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.     

Response of the EIA ionosphere to the 7-8 May 2005 geomagnetic storm

In this paper, response of low latitude ionosphere to a moderate geomagnetic storm of 7–8 May 2005 (SSC: 1920 UT on 7 May with Sym-H minimum, ∼−112 nT around 1600 UT on 8 May) has been investigated using the GPS measurements from a near EIA crest region, Rajkot (Geog. 22.29°N, 70.74°E, Geomag.14°), India. We found a decrease in total electron content (TEC) in 12 h after the onset of the storm, an increase during and after 6 h of Sym-H deep minimum with a decrease below its usual-day level on the second day during the recovery phase of the storm. On 8 May, an increase of TEC is observed after sunset and during post-midnight hours (maximum up to 170%) with the formation of ionospheric plasma bubbles followed by a nearly simultaneous onset of scintillations at L-band frequencies following the time of rapid decrease in Sym-H index (−30 nT/h around 1300 UT).     

Dynamical evolution of high area-to-mass ratio debris released into GPS orbits

A large set of simulations, including all the relevant perturbations, was carried out to investigate the long-term dynamical evolution of fictitious high area-to-mass ratio (A/M) objects released, with a negligible velocity variation, in each of the six orbital planes used by Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. As with similar objects discovered in near synchronous trajectories, long lifetime orbits, with mean motions of about 2 revolutions per day, were found possible for debris characterized by extremely high area-to-mass ratios. Often the lifetime exceeds 100 years up to A/M ∼ 45 m²/kg, decreasing rapidly to a few months above such a threshold. However, the details of the evolution, which are conditioned by the complex interplay of solar radiation pressure and geopotential plus luni-solar resonances, depend on the initial conditions. Different behaviors are thus possible. In any case, objects like those discovered in synchronous orbits, with A/M as high as 20–40 m²/kg, could also survive in this orbital regime, with semi-major axes close to the semi-synchronous values, with maximum eccentricities between 0.3 and 0.7, and with significant orbit pole precessions (faster and wider for increasing values of A/M), leading to inclinations between 30° and more than 90°.     

基于DSP和FPGA的GPS伪随机码并行快速捕获方案设计

讨论了高动态下GPS伪随机码并行搜索的基本原理,以及自适应门限确定方法与搜索过程中应注意的问题。提出了一种基于高速DSP和FPGA的全数字解扩接收机方案,阐述了工作流程,并给出了系统的结构框图,经测试验证实现了伪随机码并行快速捕获的功能。     

基于GPS载波相位的微卫星姿态算法研究

GPS姿态系统是利用GPS载波相位测量来确定载体的航向和姿态角。本文对微卫星的GPS姿态系统进行了研究。重点解决短基线的GPS状态算法，讨论了姿态价格函数的了小化方法。测试结果表明，所提的算法对小于1m的基线是有效的。     

一种新型综合性靶场安全系统及其检验测试结果

本文首先简要介绍战略导弹发射场和航天发射场靶场安全系统的作用、特点、主要技术要求,接着介绍按美国空军航天司令部要求,由空军研究所开发的基于GPS弹道测量技术,外测、遥测、遥控综合为一体的机动型靶场安全系统——BMRST的构成及其经多种检验测试的结果。     

GPS/INS超紧组合载波跟踪环路最优带宽在线设计

在全球定位系统和惯性导航系统组成的超紧耦合系统中,卫星信号的跟踪性能直接取决于载波跟踪环路的带宽。为提高最优带宽的计算精度,在对惯导辅助下载波跟踪环路跟踪特性进行分析的基础上,详细推导了载波多普勒频率估计误差、多普勒频率变化率估计误差的计算方式,建立了惯导辅助下的环路跟踪误差模型;在实时估计跟踪载噪比的基础上,应用离散牛顿二阶梯度法迭代解算最优带宽,并进行实时调整。仿真结果表明,所设计最优带宽迭代解算方法的计算精度能够在11次迭代内达到99.6%,以此作为环路的带宽,能够在弱信号、辅助信息精度较低的情况下有效提高环路的跟踪精度。     

