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Using a regional numerical weather prediction model for GNSS positioning over Brazil

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Abstract

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can provide centimeter positioning accuracy at low costs. However, in order to obtain the desired high accuracy, it is necessary to use high-quality atmospheric models. We focus on the troposphere, which is an important topic of research in Brazil where the tropospheric characteristics are unique, both spatially and temporally. There are dry regions, which lie mainly in the central part of the country. However, the most interesting area for the investigation of tropospheric models is the wet region which is located in the Amazon forest. This region substantially affects the variability of humidity over other regions of Brazil. It provides a large quantity of water vapor through the humidity convergence zone, especially for the southeast region. The interconnection and large fluxes of water vapor can generate serious deficiencies in tropospheric modeling. The CPTEC/INPE (Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies/Brazilian Institute for Space Research) has been providing since July 2012 a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model for South America, known as Eta. It has yield excellent results in weather prediction but has not been used in GNSS positioning. This NWP model was evaluated in precise point positioning (PPP) and network-based positioning. Concerning PPP, the best positioning results were obtained for the station SAGA, located in Amazon region. Using the NWP model, the 3D RMS are less than 10 cm for all 24 h of data, whereas the values reach approximately 60 cm for the Hopfield model. For network-based positioning, the best results were obtained mainly when the tropospheric characteristics are critical, in which case an improvement of up to 7.2 % was obtained in 3D RMS using NWP models.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank FAPESP and CNPq for the financial support provided to this research (FAPESP research project—process number 2012/19906-7; CNPQ research scholarship—process number 303079/2011-8).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. São Paulo State University - UNESP - Brazil, Roberto Simonsen, 305, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo State, 19060-900, Brazil

    Daniele Barroca Marra Alves, Tayná Aparecida Ferreira Gouveia & Jackes Akira Magário

  2. INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Rodovia Presidente Dutra, km 40, Cachoeira Paulista, São Paulo, 12630, Brazil

    Luiz Fernando Sapucci

  3. UFPE - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - Brazil, Rua Academico Hélio Ramos, S/N, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, 5740-030, Brazil

    Haroldo Antonio Marques

  4. Maringa State University - UEM - Brazil, Colombo Av., 5790, Maringa, Parana State, 87020-900, Brazil

    Eniuce Menezes de Souza

Authors
  1. Daniele Barroca Marra Alves
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  2. Luiz Fernando Sapucci
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  3. Haroldo Antonio Marques
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  4. Eniuce Menezes de Souza
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  5. Tayná Aparecida Ferreira Gouveia
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  6. Jackes Akira Magário
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Correspondence to Daniele Barroca Marra Alves.

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Alves, D.B.M., Sapucci, L.F., Marques, H.A. et al. Using a regional numerical weather prediction model for GNSS positioning over Brazil. GPS Solut 20, 677–685 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-015-0477-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-015-0477-x

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