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At least 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Civil helicopter flight operations using differential GPS

The results of NASA flight trials of a dual-receiver differential global positioning system (DGPS) for civilian helicopter navigation applications, are presented. The three principal components of the DGPS system are described, including the GPS ground-reference system, a range tracking system, and an on-board sequential GPS receiver. The ground-based receiver in the DGPS operates at a known fixed location and receives C/A code signals from NAVSTAR satellites. System bias errors in the ground receiver are subtracted from the airborne solution for the navigational fix. Calculations of the differential bias error are carried out using an on-board PDP-11/34 M research computer. The ground-reference differential corrections for satellites are given in a table. It is shown that the differential correction signal of the DGPS contains only a small (0.1 rad/sec) high-frequency component which can be attributed to system error. A schematic diagram of the DGPS postflight data processing routine is provided.

Edwards, F. G.↗
NASA NTRS1987

GPS antenna designs

Application of the current GPS NAVSTAR system to civilian service requires that a right hand, circularly polarized, -160 dBW spread spectrum signal be received from an orbiting satellite, where the antenna environment is also moving. This presents a design challenge when inexpensive antennas are desired. The intent of this survey is to provide information on the antennas mentioned and to construct and test prototypes to determine whether the choice made by the industry, the quadrifilar helix, is the best. The helix antenna is currently the low cost standard for GPS. Prototype versions were constructed using 12 gauge wire and subminiature coaxial hardline. The constructed antennas were tested using a signal generator and a reference turnstile. A spectrum analyzer was used to measure the level of the received signal.

Laube, Samuel J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

GPS Satellite Multipath Range Errors

Report discusses errors in range measurements in GPS system due to multipath transmissions originating at satellites. Large uncertainties in sizes of multipath errors limit precision of GPS measurements. Experiments proposed to determine systematic multipath errors under various operating conditions.

Young, Lawrence E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Helicopter terminal approach using differential GPS with vertical-axis enhancement

The NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) in differential mode (DGPS) has been shown to be least accurate in the vertical axis. The vertical axis also has the most stringent accuracy requirements for aircraft precision approach and landing. A series of flight tests were conducted to evaluate a concept for improving the DGPS vertical axis navigation performance. These tests incorporated augmentation sensors to aid the DGPS navigation solution during terminal approach operations. A GPS receiver was installed on board a NASA helicopter and interfaced with a real-time digital computer system. A reconfigurable navigation filter programmed in the digital computer provided an augmented DGPS solution, with selectable inputs from a low-cost vertical accelerometer, a barometric altimeter, and the aircraft attitude gyros. The reference aircraft position was determined by a laser tracker. Extensive post-test analysis was done to optimize the filter performance during the terminal approach operation. Test results show that baro-altimeter aiding can significantly improve vertical axis performance. Follow-on tests are planned for the optimized configurations.

Edwards, F. G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Sub-meter GPS orbit determination and high precision user positioning - A demonstration

High-accuracy orbit solutions have been obtained for GPS satellites, and submeter orbit accuracy is demonstrated for two well-tracked satellites. Orbit accuracy was tested based upon orbit repeatability from independent data sets, orbit prediction, ground baseline determination, and formal errors. Baselines of up to 2000 km in North America found with the GPS orbits show a daily repeatability of 0.3-1.5 parts in 10 to the 8th, and are found to agree well with VLBI solutions at the level of 0.3-3 parts in 10 to the 8th. Baselines were also determined between Florida and sites in the Caribbean region over 1000 km away, with a daily repeatability of 1-4 parts in 10 to the 8th.

Lichten, Stephen M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Validating the airborne and ground based components of a differential GPS system

A differential GPS mechanization of an external data link concept under development at NASA Ames Research Center is discussed. The system is intended to evaluate the use of differential GPS to support helicopter approach operation. Analytical techniques for static testing and evaluation of the system hardware and software performance in real time are described. Several techniques that have been used to detect and rectify a specific problem encountered during the tests are dicussed. An example of flight test results using the validated system is provided.

Edwards, F. G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Precise orbit determination for NASA's earth observing system using GPS (Global Positioning System)

An application of a precision orbit determination technique for NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) using the Global Positioning System (GPS) is described. This technique allows the geometric information from measurements of GPS carrier phase and P-code pseudo-range to be exploited while minimizing requirements for precision dynamical modeling. The method combines geometric and dynamic information to determine the spacecraft trajectory; the weight on the dynamic information is controlled by adjusting fictitious spacecraft accelerations in three dimensions which are treated as first order exponentially time correlated stochastic processes. By varying the time correlation and uncertainty of the stochastic accelerations, the technique can range from purely geometric to purely dynamic. Performance estimates for this technique as applied to the orbit geometry planned for the EOS platforms indicate that decimeter accuracies for EOS orbit position may be obtainable. The sensitivity of the predicted orbit uncertainties to model errors for station locations, nongravitational platform accelerations, and Earth gravity is also presented.

