03.

GLOBAL
POSITIONING SYSTEM
Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation
system
• It provides location and time information in all weather conditions,
anywhere on or near the Earth
• It is called NAVSTAR (NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging) Global
Positioning System
• GPS is Maintained by the United States government and is freely
accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver

2
• GPS project was developed in 1973 by the
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
• It was originally run with 24 satellites
• It became fully operational on July 17, 1995
• Bradford Parkinson (US Air Force colonel), Bradford Parkinson
Roger L. Easton (Scientist), and Ivan A.
Getting (Physicist and Electrical Engineer)
are the inventors of GPS.

Roger L. Easton
• Advances in technology have led to the next generation of GPSIII
• GPSIII
• It is the next generation of GPS satellites and will keep the NAVSTAR operation
• Lockheed Martin is the contractor for design, development of GPS III satellites
• United States Air Force plans to purchase up to 32 GPS III satellites.
• First GPS Block III satellite was launched in Dec. 2018, second in Aug. 2019
• In June 2021 fifth GPSIII satellite was launched in space
• The project will provide additional navigation signals for both civilian and
military users, and improve the accuracy and availability for all users
• Visit https://www.gps.gov/ for further details

4
• In addition to GPS-NAVSTAR, there are other systems in use or under
development.
• GLONASS (Russian Global Navigation Satellite System)
• Galileo (European Union positioning system)
• Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System
• Chinese Compass navigation system

5
 ,

• GLONASS
• GLONASS is acronym for Globalnaya
Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema or
Global Navigation Satellite System
• It is a space-based satellite navigation system
operated by the Russian Aerospace Defence
Forces
• It provides an alternative to GPS
• It is the only alternative navigational system in
operation with global coverage and of
comparable precision.
• By 2011 GLONASS achieved global coverage

6
• Galileo
• Galileo is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) being
developed by the European Union (EU) and European Space
Agency (ESA).
• It is named after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.
• First Galileo test satellite was launched in December 2005
• First operation satellite was launched in October 2011
• First determination of position was obtained in March
2013.
• Full completion of 30-satellite system (24 operational and 6
active spares) is expected by the end of year (2022)
• Basic navigation services will be free of charge
• Galileo will provide horizontal and vertical position
measurements within 1-metre precision
7
• Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System
(IRNSS)
• IRNSS is a regional satellite navigation system being
developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO)
• India want to be independent from other GPS systems
• IRNSS would provide two services, with the Standard
Positioning Service open for civilian use and the
Restricted Service, encrypted one, for authorised users
(military)

8
• BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)
• BDS 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.
• 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.

9
• COMPASS (BeiDuo-2)
• The second generation of the system, called the BeiDou Satellite Navigation
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 2013.
• 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

10
Concept Quiz
• NAVSTAR is Global Positioning System is managed by:
• A. Russian
• B. China
• C. USA

11
Concept Quiz
• Different countries developing their own GPS system, because:
• A. NAVSTAR is not available globally
• B. US may stop access to other nation(s) at any time
• C. To improve the accuracy

12
• BeiDou satellite navigation system belongs to:
• A. China
• B. Russia
• C. European Union

13
GPS WORKING MECHANISM
(NAVSTAR)
• NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging (NAVSTAR) Global Positioning
System (GPS) is a worldwide radio-navigation system formed by:
• A constellation of 24 or more satellites
• Several ground stations, and
• Millions of users.
• These system components: space, ground, and user, work together to
provide accurate positions anytime, anywhere in the world, using the
system’s “man-made stars” as reference points.

14
• Space Component
• Space segment is a constellation of 24 satellites, operating in six orbital
planes spaced at 60° intervals around the equator
• They are in circular orbits of about 20,200 kilometres above the earth
• Four additional satellites are in reserve as spares, but fully operational
• In case of failure or planned maintenance of one or more satellites, the
constellation should always contain at least 24 operational satellites

15
• Satellites are arranged in six orbital planes, spaced at
60o intervals
• There are at least 4 satellites in each orbit
• Each plane is tilted at 55o relative to the equator, to
provide polar coverage.
• Each satellite orbits the earth twice a day
• As a result, at least four satellites are “in view” at any
time, from any place on or near the earth’s surface.
• This is significant because a GPS receiver requires
signals from at least four satellites in order to
determine its location in three dimensions (3D)
• Rain, fog and snow have no effect on these signals,
making GPS an all-weather system

16
• The satellites continuously point their solar panels toward the sun and their
transmitting and receiving antennas toward the earth.
• Each satellite contains several atomic clocks to keep very, very accurate time
(to a billionth of a second).
• Each satellite also contains a computer, a radio transmission system, solar
panels and batteries, and various other components.
• Over time, the system and the satellites are being improved to provide ever-
higher levels of capability: accessibility, reliability and accuracy.

