Asian Journal Of Computer Science And Information Technology1: 5 (2011) 141– 145.

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Asian Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology

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GPS DATUM CONVERSION AND KALMAN FILTERING FOR REDUCING POSITIONAL

ERRORS
Swapna Raghunath1, P.Visalakshmi1 , Karam Sridhar2
1Dept. Of ECE, G.Narayanamma Institute of Technology and Science, Shaikpet, Hyderabad
2Tata Consultancy Services, Hyderabad,

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Corresponding Author: The main focus of this paper is on modeling and filtering the errors in Global
Swapna Raghunath Poisoning System (GPS). The errors reduce the accuracy of the receiver’s
Associate Professor, Dept. Of ECE, position. The errors can be due to both external sources and coordinate
G.Narayanamma Institute of conversion from one datum format to the other. The most dominant of the
Technology and Science, Shaikpet, external errors is the ionospheric error. The datum is collected through the
Hyderabad India day at different times from the dense traffic area of the Ameerpet region in
swapna_raghunath@rediffmail.com Hyderabad. The spatial errors obtained from the received datum have been
reduced by the application of a Kalman filter. The datum collected by the GPS
receiver is in the World Geodetic System-84 (WGS-84) format which is
converted to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) format. The datum in
KeyWords: GPS, Datum the UTM format, applied to a Kalman filter are compared with datum
conversion, Ionospheric errors, obtained from Franson CoordTrans software. The results indicate that the
Kalman filter. Kalman filtered datum is a closer approximation to the actual positions than
the unfiltered values.

©2011, JPRO, All Right Reserved.

INTRODUCTION
The conversion form the global coordinates World segment should be in line of sight with the receiver to
Geodetic System 1984 (WGS-84) to the local coordinate obtain positional information. The datum is received in the
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system is needed for WGS-84 format and is converted to the UTM format by the
obtaining the accurate position of the receiver. In the WGS- direct conversion algorithm as well as the Franson
84 coordinate system the datum is obtained as latitude and CoordTrans software. In this software the text file with the
longitude of the requested point whereas the UTM datum is datum can be directly used for the conversion. The location
obtained as Eastings and Northings. The UTM will display will also be indicated in a pictorial format.
the position in a map and grid projection. This conversion
GPS RECEIVER
is necessary as the UTM format preserves the shape of the
The GPS receiver that was used to collect spatial
small areas on a map and its grid coordinates permit easy
data in this work is an SiRF Star III receiver . It is a micro
calculations using plane trigonometry. In UTM the earth is
controller chip which operates in the L1 frequency band,
divided into 60 zones with each zone having a width of 6
has 20 channels and obtains datum in WGS-84 co-ordinate
degrees [6].
system. Due to the simplicity of the receiver, it can be
This conversion process will introduce some
conveniently used for personal positioning and navigation.
errors in the position. This will degrade the performance of
It has a Time To First Fix (TTFF) cold start time of 60
the system. The data which is obtained from the conversion
seconds, a warm start time of 38 seconds and a hot start
algorithm is then applied to a Kalman filter algorithm to
time of less than 8 seconds typically. A 9V battery was used
reduce these errors. The results indicate that post Kalman
to supply power to the receiver.
Filtering, the accuracy of the receiver’s position is
improved by 10%. DIRECT CONVERSION ALGORITHM
GPS positioning uses the datum called WGS-84. It
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
makes use of Cartesian coordinate system and an
Global Positioning System is a space-based satellite
associated ellipsoid so that WGS84 positions can be
navigation system which provides information about the
described as either XYZ Cartesian coordinates or latitude,
receiver’s location in all weather conditions and at all times
longitude and ellipsoid height coordinates [11]. Though the
anywhere on or near the Earth with sub-meter accuracy.
ellipsoid is designed to best-fit the Geoid of the Earth as a
GPS uses constellation of 28 satellites which are located in
whole, it does not fit the Geoid in a particular country
six different orbits to cover every point o the earth’s
perfectly, in which case the local mapping coordinates of
surface. GPS consists of Space Segment, Control Segment
UTM are much better. The UTM coordinates are used to
and User Segment. At least 4 satellites of the space

