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Feasibility of easy-to-implement methods to analyze systematic errors of multipath, differential code bias, and inter-system bias for low-cost receivers

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Abstract

The low-cost receiver with multi-frequency and multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations is becoming the mainstream in positioning and navigation. It is crucial to estimate systematic errors, including the multipath, differential code bias (DCB), and inter-system bias (ISB) for such receivers. The traditional analysis strategies are based on the geometry-free and ionospheric-free method, or the geometry-based and ionospheric-corrected method, whereas they cannot work all the time. Several easy-to-implement methods are discussed and analyzed, including the geometry-fixed and ionospheric-corrected method, the geometry-free and ionospheric-corrected method for multipath, the geometry-free and ionospheric-corrected method for DCB, and the geometry-fixed and ionospheric-corrected method for ISB. To mainly assess the performance of the above methods, dual-frequency and single-frequency low-cost receivers are both used. The results indicate that for the multipath, all different assessment methods have their applicable conditions, and pros and cons. The easy-to-implement methods can still work regardless of the numbers of satellites and frequencies in most cases. According to the results of the DCB and ISB, by using the traditional and convenient methods, the behaviors are highly similar, thus certifying the feasibility of the easy-to-implement methods. It can also be concluded that the multipath cannot be ignored easily in low-cost receivers due to its large magnitude, and the DCB and ISB are relatively stable over 5 days.

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Data availability

The observation data of this study are available from the corresponding author for academic purposes on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

BDS:

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

DCB:

Differential code bias

DD:

Double-differenced

DOY:

Day of year

GB:

Geometry-based

GEO:

Geostationary Earth Orbit

GF:

Geometry-free

GFix:

Geometry-fixed

GNSS:

Global Navigation Satellite System

GPS:

Global Positioning System

IC:

Ionospheric-corrected

IF:

Ionospheric-free

IGSO:

Inclined Geosynchronous Satellite Orbit

ISB:

Inter-system bias

MEO:

Medium Earth Orbit

RTK:

Real-time kinematic

STD:

Standard deviation

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Acknowledgements

This study is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42004014), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20200530), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (B210202109), State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth’s Dynamics (SKLGED2020-3-8-E), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M671324), Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds (2020Z412), Science and Technology Innovation Project for Overseas students in Nanjing. The authors are grateful to anonymous reviewers for giving constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Zhetao Zhang, Haijun Yuan & Xiufeng He

  2. State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth’s Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430077, China

    Zhetao Zhang

  3. College of Surveying and GeoInformatics, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Bofeng Li

  4. Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 611756, China

    Shuzhao Gao

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  1. Zhetao Zhang
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  2. Haijun Yuan
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Correspondence to Zhetao Zhang.

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Zhang, Z., Yuan, H., Li, B. et al. Feasibility of easy-to-implement methods to analyze systematic errors of multipath, differential code bias, and inter-system bias for low-cost receivers. GPS Solut 25, 116 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-021-01149-4

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