Combining GPS and GLONASS for time and frequency transfer

Geodetic time and frequency transfer (TFT) consists in a comprehensive modeling of code and carrier phase observations from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in order to determine the synchronization errors between two remote clocks connected to GNSS receivers. Using either common view (CV), or Precise Point Positioning (PPP), current GNSS time transfer uses only GPS measurements. This study combines GPS and GLONASS observations in geodetic TFT in order to determine the added value of the GLONASS data in the results. Using the software Atomium, we demonstrate on one hand that using both constellations improves the solution for both CV and PPP results when analysing short data batches. In that case, there are not enough GPS code data to calibrate the solution, and additional GLONASS code data allows us to retrieve a correct absolute value for the solution. On the other hand, the CV results of frequency transfer are not significantly affected by adding GLONASS data, while in PPP the combination with GLONASS modifies the frequency transfer results, and in particular the daily frequency offset, with maximum differences of 150 ps between the TFT solutions obtained with GPS-only or GPS + GLONASS.     

电离层不规则结构对GPS性能的影响

电离层不规则结构的存在可引起无线电信号的幅度和相位发生随机起伏, 这 种电离层闪烁现象会影响全球定位系统(Global Positioning System, GPS)的 性能, 降低定位精度, 严重时导致信号失锁. 电离层不规则结构对GPS性能的 影响涉及电离层物理、接收机设计和表征卫星几何分布的精度衰减因子(Dilution of Positioning, DOP)等多方面因素. 本文通过对表征电离层不规则结构参数 的分析, 根据GPS接收机跟踪环路和闪烁信号模型, 综合研究了电离层闪烁对 GPS接收机载波跟踪环和码跟踪环跟踪误差的影响; 结合实际观测, 评述 了电离层不规则结构对单频和双频GPS接收机定位性能的影响, 在此基础上 提出了有待深入研究的问题及具体建议.      

GPS phase difference variation statistics: A comparison between phase scintillation index and proxy indices

Scintillated GPS phase observations are traditionally characterized by the phase scintillation index, derived from specialized GPS receivers usually tracking at 50 Hz. Geodetic quality GPS receivers, on the other hand, are normally tracking at frequencies up to 1 Hz. However, availability of continuously operating geodetic receivers both in time and geographical location are superior to scintillation receiver’s coverage in many parts of the world. This motivates scintillation studies using regional and global geodetic GPS networks. Previous studies have shown the usefulness of GPS estimated total electron content variations for detecting ionospheric irregularities. In this paper, collocated geodetic and scintillation receivers are employed to compare proxy indices derived from geodetic receivers with the phase scintillation index during quiet and moderately disturbed ionospheric conditions. Sensitivity of the phase scintillation indices at high latitude stations to geomagnetic activity is discussed. Global mapping of ionospheric disturbances using proxy indices from real-time 1 Hz GPS stations are also presented.     

Dual-frequency carrier smoothed code filtering with dynamical ionospheric delay modeling

In GNSS applications, carrier-smoothed-code is a widely used technique to combine code pseudo-range and carrier phase measurements. A dynamical ionospheric delay modeling method is proposed based on Kalman filter and least-squares theory. The level of the process noise is adaptively tuned along with the real-time KF state estimation, based on the online variance component estimation method. Meanwhile, the correlations of the time differenced carrier phase measurements are considered. This approach avoids overly optimistically evaluating the estimate and improves the transient accuracy of the estimates. A real GPS dataset is employed to check the performance of the proposed method under different conditions. The results show that the new algorithm can model the ionospheric delay variation well with different sampling intervals or even in ionospheric abnormal environment. The positioning accuracy can be confirmed, about 21%, 35% and 16% better are obtained in the N, E, and U direction than raw dataset.     

