GPSGPS errors

1. Describe the various errors of GPS

Sources of errors in brief as follows:

1) Ionosphere and troposphere delays

The satellite’s radio signal slows as it passes through the atmosphere. GPS system uses a built-in model
that calculates an average amount of delay to partially correct for this type of error.

2) Signal multi-path

This occurs when the GPS radio signal is reflected off objects such as large topographical objects and
surfaces before it reaches your receiver. This effectively increases the travel time of the GPS radio
signal, thereby causing errors.

3) Receiver clock errors

Receiver’s built-in clock is not as accurate as the atomic clocks on board the GPS satellites. Therefore, it
may have very slight timing errors.

4) Orbital errors

These are also known as ephemeris errors, and are inaccuracies of the satellite’s reported location. This
could be, for example, due to the satellite’s orbit precessing in azimuth.

5) Number of satellites visible

The more satellites GPS receiver can “see”, the greater the accuracy. Topographical and geographical
terrain, electronic interference and adverse weather and precipitation can inhibit radio signal reception,
causing position errors or possibly no position indication at all. GPS receivers typically do not work
indoors, under water or underground.

6) Satellite geometry/shading

This refers to the relative position of the satellites at any given time. Ideal satellite geometry exists when
the satellites are located at wide angles relative to each other, giving a position based on a wide angle of
cut from several position lines. This is often referred to as a situation where the position fix is based on
a good Horizontal Dilution Of Position (HDOP). Poor geometry results when the satellites being used for
the fix are located in a line or in a tight grouping, resulting in shallow angles of cut with subsequent poor
HDOP.
Wide angle of cut of position lines Small angle of cut of position lines

Good HDOP Poor HDOP

GPS will give an indication whether the last computed position is one which gives a good HDOP or
otherwise. This could be in the form of either a numerical read out or a light illuminating, for example,
when either a good 3-dimensional fix or less good 2-dimensional fix has been obtained.

7) Selective Availability (SA) - intentional degradation of the satellite signal

Selective availability (SA) is an intentional degradation of the signal once imposed by the US Department
of Defence. SA was intended to prevent military adversaries from using the highly accurate GPS system.
The US government turned off SA in May 2000, which significantly improved the accuracy of civilian GPS
receivers.

8) 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 but it is briefly described here. Electronic Navigation Systems 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. A combined position
error produced by all the above factors is unlikely to exceed 12-15 m.

GPS Limitation:

a) Spoofing : A GPS spoofing attack attempts to deceive a GPS receiver by broadcasting counterfeit
GPS signals, structured to resemble a set of normal GPS signals, or by rebroadcasting genuine signals
captured elsewhere or at a different time. These spoofed signals may be modified in such a way as to
cause the receiver to estimate its position to be somewhere other than where it actually is, or to be
located where it is but at a different time, as determined by the attacker. One common form of a GPS
spoofing attack, commonly termed a carry-off attack begins by broadcasting signals synchronized with
the genuine signals observed by the target receiver. The power of the counterfeit signals is then
gradually increased and drawn away from the genuine signals. GPS spoofing attacks had been predicted
and discussed in the GPS community previously, but no known example of a malicious spoofing attack
has yet been confirmed.

b) Jamming : GPS signals are being routinely jammed by devices that can be bought online for little
money. While most jamming is not serious, there is the potential for criminals to block, or even fake,
GPS signals. Hackers can use a jammer to block the tracker. Such a jammer would have to be reasonably
powerful, and there was a risk that if it was used near busy sea lanes such as the English Channel, it
could easily block a large area with an obvious threat to shipping.

c) Solar flares: Solar flares occur when some of the energy in the sun, which is usually contained by
the sun's magnetic field, is spontaneously released. The magnitude of a flare can vary: the X-class flares
that we have seen recently are the most energetic type of flare.The energy from a flare pointed in
Earth’s direction reaches us in two ways. First, very fast, high-energy particles reach our planet in just a
few hours. Secondly, solar plasma – the charged particles that the sun is made of – may flow toward the
Earth. This material can reach us in a few days and can have the most dramatic effects on space weather
by compressing the magnetic field surrounding the Earth. It’s this magnetic envelope that protects our
planet from direct contact with the material. If a flare is particularly large, the resulting turbulence in our
upper atmosphere could disrupt radio signals and GPS navigation, for example.

GLONASS

Principle on which the GLONASS works

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) is based on a constellation of active satellites which
continuously transmit coded signals in two frequency bands, which can be received by users anywhere
on the Earth's surface to identify their position and velocity in real time based on ranging
measurements. The system is a counterpart to the United States Global Positioning System (GPS) and
both systems share the same principles in the data transmission and positioning methods.

