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Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) occur frequently in low-latitude areas and have a non-negligible impact on navigation satellite signals. To systematically analyze the effects of a single EPB event on multi-frequency signals of GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BDS, all-sky airglow images over South China are jointly used to visually determine the EPB structure and depletion degree. The results reveal that scintillations, or GNSS signal fluctuations, are directly linked to EPBs and that the intensity of scintillation is positively correlated with the airglow depletion intensity. The center of the airglow depletion often corresponds to stronger GNSS scintillation, while the edge of the bubble, which is considered to have the largest density gradient, corresponds to relatively smaller scintillation instead. This work also systematically analyzes the responses of multi-constellation and multi-frequency signals to EPBs. The results show that the L2 and L5 frequencies are more susceptible than the L1 frequency is. For different constellations, Galileo's signal has the best tracking stability during an EPB event compared with GPS, GLONASS, and BDS. The results provide a reference for dual-frequency signal selection in precise positioning or TEC calculation, that is, L1C and L2L for GPS, L1C and L5Q for Galileo, L1P and L2C for GLONASS, and L1P and L5P for BDS. Notably, BDS-2 is significantly weaker than BDS-3. And inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellites have abnormal data error rates, which should be related to the special signal path trajectory of the IGSO satellite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) occur frequently in low-latitude areas and have a non-negligible impact on navigation satellite signals. To systematically analyze the effects of a single EPB event on multi-frequency signals of GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BDS, all-sky airglow images over South China are jointly used to visually determine the EPB structure and depletion degree. The results reveal that scintillations, or GNSS signal fluctuations, are directly linked to EPBs and that the intensity of scintillation is positively correlated with the airglow depletion intensity. The center of the airglow depletion often corresponds to stronger GNSS scintillation, while the edge of the bubble, which is considered to have the largest density gradient, corresponds to relatively smaller scintillation instead. This work also systematically analyzes the responses of multi-constellation and multi-frequency signals to EPBs. The results show that the L2 and L5 frequencies are more susceptible than the L1 frequency is. For different constellations, Galileo’s signal has the best tracking stability during an EPB event compared with GPS, GLONASS, and BDS. The results provide a reference for dual-frequency signal selection in precise positioning or TEC calculation, that is, L1C and L2L for GPS, L1C and L5Q for Galileo, L1P and L2C for GLONASS, and L1P and L5P for BDS. Notably, BDS-2 is significantly weaker than BDS-3. And inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellites have abnormal data error rates, which should be related to the special signal path trajectory of the IGSO satellite.

Modern Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are usually made of two components: a pilot and a data channel. The former is adopted to extend the integration time and improve receiver sensitivity, whereas the latter is used for data dissemination. Combining the two channels allows one to fully exploit the transmitted power and further improve receiver performance. The presence of data symbols in the data channel, however, limits the integration time in the combining process. When a pure data channel is considered, the integration time can be extended using a squaring operation, which removes the data symbols without affecting phase information. In this paper, Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation is used to derive the optimal data-pilot combining strategy and extend the integration time beyond the data symbol duration. In this way, a generalized correlator is obtained as the linear combination of the pilot and data components. The data component is multiplied by a non-linear term, which compensates for the presence of data bits. Under weak signal conditions, this multiplication leads to a form of squaring, which generalizes the squaring correlator used in data-only processing. The weights of the combination depend on the signal amplitude and noise variance that need to be estimated. The ML solution is integrated into a Phase Lock Loop (PLL) and used to process GNSS signals with data and pilot components. The proposed algorithm and its performance are characterized from a theoretical point of view, using semi-analytic simulations and through the processing of GNSS signals generated using a hardware simulator. The derived method is compared with other data/pilot combining strategies with extended integrations showing the advantages and drawbacks of the different approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to realize real time monitoring of foundation displacement of railway cable bridge based on satellite observation system, reasonable data sources of satellite monitoring and data analysis duration are necessary, and the influence of various errors should be eliminated in the process of satellite signal acquisition. In this paper, the validity of foundation settlement monitoring of bridge tower by satellite is verified through accuracy and stability tests. For eliminating the multipath error and random noise of GNSS signal, a new method is presented by combining stationary wavelet transform and empirical mode decomposition in this study. For improving the observation accuracy of the satellite monitoring system, combing the measured data, the GNSS data are corrected by establishing non-linear mapping between the GNSS data and precise leveling data by BP neural network. Based on that, the accuracy