Improvements in Dynamic GPS Positions Using Track Averaging

Abstract

The issue of improving a Global Positioning System (GPS), Precise Positioning System (PPS) solution under dynamic conditions through averaging is investigated. Static and dynamic data from the Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR) were used to analyze the error characteristics and design an averaging technique for dynamic conditions. It was found that the errors in PPS solutions are dominated by the satellite broadcast ephemeris parameters. The solution errors are highly correlated for a given set of satellites/ephemeris. The variation can be as low as 0.4 m in dynamic conditions, but a slowly changing "bias" of several meters is also present. For fitting the location of a road observed repeatedly with a PPS receiver a technique based on "space curves" was developed. Here the solutions are transformed from functions of time to functions of space (location). These then are used. Curves could be fit with a Bezier polynomial easily to the 0.4 m level. These analytic curves were then used to form an ensemble average. The bias vectors between the solutions were found with least squares estimation. These vectors were averaged using several techniques. This idea was applied to a short road segment. Using 9 independent measurements taken over 6 months, the road was surveyed at the submeter level.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA369222

Entities

People

  • Beny Neta
  • James R. Clynch
  • Richard Franke

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Algorithms
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Clocks
  • Computations
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Databases
  • Ephemerides
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Information Science
  • Mathematics
  • Measurement
  • Normal Distribution
  • Polynomials
  • Statistics
  • Surveys
  • Three Dimensional

Readers

  • Approximation Theory.
  • Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Technology.

Technology Areas

  • Space