Tutorial 5

Analysis of propagation effects from

GNSS observables based on
laboratory exercises
Contact: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.gage.upc.edu

Slides associated to
gLAB version 2.0.0

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 Authorship statement

The authorship of this material and the Intellectual Property Rights are owned by
J. Sanz Subirana and J.M. Juan Zornoza.

These slides can be obtained either from the server http://www.gage.upc.edu,

or [email protected]. Any partial reproduction should be previously
authorized by the authors, clearly referring to the slides used.

This authorship statement must be kept intact and unchanged at all times.

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 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS Data Processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, SF, storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

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 Introduction
 This tutorial is devoted to analysing and assessing different issues associated with GNSS
signal propagation effects in the atmosphere.
 The laboratory exercises will be developed with actual GPS measurements, and processed
with the ESA/UPC GNSS-Lab Tool suite (gLAB), which is an interactive software package
for GNSS data processing and analysis.
 All software tools (including gLAB) and associated files for the laboratory session are
included in the USB stick delivered to those who attend the lecture.
 The laboratory session will consist of a set of exercises organized in three different levels
of difficulty (Basic, Medium and Advanced). A set of introductory examples range from a first
glance assessment of the ionosphere effects on single frequency positioning, and Zenith
Tropospheric Delays estimate to showing different perturbation effects in the ionosphere
(Solar Flair, Halloween storm, TIDs). Electron density profiles (Ne) retrieval, bending effects
analysis (phase excess rate depicture), as well as in-depth analysis of the code-carrier
ionosphere divergence on single-frequency smoothed codes and the second order
ionospheric effects are analysed in detail in four Laboratory Work Projects. Other topics are
given as homework.
 The target is to provide the participants with a wide range of selected exercises to
choose from, according their interests and their level of knowledge of these topics.

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 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS Data Processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, SF, storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

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 The gLAB Tool suite
 The GNSS-Lab Tool suite (gLAB) is an interactive
multipurpose educational and professional package for
GNSS Data Processing and Analysis.
 gLAB has been developed under the ESA Education Office
contract N. P1081434.
Main features:
• High Accuracy Positioning
capability.
• Fully configurable.
• Easy to use.
• Access to internal computations.

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 The gLAB Tool suite
 Students/Newcomers:
• Easy to use: Intuitive GUI.
• Explanations: Tooltips over the different GUI options.
• Guidelines: Several error and warning messages.
Templates for pre-configured processing.

 Professionals/Experts:
• Powerful tool with High Accuracy Positioning capability.
• Fast to configure and use: Templates and carefully chosen defaults.
• Can be executed in command-line and included in batch processing.

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 The gLAB Tool suite
 In order to widen the tool availability, gLAB
Software has been designed to work in both
Windows and Linux environments.

 The package contains:

• Windows binaries (with an installable file).
• Linux .tgz file.
• Source code (to compile it in both Linux and Windows OS)
under an Apache 2.0 license.
• Example data files.
• Software User Manual.
• HTML files describing the standard formats.

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 The gLAB Tool suite
 Read files capability:  Modelling module:
• RINEX observation v2.11 & v3.00
• RINEX navigation message. • Fully configurable model.
• SP3 precise satellite clocks and orbits files • Satellite positions.
• ANTEX Antenna information files.
• Constellation status. • Satellite clock error correction.
• DCBs files. • Satellite movement during signal flight
• GPS_Receiver_Type files. time.
• SINEX position files. • Earth rotation during signal flight time.
• Satellite phase center correction.
 Pre-processing module:
• Carrier-phase pre-alignment.
• Receiver phase center correction.
• Carrier-phase / pseudo-range consistency
(frequency dependent).
check. • Relativistic clock correction.
• Cycle-slip detection (customizable parameters) • Relativistic path range correction.
- Melbourne-Wübbena. • Ionospheric correction (Klobuchar).
- Geometry-free CP combination.
- L1-C1 difference (single frequency). • Tropospheric correction
• Pseudo-range smoothing. - Simple and Niell mappings.
• Decimation capability. - Simple and UNB-3 nominals.
• On demand satellite enable/disable. • Differential Code Bias corrections.
• Elevation mask. • Wind up correction.
• Frequency selection.
• Discard eclipsed satellites.
• Solid tides correction (up to 2nd
degree).

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 The gLAB Tool suite
 Filtering module:  Output module:
• Cartesian / NEU coordinates.
• Able to chose different measurements • Configurable message output.
to process (1 or more), with different
weights. This design could be useful
in future Galileo processing, where  Other functionalities:
processing with different • Computation of satellite coordinates
measurements may be desired. and clocks from RINEX and SP3 files.
• Fixed or elevation-dependent weights • Satellite coordinates comparison
per observation. mode. For instance RINEX navigation
• Troposphere estimation on/off. vs. SP3, or SP3 vs. SP3 (along-track,
cross-track and radial orbit errors,
• Carrier-Phase or Pseudo-range clock errors, SISRE).
positioning.
• Show input mode. No processing, only
• Static/Kinematic positioning (full parsing RINEX observation files.
Q/Phi/P0 customization).
• Able to do a forward/backward
processing. • Current version allows full GPS data
• Able to compute trajectories (no need processing, and partial handling of
for a priori position). Galileo and GLONASS data.
• Future updates may include full
GNSS data processing.

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 GNSS learning material package
Includes three different parts, allowing participants to
follow either a guided or a self-learning GNSS course:
• GNSS Book: Complete book with theory, practical GPS Data Processing: Code and Phase
Algorithms, Techniques and Recipes

examples, and with a Laboratory course on GNSS

Data Processing & Analysis [R-1].

• gLAB tool suite: Source code and binary software Image courtesy of USAF Research Laboratory

files, plus configuration files, allowing processing gAGE-NAV

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
Satellite Navigation, LLC
http://www.gage.es
Manuel Hernández Pajares
José Miguel Juan Zornoza
Jaume Sanz Subirana

GNSS data from standard formats. The options

are fully configurable through a GUI.

• gAGE-GLUE: Bootable USB stick with a full

environment ready to use; based on LINUX
(Ubuntu) OS.
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 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, SF, storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

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Examples of GNSS Data Processing using gLAB

Example 1: Ionospheric effects on single frequency

positioning.
• This exercise is devoted to analysing the effect of the
ionospheric error in single frequency positioning. This is done
both in the Signal-In-Space (SIS) and User Domains.

• A receiver will be positioned in Standard Point Positioning

(SPP) mode: a) with full modelling, b) neglecting the
ionospheric correction.

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 Example 1: Iono effects on single freq. Posit.
Data set: 24h data collected by the IGS permanent receiver
“ramo” (Lon,Lat ) on May 4th 2000.

May 4, 2000

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 Example 1: Iono effects on single freq. Posit.

1. Compute SPP using files: ramo1250.00o,brdc1250.00n

2 4

1 3 5
gLAB.out

Equivalent command line sentence:

gLAB_linux -input:cfg gLAB_p1_Full.cfg
gAGE/UPC -input:obs ramo1250.00o
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 Example 1. NEU Position Error plot from gLAB.out

FULL SPP model

NEU plot template configuration

gLAB.out

Equivalent command line sentence:

graph.py -f gLAB.out -x4 -y18 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "North error"
-f gLAB.out -x4 -y19 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "East error"
North East Up -f gLAB.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "UP error“
--yn -20 --yx 50 --xl "time (s)" --yl "error (m)"
-t "NEU positioning error [SPP]: Full model"
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 Example 1. gLAB Modeling panel
The different model terms can
be analyzed with gLAB:
•Using the previous data file,
the impact of neglecting the
ionospheric correction is
evaluated in the Range and
Position domains.
The modeling
options set in this •This is a baseline example of
this analysis procedure. The
panel are applied same scheme must be
by default to the applied for all model terms
SPP solution. (troposphere, relativistic
correction...). A full analysis
of the different model
components can be found in
[R-2].)

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 Example 1. Model component analysis: IONO.
The procedure
explained here is
applicable for all model
terms: iono, tropo…
Default 1.In Modeling panel,
configuration disable the model
1 Disable
Ionospheric
for SPP component to analyze. correction
(in this example:
disable
Ionospheric
correction)

2.Save as gLAB1.out

In the Default
the associated output file. 2 Set output file
Notice that the gLAB.out
configuration the file contains the processing as
output file was results with the FULL gLAB1.out
gLAB.out model, as was set in the
default configuration. 3
gAGE/UPC Equivalent command line sentence:
gLAB_linux -input:cfg gLAB_p1_NoIono.cfg
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Example 1. NEU Position Error plot from gLAB1.out

No Iono. correction

NEU plot template configuration

gLAB1.out

Equivalent command line sentence:

graph.py -f gLAB1.out -x4 -y18 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "North error"
-f gLAB1.out -x4 -y19 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "East error"
North East Up -f gLAB1.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "UP error“
--yn -20 --yx 50 --xl "time (s)" --yl "error (m)"
-t "NEU positioning error [SPP]: No Iono. Corr."
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 Example 1. VPE plot from gLAB.out,gLAB1.out

Click Clear to
1 restart plots

Y-min, Y-max

2 3
gLAB1.out gLAB.out Time (sec) Vertical

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 Example 1. HPE plot: gLAB.out, gLAB1.out

Click Clear to
1 restart plots

X-min, Y-min, Y-max

2 3
gLAB1.out
gLAB.out
East: 19
North: 18

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 Example 1. Klobuchar iono. corr. plot: gLAB.out

Code
delay

Carrier
advance

Ionosphere delays code and

advances carrier measurements.

Note: Use the gLAB.out file.

gLAB.out Select
In gLAB1.out file this model
component was switched off.
IONO

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Example 1. Measur. (P2-P1) v.s. Model (Klobuchar)

P2-P1=STEC+Krec+Ksat

Y-min=0
Y-max=40
gLAB.out

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Example 1. Summary: Klobuchar model performance

gLAB1.out gLAB1.out

gLAB.out
gLAB.out

gLAB.out Ionospheric correction (broadcast

Klobuchar )
Ionospheric delays are larger at noon due to
Code the higher illumination.
delay Large positioning errors (mainly in vertical)
appear when neglecting ionospheric
corrections.

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 Example 1. 2-frequency Ionosphere-free solution

From previous configuration set following options

gLAB2.out

1 2-frequencies
Disable
Iono correct.
and
Iono-free (PC)
2
(P1-P2) TGDs

3
After running gLAB, plot results as in previous cases
gAGE/UPC Equivalent command line sentence:
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 Example 1. Single-frequency vs. Dual-frequency

1-freq.[SPS]:
with Klobuchar

Plot gLAB2.out
results as in
gLAB.out previous cases
gLAB.out

2-freq.:
Iono-free ramo station location

gLAB2.out gLAB2.out
May 4, 2000
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 Example 1: Iono effects on single freq. Posit.
Ionospheric delay
The ionosphere extends from about 60 km over the Earth’s
surface until more than 2000 km, with a sharp electron density
maximum at around 350 km. The ionospheric refraction depends,
among other things, on the location, local time and solar cycle (11
years).
• First order (~99.9%) ionospheric delay I1 depends 40.3
I1 = STEC
on the inverse of squared frequency: f2

STEC = ∫ N e ds
where STEC is the number of electrons per area unit
along ray path (STEC: Slant Total Electron Content).
• Two-frequency receivers can remove this error source
(up to 99.9%) using ionosphere-free combination f12 P1 − f 22 P 2
PC =
of pseudo-ranges (PC) or carriers (LC). f12 − f 22
• Single-frequency users can remove about a 50-70% of the
ionospheric delay using the Klobuchar model, whose parameters
are broadcast in the GPS navigation message.

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 Example 1: Iono effects on single freq. Posit.

Annex:
gLAB processing in command line

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 Example 1: gLAB processing in command line

Execute in a single line: (gnuplot can also be used )

graph.py -f gLAB.out -x4 -y18 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "North error"
-f gLAB.out -x4 -y19 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "East error"
-f gLAB.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "UP error"
--yn -20 --yx 50 --xl "time (s)" --yl "error (m)"
-t "NEU positioning error [SPP]: Full model"

graph.py -f gLAB.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "Full model"

-f gLAB1.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "No Iono." --cl r
--yn -20 --yx 50 --xl "Time (s)" --yl "Up error (m)"
-t "Vertical positioning error [SPP]"

graph.py -f gLAB1.out -x19 -y18 -so -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "No Iono." --cl r
-f gLAB.out -x19 -y18 -so -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "Full mod" --cl b
--xl "East error (m)" --yl "North error (m)"
--xn -20 --xx 20 --yn -20 --yx 20
-t "Horizontal pos. error [SPP]"

graph.py -f gLAB.out -x4 -y25 -s. -c '($1=="MODEL")'

-f gLAB.out -x4 -y'($10-$9)' -s. -c '($1=="INPUT")‘ --cl r
--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters"
--yn -0 --yx 40 -t "Ionospheric Combination"

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 Example 1: gLAB processing in command line

A “notepad”
with the
command
line sentence
is provided to
facilitate the
sentence
writing: just
“copy” and
“ paste”
Console to execute
from
“command line” notepad to
sentences the working
terminal.

