Nadir-Dependent GNSS Code Biases and Their Effect on 2D and 3D Ionosphere Modeling

Abstract

Recent publications have shown that group delay variations are present in the code observables of the BeiDou system, as well as to a lesser degree in the code observables of the global positioning system (GPS). These variations could potentially affect precise point positioning, integer ambiguity resolution by the Hatch−Melbourne−Wübbena linear combination, and total electron content estimation for ionosphere modeling from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations. The latter is an important characteristic of the ionosphere and a prerequisite in some applications of precise positioning. By analyzing the residuals from total electron content estimation, the existence of group delay variations was confirmed by a method independent of the methods previously used. It also provides knowledge of the effects of group delay variations on ionosphere modeling. These biases were confirmed both for two-dimensional ionosphere modeling by the thin shell model, as well as for three-dimensional ionosphere modeling using tomographic inversion. BeiDou group delay variations were prominent and consistent in the residuals for both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional case of ionosphere modeling, while GPS group delay variations were smaller and could not be confirmed due to the accuracy limitations of the ionospheric models. Group delay variations were, to a larger extent, absorbed by the ionospheric model when three-dimensional ionospheric tomography was performed in comparison with two-dimensional modeling.

Keywords

• gnss
• group delay variations
• biases
• nadir dependence
• ionosphere modeling
• ionospheric tomography