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Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
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Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2018) | Viewed by 76504

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giordano Teza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo, 6, 35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: ground-based remote sensing; GNSS; infrared imaging; 3D modeling; geophysics; cultural heritage; medical imaging
Dr. Monia Negusini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Istituto di Radioastronomia (IRA), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Via P. Gobetti, 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Interests: GNSS; time series analysis; very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), geodesy; geodynamics; atmosphere monitoring with geodetic techniques
Dr. Grazia Pietrantonio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia sezione Centro Nazionale Terremoti, Via di Vigna Murata, 605, 00143 Roma, Italy
Interests: GNSS data processing, including study and implementation of stochastic models; crustal kinematics; realization of the international terrestrial reference system (ITRS) and its densification in the italian area
Dr. Nicola Cenni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Independent Researcher, Padova, Italy
Interests: GPS time series analysis; subsidence; landslide monitoring; seismics; hydrology; applied geophysics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

 

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), nowadays, is increasingly used in environmental research. For example, GNSS-based geodesy can be used to evaluate the regional scale and local scale velocity field and strain rate field, in particular in areas characterized by presence of seismogenetic faults. Data provided by GNSS can be used in real time and quasi-real-time landslide monitoring, and there are also some examples of use of low-cost devices. GNSS data from geodetic receivers can also provide near-real time information about the atmosphere that can be integrated into the weather prediction models and, in general, can be used for remote sensing purposes. There are many other examples of use of GNSS in environmental research, including e.g. agriculture and ecological research.

 

This Special Issue of Remote Sensing is devoted to all topics related to environmental research with GNSS, from theoretical modeling to specific applications. The audience ranges from the researchers to the practitioners. Therefore, papers devoted to atmospheric models, on the condition that they can be directly or indirectly applied to environmental research (e.g., GNSS-meteorology and remote sensing), or papers devoted to specific applications (e.g., analysis of crustal kinematics, landslide monitoring, animal movement monitoring) are both welcome. Papers devoted to geostatistics applied to GNSS data are also welcome. Another item of particular interest is the fusion of measurements from GNSS measurements and other remote sensing systems. Papers devoted to disaster response management or also to decision making and policy formulations from GNSS data are also expected. Contributions that propose new applications of GNSS or also new fields of use of known methodologies related to GNSS are particularly encouraged. Similarly, contributions that propose new methods/algorithms of GNSS data analysis for environmental applications or that propose new uses of known methods/algorithms are encouraged. In the case of papers devoted to the implementation of numerical methods, the availability of the related open access software as additional online material, to allow their direct use by potentially-interested readers, is strongly encouraged.

 

The peer-review process will be the usual one of Remote Sensing and other MDPI journals. Therefore, the quality of the manuscripts and their originality will be necessary conditions for their publication. The articles will be published online immediately after acceptance.

 

Dr. Giordano Teza
Dr. Monia Negusini
Dr. Grazia Pietrantonio
Dr. Nicola Cenni|
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • Mapping and GIS
  • Geodesy and Geodynamics
  • Landslide Monitoring
  • Ionosphere and Troposphere
  • Meteorology
  • Soil and Sea Observation
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Ecology
  • Disaster Response Management
  • Decision making

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Published Papers (16 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4128 KiB  
Article
On the Feasibility of Interhemispheric Patch Detection Using Ground-Based GNSS Measurements
by Rafal Sieradzki and Jacek Paziewski
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(12), 2044; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10122044 - 16 Dec 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3226
Abstract
Dual-frequency GNSS data processing is currently one of the most useful techniques for sounding the ionosphere. Hence, this work was aimed at the evaluation of ground-based GNSS data for the continuous monitoring of polar patches in both hemispheres. In this contribution, we proposed [...] Read more.
