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Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Engineering Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2023) | Viewed by 31104

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhetao Zhang

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Guest Editor

School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Interests: GNSS precise positioning under complex conditions; canyon environment; low-cost receiver; multi-GNSS situation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Wenkun Yu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: high-accuracy multi-GNSS positioning; GNSS deformation monitoring

Dr. Giuseppe Casula

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)—Sezione di Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Interests: geodesy; terrestrial laser scanner (TLS); structure from motion (SfM); close-range photogrammetry (CRP); GNSS; DinSAR; gravimetry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can provide users with high-precision positioning information continuously and benefits all walks of life, e.g., unmanned driving, urban navigation, deformation monitoring, etc. The important scientific research and application value of GNSS have prompted many countries and regions to develop GNSS technologies. GNSS core positioning technologies, such as PPP and RTK, can provide decimeter-level or even centimeter-level positioning accuracy in open environments. However, active GNSS positioning technologies are susceptible to complex conditions including canyon environment, low-cost receiver, and multi-GNSS situations, and sometimes cannot provide accurate, continuous, and reliable positioning information. The diversification of GNSS systems and constellations, receiver types, and observation environments puts forward higher requirements for technology and algorithms to maintain high-precision positioning and navigation services. Advanced algorithms are the key to solving GNSS practical application problems and expanding the scope of GNSS applications.

This Special Issue aims at studies covering improved methods and the latest challenges in precise GNSS positioning and navigation, especially under complex conditions for various research investigations as well as a range of practical applications. We encourage both theoretical and applied research contributions to the GNSS high-precision technology in all disciplines. Topics may cover anything from precise muti-GNSS positioning algorithms, and GNSS data processing to more comprehensive targets and scales. Therefore, new algorithms for high-precision positioning and navigation, GNSS receivers, software development for data collection and processing, and their applications in various fields are welcome.

Articles may address, but are not limited, to the following topics:

GNSS data processing methods
GNSS applications
Precise GNSS positioning and navigation
Theory, model, and method for processing the GNSS errors
Multi-GNSS positioning technologies
Positioning and navigation methods under challenging environments
Low-cost GNSS positioning and navigation

Dr. Zhetao Zhang
Dr. Wenkun Yu
Dr. Giuseppe Casula
Guest Editors

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Keywords

GNSS
positioning and navigation
SPP/PPP
RTD/RTK
PPP-RTK
complex conditions
GNSS applications

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Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 182 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Editorial for Special Issue “Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications”

by Zhetao Zhang, Wenkun Yu and Giuseppe Casula

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(9), 2271; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15092271 - 25 Apr 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1322

Abstract

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can provide users with high-precision positioning information continuously and benefits all walks of life, e [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Other

18 pages, 8398 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-GNSS Differential Inter-System Bias Estimation for Smartphone RTK Positioning: Feasibility Analysis and Performance

by Rui Shang, Chengfa Gao, Lu Gan, Ruicheng Zhang, Wang Gao and Xiaolin Meng

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(6), 1476; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15061476 - 7 Mar 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2003

Abstract

An inter-system model for multi-GNSSs (global navigation satellite systems) makes the interoperability among different GNSS constellations possible. In recent years, inter-system models for geodetic receivers have been extensively studied. However, the precise positioning of smartphones suffers from various problems, and the current research mostly focuses on how to achieve the GNSS ambiguity resolution. Based on the research of receiver channel-dependent bias, in this study, we will research the temporal behaviors of differential inter-system bias (DISB) and implement an inter-system model for smartphones. A representative Huawei P40 (HP40) smartphone was used in the experiments, and the results show the following: (1) For the HP40, the frequencies of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems are free of receiver channel-dependent phase bias, which provides the chances for further interoperability among these systems. However, the code observations of the HP40 are influenced by receiver channel-dependent code bias; it is therefore suggested to set a large initial standard deviation (STD) value for code observations in the positioning. (2) GPS L1/QZSS L1 and BDS-2 B1I /BDS-3 B1I are free of phase DISB, and there is obvious phase DISB between GPS L1 and Galileo E1; even so, the valuations are sufficiently stable and the STD is close to 0.005 cycles. However, the phase DISB of GPS L1/BDS B1I is unstable. (3) For kinematic positioning, when the stable phase DISB is introduced, a 3–38.9% improvement in the N/E/U directions of the positioning accuracies in the inter-system differencing is achieved compared with the intra-system differencing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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27 pages, 29777 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Efficiency of Geodetic and Low-Cost GNSS Devices in Urban Kinematic Terrestrial Positioning in Terms of the Trajectory Generated by MMS

by Filip Viler, Raffaela Cefalo, Tatiana Sluga, Paolo Snider and Polona Pavlovčič-Prešeren