Williams, B. G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Comparison of GPS surveys with historical triangulation surveys in the southern California borderland

Global plate models predict about 56 mm/yr of motion between the North American and Pacific plates along the plate boundary in southern California, while geodetic and Holocene geological data suggest only 34 mm/yr on the San Andreas fault. Deformation in the Great Basin does not explain this discrepancy, and it has been suggested that faulting in the offshore of southern California could account for some of the discrepancy. Evidence of deformation in the offshore region of southern California is most abundant in the Santa Barbara Channel. Geological investigations of folding and faulting in this region, as well as earthquake investigations, indicate north-south shortening across the channel on the order of 10 to 20 mm/yr. The most rapid rates occur to the east of the channel in the Ventura Basin. South of the Santa Barbara Channel, though, evidence for deformation is limited to seismicity studies which are sparse. Seismic events are abundant in this area, but their implication for the amount of deformation in the offshore is unclear. GPS measurements made between June 1986 and May 1988 have been used to obtain vector positions for several stations at which historical first order triangulation observations were performed between the late 1800's and the mid 1900's between the coast of southern California and the nearby offshore islands. By comparing the spheroidal angles obtained from the GPS positions with the the previously observed triangulation data, shear strain rates can be calculated for the region using Frank's method. These results seem to suggest that shear strain deformation occurs in the offshore of southern California as a result of north to north-west shortening. That deformation is most active in the Santa Barbara Channel region and least active between Catalina and San Nicholas islands. Just how much of the missing plate motion can be accounted for by this deformation is not known at this time and will have to await further analysis.

Webb, Frank H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The GPS based precision orbit determination experiment on TOPEX

The objectives of the GPS-based precision orbit determination (POD) experiment on TOPEX are discussed. Problems facing this experiment include the careful design of all network receivers to control uncalibrated systematic group-delay biases and delay variations between channels, and the careful design of both the GPS-antenna-TOPEX satellite interface and the ground antennas to mimimize multipath. Questions of reference frames, geoid recovery, and the application of innovative orbit determination strategies must also be addressed.

Melbourne, William G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Design and predicted performance of the GPS demonstration receiver for the NASA Topex satellite

NASA's Ocean Topography Experiment (Topex) satellite will perform topographic ocean mapping. Topex will carry an experimental tracking system based on the use of GPS (Global Positioning System). An onboard GPS Demonstration Receiver (GPSDR) will be used with a network of up to ten receivers at precisely known ground sites. Following a brief overview of the Topex mission and its derived accuracy requirements, the authors describe the design of the GPSDR. The major hardware and software components are reviewed and discussed. Projected receiver tracking and navigation performance measures are presented and discussed.

Carson, Lance↗
NASA NTRS1989

Regional quasigeoid determination in Northern Germany and comparison with GPS

For the northern part of the Federal Republic of Germany, new quasigeoid solutions were computed by least squares collocation and fast Fourier transformation (FFT) techniques using point and mean gravity data, a digital terrain model, and a global geopotential model. As severe accuracy limitations for precise regional quasigeoid determination come from global model uncertainties, different geopotential models were investigated by combining them with gravimetric data and comparing the quasigeoid heights with GPS and leveling. Optimum results were obtained by a global model tailored to gravity data in Europe. Collocation and FFT results based on this model agree well. The comparison with GPS and leveling yields rms discrepancies of + or - 2 cm over approximately 400 km range.

Denker, Heiner↗
NASA NTRS1989

GPS inferred geocentric reference frame for satellite positioning and navigation

Accurate geocentric three-dimensional positioning is of great importance for various geodetic and oceanographic applications. While relative positioning accuracy of a few centimeters has become a reality using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), the uncertainty in the offset of the adopted coordinate system origin from the geocenter is still believed to be of the order of one meter. Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) is capable of determining this offset to better than 10 cm, though, because of the limited number of satellites, this requires a long arc of data. The Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements provide a powerful alternative for an accurate determination of this origin offset in relatively short period of time. Two strategies are discussed, the first utilizes the precise relative positions predetermined by VLBI, whereas the second establishes a reference frame by holding only one of the tracking sites longitude fixed. Covariance analysis studies indicate that geocentric positioning to an accuracy of a few centimeters can be achieved with just one day of precise GPS pseudorange and carrier phase data.