17
• Ground Control Component.
• Ground Control Component includes 12 ground stations; their locations
and functions are listed in following Table as well shown on the map, in
Figure on next slide

18
Ground Control Stations

19
• Monitoring Stations track navigation signals from all the satellites and
continuously send the data to the Master Control Station (MCS) for
processing.
• MCS computes orbit position projections for each satellite in the
constellation, as well as corrections to the satellites’ on-board clocks.
• MCS sends this updated orbit and clock data to the four Ground Antenna
Stations, from which it is uploaded to each satellite three times per day to
maintain system accuracy.
• The Ground Stations also transmit commands to the satellites for routine
maintenance, software updates, and orbit adjustments.
• Every satellite is always in view of at least two ground stations and usually
three.
20
• User Component.
• User component consists of GPS receiver and antenna in order to
collect location data.
• To compute exact position, the GPS receiver determines the distance
to each of several satellites by:
• Computing exactly where each satellite is in space
• Measuring the travel time from there to here of radio signals broadcast by the
satellites, and
• Accounting for delays the signals experience as they travel through the earth’s
atmosphere
• Speed of light is almost 300,000 km/s (299,792 km/s)

21
 Mapping/Survey Grade GPS receiver

Simple GPS
Receiver

22
GPS positioning process

23
The GPS Signal
• GPS satellites continuously broadcast L1 and L2 signals with following
frequencies:
• L1 : 1575.42 MHz
• L2 : 1227.60 MHz
• These signals are modulated with unique pseudorandom noise (PRN) codes,
which help in calculating the signal travel time from satellite to receiver
• Each satellite transmits two different PRN codes
• L1 signal is modulated with the precise code, or P code, and also with the
coarse/acquisition code, or C/A code.
• The L2 signal is modulated only with the P code
24
• GPS receivers simultaneously generate a duplicate PRN code
• Matching the incoming satellite signal with the identical receiver-
generated signal derives the time it takes for the signal to travel from
satellite to receiver
• It gives the signal delay which is converted to travel time.
• From the travel time, and the known signal velocity, the distance to
the satellite can be computed.

25
HOW POSITION IS DETERMINED?
• GPS receiver measures distance from one satellite, say 20,000
km
• It creates an imaginary sphere
• The receiver can be in the whole universe at the surface of
sphere
• Next, it measures distance to a second satellite say 21,000 km
• Now it is not only on first sphere but also on a second sphere
• When two spheres intersect, they make a circle
• The receiver can be somewhere on this circle

26
 HOW POSITION IS DETERMINED – CONT.
• Now GPS measures distance from a third satellite say 22,000 km
• It narrows down receiver’s position to two points where third sphere
intersects the circle
• From three satellites the position is narrowed down to two points in
the space
• To decide true location we can make a fourth measurement
• But one of the two points is unrealistic and can be rejected without a
measurement
• GPS gives latitude, Longitude and Elevation of the location

27
• GPS output and data format
• Main output of the GPS is the three dimensional position coordinates in
spherical coordinate system, given in degree, minute and seconds of
Latitude and Longitude.
• In addition to this GPS also gives velocity and time data.
• There are about more than 10 different formats of GPS data output.
• Basic position data of any point on the globe determined by any GPS
may be given as:
• Latitude Degree Minute Second 36° 11' 35.26 N"
• Longitude Degree Minute Second 44° 00' 36.67 E"
• Height Meter above Reference Ellipsoid 420.31 m

28
Concept Quiz
• How many active NAVSTARR satellites are their in space:
• A. 30
• B. 24
• C. 35

29
Concept Quiz
• Every NAVSTAR satellite is always in view of at least:
• A. 5 ground stations
• B. 2 ground stations
• C. 10 ground stations