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(4), 957; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15040957 - 9 Feb 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2513

Abstract

The quality of geospatial data collection depends, among other things, on the reliability and efficiency of the GNSS receivers or even better integrated GNSS/INS systems used for positioning. High-precision positioning is currently not only the domain of professional receivers but can also be achieved by using simple devices, including smartphones. This research focused on the quality of 2D and 3D kinematic positioning of different geodetic and low-cost GNSS devices, using the professional mobile mapping system (MMS) as a reference. Kinematic positioning was performed simultaneously with a geodetic Septentrio AsteRx-U receiver, two u-blox receivers—ZED-F9P and ZED-F9R—and a Xiaomi Mi 8 smartphone and then compared with an Applanix Corporation GPS/INS MMS reference trajectory. The field tests were conducted in urban and non-urban environments with and without obstacles, on road sections with large manoeuvres and curves, and under overpasses and tunnels. Some general conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of the different scenarios. As expected, some results in GNSS positioning are subject to position losses, large outliers and multipath effects; however, after removing them, they are quite promising, even for the Xiaomi Mi8 smartphone. From the comparison of the GPS and GNSS solutions, as expected, GNSS processing achieved many more solutions for position determination and allowed a relevant higher number of fixed ambiguities, even if this was not true in general for the Septentrio AsteRx-U, in particular in a surveyed non-urban area with curves and serpentines characterised by a reduced signal acquisition. In GNSS mode, the Xiaomi Mi8 smartphone performed well in situations with a threshold of less than 1 m, with the percentages varying from 50% for the urban areas to 80% for the non-urban areas, which offers potential in view of future improvements for applications in terrestrial navigation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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21 pages, 9100 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Some Key Issues on Pseudorange-Based Point Positioning with GPS, BDS-3, and Galileo Observations

by Feng Zhou and Xiaoyang Wang

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(3), 797; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15030797 - 31 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1821

Abstract

Nowadays, BDS-3 and Galileo are still developing and have global service capabilities. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of pseudorange-based/single point positioning (SPP) among GPS, BDS-3, and Galileo on a global scale. First, the positioning accuracy distribution of adding IGSO and GEO to the MEO of BDS-3 is analyzed. The results show that after adding IGSO and GEO, the accuracy of 3D in the Asia-Pacific region is significantly improved. Then, the positioning accuracy of the single-system and single-frequency SPP was validated and compared. The experimental results showed that the median RMS values for the GPS, Galileo, and BDS-3 are 1.10/1.10/1.30 m and 2.57/2.69/2.71 m in the horizontal and vertical components, respectively. For the horizontal component, the GPS and Galileo had better positioning accuracy in the middle- and high-latitude regions, while BDS-3 had better positioning accuracy in the Asia-Pacific region. For the vertical component, poorer positioning accuracy could be seen near the North Pole and the equator for all three systems. Meanwhile, in comparison with the single-system and single-frequency SPP, the contribution of adding pseudorange observations from the other satellite system and frequency band was analyzed fully. Overall, the positioning accuracy can be improved to varying degrees. Due to the observation of noise amplification, the positioning errors derived from dual-frequency SPP were much noisier than those from single-frequency SPP. Moreover, the positioning performance of single-frequency SPP with the ionosphere delay corrected with CODE final (COD), rapid (COR), 1-day predicted (C1P), and 2-day predicted (C2P) global ionospheric map (GIM) products was investigated. The results showed that SPP with COD had the best positioning accuracy, SPP with COR ranked second, while C1P and C2P were comparable and slightly worse than SPP with COR. SPP with GIM products demonstrated a better positioning accuracy than that of the single- and dual-frequency SPP. The stability and variability of the inter-system biases (ISBs) derived from the single-frequency and dual-frequency SPP were compared and analyzed, demonstrating that they were stable in a short time. The differences in ISBs among different receivers with single-frequency SPP are smaller than that of dual-frequency SPP. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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20 pages, 9418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comprehensive Assessment of BDS-2 and BDS-3 Precise Orbits Based on B1I/B3I and B1C/B2a Frequencies from iGMAS

by Zhetao Zhang, Ping Zeng, Yuanlan Wen, Lina He and Xiufeng He

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(3), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15030582 - 18 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1869