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 Example 1: gLAB processing in command line

The different messages provided

by gLAB and its content can be
found in the [OUTPUT] section.

By placing the mouse on a given

message name, a tooltip appears
describing the different fields.

In console mode: execute

gLAB_linux -messages

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 Example 2: Ionospheric delay analysis
Example 2: Depict the ionospheric delays for the
different satellites in view from station amc2
• This is a simple exercise aimed to illustrate how to use gLAB
to easily analyze GNSS measurements and their
combinations.
• gLAB will used to read the RINEX measurements file and to
generate a “text” with the measurements provided in a
columnar format (more suitable to make plots).
• From “text” file, compute PI ≡ P2 − P1 =I + K 21
and plot the Ionospheric
LI ≡ L1 − L2 =I + Ambiguity
delay for a given satellite,
by using code and carrier P1 − L1= 2α1 I + ambiguity1
measurements at f1, f2: P2 − L2= 2α 2 I + ambiguity 2

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 Example 2: Ionospheric delay analysis
The target is to generate
this plot to depict the
ionospheric delay from
Ionospheric combination (meters)

code & carrier data

Code P2-P1 (unambiguous but noisier)

PI ≡ P2 − P1 =I + K 21
LI ≡ L1 − L2 =I + Ambiguity

P1 − L1= 2α1 I + ambiguity1

Ambiguity= P − L
P2 − L2= 2α 2 I + ambiguity 2

1
α1 = = 1.546 ; α 2 = 1 + α1
Carrier Phase L1-L2 (ambiguous but precise) γ 21 − 1
=γ 21 (=
f1 / f 2 )
2
(154 / 120) 2

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 Example2: GPS measurements content
Code measurement content Carrier measurement content
α 2 − α1 =
ρ α1 ( I + K 21 ) + ε1
1
P1 =+ L1 = ρ − α1 I + B1 + ς 1 α1
=
1
= 1.546
γ 21 − 1
ρ α 2 ( I + K 21 ) + ε 2
P2 =+ L2 =ρ − α 2 I + B2 + ς 2 γ 21 = ( f1 / f 2 )
2

ρ Refers to all non dispersive terms: geometric range, clocks, tropo. delay… (see [R-1]).
Ionospheric delay
( STEC is in TECUs )
sat
STEC = ∫ N e dl ,
40.3 ( f − f 2 2
) 10 rec
STEC ; ( I is in m of L1 − L2 delay) =
1 2 16
I 2 2 =
1 TECU 1016 −
e / m 2 0.10m of L1- L 2 delay
f f
1 2

Interfrequency bias As the satellite clocks are referred to the ionosphere-free combination
of codes (PC), the K 21sat cancels in such combination. f12 P1 − f 22 P2
=
K 21 K 21,rec − K 21sat Note: TGD = −α1 K 21sat is broadcast in GPS nav. Message. C
P =
f12 − f 22

Carrier ambiguities
Bi λi N i + bi
= Ni is an integer number. bi is a real number (fractional part of ambiguity)

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 Example 2: Ionospheric delay analysis
1.- Read RINEX file with gLAB and generate a “measurements file” in
a columnar format (the easiest to manipulate and plot content):

 Using the configuration file meas.cfg, READ the RINEX and generate the MEAS file:
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs coco0090.97o -input:nav brdc0090.97n > coco.meas

gLAB configuration file

-pre:dec 1 RINEX RINEX
-print:none Measurement Navigation
-print:meas file file
--model:satphasecenter
--model:recphasecenter
--model:satclocks
--pre:cs:li OUTPUT: measurement file in columnar format
--pre:cs:bw
[Id YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2P L2P]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 xx xx 14 15 16 ]

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35
 Example 2: Ionospheric delay analysis
2.- Manipulate the file with the easy & powerful awk (or gawk)
programming language (to compute the combinations of measurements):
P1 L1 P2 L2 ]
[Id YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2P L2P]
 From coco.meas file: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 xx xx 14 15 16

Compute different ionospheric combination of codes and carriers, and generate the
obs.txt file containing the fields: [PRN,sec, P2-P1, (P2-L2)/5.09, (P1-L1)/3.09, L1-L2, Elev/10]

gawk '{print $6,$4,$15-$11,($15-$16)/5.09,($11-$14)/3.09,$14-$16,$7/10}' coco.meas >

obs.txt
(P2-P1) (L1-L2)
PRN
#6 #15 -- #11 #14 -- #16
(P2-L2)/5.09 (P1-L1)/3.09
sec Elev/10
#4 #15 -- #16 #11-- #14 #7

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 Example 2: Ionospheric delay analysis
3.-Plot results with “graph.py” (you can use the gnuplot as well)
[PRN, sec, P2-P1, (P2-L2)/5.09, (P1-L1)/3.09, L1-L2, Elev/10]
From obs.txt file: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Show in the same plot the following iono. delays for satellite PRN01:
P2-P1, (P2-L2)/5.09, (P1-L1)/3.09, L1-L2, Elev./10

Condition: Fields to plot:

Select PRN01 #2 (x-axis)
(from 1-st field) versus Label:
#3 (y-axis) P2-P1
File to plot

graph.py -f obs.txt -c'($1==01)' -x2 -y3 --l "P2-P1"

-f obs.txt -c'($1==01)' -x2 –y4 --l "(P2-L2)/5.09"
-f obs.txt -c'($1==01)' -x2 -y5 --l "(P1-L1)/3.09"
-f obs.txt -c'($1==01)' -x2 –y6 --l "L1-L2"
-f obs.txt -c'($1==01)' -x2 –y7 --l "Elev/10"
--yn -10 --yx 15 --xl "time (s)" --yl "meters of L1-L2 delay"

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 Example 2: Ionospheric delay analysis

PI ≡ P2 − P1 =I + K 21
LI ≡ L1 − L2 =I + Ambiguity

P1 − L1= 2α1 I + ambiguity1

zoom P2 − L2= 2α 2 I + ambiguity 2

1
α1 = = 1.546 ; α 2 = 1 + α1
γ 21 − 1
=γ 21 (=
f1 / f 2 )
2
(154 / 120) 2

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 Example 2: Sky plots

Φ=40º
Φ=90º

Sky plots at
Φ=0º different
coco
latitudes
PRN01
gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 39
Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Example 3: Zenith Troposphere Delay estimation
PPP Template: Static positioning with dual freq. code & carrier (ionosphere-
free combination PC,LC) + post-processed precise orbits & clocks.

1. Select the PPP Template

2. Upload data files:
-Measurement : roap1810.09o
- ANTEX: igs05_1525.atx
- Orbits & clocks: igs15382.sp3
2 - SINEX: igs09P1538.snx
3. RUN gLAB

3 Default output file:

1 gLAB.out

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 40

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Example 3: Zenith Troposphere Delay estimation
Plotting Results
• Coordinates are taken as
constants in nav. filter.
• Dual frequency Code and
Carrier measurements.
• Precise orbits and clocks.
• Measurements modelling
at the
centimetre Centimetre level accuracy
over 24h data is achieved
level. in PPP static mode

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 41

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Example 3: Zenith Troposphere Delay estimation

The troposphere is
estimated as a Random
Walk process in the Kalman
Filter. A process noise of
1cm/sqrt(h) has been taken.

1 2
ftp://cddis.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/gps/products/troposphere/new/2009/181/roap1810.09zpd.gz
The ZTD in this file is given in mm of delay. Thus, it is converted to m to compare with gLAB results
grep ROAP roap1810.09zpd | gawk -F\: '{print $3} ' | gawk '{print $1,$2/1000}' > roap_igs.trp

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 42

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Example 3: Zenith Troposphere Delay estimation
Tropospheric delay
The troposphere is the atmospheric layer situated between the Earth’s surface and an
altitude of about 50 km.
The effect of the troposphere on GNSS signals appears as an extra delay in the
measurement of the signal travelling from satellite to receiver.
The tropospheric delay does not depend on frequency and affects both the pseudo-range
(code) and carrier phases in the same way. It can be modeled by:
• A hydrostatic component, composed of dry gases (mainly nitrogen and oxygen) in
hydrostatic equilibrium. This component can be treated as an ideal gas. Its effects vary
with the temperature and atmospheric pressure in a reasonably predictable manner, and it
is responsible for about 90% of the delay.
• A wet component caused by the water vapor condensed in the form of clouds. It depends
on the weather conditions and varies faster than the hydrostatic component and in a totally
random way. For high accuracy positioning, this component must be estimated together
with the coordinates and other parameters in the navigation filter.

gAGE/UPC 43
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Backup @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan
 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, SF, storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 44

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Laboratory session organization
 The laboratory session is organized as an assisted activity
where a set of exercises must be developed individually
or in groups of two.
 As they are conceived as self-learning work, a detailed guide
is provided in the slides (pdf file) to carry out the exercises.
 A notepad file with the command line instructions is also
provided to help the sentence writing (doing copy & paste).
 A set of questions is presented, and the answers are also
included in the slides.
 Teachers will attend individual (or collective) questions that
could arise during exercise resolution.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 45

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Laboratory session organization
 The exercises are organized at three different levels of difficulty.
The student can choose the level of exercises to do, although at least
one introductory exercise is recommended to learn basic gLAB usage.
 1. Basic: Introductory exercises. From 1 to 6.
They consist of simple exercises to: 1) Study the Ionosphere effects on
single frequency positioning. 2) To depict the STEC on a Radio
occulation 3) Solar Flare effect on TEC, 4,5) TEC evolution during the
Halloween Storm, 6) To depict a TID propagaction. a
GP

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 46

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Laboratory session organization
 2. Medium: Laboratory Work Projects (LWP).
Four different LWP are proposed (to choose from):
• LWP1: To show a simple numerical method to estimate
electron density profiles (Ne(h)) from RO data.
Courtesy of UCAR
• LWP2: To analyse the phase excess rate from GPS to LEO
Actual measurements from
due to atmospheric (ionosphere & troposphere) FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC
bending. LEOs will be used

ρ∼
GP
G P Ne a
a

A minimum knowledge of UNIX LWP1 LWP2

(e.g., awk) would be desirable

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 47

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Laboratory session organization
 2. Medium: Laboratory Work Projects (LWP).
Four different LWP are proposed (to choose from):
• LWP3: To study the code-carrier ionosphere divergence Bi f i f
effect on single-frequency carrier smoother code.

• LWP4: To analyse if second-order ionospheric effects

can be depicted from three-frequency GNSS
measurements.

Given that session time is

limited to 3h, students who feel
comfortable using gLAB, can
skip part of the previous basic
exercises (Ex1, Ex2,.. ) and
jump to the Lab. Work Project.
A minimum knowledge of UNIX
(e.g., awk) would be desirable

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 48

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Laboratory session organization
 3 . Advanced: Labeled as “Homework exercises”
A set of additional exercises addressed to those students that already have
a solid background in GPS data processing.
These exercises are beyond the scope of this 3h laboratory session, and are
given for a possible further discussion…
As in the previous cases, the answers to the questions are also included as
BACKUP slides.

A minimum ∑α k Lk + ∑ α k ∆ kUP sin ε =

bias
knowledge of k

k
 
UNIX (e.g., awk) APC correction term

is desirable for
7257c sat 7427cB0 cos θ
3 ∫rec
these homework I 2 L1 =
− N B cos θ ds  − STEC
e 3
exercises. 2 f1 2 f1

gawk 'BEGIN{g=(77/60)^2}{print $6, $4, (g*($13-$14)-($15-$16))/(g-1)}' meas.txt > PC.txt

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 49

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, SF, storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 50

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
Technical University of Catalonia
 Starting up your laptop
1. Plug the stick into an USB port and boot your
laptop from the stick.

2. Access the Boot Device Menu when starting up

the laptop.
Note: The way to do it depends on your computer:
Usually, you should press [ESC] or [F4], [F10], [F12]....

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 51

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Starting up your laptop
3. The following screen will appear after about 2
minutes:
The US keyboard is
set by default.
Click on this icon to You can change it
open a console by clicking on the
upper right corner.

