7 ERRORS IN GNSS POSITIONING

There are numerous sources of measurement error that influence GPS performance. The sum of
all systematic errors or biases contributing to the measurement error is referred to as range bias. The
observed GPS range, without removal of biases, is referred to as a biased range or “pseudo-range.”
Principal contributors to the final range error that also contribute to overall GPS error are :

7.1 Clock stability.

GPS relies very heavily on accurate time measurements. GPS satellites carry atomic clocks that are
usually accurate to 1 part in 1012, while most receiver clocks are actuated by a quartz standard accurate
to 1 part in 108. A time offset is the difference between the time as recorded by the satellite clock and
that recorded by the receiver. Range error observed by the user as the result of time offsets between
the satellite and receiver clock is a linear relationship and can be approximated.

Predictable time drift of the satellite clocks is closely monitored by the ground control stations. Through
closely monitoring the time drift, the ground control stations are able to determine second-order
polynomials which accurately model the time drift. The second-order polynomial determined by the
ground control station to model the time drift is included in the broadcast message in an effort to keep
this drift to within 1 millisecond (ms). The time synchronization between the GPS satellite clocks is kept
to within 20 nsec (ns) through the broadcast clock corrections as determined by the ground control
stations and the synchronization of

GPS standard time to the Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) to within 100 ns. Random time drifts are
unpredictable, thereby making them impossible to model.

7.2 Ionospheric Delays

Dispersion and refraction of the GPS signal is referred to as an ionospheric range effect
because dispersion and refraction of the signal result in an error in the GPS range value.
Ionospheric range effects are frequency dependent.

The error effect of ionosphere refraction on the GPS range values is dependent on sunspot
activity, time of day, and satellite geometry. GPS operations conducted during periods of high
sunspot activity or with satellites near the horizon produce range results with the most error.
GPS operations conducted during periods of low sunspot activity, during the night, or with a
satellite near the zenith produce range results with the least amount of ionospheric error.

7.2 Tropospheric refraction

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the term tropospheric refraction includes the combined effect of the neutral , gaseous
atmosphere. The effective height of this layer is about 40 km. The tropospheric propagation is usually
expressed as a function of temperature r, pressure, and relative humidity.

7.3 MULTIPATH EFFECT

The multipath effect is caused by reflection of satellite signals (radio waves) on objects. It was
the same effect that caused ghost images on television when antennae on the roof were still
more common instead of today’s satellite dishes

Interference caused by reflection of the signals

. For GPS signals this effect mainly appears in the neighborhood of large buildings or other
elevations. The reflected signal takes more time to reach the receiver than the direct signal. The
resulting error typically lies in the range of a few meters.
Multipath is a major source of error to be concerned with in GPS positioning. Satellite signals can arrive
at the receiver via multiple paths due to reflection. Multipath distorts the C/A code and P-code
modulations and the carrier phase observations. Although multipath signals have common emission
time at the satellite, they arrive with code and carrier phase offsets due to reflection differences in their
path length.

Signals can be reflected at the satellite (satellite multipath) or in the surroundings of the receiver
(receiver multipath). Satellite mutlipath is likely to cancel in the single difference observables for short
baselines. The reflected signal is always weaker because of the attenuation at the reflector. This
attenuation depends on the material of the reflector, the incident angle of the reflection and the
polarization. In general, reflections with very low incident angle have practically no attenuation. This
explains why satellites at a very low elevation angle tend to generate strong multipath interference.
Reflective objects for ground receivers can be the earth’s surface itself (ground and water), buildings,
trees, hills, etc. Rooftops are bad multipath environments since there are often many vents and other
reflective objects within the GPS antenna field of view.

Antennas do not receive signals equally well from all, directions. Partial multipath rejection can be built
into the antenna by shaping the gain pattern. Since most multipath arrives from angles near the horizon,
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multipath may be sharply reduced and eventually rejected by shaping the pattern to have low gain in
these directions. Multipath arriving from below the antenna can be significant.

7.4 Ephemeris errors and orbit perturbations

Satellite ephemeris errors are errors in the prediction of a satellite position which may
then be transmitted to the user in the satellite data message. Ephemeris errors are satellite
dependent and very difficult to completely correct and compensate for because the many forces
acting on the predicted orbit of a satellite are difficult to measure directly. Because direct
measurement of all forces acting on a satellite orbit is difficult, it is nearly impossible to
accurately account or compensate for those error sources when modeling the orbit of a satellite.
The previous accuracy levels stated are subject to performance of equipment and conditions.
Ephemeris errors produce equal error shifts in calculated absolute point positions.
7.5 Error Budget
Error Budget
Error Magnitude
satellite clock 10 m (assuming broadcast corrections used)
orbital 5 to 25 m
ionospheric 50 m (at zenith)
tropospheric 2 m (at zenith)
receiver clock 10 to 100 m (depends on type of receiver oscillator)
Multipath
C/A code 50 cm to 20 m (depends on GPS equipment and site)
carrier up to a few cm (depends on GPS equipment and site)
receiver noise
C /A code 10 cm to 2-3 m (depends on receiver type)
carrier 0.5 - 5 mm (depends on receiver type)