of the presented method is verified by the foundation settlement data of a new railway cable bridge tower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazards and geomagnetic disturbances can generate a combination of atmospheric and ionospheric waves of different scales. The carrier phase of signals of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can provide the highest efficiency to detect and study the weak ionospheric disturbances in contrast to total electron content (TEC) and TEC-based indices. We consider the border between the informative part of the carrier phase spectrum and the uninformative noises—the deviation frequency—as the promising means to improve the GNSS-based disturbance detection algorithms. The behavior of the deviation frequency of the carrier phase spectra was studied under quiet and disturbed geomagnetic conditions. The results showed that the deviation frequency value increases under magnetic storms. This effect was revealed for all GNSS constellations and signals regardless the GNSS type, receiver type/make and data rate (50 or 100 Hz). For the 100 Hz data, the most probable values of the deviation frequency grouped within ~28–40 Hz under quiet condition and shifted to ~37–48 Hz during the weak geomagnetic storms. Additionally, the lower values of deviation frequency of ~18–25 Hz almost disappear from the distribution of the deviation frequencies as it becomes narrower during geomagnetic storms. Considering that the small-scale irregularities shift the deviation frequencies, we can use this indicator as a "red alert" for weakest small-scale irregularities when the deviation frequency reaches ~35–50 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Navigation Satellite System signals have been used for years to study high-frequency fluctuations (f > 0.1 Hz) in the ionosphere. The customary procedure uses the geometry-free (GF) combination of L1 and L2 carriers, for which it is necessary to acquire the L2 GPS signal. Initially, L2 had to be acquired from a codeless signal, L2P(Y), using several techniques, some of them requiring the aid of L1. New GPS satellites transmit the new C2 civil code, which can be used to acquire directly L2, i.e. L2C. Several publications have reported differences in the GF combination when it is computed from L2P(Y) or L2C. Using two ionospheric scintillation monitoring receivers (ISMRs), these differences were shown to be related to how they acquire L2, i.e. if the receiver acquires L2 with the L1 aid. However, ISMRs are scarce, so the extension of such a study is not straightforward. The present work uses the geodetic detrending technique to identify whether a conventional geodetic-grade receiver acquires L2 with the aid of L1. The study employs six different receiver types with measurements stored in RINEX formats version 2 and 3. In both formats, we are able to identify if L2 signal is acquired with L1 aid. In this way, we show that some receiver types heavily underestimate high-frequency ionospheric fluctuations when using the GF combination. Our results show that the ionosphere-free combination of these carrier phases is not free from high-frequency ionospheric fluctuations, but in some receivers, almost 90% of the high-frequency effects in L1 remain in such combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are usually made of two components: a pilot and a data channel. The former is adopted to extend the integration time and improve receiver sensitivity, whereas the latter is used for data dissemination. Combining the two channels allows one to fully exploit the transmitted power and further improve receiver performance. The presence of data symbols in the data channel, however, limits the integration time in the combining process. When a pure data channel is considered, the integration time can be extended using a squaring operation, which removes the data symbols without affecting phase information. In this paper, Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation is used to derive the optimal data-pilot combining strategy and extend the integration time beyond the data symbol duration. In this way, a generalized correlator is obtained as the linear combination of the pilot and data components. The data component is multiplied by a non-linear term, which compensates for the presence of data bits. Under weak signal conditions, this multiplication leads to a form of squaring, which generalizes the squaring correlator used in data-only processing. The weights of the combination depend on the signal amplitude and noise variance that need to be estimated. The ML solution is integrated into a Phase Lock Loop (PLL) and used to process GNSS signals with data and pilot components. The proposed algorithm and its performance are characterized from a theoretical point of view, using semi-analytic simulations and through the processing of GNSS signals generated using a hardware simulator. The derived method is compared with other data/pilot combining strategies with extended integrations showing the advantages and drawbacks of the different approaches.

In order to realize real time monitoring of foundation displacement of railway cable bridge based on satellite observation system, reasonable data sources of satellite monitoring and data analysis duration are necessary, and the influence of various errors should be eliminated in the process of satellite signal acquisition. In this paper, the validity of foundation settlement monitoring of bridge tower by satellite is verified through accuracy and stability tests. For eliminating the multipath error and random noise of GNSS signal, a new method is presented by combining stationary wavelet transform and empirical mode decomposition in this study. For improving the observation accuracy of the satellite monitoring system, combing the measured data, the GNSS data are corrected by establishing non-linear mapping between the GNSS data and precise leveling data by BP neural network. Based on that, the accuracy of the presented method is verified by the foundation settlement data of a new railway cable bridge tower.