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locate position with respect to a map. Map coordinates use independent (of each other), white, and with normal
a 2-D Cartesian system, in which the two axes are known as probability distributions
eastings and northings. The conversion from WGS-84 to P (W) – N (0, Q) --------------------- (3)
UTM is done using the direct conversion algorithm by P (V) – N (0, R) -------------------- (4)
Steven Dutch [12]. The algorithm gives UTM datum which The process noise covariance Q and measurement
is accurate to within less than a meter within a given grid noise covariance R matrices as in equations 3 & 4 might
zone. change with each time step or measurement, however here
we assume they are constant.
FRANSON COORDINATES
The nn matrix A in the difference equation (1)
A coordinate from GPS generally uses the WGS84
relates the state at the previous time step K-1 to the state at
datum. But maps and many GIS applications use other
the current step K, in the absence of either a driving
coordinate systems like NAD83 and UTM. Franson
function or process noise. Note that in practice A might
Coordinate transforms or CoordTrans is a software that can
change with each time step, but here we assume it is
be used to convert between all the coordinate systems on
Earth with high accuracy. In this software the text file with constant. The nl matrix B relates the optional control
input u   to the state x. The mn matrix H in the
l
the datum can be directly used for the conversion. A special
feature of this software is to indicate specific location in a measurement equation (2) relates the state to the
pictorial format [13]. measurement ZK. In practice H might change with each time
Franson CoordTrans can convert single step or measurement, but here we assume it is constant.
coordinates, large files of coordinates and even live The Kalman filter estimates a process by using a form of
coordinates from a GPS. The WGS-84 datum which has to feedback control: the filter estimates the process state at
be converted can be in degree minutes or degree minutes some time and then obtains feedback in the form of (noisy)
and seconds form. The datum which is obtained after measurements. As such, the equations for the Kalman filter
conversion, will be more accurate then the datum which is fall into two groups: time update equations and
obtained by using the direct conversion algorithm. The measurement update equations as shown in figure 1.
datum which is obtained from this software is considered Discrete Kalman filter time update equations (5 & 6) are
as a reference datum for the comparison and calculation of given as
the errors. xˆ -k  Axˆk 1  Buk
---------- 5 & 6
KALMAN FILTER Pk   APk 1 AT  Q
A Kalman filter is a mathematical toolbox which
computes the state estimate of a process with high Time update equations project the state and
efficiency in the presence of noise by minimizing the linear covariance estimates forward from time step k-1 to step k.
mean square error. It employs a Predictor-corrector type A and B are from equation (1), while Q is from is from
estimation to achieve a optimum result. The Kalman filter equation (.3). Initial conditions for the filter are discussed
follows a recursive algorihm which refines the estimate in a in the earlier references. Discrete Kalman filter
series of passes. In this paper a kalman filter is used to measurement update equations (7, 8 & 9) are given below.
reduce the ionospheric errors and the errors introduced K k  Pk  H T ( HPk  H T  R) 1
during coordinate conversion, thus improving the overall
range measurement accuracy. xˆk  xk   K k ( Z k  Hxˆk  ) -------7, 8 & 9
The best estimate of the position with a Kalman filter can Pk  ( I  K k H ) Pk 
be obtained if the system is linear with Gaussian errors.
The most distinctive feature of Kalman filter is the use of a The time update equations are responsible for
recursive data processing algorithm to compute the projecting forward (in time) the current state and error
solution. Each update estimate is computed from the covariance estimates to obtain the a priori estimates for the
previous estimate and the input data. This only requires next time step. The measurement update equations are
the storage of the previous estimate. responsible for the feedback--i.e. for incorporating a new
The filter processes measurements to deduce a measurement into the a priori estimate to obtain an
minimum error estimate of the system by utilizing the improved a posteriori estimate. The time update equations
knowledge of the system, measurement dynamics and can also be considered of as predictor equations, while the
statistics of the system, noise measurement errors and measurement update equations can be corrector equations.
initial condition information. The Kalman filtered datum The first task during the measurement update is to
has less variance and mean error when compared to the compute the Kalman gain, Kk. The next step is to actually
datum obtained from direct conversion algorithm. measure the process to obtain Zk and then to generate an a
posteriori state estimate by incorporating the measurement
Mathematical formulation of Kalman Filter as in equation (8). The final step is to obtain an a posteriori
The Kalman filter estimates the state x   of
n
error covariance estimate via equation (9). After each time
a discrete-time controlled process that is governed by the and measurement update pair, the process is repeated with
linear stochastic difference equation as in equation 1. the previous a posteriori estimates used to project or
XK = A X K -1 + B U K + W K -1 ------------- (1) predict the new a priori estimates.

