Vectorial integer bootstrapping: flexible integer estimation with application to GNSS

In this contribution, we extend the principle of integer bootstrapping (IB) to a vectorial form (VIB). The mathematical definition of the class of VIB-estimators is introduced together with their pull-in regions and other properties such as probability bounds and success rate approximations. The vectorial formulation allows sequential block...

The effect of function-based and voxel-based tropospheric tomography techniques on the GNSS positioning accuracy

Tropospheric wet delay, the main source of which is water vapor, is one of the major factors affecting the accuracy of positioning techniques using microwave. Tropospheric tomography is a powerful method to reconstruct the water vapor content in four-dimensional (4D) space. This paper studies the effect of using function-based and voxel-based...

Influence of the inhomogeneous troposphere on GNSS positioning and integer ambiguity resolution

The tropospheric delay is one of many error sources that affect the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning solutions. The widely used troposphere models assume a homogeneous atmosphere so that only the zenith delay needs to be determined and is mapped through an elevation-dependent mapping function. This procedure is to reduce...

An Optimal Troposphere Tomography Technique Using the WRF Model Outputs and Topography of the Area

The water vapor content in the atmosphere can be reconstructed using the all-weather condition troposphere tomography technique. In common troposphere tomography, the water vapor of each voxel is represented by an unknown parameter. This means that when the desired spatial resolution is high or study area is large, there will be a huge number of...

Kriging interpolation in modelling tropospheric wet delay

This contribution implements the Kriging interpolation in predicting the tropospheric wet delays using global navigation satellite system networks. The predicted tropospheric delays can be used in strengthening the precise point positioning models and numerical weather prediction models. In order to evaluate the performances of the Kriging...

Precise point positioning on the reliable detection of tropospheric model errors

Precise point positioning (PPP) is one of the well-known applications of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and provides precise positioning solutions using accurate satellite orbit and clock products. The tropospheric delay due to the neutral atmosphere for microwave signals is one of the main sources of measurement error in PPP. As...

Real-Time PPP-RTK Performance Analysis Using Ionospheric Corrections from Multi-Scale Network Configurations

The long convergence time required to achieve high-precision position solutions with integer ambiguity resolution-enabled precise point positioning (PPP-RTK) is driven by the presence of ionospheric delays. When precise real-time ionospheric information is available and properly applied, it can strengthen the underlying model and substantially...

Assessing the performance of multi-GNSS PPP-RTK in the local area

The benefits of an increased number of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) in space have been confirmed for the robustness and convergence time of standard precise point positioning (PPP) solutions, as well as improved accuracy when (most of) the ambiguities are fixed. Yet, it is still worthwhile to investigate fast and high-precision...

An efficient implementation of fixed failure-rate ratio test for GNSS ambiguity resolution

Ambiguity Resolution (AR) plays a vital role in precise GNSS positioning. Correctly-fixed integer ambiguities can significantly improve the positioning solution, while incorrectly-fixed integer ambiguities can bring large positioning errors and, therefore, should be avoided. The ratio test is an extensively used test to validate the fixed...

Geodetic sensor systems and sensor networks: Positioning and applications

This contribution focuses on geodetic sensor systems and sensor networks for positioning and applications. The key problems in this area will be addressed together with an overview of applications. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and other geodetic techniques play a central role in many applications like engineering, mapping and...

Integer ambiguity resolution with nonlinear geometrical constraints

Integer ambiguity resolution is the key to obtain very accurate positioning solutions out of the GNSS observations. The Integer Least Squares (ILS) principle, a derivation of the least-squares principle applied to a linear system of equations in which some of the unknowns are subject to an integer constraint,was demonstrated to be optimal among...