Abstract

The BeiDou Global Navigation Satellite System (BDS), including the second generation (BDS-2) and the third generation (BDS-3), has been widely used in areas of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). One of the essential prerequisites for accurate PNT service is the precise satellite orbits of multi-frequency and multi-constellation BDS-2 and BDS-3 satellites. As usual, the precise orbit products can be obtained from analysis centers (ACs) of the international GNSS Service (IGS). The precise orbits can also be downloaded from the international GNSS Monitoring and Assessment System (iGMAS). Compared with the IGS ACs, the iGMAS can provide featured services such as satellite orbits based on the new B1C/B2a BDS signals. Considering the indispensability of the new signals, the performance of all BDS precise orbits from iGMAS needs to be known. However, there is no comprehensive assessment of BDS-2 and BDS-3 precise orbits based on B1I/B3II and B1C/B2a frequencies from iGMAS, especially for the period after the BDS entered the stable operation stage. In this paper, BDS-2/BDS-3 final (ISC), rapid (ISR), and ultra-rapid (ISU) products based on B1I/B3I and B1C/B2a frequencies from iGMAS are all assessed comprehensively. Specifically, at first, the precise orbits from iGMAS are compared with the ones from the IGS ACs. Based on this, the satellite laser ranging inspects the precise orbits from iGMAS. Finally, the orbit errors are discussed systematically by considering the beta and elongation angles. Using one year of data, the orbit accuracy of geostationary orbit, inclined geosynchronous orbit, and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites can almost reach meter to decimeter level, decimeter to sub-decimeter level, and centimeter level, respectively, where the ISC products are the best. The ISC, ISR, and ISU products based on B1I/B3I frequencies are generally better than the ones based on B1C/B2a frequencies. Additionally, according to the SLR data, the results show that the accuracy of precise orbits of BDS-3 is better than that of BDS-2. The mean values of orbit biases of BDS-3 MEO satellites are approximately 2.88 cm. In addition, the orbit errors are related to the beta angle and elongation angle to some extent, and the manufacturers may also have an influence on the orbit errors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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20 pages, 14586 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Low-Cost IMU and Odometer Tightly Augmented PPP-B2b-Based Inter-Satellite Differenced PPP in Urban Environments

by Yu Min, Zhouzheng Gao, Jie Lv, Ruohua Lan, Qiaozhuang Xu and Cheng Yang

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(1), 199; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15010199 - 30 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1805

Abstract

Since 23 June 2020, BDS-3 has been entirely operated and obtained the ability of global PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) services. Afterward, real-time Precise Point Positioning (PPP) service is available in China’s surrounding areas via BDS-3 PPP-B2b signal. However, such a real-time PPP service cannot maintain the high accuracy and continuity of positioning solutions in challenging environments, such as urban environments. For that, we carried out a model by integrating between-satellite single-differenced (BSSD) PPP, a low-cost Inertial Navigation System (INS), and an odometer via an extended Kalman filter. The performance of this integration model was assessed with vehicle-borne data. Results demonstrated that (1) the position RMS (Root Mean Square) of BSSD PPP are 64.33 cm, 53.47 cm, and 154.11 cm. Compared with BSSD PPP, about 31.2%, 23.3%, and 27.3% position improvements can be achieved by using INS. Further enhancements of position RMS benefiting from the odometer are 1.34%, 1.41%, and 1.73% in the three directions. (2) Anyway, the accuracy of BSSD PPP/INS/Odometer tightly coupled integration is slightly higher than that of undifferenced PPP/INS/Odometer integration, with average improvement percentages of 7.71%, 3.09%, and 0.27%. Meanwhile, the performance of BSSD PPP/INS/Odometer integration during the periods with satellite outages is better than the undifferenced PPP-based solutions. (3) The improvements in attitudes from an odometer are more significant on heading angle than the other two attitudes, with percentages of 25.00%. (4) During frequent GNSS outage periods, the reduction in average maximum position drifts provided by INS are 18.01%, 8.95%, and 20.74%. After integrating with an odometer, the drifts can be furtherly decreased by 25.11%, 15.96%, and 20.69%. For attitude, about 41.67% reduction in average maximum drifts of heading angles is obtained. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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17 pages, 6078 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Empirical Grid Model for Precipitable Water Vapor

by Xinzhi Wang, Fayuan Chen, Fuyang Ke and Chang Xu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(23), 6174; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14236174 - 6 Dec 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1921

