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Regional ionospheric TEC modeling based on a two-layer spherical harmonic approximation for real-time single-frequency PPP

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Abstract

The ionosphere has been considered as one of the major error sources in GNSS signal propagation, and it is still difficult to be modeled precisely, especially for real-time positioning applications. The commonly used ionospheric models are usually based on the one-layer approximation, which neglects the ionospheric variation in the vertical domain and limits the scope of improvement over one-layer models. A new ionospheric model based on the two-layer approximation and two spherical harmonic (SH) functions is proposed in this contribution, where a quasi-globe projection is designed to avoid the inherent ill-posed problem and retain the physical meaning of the SH when regional data are used. GPS and BDS data from the National Positioning Infrastructure of Australia and Crustal Movement Observation Network of China are used for validating the new model’s performance in different areas and different periods. Results show (1) the precision of ionospheric TEC estimates from the new model can be improved by about 26% and 31% in the cross-validation experiment compared to the traditional one-layer model in Australian and Chinese regions, respectively; (2) the positioning accuracy of kinematic single-frequency precise point positioning (SF-PPP) in the experimental regions using the new model reaches about 0.7 m and 0.8 m in the horizontal and vertical components, respectively, in comparison with the one-layer model’s 1.0 m (horizontal) and 1.4 m (vertical); (3) the convergence time of the SF-PPP using the new model is 5–10 min for achieving a sub-meter level of positioning accuracy in both horizontal and vertical components, whereas it needs 30–40 min in case the one-layer model is used.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the IGS Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) and Geosciences Australia for providing access to their data. This work was partially supported by the China Natural Science Funds (Nos. 41674043, 41704038, 41730109, and 41621063), the National Key Research Program of China ‘Collaborative Precision Positioning Project’ (No. 2016YFB0501900), Beijing Nova program (xx2017042) and the Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship (No. 5134).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Zishen Li, Ningbo Wang, Liang Wang, Ang Liu & Hong Yuan

  2. Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth Dynamics, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China

    Zishen Li & Ningbo Wang

  3. SPACE Research Centre, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

    Kefei Zhang

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Liang Wang & Ang Liu

  5. School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China

    Kefei Zhang

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  1. Zishen Li
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  2. Ningbo Wang
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  3. Liang Wang
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  4. Ang Liu
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  5. Hong Yuan
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Correspondence to Zishen Li or Ningbo Wang.

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Li, Z., Wang, N., Wang, L. et al. Regional ionospheric TEC modeling based on a two-layer spherical harmonic approximation for real-time single-frequency PPP. J Geod 93, 1659–1671 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-019-01275-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-019-01275-5

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