Evaluation of the IRI-2016 and NeQuick electron content specification by COSMIC GPS radio occultation,ground-based GPS and Jason-2 joint altimeter/GPS observations

We examined performance of two empirical profile-based ionospheric models, namely IRI-2016 and NeQuick-2, in electron content (EC) and total electron content (TEC) representation for different seasons and levels of solar activity. We derived and analyzed EC estimates in several representative altitudinal intervals for the ionosphere and the plasmasphere from the COSMIC GPS radio occultation, ground-based GPS and Jason-2 joint altimeter/GPS observations. It allows us to estimate a quantitative impact of the ionospheric electron density profiles formulation in several altitudinal intervals and to examine the source of the model-data discrepancies of the EC specification from the bottom-side ionosphere towards the GPS orbit altitudes. The most pronounced model-data differences were found at the low latitude region as related to the equatorial ionization anomaly appearance. Both the IRI-2016 and NeQuick-2 models tend to overestimate the daytime ionospheric EC and TEC at low latitudes during all seasons of low solar activity. On the contrary, during high solar activity the model results underestimated the EC/TEC observations at low latitudes. We found that both models underestimated the EC for the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere regions for all levels of solar activity. For low solar activity, the underestimated EC from the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere can compensate the overestimation of the ionospheric EC and, consequently, can slightly decrease the resulted model overestimation of the ground-based TEC. For high solar activity, the underestimated EC from the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere leads to a strengthening of the model underestimation of the ground-based TEC values. We demonstrated that the major source of the model-data discrepancies in the EC/TEC domain comes from the topside ionosphere/plasmasphere system.     

Thermosphere densities derived from Swarm GPS observations

After the detection of many anomalies in the Swarm accelerometer data, an alternative method has been developed to determine thermospheric densities for the three-satellite mission. Using a precise orbit determination approach, non-gravitational and aerodynamic-only accelerations are estimated from the high-quality Swarm GPS data. The GPS-derived non-gravitational accelerations serve as a baseline for the correction of the Swarm-C along-track accelerometer data. The aerodynamic accelerations are converted directly into thermospheric densities for all Swarm satellites, albeit at a much lower temporal resolution than the accelerometers would have been able to deliver. The resulting density and acceleration data sets are part of the European Space Agency Level 2 Swarm products.To improve the Swarm densities, two modifications have recently been added to our original processing scheme. They consist of a more refined handling of radiation pressure accelerations and the use of a high-fidelity satellite geometry and improved aerodynamic model. These modifications lead to a better agreement between estimated Swarm densities and NRLMSISE-00 model densities. The GPS-derived Swarm densities show variations due to solar and geomagnetic activity, as well as seasonal, latitudinal and diurnal variations. For low solar activity, however, the aerodynamic signal experienced by the Swarm satellites is very small, and therefore it is more difficult to accurately resolve latitudinal density variability using GPS data, especially for the higher-flying Swarm-B satellite. Therefore, mean orbit densities are also included in the Swarm density product.     

A method of estimating GPS instrumental biases with a convolution algorithm

This paper presents a method of deriving the instrumental differential code biases (DCBs) of GPS satellites and dual frequency receivers. Considering that the total electron content (TEC) varies smoothly over a small area, one ionospheric pierce point (IPP) and four more nearby IPPs were selected to build an equation with a convolution algorithm. In addition, unknown DCB parameters were arranged into a set of equations with GPS observations in a day unit by assuming that DCBs do not vary within a day. Then, the DCBs of satellites and receivers were determined by solving the equation set with the least-squares fitting technique. The performance of this method is examined by applying it to 361?days in 2014 using the observation data from 1311 GPS Earth Observation Network (GEONET) receivers. The result was crosswise-compared with the DCB estimated by the mesh method and the IONEX products from the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE). The DCB values derived by this method agree with those of the mesh method and the CODE products, with biases of 0.091?ns and 0.321?ns, respectively. The convolution method's accuracy and stability were quite good and showed improvements over the mesh method.