GNSS/GPS Basics

Vince Cronin (Baylor University) & Shelley Olds (UNAVCO)

Revisions by Beth Pratt-Sitaula (UNAVCO), Benjamin Crosby (ISU), and
Sharon Bywater-Reyes (University of Northern Colorado)

Version July 2020

 Motivations

1. Describe the Global Navigation Satellite System

(GNSS) and how it enables positioning
2. Distinguish different grades of GNSS receivers, their
uses, and their accuracies.
3. Highlight applications of GNSS in the Geosciences
GPS receivers are all around us
 GPS provides 3D positioning

• Positions on the earth can be reported using:

• Cartesian coordinates (relative to the earth’s center)
• Geographic coordinates (lat., long., elev., in deg.)
• Projected coordinates (UTM, state plane, in m or ft)

Cartesian (X,Y,Z) Geographic System Projected System

(Figures: Ian Lauer, modified from Common Domain)

 Typical GPS coordinates
• Most GPS data is recorded and reported using:
Geographic Coordinates
 World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84)
– A reference surface or datum composed of an ellipsoid
– A geoid model (gravitational equipotential surface, EGM96)
 Remember, elevations can be reported as ellipsoidal heights
or orthometric heights

(Figure: Ian Lauer)

 Multiple satellite systems

• There are multiple Global Navigation Satellite Systems

(GNSS)
• GPS: USA, global
• GLONAS: Russia, global
• After 2020:
• BieDou: China, global
• Galileo: Europe, global
• India, France, and Japan: developing regional systems
 Global Positioning System

• GPS: the US System

• ~32 satellites
• 20,200 km altitude
• 55 degrees inclination
• 12 hour orbital period
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GPS24goldenSML.gif
• Need 4 satellites to be
accurate
• Ground control stations
• Each satellite passes
over a ground monitoring
station every 12 hours
 GPS satellite

Artist’s conception of a GPS Block II-F satellite in Earth orbit. (Public domain from
NASA) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
 Satellite sends orbit and clock Info

• GNSS satellites include almanac and

ephemeris data in the signals they transmit
Almanac data are coarse orbital parameters for all
GPS satellites. Communicated to your GPS so you
can track satellites.
Ephemeris data are very precise orbital and clock
correction for each particular GPS satellite—
necessary for precise positioning

http://gpsinformation.net/main/almanac.txt
 Antennas receive data streams

Works the same…

Your location is:

37o 23.323’ N
122o 02.162’ W
The time is:
11:34.9722 (UTC)
ERRORS (after 8 hrs) ERRORS
Horiz: +/- 2-4 mm (~1/8 in) Horiz: +/- 10 m (30 ft)
Vert: +/- 10-15 mm (~1/2 in) Vert: +/- 15 m (45 ft)
 Measuring the range to the satellite

• Radio signal from satellite tells GNSS receiver the satellite-

clock time and provides the most recent corrections to the
satellite’s position relative to Earth (ephemeris)
• GNSS receiver compares multiple satellite-times to the
receiver-time to determine the distance to each satellite
 How actual location is determined

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/gps-pizza/en/

Antenna position is determined by calculating the

distances to at least 4 satellites. This enables the solving
for four variables: x, y, z and time using trilateration.
GNSS and Time
Anatomy of a high-precision
permanent GNSS station
GNSS antenna inside of dome

Monument solidly attached into

the ground with braces.

If the ground moves, the station

moves.

Solar panel for power

Equipment enclosure
• GNSS receiver
• Power/batteries
• Communications/ radio/ modem
• Data storage/ memory

15
 Sources of error

Some GPS Error Sources

• Selective availability (ephemeris data encrypted by military – ended in 2000)
• Satellite orbit irregularities
• Satellite and receiver clock errors
• Atmospheric delays – speed of light is affected by
water content and other variables in the atmosphere
• Multi-path – GPS signals can bounce off the ground
and then enter the antenna, rather than only entering
from above
• Human error – Incorrect base or rover antenna heights,
errors in post-processing, datum and projection errors.

