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Results for “Global Positioning System”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

Application of global positioning system to determination of tectonic plate movements and crustal deformations

It is shown that pseudo-range measurements to four GPS satellites based on correlation of the pseudo random code transmissions from the satellites can be used to determine the relative position of ground stations which are separated by several hundred kilometers to a precision at the centimeter level. Carrier signal measurements during the course of passage of satellites over a pair of stations also yield centimeter precision in the relative position, but oscillator instabilities limit the accuracy. The accuracy of solutions based on either type of data is limited by unmodeled tropospheric refraction effects which would reach 5 centimeters at low elevation angles for widely separated stations.

Anderle, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Civil applications of global positioning systems

User requirements germane to civil applications in the GPS are discussed. The Z-set is discussed as a possible low cost set which might meet the civil requirement as a GPS receiver.

Calibi, V.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Geometric dilution of precision in Global Positioning System navigation

The evaluation of the GPS navigation performance is essentially equivalent to the computation of the diagonal terms of the geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) matrix. Certain theoretical results concerning the general properties of the GDOP matrix are obtained. An efficient algorithm for the computation of the GDOP matrix and the navigation performance index is given; and applications of the results are illustrated by numerical examples.

Fang, B. T.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Global positioning system timing receivers in the DSN

The system (GPS) is a worldwide navigation system using a constellation of Earth satellites with onboard clocks. The GPS is also usable to transfer time and frequency. Preliminary tests with the breadboard receiver at NBS produced precision in time and frequency transfer between the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) and NBS. JPL's plans to install receivers in the DSN to demonstrate their ability to transfer time and frequency within the DSN and between the DSN and outside agencies are discussed.

Clements, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Study of the global positioning system for maritime concepts/applications: Study of the feasibility of replacing maritime shipborne navigation systems with NAVSTAR

A geostationary reference satellite (REFSAT) that broadcasts every four seconds updated GPS satellite coordinates was developed. This procedure reduces the complexity of the GPS receiver. The economic and performance payoffs associated with replacing maritime stripborne navigation systems with NAVSTAR was quantified and the use of NAVSTAR for measurements of ocean currents in the broad ocean areas of the world was evaluated.

Winn, C. B.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Orbiter global positioning system design and Ku-band problem investigations, exhibit B, revision 1

The shuttle Ku-band Costas loop lock detector output signal appears to vary about the lock detection threshold (the lock detect flag is on and off) shortly after the carrier acquisition starts. Real time computer simulation was performed to obtain the signal output from the low pass filter of the lock detector. Based on this simulation, it appears that the oscillation of in-lock and out-lock is related to tracking process and is not caused by the sweep acquisition algorithm.

Lindsey, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Orbiter global positioning system design and Ku-band problem investigations, exhibit B, revision 1

The hardware, software, and interface between them was investigated for a low dynamics, nonhostile environment, low cost GPS receiver (GPS Z set). The set is basically a three dimensional geodetic and way point navigator with GPS time, ground speed, and ground track as possible outputs in addition to the usual GPS receiver set outputs. Each functional module comprising the GPS set is described, enumerating its functional inputs and outputs, leading to the interface between hardware and software of the set.

Lindsey, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A study of the application of differential techniques to the global positioning system for a helicopter precision approach

The results of a simulation study to define the functional characteristics of a airborne and ground reference GPS receiver for use in a Differential GPS system are doumented. The operations of a variety of receiver types (sequential-single channel, continuous multi-channel, etc.) are evaluated for a typical civil helicopter mission scenario. The math model of each receiver type incorporated representative system errors including intentional degradation. The results include the discussion of the receiver relative performance, the spatial correlative properties of individual range error sources, and the navigation algorithm used to smooth the position data.

Mccall, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Aircraft positioning using Global Positioning System carrier phase data

Results from a flight test of a GPS carrier phase tracking receiver operated on a NASA Orion P-3 aircraft are presented. The trajectory of the aircraft relative to a second, fixed receiver has been determined. The test was made over water, and the GPS vertical trajectory is compared to airborne lidar measured altitude data from the NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar. The two data sets compare with a relative accuracy of 12 centimeters rms, under poor GPS satellite geometry for vertical positioning. Analysis indicates that 1 to 2 centimeters relative vertical positioning is achievable with carrier phase tracking receivers and good GPS geometry.

Krabill, William B.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Strategies for high-precision Global Positioning System orbit determination

Various strategies for the high-precision orbit determination of the GPS satellites are explored using data from the 1985 GPS field test. Several refinements to the orbit determination strategies were found to be crucial for achieving high levels of repeatability and accuracy. These include the fine tuning of the GPS solar radiation coefficients and the ground station zenith tropospheric delays. Multiday arcs of 3-6 days provided better orbits and baselines than the 8-hr arcs from single-day passes. Highest-quality orbits and baselines were obtained with combined carrier phase and pseudorange solutions.