基于相位条纹的高精度GPS码相位测量方法

GPS接收机在测量卫星到接收机的传播距离时,通常能得到码相位和载波相位2个基本测量值。虽然载波相位测量值比码相位测量值精度高,但存在整周模糊度的问题,在实际应用中比采用码相位的技术付出的代价高很多。因此,基于相位条纹技术,提出了一种高精度的码相位测量方法。在传统码跟踪环的基础上,通过提取互功率谱相位条纹的频率,得到高精度的码相位测量值,从而组装出高精度的码伪距。仿真实验结果表明:在信噪比为-15 dB的情况下,码相位测量误差均方差约0.37 m,优于传统延迟锁定环在相同条件下约1.82 m的跟踪精度。得到了比传统码跟踪环更高的码相位测量精度的同时,不需要解算载波相位的整周模糊度,对提高GPS定位精度具有研究意义和应用价值。      

Stochastic modelling considering ionospheric scintillation effects on GNSS relative and point positioning

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), in particular the Global Positioning System (GPS), have been widely used for high accuracy geodetic positioning. The Least Squares functional models related to the GNSS observables have been more extensively studied than the corresponding stochastic models, given that the development of the latter is significantly more complex. As a result, a simplified stochastic model is often used in GNSS positioning, which assumes that all the GNSS observables are statistically independent and of the same quality, i.e. a similar variance is assigned indiscriminately to all of the measurements. However, the definition of the stochastic model may be approached from a more detailed perspective, considering specific effects affecting each observable individually, as for example the effects of ionospheric scintillation. These effects relate to phase and amplitude fluctuations in the satellites signals that occur due to diffraction on electron density irregularities in the ionosphere and are particularly relevant at equatorial and high latitude regions, especially during periods of high solar activity. As a consequence, degraded measurement quality and poorer positioning accuracy may result.     

星载单频GPS数据的电离层延迟改正方法分析

利用C/A码单点定位对LEO(Low Earth Orbit)卫星上的电离层延迟改正方法——"电离层比例因子法"进行了分析研究.计算的CHAMP卫星的轨道结果表明:采用电子密度峰值高度(hmF2,F2 region maximum electron density height)平均值和瞬时值计算的电离层比例因子α变化范围分别为0.3~0.4和0.2~0.65之间,两者最大差异可达0.3,相比较而言,hmF2瞬时值的结果更加合理,并且相应的大地高H方向的系统偏差要降低0.05~0.3m左右;与双频无电离层组合的普通单点定位结果相比表明该方法能较好地消除电离层一阶项所引入的H方向上的系统偏差;该方法适用的LEO卫星轨道高度范围大致在200~ 600km之间,当轨道高度超过700km时,该方法并不适用.     

电离层TEC日落阶段涨落异常增强现象研究

重点报道了一种TEC信距测量的夜间抖动异常现象，分析了这种现象的观测特征，指出了夜间GPS伪距观测是的异常抖动，特别是日落后时段GPS伪距观测量的散开十分严重的乐是个别的偶然现象，在考察了周围环境之后初步排除了这种现象是由周围地物引起的可能性，而进一步与电离层不均匀体（Spread-F)的特征，特别是它发生率最大的地方时进行比较，认为这是一种电离层效应，由大尺度的电离层不规则结构造成的散射很可能是这种夜间散开的主要原因。本文仅就单站GPS观测资料认证了这种夜间强烈抖动的存在，分析了北京上空电离层中发生的不均匀体或各种扰动对GPS信号的可能影响及其观测特征，指出了夜间GPS伪距观测量的异常抖动，特别是日落后时段GPS伪距观测量的散开十分严重的现象，可以用于电离层不规则结构的研究。由于GPS设备比较简便，数据量大，精度高，适用于各种环境等特点，我们发展的单站数据分析方法可能会对研究电离层TEC夜间涨落异常增加现象，包括地域，时间上的统计特性比较有利。     

Total electron content measurements in ionospheric physics

With the advent of modern global networks of dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS), total electron content (TEC) measurements along slant paths connecting GPS receivers and satellites at 22,000 km have become the largest data set available to ionospheric scientists. The TEC can be calculated from the time and phase delay in the GPS signal using the GPS Toolkit, but an unknown bias will remain. In addition, UHF/VHF radio beacons on board low-Earth-orbiting satellites can also be used to measure the electron content. However, the TEC measurements are obtained by integrating TEC differences between slant paths, but also contain biases. It is often necessary to use data assimilative algorithms like the Ionospheric Data Assimilation Three-Dimensional (IDA3D), and to treat both GPS- and LEO-beacon TEC measurements as relative data in order to conduct ionospheric studies.     

