A Method to Reduce Non-Nominal Troposphere Error

• Main Authors: Zhipeng Wang, Pumin Xin, Rui Li, Shujing Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-07-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: GBAS; troposphere delay; non-nominal troposphere; VPL; satellite geometry
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/17/8/1751

Under abnormal troposphere, Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) is unable to eliminate troposphere delay, resulting in non-nominal troposphere error. This paper analyzes the troposphere meteorological data of eight International GNSS Monitoring Assessment System (iGMAS) stations and 10 International GNSS Service (IGS) stations in China and records the most serious conditions during 2015 and 2016. Simulations show that the average increase in Vertical Protection Level (VPL) of all visible satellites under non-nominal troposphere is 2.32 m and that more satellites increase the VPL. To improve GBAS integrity, this paper proposes a satellite selection method to reduce the non-nominal troposphere error. First, the number of satellites in the optimal subset is determined to be 16 based on the relationship among VPL, non-nominal troposphere error and satellite geometry. Second, the distributions of the optimal satellites are determined. Finally, optimal satellites are selected in different elevation ranges. Results show that the average VPL increase caused by non-nominal troposphere error is 1.15 m using the proposed method. Compared with the brute method and greedy method, the running rate of the proposed method is improved by 390.91% and 111.65%, respectively. In summary, the proposed method balances the satellite geometry and non-nominal troposphere error while minimizing the VPL and improving the running rate.