Malla, Rajendra P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Central and South America GPS geodesy - CASA Uno

In January 1988, scientists from over 25 organizations in 13 countries and territories cooperated in the largest GPS campaign in the world to date. A total of 43 GPS receivers collected approximately 590 station-days of data in American Samoa, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Sweden, United States, West Germany, and Venezuela. The experiment was entitled CASA Uno. Scientific goals of the project include measurements of strain in the northern Andes, subduction rates for the Cocos and Nazca plates beneath Central and South America, and relative motion between the Caribbean plate and South America. A second set of measurements are planned in 1991 and should provide preliminary estimates of crustal deformation and plate motion rates in the region.

Kellogg, James N.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Code and codeless ionospheric measurements with NASA's Rogue GPS Receiver

The NASA/JPL Rogue Receiver is an 8-satellite, non-multiplexed, highly digital global positioning system (GPS) receiver that can obtain dual frequency data either with or without knowledge of the P-code. In addition to its applications for high accuracy geodesy and orbit determination, the Rogue uses GPS satellite signals to measure the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere along the lines of sight from the receiver to the satellites. These measurements are used by JPL's Deep Space Network (DSN) for calibrating radiometric data. This paper will discuss Rogue TEC measurements, emphasizing the advantages of a receiver that can use the P-code, when available, but can also obtain reliable dual frequency data when the code is encrypted.

Srinivasan, Jeff M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Recovery of a geocentric reference frame using the present-day GPS system

A geocentric reference frame adopts the center of mass of the earth as the origin of the coordinate axes. The center of mass of the earth is the natural and unambiguous origin of a geocentric satellite dynamical system. But in practice a kinematically obtained terrestrial reference frame may assume an origin other than the geocenter. The establishment of a geocentric reference frame, to which all relevant observations and results can be referred and in which geodynamic theories or models for the dynamic behavior of earth can be formulated, requires the ability to accurately recover a given coordinate frame origin offset from the geocenter. GPS measurements, because of their abundance and broad distribution, provide a powerful tool to obtain this origin offset in a short period of time. Two effective strategies have been devised. Data from the First Central And South America (Casa Uno) geodynamics experiment has been studied, in order to demonstrate the ability of recovering the geocenter location with present day GPS satellites and receivers.

Malla, Rajendra P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Gravity field improvement using GPS data from Topex/Poseidon - A covariance analysis

A covariance analysis is performed using a realistic scenario for processing 10 days of GPS data, to obtain the expected improvement to the GEM-T2 gravity field. The gravity bin technique has been refined to compute the covariance matrix associated with the spherical harmonic gravity field. It is shown that the GPS data from one ten-day arc of Topex/Poseidon with no a priori can improve medium degree and order (3-26) sigmas for the parameters in the GEM-T2 gravity field by more than an order of magnitude.

Bertiger, Willy I.↗
NASA NTRS1990

GPS time transfer with implementation of selective availability

The international community of time metrology is facing a major challenge with the Selective Availability (SA) degradation of GPS satellite signals. At present there are 6 Block 1 satellites and 8 Block 2 satellites operating. According to the policy of the U.S. Department of Defence the Block 1 satellite signals will not be degraded, but these satellites are old with a finite life. The Block 2 satellites, which have all been launched since 1988, were subject to Selective Availability from March 25, 1990. The effect of SA should be to limit precision to about 100 meters for navigation and 167 ns for timing. A study was conducted in order to understand the nature of the actual introduced degradation, and to elaborate the means of removing the effects of this degradation on time transfer. This study concerns the time extraction from GPS satellites at NIST, USNO and Paris Observatory, and the comparison of atomic clocks between these laboratories by common view approach. The results show that when using the data taken over several days the time extraction can be achieved with uncertainty of a few tens of nanoseconds, while strict common-view has removed entirely the effects of SA during the periods under study.

Allan, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Precise measurement method for ionospheric total electron content using signals from GPS satellites

A GPS codeless receiver called GTR-2 was for measuring total electron content (TEC) along the line of sight to the GPS satellite by using the cross correlation amplitude of the received P-code signals carried by L1(1575.42 MHz) and L2(1227.6 MHz). This equipment has the performance of uncertainty in the measurement of TEC of about 2 X 10(exp 16) electrons/sq m when a 10 dBi gain antenna was used. To increase the measurement performance, an upper version of GTR-2 called GTR-3 is planned which uses the phase information of the continuous signals obtained by making a cross correlation or multiplication of the received L1 and L2 P-code signals. By using the difference of these measured phases values, the ionospheric delay with the ambiguities of the periods of L1+L2 and L1-L2 signals can be estimated.

Imae, Michito↗