Analysis of NOAA-Generated Tropospheric Refraction Corrections for the Next Generation Nationwide DGPS Service

The U.S. Coast Guard has begun the modernization of its Nationwide Differential GPS (NDGPS) beacon network. One potential component of modernization is to provide the information necessary for long baseline, centimetrelevel, differential carrier phase processing. In order to achieve these results, improved handling of atmospheric refraction of the incoming GPS signals must be achieved. The utility of the NOAA tropospheric delays in position determination was accomplished by supplying the NOAA zenith delay estimates to an in-house ionospheric-free relative GPS processor. Results indicate that the most significant improvement is observed in upcomponent bias reduction of a few centimeters to more than four decimeters.La "U.S. Coast Guard” ha iniciado la modernizaciôn de su red de balizas del GPS Diferencial a nivel nacional (NDGPS). Una componente potencial de esta modernizaciôn es proporcionar la informaciôn necesaria para el procesado de lîneas base largas, de la fase portadora diferencial, a nivel de centfmetro. Para lograr estos resultados se debe alcanzar un mejoramiento en la manipulaciôn de la refracciôn atmosférica de las sehales GPS entrantes. La utilidad de los retrasos troposféricos de la NOAA en la determinaciôn de las posiciones fue llevada a cabo proporcionando a la NOAA estimaciones de retrasos cenitales para un procesador GPS interno relativamente no ionosférico. Los resultados indican que la mejora mâs significativa se observa en la reducciôn de bias (distorsiones) de componentes ascendentes, que van desde algunos centimetros hasta mâs de cuatro decimetros.L"'U.S. Coast Guard” a entrepris de moderniser son réseau de balises NDGPS (GPS différentiel au niveau national). Une composante potentielle de cette modernisation consiste à fournir les informations nécessaires au traitement de longues lignes de base, de la phase porteuse différentielle, au centimètre près. Pour obtenir ces résultats, il est indispensable de parvenir à améliorer la gestion de la réfraction atmosphérique des signaux GPS entrant. L’utilité des retards de la NOAA dans la détermination de la position troposphérique a été menée à bien en fournissant à la NOAA des estimations de retard, au zénith, pour un processeur GPS interne relativement non ionosphérique. Les résultats montrent que l ’amélioration la plus significative est observée dans la réduction des erreurs des composantes en amont, qui vont de l ’ordre de quelques centimètres à plus de quatre décimètres

Global Navigation Satellite System Performance in Cislunar Space for Cubesat Form Factors

An increased Cislunar traffic is expected by the end of this decade stemming from NASA’s Artermis program. Given the prioritization limitations of the Deep-Space Network (DSN) for ranging and tracking of increased deep- space assets, a more viable, and cost effective, independent navigation capability is needed. NASA’s 2015 Navigator Global Positioning System (GPS) deployed on the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) spacecraft has validated the feasibility of acquiring weak GPS signals at distances up to 25 Earth Radii (~150,000km) or about 40% of the Cislunar trajectory. NASA plans to upgrade the flight proven MSS Navigator GPS for the future Lunar Gateway. Concurrently, the European Space Agency has confirmed the feasibility of an interoperable GPS and Galileo receiver at Lunar altitudes for a low acquisition and tracking threshold “Weak HEO” receiver for a Cubesat platform. This engineering analysis sets out to explore: (1) the smallest Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver antenna that can ensure a positive carrier and code link for a Lunar bound Cubesat; (2) the position dilution of precision (PDOP) profile of this Lunar bound space vehicle; and (3) the expected improvement of the PDOP during the Moon Transfer Orbit (MTO) for an interoperable GNSS receiver, specifically Beidou. For the designed carrier-to-noise acquisition and tracking threshold of 15 dBHz, the Eb/N0 link was assured for a helix antenna with a minimum diameter of 130 mm and length of 200 mm for the GPS L1 frequency at a data rate of 50 bps. The Galileo E5a, E5b would require a larger diameter antenna at 760 mm at 448 bps data rate while Beidou requires a 350 mm diameter antenna for a 100 bps data rate to close their respectively. Utilizing the 130 mm diameter, 200 mm length helix antenna on a Lunar MTO, the preliminary assessment indicated that the GNSS PDOP calculated from valid carrier links increases from 20 when the vehicle is within the GNSS service volume to several 100th or 1000th at 60.3 Earth Radii. Due to their similar constellation altitude geometry, the Galileo E5b PDOP growth profile is similar to that of the GPS L1. The Beidou system however has a much lower PDOP growth. This difference is attributed to the set of Beidou Geosynchronous space vehicles (SV)s that have greater angular separation to the SV- receiver line-of-sight (LoS). For an interoperable GNSS receiver that can track the GPS, Galileo, and Beidou lower bound and upper bound frequencies simultaneously, the increased number of valid signals reduces the PDOP growth below 200. This engineering analysis re-affirms the potential of utilizing existing GNSS infrastructure for onboard navigation in Cislunar space, in particular, a helical antenna that can be accommodated on a Cubesat form factor

