Resolving Errors in GNSS
Lecturer: Rozh Ismael Abdulmajed,
MSc. Geomatics Engineering,
Lecture 5
2020-2021
MULTI-FREQUENCY
• The ability of a GNSS receiver to handle multiple frequencies from multiple
constellations in the calculation of position is essential to optimal error
resolution.
• Multi-Frequency Using multi-frequency receivers is the most effective way to
remove ionospheric error from the position calculation.
• Ionospheric error varies with frequency so it impacts the various GNSS signals
differently.
• By comparing the delays of two GNSS signals, L1 and L2, for example, the receiver
can correct for the impact of ionospheric errors. The new and modernized
wideband signals in the L5/E5a band provide inherent noise and multipath
mitigation capabilities.
• When receivers combine L5/E5a capabilities with the ability to remove
ionospheric error using dual-frequency, significant improvements in both
measurement and positioning accuracy can be achieved.
Multi-Constellation
• Multi-constellation receiver can access signals from several constellations: GPS, GLONASS,
BeiDou and Galileo for example. The use of other constellations in addition to GPS, results in
there being a larger number of satellites in the field of view, which has the following
benefits:
• Reduced signal acquisition time
• Improved position and time accuracy.
• Reduction of problems caused by obstructions such as buildings and foliage.
• Improved spatial distribution of visible satellites, resulting in improved dilution of precision.
When a receiver utilizes signals from a variety of constellations, redundancy is built into the
solution.
If a signal is blocked due to the working environment, there is a very high likelihood that the
receiver can simply pick up a signal from another constellation—ensuring solution continuity.
While extremely rare, if a GNSS system fails, there are other systems available.
To determine a position in GPS-only mode, a receiver must track a minimum of four satellites.
In multi-constellation mode, the receiver must track five satellites, at least one of which must
be from a satellite in the other constellation, so the receiver can determine the time offset
between constellations.
GNSS MEASUREMENTS—CODE AND
CARRIER PHASE PRECISION
• Its referred to as a code-based technique because the receiver correlates
with and uses the Pseudorandom Noise (PRN) codes transmitted by four or
more satellites to determine its position and time. This results in
positioning accuracies of a few meters.
• For some applications, such as surveying, higher accuracies are required.
Carrier-based techniques such as Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) and Precise
Point Positioning (PPP) have been developed that can provide positions
that are orders of magnitude more accurate than code-based GNSS.
• A. Phase modulation of the carrier wave using the PRN code is used to
differentiate satellite signals and to provide signal timing information for
range measurements.
GNSS resolving Techniques
• Differential GNSS
• Satellite Based Augmentation System
• Real Time Kinematic (RTK)
• RTK Network
• Static
• Precise Point Positioning
• Post-Processing
• CORS
• Other
DIFFERENTIAL GNSS
• A commonly used technique for improving GNSS performance is differential GNSS, which is
illustrated in Figure below.
• In differential GNSS, the position of a fixed GNSS receiver, referred to as a base station, is
determined to a high degree of accuracy using conventional surveying techniques. Then, the base
station determines ranges to the GNSS satellites in view using:
- The code-based positioning technique.
- The location of the satellites determined from the precisely known orbit ephemerides and satellite
time.
• The base station compares the surveyed position to the position calculated from the satellite
ranges. Differences between the positions can be attributed to satellite ephemeris and clock
errors, but mostly to errors associated with atmospheric delay.
• The base station sends these errors to other receivers (rovers), which incorporate the corrections
into their position calculations.
• Differential positioning requires a data link between the base station
and rovers, if corrections need to be applied in real-time, and at least
four GNSS satellites in view at both the base station and the rovers.
• The absolute accuracy of the rover’s computed position will depend
on the absolute accuracy of the base station’s position. Since GNSS
satellites orbit high above the earth, the propagation paths from the
satellites to the base stations and rovers pass through similar
atmospheric conditions, as long as the base station and rovers are not
too far apart. Differential GNSS works very well with base station- to-
rove separations of up to tens of kilometers.
DGNSS/DGPS
Post Processing
• For many applications, such as airborne survey, corrected GNSS
positions are not required in real-time. For these applications, raw
GNSS satellite measurements are collected and stored for processing
post-mission.
• Unlike RTK GNSS positioning, post-processing does not require real-
time transmission of differential correction messages. This simplifies
the hardware configuration greatly.
• During post-processing, base station data can be used from one or
more GNSS receivers. Multi-base processing helps preserve high
accuracy over large project areas, which is a common occurrence for
aerial applications.