Dual-frequency GNSS data processing is currently one of the most useful techniques for sounding the ionosphere. Hence, this work was aimed at the evaluation of ground-based GNSS data for the continuous monitoring of polar patches in both hemispheres. In this contribution, we proposed to use epoch-wise relative STEC values in order to detect these structures. The applied indicator is defined as a difference between an undifferenced geometry-free linear combination of GNSS signals and the background ionospheric variations, which were assessed with an iterative algorithm of four-degree polynomial fitting. The occurrence of patches during the St. Patrick geomagnetic storm was performed for validation purposes. The first part of the work confirmed the applicability of the relative STEC values for such investigations. On the other hand, it also revealed the limitations related to the inhomogeneous distribution of stations, which may affect the results in both hemispheres. This was confirmed with a preliminary cross-evaluation of GNSS and in situ SWARM datasets. Apart from the periods with a well-established coincidence, the opposite situation, when both methods indicated different parts of the polar ionosphere, was also observed. The second part of this contribution depicted the feasibility of continuous patch detection for both regions, and thus the interhemispheric comparison of the analyzed structures. It has demonstrated the strong disproportion between patches in the northern and southern hemispheres. This discrepancy seems to be related to the different amount of plasma propagating from the dusk sector, which is justified by the values of relative STEC at mid-latitudes. The observed structures are also strongly dependent on the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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24 pages, 9269 KiB  
Article
GPS Time Series Analysis from Aboa the Finnish Antarctic Research Station
by Constantin-Octavian Andrei, Sonja Lahtinen, Maaria Nordman, Jyri Näränen, Hannu Koivula, Markku Poutanen and Juha Hyyppä
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(12), 1937; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10121937 - 1 Dec 2018
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 10436
Abstract
Continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) observations have been logged at the Finnish Antarctic research station (Aboa) since February 2003. The station is located in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Almost 5000 daily observation files have been archived based on yearly scientific expeditions. These [...] Read more.
Continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) observations have been logged at the Finnish Antarctic research station (Aboa) since February 2003. The station is located in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Almost 5000 daily observation files have been archived based on yearly scientific expeditions. These files have not been fully analysed until now. This study reports for the first time on the consistent and homogeneous data processing and analysis of the 15-year long time series. Daily coordinates are obtained using Precise Point Positioning (PPP) processing based on two approaches. The first approach is based on the Kalman filter and uses the RTKLIB open source library to produce daily solutions by unconventionally running the filter in the forward and backward direction. The second approach uses APPS web service and is based on GIPSY scientific processing engine. The two approaches show an excellent agreement with less than 3 mm rms error horizontally and 6 mm rms error vertically. The derived position time series is analysed in terms of trend, periodicity and noise characteristics. The noise of the time series was found to be power-law noise model with spectral index closer to flicker noise. In addition, several periodic signals were found at 5, 14, 183 and 362 days. Furthermore, most of the horizontal movement was found to be in the North direction at a rate of 11.23 ± 0.09 mm/y, whereas the rate in the East direction was estimated to be 1.46 ± 0.05 mm/y. Lastly, the 15-year long time series revealed a movement upwards at a rate of 0.79 ± 0.35 mm/y. Despite being an unattended station, Aboa provides one of the most continuous and longest GPS time series in Antarctica. Therefore, we believe that this research increases the awareness of local geophysical phenomena in a less reported area of the Antarctic continent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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13 pages, 4550 KiB  
Article
Characteristics of BeiDou-3 Experimental Satellite Clocks
by Yifei Lv, Tao Geng, Qile Zhao and Jingnan Liu
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(11), 1847; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10111847 - 22 Nov 2018
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4316
Abstract
The characteristics of the improved Atomic Frequency Standard (AFS) operated on the latest BeiDou-3 experimental satellites are analyzed from day-of-year (DOY) 254 to 281, of the year 2017, considering the following three aspects: stability, periodicity, and prediction precision. The two-step method of Precise [...] Read more.
The characteristics of the improved Atomic Frequency Standard (AFS) operated on the latest BeiDou-3 experimental satellites are analyzed from day-of-year (DOY) 254 to 281, of the year 2017, considering the following three aspects: stability, periodicity, and prediction precision. The two-step method of Precise Orbit Determination (POD) is used to obtain the precise clock offsets. We presented the stability of such new clocks and studied the influence of the uneven distribution of the ground stations on the stability performance of the clock. The results show that the orbit influence on the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) clock offsets is the largest of three satellite types, especially from 3 × 10 3 s to 8.64 × 10 4 s. Considering this orbit influence, the analysis shows that the Passive Hydrogen Maser (PHM) clock carried on C32 is approximately 2.6 × 10 − 14 at an interval of 10 4 , and has the best stability for any averaging intervals among the BeiDou satellite clocks, which currently achieves a level comparable to that of the PHM clock of Galileo, and the rubidium (Rb) clocks of Global Positioning System (GPS) Block IIF. The stability of the improved Rb AFS on BeiDou-3 is also superior to that of BeiDou-2 from 3 × 10 2 s to 3 × 10 3 s, and comparable to that of Rb AFS on the Galileo. Moreover, the periodicity of the PHM clock and the improved Rb clock are presented. For the PHM clock, the amplitudes are obviously reduced, while the new Rb clocks did not show a visible improvement, which will need further analysis in the future. As expected, the precision of the short-term clock prediction is improved because of the better characteristics of AFS. The Root Mean Square (RMS) of 1-h clock prediction is less than 0.16 ns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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14 pages, 5623 KiB  
Article
Characterization of GNSS Signals Tracked by the iGMAS Network Considering Recent BDS-3 Satellites
by Xin Xie, Rongxin Fang, Tao Geng, Guangxing Wang, Qile Zhao and Jingnan Liu
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(11), 1736; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10111736 - 3 Nov 2018
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4026
Abstract
The international GNSS monitoring and assessment system (iGMAS) tracking network has been established by China to track multi-GNSS satellites. A key feature of iGMAS stations is the capability to fully track new navigation signals from the recently deployed BDS-3 satellites. In addition to [...] Read more.