Abstract

Atmospheric precipitable water vapor (PWV) is a key variable for weather forecast and climate research. Various techniques (e.g., radiosondes, global navigation satellite system, satellite remote sensing and reanalysis products by data assimilation) can be used to measure (or retrieve) PWV. However, gathering PWV data with high spatial and temporal resolutions remains a challenge. In this study, we propose a new empirical PWV grid model (called ASV-PWV) using the zenith wet delay from the Askne model and improved by the spherical harmonic function and vertical correction. Our method is convenient and enables the user to gain PWV data with only four input parameters (e.g., the longitude and latitude, time, and atmospheric pressure of the desired position). Profiles of 20 radiosonde stations in Qinghai Tibet Plateau, China, along with the latest publicly available C-PWVC2 model are used to validate the local performance. The PWV data from ASV-PWV and C-PWVC2 is generally consistent with radiosonde (the average annual bias is −0.44 mm for ASV-PWV and −1.36 mm for C-PWVC2, the root mean square error (RMSE) is 3.44 mm for ASV-PWV and 2.51 mm for C-PWVC2, respectively). Our ASV-PWV performs better than C-PWVC2 in terms of seasonal characteristics. In general, a sound consistency exists between PWV values of ASV-PWV and the fifth generation of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Atmospheric Reanalysis (ERA5) (total 7381 grid points in 2020). The average annual bias and RMSE are −0.73 mm and 4.28 mm, respectively. ASV-PWV has a similar performance as ERA5 reanalysis products, indicating that ASV-PWV is a potentially alternative option for rapidly gaining PWV. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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23 pages, 7261 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of BDS-3 B1C/B2b Single/Dual-Frequency PPP Using PPP-B2b and RTS SSR Products in Both Static and Dynamic Applications

by Ruohua Lan, Cheng Yang, Yanli Zheng, Qiaozhuang Xu, Jie Lv and Zhouzheng Gao

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(22), 5835; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14225835 - 17 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2178

Abstract

The BeiDou Global Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) can provide PPP-B2b satellite-based Precise Point Positioning (PPP) real-time service to the Asia–Pacific region via PPP-B2b signal transmitted from the three Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites. This paper provides a comprehensive evaluation of the accuracies of the satellite’s precise real-time orbit and clock products, including BDS-3 PPP-B2b precise products and the precise real-time products provided by four IGS centers (CAS, DLR, GFZ, and WHU). In addition, the influences of these real-time precise satellite products on the PPP positioning accuracy with single-frequency and dual-frequencies are also studied. Furthermore, the accuracies of broadcast ephemeris and IGS ultra-rapid products are studied, as well as their impact on PPP accuracies. Results illustrate that the orbits accuracies of PPP-B2b orbits are 9.42 cm, 21.26 cm, and 28.65 cm in the radial, along-track, and cross-track components, which are slightly lower than those of real-time orbits provided by the four IGS centers. However, the accuracy of PPP-B2b clock biases is 0.18 ns, which is higher than those provided by IGS Real-Time Service (RTS). In the static positioning test, the 3D positioning accuracy of B1I+B3I dual-frequencies PPP and B1C single-frequency PPP are centimeter-level while using PPP-B2b service, which is slightly lower in horizontal components compared to those obtained based on IGS RTS products. The results of the dynamic vehicle test indicate that the positioning accuracies of B1I+B2b dual-frequency PPP are about 50 cm and 120 cm in horizontal and vertical components, which are close to those of B2b single-frequency PPP using PPP-B2b service. Generally, the PPP-B2b orbit and clock accuracies on real-time PPP present similar performance to that based on IGS RTS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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17 pages, 9026 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study of Accuracy of High-Rate GNSS in Context of Structural Health Monitoring

by Xuanyu Qu, Bao Shu, Xiaoli Ding, Yangwei Lu, Guopeng Li and Li Wang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(19), 4989; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14194989 - 7 Oct 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2841

