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Rapid re-convergences to ambiguity-fixed solutions in precise point positioning

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Abstract

Integer ambiguity resolution at a single receiver can be achieved if the fractional-cycle biases are separated from the ambiguity estimates in precise point positioning (PPP). Despite the improved positioning accuracy by such integer resolution, the convergence to an ambiguity-fixed solution normally requires a few tens of minutes. Even worse, these convergences can repeatedly occur on the occasion of loss of tracking locks for many satellites if an open sky-view is not constantly available, consequently totally destroying the practicability of real-time PPP. In this study, in case of such re-convergences, we develop a method in which ionospheric delays are precisely predicted to significantly accelerate the integer ambiguity resolution. The effectiveness of this method consists in two aspects: first, wide-lane ambiguities can be rapidly resolved using the ionosphere-corrected wide-lane measurements, instead of the noisy Melbourne–Wübbena combination measurements; second, narrow-lane ambiguity resolution can be accelerated under the tight constraints derived from the ionosphere-corrected unambiguous wide-lane measurements. In the test at 90 static stations suffering from simulated total loss of tracking locks, 93.3 and 95.0% of re-convergences to wide-lane and narrow-lane ambiguity resolutions can be achieved within five epochs of 1-Hz measurements, respectively, even though the time latency for the predicted ionospheric delays is up to 180 s. In the test at a mobile van moving in a GPS-adverse environment where satellite number significantly decreases and cycle slips frequently occur, only when the predicted ionospheric delays are applied can the rate of ambiguity-fixed epochs be dramatically improved from 7.7 to 93.6% of all epochs. Therefore, this method can potentially relieve the unrealistic requirement of a continuous open sky-view by most PPP applications and improve the practicability of real-time PPP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2TU, UK

    Jianghui Geng, Xiaolin Meng & Alan H. Dodson

  2. GeoForschungsZentrum Helmholtz Center, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Maorong Ge

  3. Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication, University of Luxemburg, 1359, Luxemburg, Luxemburg

    Felix N. Teferle

Authors
  1. Jianghui Geng
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  2. Xiaolin Meng
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  3. Alan H. Dodson
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  4. Maorong Ge
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  5. Felix N. Teferle
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Correspondence to Jianghui Geng.

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Geng, J., Meng, X., Dodson, A.H. et al. Rapid re-convergences to ambiguity-fixed solutions in precise point positioning. J Geod 84, 705–714 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-010-0404-4

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