30
Concept Quiz
• A GPS receiver is connected to a minimum number of satellites in
order to find the coordinates of any point on the surface of earth:
• A. 4 Satellites
• B. 2 Satellites
• C. 10 Satellites

31
Concept Quiz
• Satellite signals travel with the:
• A. Speed of sound in the air
• B. Speed of light

32
Concept Quiz
• Navigation satellites are about:
• A. 22,200 km away from the earth
• B. 36,000 km away
• C. 700 km away

33
Error in GPS Readings
• A variety of factors cause errors in readings as given in Table on GPS
Errors
• These errors can be partly removed by different modes of GPS
Operation

34
 Error level in various GPS operation modes
Error Source Autonomous GPS Differential RTK
GPS
1. User Range Error (URE)      
1.a. System Errors      
Ephemeris Data (Satellite position) 0.4–0.5m Removed Removed
Satellite Clocks 1– 1.2m Removed Removed
1.b. Atmospheric Errors      
Ionosphere (upper part of
Mostly
atmosphere, 50-500 km from earth 0.5–5m Almost all removed
surface) Removed

Troposphere (lower part of

atmosphere, up to 50 km from earth 0.2m– 0.7m Removed Removed
surface)
Subtotals
1.7–7.0m 0.2 – 2.0 m 0.005-0.01 m
 
2. User Equipment Error      
Receiver
0.1–3m 0.1–3m Almost all removed
 
3. Multipath (location dependent) 1– 10m 1– 10m Greatly reduced
35
1. User Range Errors
• User Range Errors (User Equivalent Range Errors) is the umbrella term for all of
the error sources given below:
• Ephemeris Data (Satellite Position)
• GPS receivers calculate coordinates relative to the known locations of satellites in space.
• Knowing where satellites are at any given moment involves knowing the shapes of their
orbits as well as their velocities (about 14,000 km/hr)
• The gravitational attractions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon all complicate the shapes of
satellite orbits.
• The GPS Control Segment monitors satellite locations at all times, calculates orbit
eccentricities, and compiles these deviations in documents called ephemerides.
• An ephemeris is compiled for each satellite and broadcast with the satellite signal
• GPS receivers that are able to process ephemerides can compensate for some orbital
errors.

36
• Satellite clock:
• GPS receivers calculate their distances from satellites as a function of the
difference in time between when a signal is transmitted by a satellite and
when it is received on the ground.
• The atomic clocks on board NAVSTAR satellites are extremely accurate.
• They may deviate up to one millisecond of standard GPS time
• The monitoring stations that make up the GPS "Control Segment" calculate
the amount of clock drift associated with each satellite.

37
• Atmospheric Errors
• Ionosphere (Upper atmosphere):
• Ionosphere is outermost layers of the atmosphere that extend from
approximately 50 to 1,000 km above the Earth's surface.
• Space is nearly a vacuum, but the atmosphere is not
• The ionosphere's density varies by latitude, by season, and by time of day, in
response to the Sun's ultraviolet radiation, solar storms, etc., and the
stratification of the ionosphere itself.
• GPS signals are delayed and deflected as they pass through the ionosphere,

38
• Troposphere (Lower atmosphere)
• The lower layers of atmosphere cover Earth from surface to an altitude of
about 50 km.
• The lower atmosphere delays GPS signals, adding slightly to the calculated
distances between satellites and receivers.
• Signals from satellites close to the horizon are delayed the most, since they
pass through more atmosphere than signals from satellites overhead.

39
2.User Equipment Error
• Receiver clock:
• GPS receivers are equipped with quartz crystal clocks that are less
stable than the atomic clocks used in NAVSTAR satellites.

40
3. Multipath Errors
• Ideally, GPS signals travel from satellites through the atmosphere directly to
GPS receivers.
• In reality, GPS receivers must discriminate between signals received directly
from satellites and other signals that have been reflected from surrounding
objects, such as buildings, trees, and even the ground.
• Some, but not all, reflected signals are identified automatically and rejected.
• Antennas are designed to minimize interference from signals reflected from
below, but signals reflected from above are more difficult to eliminate.
• One technique for minimizing multipath errors is to track only those satellites
that are at least 15° above the horizon, a threshold called the Mask Angle