The international GNSS monitoring and assessment system (iGMAS) tracking network has been established by China to track multi-GNSS satellites. A key feature of iGMAS stations is the capability to fully track new navigation signals from the recently deployed BDS-3 satellites. In addition to the B1I and B3I signals inherited from BDS-2 satellites, the BDS-3 satellites are capable of transmitting new open service signals, including B1C at 1575.42 MHz, B2a at 1176.45 MHz, and B2b at 1207.14 MHz. In this contribution, we present a comprehensive analysis and characterization of GNSS signals tracked by different receivers and antennas equipped in the iGMAS network, especially as they relate to BDS-3 signals. Signal characteristics are analyzed in terms of the carrier-to-noise density ratio for the different signals as measured by the receiver, as well as pseudo-range noise and multipath. Special attention is given to discussion of the satellite-induced code bias, which has been identified to exist in the code observations of BDS-2, and the inter-frequency clock bias (IFCB), which has been observed in the triple-frequency carrier phase combinations of GPS Block IIF and BDS-2 satellites. The results indicate that the satellite-induced code bias is negligible for all signals of BDS-3 satellites, while small IFCB variations with peak amplitudes of about 1 cm can be recognized in BDS-3 triple-carrier combinations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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10 pages, 3495 KiB  
Article
Identification of the Noise Model in the Time Series of GNSS Stations Coordinates Using Wavelet Analysis
by Adrian Kaczmarek and Bernard Kontny
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(10), 1611; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101611 - 10 Oct 2018
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3245
Abstract
Analysis of the time series of coordinates is extremely important in geodynamic research. Indeed, the correct interpretation of coordinate changes may facilitate an understanding of the diverse geophysical processes taking place in the earth’s crust. At present, when rigorously processing global navigation satellite [...] Read more.
Analysis of the time series of coordinates is extremely important in geodynamic research. Indeed, the correct interpretation of coordinate changes may facilitate an understanding of the diverse geophysical processes taking place in the earth’s crust. At present, when rigorously processing global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations, the influence of deformations in the surface of the earth’s crust is not considered. This article presents signal modelling for the influence on the analysis of noise occurring in the time series of GNSS station coordinates. The modelling of coordinate time series was undertaken using the classic least-squares estimation (LSE) method and the inverse continuous wavelet transform (CWT). In order to determine the type of noise character, the coefficient spectral index was used. Analyses have demonstrated that the nature of noise in measurement data does not depend on the signal estimation method. The differences between classic modelling (LSE) of the time series with annual and semiannual oscillation and signal reconstruction are very small ( Δ κ = 0.0 ÷−0.2). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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27 pages, 13180 KiB  
Article
New Geodetic and Gravimetric Maps to Infer Geodynamics of Antarctica with Insights on Victoria Land
by Antonio Zanutta, Monia Negusini, Luca Vittuari, Leonardo Martelli, Paola Cianfarra, Francesco Salvini, Francesco Mancini, Paolo Sterzai, Marco Dubbini and Alessandro Capra
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(10), 1608; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101608 - 10 Oct 2018
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5629
Abstract
In order to make inferences on the geodynamics of Antarctica, geodetic and gravimetric maps derived from past and new observations can be used. This paper provides new insights into the geodynamics of Antarctica by integrating data at regional and continental scales. In particular, [...] Read more.
