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Performance of real-time undifferenced precise positioning assisted by remote IGS multi-GNSS stations

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Abstract

The heavy reliance of real-time precise point positioning (RTPPP) on external satellite clock products may lead to discontinuity or even failure in time-critical applications. We present an alternative approach of real-time undifferenced precise positioning (RUP) that, by combining satellite clock estimation and precise point positioning based on the extended Kalman filter, is independent of external satellite clock corrections. The approach is evaluated in simulated real time with the assistance of a variable number of IGS multi-GNSS stations located between 1359.7 and 4852.5 km from the users. The results show that even with a single auxiliary IGS station, RUP is still feasible and able to retain centimeter-level positioning accuracy. Typically, with three auxiliary IGS stations about 2000–3000 km away, an accuracy of about 2 cm in the horizontal and 5 cm in the vertical can be achieved. The performance of RUP is comparable to that of PPP using 5-s satellite clock products and notably exhibits superior short-term precision in dealing with high-rate (1 Hz) GPS/GLONASS observations. The addition of GLONASS observations reduces the convergence time by 56.9% and improves the 3-D position accuracy by 31.8% while increasing the processing latency by a factor of about 1.6. Employing three IGS stations over 2400 km away from the epicenter, RUP is applied for the rapid determination of coseismic displacements and waveforms for the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, yielding highly consistent results compared to those obtained from post-processed PPP in the global reference frame. We also explore its potential in facilitating real-time online services in terms of real-time precise positioning, zenith tropospheric delay retrieving, and satellite clock estimation.

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Acknowledgements

IGS and its analysis centers are acknowledged for their contributions in promoting the multi-GNSS network worldwide and for providing multi-GNSS data and products used in this study. We would like to thank Elisabetta D’Anastasio (GNS Science, New Zealand) for providing the GNSS data of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41604018) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Grant No. 2019B17514).

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

    Zhiqiang Liu, Dongjie Yue, Zhangyu Huang & Jian Chen

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  1. Zhiqiang Liu
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  2. Dongjie Yue
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Correspondence to Zhiqiang Liu.

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Liu, Z., Yue, D., Huang, Z. et al. Performance of real-time undifferenced precise positioning assisted by remote IGS multi-GNSS stations. GPS Solut 24, 58 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-020-0972-6

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