1. Please Explain How GPS system work.

Explainin term of trilateration

Answer:
A GPS receiver uses trilateration (a more complex version of triangulation) to
determine its position on the surface of the earth by timing signals from three satellites
in the Global Positioning System. The GPS is a network of satellites that orbit the earth
and send a signal to GPS receivers providing precise details of the receiver's location,
the time of day, and the speed the device is moving in relation to the three satellites.
Each satellite in the GPS constellation sends out periodic signals along with a time
signal. These are received by GPS devices, which then calculate the distance between
the device and each satellite based on the delay between the time the signal was sent
and the time when it was received. The signals travel at the speed of light, but there is
a delay because the satellites are at an altitude of tens of thousands of kilometers above
the earth.
Once a GPS device has distances for at least three satellites, it can perform the
trilateration calculations. Trilateration works in a similar way to pinpointing your
position on a map knowing the precise distance from three different landmarks using a
pair of compasses. Where the three circles centered on each of the landmarks overlap
is your location given the radius of each circle is your distance from each landmark.
In the GPS version, the calculations are carried out in three-dimensions with an
imaginary set of 3D compasses so that your location is where three spheres of radius
given by the distance to each of three satellites overlap. If the GPS device can see a
fourth satellite, then the measurements can be double-checked.
The calculation process happens very quickly, allowing the GPS device to pinpoint its
location, altitude (if it is in an aircraft), speed and direction.
The transmissions are timed to begin precisely on the minute and the half minute as
indicated by the satellite's atomic clock. The first part of the GPS signal tells the
receiver the relationship between the satellite's clock and GPS time. The next chunk of
data gives the receiver the satellite's precise orbit information.
 Soruce: http://www.mio.com/technology-trilateration.htm

2. Mention about error source in GPS and explain

Answer:
a) Orbit error
Slight shifts of the orbits are possible due to gravitation forces, sun and moon have
a weak influence on the orbits and the resulting error being not more than 2 m.
b) Clock error
GPS position calculations, as discussed above, depend on measuring signal
transmission time from satellite to receiver; this, in turn, depends on knowing the
time on both ends. NAVSTAR satellites use atomic clocks, which are very accurate
but can drift up to a millisecond (enough to make an accuracy difference). These
errors are minimized by calculating clock corrections (at monitoring stations) and
transmitting the corrections along with the GPS signal to appropriately outfitted
GPS receivers.
c) Ionospheric Delay
As GPS signals pass through the upper atmosphere (the ionosphere 50-1000km
above the surface), signals are delayed and deflected. The ionosphere density varies;
thus, signals are delayed more in some places than others. The delay also depends
on how close the satellite is to being overhead (where distance that the signal travels
through the ionosphere is least). By modeling ionosphere characteristics, GPS
monitoring stations can calculate and transmit corrections to the satellites, which in
turn pass these corrections along to receivers. Only about three-quarters of the bias
 can be removed, however, leaving the ionosphere as the second largest contributor
to the GPS error budget.
d) Tropospheric Delay
The lower atmosphere delays GPS signals, adding slightly to the calculated
distances between satellites and receivers. Signals from satellites close to the
horizon are delayed the most, since they pass through the most atmosphere.
e) Multipath
Ideally, GPS signals travel from satellites through the atmosphere directly to GPS
receivers. In reality, GPS receivers must discriminate between signals received
directly from satellites and other signals that have been reflected from surrounding
objects, such as buildings, trees, and even the ground. Antennas are designed to
minimize interference from signals reflected from below, but signals reflected from
above are more difficult to eliminate. One technique for minimizing multipath
errors is to track only those satellites that are at least 15° above the horizon, a
threshold called the "mask angle."
f) Receiver Noise
Since the receivers are also not perfect, they can introduce their own errors which
usually occur from their clocks or internal noise. Despite the synchronization of the
receiver clock with the satellite time during the position determination, the
remaining inaccuracy of the time still leads to an error of about 2 m in the position
determination. Rounding and calculation errors of the receiver sum up
approximately to 1 m.
Error VALUE (Approx)
Ionosphere 4.0 meters
Clock 2.1 meters
Orbit 2.1 meters
Troposphere 0.7 meters
Receiver 0.5 meters
Multipath 1.0 meter
TOTAL 10.4 meters