A limitation to the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for precise and real‐time services is introduced by irregularities in the ionospheric plasma density. An EISCAT UHF/ESR experiment was conducted to characterize the effect of electron density irregularities on temporal fluctuations in TEC along directions transverse to GPS ray paths in the high latitudes ionosphere. Two representative case studies are described: Enhancements in temporal TEC fluctuations originating (a) in the auroral ionosphere following auroral particle precipitation and (b) in the polar ionosphere following the drift of a polar patch as well as particle precipitation. The results indicate that the origin of enhancements in TEC fluctuations is due to the propagation through large‐to‐medium scale irregularities (i.e., ranging from few kilometres in the E region to few tens of kilometres in the F region) and occurring over spatial distances of up to approximately 400km in the E region and up to approximately 800km in the F region with a patchy distribution. Furthermore, the results indicate that enhancements in TEC fluctuations produced by polar plasma patches and particle precipitation occur over similar temporal scales, thus explaining the overall observation of higher phase scintillation indices in the high‐latitude ionosphere. The similarity in the temporal scales over which enhancements in TEC fluctuations occur in the presence of both particle precipitation and plasma patches suggests an intrinsic limitation in the monitoring and tracking of plasma patches through ground GNSS observations. Key Points: Measurements indicate that the observed auroral and polar irregularities were distributed over large distancesPolar plasma patches and auroral particle precipitation enhance temporal fluctuations in Global Positioning System (GPS) Total Electron ContentEnhanced fluctuations in Total Electron Content occur over similar temporal scales for plasma patches and particle precipitation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces new tests of fundamental physics by means of the analysis of disturbances on the GNSS signal propagation. We show how the GNSS signals are sensitive to a space variation of the fine structure constant α in a generic framework of effective scalar field theories beyond the Standard Model. This effective variation may originate from the crossing of the RF signals with dark matter clumps and/or solitonic structures. At the macroscopic scale, the subsequent disturbances are equivalent to those which occur during the propagation in an inhomogeneous medium. We thus propose an interpretation of the "measure" of the vacuum permeability as a test of fundamental physics. We show the relevance of our approach by a first quantification of the expected signature in a simple model of a variation of α according to a planar geometry. We use a test-bed model of domain walls for that purpose and focus on the measurable time delay in the GNSS signal carrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the impact of multi-GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals on the estimation of precise position with millimetre accuracy. Compared to standalone satellite systems like the Global Positioning System (GPS), multi-GNSS improves start-up time, performance, satellite visibility, accuracy, spatial geometry and reliability. However, on the flip side it increases the noise, signal interference, hardware complexity of the receiver, intersystem interference and computation complexity which may degrade its performance. Though GNSS is similar at fundamental levels, differences exist in signal structures, reference frames and timing standards. Compatibility and interoperability between the different constellations of the highest order is required to achieve the best results. At present, GPS and Glonass navigation systems are fully functional with global coverage and comparable precision. Glonass satellite constellation, signal structure is slightly different when compared to GPS, whereas major differences exist in the reference frame and epoch time. Combined GPS–Glonass solution significantly improves the accuracy in navigation applications with increased satellite signal observations and spatial distribution of visible satellites. For precise geodetic studies using static post-processing, combined solution may degrade the accuracy, if these differences are not handled carefully. Currently for geodetic studies, only GPS observations are majorly used worldwide. For the first time, daily precise position is estimated for continuous GNSS stations located in India using static postprocessing with standalone GPS, Glonass as well as combined GPS–Glonass to study the impact of multiGNSS signals for geodetic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigated concatenated coding schemes for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals in order to increase their error correction capability in urban environments. In particular, a serial concatenated code that combines an outer Reed–Solomon (RS) code with an inner low-density parity-check (LDPC) code was designed, and the performance was investigated over the land mobile satellite (LMS) channel for characterizing multipath and shadow fading in urban environments. The performance of the proposed concatenated coding scheme was compared to that of a B-CNAV1 message, in which two interleaved 64-ary LDPC codes were employed. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed concatenated code can obtain a similar error correction performance to the two interleaved 64-ary LDPC codes in both the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and LMS channels at a lower complexity level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel global navigation satellite system-reflectometry (GNSS-R) software receiver and its preliminary experimental results are presented in this study. The antenna systems, the multi-channel radio-frequency front end, and the digital signal processing unit of this receiver are described in detail. With this developed software receiver, the signals in the Global Positioning System L1 band (GPS L1), BeiDou-2 B1, GLObal NAvigation Satellite System L1, and Galileo E1 bands can be tracked and used as the transmissions of GNSS-R to obtain more information about the scattering properties of ground objects. The preliminary experimental results show that various GNSS signals can be successfully acquired and tracked by this receiver. Furthermore, when it was applied to the soil moisture estimation with the ground-based GNSS-R technique, a relative measure error of 5.79 and 1.39% can be obtained with GPS L1 and BeiDou-2 B1 signals, respectively, by comparing the retrieval results with the measuring results provided by a moisture metre.