Click on the gLAB icon

to start-up gLAB

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 52

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Starting up your laptop

Now, the
system is
ready to
start
working!
Console to execute
“command line”
sentences

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 53

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
Technical University of Catalonia
 Starting up your laptop

Copy and
paste the
sentences
from
notepad
Console to execute to console
“command line”
sentences

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 54

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
Technical University of Catalonia
 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, Solar Flair, Halloween storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 55

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
Technical University of Catalonia
 EX. 1 Halloween storm: October 2003
A severe ionospheric storm was experienced on October 29-31,
2003 producing and increase of the electron density which led
to large ionospheric refraction values on the GPS signals. Such
conditions were beyond the capability of the GPS Klobuchar
model broadcast for single frequency users, producing large
errors in the SPS (see details in [R-3]).
Dual frequency users, navigating with
the ionospheric-free combination of
GPS signals were not affected by
such ionospheric errors, as the
ionospheric refraction can be
removed up to 99:9% using dual-
frequency signals.
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Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Backup @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 56
Ex. 1: Assessing Iono effects on single freq. pos.

Exercise: Repeat the previous study of Example 1 to

analyze the single freq. solution, but for the Halloween
storm.
The following steps are recommended:
1. Using files amc23020.03o,brdc3030.03n compute with gLAB
the following solutions:
1. Solution with full SPS modeling. Name output file as: gLAB.out
2. Solution with the ionospheric corrections disabled  gLAB1.out
3. Solution with the 2-freq. Ionosphere-free code (PC)  gLAB2.out
2. Plot results
Note: The gLAB GUI or the command line sentences can also be used .
A “notepad” with the command line sentence is provided to facilitate the
sentence writing: just “copy” and “paste” from notepad to the working terminal

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 57

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Ex. 1: Full processing  gLAB.out

1. Compute SPP using files: amc23020.03o,brdc3030.03n

2
By default, the output
file name is gLAB.out

1 3

Equivalent command line sentence:

gLAB_linux -input:cfg gLAB_p1_Full.cfg
gAGE/UPC -input:obs amc3030.03o
58
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 Ex. 1: Iono. Disabled  gLAB1.out

2. Reprocess the same files, with the iono. corrections disabled

2
Disable Ionospheric
Change output file
corrections
name to gLAB1.out
1 3
Equivalent command line sentence:
gLAB_linux -input:cfg gLAB_p1_NoIono.cfg
gAGE/UPC -input:obs amc3030.03o
59
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 Ex. 1: Processing with PC gLAB2.out

3. Reprocess the same files, but with 2-frequency ionosphere-free (PC)

1 2
Disable Ionospheric
corrections and P1- Select Dual Frequency
P2 corrections

Change output
file name to
Equivalent command line sentence:
gLAB_linux -input:cfg gLAB_p1_IFree.cfg
3 gLAB2.out

gAGE/UPC -input:obs amc3030.03o

Research group of Astronomy &-input:nav
Geomatics
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brdc3030.03n 4
@ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan
60
60
 Ex. 1: Assessing Iono effects on single freq. pos.

Execute in a single line: (or use the gLAB GUI)

graph.py -f gLAB.out -x4 -y18 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "North error"

-f gLAB.out -x4 -y19 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "East error"
-f gLAB.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' -l "UP error"
--yn -40 --yx 70 --xl "time (s)" --yl "error (m)"
-t "NEU positioning error [SPP]: Full model"

graph.py -f gLAB.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "Full model"

-f gLAB1.out -x4 -y20 -s.- -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "No Iono." --cl r
--yn -40 --yx 90 --xl "Time (s)" --yl "Up error (m)"
-t "Vertical positioning error [SPP]"

graph.py -f gLAB1.out -x19 -y18 -so -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "No Iono." --cl r
-f gLAB.out -x19 -y18 -so -c '($1=="OUTPUT")' --l "Full mod" --cl b
--xl "East error (m)" --yl "North error (m)"
--xn -40 --xx 40 --yn -40 --yx 40
-t "Horizontal pos. error [SPP]"

P2-P1 shifted +4 m

graph.py -f gLAB.out -x4 -y'($10-$9+4)' -s. -c '($1=="INPUT")'

-f gLAB.out -x4 -y25 -s. -c '($1=="MODEL")' --cl r
--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters"
gAGE/UPC --yn -5 --yx 80 -t "Ionospheric Combination"
@ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 61 61
Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Ex. 1: Assessing Iono effects on single freq. pos.

gLAB1.out gLAB1.out

gLAB.out
gLAB.out

gLAB.out Ionospheric correction (broadcast Klobuchar )

Ionospheric delays are larger at noon due to the higher
insulation.
Code Klobuchar model is unable to mitigate the large
delay ionospheric errors during the storm. Position domain
errors reach up to 40 meters with Klobuchar corrections
used.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 62

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Ex. 1: Assessing Iono effects on single freq. pos.

Ionospheric correction
1-freq.[SPS]:
with Klobuchar
(broadcast Klobuchar )
•The ionosphere-free combination
(PC) of P1 and P2 codes is immune
to the ionospheric storm.
• Although PC is three-times noisier
than P1 or P2, it provides positioning
accurate at the level of a few meters
during the storm. f 2P − f 2P
PC = 1 1 2 2
f −f
1
2
2
2

2-freq.:
Iono-free amc2 station location

October 30, 2003

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Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Ex. 2: STEC in a Radio Occultation (RO)
Radio Occultation (RO) commonly refers to a
GP

a sounding technique in which a radio

signal from a transmitting satellite (e.g.,
GPS) passes through a planetary
atmosphere before arriving at a receiver on
board a Low Earth Orbiter (LEO) satellite.

Along the ray path, the phase of the radio

signal is perturbed in a manner related to the This is a simple exercise where the STEC
refractivity. variation along a radio occultation will be
RO measurements can reveal the refractivity, depicted using GPS L1, L2 measurements
from which one can then derive atmospheric from a receiver on board a LEO of COSMIC
quantities such as Pressure, Temperature and constellation.
the partial pressure of water vapor; and
In the LWP1, Electron Density Profiles will
electron density, among others.
be retrieved from this data using an
algorithm equivalent to the Abel Transform.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 64

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission
Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate:
6 microsatellites; orbit altitude ~ 800km

• Three instruments:
GPS receiver. 4 antennas: 2 for POD, 2 for RO.
TIP, Tri-band beacon
• Weather + Space Weather data.
• Global observations of:
Pressure, Temperature, Humidity Courtesy of UCAR
Refractivity Courtesy of UCAR
Ionospheric Electron Density
Ionospheric Scintillation
• Demonstrate quasi-operational GPS limb
sounding with global coverage in near-real time
• Climate Monitoring
Information available at www.cosmic.ucar.edu

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Ex. 2: STEC in a Radio Occultation (RO)
Exercise: The file “RO.obs” contains the following fields [*]:
|------ LEO ------>|<------- GPS ------->|
YY DoY HH.HH CODE PRN elev r_LEO AR_LEO DEC_LEO r_GPS AR_GPS DEC_GPS L1 L2 L1-L2 arc
(deg) (km) (Deg) (Deg) (km) (Deg) (Deg) (cycles) (m)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Plot the L1-L2 measurement in function of time to depict the variation of STEC
along the occultation:
Select for instance : PRN=02 and “CODE=l241”, that corresponds to LEO=4 and Antenna 1

- Selecting: CODE=l241 and PRN=02

grep l241 RO.obs|gawk '{if ($5==02) print $3,$15}'> ro.dat

- Ploting L1-L2
graph.py -f ro.dat --xl "time (H)"
--yl "meters of L1-L2" -t"RO: L1-L2: COSMIC #4 Antenna #1"

[*] This file has been generated from files (http://cosmic-io.cosmic.ucar.edu/cdaac):

podObs_2006.253.004.01.01_rnx, leoOrb_2006.253.004.01_2009.2650_sp3, igs13920.sp3

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 66

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
66
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Ex. 2: STEC in a Radio Occultation (RO)
The previous plot shows only the
variation of the Integrated Electron
Content along the ray path (STEC).

More information can be retrieved from

occultation measurements. For instance:
• Electron Density Profile of the Ionosphere
(LWP1).
• Phase excess rate, which is related to the
bending of ray (LWP2).

G P Ne
a
a
G P
∼
ρ
ρ

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Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Given that session time is limited to 2h,
participants who feel comfortable using
gLAB, can skip part of the next basic
exercises (Ex3..., Ex6) and jump to the
Laboratory Work Projects (LWP).

There, if you prefer, you can jump to

slide #87 and choose one from the four
LWPs

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 68

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Ex. 3: Solar Flare October 28, 2003
On October 28, 2003, an intense solar eruption (a Solar Flare) was
detected around 11h UT in an active region which had grown
one of the largest sunspots ever seen by the SOlar Helioscopic
Observatory (SOHO). It appeared as a bright spike in the SOHO
ultraviolet images.

This sudden enhancement of the solar

radiation in the X-ray and extreme
ultra-violet band produced a sudden
increase in the ionospheric electron
density on the daylight hemisphere,
(see [R-3]).

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 69

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Ex. 3: Solar Flare October 28, 2003

Exercise: Analyze the effect of the Solar Flare on the Slant Total
Electron Content (STEC) measurements of four permanent IGS
receivers ankr, asc1, kour and qaq1, covering a wide range of
longitude and latitude.
qaq1

Data sets:
ankr
ankr3010.03o, asc13010.03o,
kour3010.03o, qaq13010.03o kour

asc1

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 Ex. 3: Solar Flare October 28, 2003
[Id YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2P L2P]
Execute: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 xx 13 14 15 16 ]

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs ankr3010.03o > ankr3010.03.meas

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs asc13010.03o > asc13010.03.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs kour3010.03o > kour3010.03.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs qaq13010.03o > qaq13010.03.meas

graph.py -f ankr3010.03.meas -x4 -y'($14-$16)' --l "ankr" qaq1

-f asc13010.03.meas -x4 -y'($14-$16)' --l "asc1"
-f kour3010.03.meas -x4 -y'($14-$16)' --l "kour" ankr

-f qaq13010.03.meas -x4 -y'($14-$16)' --l "qaq1" kour

--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters of L1-L2"
--xn 38500 --xx 40500 --yn -20 --yx 20 asc1

-t "28 Oct 2003 Solar flare"

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 71

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Ex. 3: Solar Flare October 28, 2003

qaq1

ankr

kour

asc1

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Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Ex. 4: Halloween storm: P2-P1 analysis
Associated with the Solar Flare analysed in the previous exercise, a Coronal
Mass Ejection occurred, which sent a large particle cloud impacting the
Earth's magnetosphere about 19 hours later, on October 29.
Subsequent impacts were still occurring several hours later. This material
interacted with the Earth's magnetosphere and a Storm Enhancement
Density (SED) appeared in North America and affected later the northern
latitudes in Europe. Extra large gradients of
TEC associated with this phenomenon were
also produced, degrading the GPS
positioning performance.

The TEC evolution in October 30, 2003 (i.e.,

Day 303 of year 2003) can be seen in the
movie TEC 2003oct30 anim.gif.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 73

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Ex. 4: Halloween storm: P2-P1 analysis
The measurement files garl3010.03o, garl3020.03o, garl3030.03o,
garl3040.03o, garl3050.03o, garl3060.03o were collected by the
permanent receiver garl in Empire, Nevada, USA ( φ= 40.42 deg,
λ =-119:36 deg) from October 28 to November 2, 2003.

Using these files, plot the STEC for all satellites in view and discuss
the range of such variations. Analyse, in particular, the satellite
PRN 04 and calculate the maximum rate of STEC variation in
mm=s of L1 delay. Add the elevation of satellite PRN 04 in the plot.
The associated broadcast navigation les are brdc3010.03n,
brdc3020.03n, brdc3030.03n, brdc3040.03n, brdc3050.03n,
brdc3060.03n.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 74

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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Ex. 4: Halloween storm: P2-P1 analysis
Exercise: Depict the ionospheric delays for the
different satellites in view from station amc2
• This is a simple exercise aimed to illustrate how to use gLAB
to easily analyze GNSS measurements and their
combinations.
• gLAB will used to read the RINEX measurements file and to
generate a “text” with the measurements provided in a
columnar format (more suitable to make plots).