In order to make inferences on the geodynamics of Antarctica, geodetic and gravimetric maps derived from past and new observations can be used. This paper provides new insights into the geodynamics of Antarctica by integrating data at regional and continental scales. In particular, signatures of geodynamic activity at a regional extent have been investigated in Victoria Land (VL, Antarctica) by means of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) permanent station observations, data from the VLNDEF (Victoria Land Network for Deformation control) discontinuous network, and gravity station measurements. At the continental scale, episodic GNSS observations on VLNDEF sites collected for 20 years, together with continuous data from the International GNSS Service (IGS) and Polar Earth Observing Network (POLENET) sites, were processed, and the Euler pole position assessed with the angular velocity of the Antarctic plate. Both the Bouguer and the free-air gravity anomaly maps were obtained by integrating the available open-access geophysics dataset, and a compilation of 180 gravity measurements collected in the VL within the Italian National Program for Antarctic Research (PNRA) activities. As a result, new evidence has been detected at regional and continental scale. The main absolute motion of VL is towards SE (Ve 9.9 ± 0.26 mm/yr, Vn −11.9 ± 0.27 mm/yr) with a pattern similar to the transforms of the Tasman and Balleny fracture zones produced as consequence of Southern Ocean spreading. Residual velocities of the GNSS stations located in VL confirm the active role of the two main tectonic lineaments of the region, the Rennick–Aviator and the Lillie–Tucker faults with right-lateral sense of shear. The resulting VL gravity anomalies show a NW region characterized by small sized Bouguer anomaly with high uplift rates associated and a SE region with low values of Bouguer anomaly and general subsidence phenomena. The East and West Antarctica are characterized by a different thickness of the Earth’s crust, and the relative velocities obtained by the observed GNSS data confirm that movements between the two regions are negligible. In East Antarctica, the roots of the main subglacial highlands, Gamburtsev Mts and Dronning Maud Land, are present. The Northern Victoria Land (NVL) is characterized by more scattered anomalies. These confirm the differences between the Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) modeled and observed uplift rates that could be related to deep-seated, regional scale structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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20 pages, 7028 KiB  
Article
Impacts on Noise Analyses of GNSS Position Time Series Caused by Seasonal Signal, Weight Matrix, Offset, and Helmert Transformation Parameters
by Guo Chen, Qile Zhao, Na Wei and Jingnan Liu
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(10), 1584; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101584 - 2 Oct 2018
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3355
Abstract
The noise characteristics of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) position time series can be biased by many factors, which in turn affect the estimates of parameters in the deterministic model using a least squares method. The authors assess the effects of seasonal [...] Read more.
The noise characteristics of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) position time series can be biased by many factors, which in turn affect the estimates of parameters in the deterministic model using a least squares method. The authors assess the effects of seasonal signals, weight matrix, intermittent offsets, and Helmert transformation parameters on the noise analyses. Different solutions are obtained using the simulated and real position time series of 647 global stations and power law noise derived from the residuals of stacking solutions are compared. Since the true noise in the position time series is not available except for the simulated data, the authors paid most attention to the noise difference caused by the variable factors. First, parameterization of seasonal signals in the time series can reduce the colored noise and cause the spectral indexes to be closer to zero (much “whiter”). Meanwhile, the additional offset parameters can also change the colored noise to be much “whiter” and more offsets parameters in the deterministic model leading to spectral indexes closer to zero. Second, the weight matrices derived from the covariance information can induce more colored noise than the unit weight matrix for both real and simulated data, and larger biases of annual amplitude of simulated data are attributed to the covariance information. Third, the Helmert transformation parameters (three translation, three rotation, and one scale) considered in the model show the largest impacts on the power law noise (medians of 0.4 mm−k/4 and 0.06 for the amplitude and spectral index, respectively). Finally, the transformation parameters and full-weight matrix used together in the stacking model can induce different patterns for the horizontal and vertical components, respectively, which are related to different dominant factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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15 pages, 3940 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Higher-Order Ionospheric Terms on GPS Tropospheric Delay and Gradient Estimates
by Zhiyu Zhang, Fei Guo and Xiaohong Zhang
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(10), 1561; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10101561 - 28 Sep 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3636
Abstract
Atmospheric delays, e.g., ionospheric delay and tropospheric delay, are the dominant error sources for the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), especially for Precise Point Positioning (PPP). The common method for eliminating ionospheric delay is to form an ionosphere-free (IF) observable, which is a [...] Read more.
