RESUMEN: Este estudio se enfoca en calcular la altura de reflexión efectiva y las diferencias de altura a través de principios geométricos de la teoría de multitrayectos al controlar la calidad de la señal para realizar los cálculos. La geometría de la señal reflejada permite computar la altura de reflexión efectiva, la cual se toma entre la señal que se refleja en el piso y la que llega a la antena GPS. Para lograr esto se realizó un ensayo experimental con dos estaciones en un ambiente sin nieve y con los receptores GPS instalados en los puntos de reflexión, lo que permite medir diariamente las alturas reflejadas in-situ y las variaciones en la reducción artificial. Las reflexiones tomadas en la superficie del techo se monitorizaron con las primeras zonas de Fresnel. Para validar las alturas de reflexión estimadas en un ambiente controlado se implementaron doce combinaciones en cuatro escenarios simulados como valores de reducción y se realizaron análisis de exactitud. En este punto, se aplicó un procedimiento de migración vertical en los puntos de reflexión. Además, la dimensión de la migración vertical se monitorizó en cada cómputo para determinar cual señal reflejada es efectiva para ser asignada como altura de reflexión. La comparación de las alturas estimadas y las medidas in-situ muestra congruencia con un rango de exactitud de ±1.2 cm a ±8. El mejor promedio de exactitud del modelo entre los cuatro escenarios se computó con un margen de ±2.2 cm. Cuando se considera la reducción en la migración vertical, los valores RMSE se estiman en el rango de ±2.92 cm a ±3.96 cm. A pesar de las diferencias de los valores RMSE muestran coincidencia con la altura de reflexión estimada se encontró que algunas estimaciones de alturas reflejadas son estadísticamente insignificantes.

ABSTRACT: This study aims to estimate effective reflector heights and height differences using the basic geometrical principle of multipath theory by controlling the signal quality for estimations. The geometry of the reflecting signal allows computing the effective reflector height, which is extracted from where the signal reflects on the ground and arrives at the GPS antenna phase center. To achieve that, an experimental case with two stations was conducted in the snow-free environment and GPS receivers were mounted on reflectors, which allowed to measure daily in-situ reflector heights and artificial decrement variations. The reflections from the roof surface were tracked with the first-Fresnel zones. To validate the estimated reflector heights in a controlled test environment, twelve different combinations within four simulated scenarios as a combination of decrement values have been implemented and accuracy analysis was performed. Here, a vertical shift procedure on reflectors was applied. Meanwhile, the vertical shift amount was tracked in each computation to determine, which reflected signal could be able to use for assigning reflector height as effective. Comparisons of the estimated heights and in-situ measurements show congruency with ±1.2 cm to ±8 cm accuracy. The best overall accuracy of the model among the four scenarios is computed as ±2.2 cm. When the vertical shift decrements are considered, the RMSE values are estimated within ±2.92 cm to ±3.96 cm. Although the RMSEs of the differences show a good agreement with estimated reflector heights, it is found that some reflector height estimations are statistically insignificant.

