ELECTRONIC NAVIGATION

SYSTEMS
GPS CONT’D
 SOURCES OF ERROR IN GPS
User mistakes
User mistakes account for most of GPS errors; and a GPS
receiver has no way to identify and correct these
mistakes. Common examples of user mistakes include:
– Inputting incorrect information into a GPS receiver,
such as the datum, and when creating a waypoint.
– Unknowingly relying on a 2D position instead of a
3D position for determining position coordinates. This
mistake can result in distance errors in excess of a mile.
The signal from the satellite may be blocked by buildings,
terrain, electronic interference, and sometimes dense
foliage. A GPS receiver needs a fairly clear view of the
sky to operate.
 – The human body can cause signal
interference. Holding a GPS receiver close to
the body can block some satellite signals and
hinder accurate positioning. If a GPS receiver
must be hand held without benefit of an
external antenna, facing to the south can help
to alleviate signal blockage caused by the
body because the majority of GPS satellites
are oriented more in the earth’s southern
hemisphere.
Multipath interference
Multipath interference is caused by the satellite
signal reflecting off of vehicles, buildings, power
lines, water and other interfering objects.
Multipath is difficult to detect and sometimes
impossible for the user to avoid or for the receiver
to correct. When using a GPS receiver in a vehicle
place the external antenna on the roof of the
vehicle to eliminate most signal interference
caused by the vehicle. If the GPS receiver is placed
on the dashboard there will always be some
multipath interference. Each receiver position is
unique and therefore the error is not consistent.
Final fix errors in the region of 1 metre can be
produced by this effect. Careful positioning of the
antenna will eliminate this error.
Satellite clock error
It has already been stated that a satellite clock
oscillator is a precision instrument, but it is still
necessary to re-adjust it from the ground support
network. Error introduced by SV clock error is
unlikely to exceed 1m and regular uplinking of
clock data reduces it to minimum.
Orbit errors
Satellite orbit pertains to the altitude, position,
and speed of the satellite. Satellite orbits vary
due to gravitational pull and solar pressure
fluctuations. Orbit errors are also monitored
and corrected by the Master Control Station.
Satellite geometry
The location of GPS satellites in relation to a
GPS receiver on the ground can impact the
receiver’s ability to triangulate a 3D position.
The quality of a receiver’s triangulated
position improves the further apart GPS
satellites are located from each other in the
sky above the receiver. The quality decreases
if the satellites are grouped close together in
the sky above the receiver.
 Ionospheric delay error
As the two transmitted carriers must pass through
the ionosphere, a speed reduction caused by
refraction of the radio wave occurs. The extent of
the delay, and consequently the error introduced
into the pseudo-range measurement calculation, is
dependent upon the electron density the radio
wave encounters along the signal path. Electron
density is itself dependent upon three main factors:
▪ the time of day
▪ the SV elevation
▪ the latitude of the receiver
Fortunately, ionospheric error is inversely
proportional to the square of the carrier
frequency. GPS SVs transmit on two
frequencies so that the delay may be
quantified in the receiver, an error correction
figure calculated and applied to the final fix
solution. After all corrective data has been
applied to the solution in a single frequency
GPS receiver system, fix error due to the
ionosphere is unlikely to exceed 10 m.
 Tropospheric delay error
Extending from the earth’s surface to an altitude of 70
km, the troposphere also introduces a delay into the
pseudo-range calculation. Unfortunately the error is
independent of frequency, but it is predictable. GPS
receivers hold a software solution in the form of a
mathematical model to eliminate the effect of this
delay. Figures for relative humidity, pressure and
temperature are interfaced with the processor
computer to produce corrective data which is then
applied to fix calculation. Error from this source is
unlikely to exceed 1m.
Both ionospheric and tropospheric errors are reduced if
ranges are measured from SVs showing a high
elevation from the receiver. Modern receivers are
capable of automatically selecting SVs with the highest
elevation or those exceeding pre-set limits.
Selective Availability (SA)