Abstract

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)-based technologies have become an indispensable part of current structural health monitoring (SHM) systems because of the unique capability of the GNSS technologies to provide accurate real-time displacement information. GNSS equipment with a data sampling rate of up to about 20 Hz has been widely used for this purpose. High-rate GNSS systems (typically up to about 100 Hz) offer additional advantages in structural health monitoring as some highly dynamic civil structures, such as some bridges, require high-rate monitoring data to capture the dynamic behaviors. However, the performance of high-rate GNSS positioning in the context of structural health monitoring is not entirely known, as studies on structural monitoring with high-rate GNSS positioning are very limited, especially considering that some of the satellite systems just reached their full constellations very recently. We carried out a series of experiments with the help of a shaking table to assess the SHM performance of a set of 100 Hz GNSS equipment and three commonly used GNSS positioning techniques, PPP (precise point positioning), PPP-AR (precise point positioning with ambiguity resolution), and RTK (real-time kinematic). We found that the standard deviations of the 100 Hz GNSS displacement solutions derived from PPP, PPP-AR, and RTK techniques were 5.5 mm, 3.6 mm, and 0.8 mm, respectively, when the antenna was in quasi-static motion, and about 9.2 mm, 6.2 mm, and 3.5 mm, respectively, when the antenna was in vibration (up to about 0.7 Hz), under typical urban observational conditions in Hong Kong. We also found that the higher a sampling rate is, the lower the accuracy of a measured displacement series is. On average, the 10 Hz and 100 Hz results are 5.5% and 10.3%, respectively, noisier than the 1 Hz results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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12 pages, 2844 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

An Observation Density Based Method for Independent Baseline Searching in GNSS Network Solution

by Tong Liu, Yujun Du, Wenfeng Nie, Jian Liu, Yongchao Ma and Guochang Xu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(19), 4717; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14194717 - 21 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1955

Abstract

With applications such as precise geodetic product generation and reference frame maintenance, the global GNSS network solution is a fundamental problem that has constantly been a focus of concern. Independent baseline search is a prerequisite step of the double-differenced (DD) GNSS network. In this process, only empirical methods are usually used, i.e., the observation-max (OBS-MAX), which allows for obtaining more redundant DD observations, and the shortest-path (SHORTEST), which helps to better eliminate tropospheric and ionospheric errors between stations. Given the possible limitations that neither of the methods can always guarantee baselines of the highest accuracy to be selected, a strategy based on the ‘density’ of common satellites (OBS-DEN) is proposed. It takes the number of co-viewing satellites per unit distance between stations as the criterion. This method ensures that the independent baseline network has both sufficient observations and short baselines. With single-day solutions and annual statistics computed with parallel processing, the method demonstrates that it has the ability to obtain comparable or even higher positioning accuracy than the conventional methods. With a clearer meaning, OBS-DEN can be an option alongside the previous methods in the independent baseline search. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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17 pages, 5219 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Accuracy Clock Offsets Estimation Strategy of BDS-3 Using Multi-Source Observations

by Jianhua Yang, Chengpan Tang, Sanshi Zhou, Yezhi Song, Jinhuo Liu, Yu Xiang, Yuchen Liu, Qiuning Tian, Yufei Yang, Zuo Yang and Xiaogong Hu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(18), 4674; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14184674 - 19 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2061

Abstract

Satellite clock offsets are the critical parameters for The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) to provide position and timing (PNT) service. Unlike other GNSSs, BDS-3 uses the two-way superimposition strategy to measure satellite clock offsets. However, affected by some deficiencies of the two-way superimposition strategy, the accuracy of BDS-3 clock offsets parameters is 1.29 ns (RMS), which is the main bottleneck for BDS-3 to improve its space signal accuracy. After analyzing problems in the clock offsets measurement process of BDS-3, the paper proposes a new strategy to real-time estimate high-accuracy satellite clock offsets. The clock offsets estimated by the new strategy show a good consistency with GBM clock offsets. The averaged STD of their differences in MEO is 0.14 ns, and the clock offsets estimated by the new strategy present less fluctuation in the 1-day fitting residuals. Applying the new clock offsets to prediction, BDS-3 can reduce its clock offsets errors from 1.05 ns to 0.29 ns (RMS), about 72%. The above results indicate that the new clock offsets estimated strategy can improve the accuracy of clock offsets parameters of BDS-3 effectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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12 pages, 3385 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