17
 Grades of GNSS Systems

• Consumer or Recreational Grade

 Phones, tablets, watches, hiking devices
 ~5 meters, No post-processing required
• Mapping Grade
 Purpose built, GIS enabled, data collectors
 ~30 cm, Post-processing/correction required
• Survey Grade
 Professional tools, Longer occupations, Static
and kinematic devices
 ~3 mm to 2 cm precision. Considerable post-
processing required
Occupation Time or Effort Required Precision depends on system
Hard

Static, Geodetic
Campaign Systems

Kinematic
Systems
Recreational
& Mapping
Easy

Systems Survey Grade

0.5-5 m 0.01–0.03 m 0.005m

Precision of Position

(Images: Ben Crosby)

 Applications of GNSS

• Recreational & Mapping Systems (phones,

consumer-type, mobile GIS devices)
 Inexpensive, low complexity, short
occupations, rapid results, low-precision
positions
• Kinematic Systems (Unit 2)
 Expensive, moderate complexity, short
occupations, positions can be rapid or require
post-processing, high-precision positions
• Static Systems (Unit 3)
 Expensive, high complexity, long occupations
required, long and complex post-processing
required, extremely high-precision positions.
(Images: Ben Crosby)
 Example 1: Tracking position

• Using Recreational Systems

 Use a phone to track your positon during a field day.
 Can quickly assess the area or position of an object.

64,500 km2

From the field… …to the phone… …to analysis in GIS.

(Images: Ben Crosby)
 Example 2: Creating topography

• Using Kinematic Systems

 Quickly measure many points with high accuracy and precision
 Compare different surfaces to quantify permafrost thaw

From the field … … o post- … to surface generation

processed points … using GIS.
(Images: Ben Crosby)
 Example 3: Change detection

• Using Static Systems

 Measure a small number of points over a long duration
 Can resolve small changes in position, e.g. tracking landslides

Antenna

NT

Receiver
Solar

From the field … … to four post- … to mm scale

processed points … time series.
(Dorsch, 2004 Thesis)
 Static GNSS
Vince Cronin (Baylor University) & Shelley Olds (UNAVCO)
Revisions by Beth Pratt-Sitaula (UNAVCO), Benjamin Crosby (ISU), and
Sharon Bywater-Reyes (University of Northern Colorado)

Version June 8, 2017

 Static GNSS techniques

• Long-duration occupations over well-monumented

marks
 Permanent stations are fixed using deep anchors and run
continuously
 Campaign stations are revisited infrequently (~1/year) and
occupied for 8 to 48 hours
• Data is always differentially corrected in post-
processing using data from other nearby GNSS stations
 Low Precision: OPUS
 High Precision: GAMIT, GLOBK, and TRACK
• Highest quality antennas and receivers
 Static GNSS stations

• > 20,000 static stations with more added all the time
• Some data freely available, some not
• GNSS = Global Navigation Satellite System
https://www.unavco.org/science/snapshots/solid-earth/2015/kreemer.html
 Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO)

PBO involves installation, operation, and maintenance

of >1100 continuously operating high-precision GPS
stations (plus >170 other instruments: strainmeters,
borehole seismometers, and tiltmeters)
http://www.unavco.org/instrumentation/networks/status/pbo
 What is possible with static
GNSS products?
• Spatial positions within a few millimeters.
 Requires intensive, high-precision processing
• Thus . . . can track very small changes
 Plate motions
 Deformation due to hydrology
 Snow or reservoir loading
 Groundwater withdraw
 Deformation due to volcanic activity
 Pre-eruption doming
 Caldera collapse
 Earthquake motions
 Slow slip and coseismic deformation
 Where is that chunk of crust
going?
• Example: using GPS velocities to understand
plate motions

Two PBO stations in

California
• Twenty-nine Palms,
(BEMT)
• Mission Viejo (SBCC)
 GPS time-series data

• Station position over time

 North–South
 East–West
 Up–Down

http://www.unavco.org/instrumentation/networks/status/pbo/overview/SBCC
 GPS time-series data

26.8 mm/yr
• From the changing
510 mm
north
position, velocity can be
19 years calculated using slope
(rise-over-run)
25.0 mm/yr
475 mm
west

~8 mm down

~0.4 mm/yr

http://www.unavco.org/instrumentation/
networks/status/pbo/overview/SBCC
 Detrended GPS time data

26.8 mm/yr
510 mm
north
19 years

25.0 mm/yr
475 mm
west

~8 mm down

~0.4 mm/yr

PBO also supplies “detrended” data with the average velocity subtracted out to
observe other phenomena. In that case official velocity is given.
 What is a site’s 3D speed?
Using the Pythagorean Theorem (high school math...),

Speed = (27.8)2 + (25.7)2 + (1.3)2 = 37.9 mm/yr

 What compass direction is
the site moving?
Using the horizontal components of velocity,
and a bit of high school trigonometry…

North

θ = tan-1(25.7/27.8) = 42.8°
42.8°west of north
or
317.2°azimuth
27.8 mm/yr

West
25.7 mm/yr
Map view of velocity

20 mm/yr
 Two different velocities

Why the difference?