Active megadetachment beneath the western United States

Geodetic data, interpreted in light of seismic imaging, seismicity, xenolith studies, and the late Quaternary geologic history of the northern Great Basin, suggest that a subcontinental-scale extensional detachment is localized near the Moho. To first order, seismic yielding in the upper crust at any given latitude in this region occurs via an M7 earthquake every 100 years. Here we develop the hypothesis that since 1996, the region has undergone a cycle of strain accumulation and release similar to “slow slip events” observed on subduction megathrusts, but yielding occurred on a subhorizontal surface 5–10 times larger in the slip direction, and at temperatures >800°C. Net slip was variable, ranging from 5 to 10 mm over most of the region. Strain energy with moment magnitude equivalent to an M7 earthquake was released along this “megadetachment,” primarily between 2000.0 and 2005.5. Slip initiated in late 1998 to mid-1999 in northeastern Nevada and is best expressed in late 2003 during a magma injection event at Moho depth beneath the Sierra Nevada, accompanied by more rapid eastward relative displacement across the entire region. The event ended in the east at 2004.0 and in the remainder of the network at about 2005.5. Strain energy thus appears to have been transmitted from the Cordilleran interior toward the plate boundary, from high gravitational potential to low, via yielding on the megadetachment. The size and kinematic function of the proposed structure, in light of various proxies for lithospheric thickness, imply that the subcrustal lithosphere beneath Nevada is a strong, thin plate, even though it resides in a high heat flow tectonic regime. A strong lowermost crust and upper mantle is consistent with patterns of postseismic relaxation in the southern Great Basin, deformation microstructures and low water content in dunite xenoliths in young lavas in central Nevada, and high-temperature microstructures in analog surface exposures of deformed lower crust. Large-scale decoupling between crust and upper mantle is consistent with the broad distribution of strain in the upper crust versus the more localized distribution in the subcrustal lithosphere, as inferred by such proxies as low P wave velocity and mafic magmatism

Improving GNSS PPP Convergence: The Case of Atmospheric-Constrained, Multi-GNSS PPP-AR

GNSS positioning performance has been shown to improve with the ingestion of data from Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) and tropospheric zenith path delays, which are produced by, e.g., the International GNSS Service (IGS). For both dual- and triple-frequency Precise Point Positioning (PPP) processing, the significance of GIM and tropospheric products in processing is not obvious in the quality of the solution after a few hours. However, constraining the atmosphere improves PPP initialization and solution convergence in the first few minutes of processing. The general research question to be answered is whether there is any significant benefit in constraining the atmosphere in multi-frequency PPP? A key related question is: regarding time and position accuracy, how close are we to RTK performance in the age of multi-GNSS PPP-AR? To address these questions, this paper provides insight into the conceptual analyses of atmospheric GNSS PPP constraints. Dual- and triple-frequency scenarios were investigated. Over 60% improvement in convergence time was observed when atmospheric constraints are applied to a dual-frequency multi-GNSS PPP-AR solution. Future work would involve employing the constraints to improve low-cost PPP solutions

Approaching Global Instantaneous Precise Positioning with the Dual- and Triple-Frequency Multi-GNSS Decoupled Clock Model

