17 Example
17 Example
1. AIM:
The work example aims to introduce the various online GNSS processing services, which
could be used to derive accurate estimates of positions/coordinates.
2. DESCRIPTION:
You will be introduced to five (5) free online GNSS processing services to obtain
International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) 2014 coordinates in Cartesian format, X, Y,
and Z.
Follow the guidelines instructions provided online by the GNSS processing service providers.
Note that these services are free but some require registration (e.g., name, password etc).
Once all the details have been entered correctly, you could then submit the data for
processing. The results will be sent back to you via email.
3. DATA:
A sample GNSS RINEX data collected at Chulalongkorn University GNSS station in
Bangkok Thailand will be provided. The GNSS RINEX data was collected on 1 December
2017 over a day period (24 hours). The data was downloaded from the International GNSS
Service (IGS) ftp archive.
The IGS operates and maintains a large permanent network of GNSS CORS receivers which
can be used in geodetic surveys and processing.
RINEX stands for Receiver Independent Exchange Format and is the standard format which
all allows different types of GNSS receivers to be used together and also their data to be
processed together, in all GNSS software. The RINEX format is particularly useful for GNSS
research and testing and contains important information required to calculate the GNSS
receivers’ position is included, with the exception of the satellite ephemeris.
Figure 1 shows an example of a RINEX (version 2.11) header for an IGS station, i.e.,
Melbourne Observatory. Each GNSS station has a unique 4-char ID. In the case of
Melbourne Observatory, the 4-char ID is MOBS. In the case of Chulalongkorn University
GNSS station, the 4-char ID is CUSV.
Understanding the file naming conventions in GNSS is important. The IGS recommend using
the following naming convention for RINEX files:
ssssdddf.yyt
| | | | |
| | | | +-- t: file type:
| | | | O: Observation file
| | | | N: GPS Navigation file
| | | | M: Meteorological data file
| | | | G: GLONASS Navigation file
| | | | L: Future Galileo Navigation file
| | | | H: Geostationary GPS payload nav mess file
| | | | B: Geo SBAS broadcast data file
| | | | (separate documentation)
| | | | C: Clock file (separate documentation)
| | | | S: Summary file (used e.g., by IGS, not a standard!)
| | | |
| | | +--- yy: two-digit year
| | |
| | +----- f: file sequence number/character within day
| | daily file: f = 0
| | hourly files:
| | f = a: 1st hour 00h-01h; f = b: 2nd hour 01h-02h;
...
| | f = x: 24th hour 23h-24h
| |
| +------- ddd: day of the year of first record
|
+----------- ssss: 4-character station name designator
Example:
It is worth noting that a lot of the online GNSS processing services accept RINEX Version
2.11 files. However, the GNSS community is now moving towards RINEX Version 3 to
accommodate multi-GNSS data. For more information on the file formats currently used by
the GNSS community, refer to https://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/components/formats.html