Single Station and Single Satellite Method of GPS Ionospheric Data Processing

Abstract

The Single Station and Single Satellite Method is introduced as an alternative of the world-wide used method, where the multi-satellite GPS observations are analized for ionospheric purposes in one processing procedure.

According to the analogy of spherical distances, “ionospheric” distances are computed from the geographic latitude and local time of the ionospheric points along the satellite pass, therefore the TEC values can be modelled as single variable quantities using the Legendre polynomials.

The least-squares adjustment of the observations by the Gauss-Markov model shows very large correlation between the code bias and the zero as well as the even order terms of the polynomials, which leads to false solution usually over the 2nd order. The zero and odd order terms of the Legendre polynomials proved to be a good choice, where the inner accuracy of code bias is better than 1 cm and the larger changes of TEC profile can be described properly.

The comparison of the results with the procedure developed at DLR Remote Sensing Ground Station, Neustrelitz, Germany, shows the effectiveness of the method.