Precise Point Positioning (PPP), as a global precise positioning technique, suffers from relatively long convergence times, hindering its ability to be the default precise positioning technique. Reducing the PPP convergence time is a must to reach global precise positions, and doing so in a few minutes to seconds can be achieved thanks to the additional frequencies that are being broadcast by the modernized GNSS constellations. Due to discrepancies in the number of signals broadcast by each satellite/constellation, it is necessary to have a model that can process a mix of signals, depending on availability, and perform ambiguity resolution (AR), a technique that proved necessary for rapid convergence. This manuscript does so by expanding the uncombined Decoupled Clock Model to process and fix ambiguities on up to three frequencies depending on availability for GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou. GLONASS is included as well, without carrier-phase ambiguity fixing. Results show the possibility of consistent quasi-instantaneous global precise positioning through an assessment of the algorithm on a network of global stations, as the 67th percentile solution converges below 10 cm horizontal error within 2 min, compared to 8 min with a triple-frequency solution, showing the importance of having a flexible PPP-AR model frequency-wise. In terms of individual datasets, 14% of datasets converge instantaneously when mixing dual- and triple-frequency measurements, compared to just 0.1% in that of dual-frequency mode without ambiguity resolution. Two kinematic car datasets were also processed, and it was shown that instantaneous centimetre-level positioning with a moving receiver is possible. These results are promising as they only rely on ultra-rapid global satellite products, allowing for instantaneous real-time precise positioning without the need for any local infrastructure or prior knowledge of the receiver’s environment

A Comprehensive Analysis of Smartphone GNSS Range Errors in Realistic Environments

Precise positioning using smartphones has been a topic of interest especially after Google decided to provide raw GNSS measurement through their Android platform. Currently, the greatest limitations in precise positioning with smartphone Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors are the quality and availability of satellite-to-smartphone ranging measurements. Many papers have assessed the quality of GNSS pseudorange and carrier-phase measurements in various environments. In addition, there is growing research in the inclusion of a priori information to model signal blockage, multipath, etc. In this contribution, numerical estimation of actual range errors in smartphone GNSS precise positioning in realistic environments is performed using a geodetic receiver as a reference. The range errors are analyzed under various environments and by placing smartphones on car dashboards and roofs. The distribution of range errors and their correlation to prefit residuals is studied in detail. In addition, a comparison of range errors between different constellations is provided, aiming to provide insight into the quantitative understanding of measurement behavior. This information can be used to further improve measurement quality control, and optimize stochastic modeling and position estimation processes

Native Smartphone Single- and Dual-Frequency GNSS-PPP/IMU Solution in Real-World Driving Scenarios

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) capability in smartphones has seen significant upgrades over the years. The latest ultra-low-cost GNSS receivers are capable of carrier-phase tracking and multi-constellation, dual-frequency signal reception. However, due to the limitations of these ultra-low-cost receivers and antennas, smartphone GNSS position solutions suffer significantly from urban multipath, poor signal reception, and signal blockage. This paper presents a novel sensor fusion technique using Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and the inertial sensors in smartphones, combined with a single- and dual-frequency (SFDF) optimisation scheme for smartphones. The smartphone is field-tested while attached to a vehicle’s dashboard and is driven in multiple real-world situations. A total of five vehicle experiments were conducted and the solutions show that SFDF-PPP outperforms single-frequency PPP (SF-PPP) and dual-frequency PPP (DF-PPP). Solutions can be further improved by integrating with native smartphone IMU measurements and provide consistent horizontal positioning accuracy of <2 m rms through a variety obstructions. These results show a significant improvement from the existing literature using similar hardware in challenging environments. Future work will improve optimising inertial sensor calibration and integrate additional sensors

A Comprehensive Analysis of Smartphone GNSS Range Errors in Realistic Environments

Precise positioning using smartphones has been a topic of interest especially after Google decided to provide raw GNSS measurement through their Android platform. Currently, the greatest limitations in precise positioning with smartphone Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors are the quality and availability of satellite-to-smartphone ranging measurements. Many papers have assessed the quality of GNSS pseudorange and carrier-phase measurements in various environments. In addition, there is growing research in the inclusion of a priori information to model signal blockage, multipath, etc. In this contribution, numerical estimation of actual range errors in smartphone GNSS precise positioning in realistic environments is performed using a geodetic receiver as a reference. The range errors are analyzed under various environments and by placing smartphones on car dashboards and roofs. The distribution of range errors and their correlation to prefit residuals is studied in detail. In addition, a comparison of range errors between different constellations is provided, aiming to provide insight into the quantitative understanding of measurement behavior. This information can be used to further improve measurement quality control, and optimize stochastic modeling and position estimation processes