A novel global navigation satellite system-reflectometry (GNSS-R) software receiver and its preliminary experimental results are presented in this study. The antenna systems, the multi-channel radio-frequency front end, and the digital signal processing unit of this receiver are described in detail. With this developed software receiver, the signals in the Global Positioning System L1 band (GPS L1), BeiDou-2 B1, GLObal NAvigation Satellite System L1, and Galileo E1 bands can be tracked and used as the transmissions of GNSS-R to obtain more information about the scattering properties of ground objects. The preliminary experimental results show that various GNSS signals can be successfully acquired and tracked by this receiver. Furthermore, when it was applied to the soil moisture estimation with the ground-based GNSS-R technique, a relative measure error of 5.79 and 1.39% can be obtained with GPS L1 and BeiDou-2 B1 signals, respectively, by comparing the retrieval results with the measuring results provided by a moisture metre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For numerous hydrological applications, information on snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow liquid water content (LWC) are fundamental. In situ data are much needed for the validation of model and remote sensing products; however, they are often scarce, invasive, expensive, or labor‐intense. We developed a novel nondestructive approach based on Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to derive SWE, snow height (HS), and LWC simultaneously using one sensor setup only. We installed two low‐cost GPS sensors at the high‐alpine site Weissfluhjoch (Switzerland) and processed data for three entire winter seasons between October 2015 and July 2018. One antenna was mounted on a pole, being permanently snow‐free; the other one was placed on the ground and hence seasonally covered by snow. While SWE can be derived by exploiting GPS carrier phases for dry‐snow conditions, the GPS signals are increasingly delayed and attenuated under wet snow. Therefore, we combined carrier phase and signal strength information, dielectric models, and simple snow densification approaches to jointly derive SWE, HS, and LWC. The agreement with the validation measurements was very good, even for large values of SWE (>1,000 mm) and HS (> 3 m). Regarding SWE, the agreement (root‐mean‐square error (RMSE); coefficient of determination (R2)) for dry snow (41 mm; 0.99) was very high and slightly better than for wet snow (73 mm; 0.93). Regarding HS, the agreement was even better and almost equally good for dry (0.13 m; 0.98) and wet snow (0.14 m; 0.95). The approach presented is suited to establish sensor networks that may improve the spatial and temporal resolution of snow data in remote areas. Key Points: Snow water equivalent, liquid water content, and snow height were simultaneously derived with one sensor setup onlyThis continuous and nondestructive approach for bulk snow cover properties determination is based on GPS signals travelling through snowpackThe correlation with validation data for three entire winter seasons encompassing dry‐snow accumulation and wet‐snow melting periods is high [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigated concatenated coding schemes for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals in order to increase their error correction capability in urban environments. In particular, a serial concatenated code that combines an outer Reed–Solomon (RS) code with an inner low-density parity-check (LDPC) code was designed, and the performance was investigated over the land mobile satellite (LMS) channel for characterizing multipath and shadow fading in urban environments. The performance of the proposed concatenated coding scheme was compared to that of a B-CNAV1 message, in which two interleaved 64-ary LDPC codes were employed. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed concatenated code can obtain a similar error correction performance to the two interleaved 64-ary LDPC codes in both the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and LMS channels at a lower complexity level.