The operational space segment of GLONASS consists of 21 satellites in 3 orbital planes, with 3 on-orbit
spares. The three orbital planes are separated 120 degrees, and the satellites within the same orbit
plane by 45 degrees. Each satellite operates in circular 19,100 km orbits at an inclination angle of 64.8
degrees and each satellite completes an orbit in approximately 11 hours 15 minutes.

To get a position fix, the receiver must be in the range of at least four satellites, three of which will be
used to determine the user's location and the fourth to synchronise clocks of the receiver and the three
other spacecraft.
GLONASS satellites modulate two navigation messages at 50 bps onto the standard (C/A) and high
accuracy (P) signals, each message providing the users the necessary information for positioning
(parameters to compute GLONASS satellites coordinates, their clock offsets, and various other system
parameters).

Any navigation solution provided by a GNSS Receiver is based on the computation of its distance to a set
of satellites, by means of extracting the propagation time of the incoming signals traveling through
space at the speed of light, according to the satellite and receiver local clocks.

Notice that satellites are always in motion, so previous to obtaining the navigation message, the
satellite’s signal is detected and tracked. The receiver’s functional blocks that perform these tasks are
the antenna, the front-end and the baseband signal processing (in charge of acquiring and tracking the
signal).

Once the signal is acquired and tracked, the receiver application decodes the navigation message and
estimates the user position. The Navigation Message includes:

• Ephemeris parameters, needed to compute the satellite’s coordinates

• Time parameters and Clock Corrections, to compute satellite clock offsets and time conversions

• Service Parameters with satellite health information

• Almanacs, needed for the acquisition of the signal by the receiver. It allows computing the
position of all satellites but with a lower accuracy than the ephemeris

The ephemeris and clocks parameters are usually updated every half-an-hour, whereas the almanac is
updated at least every six days.

Difference between GLONASS and GPS constellation system

GLONASS GPS

Number of nominal satellites 24 24

Number of orbital planes 3 6

Orbital Inclination 64°8' 55°

Orbital altitude 19.140 km 20.180 km

Period of revolution 11h 15m 11h 58m

Launch site Baikonur/Plesetsk Cape Canaveral

Datum PZ-90.02 WGS-84

The advantage of the receiver capable of operating both GLONASS and GPS "combined GPS/GLONASS
receiver equipment"

Advantages of GNSS receivers

Some modern receivers are able to use both GLONASS and GPS satellites together, providing greatly
improved coverage in urban canyons and giving a very fast time to fix due to over 50 satellites being
available. In indoor, urban canyon or mountainous areas, accuracy can be greatly improved over using
GPS alone. For using both navigation systems simultaneously, precisions of GLONASS/GPS navigation
definitions were 2.37—4.65 m with mean number of NSV equals 14—19 (depends on station). All of
those advantages are, in fact, the consequence of increased redundancy, which is provided by combined
use of GPS and GLONASS:

• ability to work under environments with limited visibility of satellites;

• fast OTF ambiguity resolution

• GNSS receivers remove periods of time when total number of current GPS satellites may not be
enough for reliable positioning at given location;

• more robust detection and exclusion of anomalies;

• improved quality of observables when Co-Optracking is in use;

• improved estimation of tropospheric and ionospheric parameters;

• time, which is required for collecting static data, can be reduced;

It should be noted, also, that the use of GLONASS can provide additional advantages when working in
high latitudes (Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia etc.) because of higher inclination of GLONASS orbits in
comparison with GPS ones (64.8 vs. 55 degrees). Due to the work at different frequencies, GLONASS is
also more resistant to interference and jamming.

Future European Galileo system, which is being developed, has to provide further advantages. Galileo is
in more advantageous position with respect to GPS and GLONASS in the sense that many issues related
to interoperability with existing navigation systems have been taken into consideration in initial design
of Galileo.

Future GPS/GLONASS/Galileo receivers have to become a standard for high-precision positioning.

GALILEO

The principle of operation of Galileo as the European satellite navigation system.

Galileo is Europe’s own global navigation satellite system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global
positioning service under civilian control. It is inter-operable with GPS and Glonass, the US and Russian
global satellite navigation systems.

By offering dual frequencies as standard, Galileo will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to the
metre range. It will guarantee availability of the service under all but the most extreme circumstances
and will inform users within seconds of any satellite failure, making it suitable for safety-critical
applications such as guiding cars, running trains and landing aircraft.

Galileo services will come with quality and integrity guarantees which marks the key difference of this
first complete civil positioning system from the military systems that have come before.