20 mm/yr
Same process yields much slower velocity at BEMT
San Andreas Fault!

20 mm/yr
Reference Frames

All velocities are

RELATIVE to a given
reference frame
• Velocities
compared to
International
Terrestrial
Reference Frame
2008 (IGS08 is GPS
reference frame
name)
• Hot spot
constellation as
“stable”
Reference frames

All velocities are

RELATIVE to a given
reference frame
• Velocities
compared to stable
North America
(called NAM08
reference frame)
• Eastern North
America as “stable”
 Kinematic GNSS Systems

Benjamin Crosby & Ian Lauer (Idaho State

University)

Version May 25, 2017

 Motivations

• Briefly describe:
• The components of a kinematic system
• The concepts behind kinematic GNSS systems
• The survey design of a kinematic system
• The data collection/post-processing workflow
 Kinematic components

GNSS Antenna

Radio
Antenna

GNSS
Receiver

Base Station and Radio Rover Antennas and Receiver

(Images: Ian Lauer, Ben Crosby)
 Kinematic systems

Base station antenna At the same time,

receives data from rover antenna also
satellites. receives position
data from satellites.
The position drifts
over time relative to Rover also
the known, stable receives a position
location of the correction from the
antenna. This offset is base, in real time
communicated to the
Base Rover
for RTK.
rover as a correction.

(Images: Ben Crosby)

 Map View of an RTK Survey

Base Station Three Different Rover Positions

assumed ‘here’
raw base obs.
raw rover obs.
rover RTK adj. t1
corrected base t2
corrected rover
t3 t1

t2

t3
 Kinematic survey design

• Base Station
Located in a stable, safe, unobstructed place
Line of sight for radio communication to rover
< 10 km from rover location
Ideally set up over known monument
• Rover
Close to and in line of site with base for corrections
Occupy points for 5–120 sec, keep pole vertical
Name and describe each point in field book
Avoid cover and multi-path, confirm corrections
 Kinematic workflow

• If base is not over a known point, you must

post-process to get an accurate position
 Kinematic post-processing
• Post processing is only necessary if the base was set up over
an unknown point or you use a PPK system.

• Download data from base to PC software for your hardware.

• Export base dataset as a RINEX formatted file
• Upload RINEX to OPUS website, specifying all necessary
information regarding base antenna type and height (best to
wait 4+ hours after collection before uploading)
• Update your base position with the new, OPUS-corrected
position in your PC software
• Propagate the change in base to all your rover positions
 Societal value of
GNSS-enabled research
• Most people use it for location and navigation,
but how do earth scientists use GNSS?
Think-Pair-Share discussion

How do earth scientists use GNSS?

 List as many applications as you can.
How do these uses benefit society?
 Categorize each as a direct or indirect benefit.
– Direct benefits are immediate and improve lives
– Indirect benefits help humans, but are a few steps removed
 Societal value of
GNSS-enabled research
• Most people use it for location and navigation
• But … GNSS-enabled science also provides:
Hazard early warning systems, saving lives
 Landslide activity
 Volcano inflation
 Fault movement
Precise measurements of objects
 Water resources (aquifers, snow pack, etc.)
 Tracking of objects (organisms, rocks, currents)
Without GNSS, we could not know where things
are when without directly measuring them.
 Societal benefits

• Static GNSS data are used in a wide variety of surface

deformation applications.
• Some are directly supporting human needs
 Tracking hazardous features such as landslides, faults, or
volcanos
 Tracking changes in water resources
• Some are indirectly providing insight into the way the
earth works
 Plate motions
 Discovering new faults
• Some static, continuous sites are used for corrections
to other GNSS data, aiding industry.
 Applications of kinematic GNSS

• Discuss other applications and societal benefits

Kinematic GNSS can recognize changes if the
displacement is greater than 2 cm.
 These changes are typically below our human perception
Hazard assessment and early warning
 Slow-moving hazards are revisited to detect change
– Volcano or caldera doming
– Landslide slip
– Fault creep
Tracking of objects of interest
 Measuring sediment transport rates or glacier flow
dynamics, which help with sediment and water budgets
End Lecture