP cooperatives were to retain registration as GP (79%) and remain experienced in acute care (74%). GPs considered the peak hours (81%) and the high number of patients (73%) as the most negative aspects. Most GPs chose to provide the out-of-hours shifts themselves: 85% outsourced maximally 25% of their shifts. The percentage of outsourced shifts increased with age. Main reasons for outsourcing were the desire to have more private time (76%); the high workload in daytime practice (71%); and less the workload during out-of-hours (46%). GPs are motivated to work in out-of-hours GP cooperatives, and they outsource few shifts. GPs consider the peak load and the large number of (non-urgent) help requests as the most negative aspects. To motivate and involve GPs for 7 × 24-h primary care, it is important to set limits on their workload.

The Mathematics of the Global Positioning System.

Science.gov (United States)

Nord, Gail D.; Jabon, David; Nord, John

1997-01-01

Presents an activity that illustrates the application of mathematics to modern navigation and utilizes the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS is a constellation of 24 satellites that enables receivers to compute their position anywhere on the earth with great accuracy. (DDR)

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.

Real-Time Vehicle Data Logging System Using GPS And GSM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Win Minn Thet

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper proposes and implements a low cost Vehicle Data Logging System using GPS and GSM. This system allows a user to trace the present and past positions recorded in SD card. This system also reads the current position of the vehicle using GPS the data is sent via GSM service from the GSM network. The vehicles position including the driving speed the UTC time and data are stored in the SD card for live and past tracking. All of that GPS data is sent to PIC 18F4520 by the Universal Asynchronous ReceiverTransmitter UART and also store in SD card. GSM also uses UART to transmit. To know the position of the vehicle the owner sends a request through a SMS. The SMS sends to the authorized person through the GSM network. The travel history of the vehicle are stored in a file on an SD card in FAT format.This system is very useful for car tracking for adolescent driver being checked by parent speed limit exceeding leaving a specific area. V The developed system is easy to use requires no additional hardware and permits the selection of the amount of data and the time intervals between the data recordings. In addition the collected data can easily be transferred to a computer via a connected serial port.

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.

Volcano monitoring using GPS: Developing data analysis strategies based on the June 2007 Kīlauea Volcano intrusion and eruption

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Kristine M.; Poland, Michael; Miklius, Asta

2010-01-01

The global positioning system (GPS) is one of the most common techniques, and the current state of the art, used to monitor volcano deformation. In addition to slow (several centimeters per year) displacement rates, GPS can be used to study eruptions and intrusions that result in much larger (tens of centimeters over hours-days) displacements. It is challenging to resolve precise positions using GPS at subdaily time intervals because of error sources such as multipath and atmospheric refraction. In this paper, the impact of errors due to multipath and atmospheric refraction at subdaily periods is examined using data from the GPS network on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i. Methods for filtering position estimates to enhance precision are both simulated and tested on data collected during the June 2007 intrusion and eruption. Comparisons with tiltmeter records show that GPS instruments can precisely recover the timing of the activity.

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...

GPS synchronized power system phase angle measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Robert E.; Sterlina, Patrick S.

1994-09-01

This paper discusses the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronized equipment for the measurement and analysis of key power system quantities. Two GPS synchronized phasor measurement units (PMU) were installed before testing. It was indicated that PMUs recorded the dynamic response of the power system phase angles when the northern California power grid was excited by the artificial short circuits. Power system planning engineers perform detailed computer generated simulations of the dynamic response of the power system to naturally occurring short circuits. The computer simulations use models of transmission lines, transformers, circuit breakers, and other high voltage components. This work will compare computer simulations of the same event with field measurement.

An integer ambiguity resolution method for the global positioning system (GPS)-based land vehicle attitude determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Bo; Miao, Lingjuan; Wang, Shunting; Shen, Jun

2009-01-01

During attitude determination using a global positioning system (GPS), cycle slips occur due to the loss of lock and noise disturbance. Therefore, the integer ambiguity needs re-computation to isolate the error in carrier phase. This paper presents a fast method for integer ambiguity resolution for land vehicle application. After the cycle slips are detected, the velocity vector is utilized to obtain the rough baseline vector. The obtained baseline vector is substituted into carrier phase observation equations to solve the float ambiguity solution which can be used as a constraint to accelerate the integer ambiguity search procedure at next epochs. The probability of correct integer estimation in the expanded search space is analyzed. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method gives a fast approach to obtain new fixed ambiguities while the regular method takes longer time and sometimes results in incorrect solutions

Mobile Phone Sensor Correlates of Depressive Symptom Severity in Daily-Life Behavior: An Exploratory Study

Science.gov (United States)

Saeb, Sohrab; Zhang, Mi; Karr, Christopher J; Schueller, Stephen M; Corden, Marya E; Kording, Konrad P