• Using such “text” file, the STEC pattern for the different
satellites in view during the storm is depicted from the
geometry-free combination of codes P2-P1.
Note:
P2 − P1 =I + K 21

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 75

Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Ex. 4: Halloween storm: P2-P1 analysis
The next commands read a RINEX file and generate a text file (in columnar format)
that allows to easily plot the measurements and their combinations:
1. Using the configuration file meas.cfg, READ the RINEX and generate the MEAS message with
data format:
[Id YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2P L2P]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 xx 13 14 15 16 ]
Execute:
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs amc23030.03o -input:nav brdc3030.03n > amc23030.03.meas

2. From meas.txt file,

Compute the ionospheric combination of codes: PI=P2-P1.
Generate the file PI.txt with the following content: [PRN, hour, PI, elevation]

gawk '{print $6, $4/3600, $15-$13, $7}' amc23030.03.meas > PI.txt

3. From PI.txt file,

Plot the PI=P2-P1 for time interval [15 to 24].hours. Show in the same graph: 1) ALL satellites,
2) PRN 13, 28 and 29, and 3) The elevation of each satellite.(13, 28 and 29)
graph.py -f PI.txt -x2 -y3 --l "ALL"
-f PI.txt -c'($1==28)' -x2 -y3 -so --l "28:P2-P1" -f PI.txt -c'($1==28)' -x2 -y4 --l "29:ELEV"
-f PI.txt -c'($1==29)' -x2 -y3 -so --l "29:P2-P1" -f PI.txt -c'($1==29)' -x2 -y4 --l "13:ELEV"
gAGE/UPC
-f PI.txt -c'($1==13)' -x2 -y3 -so --l "13:P2-P1" -f PI.txt -c'($1==13)' -x2 -y4 --l "13:ELEV"
--xn
Research group15 --xx& Geomatics
of Astronomy Backup
25 --yn 0 --yx 85 --xl "time (s)" --yl "meters
Technical University of Catalonia
of L1-L2 delay" @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan
76
76
Ex. 4: Halloween storm: P2-P1 analysis

amc2 station location

October 30, 2003

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Research group of Astronomy & Geomatics
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 Ex. 5: Halloween storm evolution
Exercise: Analyze the ionospheric delays for 6
consecutive days including the Halloween storm
• This is a simple exercise aimed to illustrate the ionospheric
delays variation during the Halloween storm. A period of 6
consecutive days (from October 28 to November 2, 2003)
are analyzed using measurements collected in the “garl”
station in North America.

• The STEC variations are depicted from the geometry-free

combination of codes P2-P1.
Note: P2 − P1 =I + K 21

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 Ex. 5: Halloween storm evolution
[Id YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2P L2P]
1.- Read RINEX file: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 xx 13 14 15 16 ]

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs garl3010.03o -input:nav brdc3010.03n > garl3010.03.meas

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs garl3020.03o -input:nav brdc3020.03n > garl3020.03.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs garl3030.03o -input:nav brdc3030.03n > garl3030.03.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs garl3040.03o -input:nav brdc3040.03n > garl3040.03.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs garl3050.03o -input:nav brdc3050.03n > garl3050.03.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs garl3060.03o -input:nav brdc3060.03n > garl3060.03.meas

2.- Merge files and refer all the data to 0h of October 28th: Doy0301:
cat garl30?0.03.meas |gawk '{d=($3-301)*86400;$4=$4+d; print $6, $4/3600, $15-$13, $7}' > PI.txt

3.- Plot results:

graph.py -f PI.txt –x2 –y3 --l "ALL P2-P1"
-f PI.txt -c'($1==04)' –x2 –y4 --l "PRN04: ELEV"
-f PI.txt -c'($1==04)' –x2 –y3 –so --l "PRN04: P2-P1"
--xn 0 --xx 144

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 Ex. 5: Halloween storm evolution
Zoom at time interval: 70 to 78 h
graph.py -f PI.txt –x2 –y3 --l "ALL P2-P1" graph.py -f PI.txt –x2 –y3 --l "ALL P2-P1"
-f PI.txt -c'($1==04)' –x2 –y4 --l “04: EL" -f PI.txt -c'($1==04)' –x2 –y4 --l “04: EL"
-f PI.txt -c'($1==04)' –x2 –y3 –so --l “04" -f PI.txt -c'($1==04)' –x2 –y3 –so --l “04"
--xn 0 --xx 144 --xn 70 --xx 78

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 Ex. 6: Travelling Ionospheric Disturb.
Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are understood as plasma density
fluctuations that propagate through the ionosphere at an open range of
velocities and frequencies. The trend of such fluctuations can be seen from
the geometry free combination of GPS carrier measurements L= I L1 − L2 .

Some authors distinguish between Large-Scale TIDs (LSTIDs) with a period

greater than 1 hour and moving faster than 0,3 km/s, and Medium- Scale
TIDs (MSTIDs) with shorter periods (from 10 minutes to 1 hour) and moving
slower (0.05-0.3 km/s). The LSTIDs seem to be related to geomagnetic
disturbances (i.e., aurora, ionospheric storms, etc.). The origin of MSTIDs
seems to be more related to meteorological phenomena such as neutral
winds, eclipses, or solar terminator that produces Atmospheric Gravity Waves
(AGW) being manifested as TIDs at ionospheric heights, due to the collision
between neutral and ionised molecules.

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 Ex. 6: Travelling Ionospheric Disturb.
In [R4, 2006] a simple method to detect MSTIDs is proposed. It consists of
detrending the geometry free combination of GPS carrier measurements
from the diurnal variation and elevation angle dependences, applying the
following equation:
) LI (t ) − ( LI (t + τ ) − LI (t − τ ) ) / 2
δ LI (t=
where a value of 300sec is suitable to keep enough variation of LI (i.e.,
STEC).

Using the previous equation, the detrending is done simply by subtracting

from each value an average value of the previous and posterior
measurements (i.e., the curvature of the LI temporal dependency). It must
be pointed out that that this detrending procedure can be used in real time
with a single receiver, so it is suitable for identifying these ionospheric
perturbations in navigation applications.

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 Ex. 6: Travelling Ionospheric Disturb.

An example of MSTID propagation

can be depicted as follows using
the measurements of three stations
SODB, MHCB and MONB, which
are separated by a few tens of
monb
kilometres.

The target is to reproduce the

mhcb
figure 10 of the above mentioned
paper [R4, 2006].
sodb

[R4, 2006] Hernández-Pajares, M; Juan, M.; Sanz, J., 2006].

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 Ex. 6: Travelling Ionospheric Disturb.
Exercise: Execute in a single line:
# a) Reading RINEX files:
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs mhcb2910.01o > mhcb.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs monb2910.01o > monb.meas
gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs sodb2910.01o > sodb.meas
monb
# b) Selecting satellite PRN16:
gawk '{if ($6==14) print $0}' mhcb.meas > mhcb_14.meas
gawk '{if ($6==14) print $0}' monb.meas > monb_14.meas mhcb

gawk '{if ($6==14) print $0}' sodb.meas > sodb_14.meas

sodb

# c) Detrending on the geometry-free combination L1-L2:

gawk '{for (i=0;i<21;i++) {t[i]=t[i+1];l[i]=l[i+1]};t[21]=$4;l[21]=$14-$16;

if (NR>21){tt=t[0]*t[10]*t[20];if (tt!=0) print t[10],(l[10]-(l[0]+l[20])/2)}}' mhcb_14.meas > mhcb_dLi.meas

gawk '{for (i=0;i<21;i++) {t[i]=t[i+1];l[i]=l[i+1]};t[21]=$4;l[21]=$14-$16;

if (NR>21){tt=t[0]*t[10]*t[20];if (tt!=0) print t[10],(l[10]-(l[0]+l[20])/2)}}' monb_14.meas > monb_dLi.meas

gawk '{for (i=0;i<21;i++) {t[i]=t[i+1];l[i]=l[i+1]};t[21]=$4;l[21]=$14-$16;if (NR>21){tt=t[0]*t[10]*t[20];

if (tt!=0) print t[10],(l[10]-(l[0]+l[20])/2)}}' sodb_14.meas > sodb_dLi.meas

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 Ex. 6: Travelling Ionospheric Disturb.
Execute in a single line:
graph.py -f sodb_dLi.meas -s.- --l "sodb: PRN14"
-f mhcb_dLi.meas -s.- --l "mhcb: PRN14"
-f monb_dLi.meas -s.- --l "monb: PRN14"
--xn 55500 --xx 57000 --yn -0.05 --yx 0.07
--xl "time (s)" --yl "Detrended STEC (meters of L1-L2 delay)"
-t "MS Travelling Ionospheric Disturbance (MSTID) propagation"

monb

mhcb

gAGE/UPC sodb
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 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, SF, storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

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LWP1: Electron Density Profile from RO
Ne
In the previous Exercise #2 a
G P

the variation of the

Integrated Electron Content
along the ray path (STEC)
has been shown. From
these integrated LWP1: Target
measurements during an In this LWP we will retrieve
occultation it is possible to the Ne(h) using a simple
retrieve the electron density numerical algorithm which
profile (i.e., Ne(h)) of the is equivalent to the Abel
ionosphere. transform (see [R-6]).
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LWP1: Electron Density Profile from RO
• The basic observable of this technique
is the additional delay, due to the GP Ne
a
refractivity index, of a radio signal
when passing through the
atmosphere.
• This additional delay is proportional to
the integrated refractivity, in such a
way that we can obtain an estimation
of the vertical refractivity profiles using As it is know, STEC and Ne are related by:
observations at different elevation LEO
angles by solving an inverse problem. STEC ( p ) = ∫ N e dl
GPS
• Traditionally, the solution of this An equivalent expression, assuming spherical symmetry
inverse problem is obtained by using
STEC ( pn )  2∑ i =1 N e ( pi ) li ,n
n
the Abel inversion algorithm
assuming a refractivity index that only
where p stands for the impact parameter (the closest
depends on the altitude (see [RD-6]) point to the Earth centre along the optical ray path).

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LWP1: Electron Density Profile from RO

Thence, starting from the outer ray

(p1=rLEO), for a given ray i, where
i=1,…, with impact parameter pi, its
STEC can be written in a discrete
representation as: L2 α STEC + b
L1 −=
j = i −1
=
STEC ( pi ) 2 N e ( pi ) li ,i + ∑ N (p ) l
j =1
e j i, j
where p stands for the impact parameter (the closest
point to the Earth centre along the optical ray path).
where lii is the fraction of ith ray within
the spherical layer ith (see [R-6]). As measurements we use L1-L2 carrier
The previous equation defines a phases that are related with the STEC by:
triangular linear equations system that L2 α STEC + b
L1 −=
can be solved recursively for the where the bias term b is eliminated making
electron density Ne(p). differences to a reference in the arch data.

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LWP1: Electron Density Profile from RO
The program “abel.perl” implements the previous algorithm to estimate the
Ne(p) profile from GPS L1-L2 carrier measurements.
• The input data is [p(n),L1-L2(n)], with p in km and L1-L2 in meters (of L1-L2 delay)
where the impact parameter must be sorted from larger to lower value.
 Only measurements with negative elevation must be given (i.e., occultation).

• The output data is: [n,p(n),L1-L2(n),Ne(n)],

where Ne is given in e-/m3.

Note: the Impact parameters can be

computed from the LEO elevation (elev)
and its distance to Earth’s centre (rLEO) by
(see figure):
p = rLEO cos(elev)

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LWP1: Electron Density Profile from RO
Exercise:
The file “RO.obs” contains the following fields (see Ex.5):
|------ LEO ------>|<------- GPS ------->|
YY DoY HH.HH CODE PRN elev r_LEO AR_LEO DEC_LEO r_GPS AR_GPS DEC_GPS L1 L2 L1-L2 arc
(deg) (km) (Deg) (Deg) (km) (Deg) (Deg) (cycles) (m)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

1.- Using the file RO.obs, select the measurements with negative elevations for GPS
satellite PRN02, the LEO #4 and antenna #1, and generate the input file
[p(n),L1-L2(n)] for program “abel.perl”
- Selecting: CODE=l241 and PRN=02 and negative elevations (ocult)
grep l241 RO.obs|gawk '{if ($5==02 && $6<0) print $0}'> ro.tmp
- Generating the input file
gawk '{printf "%9.5f %7.5f \n",$7*cos($6*3.14/180),$15}' ro.tmp > abl.tmp
- Sort the file by impact parameter:
sort –nr –k+1 abl.tmp > abl.dat

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LWP1: Electron Density Profile from RO
2.- Run the program “abel.perl” over the generated file “abl.dat“ to compute the
electron density profile Ne(p):
- Sort the file by impact parameter:
cat abl.dat| abel.perl > Ne.dat

3.- The output file “abl.dat“ contains the

fields [n,p(n),L1-L2(n),Ne(n)]
Plot the electron density profile Ne as a
function the impact parameter p and as
a function of height above Earth‘s
- Plot1: As a function of “p”
graph.py -f Ne.dat -x4 -y2
--xl "Ne(e-/m3)" --yl "p (km)"
- Plot2: As a function of “height”
graph.py -f Ne.dat -x4 –y’($2-6370)’
--xl "Ne(e-/m3)" --yl “h (km)"

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LWP1: Electron Density Profile from RO
Questions
1. Taking into account the relationship between the electron density (Ne) and the
critical frequency (fp), i.e., minimum frequency for a signal not being reflected,
[R-1]:
f p = 8.98 N e ( N e in e − /m3 , f p in Hz)
Compute the minimum frequency of a signal to cross through the ionosphere.
Answer:
From previous plot, the Ne of the maximum is 3.7E+11 e-/m3. Thence
=
f p 8.98 3.7 ⋅10
=11
5.46 MHz

2. Calculate the height where a signal with frequency f=4 MHz will be reflected,
according to the previous plot of Ne profile.
Answer:
N e =( f / 8.98) 2 =(4 ⋅106 / 8.98) 2 =1.98 ⋅1011 ⇒  150 km

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
LWP2: Target
This LWP is focused in
ρ∼
G P
a

depicting and analysing the

effect of the atmospheric ρ
bending in Radio
Occultation measurements.