41
 An example of multipath errors

Ghilani et. al. Elementary Surveying. 2012 42

Mask Angle

43
Selective Availability (SA)
• Signals are intentionally altered/delayed by US Department of Defense (DoD)
• In order to avoid the accurate usage of GPS for any hostile nation
• GPS can be used to guide weapons in real time, like guiding ballistic missile by GPS
device.
• Error is induced by randomly disturbing the exact time of the signal (making it
inaccurate).
• This random distance affects Coarse/Acquisition or (C/A) code
• GPS satellites also transmit a “Precise” code (P-Code).
• The P-Code is more accurate and generally used by military and survey accuracy
receivers
• The military has the ability to encrypt the P-Code and make unavailable to any user

44
MODES OF GPS OPERATION
• GPS is mainly operated in one of the following three different modes:
• Autonomous
• Differential GPS
• Real Time Kinematic (RTK)

45
• Autonomous
• Autonomous means uncorrected data.
• An autonomous, or uncorrected, position has no correction applied.
• It is subject mostly to atmospheric delay, receiver errors, and multipath
errors.
• Best accuracy we can expect with autonomous GPS receiver is within 10-15
meters for the horizontal measurement.
• Vertical accuracy is within 25 meters. This is typically true for any commercial
GPS receiver from any vendor.

46
• Differential GPS (DGPS)
• In surveys for planning, engineering design and monitoring purposes, such high errors
in autonomous mode are not acceptable
• DGPS helps to correct these errors.
• The basic idea in DGPS is to use two GPS Systems, one as Base and the other as Rover
• The base is a stationary station with known location
• Since the DGPS at base station already knows its own position, it can easily calculate
its receiver's inaccuracy
• Base station broadcasts radio signals in real time to all DGPS-equipped receivers
(rovers) in the area, providing signal correction information.
• Access to this correction information makes DGPS receivers much accurate than
ordinary receivers (autonomous).

47
• DGPS Base station signals can come from following possible sources:
i. SBAS (Satellite Base Augmentation System)
ii. Beacon
iii. Satellite differential receiver like Omnistar,
iv. Our own base station broadcasting corrections via a DGPS radio or over the
Internet
v. VRS (Virtual Reference Station) corrections

48
i. SBAS (Satellite-based Augmentation System)
• SBAS provides correction data for visible satellites.
• Corrections are computed from ground station observations and then
uploaded to geostationary satellites.
• A geostationary Satellite is a satellite in geostationary orbit, about 35,786 km above the
Earth's equator and follows the direction of the Earth's rotation. It has orbital period
equal to the Earth's rotational period, and thus appears motionless, at a fixed position in
the sky, to ground observers.
• This data is then broadcast on the L1 frequency, and is tracked using a
channel on the GPS receiver, exactly like a GPS satellite. 

49
• Some SBAS systems
i. WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System)
ii. EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service)
iii. MSAS (Multi-function Transport Satellite-based Augmentation System)
i. WAAS
• WAAS was established by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for flight and approach
navigation for civil aviation.
• It improves the accuracy and availability of the basic GPS signals over its coverage area, which
includes the continental United States and some parts of Canada and Mexico.
ii. EGNOS is the European equivalent of WAAS
iii. MSAS is the Japanese equivalent of WAAS and is currently under development.
iv. SBAS systems are also extending to China, Korea and India

50
• Some SBAS under development
• China: BeiDou SBAS (BDSBAS)
• South Korea: Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS)
• Russia: System for Differential Corrections and Monitoring (SDCM)
• ASECNA: SBAS for Africa and Indian Ocean (A-SBAS)
• Australia and New Zealand: Southern Positioning Augmentation Network
(SPAN)

51
Global Coverage of SBAS

https://www.gsa.europa.eu/european-gnss/what-gnss/what-sbas 52
ii. Satellite Differential (OmniStar)
• This is a subscription-based SBAS System
• It transmits corrections from a network of reference stations to the service's
satellites, which then broadcasts corrections to subscribers.
• To use the corrections requires a satellite differential receiver (either
integrated into the GPS receiver such as is the case with the Pro XRS receiver,
or a separate satellite differential receiver may be connected to the GPS
receiver).
• OmniStar is a commercial vendor with worldwide coverage
• In Iraq’s case OmniStar seems suitable for performing differential GPS Survey
can be performed by Subscribing to OmniStar

53
• It gives accuracy up to 1 m.
• Information regarding subscription can be collected using the following link:
• http://www.omnistar.com/SubscriptionServices/OmniSTARVBS.aspx

54
iii. Our Own Base Station
• If there are no base data providers in our area, we can set up our own GPS
reference station.
• The main requirement for a reference station is that it must be situated over a
very accurately surveyed reference position.
• There are many methods for transmitting and receiving corrections for
example –
• A base receiver connected to a radio modem or data radio that transmits corrections by
radio to a rover receiver connected to a radio modem that receives the corrections.