In the field of modernised Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal design, several Dual-frequency Constant Envelope Multiplexing (DCEM) methods have been recently proposed. However, the existing DCEM methods, such as Alternative Binary Offset Carrier (AltBOC), generalised AltBOC and Asymmetric Constant Envelope Binary Offset Carrier (ACE-BOC), are only applied in some special cases. In this paper, we present a unified DCEM design framework for GNSS signals. The existing DCEM methods can be unified in this framework. First, the signal components at two carrier frequencies are combined into two single-frequency constant envelope signals. Then, the linear sum of dual-frequency signals with non-constant envelopes is obtained. Finally, the linear sum is converted into the corresponding DCEM signal by solving an optimisation problem. The proposed design framework has no strict constraints on the number, power ratio and phase relationship of the signal components. Moreover, some special design cases under this framework are also analysed in detail. The analytical results show that the proposed design method can reach higher multiplexing efficiency compared with the existing methods. Based on the proposed method, we suggest a scheme to multiplex the BeiDou regional signals and global signals at the B2 frequency. The simulation results of correlation functions and Power Spectrum Density (PSD) verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays (August 2017) position data can be obtained generally from satellite navigation systems (SNS), such as GPS and GLONASS, and satellite based augmentation systems (SBAS) which can be either global, such as EGNOS, GAGAN, MSAS and WAAS, or regional, such as NAVIC (IRNSS) in India. Two new global SNSs, Galileo and BeiDou, three new global SBASs, SDCM, KASS and SNAS, and one new regional SBA, QZSS in Japan, are under construction. The generic name given to all these abovementioned systems is GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems). This paper presents details of the following: changes that have occurred in the cumulative core revenue in different GNSS market segments (road, Location Based Service LBS, surveying, agriculture, timing & synchronization, aviation, maritime, drones and rail in 2017) in the last 8 years; an overview of the GNSS industry and location-based services in the world; details of current and future GNSS market evolution; GNSS unit shipments in 13 different categories of maritime application; the frequency and constellation capabilities of GNSS receivers; GNSS frequencies that will be common in the future; the adoption of multi-constellation, multi-frequency and dual-frequency as key enablers of improved accuracy and integrity; GNSS services available for civil and authorized users, and multiple signals in the case of all four global SNSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the adverse impacts of scintillation on GNSS signals is the loss of lock status, which can lead to GNSS geometry and visibility reductions that compromise the accuracy and integrity of navigation performance. In this paper the loss of lock based on ionosphere scintillation in this solar maximum phase has been well investigated with respect to both temporal and spatial behaviors, based on GNSS observatory data collected at Weipa (Australia; geographic: 12.45° S, 130.95° E; geomagnetic: 21.79° S, 214.41° E) from 2011 to 2015. Experiments demonstrate that the percentage of occurrence of loss of lock events under ionosphere scintillation is closely related with solar activity and seasonal shifts. Loss of lock behaviors under ionosphere scintillation related to elevation and azimuth angles are statistically analyzed, with some distinct characteristics found. The influences of daytime scintillation and geomagnetic storms on loss of lock have also been discussed in details. The proposed work is valuable for a deeper understanding of theoretical mechanisms of--loss of lock under ionosphere scintillation in global regions, and provides a reference for GNSS applications in certain regions at Australian low latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionospheric scintillation has a great impact on radio propagation and electronic system performance, thus is extensively studied currently. The influence of scintillation on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is particularly evident, making GNSS an effective medium to study characteristics of scintillation. Ionospheric scintillation varies greatly in relation with temporal and spatial distribution. In this paper, both temporal and spatial characteristics of scintillation are investigated based on Macquarie Island's GNSS scintillation data collected from 2011 to 2015. Experiments demonstrate that occurrence rates of amplitude scintillation have a close relationship with solar activity, while phase scintillation is more likely to be generated by geomagnetic activity. In addition, scintillation distribution behaviors related to elevation and azimuth angles are statistically analyzed for both amplitude and phase scintillation. The proposed work is valuable for a deeper understanding of theoretical mechanisms of ionospheric scintillation in this region, and provides a reference for GNSS applications in certain regions around sub-Antarctica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the feasibility of estimating rain rate based on polarimetric Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals is explored in theory. After analyzing the cause of polarimetric signals, three physical-mathematical relation models between co-polar phase shift (KHH, KVV), specific differential phase shift (KDP), and rain rate (R) are respectively investigated. These relation models are simulated based on four different empirical equations of nonspherical raindrops