Use of Global and Regional Ionosphere Maps for Single-Frequency Precise Point Positioning

Abstract

This paper compares global and regional ionosphere maps in different aspects, from vertical TEC and slant TEC in the range domain to their application in single-frequency Precise Point Positioning. Under quiet ionospheric conditions, the mean of the difference in vertical TEC between the global (GIM) and regional (SWACI) map, in Europe, was found to be less than 1 TECU, and the RMS generally in the order of 1-2 TECU. Both static data and kinematic (flight) data are analysed. Although being limited in its coverage for the moment, the real-time regional map SWACI (from DLR) provides promising results also with highly kinematic data. It is shown that for the dataset under investigation the SWACI map can bring the vertical positioning accuracy to the same level as the horizontal one, at 2-3 km (95% level). © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009.