A Long-Term Comparison Between GPS Carrier-Phase and Two-way Satellite Time Transfer

Abstract

We have conducted GPS carrier-phase time-transfer experiment between the Master Clock at USNO in Washington DC and the Alternate Master Clock at Schriever Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colorado. These clocks are also monitored on an hourly basis with two-way satellite time-transfer (TWSTT) measurements. We compare the performance of the GPS carrier-phase and TWSTT systems over a 167-day period. Apart from an overall constant time offset (due to unknown delays in the GPS hardware at both ends), we find that the systems agree within +/- 1ns, with a drift of 1.9 +/- 0.1 ps/d. For averaging times of a day, the carrier-phase and TWSTT systems have a frequency uncertainty of 2.5 and 5.5 parts in 10(exp 15), respectively.