and simulated Gamma raindrop size distribution. They are also respectively analyzed based on realistic Gamma raindrop size distribution and maximum diameter of raindrops under three different rain types: stratiform rain, cumuliform rain, and mixed clouds rain. The sensitivity of phase shift with respect to some main influencing factors, such as shape of raindrops, frequency, as well as elevation angle, is also discussed, respectively. The numerical results in this study show that the results by scattering algorithms T-matrix are consistent with those from Rayleigh Scattering Approximation. It reveals that they all have the possibility to estimate rain rate using the KHH-R, KVV-R or KDP-R relation. It can also be found that the three models are all affected by shape of raindrops and frequency, while the elevation angle has no effect on KHH-R. Finally, higher frequency L1 or B1 and lower elevation angle are recommended and microscopic characteristics of raindrops, such as shape and size distribution, are deemed to be important and required for further consideration in future experiments. Since phase shift is not affected by attenuation and not biased by ground clutter cancellers, this method has considerable potential in precipitation monitoring, which provides new opportunities for atmospheric research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of equatorial ionospheric scintillation on GNSS signal tracking performance during the current solar maximum a research project was established between the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), and the Position, Location and Navigation (PLAN) Group of the Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary (UofC). This was done using intermediate frequency (IF) data processed with a software receiver and code and carrier phase data obtained using a standard geodetic receiver located at the same site. The main benefit of using a software receiver is flexibility. IF data was collected daily from 8 to 12 p.m. local time (11 p.m. to 3 a.m. UTC) using a dual-frequency front-end at IBGE facilities in Rio de Janeiro, from June 2012 to March 2013, whenever scintillation occurred. Four observation sessions were selected for processing along with another one with no scintillation, for comparison. The front-end antenna was located only 5 m away from a standard receiver antenna of the Brazilian active geodetic network, to allow a comparison of the two solutions under the same conditions. In the observation domain, the software receiver produced no actual cycle slips and only up to 4 % of missing L2 observations, indicating that the state-of-the-art acquisition and tracking algorithms used are resistant to equatorial ionospheric scintillation, whereas for the hardware receiver up to 288 cycle slips were detected and 13 % of L2 observations missing over a 4-h session under strong scintillation. The latter represents an improvement of a factor of 3 over the performance of another hardware receiver used at the same site 10 years ago during the previous solar maximum. In the position domain, Precise Point Positioning solutions using L1 code observations gave very similar results for the software and hardware receivers in all sessions, with the ionosphere being responsible for degrading coordinate accuracies up to a factor of 12. The best positioning accuracies were those given by dual-frequency solutions, at the centimeter to a few decimeters level in kinematic mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mean power of the reflected Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals acquired by a GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) receiver can be modeled through the integral bistatic radar equation by weighting the contributions of all scatterers on the surface by the system impulse response. The geophysical properties of the scattering surface affect the magnitude of the reflected navigation signals through the bistatic scattering coefficient which, in case the observed surface is land, is a function of the soil dielectric properties, surface roughness, and vegetation cover. In this paper, the GNSS-R signal simulator developed in the framework of the Land MOnitoring with Navigation signal (LEiMON) Project, supported by European Space Agency, is presented. The simulator is able to predict the power reflected by land, taking as input the system and observation parameters, as well as the land surface parameters. The latter are used to simulate both the coherent and the incoherent scattering, taking advantage of widely used theoretical models of bistatic scattering from bare soils and vegetated surfaces. First, the geometrical formulation is discussed, and then, the problem of polarization mismatch due to real antennas at circular polarization is faced following the polarization synthesis approach. Finally, a comparison with some experimental data collected during the LEiMON campaign is presented. The simulations display the same trend of the experimental data, thus showing that the simulator can be used as an efficient tool for the interpretation of GNSS-R measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we propose a novel Bayesian procedure to update the probability distribution for a set of possible atmospheric states, once ground measures of temperature, pressure, humidity, and tropospheric delay of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are made. It is based on a representative dataset of matching pairs of reanalysis atmospheric states and ground measures. By applying the basic rules of probability theory and logic inference, a computable expression for the conditional probability of the states given the measures is found. This allows us to select the most plausible atmospheric conditions, consistent with ground observations. Compared with more conventional