A simple procedure will be given to depict the phase excess rate due to
the troposphere and ionosphere over L1, L2 and LC measurements.

Note: LC is the Ionosphere Free combination f12 L1 − f 22 L 2

LC =
of carriers L1 and L2 is given by: f12 − f 22

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
G P
a
Ref.
Let L1 be the carrier measurement at frequency f1. GPS
A procedure to depict the L1 bending is given next: No bending

L1 = ρ * + cdtrec
sat
+ B1 ; ρ * = ρ + T − α1 I a
G P
ρ∼ Bending
ρ
being ρ the Euclidean distance between GPS and LEO
Ref.
and B a constant bias along continuous phase arc LEO

• The bias B cancels, taking time differences of L1.

Thence, from previous equation, it follows
∆ρ *  ∆L1 ∆cdtrec
sat

=  − 
Reference satellites (GPS, LEO) are taken
∆t  ∆ t ∆t  in NON-OCULTATION .

• And clocks cancel taking Double-Differences ∆ρ occult

*
∆ρ occult ∆L j ∆ρ
− = DD − DD ≠0
between pairs of LEO and GPS satellites: ∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t

∆ρ * ∆L j Note: LEO and GPS orbits are known at the level

DD = DD of few cm (~5cm), thus the Euclidean range can be
∆t ∆t calculated accurately and, thus, the range rate ∆ρ
∆t

gAGE/UPC DD() =()GPS   GPS 

LEO − () LEO  −  () LEORef − () LEORef 
GPSRef GPSRef
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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
G P

Next expressions generalize previous a

Ref.
GPS
results for L1, L2 and Lc measurements: No bending
L j = ρ * + cdtrec
sat
+ B j ; ρ * = ρ + T − α j I ; j = 1, 2

LC = ρ  + cdtrec + BC ; ρ  = ρ +T ρ∼
G P
sat a
Bending
ρ
The differences in time to depict the bending
Ref.
∆ρ * ∆L j ∆cdtrec
sat
∆ρ * ∆L LEO
=− ⇒ DD =
DD j
∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t
∆ρ  ∆LC ∆cdtrecsat
∆ρ  ∆L
= − ⇒ DD =
DD C
∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t
Reference satellites (GPS, LEO) are taken
And the clock term cancels taking Double in NON-OCULTATION .
Differences between LEO and GPS satellites Bending is assumed only for the GPS-LEO
∆ρ occult
*
∆ρ occult ∆L ∆ρ ray in occultation.
− = DD j − DD ≠ 0 ; j= 1, 2
∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t
∆ρ occult

∆ρ occult
*
∆L ∆ρ DD() =()GPS
LEO − (  ) GPSRef
LEO 
 −  (  )
 LEORef
GPS
− (  ) GPSRef

LEORef 
− = DD C − DD ≠ 0 Carrier Excess
∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t Rate

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
Another possibility to remove the clock term, could be to subtract the LC combination
from L1 (or L2). The result will provide the “discrepancy between L1 (or L2) and LC
excess ray path.

That is:
∆ρ occult
*
∆L j ∆cdtrec
sat 
=− ; j=
1, 2 
 ∆ρ occult ∆ρ occult ∆L j ∆LC
* 
∆t ∆t ∆t
⇒ − = − ; j=
1, 2
∆ρ occult ∆LC ∆cdtrec
 sat
 ∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t
= − 
∆t ∆t ∆t

Notice that the Euclidian range rate is not needed to subtract as in the previous case,
because it is cancelled when taking the difference between L1 (or L2) and Lc. Other delays
can also be cancelled...

In the following exercises, we will plot the previous combinations and discuss the
different contribution of the ionosphere and troposphere to the phase excess rate.

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
Exercise:
The program “RO.perl” uses the “RO.obs” as input data and computes the
following combinations of RO measurements:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
The output file: sec CODE PRN p dRho dL1 dL2 dLc d(L1-Lc) d(L2-Lc) DDdRho DDdL1 DDdL2 DDLc
(units m/s)
where
• Rho is the Euclidean Distance between GPS and LEO
• d: means differences in time
• DD: means Double Differences between GPS and LEOs satellites.
Note: the GPS PRN13 and LEO “l252” are used as reference satellites. G P
a
Ref.
(the rays between these satellites are not in occultation). GPS
No bending
The results are computed for the RO between GPS PRN02 a
G P

Bending
and LEO “l241” (the same occultation as in previous cases)
Ref.
The aim of this exercise is to analyse the phase excess rate LEO

in the different combinations due to the bending of the ray.

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
1.- Run the program “RO.perl” over the file “RO.obs” and generate the
combinations of measurements indicated in the previous table.

Note: the results are provided for the occultation associate to PRN=02 and
“CODE=l241”, that corresponds to LEO=4 and Antenna 1.
This is hard code in the program, but can be changed, as well.

- Execute (the file RO.obs, must be available in the directory)

RO.perl > bending.dat

2.- Discuss next plots:

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
P1.- Plot “DDdL1-DDdRho” and DDdL2-DDdRho as a function of time and
discuss the results found

graph.py -f bending.dat -x'($12-$11)' -y4 -l "DDdL1-DDdRho"

-f bending.dat -x'($13-$11)' -y4 -l "DDdL2-DDdRho" --xn -0.4 --xx 4

Q1: Justify the discrepancy

between the two plots.
Answer 1:
• The curves in the plot show phase
excess rate due the effect of both
ionosphere and troposphere.
• As the bending in the ionosphere is
a frequency dependent effect, the
contribution is different for each
signal (L1 and L2).

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
P2.- Plot DDdLc-DDdRho as a function of time. Discuss results.

graph.py -f bending.dat -x'($14-$11)' -y4 --xn -0.1 --xx 0.3 --xl "m_Lc/s"
--yl "p (km)" -t"DDdLc-DDdRho: COSMIC #4 Antenna #1, PRN02"

Q2: Why there is no excess

ray path for p> 6420 km?
Answerer 2:
• The ionospheric bending effect on L1
and L2 is proportional to the inverse
of squared frequencies and cancels
in the ionosphere-free combination of
carriers Lc.
• There is only bending effect in Lc due
to the troposphere, which produces
the path at the bottom of the figure.

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
P3.- Plot “dL1-dLc” and DDdL1-DDdRho as a function of time. Discuss results.

graph.py -f bending.dat –x9 -y4 -l "dL1-dLc"

-f bending.dat -x'($12-$11)' –y4 -l "DDdL1-DDdRho"
--xl "m_L1/s" --yl "p (km)" --xn -0.4 --xx 4 -y4

Q3: Justify the discrepancy

between the two plots.
Answer 3:
• DDdL1-DDdRho accounts for the
contribution of ionosphere and
troposphere. The troposphere produces
the large drift at the bottom.
• dL1-dLc cancels common effects in
both signals, like troposphere and
ionosphere. But, as there is no bending
effect due to the ionosphere on Lc (see
previous plot P2) , thence, the curves
match for p> 6420 km.

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
P4.- Plot “dL2-dLc” and DDdL2-DDdRho as a function of time. Discuss results.
graph.py -f bending.dat –x10 -y4 -l "dL2-dLc"
-f bending.dat -x'($13-$11)' –y4 -l "DDdL1-DDdRho"
--xl "m_L2/s" --yl "p (km)" --xn -0.4 --xx 4 -y4

Q4: Justify the discrepancy

between the two plots.
Answer 4:
• The same answer as in previous plot.

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
P5.- Plot “dL1-dRho” and dL1-dLc as a function of time. Discuss results.

graph.py -f bending.dat -x'($6-$5)' -y4 -l "dL1-dRho"

-f bending.dat –x9 -y4 -l "dL1-dLc"
--xl "m_L1/s" --yl "p (km)" -t"COSMIC #4 Antenna #1, PRN02"

Q5: Justify the discrepancy

between the two plots.
Answer 5:
• The large drift in dL1-dRho curve is
due to the satellites (GPS and LEO)
clock drift.
• These large clock variations do not
allow to see the atmospheric bending
effect.

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
P6.- Plot “dL2-dRho” and dL2-dLc as a function of time. Discuss results.

graph.py -f bending.dat -x'($7-$5)' -y4 -l "dL2-dRho"

-f bending.dat –x10 -y4 -l "dL2-dLc"
--xl "m_L2/s" --yl "p (km)" -t"COSMIC #4 Antenna #1, PRN02"

Q6: Justify the discrepancy

between the two plots.
Answer 6:
• The same answer as in previous plot.

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
Derivation of bending angle α(a) from Excess
VGPS φGPS Bending Angle (α)
τ κvGPS
GPS
Phase Rate (or Atmospheric Doppler Shift λ ∆f )

κLEO α ∆ρ occult
GP
a
= ( v GPS − v LEO ) ⋅ τ
αGPS ∆t

κGPSτ θGPS
VvLEO
LEO ∆ρ occult
*

= v GPS ⋅ k GPS − v LEO ⋅ k LEO

αLEO φκLEO ∆t
LEO ∆ρ occult
*
∆ρ occult ∆L j ∆ρ
rGPS λ=
∆f − = DD − DD
∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t

Ω θLEO τ
rLEO
f v GPS ⋅ ( k GPS − τ ) − v LEO ⋅ ( k LEO − τ )
λ ∆=
nGPS rGPS sin(α =
GPS + θ GPS ) nLEO rLEO sin(α LEO
= + θ LEO ) a The Bending Angle α ( a ) can be derived
iteratively from this equations system (see, [R-7])
α α GPS + α LEO

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 LWP2: Atmospheric Bending in RO
Comments:
From phase excess rate measurements the bending angle can be estimated.
From the bending angle, the variations of the refractivity can be computed, and
from these one can then derive atmospheric quantities such as Pressure,
Temperature and the partial pressure of water vapor, and electron density, among
others.

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 LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
The target of LWP3 is to
analyze the error induced by
the divergence of the
ionosphere (between code
and carrier) into the Single-
Frequency (SF) carrier
smoothed code.
The Divergence Free (Dfree) This effect will be analyzed
analytically and tested with
and the Ionosphere Free
single and double frequency
(IFree) smoothed codes will be GPS measurements under
compared with the SF one. large ionospheric gradients.
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LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
The noisy code can be smoothed with the precise (but ambiguous) carrier
measurements. This carrier smoothing can be done in real-time applying the
Hatch filter.
The smoothing depends on the time smoothing constant or filter length. The more
the filter length is used, the more smoothed the code is, but (with single
frequency measurements) a higher code-carrier divergence error is induced by
the ionosphere.
This is because the ionospheric refraction has opposite sign on code and carrier,
being its effect twice on the difference of code and carrier. This double
ionospheric refraction is propagated forward through the filter, producing a bias.

The error induced by the code-carrier divergence of the ionosphere on the

single frequency smoothed codes is assessed in this exercise for different filter
lengths.

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LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
The noisy code P can be smoothed with the precise (but ambiguous) carrier L
measurements. This carrier smoothing can be done in real-time applying the
Hatch filter.
1 n −1
Pˆ=
(k ) P(k ) + ( P(k − 1) + L(k ) − L(k − 1) )
n n

Ionospheric combination (meters)

where [n =
k if k < N ], and [n =
N if k ≥ N ]. Code P (unambiguous but noisier)

The algorithm is initialised with: Pˆ (1) = P(1).

The previous algorithm can be interpreted

as real-time alignment of carrier with code: Ambiguity= P − L

1 n −1
Pˆ=
(k ) P(k ) + ( P(k − 1) + L(k ) − L(k −=
1) )
n n Carrier Phase L (ambiguous but precise)

= L(k ) + P − L ( k )

where 1 n −1 1
P − L ( k=
)
n
( P (k ) − L(k ) ) +
n
P−L ( k −1)

n
∑ ( P (k ) − L(k ) )

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LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
Time varying ionosphere induces a bias in the single frequency smoothed
code when it is averaged in the smoothing filter. This effect is analysed as follows:
Let: Where ρ includes all non dispersive terms (geometric range, clock
offsets, troposphere) and I1 represents the frequency dependent
P1 = ρ + I1 + ε1
terms (ionosphere and DCBs). B1 Is the carrier ambiguity, which is
L1 = ρ − I1 + B1 + ς 1 constant along continuous carrier phase arcs and ε1 , ς 1 account for
code and carrier multipath and thermal noise.
thence,
Note: the carrier noise ι1 is
P1 − L1 = 2 I1 − B + ε1 ⇒ 2 I1 : Code-carrier divergence neglected against code noise ε1 .

