Clarifying the Relationship between Quality of Global Positioning System Data and Precision of Positioning
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
This study selected five indexes to determine the relationship between data quality and positioning precision. These indexes are multipath on L1, multipath on L2, observations by cycle slips, clock offset, and clock stability. To reduce the number of common errors, six types of global positioning system (GPS) receivers are selected and set up in an Ultra-Short Distance Network at the National Measurement Laboratory, Taiwan, for 3 days. The first three indicators are calculated with the Teqc software, and the last two indicators are computed using the Bernese software. Moreover, the observations from three GPS tracking stations, namely, short baseline (about 25 km), middle baseline (about 150 km), and long baseline (around 2000 km), were downloaded from the Internet and processed using Bernese software. Analytical results indicate that clock stability and observations divided by cycle slips are found to be very important positioning factors. Clock offset and multipath effects do not significantly affect the GPS results.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers thank the National Science Council of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially supporting this research under Contract No. UNSPECIFIEDNSC94-2218-E-231-001.
References
Allan, D., and Weiss, M. (1980). “Accurate time and frequency transfer during common-view of a GPS satellite.” Proc., 1980 IEEE Frequency Control Symp., IEEE, Piscataway, N.J., 334–356.
Beavan, J. (2005). “Noise properties of continuous GPS data from concrete pillar geodetic monuments in New Zealand and comparison with data from U.S. deep drilled braced monuments.” J. Geophys. Res., 110(8), 1–13.
Beutler, G., et al. (2004). Bernese GPS software version 4.2, Astronomical Institute, University of Berne, Bern.
Christie, J. R. I., et al. (2004). “GPS signal quality monitoring system.” Proc., 17th Int. Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, Institute of Navigation, Manassas, 2239–2245.
Fernandes, R. M. S., et al. (2004). “Angular velocities of Nubia and Somalia from continuous GPS data: Implications on present-day relative kinematics.” Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 222(1), 197–208.
Johnson, H., and Agnew, D. C. (1995). “Monument motion and measurements of crustal velocities.” Geophys. Res. Lett., 22(21), 2905–2908.
Leick, A. (2004). GPS satellite survey, 3rd Ed., Wiley, New York.
Lesage, P., and Ayi, T. (1984). “Characterization of frequency stability: Analysis of the modified Allan Variance and properties of its estimate.” IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., 33(4), 332–336.
Petovello, M. G., and Lachapelle, G. (2000). “Estimation of clock stability using GPS.” GPS Solutions, 4(1), 21–33.
Prawirodirdjo, L., and Bock, Y. (2004). “Instantaneous global plate motion model from 12 years of continuous GPS observations.” J. Geophys. Res., 109(8), 1–15.
Rodríguez-Pérez, J. R., Álvarez, M. F., and Sanz, A. E. (2007). “Assessment of low-cost GPS receiver accuracy and precision in forest environments.” J. Surv. Eng., 133(4), 159–167.
Senior, K. L., Ray, J. R., and Beard, R. L. (2008). “Characterization of periodic variations in the GPS satellite clocks.” GPS Solutions, 12(3), 211–215.
University NAVSTAR Consortium (UNAVCO). (2006). Teqc software, University NAVSTAR Consortium, UCAR, UNAVCO Facility, Boulder, Colo., ⟨http://www.unavco.ucar.edu/⟩ (Nov. 1, 2006).
Wernicke, B., Friedrich, A. M., Niemi, N. A., Bennett, R. A., and Davis, J. L. (2000). “Dynamics of plate boundary fault systems from Basin and Range Geodetic Network (BARGEN) and geologic data.” GSA Today, 10, 1–7.
Xu, G. (2007). GPS—Theory, algorithms and applications, 2nd Ed., Springer, Berlin.
Yeh, T. K., Wang, C. S., Chao, B. F., Chen, C. S., and Lee, C. W. (2007). “Automatic data-quality monitoring for continuous GPS tracking stations in Taiwan.” Metrologia, 44(5), 393–401.
Yeh, T. K., Wang, C. S., Lee, C. W., and Liou, Y. A. (2006). “Construction and uncertainty evaluation of a calibration system for GPS receivers.” Metrologia, 43(5), 451–460.
Zurutuza, J., and Sevilla, M. J. (2007). “Influence of the cutoff angle and the bearing in high-precision GPS vector determination.” J. Surv. Eng., 133(2), 90–94.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 13, 2008
Accepted: Dec 10, 2008
Published online: Mar 20, 2009
Published in print: Feb 2010
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.