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I. I NTRODUCTION
HE Global Positioning System was designed and built by
the U.S. Department of Defense, with the first satellite
being launched in 1978. The system became fully
operational in the mid-1990s, and is operated and maintained
by the U.S. Air Force. GPS is a medium earth orbit (MEO)
satellite constellation used in many navigation and scientific
applications. The constellation orbits at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km (12,550 mi) and includes 31 operational
satellites. The satellites radiate modulated radio signals that
propagate to receivers on or near the Earths surface. Each
GPS signal uses spread spectrum techniques to make it less
susceptible to interference and jamming [1].
Radio signals from the satellites contain important information such as the satellite clock readings, health status, orbit,
and correction data. The key to the systems accuracy is
the fact that all signal components are precisely controlled
by atomic clocks. Synchronized GPS receivers leverage this
precise timing along with digital processing techniques to
determine the receivers three dimensional position (latitude,
longitude, altitude). In addition to geolocation, GPS satellites
can be used for scientific studies of weather, climate, crustal
deformation, plate tectonics, sea level, and ice dynamics [2].
p
(xs xr )2 + (ys yr )2 + (zs zr )2 ,
(1)
(2)
to determine the pseudorange, R(tr , te ), between the satellite and receiver. Here c denotes the speed of light in freespace and denotes any residual measurement errors. In this
paper, we focus on the propagation errors introduced by the
ionosphere, troposphere, and multipath.
When considering atmospheric propagation effects, we divide the atmosphere into the neutral atmosphere (up to about
100 km) and the ionosphere (about 60 - 2000 km):
B. Atmospheric Overview
vg =
df 2
c
=
.
d
ng
(5)
dnp
.
(7)
df
The phase and group indices are directly related to the
electron density, Ne . Due to the different velocities, GPS signal
code measurements are delay and signal carrier phases are
advanced. Therefore, measured pseudoranges using the signal
codes are too long and measured pseudoranges using phase are
too short compared to the geometric range (Eqn. 1) between
the satellite and receiver [2].
In the neutral atmosphere, refractive delays are introduced
by gases and other particles depending on their permittivity
and concentration. In dry air, refractivity is proportional to air
mass in the signal path and can be predicted from atmospheric
pressure. These cases will be discussed further in Section III.
Atmospheric-induced propagation delays contribute significantly to GPS measurement errors [7]. The zenith path delay
(in mm) is expressed as
Z
ZP D =
N dz
(8)
ng = np + f
R0
R02
(9)
T ECLO S
map(el)
(10)
40.3
T EC
fc
(12)
40.3
T EC
f2
(13)
cos(E0 )
R
2hi
(14)
T ROPOSPHERIC P ROPAGATION
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the earths atmosphere. Strictly speaking, the troposphere extends from the
earths surface to a height of 9 km and 16 km at the poles
and equator respectively [24]. The stratosphere also contains
neutral atoms and molecules, however, its effects on signals
is less pronounced because 75% of atmospheric mass resides
in the troposphere. Therefore, the region of the atmosphere
extending from the earths surface to the ionosphere is loosely
referred to as the troposphere [25][24].
While the ionosphere contains charged ions and electrons, the troposphere mainly consists of neutral atoms and
molecules. These neutral particles affect electromagnetic wave
propagation by effectively delaying the signal[26][27][28].
Specifically, the troposphere presents itself as a non-dispersive
medium with a refractive index n > 1 at the GPS frequency.
The speed of the GPS signal in the troposphere is therefore
less than the speed of light in a vacuum (n = 1). Therefore,
the signal received from the GPS satellite is a delayed version
of the actual signal in the absence of the troposphere. This
delay can also be interpreted as a result of wave refraction
as the signal traverses the troposphere. The resulting path
due to refraction is longer than the straight path that the
wave would travel in a vacuum (see Fig. 6). The associated
delay which also depends on temperature, humidity, pressure
and location can range from 6 to 80 ns which corresponds
to a pseudo range error of 2 to 25 m.[23]. This error can
be significant or insignificant depending on the application.