Substituting P1 − L1 in Hatch filter equation (see the previous slide #110):

Pˆ (k )= L(k ) + P − L ( k )= ρ (k ) − I1 (k ) + B1 + 2 I1 − B1 ( k )=

(
= ρ (k ) + I1 (k ) + 2 I1 ( k ) − I1 (k )

) ⇒ Pˆ1 = ρ + I1 + biasI + υ1
biasI
where υ1 is the noise term after
where, being the ambiguity term B1 a constant bias, thence
smoothing
B1 = B1 , and cancels in the previous expression

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LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
Raw assessment of the induced bias on P1 smoothed code by ionosphere:

• Let assume a simple model where the STEC vary linearly with time:

I1 (t ) =I10 + I1′ ⋅ t ⇒ biasI =2 I1 ( (k ) )

− I1 (k ) =−2τ I1′

where τ is the Hatch filter smoothing time constant (i.e.,τ = N in previous eq.).

Exercise:
Proof the previous statement.
Solution:
Let be f (t ) ≡ I (t ) and y (t ) ≡ I (t )
. The averaging in the Hatch filter can be implemented as:
τ − ∆T ∆T y (t + ∆T ) − y (t ) 1 1 1 1
=
y (t + ∆T ) y (t ) + f (t + ∆T ) ⇒ += y (t ) f (t + ∆T )  → y =
'+ y f (t )
τ τ ∆T τ τ ∆T → 0
τ τ
Thence:
I=
1 (t ) I10 + I1′ ⋅ t ⇒ I1=
(t )
I1 (t ) − τ I1
′ (1 − e − t /τ
) ⇒ bias
= I (
2 I1 (t ) )
− I1 (t ) 
t →∞
→ −2τ I1′

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LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
• Divergence Free smoothing (DFree):
With 2-frequency measurements, the ionosphere can be removed from a
combination of two carriers: f2
α= 2

P1 − L1 − 2α ( L1 − L2 ) = B12 + ε1 ⇒ Pˆ1 = ρ + I1 + υ12 f − f 22

1
2

B12 =− B1 − 2α ( B1 − B2 )
DFree smoothed code is not affected by iono. temporal gradients,
being the ionospheric delay the same as in the original code P1 .

• Ionosphere Free smoothing (IFree):

Using both, code and carrier 2-frequency measurements, it is possible to remove
the frequency dependent effects using the ionosphere-free combination PC , LC :
PC= ρ + ε C f12 P1 − f12 P2
⇒ PC =+
ˆ ρ υC PC =
LC =ρ + BC + ς C f12 − f 22

IFree smoothed code is not affected by either spatial or temporal gradients, f12 L1 − f12 L2
LC =
but is 3-times noisier than the DFree, or the in the Single Freq. smoothed code. f12 − f 22

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 LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
1.- Multipath and measurement noise assessment on raw code measurements:
The C1 code multipath and receiver noise can be depicted using the following
combination (that removes all frequency dependent and not dependent terms):
2
f 22 1  77 
M C1 = C1 − L1 − 2α ( L1 − L2 ) α
= = = 1.545 ;=
f1 − f 2 γ − 1
γ  
 60 
2 2

[Id YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2P L2P]
a) Generate the “meas” file for PRN03: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ]

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs UPC33510.08O|gawk '{if ($6==03)print $0}'>upc3.meas

b) Using previous expression, compute the C1 multipath and code noise: :

gawk '{print $4,$11-$14-3.09*($14-$16)-21.3}' upc3.meas> upc3.C1
[*] results are Shifted by “-21.3” to remove the carrier ambiguity

c) Plot the raw (unsmoothed) measurements for PRN03:

graph.py -f upc3.C1 -s- --l "C1 Raw" --xn 35000 --xx 40000
--yn -5 --yx 5 --xl "time (s)" --yl "meters"
-t "PRN03, C1 Raw measurement noise and multipath"

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LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
2. Apply the Hatch filter to smooth the code using a filter length of N =100 sample
(as the measurements are at 1Hz,this means 100 seconds smoothing). Then, as
in the previous case, depict the multipath and noise of the smoothed code.
a) Smoothing code (T=100sec):

gawk 'BEGIN{Ts=100}{if (NR>Ts){n=Ts}else{n=NR};

C1s=$11/n+(n-1)/n*(C1s+($14-L1p));L1p=$14;
print $4,C1s-$14-3.09*($14-$16)-21.3}' upc3.meas > upc3.C1s100
b) Plotting results and compare with the row C1.

graph.py -f upc3.C1 -s- --l "C1 Raw"

-f upc3.C1s100 -s.- --cl r --l "C1 SF smoothed"
--xn 35000 --xx 40000 --yn -5 --yx 5
--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters"
-t "PRN03: C1 100s smoothing and iono div."

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LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
3 . . Using 2-frequency carriers it is possible to generate a combination with the
same ionospheric delay (the same sign) as the code to avoid the code-carrier
divergence: f 22 1  77 
2

α
= = = 1.545 ;=γ  
L1DFree = L1 + 2α ( L1 − L2 ) = ρ + I1 + B + ζ f12 − f 22 γ − 1  60 

a) Apply the Hatch filter to compute the DFree smoothed code

gawk 'BEGIN{Ts=100}{if (NR>Ts){n=Ts}else{n=NR};
C1f=$11; L1f=$14+2*1.55*($14-$16);
C1fs=C1f/n+(n-1)/n*(C1fs+(L1f-L1p));L1p=L1f;
print $4,C1fs-L1f-21.3}' upc3.meas > upc3.C1DFs100

b) Plot results and compare with the row C1 code:

graph.py -f upc3.C1 -s- --l "C1 Raw"
-f upc3.C1s100 -s.- --cl r --l "C1 SF smoothed (100s)"
-f upc3.C1DFs100 –s.- --cl g --l "C1 DFree smooth(100s)"
--xn 35000 --xx 40000 --yn -5 --yx 5
--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters"

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 LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
4 . Generate the ionosphere-free combinations of code and carrier measurements
to compute the Ionosphere Free (IFree) smoothed code:
γ P1 − P2 γ L1 − L2  77 
2

=
CIFree ≡ PC =
; LIFree ≡ LC γ = 
γ −1 γ −1  60 

gawk 'BEGIN{g=(77/60)**2}{pc=(g*$13-$15)/(g-1); lc=(g*$14-$16)/(g-1);

print $4,pc-lc-3.5}' upc3.meas > upc3.PC
• Apply the Hatch filter to compute the IFree smoothed code
gawk 'BEGIN{g=(77/60)**2}{pc=(g*$13-$15)/(g-1);
lc=(g*$14-$16)/(g-1); if (NR>100){n=100}else{n=NR};
ps=1/n*pc+((n-1)/n*(ps+lc-lcp)); lcp=lc;
print $4,ps-lc-3.5}' upc3.meas > upc3.PCs100

• Plot results and compare with the unsmoothed PC:

graph.py -f upc3.PC -s- --l "IFree raw"
-f upc3.PCs100 -s.- --cl black --l "Ifree(100s)"
--xn 35000 --xx 40000 --yn -5 --yx 5
--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters"

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 LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
5 . Repeat previous plots but using: N=360, N=3600 and compare results. Plot also
the ionospheric delay (from L1-L2) (see more details in [R-1]):
T=100s T=360s T=3600s

C1 C1 C1
STEC

Note that the

PC PC PC y-range in
bottom row
plots is 3 times
larger than in
top plots

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 LWP3: Iono. Divergence on Smoothing
Repeat the previous exercise using the RINEX file amc23030.03o_1Hz
collected for the station amc2 during the Halloween storm. Take N=100
(i.e, filter smoothing time constant τ=100 sec).

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LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
The aim of LWP4 is to build a
combination of carriers
measurements at three
different frequencies to
remove the geometry and the
first order ionosphere effects.
Once this combination is
obtained, its suitability to
depict the second order The assessment will be based
on actual GPS measurements
ionospheric effects will be
at frequencies L1, L2 and L5
analyzed.
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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
First order Ionospheric delay
As commented before, about the 99.9% of the ionospheric 40.3
I1 = STEC
delay I1 depends on the inverse of squared frequency: f2
where STEC is the number of electrons per area unit STEC = ∫ N e ds
along ray path (STEC: Slant Total Electron Content).

 Its effect on code and carrier is equal but with opposed sign: I1carr = − I1code

Second order Ionospheric delay

Previous expression comes from a simplification of the ionospheric delay derivation, where the
dependence of the refraction index with the magnetic field B is neglected. If such dependence is
taken into account, higher order terms appears (but, they represent less than 0.1% of total effect)
7257c 1
= −
The second order ionospheric term is given by: I 2code = −
f 3 ∫ N e B cos θ ds ; I 2 carr
2
I 2code

In global geodetic computations, I2 mainly affects to the satellite clock estimates (cm level) and
orbits (few mm), but the impact on receiver positions is smaller than1mm, (see [R-5] and [R-1]).

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
Second order Ionospheric delay combination
Question 1: Show that there is a unique linear combination of three carriers cancelling
both geometry and (first order) ionospheric refraction. a) Apply results to GPS L1, L2
and L5 signals. b) Using file l5dt1260.09o depict such combination of carriers.
Hint:
Let ai Li + a j L j + ak Lk be a linear combination of three carrier measurements at frequencies f i , f j , f k .
The coefficients ai , a j , ak , shall verify the conditions:
ai + a j + ak = 0 ← geometry-free
 with
ai + βij a j + βik ak =0 ← 1st-oder iono-free
2 2
βij = fi / f j
 3 3
1 ← 2nd-order iono
ai + βij a j + βik ak =

Note:
The first equation cancels all non-frequency dependent effects (geometric range, clocks, troposphere…)
The second equation cancels all effects that depends of inverse squared frequency (1st-order: ionosphere and
instrumental delays).
fi .
The last equation is to normalize the coefficients giving the combination in delay units at frequency

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
Answer to question 1a:
Show that there is a unique linear combination of three carriers cancelling both
the geometry and the (first order) ionospheric refraction. Apply results to the L1,
L2 and L5 signals.

=
Applying previous equations system to GPS signals =
f1 154 =
f 0 , f 2 120 f 0 , f5 115 f 0 .

a1 + a2 + a5 = 0 with a1 = 6.287


a1 + β12 a2 + β15 a5 =
2 2
0 β12 = 154 /120 a2 = −34.084
 β15 = 154 /115 a3 = 27.797
a1 + β12 a j + β15 a5 =
3 3
1

Thence, the combination is: LI2 ≡ 6.287 L1 − 34.084 L2 + 27.797 L5 (in delay units at f1 frequency).

On the other hand, assuming the carriers Li uncorrelated and with the same σ L , the noise
associated to this combination is given by: σ LI2 = 44.4σ L
1
Note: As I 2code = − I 2carr , the combination of codes is given by:
2
PI2 ≡ −3.144C1 + 17.042C2 − 13.899C5 ; σ PI2 =22.2σ C

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
Answer to question 1b:
Make a plot to depict the geometry-free and first-order ionosphere-free
combination of GPS carrier phase measurements [L1,L2,L5].
Use files l5dt1260.09o, l5dt1260.09n [*] (and satellite PRN01).

1. Using the configuration file meas.cfg, READ the RINEX and generate the MEAS file with content:
[MEAS YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2C L2C C2P L2P C5X L5X ]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs l5dt1260.09o -input:nav l5dt1260.09n

-pre:dec 0| grep GPS > l5dt.meas
[sec LI2 elev]
2. From l5dt9.meas file, generate a file with the following content:
1 2 3

gawk '{if ($6==01) {print $4,6.287*$14-34.084*$18+27.797*$20,$7}}' l5dt.meas >

LI2.dat

[*] Note, although the elevation is not needed for this exercise (and thence the broadcast orbit file
l5dt1260.09n, it is computed because it will be useful for a further study).

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect

3.- Plotting results:

graph.py -f LI2.dat -x1 -y2--l "LI2[125]"
--xn 29700 --xx 49200 --yn 5128 --yx 5134
--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters of L1 delay"

Discussion:
1. What is the order of magnitude of the second
order ionospheric effect?
2. Is the pattern seen in the figure due to the
2nd order ionospheric effect or it is related to
other phenomena?
Hint:
Add the elevation in the previous plot and explore
if the pattern could be related to the antenna
phase centers of the different signals.

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
3.- Plotting results with the elevation added:
graph.py -f LI2.dat -x1 -y'($2-5133)' –s- --l "LI2[125]"
-f LI2.dat -x1 -y'($3/10)' –s- --l "Elev/10" –s-
--xn 29700 --xx 49200 --yn -7 --yx 7
--xl "time (s)" --yl "meters of L1 delay"

Note:
The figure is shifted (by 5133m) to align
with the x-axis.
This bias is due to the carrier ambiguity
(see HW1).