Lichten, Stephen M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A few parts in 10 to the 8th geodetic baseline repeatablity in the Gulf of California using the Global Positioning System

GPS geodetic measurements of 350-650 km baselines across the Pacific-North America plate boundary in the Gulf of California are presented. The analysis employs a four-station U.S. fiducial network and combined carrier phase and pseudorange data. Water vapor radiometer data at the Gulf sites are used to calibrate the GPS signal for wet tropospheric path delays. Residual tropospheric delays are modeled as first-order exponentially correlated stochastic processes. The measurement precision for horizontal components is a few parts in 10 to the 8th or better.

Tralli, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Effect of wet tropospheric path delays on estimation of geodetic baselines in the Gulf of California using the Global Positioning System

Surface Meteorological (SM) and Water Vapor Radiometer (WVR) measurements are used to provide an independent means of calibrating the GPS signal for the wet tropospheric path delay in a study of geodetic baseline measurements in the Gulf of California using GPS in which high tropospheric water vapor content yielded wet path delays in excess of 20 cm at zenith. Residual wet delays at zenith are estimated as constants and as first-order exponentially correlated stochastic processes. Calibration with WVR data is found to yield the best repeatabilities, with improved results possible if combined carrier phase and pseudorange data are used. Although SM measurements can introduce significant errors in baseline solutions if used with a simple atmospheric model and estimation of residual zenith delays as constants, SM calibration and stochastic estimation for residual zenith wet delays may be adequate for precise estimation of GPS baselines. For dry locations, WVRs may not be required to accurately model tropospheric effects on GPS baselines.

Tralli, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Global positioning system network analysis with phase ambiguity resolution applied to crustal deformation studies in California

An efficient algorithm is developed for multisession adjustment of GPS data with simultaneous orbit determination and ambiguity resolution. Application of the algorithm to the analysis of data from a five-year campaign in progress in southern and central California to monitor tectonic motions using observations by GPS satellites, demonstrates improvements in estimates of station position and satellite orbits when the phase ambiguities are resolved. Most of the phase ambiguities in the GPS network were resolved, particularly for all the baselines of geophysical interest in California.

Dong, Da-Nan↗
NASA NTRS1989

The dynamics of global positioning system orbits and the determination of precise ephemerides

The suggestion made on the basis of the analytical orbit perturbation theory that the errors in the ephemerides of the GPS satellites are due mostly to resonant effects that can be corrected by adjusting a few parameters in a empirical acceleration formula is tested using simulations and actual data analysis. Data from the Spring 1985 Experiment were used to calculate improved ephemerides, and these ephemerides were used in the estimation of the coordinates of GPS stations within the continental United States, previously positioned with VLBI. The results of this test support the idea that the errors are mostly of a resonant nature and can be corrected.

Colombo, Oscar L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Carrier phase ambiguity resolution for the Global Positioning System applied to geodetic baselines up to 2000 km

A technique for resolving the ambiguities in the GPS carrier phase data (which are biased by an integer number of cycles) is described which can be applied to geodetic baselines up to 2000 km in length and can be used with dual-frequency P code receivers. The results of such application demonstrated that a factor of 3 improvement in baseline accuracy could be obtained, giving centimeter-level agreement with coordinates inferred by very-long-baseline interferometry in the western United States. It was found that a method using pseudorange data is more reliable than one using ionospheric constraints for baselines longer than 200 km. It is recommended that future GPS networks have a wide spectrum of baseline lengths (ranging from baselines shorter than 100 km to those longer than 1000 km) and that GPS receivers be used which can acquire dual-frequency P code data.

Blewitt, Geoffrey↗
NASA NTRS1990

Stochastic estimation of tropospheric path delays in global positioning system geodetic measurements

Water vapor radiometric and surface meteorological measurements taken during three GPS geodetic experiments are used to calculate process noise levels for random walk and first-order Gauss-Markov temporal models of tropospheric path delays. Entire wet and combined wet and dry zenith delays at each network site are estimated simultaneously with the geodetic parameters without prior calibration. The path delays and corresponding baseline estimates are compared to those obtained with calibrated data and stochastic residual delays. In this manner, the marginal utility of a priori tropospheric calibration is assessed given the ability to estimate the path delays directly using only the GPS data. Estimation of total zenith path delays with appropriate random walk or Gauss-Markov models yields baseline repeatabilities of a few parts in 100 million. Results suggest that GPS data alone have sufficient strength to resolve centimeter-level zenith path delay fluctuations over periods of a few minutes.

Tralli, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

High-precision orbit determination for high-earth elliptical orbiters using the Global Positioning System

Orbit covariance analyses pertaining to the Japanese VLBI Space Observatory Program (VSOP) MUSES-B satellite and to the International VLBI Satellite are presented. It is determined that a combination of Doppler and GPS measurements can provide the orbit accuracy required to support advanced radio interferometric experiments. For the VSOP, the required orbit accuracy of 130 m is easily met with two-way Doppler as the primary type of data; the 0.4 cm/s VSOP velocity requirement is also feasible provided that precise ground calibrations of tropospheric delays and station coordinates are available. It is concluded that combining the data from a VSOP GPS flight instrument with the ground GPS and two-way Doppler data will significantly enhance orbit determination accuracy in position and velocity.

Lichten, S. M.↗