Time-series analysis of GPS measurements for long-span bridge movements using wavelet and model prediction techniques

This study aims at assessing the safety behavior of the Incheon long-span bridge using high rate (10?Hz) geodetic monitoring global positioning system (GPS). The time series of wavelet spectrum analysis is utilized to assess the dynamic behavior of the bridge. The coefficients and model errors of the time series autoregressive-moving average (ARMA) model are used to evaluate the movement performances of the bridge. The results show that: (i) the accuracy of GPS measurements to extract the dynamic behavior of the bridge is 97.27% when compared with the design results. (ii) the behavior of the bridge is within the safety limits of the bridge design with minimum observed changes for the historical GPS measurements in time and frequency domains, the mean deflection of bridge deck is 8.26?mm and frequency changes of bridge is 0.004?Hz compared with the design results. (iii) the time series analysis of the wavelet spectrum and ARMA model coefficients can be used to detect the significant frequency changes and study the rigidity of the bridge performance, respectively; and the both methods are found to be suitable techniques to estimate the performance changes of the GPS measurements in the time and frequency domains during the monitoring time period.     

GPS信号捕获与跟踪策略确定及实现

为了检测GPS(Global Positioning System)信号,设计了码环及载波环捕获与跟踪数字系统.序贯搜索与窄间隔超前-滞后型数字延迟锁相环的采用,保证了码相位的可靠捕获与精确跟踪,四相鉴频器、叉积自动频率跟踪算法及科思塔环载波相位跟踪算法的结合,既保证了载波频率(多普勒频移)的捕获速度,又使环路能有效地跟踪频率/相位变化,获得较好的动态性能与噪声性能.控制算法及参数确定的软化实现使系统具有较好的灵活性.基于扩频相关器与数字信号处理器的数字系统验证了上述方案的正确性及有效性.      

电离层闪烁对导航接收机性能的影响

为定量分析电离层闪烁对接收机环路的影响,利用信号在电离层闪烁影响下的等效传输信道模型,通过数值仿真对比分析了电离层闪烁对接收信号幅度、载波相位、码相位、载噪比和I/Q支路跟踪值的性能影响。结果表明：电离层闪烁会使接收载噪比出现深度的快速衰落,严重时会出现高达5dB的突降,从而显著地影响用户的定位性能;在相同的电离层闪烁强度下,较小的环路带宽会发生较弱的载波相位周跳。     

MIMU/GPS嵌入式组合导航中GPS信号非相干搜索算法分析

对于GPS信号的搜索捕获采用长积分时间相干搜索算法,会导致频率的搜索范围增加,而采用非相干积分搜索算法将增加平方损失．针对非相干搜索算法中由于多普勒频移估计偏差和码移估计偏差的影响而导致的平方损失,提出了基于微惯性测量单元MIMU／GPS嵌入式组合导航辅助的时域非相干搜索算法来提高对卫星信号的捕获能力,并对其捕获性进行仿真分析研究．结果表明,采用MIMU辅助的时域非相干搜索算法可以提高对GPS信号的捕获能力．     

Carrier-Doppler-based real-time two way satellite frequency transfer and its application in BeiDou system

Two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) method is valuable for precise time and frequency transfer. The frequency could be directly transferred by utilizing two-way carrier Doppler measurement. This method requires each station observing both its own and associated station’s transponder signals transferred by satellite. In BeiDou system (BDS), the reference station and the field station construct a two-way link via a GEO satellite, and the field station sends pseudorange and carrier phase information to the reference station by transmission signal, in order to achieve real time TWSTFT. This paper analyzes the theory of carrier Doppler based TWSTFT (called CD-TWSTFT), and validates it by using on line data of BDS. The results demonstrated that the performance of CD TWSTFT is much better than code based TWSTFT in short-term frequency transfer and almost same at long-term frequency transfer.     

高动态GPS信号C/A码捕获方案及实现

为检测高动态GPS(Global Positioning System)信号,需要设计码环及载波环捕获与跟踪数字系统.尽量缩短盲捕时间,快速捕获到信号,是研制高动态GPS接收机技术的关键,而GPS信号C/A码的快速捕获是码跟踪和载波捕获与跟踪的基础.主要讨论了在高动态GPS信号C/A码捕获中,并行搜索法和串行搜索法的原理与实现,并结合GEC公司的十二通道相关器GP2021,给出基于DSP(数字信号处理器)技术用串行搜索法捕获高动态GPS信号C/A码的算法实现.     