RESUMEN En los años recientes, debido al incremento de operadores satelitales de corrección de órbita y tiempo para la de información en tiempo real y de postproceso, se ha generalizado el método de posicionamiento preciso (PPP, del inglés Precise Point Positioning) que utiliza medidas del Sistema Global de Navegación por Satélite (GNSS, del inglés Global Navigation Satellite System) y servicios web de posicionamiento en línea. Debido a ventajas como el tiempo de ejecución y la relación costo-efectividad, muchos de los usuarios han implementado el método PPP en varias aplicaciones antes que el método tradicional de posicionamiento relativo. En las aplicaciones GNSS, la calidad de los productos de efemérides satelitales utilizados para la evaluación de información es un factor significante que afecta los resultados en las soluciones postproceso sea con la aplicación de métodos relativos o PPP en los análisis. Estos productos, clasificados como ultrarrápidos, rápidos y de órbita final, los proveen a los usuarios diferentes organizaciones nacionales e internacionales. En este artículo se estudia la exactitud del método PPP en comparación con los resultados de varios servicios web que utilizan diferentes productos de software y de efemérides satelitales. Con este objetivo se establecieron tres puntos de evaluación: el primero en un lugar con completa visibilidad satelital (AC01) y los otros dos con parcial (YC01) y reducida (KC01) señal satelital, en los alrededores y al interior de una zona boscosa del campus de Davutpaşa, en la Universidad Técnica Yildiz de Estambul. En las estaciones se llevaron a cabo observaciones estáticas con intervalos de seis horas el 4 de mayo de 2015. La información se recolectó con el programa Topcon HiperPro, un receptor de GPS y GLONASS (sistema GNSS desarrollado por la Unión Soviética), y se evaluó manualmente con el software científico Bernese v5.2 (BSW) y GIPSY-OASIS v6.3 (GIPSY). Además, la información también se procesón con seis servicios web en línea (AUSPOS, OPUS, CSRS-PPP, APPS, GAPS, Trimble-RTX) con productos de efemérides ultrarrápidas, rápidas y finales. Para la estación con completa visibilidad satelital (AC01), el análisis de los resultados indican una precisión coordinada de 1 cm en los procesamientos web y manual. Esto sugiere una buena calidad de las correcciones satelitales de órbita y tiempo usadas por los servicios de procesamiento de información en línea con el método PPP. Además, para la estación con señal parcial (YC01), las soluciones manuales tienen aproximadamente 1cm de coordinación en la precisión para los componentes Norte y Este. Luego, cuando se comparan los resultados entre los servicios web, los mejores resultados fueron de AUSPOS en soluciones relativas y Trimble RTX en el método PPP. Es importante recalcar que Trimble RTX es un servicio de procesamiento web para información GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou y QZSS) y opera una red global propia de unas 100 estaciones en el mundo para este fin. Para la estación con una reducida señal satelital (KC01), las mejores soluciones fueron ofrecidas por APPS y CSRS-PPP con el método PPP entre los servicios web. En este caso, Trimble-RTX no puede producir ninguna solución. Estos resultados demuestran los beneficios de la multiconstelación GNSS en las áreas con visibilidad satelital limitada gracias al incremento del número de medidas.

ABSTRACT In recent years, due to the increase in providers of orbit and clock corrections of satellites for data evaluation in real-time Ephemerides, Web and post-processing the method of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) using measurements of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Web-based online positioning services have become widespread. Owing to some advantages, such as work-duration and cost-effectiveness, many of users have implemented PPP method instead of the traditional relative positioning method for several applications. On GNSS applications the quality of satellite ephemerides products used for data evaluation is a significant factor that affects the results in post-processing solutions either applying relative or PPP methods on analyses. These products, classified as ultra-rapid, rapid and final orbits, are regularly provided by several national and international organizations to the users. In this paper, the accuracy of PPP method has been studied comparing the outcomes from various online Web services using different software and satellite ephemerides products. For this purpose, three test points were established on a place with completely free satellite visibility (AC01) and on the other two places with partially (YC01) and vastly (KC01) prevention of satellite signals near and within a forest area at Campus of Davutpaşa of the Yildiz Technical University of Istanbul. At these stations, static observations have been conducted with a time span of 6 hours on 4th May 2015. The dataset collected using Topcon HiperPro receiver, a receiver for GPS and GLONASS data, was evaluated manually by means of the Bernese v5.2 (BSW) and GIPSY-OASIS v6.3 (Gipsy) scientific software. Moreover, the GNSS data were also proceeded using six different Web-based online services (AUSPOS, OPUS, CSRS-PPP, APPS, GAPS, Trimble-RTX) with ultra-rapid, rapid and final satellite ephemerides products. For the station with free satellite visibility (AC01), the analyses of outcomes indicate a coordinate accuracy of 1 cm for Web-based and manual data processing. That suggests relative good quality of orbit and clock corrections of satellites used by online data processing services for PPP. Furthermore, for station with partially (YC01) prevention of satellite signals, manual solutions have approximately 1 cm coordinate accuracies for n, e and u components. Moreover, when we compare the results among Web-based services, AUSPOS in relative solution and Trimble-RTX in PPP solution provides the best results. Here, one must emphasize that Trimble-RTX is a Web-based processing service for GNSS data (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and QZSS) and operates an own global network of approximately 100 stations around the world for this purpose. For station with vastly (KC01) prevention of satellite signals, the best solutions were provided by APPS and CSRS-PPP using PPP approach among the Web-based services. Here, Trimble-RTX could not produce any solution. These results could demonstrate the benefit of multi constellation of GNSS in the areas with limited satellite visibility because of increasing of the number of measurements.