A Beacons Selection Method under Random Interference for Indoor Positioning

by Yu Guo, Jiazhu Zheng, Shaoning Di, Guiqiu Xiang and Fei Guo

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(17), 4323; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14174323 - 1 Sep 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1624

Abstract

GNSS is still not well applied in indoor environments. This is an important challenge for seamless positioning and navigation. Using other sensors to replace and connect is the mainstream practice at present. No matter what technology is used, the problem of real-time optimal station selection is faced in complex indoor environments. In this paper, we first verified the impact of random interference from walkers on positioning signals in an indoor environment. Based on this phenomenon, we proposed a novel real-time dynamic Beacons selection method (RD) in the field of indoor positioning. First, we introduced a machine learning algorithm for real-time anomaly detection of received signals from different Beacons. Then the Beacon selection is completed based on the real-time anomaly detection results and RSSI. In an indoor scene, we verified the positioning accuracy of three other methods when selecting various numbers of Beacons. Then we used the best selection strategies to compare with the RD method. Experiments showed that the RD method can use the least Beacons to obtain higher accuracy and stable positioning results. This paper provides a new idea for real-time optimal selection of signal sources in a complex indoor environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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15 pages, 3492 KiB

Open AccessArticle

BDS/GPS Multi-Baseline Relative Positioning for Deformation Monitoring

by Haonan Wang, Wujiao Dai and Wenkun Yu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(16), 3884; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14163884 - 11 Aug 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2141

Abstract

The single-baseline solution (SBS) model has been widely adopted by the existing global navigation satellite system (GNSS) deformation monitoring systems due to its theoretical simplicity and ease of implementation. However, the SBS model neglects the mathematical correlation between baselines, and the accuracy and reliability can be degraded for baselines with long length, large height difference or frequent satellite signal occlusion. When monitoring large-area ground settlement or long-spanned linear objects such as bridges and railroads, multiple reference stations are frequently utilized, which can be exploited to improve the monitoring performance. Therefore, this paper evaluates the multi-baseline solution (MBS) model, and constrained-MBS (CMBS) model that has a prior constraint of the spatial-correlated tropospheric delay. The reliability and validity of the MBS model are verified using GPS/BDS datasets from ground settlement deformation monitoring with a baseline length of about 20 km and a height difference of about 200 m. Numerical results show that, compared with the SBS model, the MBS model can reduce the positioning standard deviation (STD) and root-mean-squared (RMS) errors by up to (47.4/51.3/66.2%) and (56.9/60.4/58.4%) in the north/east/up components, respectively. Moreover, the combined GPS/BDS positioning performance for the MBS model outperforms the GPS-only and BDS-only positioning models, with an average accuracy improvement of about 13.8 and 25.8%, with the highest accuracy improvement of about 41.6 and 43.8%, respectively. With the additional tropospheric delay constraint, the CMBS model improves the monitoring precision in the up direction by about 45.0%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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12 pages, 1905 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

The Bias in PPP-B2b Real-Time Clock Offset and the Strategy to Reduce It

by Jinhuo Liu, Chengpan Tang, Shanshi Zhou, Xiaogong Hu, Yufei Yang, Jianhua Yang and Yuchen Liu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(18), 4569; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14184569 - 13 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1640

Abstract

Precise point positioning can provide accurate coordinates to users without reference stations, and the high-precision real-time clock offset product is necessary for real-time precise point positioning application. As an integral part of the third generation BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, Precision Point Positioning Service provides dual systems (BDS-3 and GPS) real-time PPP services with centimeter- and decimeter-level accuracy for static and kinematic positioning users around China, respectively. However, there exist inconsistent biases in the clock offset of Precision Point Positioning Service, which will negatively affect the positioning and timing performance of the service. By comparing with the post-processing clock offset, this paper verifies that the broadcast clock offset has smaller and more stable biases in the long term and proposes a regional clock offset estimation strategy using broadcast clock offset for a priori constraint. The results show that the new algorithm can effectively reduce the bias in PPP-B2b clock offset. The new clock offset product could improve convergence speed by 25% and 10% in the horizontal and vertical directions. For positioning accuracy, the improvement is 22% and 17%. The absolute error of timing can also be reduced by 60%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise GNSS Positioning and Navigation: Methods, Challenges, and Applications)

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