With a measurement x  
m
that is (as stated in RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
equation 2). The area of Ameerpet, Hyderabad,in the state of
ZK = HX K +V K ----------------------------- (2) Andhra Pradesh, India is the location at which the datum
The random variables WK and VK represent the process and has been collected. Ameerpet is a densely populated area
measurement noise (respectively). They are assumed to be with heavy traffic and tall buildings. The datum is collected
throughout the day at three different times i.e in the

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 Raghunath et.al/GPS Datum Conversion and Kalman Filtering For Reducing Positional Errors

morning, afternoon and evening. 10 datum samples during

each period were recorded in the WGS-84 format. The data
collected by the receiver is in the WGS-84 format (Φrx,
λrx), which is then converted into UTM format (Nrx, Erx)
by using the direct conversion algorithm as well as the
Franson CoordTrans software.
This conversion introduces some error into the
datum, which can be observed from the simulated results.
The output which is obtained from the conversion
algorithm is then applied to the kalman filter algorithm.
The error has been reduced to some extent filtering.
The graph in figure 1 shows the UTM Eastings
datum obtained from the Franson CoordTrans software.
The first 10 samples are the datum collected in the Figure 3: Eastings obtained from kalman filter
morning, next 10 from the afternoon and last 10 are from algorithm
the evening. The software output of the Eastings is in the The error or diffrence between the software and
range of 228650 to 228800 meters. the conversion algorithm program is shown in figure 4. The
error which is obtained is in the range of 19330 to 19440
meters.

Figure 1: Eastings obtained from software (Franson Figure 4: Eastings error between the software and the
CoordTrans) used for the conversion. conversion algorithm
The datum output which is obtained from the The error between the software and the kalman
reciver is also applied to the direct conversion algorithm filter datum is shown in figure 5. The diffrence between the
(program). The Eastings which is obtained from the software and the klaman filter is in the range of 19320 to
conversion is shown in figure 2. The range in which the 19350 meters. The error by using the klaman filter is is less
eastings are obtained are from 209350 to 209420 meters. when compared to the error between the software and the
conversion algorithm.

Figure 2: Eastings obtained from program (direct Figure 5: Eastings error between the software and the
conversion) used for the conversion. kalman filter algorithm
The UTM datum obatined from the conversion Figure 6 shows the comparision results of the
algorithm are smothened using the kalman filter algorithm errors obtained in figures 5 and 6. From this grpah it can be
is shown in figure 3. The easting datum which is obtained shown that the Kalman filter gives an output which is
from the direct conversion algorithm is applied to the smooth when compared to the output which is obtained
kalman filter. The output which is obtained will be ranging from the direct conversion algorithm.
from 209360 to 209440 meters.

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 Raghunath et.al/GPS Datum Conversion and Kalman Filtering For Reducing Positional Errors

Figure 9: Northings obtained from kalman filter

Figure 6: Easting Comparision between the conversion algorithm
algorithm and kalamn algorithm The error between the software and the conversion
The Northing datum which is obtained from the software is algorithm program is as shown in figure 10. The error
accurate and is shown in figure 7. This datum ranges from which is obtained is in the range 10780 to 10860 meters.
1929000 to 1929400 meters.

Figure 10: Northings error between the software and

the kalman filter algorithm
Figure 7: Northings obtained from software used for The error which is obtained from the difference between
the conversion. the software and the Kalman is less when compared with
The Northing datum which is obtained from the conversion the error which is obtained from software and program.
algorithm has more variations when compared to the The error range is 10700 to 11000 meters as shown in
datum which is obtained from the software as shown in figure 11.
figure 8. The datum obtained is in the range of 1918300 to
1918460 meters.

Figure 11: Northings error between the software and

the kalman filter algorithm
The northings errors which are obtained indicate that the
Figure 8: Northings obtained from programme used for
output of the kalman filter are more accurate when
the conversion.
compared to the conversion algorithm output. The figure
The kalman filtered datum for northings is smoother when
12 indicates that the accuracy with the use of Kalman filter
compared with the datum which is obtained from the
has been improved by 10 percent.
conversion algorithm as shown in figure 9. The datum is in
the range of 1918310 to 1981850 meters.

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 Raghunath et.al/GPS Datum Conversion and Kalman Filtering For Reducing Positional Errors

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