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
Answers to the previous discussion:
1. What is the order of magnitude of the second order ionospheric effect?
2. Is the pattern seen in the figure due to the 2nd order ionospheric effect
or it is related to other phenomena?
The I2 effect on ground measurements is typically less than 2cm of L1 delay(see HW3 or
[R-5]). Thence, the pattern must be related to another phenomena, as explained as
follows:
• In the derivation of previous combination LI2, the antenna phase center (APC) correction
for the GPS signals has not been taken into account. Indeed, as L1, L2 and L5 have
different APCs, the geometric range for such signals is slightly different, producing an
elevation dependent error if it is not modelled.
• In HW1 it is shown that, assuming only APC correction in the UP component, the APC
effect can be removed from LI2 as:
where ai , a j , ak are the combination coefficients,
( )
LI2+ ai ∆ iUP + a j ∆ jUP + ak ∆ kUP sin ε ∆ iUP ,∆ jUP ,∆ kUP are the antenna phase centres for
the different signals and ε is the elevation of ray

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
Question 2: Using the following values for the APCs ∆1 = 0.09, ∆ 2 = 0.12, ∆ 5 = 0.28
UP UP UP

(in meters, see HW1) plot the previous expression and discuss results.
Now the combination to plot is:
LI2_corr ≡ 6.287( L1 + 0.09sin ε ) − 34.084( L2 + 0.12sin ε ) + 27.797( L5 + 0.28sin ε )

[sec LI2corr elev]

1.- Using previous file l5dt.meas, generate a file content: 1 2 3

gawk '{if ($6==01) {s=sin($7*3.14/180);

print $4,6.287*($14+0.09*s)- 34.084*($18+0.12*s)+27.797*($20+0.28*s),$7}}'
l5dt.meas > LI2corr.dat

2.- Plot results:

raph.py -f LI2corr.dat -x1 -y'($2-5133)' -s- --l "LI2[125]"
-f LI2.dat -x1 -y'($3/10)' --l "Elev/10" -s-
--xn 29700 --xx 49200 --yn -7 --yx 7 --xl "time (s)" --yl “L1 meters"

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 LWP4: Second order Ionospheric Effect
Final questions:
1. Discuss if the second-order
ionospheric effect can be
depicted from GPS data.
Hint:
1. The expected I2 effect on a
ground receiver is less than 2cm
in L1 delay (see HW3)
2. The estimation noise of LI2 is
σ LI2 = 44.4σ.L .Thence even in an
ideal case without APC errors
and no carrier multipath (take
for instance σ L  2mm ), the
noise will be over the
phenomena threshold.
2.- The same question for Galileo
data (see HW2).

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 OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 The gLAB tool suite
 Examples of GNSS processing using gLAB
 Laboratory session organization
LABORATORY Session
 Starting up your laptop
 Basic: Introductory lab exercises: Iono & Posit, SF, storm,TIDs
 Medium: Laboratory Work Projects: LWP1 to LWP4
 Advanced: Homework

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 Home Work
Aim

Different complementary
questions (theoretical and
experimental) related to the
LW4 are asked in this
homework section.
The assessment will be based
The aim is to analyze in depth in actual GPS measurements
the combinations of three at frequencies L1, L2 and L5,
frequency signals. as well as Galileo at E1, E5
and E5b frequencies

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 HW1: APC effect on the LI2 combination.
Question 1: Study the effect of the Antenna Phase Centre (APC) on the
LI2 combination in order to analyze the elevation dependent pattern seen
in previous of LWP2 and HW1 plots for the GPS signals (see [R-1]).
Answer :
GNSS signals at different frequencies (e.g., L1, L2, L5) have, in general, different APCs
and they can produce an elevation dependent effect in the LI2 combination.
Indeed, referring the geometric range to a common reference (the Antenna Reference
Point [ARP]) and assuming only APC in the UP component, it follows (see figure):

ρ= ρ k + ∆ρ k ∆ρ k =∆ kUP sin ε
ρk where:
Thence, the APC correction to apply to LI2 combination
APC(Lk )
∑α Lk + ∑ α k ∆ kUP sin ε =
is given by:
∆ρk bias
+ k
ρk k

k
 
∆ kUP ρ= APC correction term

where the bias term is due to the carrier ambiguities.

Note:gAGE/UPC
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 HW1: APC effect on the LI2 combination.

Question 2: Knowing the L1 and L2 signals APCs, estimate the L5 APC.

a) The file l5dt1260.09o has been collected by a TRIMBLE NETR8 receiver with
TRM59800.00 antenna. According the ANTEX file igs05_1525.atx the antenna
phase centers of L1 and L2 are given by:
# TRM59800.00 NONE TYPE / SERIAL NO
# G01 START OF FREQUENCY
# 0.37 0.86 90.02 NORTH / EAST / UP
# G02 START OF FREQUENCY
# 0.09 0.01 119.89 NORTH / EAST / UP

Taking into account previous results, estimate the APC of L5 signal.

Note: Neglect the North/East components against the UP component.

According previous table = ∆1 =
0.09002m, ∆2 0.11989m
UP UP

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 HW1: APC effect on the LI2 combination.
Answer to Question 2: (Knowing the L1 and L2 APCs, estimate the L5 APC.)

The APC of L5 signal, together with the carrier ambiguity (bias), can be estimated from
carrier measurements along a continuous data arch (for the three carriers) as follows:

∑α ( L
k
k k )
+ ∆ kUP sin ε =bias

α1 L1 (t ) + α 2 L2 (t ) + α 5 L5 (t ) + (α1∆1 + α 2 ∆ 2 ) sin ε (t )= bias − [α 5 sin ε (t ) ] ∆ 5



UP UP
 UP

y (t )

 y (t1 )  1 −α 5 sin ε (t1 ) 

   =   bias  bias 
 ( A A) y
−1
     ∆5  ⇒  = T

 y (tn )  1 −α 5 sin ε (tn )   UP   ∆ 5UP 
   
y A

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 HW1: APC effect on the LI2 combination.
Numerical application to L1, L2 and L5 signals:

Applying the values a1 = 6.287, a2 =−34.084, a3 =27.797, ∆1 =0.09002, ∆ 2 =

UP
0.11989 UP

to previous equation, it follows:

bias − [ 27.797 sin ε (t ) ] ∆ 5UP

6.287 L1 (t ) − 34.084 L2 (t ) + 27.797 L5 (t ) − 43.505sin ε (t ) =

y (t )

 y (t1 )  1 −27.797 sin ε (t1 )  bias 

bias 
(A A) y ⇒ ∆ 5UP =
−1
   =    → = 
T 0.283m
     ∆5  ∆
 5UP  bias = 5133.1m
 y (tn )  1 −27.797 sin ε (tn )   UP 
 
y A
Using the L1, L2, L5 values of file l5dt1260.09o in the time interval 30000<t <49000 sec.
(see details in the notepad).

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 HW1: APC effect on the LI2 combination.
b) Plot the LI2 combination corrected by the antenna phase
center values: ∆1 = 0.09, ∆ 2 = 0.12, ∆5 = 0.28 (in meters)
UP UP UP

Now the combination to plot is:

LI2_corr ≡ 6.287( L1 + 0.09sin ε ) − 34.084( L2 + 0.12sin ε ) + 27.797( L5 + 0.28sin ε )

[sec LI2corr elev]

1.- Using previous file l5dt.meas, generate a file content: 1 2 3

gawk '{if ($6==01) {s=sin($7*3.14/180); print $4,6.287*($14+0.09*s)-

34.084*($18+0.12*s)+27.797*($20+0.28*s)-5133,$7}}' l5dt.meas > LI2c.dat

2.- Plot results:

graph.py -f LI2c.dat -x1 -y2 -s- --l "LI2[125]"
-f LI2c.dat -x1 -y'($3/10)' -s- --l "Elev/10"
--xn 29700 --xx 49200 --yn -7 --yx 7 --xl "time (s)" --yl "L1 meters"
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 HW1: APC effect on the LI2 combination.

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.

This HP2 is an extension of previous LWP2 and it is devoted to analysing the three
different combinations of three frequency signals (see [R-1]):

1.The first and second order ionosphere-free combination (LC2, PC2).

2.The geometry-free and second-order ionosphere-free combination (LI1, PI1).
3.The geometry-free and first-order ionosphere-free combination (LI2, PI2).

The target is to analyze the suitability (or not) of such combinations to provide:
• [LC2, PC2]: A measurement free from 1st and 2nd order ionospheric effects.
• [LI1, PI1]: A direct measurement of the 1st order ionosphere (free from 2nd order).
• [LI2, PI2]: A direct measurement of the 2nd order ionospheric effect.

The last case, i.e. LI2, PI2, has been already studied in the previous LWP2 for the
GPS signals L1,L2,L5. This study will be extended here to the Galileo signals.

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Preliminar: Combinations of three-frequency signals derivation:
Let Li , L j , Lk the carrier measurements at frequencies f i , f j , f k , and I1i , I 2i the first and
second order ionospheric effects at the frequency f i (including instrumental delay terms).
Show the following expressions, where ρ is the geometrical range plus all other non
dispersive terms and the carrier ambiguity:

 Li =ρ − I1i + I 2i
γ ij = ( fi / f j )
2
 with
ρ γ ij I1i + γ ij 3/2 I 2i
 L j =−

 Lk =ρ − γ ik I1i + γ ij 3/2 I 2i

Consider the GPS carriers (L1, L2, L5). Show that

LC2 = 7.08 L1 − 26.130 L2 + 20.050 L5 ; σ LC2 =

33.7σ L Note:

LI1 =12.368 L1 − 60.215 L2 + 47.847 L5 ; σ LI1 = 77.9σ L= =
f1 154 =
f 0 , f 2 120 f 0 , f5 115 f 0 .
LI2 =6.287 L − 34.084 L + 27.797 L ; σ LI2 =44.4σ L
 1 2 5

being LC2 ↔ ρ ; LI1 ↔ I1i ; LI2 ↔ I 2i . The carriers Li are assumed uncorrelated and with the same σ L

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Note: The previous expressions correspond to:
 [ρ ] : LC2 : First order and Second order Ionosphere Free combination.
 [I1i ] : LI1 : Geometry-free and Second order Ionosphere Free combination.
 [I 2i ] : LI2 : Geometry-free and First order Ionosphere Free combination.

Hint:
Let y = A x the previous equations system, where y = [ Li , L j , Lk ] , x = [ ρ , I1i , I 2i ] and A is the
T T

associated matrix, evaluated at the given frequencies. Thence, the coefficients of [LC2, LI1, LI2]
are given by A -1 . The sigmas are the square-root of diagonal elements of matrix ( AT A)-1 .

The same question for GPS codes (C1, C2, C5). Show that:

C1 =ρ − I11 − 2 I 21 PC2 =7.081C1 − 26.130C2 + 20.050C5 ; σ PC2 =33.7σ C


C2 =ρ − γ 12 I11 − 2 γ 123/2 I 21 ⇒ 
−12.368C1 + 60.215C2 − 47.847C5 ; σ PI1 =
PI1 = 77.9σ C
 PI2 =
C5 =ρ − γ 15 I11 − 2 γ 153/2 I 21  −3.144C1 + 17.042C2 − 13.899C5 ; σ PI2 =22.2σ C

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.

The same question for Galileo carriers (E1, E7, E8) and codes (C1, C7, C8). Show that:

 L1 =ρ − I11 + I 21 LC2 =6.694 L1 − 78.318 L2 + 72.354 L5 ; σ LC2 =106.8σ L

 
 L7 =

ρ − γ 17 I11 + γ 17 3/2 I 21 ⇒ LI1 =12.110 L1 − 182.385 L2 + 170.275 L5 ; σ LI1 =249.8σ L
LI2 =
ρ − γ 18 I11 + γ 183/2 I 21  6.146 L1 − 104.067 L2 + 97.921L5 ; σ LI2 = 143.0σ L
 L8 =

C1 =ρ − I11 − 2 I 21 PC2 =6.964C1 − 78.318C7 + 72.354C8 ; σ PC2 =106.8σ C


C7 =ρ − γ 17 I11 − 2 γ 17 3/2 I 21 ⇒ 
PI1 =
−12.110C1 + 182.385C7 − 170.275C8 ; σ PI1 =
249.8σ C
 
C8 =ρ − γ 18 I11 − 2 γ 183/2 I 21 PI2 =−3.073C1 + 52.033C7 − 48.960C8 ; σ PI2 =
71.5σ C

Note:
f1=
≡ f E1 154 f 0 , f7 =
≡ f E 5b 118 f 0 , f8=
≡ f E 5 116.5 f 0 .

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.