Regional 4-D modeling of the ionospheric electron density from satellite data and IRI

Accurate knowledge of the electron density is the key point in correcting ionospheric delays of electromagnetic measurements and in studying ionosphere physics. During the last decade Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have become a promising tool for monitoring ionospheric parameters such as the total electron content (TEC). In this contribution we present a four-dimensional (4-D) model of the electron density consisting of a given reference part, i.e., the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), and an unknown correction term expanded in terms of multi-dimensional base functions. The corresponding series coefficients are calculable from the satellite measurements by applying parameter estimation procedures. Since satellite data are usually sampled between GPS satellites and ground stations, finer structures of the electron density are modelable just in regions with a sufficient number of ground stations. The proposed method is applied to simulated geometry-free GPS phase measurements. The procedure can be used, for example, to study the equatorial anomaly.     

GPS载波相位时间传递软件的实现

研究了基于精密单点定位原理的GPS载波相位时间传递方法的数学模型和数据处理方法,设计了相应的程序流程,并基于Visual C++和Fortran混合编程的方式编写了相应的计算程序GPSCPTT V1.0。采用实际观测数据进行实验验证,结果表明,软件可以实现高精度的时间传递。     

Higher order ionospheric propagation effects on GPS radio occultation signals

With the increasing number of remote sensing satellites using the GPS radio occultation technique for atmospheric sounding, the estimation of higher order ionospheric effects and their mitigation have become relevant and important. Due to long ionospheric limb paths, GPS signals are strongly affected by ionospheric refraction during radio occultation. Standard dual-frequency GPS measurements may be used to estimate the first order term of the refractive index. However, non-linear terms such as the second and third order ionospheric terms and ray path bending effects are not considered in occultation measurements so far. Analysing selected CHAMP–GPS occultation events different higher order ionospheric terms are estimated and their effects on dual-frequency range estimation and total electron content (TEC) estimation are discussed. We have found that the separation between the GPS L1 and L2 ray paths exceeds the kilometer level during occultation for a vertical TEC level of more than 160 TEC units. Corresponding errors in the GPS dual-frequency range estimation and TEC estimation are found to exceed the meter and 10 TEC units level, respectively.     

Proposal for ionospheric tomography technique using a new HF radio source

Measurements of the line integral of the electron density along satellite-to-ground ray paths (i.e. TEC) using differential phase or Doppler of two coherent VHF/UHF signals transmitted from NNSS or GPS satellite networks have been used in the ionospheric tomography for mapping large-scale ionospheric images over region of interest. In this paper, we present theoretical studies of using a new signal source HF frequency in tomographic imaging. The initial phase problem inherent in the phase measurement can be eliminated by measuring Faraday rotations. Relative rotation on two adjacent HF frequencies is used to solve the ambiguity problem. A second-order approximation of the Faraday rotation incorporated with ray-tracing technique improves the reconstruction degradation due to ionospheric refractions. CASSIOPE is a multi-purpose small satellite that receives HF signals from ground radar facilities and it is scheduled for launch in early 2008. Simulations have demonstrated the potential applications of the ionospheric tomography in CASSIOPE/e-POP satellite experiment.     

不同太阳活动条件下电离层形态对估算GPS系统硬件延迟的影响

利用两个中纬度台站GPS观测数据提取的GPS卫星硬件延迟,分析了不同太阳活动情况下估算的硬件延迟稳定性和统计特征,结合同期电离层观测数据,研究了电离层状态对硬件延迟估算结果的影响.研究结果表明,基于太阳活动高年(2001年)GPS观测数据估算的硬件延迟稳定性要低于太阳活动低年GPS观测数据的估算结果,利用2001年GPS数据估算的卫星硬件延迟年标准偏差(RMS)平均值约为1TECU,而2009年GPS数据估算的卫星硬件延迟年标准偏差平均值约为0.8TECU.通过对2001年和2009年北京地区电离层F₂层最大电子密度(N_mF₂)变化性分析,结合GPS硬件延迟估算方法对电离层时空变化条件的要求,认为硬件延迟稳定性与太阳活动强度的联系是由不同太阳活动条件下电离层变化的强度差异引起的.