2015-01-01

Background Depression is a common, burdensome, often recurring mental health disorder that frequently goes undetected and untreated. Mobile phones are ubiquitous and have an increasingly large complement of sensors that can potentially be useful in monitoring behavioral patterns that might be indicative of depressive symptoms. Objective The objective of this study was to explore the detection of daily-life behavioral markers using mobile phone global positioning systems (GPS) and usage sensors, and their use in identifying depressive symptom severity. Methods A total of 40 adult participants were recruited from the general community to carry a mobile phone with a sensor data acquisition app (Purple Robot) for 2 weeks. Of these participants, 28 had sufficient sensor data received to conduct analysis. At the beginning of the 2-week period, participants completed a self-reported depression survey (PHQ-9). Behavioral features were developed and extracted from GPS location and phone usage data. Results A number of features from GPS data were related to depressive symptom severity, including circadian movement (regularity in 24-hour rhythm; r=-.63, P=.005), normalized entropy (mobility between favorite locations; r=-.58, P=.012), and location variance (GPS mobility independent of location; r=-.58, P=.012). Phone usage features, usage duration, and usage frequency were also correlated (r=.54, P=.011, and r=.52, P=.015, respectively). Using the normalized entropy feature and a classifier that distinguished participants with depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score ≥5) from those without (PHQ-9 score mobile phone sensor data, including GPS and phone usage, provided behavioral markers that were strongly related to depressive symptom severity. While these findings must be replicated in a larger study among participants with confirmed clinical symptoms, they suggest that phone sensors offer numerous clinical opportunities, including continuous monitoring of at-risk populations with

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.

Design and test of a hybrid foot force sensing and GPS system for richer user mobility activity recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zelun; Poslad, Stefan

2013-11-01

Wearable and accompanied sensors and devices are increasingly being used for user activity recognition. However, typical GPS-based and accelerometer-based (ACC) methods face three main challenges: a low recognition accuracy; a coarse recognition capability, i.e., they cannot recognise both human posture (during travelling) and transportation mode simultaneously, and a relatively high computational complexity. Here, a new GPS and Foot-Force (GPS + FF) sensor method is proposed to overcome these challenges that leverages a set of wearable FF sensors in combination with GPS, e.g., in a mobile phone. User mobility activities that can be recognised include both daily user postures and common transportation modes: sitting, standing, walking, cycling, bus passenger, car passenger (including private cars and taxis) and car driver. The novelty of this work is that our approach provides a more comprehensive recognition capability in terms of reliably recognising both human posture and transportation mode simultaneously during travel. In addition, by comparing the new GPS + FF method with both an ACC method (62% accuracy) and a GPS + ACC based method (70% accuracy) as baseline methods, it obtains a higher accuracy (95%) with less computational complexity, when tested on a dataset obtained from ten individuals.

The electron diffraction: a prime technique to characterize the behaviour of the Li{sub 1-x}C{sub y} / Li{sub x}NiO{sub 2} positive electrode; La diffraction electronique: une technique de choix pour caracteriser le comportement de l`electrode positive Li{sub 1-x}C{sub y} / Li{sub x}NiO{sub 2}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peres, J.P.; Delmas, C.; Weill, F. [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 33 - Pessac (France). Institut de Chimie de la Matiere Condensee de Bordeaux; Broussely, M.; Perton, F.; Biensan, Ph. [SAFT, Advanced and Industrial Battery Group, 86 - Poitiers (France); Willmann, P. [Centre National d`Etudes Spatiales (CNES), 31 - Toulouse (France)

1996-12-31

LiNiO{sub 2} is one of the most promising material for positive electrodes of lithium-ion batteries. However, its behaviour during cycling and the existence of several phase transitions induced by the lithium ions de-intercalation process has not been explained so far. A transition electron microscopy study of various Li{sub x}NiO{sub 2} (0.25

The electron diffraction: a prime technique to characterize the behaviour of the Li{sub 1-x}C{sub y} / Li{sub x}NiO{sub 2} positive electrode; La diffraction electronique: une technique de choix pour caracteriser le comportement de l`electrode positive Li{sub 1-x}C{sub y} / Li{sub x}NiO{sub 2}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peres, J P; Delmas, C; Weill, F [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 33 - Pessac (France). Institut de Chimie de la Matiere Condensee de Bordeaux; Broussely, M; Perton, F; Biensan, Ph [SAFT, Advanced and Industrial Battery Group, 86 - Poitiers (France); Willmann, P [Centre National d` Etudes Spatiales (CNES), 31 - Toulouse (France)

1997-12-31

LiNiO{sub 2} is one of the most promising material for positive electrodes of lithium-ion batteries. However, its behaviour during cycling and the existence of several phase transitions induced by the lithium ions de-intercalation process has not been explained so far. A transition electron microscopy study of various Li{sub x}NiO{sub 2} (0.25

Validation of Atmospheric Water Vapor Derived from Ship-Borne GPS Measurements in the Chinese Bohai Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-Jie Fan

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric water vapor (AWV was investigated for the first time in the Chinese Bohai Sea using a Global Positioning System (GPS receiver aboard a lightweight (300-ton ship. An experiment was conducted to retrieve the AWV using the state-of-the-art GPS precise point positioning (PPP technique. The effects of atmospheric weighted mean temperature model and zenith wet delay constraint on GPS AWV estimates were discussed in the PPP estimation system. The GPS-derived precipitable water vapor (PWV and slant-path water vapor (SWV were assessed by comparing with those derived from the Fifth Generation NCAR/Penn State Mesoscale Model (MM5. The results showed the PWV and SWV differences between those derived from both GPS and MM5 are 1.5 mm root mean square (RMS with a bias of 0.2 and 3.9 mm RMS with a bias of -0.7 mm respectively. These good agreements indicate that the GPS-derived AWV in dynamic environments has a comparable accuracy with that of the MM5 model. This suggests that high accuracy and high spatio-temporal resolution humidity fields can be obtained using GPS in the Chinese Bohai Sea, which offers significant potential for meteorological applications and climate studies in this region.