techniques, the proposed approach has the advantage of always giving a result, even if not all the measures are available. Moreover, it provides the probability distributions of the retrieved quantities, which collapse to the corresponding prior distributions in the worst case of no significant measures. In any case, the final uncertainties are fully quantified, as needed for many meteorological applications, including data assimilation and ensemble forecasts for a numerical weather model. In addition to the theoretical details, a practical example of operational application, using a ten-year dataset on a Mediterranean test site, is also presented. The most probable retrieved atmospheric profiles of water vapor and temperature, as well as the corresponding values of precipitable water, are compared with balloon measurements on such a test site, showing good agreement and a significant improvement when the GNSS delay measure is added. In particular, the precipitable water retrieval turns out at least as accurate as that obtained with conventional approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The term deviation frequency (fd) denotes the boundary between the variable part of the amplitude and phase scintillation spectrum and the part of uninformative noises. We suggested the concept of the "characteristic deviation frequency" during the observation period. The characteristic deviation frequency is defined as the most probable value of the deviation frequency under current local conditions. Our case study involved GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and SBAS data under quiet and weakly disturbed geomagnetic conditions (geomagnetic storm on 16 April 2021, Kpmax = 5, SYM-Hmin = −57 nT) at the mid-latitude GNSS station. Our results demonstrated that the deviation frequency for all signal components of GPS, GLONASS and Galileo varies within 15–22 Hz. The characteristic deviation frequency was 20 Hz for the mentioned GNSS signals. The SBAS differs from other systems: deviation frequency varies within 13–20 Hz. The characteristic deviation frequency is lower and equal to 18 Hz. We suggest the characteristic deviation frequency to determine the optimal sampling rate of the GNSS carrier phase data for the ionospheric studies. In turn, the deviation frequency can be considered as a promising index to estimate the boundary of non-variability of the ionosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new constant‐envelope modulation multiplexing two quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK)‐like global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals and its generalised form with unbalanced power are presented. The modulations can be regarded as the extended form of generalised DualQPSK modulations and provide a solution to the Compass B1 band multiplexing problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two QPSK‐like global navigation satellite system signals with unequal power are multiplexed as a constant‐envelope signal analytically. It is further generalised as an extended AltBOC signal that has unbalanced power on the upper and the lower sidebands by the phase rotating technique. The modulations provide additional power control flexibility than the traditional DualQPSK and AltBOC signals and are demonstrated as optimum analytical implementations that maximise the power efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the adverse impacts of scintillation on GNSS signals is the loss of lock status, which can lead to GNSS geometry and visibility reductions that compromise the accuracy and integrity of navigation performance. In this paper the loss of lock based on ionosphere scintillation in this solar maximum phase has been well investigated with respect to both temporal and spatial behaviors, based on GNSS observatory data collected at Weipa (Australia; geographic: 12.45° S, 130.95° E; geomagnetic: 21.79° S, 214.41° E) from 2011 to 2015. Experiments demonstrate that the percentage of occurrence of loss of lock events under ionosphere scintillation is closely related with solar activity and seasonal shifts. Loss of lock behaviors under ionosphere scintillation related to elevation and azimuth angles are statistically analyzed, with some distinct characteristics found. The influences of daytime scintillation and geomagnetic storms on loss of lock have also been discussed in details. The proposed work is valuable for a deeper understanding of theoretical mechanisms of-loss of lock under ionosphere scintillation in global regions, and provides a reference for GNSS applications in certain regions at Australian low latitudes.

Ionospheric scintillation has a great impact on radio propagation and electronic system performance, thus is extensively studied currently. The influence of scintillation on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is particularly evident, making GNSS an effective medium to study characteristics of scintillation. Ionospheric scintillation varies greatly in relation with temporal and spatial distribution. In this paper, both temporal and spatial characteristics of scintillation are investigated based on Macquarie Island's GNSS scintillation data collected from 2011 to 2015. Experiments demonstrate that occurrence rates of amplitude scintillation have a close relationship with solar activity, while phase scintillation is more likely to be generated by geomagnetic activity. In addition, scintillation distribution behaviors related to elevation and azimuth angles are statistically analyzed for both amplitude and phase scintillation. The proposed work is valuable for a deeper understanding of theoretical mechanisms of ionospheric scintillation in this region, and provides a reference for GNSS applications in certain regions around sub-Antarctica., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.