Atmospheric delays, e.g., ionospheric delay and tropospheric delay, are the dominant error sources for the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), especially for Precise Point Positioning (PPP). The common method for eliminating ionospheric delay is to form an ionosphere-free (IF) observable, which is a linear combination of observables on two frequencies such as GPS L1 and L2. As for the tropospheric delay, the dry component can be precisely corrected by empirical models, while the wet component is usually estimated as unknowns. However, the higher-order ionospheric (HOI) terms are not totally cancelled out in the (first-order) IF observable and as such, when not accounted for, they degrade the accuracy of other parameters. The impact of HOI corrections is well documented in the literature. This paper investigates the temporal effects of HOI terms on estimated tropospheric parameters, i.e., zenith tropospheric wet delay (ZWD) and north and east gradients. For this purpose, observations from over 100 stations with good global coverage were used considering various geographic and geophysical conditions. The results of numerical experiments show that HOI effects have a significant impact on the estimated tropospheric parameters, and the influence is dependent on location and time. The maximum differences of ZWD estimates reach over 20 mm during periods of activity such as solar storms and geomagnetic storms. Additionally, the north gradients are more likely to be affected by HOI effects compared with east gradients. In particular, the tropospheric gradient component is most affected for low latitude station during daytime. Additionally, the effects of bending errors and HOI terms on slant tropospheric delay at low elevation angles are much larger than those at high elevation angles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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17 pages, 20430 KiB  
Article
Potential Applications of GNSS-R Observations over Agricultural Areas: Results from the GLORI Airborne Campaign
by Mehrez Zribi, Erwan Motte, Nicolas Baghdadi, Frédéric Baup, Sylvia Dayau, Pascal Fanise, Dominique Guyon, Mireille Huc and Jean Pierre Wigneron
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(8), 1245; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10081245 - 8 Aug 2018
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 6260
Abstract
The aim of this study is to analyze the sensitivity of airborne Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) on soil surface and vegetation cover characteristics in agricultural areas. Airborne polarimetric GNSS-R data were acquired in the context of the GLORI’2015 campaign over two [...] Read more.
The aim of this study is to analyze the sensitivity of airborne Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) on soil surface and vegetation cover characteristics in agricultural areas. Airborne polarimetric GNSS-R data were acquired in the context of the GLORI’2015 campaign over two study sites in Southwest France in June and July of 2015. Ground measurements of soil surface parameters (moisture content) and vegetation characteristics (leaf area index (LAI), and vegetation height) were recorded for different types of crops (corn, sunflower, wheat, soybean, vegetable) simultaneously with the airborne GNSS-R measurements. Three GNSS-R observables (apparent reflectivity, the reflected signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), and the polarimetric ratio (PR)) were found to be well correlated with soil moisture and a major vegetation characteristic (LAI). A tau-omega model was used to explain the dependence of the GNSS-R reflectivity on both the soil moisture and vegetation parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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16 pages, 1851 KiB  
Article
Improved Method for GLONASS Long Baseline Ambiguity Resolution without Inter-Frequency Code Bias Calibration
by Jiasong Zhu, Yanyan Liu, Bing Wang and Shirong Ye
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(8), 1223; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10081223 - 3 Aug 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3688
Abstract
Use of a frequency-division multiple access strategy causes Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) receiving equipment to experience both inter-frequency phase bias (IFPB) and inter-frequency code bias (IFCB). While IFPB can be calibrated using a linear model, there is no general model for IFCB [...] Read more.
Use of a frequency-division multiple access strategy causes Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) receiving equipment to experience both inter-frequency phase bias (IFPB) and inter-frequency code bias (IFCB). While IFPB can be calibrated using a linear model, there is no general model for IFCB calibration, which causes great difficulty in GLONASS ambiguity resolution over long baselines; most current GLONASS ambiguity resolution research is confined to short baselines. In this paper, based on a single-differencing between-receivers (SDBR) model, a wide-lane phase combination-based approach is proposed to fix the GLONASS ambiguities over long baselines. External precise ionospheric products are introduced to eliminate the ionospheric delay. To mitigate the effect of the residual ionospheric delays, we fix the relative wide-lane ambiguity using the Hatch–Melbourne–Wubbena (HMW) combination. The results show that 96% and 55% of the wide-lane round-off residuals are within 0.2 cycles for the Global Positioning System (GPS) and GLONASS, respectively, if the traditional HMW method is used. The method proposed here for GLONASS can improve these percentages significantly, reaching up to 95.5%. The root mean square (RMS) position errors are 1.43, 1.06 and 4.32 mm for GPS in the north, east and up directions, respectively. When GLONASS with ambiguity fixing is added, the corresponding RMS values are reduced significantly to 1.26, 1.02 and 3.87 mm, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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20 pages, 8359 KiB  
Article
VADASE Reliability and Accuracy of Real-Time Displacement Estimation: Application to the Central Italy 2016 Earthquakes
by Francesca Fratarcangeli, Giorgio Savastano, Maria Chiara D’Achille, Augusto Mazzoni, Mattia Crespi, Federica Riguzzi, Roberto Devoti and Grazia Pietrantonio
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(8), 1201; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10081201 - 31 Jul 2018
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 4910
Abstract
The goal of this article is the illustration of the new functionalities of the VADASE (Variometric Approach for Displacements Analysis Stand-alone Engine) processing approach. VADASE was presented in previous works as an approach able to estimate in real time the velocities and displacements [...] Read more.