Source : https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog160/node/1924
3. Explain about DOP (GDOP or PDOP) and givesketch how this DOP determine
the accuracy of GPS work.
Answer:
Dilution Of Precision (Error Enhancement Index.DOP is the index which indicates the
degreed level of positioning Accuracy.
GDOP (Geometric Dilution of Precision) is estimate of satellite conditions for a given
location & time. Ideal GDOP: One Satellite directly overhead with an abundance of
additional satellites spaced evenly around the sky.
PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision) (amount of error), “good” is from 4 – 6 (< 4 is
excellent, > 8 poor) Can be used as a tolerance setting for acceptability of signal quality
(a “PDOP mask” or filter).

4. Please explain different type of GPS correction

Answer:
Real-time Differential Correction
WAAS-enabled receivers: an inexpensive example of real-time differential correction.
"WAAS" stands for Wide Area Augmentation System (link is external), a collection of
about 25 base stations set up to improve GPS positioning at U.S. airport runways to the
point that GPS can be used to help land airplanes (U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration, 2007c).
DGPS: The U.S. Coast Guard has developed a similar system, called the Differential
Global Positioning Service (link is external). The DGPS network includes some 80
broadcast sites, each of which includes a survey-grade base station and a "radio beacon"
transmitter that broadcasts correction signals at 285-325 kHz (just below the AM radio
band).
 Kinematic Positioning: Survey-grade real-time differential correction can be achieved
using a technique called real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS.
Post-processed Differential Correction
CORS and OPUS: The U.S. National Geodetic Survey (NGS) maintains an Online
Positioning User Service (OPUS) that enables surveyors to differentially-correct static
GPS measurements acquired with a single dual frequency carrier phase differential
receiver after they return from the field.
Source : https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog160/node/1925

5. Please explain about Differential GPS and what make this system is differ to
common GPS system.
Differential GPS (DGPS) is now the principal system used in hydrographic surveying
to accurately determine the position of seabed features. The principle of DGPS is that
a single DGPS monitor station at a known location can compute a range error correction
for each GPS satellites in view (the GPS consists of a network of 24 satellites launched
by the USA). These error corrections are then broadcast through a radio link to the ships
in the vicinity. By applying the corrections to the signals received, a user can typically
improve the accuracy in the order of 5 metres or less depending on the quality of the
receivers.
Difference Between GPS and DGPS:
a) In GPS world, handheld device receive signal from the satellite for the position
where as in DGPS world hand held device (rover) receives calibrated signal
from the ground based transmitter.
b) GPS accuracy is around 15 meters whereas DGPS is around 10 cm.
c) GPS instrument can be used globally where as DGPS are meant locally may be
within 100km. DGPS accuracy will start to degrade once instrument distance
from ground based transmitters start to increase. Best results by the United
States Department of Transportation was 0.67 m error growth within 100 km.
d) GPS system is affordable compare to DGPS system which is why all smart
phones have built-in GPS system.
e) In GPS satellite transmit signal in frequency ranging from 1.1 to 1.5 GHz. In
DGPS frequency varies by agencies, here is the list of frequency used by
different agency.
 f) GPS accuracy is highly depend upon the number of satellites used for the
calculation, for example there will be better accuracy on open space compare to
the forested area, read this. DGPS accuracy is not affected by these variables, it
might be affected by the distance between transmitters and the instrument
(rover).
g) Most of the time coordinate system used in GPS will be WGS84 in Longitude
and Latitude format where as DGPS might have local coordinate system.
Source : http://grindgis.com/blog/difference-between-gps-and-dgps

6. Please explain the differences between RTK and WAAS?

Answer :
RTK is a satellite that combines GPS satellite data with a ground station in the same
location as the user to broadcast a correction via radio or cellular data connection. Using
RTK will get user 1 inch pass-to-pass accuracy.
WAAS is a satellite based correction source that utilizes ground stations to generate a
correction and broadcast it via a radio signal. WAAS will get a user 6 – 8 inch pass-to-
pass accuracy.

Source : http://www.agleader.com/blog/gps-differential-sources-explained/