7.6 GNSS Positioning Accuracy

GNSS positioning accuracy is a function of two factors (Seeber, 2003):
 User Equivalent Range Error (UERE) or associated standard deviation ( σr):
 Geometry of satellites used in computation or Dilution of Precision (DOP):

7.6.1 User Equivalent Range Error UERE

The combined effect of ephemeris uncertainties, propagation errors, clock and timing errors, and receiver noise,
projected on to the line connecting the observer and satellite is called the User Equivalent Range Error (UERE) or
User Range Error URE
 Measure of the accuracy of single pseudorange measurements.
 When each type of error or bias is expressed as a range itself, each quantity is known as
UERE and expresses the individual contribution of each bias to the overall error and
gives the accuracy of individual range measurements to each satellite (Figure 7.1).
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Figure 7.1 UERE in GPS measurements (Sickle, 2001)

7.6.2 Geometry of satellites used in computation or Dilution of Precision (DOP):

 GPS ranging errors are magnified due to geometrical arrangement amongst the
range vectors between the receiver and the satellites. It is a quality indicator of
the results that can be expected from a GPS point position.

 It solely based on the geometry of the satellites and therefore can be computed
without any pseudorange observations being recorded. It is equivalent to the
concept of strength of figure used in surveying and varies rapidly with time since satellite are
moving control points.
Relationship between σr and the associated standard deviation of positions ( σ* ) is given by the following relationship

7.6.3 Dillution of Precision (DOP)

DOP is an indicator of three dimensional positioning accuracy as consequence of relative
position of GPS satelllites with respect to a GPS receiver. In order to attach a geometrical
interpretation to this, we use a term called geometrical dilution of precision or GDOP.

Figure 7.2 and 7.3 explain a simple interpretation for this. A close bunching or poorly spaced
satellites gives poor GDOP value whereas well distributed satellites yield good GDOP. For an
ideal situation i.e one satellite overhead with the others spaced at equal horizontal angles about
the observer, will give the best GDOP.
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Figure 7.2 Spatial geometry for GDOP values (Dana, 2000)

Figure 7.3 Spatial geometry for GDOP values (Dana, 2000)

Different types of DOP designations are is use. These are give below:

GDOP- Geometrical Dilution of Precision, (measure of accuracy in 3-D position and time)
PDOP -Position Dilution of Precision (measure of accuracy in 3-D position), also called
spherical DOP
HDOP- Horizontal Dilution of Precision (measure of accuracy in 2-D position,)
VDOP-Vertical Dilution of Precision (measure of accuracy in 1-D position, Height)
TDOP-Time Dilution of Precision (measure of accuracy in Time)
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DOP values are a function of the diagonal elements of the covariance matrices of the
adjusted parameters of the observed GPS signal and are used in the point formulations and
determinations.
The linearized least squares positioning equation for four satellites is given by f = AΔ,

[ ]
X 1S −X o Y 1S −Y o Z1S −Z o
c
ρo1 ρ o1 ρ1o

[ ] []
R1− ρo1 −d X 2S −X o Y 2S −Y o Z S2 −Z o
c Δx
R2 −ρo2 −d ρo2 ρ o2 ρ2o
=− x Δy
R3 −ρo3 −d X 3S −X o Y 3S −Y o Z S3 −Z o Δz
c Δt
R4 −ρ o4 −d ρo3 ρ o3 ρ3o
X S4 −X o Y S4 −Y o Z S4 −Z o
c
ρo4 ρ o4 ρ o4
or
f = AΔ

Using the Least Squares Adjustment (Hofmann-Wellenhoff et al., 2004) it can be shown that the navigational
covariance matrix for GPS positioning is given by

From covariance matrix, the variance of different position determination are given as
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GDOP value should not be greater than 5

PDOP values are best if one satellite is positions vertically above and three are evenly
distributed close to the horizon
A low PDOP is better. A PDOP of 4 to 6 is considered good.

when the PDOP is from 6 to 10 should be used cautiously because they may have significant
error.

A PDOP that is above 10 indicates unacceptable error. The ICAO (International Civil
Aviation Organization) states that a PDOP of less than 6 is required for en route navigation,
with a PDOP of 3 or less required for nonprecision approaches [i.e., not ILS (instrument landing
system) types].

HDOP-values below 4 are good, above 8 bad. HDOP values become worse if the received
satellites are high on the firmament.
VDOP values on the other hand become worse the closer the satellites are to the horizon
 TDOP (Time Dilution Of Precision); time accuracy; time
The error in the position determination caused by the satellite geometry also depends on the
latitude of the receiver. Error gets larger as the receiver gets closer to the poles. Due to the satellite
constellation from time to time the error is much larger. Additionally the falsification by the atmospheric
effect gets more significant the closer the position is to the poles.