The goal of this article is the illustration of the new functionalities of the VADASE (Variometric Approach for Displacements Analysis Stand-alone Engine) processing approach. VADASE was presented in previous works as an approach able to estimate in real time the velocities and displacements in a global reference frame (ITRF), using high-rate (1 Hz or more) carrier phase observations and broadcast products (orbits, clocks) collected by a stand-alone GNSS receiver, achieving a displacements accuracy within 1–2 cm (usually better) over intervals up to a few minutes. It has been well known since the very first implementation and testing of VADASE that the estimated displacements might be impacted by two different effects: spurious spikes in the velocities due to outliers (consequently, displacements, obtained through velocities integration, are severely corrupted) and trends in the displacements time series, mainly due to broadcast orbit and clock errors. Two strategies are herein introduced, respectively based on Leave-One-Out cross-validation (VADASE-LOO) for a receiver autonomous outlier detection, and on a network augmentation strategy to filter common trends out (A-VADASE); they are combined (first, VADASE-LOO; second, A-VADASE) for a complete solution. Moreover, starting from this VADASE improved solution, an additional strategy is proposed to estimate in real time the overall coseismic displacement occurring at each GNSS receiver. New VADASE advances are successfully applied to the GPS data collected during the recent three strong earthquakes that occurred in Central Italy on 24 August and 26 and 30 October 2016, and the results are herein presented and discussed. The VADASE real-time estimated coseismic displacements are compared to the static ones derived from the daily solutions obtained within the standard post-processing procedure by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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22 pages, 6229 KiB  
Article
An Improved BDS Satellite-Induced Code Bias Correction Model Considering the Consistency of Multipath Combinations
by Lin Pan, Fei Guo and Fujian Ma
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(8), 1189; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10081189 - 28 Jul 2018
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3667
Abstract
The satellite-induced systematic biases were identified to exist in the code observations from BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) satellites using multipath (MP) combinations. The current correction model for satellite-induced code bias (SICB) does not take into account the consistency of MP combinations, which [...] Read more.
The satellite-induced systematic biases were identified to exist in the code observations from BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) satellites using multipath (MP) combinations. The current correction model for satellite-induced code bias (SICB) does not take into account the consistency of MP combinations, which limits the accuracy of the developed model. Both the cycle slips and different tracking of a satellite at different stations can affect the absolute values of MP combinations, although the variations remain unchanged. An improved SICB piecewise linear correction model as a function of elevations is proposed. We estimate the model parameters for each frequency and for each satellite. The single-difference of MP combinations in the domain of elevation angles is carried out to remove the unknown ambiguities and stable hardware delays so that the SICB modeling is free of the effects of MP combination inconsistency. In addition, a denser elevation node separation of 1°, rather than the 10° usually employed by the traditional model, is used to describe the more precise SICB variations. The SICB corrections show significant differences among orbit types and frequency bands. The SICB variations have much less effect on Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO) satellites than on Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites for the regional BDS (BDS-2). The B1 signal has the largest SICB corrections, which can be up to 0.9 m close to zenith for BDS-2 MEO satellites, and the B2 signal follows. After adding the SICB corrections to the code observations, the elevation-dependent code biases vanish, and we can obtain improved code observations. After applying the improved SICB correction model, the root mean square (RMS) values of MP combination time series are reduced by 7%, 6% and 2%, and 18%, 14% and 5% on the B1, B2 and B3 frequencies for the BDS-2 IGSO and MEO satellites, respectively. For comparison, we also establish the traditional SICB correction model. With the traditional SICB correction model, the corresponding RMS MP combinations are smaller than those of uncorrected MP series, but slightly larger than those of corrected MP series using the improved SICB correction model. To validate the effectiveness and correctness of our proposed model, single-frequency precise point positioning (PPP) processing with BDS-2 MEO and IGSO satellites is conducted. An accuracy improvement of 24%, 19% and 89%, and 7%, 7% and 6% for the single-frequency PPP applying the improved SICB corrections over the case without SICB corrections and the case using the traditional SICB corrections in east, north and vertical directions is achieved, respectively. Although only centimeter-level SICB variations could be observed for the two legacy signals B1 and B3 and the three new navigation signals B1C, B2a and B2b transmitted by the satellites of global BDS demonstration system (BDS-3S), we still establish an effective SICB correction model on the B1 and B3 frequencies for BDS-3S IGSO satellites, and the RMS MP combinations are reduced by 1–4% after applying the improved SICB corrections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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18 pages, 6604 KiB  
Article
Site-Specific Unmodeled Error Mitigation for GNSS Positioning in Urban Environments Using a Real-Time Adaptive Weighting Model
by Zhetao Zhang, Bofeng Li, Yunzhong Shen, Yang Gao and Miaomiao Wang
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(7), 1157; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10071157 - 22 Jul 2018
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 4832
Abstract
In Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning, observation precisions are frequently impacted by the site-specific unmodeled errors, especially for the code observations that are widely used by smart phones and vehicles in urban environments. The site-specific unmodeled errors mainly refer to the multipath [...] Read more.
In Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning, observation precisions are frequently impacted by the site-specific unmodeled errors, especially for the code observations that are widely used by smart phones and vehicles in urban environments. The site-specific unmodeled errors mainly refer to the multipath and other space loss caused by the signal propagation (e.g., non-line-of-sight reception). As usual, the observation precisions are estimated by the weighting function in a stochastic model. Only once the realistic weighting function is applied can we obtain the precise positioning results. Unfortunately, the existing weighting schemes do not fully take these site-specific unmodeled effects into account. Specifically, the traditional weighting models indirectly and partly reflect, or even simply ignore, these unmodeled effects. In this paper, we propose a real-time adaptive weighting model to mitigate the site-specific unmodeled errors of code observations. This unmodeled-error-weighted model takes full advantages of satellite elevation angle and carrier-to-noise power density ratio (C/N0). In detail, elevation is taken as a fundamental part of the proposed model, then C/N0 is applied to estimate the precision of site-specific unmodeled errors. The principle of the second part is that the measured C/N0 will deviate from the nominal values when the signal distortions are severe. Specifically, the template functions of C/N0 and its precision, which can estimate the nominal values, are applied to adaptively adjust the precision of site-specific unmodeled errors. The proposed method is tested in single-point positioning (SPP) and code real-time differenced (RTD) positioning by static and kinematic datasets. Results indicate that the adaptive model is superior to the equal-weight, elevation and C/N0 models. Compared with these traditional approaches, the accuracy of SPP and RTD solutions are improved by 35.1% and 17.6% on average in the dense high-rise building group, as well as 11.4% and 11.9% on average in the urban-forested area. This demonstrates the benefit to code-based positioning brought by a real-time adaptive weighting model as it can mitigate the impacts of site-specific unmodeled errors and improve the positioning accuracy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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16 pages, 5444 KiB  
Article
Real-Time Phase Bias Estimation for BeiDou Satellites Based on Consideration of Orbit Errors
by Yanyan Liu, Jiasong Zhu, Shirong Ye and Weiwei Song
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(7), 1009; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10071009 - 25 Jun 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3065
Abstract
Correction of the fractional cycle bias (FCB) in the undifferenced ambiguity allows precise point positioning (PPP) integer ambiguity resolution (IAR) to be achieved, which can improve positioning accuracy significantly. In addition, in real-time PPP-IAR, integration of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) can [...] Read more.
Correction of the fractional cycle bias (FCB) in the undifferenced ambiguity allows precise point positioning (PPP) integer ambiguity resolution (IAR) to be achieved, which can improve positioning accuracy significantly. In addition, in real-time PPP-IAR, integration of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) can provide a significant reduction in the initial fixing time of global positioning system (GPS)-only PPP-IAR. However, the FCB quality can be considerably affected by the low precision of the BDS orbit, which then severely hampers the GPS + BDS PPP-IAR performance. Therefore, a real-time FCB estimation strategy that takes the BDS satellite orbit error into consideration was developed in this study. The slant orbit error can be absorbed by the ionosphere-free (IF) ambiguity, which can then be recovered by fixing all IF ambiguities from all the tracking stations. The estimated orbit error is then used to refine the orbit, which is broadcast along with the FCBs to enable PPP ambiguity resolution. To evaluate the proposed strategy, an experiment using 60 tracking stations covering the China region is performed in a simulated real-time mode. The a posteriori residuals of both the wide- and narrow-lane ambiguities are checked to validate the efficiency of the proposed FCB strategy. The results show that when the proposed strategy is applied, the effect of the BDS orbit error on narrow-lane FCB estimation is eliminated and more than 94% of the narrow-lane residuals are within 0.1 cycles for both the GPS and the BDS. The fixing percentage within 20 min is 46.3% for the GPS-only solution but is only 4.8% when using GPS + BDS with the traditional method. However, when the proposed strategy is used, the fixing percentage for GPS + BDS improves significantly to 91.7%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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16 pages, 2278 KiB  
Article
Real-Time Precise Point Positioning Using Tomographic Wet Refractivity Fields
by Wenkun Yu, Biyan Chen, Wujiao Dai and Xiaomin Luo
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(6), 928; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10060928 - 12 Jun 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3834
Abstract
The tropospheric wet delay induced by water vapor is a major error source in precise point positioning (PPP), significantly influencing the convergence time to obtain high-accuracy positioning. Thus, high-quality water vapor information is necessary to support PPP processing. This study presents the use [...] Read more.
