TECHNICAL PAPERS
May 1, 2007

Efficiency and Reliability of Ambiguity Resolution in Network-Based Real-Time Kinematic GPS

Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 2

Abstract

Fast and reliable ambiguity resolution (AR) is particularly challenging in long-range real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS), since the atmospheric errors decorrelate with the increasing base-rover separation, effectively reducing the success rate of integer fixing. In order to improve the speed and the success rate of AR, external atmospheric corrections are required. In this paper, four different methods of ionosphere modeling are used as a source of external information, and their impact on the speed and reliability of AR and the rover positioning accuracy is discussed. An example data set, collected by the Ohio Continuously Operating Reference Stations on August 31, 2003, is analyzed, with special emphasis on varying ionospheric conditions during the course of the day in order to study the applicability of these ionospheric models to high-accuracy RTK GPS. In particular, the time-to-fix, the level of AR success, and the accuracy of the resulting rover coordinates are analyzed. Each method displays a different level of accuracy, and thus varying applicability to support AR under changing ionospheric conditions.

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Acknowledgments

This project is supported by the National Geodetic Survey, NOAA/NGS Grant.

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Go to Journal of Surveying Engineering
Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 133Issue 2May 2007
Pages: 56 - 65

History

Received: May 11, 2006
Accepted: Jun 30, 2006
Published online: May 1, 2007
Published in print: May 2007

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Authors

Affiliations

Dorota A. Grejner-Brzezinska
Associate Professor, Satellite Positioning and Inertial Navigation (SPIN) Laboratory, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, The Ohio State Univ., 470 Hitchcock Hall, Columbus, OH 43210-1275. E-mail: [email protected]
Israel Kashani
Postdoctoral Researcher, Satellite Positioning and Inertial Navigation (SPIN) Laboratory, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, The Ohio State Univ., 470 Hitchcock Hall, Columbus, OH 43210-1275.
Pawel Wielgosz
Postdoctoral Researcher, Satellite Positioning and Inertial Navigation (SPIN) Laboratory, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, The Ohio State Univ., 470 Hitchcock Hall, Columbus, OH 43210-1275.
Dru A. Smith
Chief Geodesist, NOAA National Geodetic Survey, 1315 East-West Hwy., Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Paul S. J. Spencer
Visiting Research Physicist, National Geodetic Survey, NOS/NOAA and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), Univ. of Colorado/NOAA, Boulder, CO 80309-0216.
Douglas S. Robertson
Geodesist, National Geodetic Survey, NOS/NOAA and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), Univ. of Colorado/NOAA, Boulder, CO 80309-0216.
Gerald L. Mader
Chief of the Geosciences Research Division, NOAA National Geodetic Survey, 1315 East-West Hwy., Silver Spring, MD 20910.

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