Civilian applications have relaxed accuracy constraints while
25 m errors can prove detrimental for military applications.
As previously mentioned, dual carrier techniques can be
used to mitigate ionospheric delay. However, this technique
cannot be used to mitigate tropospheric delay since the troposphere behaves as a non dispersive medium for frequencies
below 15 GHz [23]. To mitigate tropospheric delays, predictive
models based on numerical analysis and empirical results are
used correct for the anticipated delay.
(17)
temporal and spatial distribution of water vapour in the troposphere. The severity of this situation is mitigated by the
fact that the wet refractivity only accounts for a small amount
of the total refractivity. However, water vapour radiometers
(WVRs) are still used to measure the water vapour content in
the atmosphere for calibration purposes [24].
B. Modified Saastamoinen Model
If a quasi geometric assumption is made, the difference in
path length can be approximated to be zero in (18), S 0.
The excess delay can now be modeled as an excess distance
by using the following equation
= d + w = cte .
(19)
(22)
T = T0 0.0065(H H0 )
(23)
(24)
(25)
2.47
m.
(27)
sin + 0.0121
For stations that are above sea level (h > 0), the total delay
is less than that observed at sea level since the tropospheric
distance traversed by the signal is significantly reduced at high
altitudes. Therefore, for a station at an altitude of h km , the
excess path is given by
()(h = 0) =
(h) = (h = 0)e0.133h .
(28)
changing the apparent elevation angle of a satellite. Specifically, a low elevation satellite can send a signal that gets
trapped in a tropospheric duct. Since the signal power in a
duct is significantly high, the ground receiver can interpret
the duct signal as a signal originating from another satellite
at a higher elevation angle than the actual satellite. This then
leads to significant range errors. Ducting of GPS signals can be
studied using ray tracing techniques (RT), parabolic equation
(PE) methods, and split step parabolic equations (SSPE). Fig.
8 shows how low level ducting occurs.
IV.
M ULTIPATH P ROPAGATION
A. Effect on Pseudorange
The path of the reflected signals is always longer than the
path of the direct signal as shown in Fig. 9. The reflected signal
path depends on the position of the satellite and the structure
of the reflected object. This difference in the path length will
lead to change in the amplitude and phase for the same signal.
Therefore, receiving both direct and reflected signals can cause
increase/decrease in measured pseudorange [32], which is the
time difference of the encoded signal between the satellite and
the receiver.
P seudorange = (T ime Dif f erence) (Speed of Light).
(29)
The maximum pseudorange error could happen for P-code
measurements, and can be calculated theoretically as about
15 meters when the amplitude of the direct and the reflected
signal are equal. Moreover, because of the coded transmitted
signals, GPS receivers eliminate the delay signals caused
by the multipath. However, empirical experiments show that
in highly reflective environments, the error caused due to
multipath is in the range of 4 to 5 meters. For low reflection
environments it is in the range of 1.3 meters [32].
B. Effect on Carrier Phase
Multipath also affects the carrier phase, which produces a
phase shift on the received signal. This phase shift introduces
an error in the actual range in order of several centimeters
[33]. The direct and reflected signals can be represented in a
simple form as:
AD = A cos D .
(30)
AR = A cos(D + ).
(31)
(32)
1 + 2 + 2cos.
(34)
2) Long Term Signal Observation: As the satellite is moving, the geometry of multipath is changing as shown in Fig. 11.
This change also affects the carrier phase for typical periods
between 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the environmental
conditions [33]. This effect has a cyclic behavior as illustrated
in Fig. 12. Therefore, it is important to locate the multipath
positions by observing the measurements for a long time
period, more than an effective cycle, in order to identify the
signature of the multipath error and minimize it[35].
3) Using Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Since there is a relationship
between the carrier phase and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),
in terms of the location and the orientation of the reflector, it is
possible to estimate the phase multipath errors and identify the
geometry of the reflector using SNR. This mitigation technique
is based on empirical mapping between the angle and the
SNR measurement of the GPS signal[36].
V.
C ONCLUSIONS
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