A) First order and Second order Iono-Free combination analysis

Questions: analyse the suitability of the combinations PC2 and LC2, obtained in the
previous exercises, to navigate:
1. Calculate the theoretical noise of the (first order)-ionosphere-free combinations
PC and LC and compare with the noise of first-order and second-order
ionosphere- free combinations (LC2 and PC2) found in the previous exercise.
Consider the Galileo signals [E1,E7] and [E1,E7,E8]. Which combinations are
more suitable to navigate, the PC/LC or PC2/LC2?
2. Using files gien327sw.09o and orb15591.sp3, make a plot to compare the code
noise of the first-order-ionosphere free combination of Galileo signals [E1,E7] and
the first-order and second-order iono-free combination of signals [E1,E7,E8].
3. The same questions using files l5dt1260.09o, l5dt1260.09n for the GPS
signals L1, L2, L5.

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Answer to question A.1:
Calculate the theoretical noise of the (first-order) ionosphere-free combinations
PC and LC and compare with the noise of first-order and second-order
ionosphere- free combinations (LC2 and PC2)?

Assuming uncorrelated and with the same σ P or σ L :

γ ij Pi − Pj γ ij2 + 1
PC[= ⇒ σ PC [= σP
γ ij = ( fi / f j )
2
ij ]
γ ij − 1 ij ]
γ ij − 1 .Idem :
γ ij Li − Lj γ ij2 + 1
LC[ij= ⇒ σ LC [ij= σL
]
γ ij − 1 ]
γ ij − 1

Thence, for the Galileo signals [C1,C7] and [C1,C7,C8], it follows:

σ PC [17] = 2.81σ P σ PC2[178] = 106.8σ C Results show that the LC2 and PC2 are
σ LC [17] = 2.81σ L σ LC2[178] = 106.8σ L two orders of magnitude noisier than the
original measurements. Thus, they are
=γ 17 (=
f1 / f 7 ) (154=
/118 )
2 2
1.703 not suitable to navigate.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 143

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Answer to question A.2:
Make a plot to compare the code noise of the first-order ionosphere-free
combination of Galileo signals [E1,E7] and the first-order and second-order
ionosphere-free combination of Galileo signals [E1,E7,E8].

1. Using the configuration file meas.cfg, READ the RINEX and generate the MEAS message
with content:
[MEAS YY Doy sec GAL PRN el Az N. list C1B L1B C1C L1C C7Q L7Q C8Q L8Q]
Execute: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs gien327sw.09o -input:sp3 orb15591.sp3> gien.meas

2. From gien327.09.meas file, generate a file with the following content: [sec PC-LC PC2-LC2]
(select the Galileo satellite PRN16, as well): 1 2 3

gawk '{if ($5=="GAL" && $6==16){print $4,$11-1.42*($15-$11)-($12+1.42*($12-$16)),

6.96*($11-$12)-78.32*($15-$16)+72.35*($17-$18)}}' gien.meas > gienPc2Lc2.dat

Note: The following expressions have been used to compute PC and LC

γ Pi − Pj γ Li − Lj
PC[ij ] =ij
γ ij − 1
=−
Pi
1
γ ij − 1
( Pj − Pi ) ⇒ PC[17] =P1 − 1.42 ( P7 − P1 ) ; LC[ij ] =ij
γ ij − 1
=+
Pi
1
( L − L j ) ⇒ LC[17] =
γ ij − 1 i
L1 + 1.42 ( L1 − L7 )

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.

3.- Plotting results:

graph.py -f gienPc2Lc2.dat -x1 -y3 --l "PC2-LC2[178]"
-f gienPc2Lc2.dat -x1 -y2 --l "PC-LC[17]"
--cl r --yn -100 --yx 100 --xl "time (s)" --yl "meters"

As expected from the theoretical results,

the measurement noise and mutipath are
strongly amplified in the PC2 combination.
Thence, it makes no sense to remove the
second-order ionospheric effect (which is
at the level of few centimetres) using this
noisier combination.
Note:
The theoretical noise values found are:
= σ PC [17] 2.81
= σ C ; σ PC2[178] 106.8σ C

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 145

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Answer to Question A.3:
Repeat the previous exercise, for the GPS signals L1, L2, L5, using the files
l5dt1260.09o, l5dt1260.09n (and satellite PRN01).

Resolution:
1. Using the configuration file meas.cfg, READ the RINEX and generate the MEAS file with content:
[MEAS YY Doy sec GPS PRN el Az N. list C1C L1C C1P L1P C2C L2C C2P L2P C5X L5X ]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

gLAB_linux -input:cfg meas.cfg -input:obs l5dt1260.09o -input:nav l5dt1260.09n

-pre:dec 0| grep GPS > l5dt.meas

[sec PC-LC PC2-LC2]

2.From l5dt126.09.meas file, generate a file with the following content:
1 2 3

gawk '{if ($6==01) {print $4,$13-1.55*($17-$13)-($14+1.55*($14-$18)),7.08*($13-$14)-

26.13*($17-$18)+20.05*($19-$20)}}' l5dt.meas > l5dtPc2Lc2.dat

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.

3.- Plotting results:

graph.py -f l5dtPc2Lc2.dat -x1 -y'($3+5140)' --l "PC2-LC2[125]"
-f l5dtPc2Lc2.dat -x1 -y2 --l "PC-LC[12] " --cl r
--xn 29700 --xx 49200 --yn -100 --yx 100 --xl "time(s)" --yl "m"

Although the noise is lower than in previous

case with the Galileo C1, C7 and C8 signals,
it does not make sense to use the PC2
combination to navigate.

Note:
The theoretical noise values found are:
=σ PC [12] =
2.98σ C ; σ PC2[125] 33.7σ C

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 147

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
B) Geometry-free & Second-order Iono-Free combination analysis
Questions: analyse the suitability of the combinations PI1 and LI1, obtained in the
previous exercises, to estimate the STEC:
1. Calculate the theoretical noise of the geometry-free combinations PI=P2-P1 and
LI=L1-L2 and compare with the noise PI1 and LI1 combinations found in the
previous exercise. Consider the Galileo signals [E1,E7] and [E1,E7,E8]. Which
combinations are more suitable to navigate, the PI/LI or PI1/LI1?

2. Using files gien327sw.09o and orb15591.sp3, make a plot to compare the code
noise of the geometry-free combination of Galileo signals [E1,E7] and the
geometry-free and first-order ionosphere-free combination of signals [E1,E7,E8].

3. The same questions using files l5dt1260.09o, l5dt1260.09n for the GPS
signals L1, L2, L5.

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Answer to questions:

Question B.1: Measurement noise:

GAL: E1, E7, E8 GPS: L1, L2, L5

PI[ij ] =Pj − Pi ⇒ σ PI [ij ] = 2σ P σ PI = 2σ C σ PI [12 ]

= 2σ C
[17 ]

LI[ij ] =Pi − L j ⇒ σ LI [ij ] =2σ L σ LI = 2σ L σ LI

[12 ]
= 2σ L
[17 ]

From previous results, σ PI1 [178]

= 249.8σ C σ PI1[125] = 77.9σ C
seen at the beginning of σ LI1 = 249.8σ L σ LI1[125] = 77.9σ L
this exercise. [178]

Thence, the measurement noise is strongly amplified in these combinations as in

the previous case.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 149

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Question B.2: LI1, PI1 Plots: Following a similar procedure as in previous cases
(see detailed instructions in the notepad):
Galileo: E1, E7, E8 signals

Codes Carriers

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Question B.3: LI1, PI1 Plots: Following a similar procedure as in previous cases
(see detailed instructions in the notepad): :
GPS: L1, L2, L5 signals

Codes Carriers

Why does this pattern appear in LI1/PI1? (see exercise HW1)

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 151
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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
C) Geometry-Free & First-order Iono-Free combination analysis
Questions: analyse the suitability of the combinations PI2 and LI2, obtained in
the previous exercises, to estimate the second-order ionosphere effect.
1. Make a plot to show the “geometry-free and first-order ionosphere-free
combination (LI2) of Galileo carrier phase measurements [E1,E7,E8]. Use the
files gien327sw.09o and orb15591.sp3 (and satellite PRN16). Discuss the
results taking into account the theoretical noise figures found at the beginning
of this exercise.

2. The same question for GPS carrier phase measurements [L1,L2,L5]. Use the
files l5dt1260.09o, l5dt1260.09n (and satellite PRN01).

3. Discuss if the second-order ionospheric effect can be depicted from Galileo or

GPS data.

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Answer to questions:

Question C.1: Measurement noise:

GAL: E1, E7, E8 GPS: L1, L2, L5

From previous results, σ PI2

[178]
= 71.5σ C σ PI2[125] = 22.2σ C
seen at the beginning of
σ LI2 = 143.0σ L σ LI2[125] = 44.4σ L
this exercise. [178]

Thence, the measurement noise is strongly amplified in these combinations as in

the previous case.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 153

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Questions C.2 and C3 : LI2 Plots: Following a similar procedure as in previous
cases (see detailed instructions in the notepad):

Galileo: E1, E7, E8 signals GPS: L1, L2, L5 signals

Carriers Carriers

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 154

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Comment 1:
In previous plot of GPS LI2 combination a clear pattern of about 2m appears (see
this plot generation in LWP2).

This pattern is an elevation dependent

effect due to the different Antenna
Phase Centres (APC) of the L1, L2, L5
signals.

The study of this effect was done in the

previous Home Work exercise (HW1).

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 155

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 HW2: Combinations of three-frequency measur.
Comment 2:
After removing the error due to the APCs, the following plot is found (see this plot
generation in exercise LWP2).

Nevertheless, the noise in the

combination (in both cases, GPS and
Galileo) is over the expected value
for the 2nd order ionospheric effect
(which is less than 2cm, see HW3 or
[R-5]).

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 156

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 HW3: Theoretical exercises on 2nd order iono
Question 1:

Show that the second-order ionospheric delay on the L1 carrier produced by

10 TECU of STEC is less than 2 millimetres. Which values would reach I2 in the
Halloween Ionospheric Storm (October 30, 2003) analyzed in exercise 3?.

Hint:
Consider the next expression where a single thin ionospheric layer approximation has been taken for
the second term: 7257c sat 7427cB0 cos θ
2 f13 ∫rec
I 2 L1 =
− N e B cos θ ds  − STEC
2 f13
Where c is the light speed, B is the module of the earth magnetic field and o is the angle between B
and the propagation direction. Units are in the International System (SI).
−5
The value B0  4 ⋅10 Tesla can be taken for magnetic field module at the pierce point of the satellite-
receiver ray with the ionospheric layer, the Ionospheric Pierce Point (IPP), (assumed at about 400 km in
height).
Note: f1 =1575.420 ⋅106 Hz; c =2.99792458 ⋅108 m / s, 1 TECU =1016 e − / m 2

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 157

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 HW3: Theoretical exercises on 2nd order iono
Question 2:

Assuming that the STEC can be estimated from smoothed code PI, after
removing the DCBs [1], with an accuracy better than 5 TECUs, and assuming
a negligible error in the magnetic field B value [2], show that the second
order I2 effect can be calculated from the expression given in previous
question 1 with an error less than 1 millimetre of delay in the L1 carrier.

Note:
[1] The DCBs can be obtained from the IONEX files available at the IGS site
ftp://cddis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gps/products/ionex/

[2] The subroutines International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) could be used as well to
compute the magnetic field.

gAGE/UPC @ J. Sanz & J.M. Juan 158

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 HW3: Theoretical exercises on 2nd order iono

Question 3:

Taking into account the previous results of HW2 and HW3, and thinking of
high accuracy geodetic positioning, discuss what is more suitable to remove
this effect on the (first-order) ionosphere-free combination LC: To use a
model or to remove this effect from a linear combination of three frequency
signals?

Question 4:

The previous expressions give the I2 effect in L1 delay units. Show the
following relation between the I2 delay in the L1 carrier and in the (first order)
ionosphere-free combination LC[12] : I 2 LC = −γ 12 I 2 L1
1 + γ 12
γ ij = ( fi / f j )
[12 ]
2

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 Thank you for
your attention

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 Bibliography
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Processing Laboratory Exercises. ESAInternational Summer School on GNSS, 2010.
 R-3: Hernández-Pajares M., J.M. Juan, J. Sanz, "EGNOS Test Bed Ionospheric
Corrections Under the October and November 2003 Storms", IEEE Transactions on
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 Acknowledgements
 The ESA/UPC GNSS-Lab Tool suite (gLAB) has been developed under the ESA
Education Office contract N. P1081434.
 The other data files used in this study were acquired as part of NASA's Earth Science
Data Systems and archived and distributed by the Crustal Dynamics Data Information
System (CDDIS). To the NSPO/UCAR Agency for the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data.
 To Adrià Rovira-Garcia for his contribution to the editing of this material and gLAB
updating and integrating this learning material into the GLUE.

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