The tropospheric wet delay induced by water vapor is a major error source in precise point positioning (PPP), significantly influencing the convergence time to obtain high-accuracy positioning. Thus, high-quality water vapor information is necessary to support PPP processing. This study presents the use of tomographic wet refractivity (WR) fields in PPP to examine their impacts on the positioning performance. Tests are carried out based on 1-year of 2013 global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations (30 s sampling rate) from three stations with different altitudes in the Hong Kong GNSS network. Coordinate errors with respect to reference values at a 0.1 m level of convergence is used for the north, east, and up components, whilst an error of 0.2 m is adopted for 3D position convergence. Experimental results demonstrate that, in both static and kinematic modes, the tomography-based PPP approach outperforms empirical tropospheric models in terms of positioning accuracy and convergence time. Compared with the results based on traditional, Saastamoinen, AN (Askne and Nordis), and VMF1 (Vienna Mapping Function 1) models, 23–48% improvements of positioning accuracy, and 5–30% reductions of convergence time are achieved with the application of tomographic WR fields. When using a tomography model, about 35% of the solutions converged within 20 min, whereas only 23%, 25%, 25%, and 30% solutions converged within 20 min for the traditional, Saastamoinen, AN, and VMF1 models, respectively. Our study demonstrates the benefit to real-time PPP processing brought by additional tomographic WR fields as they can significantly improve the PPP solution and reduce the convergence time for the up component. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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23 pages, 6662 KiB  
Article
Global Ionosphere Mapping and Differential Code Bias Estimation during Low and High Solar Activity Periods with GIMAS Software
by Qiang Zhang and Qile Zhao
Remote Sens. 2018, 10(5), 705; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10050705 - 4 May 2018
Cited by 37 | Viewed by 5781
Abstract
Ionosphere research using the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) techniques is a hot topic, with their unprecedented high temporal and spatial sampling rate. We introduced a new GNSS Ionosphere Monitoring and Analysis Software (GIMAS) in order to model the global ionosphere vertical total [...] Read more.
Ionosphere research using the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) techniques is a hot topic, with their unprecedented high temporal and spatial sampling rate. We introduced a new GNSS Ionosphere Monitoring and Analysis Software (GIMAS) in order to model the global ionosphere vertical total electron content (VTEC) maps and to estimate the GPS and GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) satellite and receiver differential code biases (DCBs). The GIMAS-based Global Ionosphere Map (GIM) products during low (day of year from 202 to 231, in 2008) and high (day of year from 050 to 079, in 2014) solar activity periods were investigated and assessed. The results showed that the biases of the GIMAS-based VTEC maps relative to the International GNSS Service (IGS) Ionosphere Associate Analysis Centers (IAACs) VTEC maps ranged from −3.0 to 1.0 TECU (TEC unit) (1 TECU = 1 × 1016 electrons/m2). The standard deviations (STDs) ranged from 0.7 to 1.9 TECU in 2008, and from 2.0 to 8.0 TECU in 2014. The STDs at a low latitude were significantly larger than those at middle and high latitudes, as a result of the ionospheric latitudinal gradients. When compared with the Jason-2 VTEC measurements, the GIMAS-based VTEC maps showed a negative systematic bias of about −1.8 TECU in 2008, and a positive systematic bias of about +2.2 TECU in 2014. The STDs were about 2.0 TECU in 2008, and ranged from 2.2 to 8.5 TECU in 2014. Furthermore, the aforementioned characteristics were strongly related to the conditions of the ionosphere variation and the geographic latitude. The GPS and GLONASS satellite and receiver P1-P2 DCBs were compared with the IAACs DCBs. The root mean squares (RMSs) were 0.16–0.20 ns in 2008 and 0.13–0.25 ns in 2014 for the GPS satellites and 0.26–0.31 ns in 2014 for the GLONASS satellites. The RMSs of receiver DCBs were 0.21–0.42 ns in 2008 and 0.33–1.47 ns in 2014 for GPS and 0.67–0.96 ns in 2014 for GLONASS. The monthly stability of the GPS satellite DCBs was about 0.04 ns (0.07 ns) in 2008 (2014) and that for the GLONASS satellite DCBs was about 0.09 ns in 2014. The receiver DCBs were less stable than the satellite DCBs, with a mean value of about 0.16 ns (0.47 ns) in 2008 (2014) for GPS, and 0.48 ns in 2014 for GLONASS. It can be demonstrated that the GIMAS software had a high accuracy and reliability for the global ionosphere monitoring and analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Research with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS))
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