• A base receiver connected to the Internet that broadcasts corrections so that a rover
receiver can connect to and use these corrections via an Internet link from the field.

55
iv. Virtual Reference Station (VRS)
• A VRS (Virtual Reference Station) system consists of GPS hardware, software,
and communication links.
• It uses data from a network of base stations to provide corrections to rovers
that are more accurate than corrections from a single base station.
• To start using VRS corrections, the rover sends its position to the VRS server (a
computer running VRS software such as Trimble's GPSNet Software).
• The VRS server uses the base station data to model systematic ephemeris,
troposphere, and ionosphere errors at the rover position.
• It then sends interpolated correction messages back to the rover.

56
• VRS Concept
• The “Virtual Reference Station” concept is
based on having a network of GPS reference
(base) stations connected with a server at
control center
• Server gathers information from all station
and creates a living database of corrections
• A VRS is created close to rover, which
receives corrections from the server
• All base stations, rover and server are
connected through wireless modems
• It improves accuracy to +/- 1 m
57
NMEA – GGA Format
• GGA - essential fix data which provide 3D location and accuracy data.
• $GPGGA,123519,4807.038,N,01131.000,E,1,08,0.9,545.4,M,46.9,M,,*47
•  Where:
• GGA Global Positioning System Fix Data
• 123519 Fix taken at 12:35:19 UTC
• 4807.038,N Latitude 48 deg 07.038' N
• 01131.000,E Longitude 11 deg 31.000' E
• 1 Fix quality: 0 = invalid
• 1 = GPS fix (SPS)
• 2 = DGPS fix
• 3 = PPS fix
• 4 = Real Time Kinematic
• 5 = Float RTK
• 6 = estimated (dead reckoning
• 7 = Manual input mode
• 8 = Simulation mode

58
• 08 Number of satellites being tracked
• 0.9 Horizontal dilution of position
• 545.4,M Altitude, Meters, above mean sea level
• 46.9,M Height of geoid (mean sea level) above WGS84 ellipsoid
• (empty field) time in seconds since last DGPS update
• (empty field) DGPS station ID number
• *47 the checksum data, always begins with *

59
• Dilution of Precision (DOP)
• An indicator of the quality of a GPS position, which takes account of each
satellite's location relative to the other satellites in the constellation, and
their geometry in relation to the GPS receiver. A low DOP value indicates a
higher accuracy.
• Standard DOPs for GPS applications are:
• PDOP – Position (three coordinates)
• HDOP – Horizontal (two horizontal coordinates)
• VDOP – Vertical (height only)
• TDOP – Time (clock offset only)
60
• V. Post Processing Methods for Error Correction
• Post-processing methods take place upon return to the office rather than in
the field to take advantage of base station data available on the Internet.
• Base station files are posted on the Internet daily or hourly for GPS users.
• They are less immediate but offer greater accuracy than real-time corrections.
• Following link provides information on over 2000 base stations throughout
the world. (for Trimble GPS Users)
• https://www.trimble.com/trs/findtrs.asp  
• These reference stations include sites using Trimble® GPSBase, GPSNet, and
Trimble Reference Station (TRS™) software.
• We can use the list to find the reference station that fits our project needs.

61
REAL TIME KINEMATIC
• The accuracy is further improved in Real Time Kinematic (RTK) mode.
• In RTK two GPS sets works together in parallel, one acts a base station,
which is installed at precisely known location, whereas the other one
acts as roving system, which records position data during
measurements.
• Base receiver sends correction to roving receiver through radio
communication and removes the errors in measurements in real time.
• The main difference between GPS, DGPS are RTK is the accuracy.
• In RTK mode, the position error reduces to +/- 10 mm in horizontal as
well as vertical.
62
63