Hoje em dia o Sistema de Posicionamento Global (GPS) tem sido efetivamente utilizado em várias aplicações de engenharia para propósitos de levantamento em diversas áreas. Serviços online de posicionamento disponíveis por diversas organizações na WEB, tem se tornado uma alternativa importante ao invés do uso de softwares científicos e comerciais de alto custo no pós-processamento e análise de dados GPS. Com o uso desses serviços, é possível obter facilmente acurácia centimétrica (cm) ou decimétrica (dm). Neste artigo, um estudo foi conduzido na rede ISKI-CORS, Istambul - Turquia, com o objetivo de analisar a acurácia obtida com os serviços mais utilizados disponíveis online ao redor do mundo (denominados OPUS, AUSPOS, SCOUT, CSRS-PPP, GAPS, APPS, magicGNSS). Esses serviços usam posicionamento relativo e posicionamento por ponto preciso (PPP) em suas soluções. Nesse estudo, as coordenadas de oito estações foram estimadas usando os serviços online e o software científico Bernese 5.0. Foram processadas 24h de dados GPS e então as diferenças nas coordenadas obtidas entre os serviços online e o Bernese foram calculadas. Nas avaliações, foi verificado que cada diferença individual foi menor que 10 mm quando empregado o serviço online de posicionamento relativo, e menor que 20 mm quando o serviço de posicionamento por ponto preciso foi usado. A análise de acurácia foi realizada a partir dessas diferenças de coordenadas e dos desvios-padrão das coordenadas obtidos pelas diferentes técnicas e então os serviços online foram comparados entre si. Os resultados mostraram que a acurácia na posição obtida pelos serviços online é alta e que estes serviços podem ser empregados em muitas aplicações de engenharia e análises geodésicas.

Nowadays, Global Positioning System (GPS) has been used effectively in several engineering applications for the survey purposes by multiple disciplines. Web-based online services developed by several organizations; which are user friendly, unlimited and most of them are free; have become a significant alternative against the high-cost scientific and commercial software on achievement of post processing and analyzing the GPS data. When centimeter (cm) or decimeter (dm) level accuracies are desired, that can be obtained easily regarding different quality engineering applications through these services. In this paper, a test study was conducted at ISKI-CORS network; Istanbul-Turkey in order to figure out the accuracy analysis of the most used web based online services around the world (namely OPUS, AUSPOS, SCOUT, CSRS-PPP, GAPS, APPS, magicGNSS). These services use relative and precise point positioning (PPP) solution approaches. In this test study, the coordinates of eight stations were estimated by using of both online services and Bernese 5.0 scientific GPS processing software from 24-hour GPS data set and then the coordinate differences between the online services and Bernese processing software were computed. From the evaluations, it was seen that the results for each individual differences were less than 10 mm regarding relative online service, and less than 20 mm regarding precise point positioning service. The accuracy analysis was gathered from these coordinate differences and standard deviations of the obtained coordinates from different techniques and then online services were compared to each other. The results show that the position accuracies obtained by associated online services provide high accurate solutions that may be used in many engineering applications and geodetic analysis.

Erros grosseiros nas observações afetam de forma negativa todos os parâmetros estimados e os resíduos, razão pela qual a detecção de erros grosseiros tem grande importância na estimativa confiável dos resultados. Diversos testes (por exemplo testes de Baarda e Pope) são utilizados frequentemente na detecção de erros grosseiros em aplicações geodésicas. Muitas vezes, visando reduzir o tempo computacional, é realizada a eliminação de alguns parâmetros que não são de interesse. Nesse caso, embora a estimativa dos parâmetros e resíduos não sofra modificações, a matriz cofatora dos resíduos e a redundância das observações mudam. Nesse estudo, são realizados testes para erros grosseiros e investigados os efeitos da eliminação dos parâmetros desconhecidos. Foi provado que quando a eliminação é realizada, as redundâncias no modelo funcional inicial (IFM - Initial Functional Model) são menores que no modelo funcional reduzido (RFM - Reduced Functional Model). Para ilustrar essa situação, uma rede de controle horizontal foi simulada e muitos experimentos foram realizados. De acordo com os resultados da simulação, testes para erros grosseiros com IFM são mais confiáveis que com RFM.

Outliers in observation set badly affect all the estimated unknown parameters and residuals, that is because outlier detection has a great importance for reliable estimation results. Tests for outliers (e.g. Baarda's and Pope's tests) are frequently used to detect outliers in geodetic applications. In order to reduce the computational time, sometimes elimination of some unknown parameters, which are not of interest, is performed. In this case, although the estimated unknown parameters and residuals do not change, the cofactor matrix of the residuals and the redundancies of the observations change. In this study, the effects of the elimination of the unknown parameters on tests for outliers have been investigated. We have proved that the redundancies in initial functional model (IFM) are smaller than the ones in reduced functional model (RFM) where elimination is performed. To show this situation, a horizontal control network was simulated and then many experiences were performed. According to simulation results, tests for outlier in IFM are more reliable than the ones in RFM.