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PLL bandwidth and noise in 100 Hz GPS measurements

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Abstract

The impact of the phase-locked loop (PLL) bandwidth on the noise and correlations of GPS measurements sampled with a 100 Hz rate has been investigated using short and long baselines, and stationary or moving GPS rovers recording oscillations with known characteristics relative to “true” reference values. Data have been collected under various satellite constellations using various values of PLL bandwidth, particularly 25, 50, 100 Hz, and were processed in differential mode using different software packages. Analysis of standard deviations, spectra and autocorrelation functions of the differences between recorded and true displacements revealed that an increase in the PLL bandwidth leads to reduction in correlations and increase in low- and high-frequency noise of 100 Hz data. Optimal results can be obtained using either a pre-set 50 Hz PLL bandwidth or a 100 Hz PLL bandwidth combined with a posteriori band-pass filtering of the coordinates. Such optimal results permit accurate recording of high-frequency (>5 Hz), dynamic displacements of a few millimeters and indicate that 100 Hz data are useful for monitoring high-frequency structural vibrations, and also strong earthquake motions and high-frequency movements of vehicles.

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Acknowledgments

Thomas Herring is highly thanked for his guidance on processing the GPS data using TRACK and for his suggestions for the experimental procedure. Fanis Moschas was funded by the Karatheodori 2009 research program of the University of Patras (Program code: C-898). The manuscript was significantly improved after comments by two anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Laboratory of Geodesy and Geodetic Applications, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, Patras, 26500, Greece

    Fanis Moschas & Stathis Stiros

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  1. Fanis Moschas
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  2. Stathis Stiros
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Correspondence to Stathis Stiros.

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Moschas, F., Stiros, S. PLL bandwidth and noise in 100 Hz GPS measurements. GPS Solut 19, 173–185 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-014-0378-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-014-0378-4

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