The four operational satellites launched so far - the basic minimum for satellite navigation in principle -
serve to validate the Galileo concept with both segments: space and related ground infrastructure.

At this stage, The Open Service, Search and Rescue and Public Regulated Service will be available with
initial performances. Then as the constellation is built-up beyond that, new services will be tested and
made available to reach Full Operational Capability (FOC).

Once this is achieved, the Galileo navigation signals will provide good coverage even at latitudes up to
75 degrees north, which corresponds to Norway's North Cape - the most northerly tip of Europe - and
beyond. The large number of satellites together with the carefully-optimised constellation design, plus
the availability of the three active spare satellites, will ensure that the loss of one satellite has no
discernible effect on the user.

Galileo comprises 30 medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites in 3 circular orbits

The fully deployed Galileo system consists of 30 satellites (27 operational + 3 active spares), positioned
in three circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) planes at 23 222 km altitude above the Earth, and at an
inclination of the orbital planes of 56 degrees to the equator. The satellites will be spread evenly around
each plane and will take about 14 hours to orbit the Earth. One satellite in each plane will be a spare; on
stand-by should any operational satellite fail.

Service:

The Galileo system will have five main services:

 Open Access Navigation: This will be 'free to air' and for use by the mass market;
Simple timing and positioning down to 1 metre.
 Commercial Navigation (Encrypted): High accuracy to the centimetre; Guaranteed
service for which service providers will charge fees.
 Safety Of Life Navigation: Open service; For applications where guaranteed accuracy is
essential; Integrity messages will warn of errors.
 Public Regulated Navigation (Encrypted): Continuous availability even in time of
crisis; Government agencies will be main users.
  Search And Rescue: System will pick up distress beacon locations; Feasible to send
feedback, confirming help is on its way.

Other secondary services will also be available.

Regional Satellite Navigation Systems such as China's BeiDou (COMPASS) Navigation Satellite System,
India's Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
(QZSS) and France’s Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS).

BeiDou (COMPASS) Navigation Satellite System): The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is a Chinese
satellite navigation system. It consists of two separate satellite constellations – a limited test system that
has been operating since 2000, and a full-scale global navigation system that is currently under
construction.

The first BeiDou system, officially called the BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System, also
known as BeiDou-1, consists of three satellites and offers limited coverage and applications. It has been
offering navigation services, mainly for customers in China and neighboring regions, since 2000.

The second generation of the system, officially called the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) and
also known as COMPASS or BeiDou-2, will be a global satellite navigation system consisting of 35
satellites, and is under construction as of January 2015. It became operational in China in December
2011, with 10 satellites in use, and began offering services to customers in the Asia-Pacific region in
December 2012. It is planned to begin serving global customers upon its completion in 2020.

In 2015, China started the build-up of the third generation BeiDou system (BDS-3) in the global coverage
constellation. The first BDS-3 satellite was launched 30 March 2015. As of January 2018, nine BDS-3
satellites have been launched.

According to China Daily, fifteen years after the satellite system was launched, it is now generating a
turnover of $31.5 billion per annum for major companies such as China Aerospace Science and Industry
Corp, Auto Navi Holdings Ltd, and China North Industries Group Corp.

BeiDou has been described as a potential navigation satellite system to overtake GPS in global usage,
and is expected to be more accurate than the GPS once it is fully completed. The current third
generation of BeiDou claims to reach millimeter-level accuracy (with post-processing), which is ten times
more accurate than the finest level of GPS.

Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS): Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System
(IRNSS) is an independent regional navigation satellite system. It is designed to provide position accuracy
better than 10m over India and the region extending about 1500 kms around India. It will provide an
accurate real time Position, Navigation and Time (PNT) services to users on a variety of platforms with
24x7 service availability under all weather conditions.
The IRNSS system mainly consists of three components, namely, Space Segment (Constellation of
Satellites & Signal–In–Space), Ground Segment and User Segment. IRNSS constellation consists of seven
satellites. Three Satellites will be placed in the Geostationary Equatorial orbit (GEO at 34 deg East, 83
deg East & 131.5 deg East) and two satellites each will be placed in the Geosynchronous orbit (GSO) with
equator crossing at 55 deg East and 111.5 deg East and an inclination of 29 deg. Two spare satellites are
also planned to be realised. IRNSS will have two types of signals in L5 and S-band centre frequency, with
the L band centre frequency being 1176.45 MHz and S-band centre frequency being 2492.028 MHz.
Both L5 and S-band consist of two downlinks. IRNSS provides two basic services such as Standard
Positioning Service (SPS) for common civilian users and Restricted Service (RS) for special authorised
users.

Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS): The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), is a proposed
three-satellite regional time transfer system and Satellite Based Augmentation System for the Global
Positioning System, that would be receivable within Japan. The first satellite 'Michibiki' was launched on
11 September 2010. QZSS is targeted at mobile applications, to provide communications-based services
(video, audio, and data) and positioning information.

QZSS uses three satellites, each 120° apart, in highly-inclined, slightly elliptical, geosynchronous orbits.
Because of this inclination, they are not geostationary; they do not remain in the same place in the sky.
Instead, their ground traces are asymmetrical figure-8 patterns (analemmas), designed to ensure that
one is almost directly overhead (elevation 60° or more) over Japan at all times.

Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS): DORIS system has been
designed and optimized by the French space agency CNES, IGN (Institut Géographique National), and
GRGS (Groupe de Recherches en Géodésie Spatiale) to perform high precision orbit determination and
beacon positioning.

The DORIS system mainly consists of Space Segment where belongs satellites, then Ground segment
with 3 types of centers and DORIS instrument.
The prime objective is to provide precise measurements for POD (Precise Orbit Determination) services
and geodesy applications

The system concept is based on accurate measurements of the Doppler shifts on a radiofrequency signal
(2 GHz and 400 MHz) transmitted by ground stations and received on-board orbiting satellites, carrying
DORIS receivers, when they are in visibility of a station

The system can locate customer ground beacons with precision up to 1 cm depending on the duration
and local observation conditions.

EGNOS and WAAS – Satellite based augmentation systems (SBAS)

WAAS, EGNOS, and MSAS together are designated as Satellite Based Augmentation Systems. Simplified
these systems are satellite supported Differential GPS (DGPS), whereby the correction signals that
improve the accuracy of the GPS receivers are transmitted by satellite. The WAAS (Wide Area
Augmentation System) is available in America, EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay
System) is the European equivalent, while MSAM (Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System)
operates in Asia, particularly in Japan (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Availability of the 3 satellite based DGPS systems

Since the 3 systems are compatible international coverage is guaranteed. The systems send their
correctional signals at the same frequencies as GPS. Since a modern 12 channel GPS maximally receives
signals from 10 satellites, one channel remains free for the reception of correctional signals. The use of
the corrected data is charge free for the GPS receivers.

Difference of EGNOS and WAAS to normal DGPS

In the terrestrial DGPS method the individual reference stations calculate their own correctional values
on the basis of the received signals from the NAVSTAR satellites and transfer the data via UKW or LW
broadcast to the GPS receiver. This corrects its position with the received information. With increasing
distance between the two the signal from the satellite to the ground reference station travels through
other parts of the atmosphere as the signal from the satellite to the GPS receiver. This makes the
correction ever more inaccurate. Typical ranges for transmitters of the reference stations are between
50 – 200 km.

The ground segment of the satellite based DGPS for EGNOS is a network of 34 monitor stations (RIMS;
Ranging and Integrity Monitor Stations) which receive the corresponding satellites signals and transfer
these to 4 central data processing stations. In these data processing stations a correctional map is
calculated from the sum of the measurements of all monitor stations for a total area. This correctional
information is then sent to geostationary communicatiion satellites (for ex. AOR-E, IMARSAT, IOR-FS, or
Artemis) from where they are relayed to the GPS receivers.

Fig. 2: Principle of EGNOS and WAAS

With the aid of this data every individual GPS receiver corrects its own position. Thus EGNOS and WAAS
permit a wider ranging coverage and greater accuracy on land as well as at sea than the terrestrial DGPS
systems.

In contrast to the terrestrial DGPS method the GPS receivers do not need any additional LW receivers
and the large number of ground reference stations to transfer the signals are rendered superfluous. The
worldwide availability of the 3 systems is presented in Fig. 1.

The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System

EGNOS is operated by ESA (European Space Agency) and by EUROCONTROL the European Organization
for the Security of Space Flight. EGNOS was developed by the European commission mainly for civilian
air travel, but also with emphasis on agriclutural applications in order to provide higher accuracies in the
localization of positions than is attainable through GPS and so to promote precision farming. (Through
EGNOS the correctional signals for the DGPS can be broadcast charge free from one satellite over all of
Europe. EGNOS will supplement GPS and the GLONASS system.

EGNOS will be integrated into GALILEO, the European satellite navigation system which will go into
operation in 2008. GALILEO is Europe’s initiative to the development of a modern worldwide satellite
navigation system, that will make available a precise, worldwide position determination service under
civilian control.

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