Selective Availability, or SA, occurred when the

DoD intentionally degraded the accuracy of GPS
signals by introducing artificial clock and
ephemeris errors. When SA was implemented, it
was the largest component of GPS error, causing
error of up to 100 meters. SA is a component of
the Standard Positioning Service (SPS), which was
formally implemented on March 25, 1990, and
was intended to protect national defence. SA was
turned off on May 1, 2000.
Relativity error
A commonly referred error is that produced by the
effects of relativity. It is entirely predictable and is
effectively cancelled in the GPS.
Albert Einstein stated that time is compressed by
the mass of the earth. Time on the surface of the
globe is compressed by 1.4 × 10–9 ms–2 compared
to time in free space. It is evident that as one
travels further away from the earth’s surface
towards free space, the compression of time is of
less significance. At the altitude of a GPS SV, time
compression is calculated to be 0.4 × 10–9 ms–2. An
effective rate range time error of 1 ns therefore
exists between the time on board the SV and that
in the receiver.
At the accepted propagation velocity of radio
waves, i.e. 300 × l06 ms–1, an error of 1 ns
corresponds to a range error of 0.3 m. In
addition, a second time error is produced by
time compression caused as the SV moves at
26.61 kms–1 through space. To compensate for
all relativity errors, the SV clock oscillator
frequency is slightly offset. By the time that
the radio wave arrives at the receiving
antenna the effects of relativity will have been
cancelled and the pseudo-range can be more
accurately calculated.
These are by no means the only factors that
affect the accuracy of the GPS system but they
are often referred to in papers on this subject. A
combined position error produced by all the
above factors is unlikely to exceed 12 m.

User Range Error (URE)

This is a parameter for the estimated error in
range calculation due to unknown factors. These
include multipath, unmodelled atmospheric
effects, operator error and unpredictable orbital
errors. The URE figure is sent from SVs to GPS
receivers and may be displayed in metres.
 Differential GPS (DGPS)
The accuracy of GPS fixes can be vastly improved
using differential techniques. The principle is that
GPS data from SVs are downloaded to both a
mobile station and a fixed station at a precise
location. A computer at the fixed site calculates
the pseudo-range from GPS SVs and then
compares it with the known ranges for that
precise geographic location. It then computes a
range error figure which is transmitted to mobile
stations where it is used to correct the pseudo-
range system errors.
The use of DGPS does not eliminate errors
introduced by multipath reception or receiver
noise. In order for DGPS to work properly, both
the user’s receiver and the DGPS station receiver
must be accessing the same satellite signals at
the same time.
For maritime use, DGPS differential monitor
stations have been established around the coast
of some 28 countries. As examples, the US Coast
Guard maintains DGPS transmission stations
around the continental coastline of the US and in
the UK beacons are operated by Trinity House
and the General Lighthouse Authority.
DGPS
Maritime DGPS coverage of the United States. (Reproduced
courtesy of the United States Coast Guard.)
 Geodetic datum
A geodetic datum (plural datums) is a reference
from which measurements are made.
In surveying and geodesy, a datum is a set of
reference points on the Earth's surface against
which position measurements are made and
(often) an associated model of the shape of the
Earth (reference ellipsoid) to define a geodetic
coordinate system. Horizontal datums are used for
describing a point on the Earth's surface,
in latitude and longitude or another coordinate
system. Vertical datums measure elevations or
depths.
The difference in co-ordinates between datums is
commonly referred to as datum shift. The datum
shift between two particular datums can vary
from one place to another within one country or
region, and can be anything from zero to
hundreds of meters (or several kilometers for
some remote islands). The North Pole, South
Pole and Equator may be assumed to be in
different positions on different datums, so True
North may be very slightly different. Different
datums use different estimates for the precise
shape and size of the Earth (reference ellipsoids).
 WGS84
The World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) is
the datum used by the Global Positioning
System (GPS). The datum is defined and
maintained by the United States National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).
Coordinates computed from GPS receivers are
likely to be provided in terms of the WGS84
datum and the heights in terms of the WGS84
ellipsoid.