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An examination of the Galileo NeQuick model: comparison with GPS and JASON TEC

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Abstract

We evaluate the performance of Galileo broadcast NeQuick model by comparing it with GPS broadcast Klobuchar and the original NeQuick2 models. The broadcast coefficients of Galileo NeQuick model are computed from 23 globally distributed tracking stations of the International GNSS Service (IGS), by ingesting the Global Positioning System (GPS)-derived ionospheric total electron content (TEC) into the original NeQuick2 model. The accuracy of the three ionospheric models is evaluated over both the continental and oceanic regions for the year 2013. In continental regions, ionospheric TEC derived from 34 IGS stations is used as references for comparison. In oceanic regions, where the IGS stations are sparse, high-quality vertical TEC sources provided by JASON-1&2 altimeters are used as references. The evaluation results show that in continental regions, GPS broadcast Klobuchar and the original and broadcast NeQuick can mitigate the ionospheric delay by 56.8, 63.3 and 72.4 %, respectively. In oceanic regions, the three models can correct for 51.1, 61.2 and 68.6 % of the ionospheric delay. Galileo broadcast NeQuick model outperforms Klobuchar by 15.6 and 17.5 % over the continental and oceanic regions, respectively, for the test period. The broadcast NeQuick model can provide accurate ionospheric error corrections when Galileo begins full operational capability.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the International GNSS Monitoring and Assessment System (iGMAS), the Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS) of the International GNSS Services (IGS), the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) for providing access to GPS and JASON observation data as well as global ionospheric map (GIM) products. We also would like to acknowledge the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for providing the NeQuick2 sources. This research was supported by National 973 (No. 2012CB825604), China Natural Science Funds (No. 41231064, 41304034, 41574033 and 41321063), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (4144094) and the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams (KZZD-EW-TZ-05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth’s Dynamics, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Wuhan, China

    Ningbo Wang, Yunbin Yuan, Ying Li, Xingliang Huo & Min Li

  2. Academy of Opto-Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Zishen Li

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

    Ningbo Wang & Min Li

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  1. Ningbo Wang
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  2. Yunbin Yuan
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  3. Zishen Li
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  4. Ying Li
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  5. Xingliang Huo
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  6. Min Li
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Correspondence to Ningbo Wang or Yunbin Yuan.

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Wang, N., Yuan, Y., Li, Z. et al. An examination of the Galileo NeQuick model: comparison with GPS and JASON TEC. GPS Solut 21, 605–615 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-016-0553-x

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